librar. SUREAU Or RAILWAY ECONOMIC*, «ashincton, d. c. THE MODERN MINOTAUR, B y F. W. BIRD. 1 V Proles biformis Minotaurus inest, Veneris monimcnta nef andar. —eid, Lib. VI., V. 25 8c 26. Wo, too, have a Minotaur — a double-faced monster, born of unholy lust, and devourer of precious treasure. —Free translation. BOSTON: J. E. 1'AEWEEL & COMPANY, PRINTERS, No. 37 Congress Street. 1 8 6 8. THE MODERN MINOTAUR. Once a year a ship, laden with the richest jewels of her peo¬ ple, left the port of the ancient Athens. The time for the an¬ nual tribute to the Minotaur had come. Athens' noblest citi¬ zens, in sad procession, attended the victims to the Piraïus, im¬ ploring for these young men and maidens, the bravest and most beautiful of her youth, the benedictions of the Commonwealth for which they were about to lay down their young lives, and weeping most of all that they should see their faces no more ; and thus those unreturning feet embarked on that dreadful voy¬ age. O " Built in the eclipse and rigged with curses dark," her black sails proclaiming her dismal errand, the luckless bark bore the choicest wealth of Athens to the cavern of the insati¬ able monster. Once a year a demand is made for the treasures of her citi¬ zens upon our modern Athens. The time of our annual con¬ tribution to a relentless destroyer has come. True, our sons and daughters are not literally required for the sacrifice ; but the products of our industry, the hard-earned fruits of muscle and brain, are borne to those dismal caverns of the Hoosac Mountain, from which there are no outward steps. Ancient Athens made the dreadful sacrifice to avert destruc¬ tion at the hands of the conqueror. No such necessity is laid upon us ; but voluntarily, with alacrity, year after year, we throw our jewels into this insatiable maelstrom. Is there no deliverance from this humiliating tribute? this waste of treas¬ ure? this public and private demoralization, which always grows out of submission to insolent exactions ? 4 The answers to these questions, as applied to our Minotaur — the Hoosac Tunnel — involve the discussion of these three points : The cost of the tunnel, the time of completion, and its value when completed. What will tiie Tunnel Cost? It will be curious as well as pertinent, to refer for a moment to the estimates of cost made from time to time by the friends of the tunnel. In 1848, when the charter was granted, the petitioners proved ( !) that the road and tunnel could be built for $3,500,000 ; that the entire road from Troy to Greenfield (exclusive of the tunnel,) would be built in eighteen months ; and that the tunnel itself could be completed, without the aid of shafts, in fifteen hundred and fifty-six working days —just five years ! That prediction was made twenty years ago. I will not produce, in detail, from speeches, pamphlets, re¬ ports of legislative committees, &c., &c., estimates and predic¬ tions of a similar character, all for a similar purpose, that is, tot delude the legislature into granting some favor, and all falsi¬ fied by events. These statements were generally made by par¬ ties directly interested in the tunnel, and on that account, it may be said, were to be received with allowances. Referring to them as only furnishing proof of the general proposition that all estimates heretofore made have proved worthless, we come to the first report upon this subject, to which no exception like the above can be taken, at least, by the friends of the tunnel, — the report of Messrs. Brooks, Felton and Holmes, Commis¬ sioners, &c., &c. In that report (pp. 55, 56, and 57,) their own estimate and those of other engineers are given, of cost, including interest during construction, of completing the tunnel, as follows : — Commissioners' estimate, . . . $3,218,323 00 Mr. Storrow's " ... 3,773,368 00 Mr. Latrobe's " ... 2,837,485 00 Mr. Laurie, with central shaft and hand labor, 3,430,780 00 " " " and machines, 3,050,180 00 5 The Commissioners' estimate of the entire cost of the road both sides of the mountain and the tunnel, including what the State had advanced previous to 1862, including interest com¬ pounded at five per cent, for eight years, also including depot building, shops, rolling-stock, &c., &c., for the entire line, was $5,719,330. Among the items, the Commissioners estimate the central shaft, " 20 feet in diameter, including machinery, 1,027 feet in depth, containing 11,944 cubic yards, at $22 per yard, $262,- 768." Air. Crocker's report this year gives the cost of the central shaft, including machinery, up to January 1, 1868, as $269,924. Of the 1,030 feet, 583 feet have been sunk, cost¬ ing: seven thousand dollars more than the Commissioners' esti- mate of the cost of the whole. Of course, as the depth in¬ creases, the cost, owing to increase of water, extra distance of raising water and material, and increased liability to accident, will be much greater than heretofore. But, without comparing items, let us compare the total re¬ sults up to this time with the estimates of total cost. The cost of work done by the State since 1862, has been as follows, with interest compounded at six per cent : — Cost for two years to November 1, 1864, (House Doc. No. 3, 1865, p. 25,) . . . $415,483 00 Interest from May, 1864, to January 1, 1868, . 100,608 00 Cost from November 1, 1864, to Nov. 1, 1865, (House Doc. No. 4, 1866, p. 53,) . . 477,142 00 Interest from Alay, 1865, to January 1, 1868, 81,528 00 Cost from Nov. 1, 1865, to Nov. 1, 1866, . 590,904 00 Interest from Alay, 1866, to January 1, 1868, 61,249 00 Cost from November 1, 1866, to Jan. 1, 1868, 603,666 00 Interest from June, 1867, to Jan. 1, 1868, . 21,218 00 Total expenditure by State, with interest to January 1, 1868, .... $2,351,798 00 It thus appears that of the Commissioners' estimate of cost in 6 18G3, $3,218,323, very nearly three-fourths, is already spent. What portion of the whole has been done for this money ? The amount excavated has been as follows : — Total Work done to January 1, 1868. Tunnel Proper. 750 cubic yards. . 4,484 . 7,469 . 14,410 Central Shaft. 1,092 cubic yards.* . 1,340 . 1,993 . 2,698 West Approach. 290 feet, 30 cubic yards per foot, . . 8,700 cubic yards.f Total excavation by State, . . . 42,936 cubic yards. Now the total amount of excavation to be done at the com¬ mencement was as follows : — 24,862 feet entire Tunnel, (18 cubic yards per foot,) .... 447,516 cubic yards. Add for extra excavation for arching 2,004 feet, 12 yards per foot, . 24,048 " Central Shaft, 1,037 feet, 12 yards per foot, 12,444 " Total excavation at commencement, 484,008 cubic yards. * Including 300 cubic yards of earth. 11 am at a loss to know how to fill out this item. Mr. Latrobe (p. 48,) seems to sug¬ gest that 10,000 cubic yards have been taken out at the west end. Now, the whole amount of excavation at the east end and the west shaft, working at three faces during the year, has been only 14,410 cubic yards. It certainly is inconceivable that five-sevenths as many yards have been taken out at one face of the extremely difficult material at the west end as have been removed at three faces of good material. I have, however, cred¬ ited the full amount, allowing 30 cubic yards to each foot of progress. Everything relat¬ ing to this part of the work is obscure; but I allow an extravagant estimate. In 1864, 1865, 1866, 1867, In 1864, . 1865, . 1866, . 1867, . 7 Deduct excayation : By Haupt & Co., (cubic yards,) 28,866 State, (cubicyards,) . . 42,936 71,802 cubic yards. Leaving amount remaining undone, Jan- uary 1, 1868, .... 412,206 cubic yards. It thus appears that the Commissioners estimated the cost of completing the Tunnel, in 1863, at $3,218,323 ; that there has been expended since then, $2,351,798 ; that of the whole work, (484,008 cubic yards at the commencement,) 71,802 yards have been excavated ; that is, one-seventh, or 14^% per cent, of the work has been done, and three-quarters of the estimate is spent. Or, to take the more correct view of the proportion of work done since 1862, — Total excavation at commencement, . 484,008 cubic yards. Deduct excavation by Haupt & Co., . 28,866 " " Remaining to be done, 1863, . . 455,142 cubic yards. Excavation by State to January 1, 1868, 42,936 " " That is, a little over one-eleventh, or nine and four-tenths per cent., of the work has been done in five years, and three- quarters of the estimate is spent. All the estimates as to the time of completing the tunnel have proved equally unreliable. I will not repeat the predic¬ tions of its early friends ; their longest periods expired long aero ; but come down to the calculations of the Commissioners, O 3 in their first report above referred to. After making a detailed statement of expected progress, they say, (p. 61,) that by hand labor alone it would take eleven years and four months to finish the whole work ; but by introducing machines, (p. 61,) the total time would be seven and a half years ; and they add : " It is quite possible that the machine drills may be used in sinking the central shaft, &c. The chances of increased speed from this source are, perhaps, sufficient to counterbalance any 8 delay likely to occur in other parts of the work, and make from seven and a half to eight years a reasonable estimate of the time required to complete the work from the time it is vigor¬ ously undertaken." Well, it was " vigorously undertaken " in the summer and fall of 1863. Nearly five of the eight years have elapsed, and, including work done by Haupt & Co., one- seventh of the work is done ! Mr. Latrobe, in his first report, (House No. 30, 1867,) makes an estimate of cost and time of completing. Of course, with the results of five years' work before him, his estimates are made with great caution and with large margins. Time alone can test his estimates as it has those of the first Commissioners. He thinks the tunnel can be completed in eight and a hajf years from January 1, 1867, and that it will cost $3,633,640, not including interest. A very brief comparison of Mr. Latrobe's estimatès, with actual results of this last year, will illustrate the reliability of any estimates. Mr. Latrobe calculates, (House Doc. No. 30, 1867, p. 77 et seq.,) that the east end enlargement would be completed in September, 1867. At the time this calculation was made, there were 37,000 cubic yards of excavation to com¬ plete the enlargement. The actual amount removed up to January, 1868, as stated by Mr. Crocker, (Senate Doc. No. 20, 1868, p. 9,) has been 4,391 cubic yards ; so that instead of the whole 37,000 cubic yards being excavated in eight months, less than one-eighth of the whole was excavated in twelve months. Again, Mr. Latrobe estimates the amount of excavation required to complete the enlargement at the west shaft to be in Decem¬ ber, 1866, 17,040 cubic yards, and that the enlargement can be completed in a year. The actual amount of excavation in the enlargement at the west shaft during, thirteen months has D O been : — East heading, ..... 820 cubic yards. West heading, ..... 1,280 " " Total, 2,100 " 9 Thus, instead of excavating the whole, 17,040 cubic yards in a year, they have actually excavated 2,100 yards, or less than one-eighth in thirteen months. Again, Mr. Latrobe predicts a progress at the west end of 35 feet per month. I confess myself utterly unable to make out from any or all the reports what the actual progress has been. The table in Mr. Latrobe's report (p. 49) states progress at west end as 356 feet, which is also called " completed tunnel." Whether this means that the west end heading has advanced 356 feet, and that this has all been arched and completed, or whether the 356 feet of completed tunnel have been partly of new heading and partly of old, is left in entire obscurity ; aqd this obscurity is made more obscure by a change in the descriptive phraseology on the profiles of the two years. The profile for the year 1866 (House, No. 30, 1867,) gives lengtli of " W. End heading 1,010 feet ; " the profile for 1867 (Senate, No. 20, 1868,) gives length of " W. End heading 637 feet." It would seem that the west end heading has diminished 373 feet within the last year. The trouble is, undoubtedly, that the measurement starts from different points in the two reports, but no intimation is given of a change, and therefore the two profiles furnish no data for a comparison to ascertain progress during the year. One thing is certain, that the progrëss has been nothing like that predicted by Mr. Latrobe, (35 feet per month,) although Mr. Farren has attacked the demoralized rock with desperate energy. Again, to illustrate the value of estimates of cost, Mr. Latrobe (House, No. 30, 1867,p. 82,) gives the following Estimate of Cost. 54,000 cubic yards in enlargements at $5, . $270,000 00 325,000 " " heading and bottom, at an average of $7.50 2,437,500 00 7,538 c. yds. in remainder of c'ntral shaft, $30, 226,140 00 1,000 ft. linear at west end, next portal, $400, 400,000 00 1,000 " " " " " shaft, $300, 300,000 00 2 $3,633,640 00 10 Now the whole amount of excavation since that estimate was made has been, in round numbers, 25,808 cubic yards. Tlie expenditures for that period were $603,666 ; giving twenty- three dollars as the cost of each cubic yard of excavation last year, instead of five or seven and a half dollars. The average cost of the whole was double Mr. Latrobe's estimate of cost of removing the demoralized rock. I have dwelt upon this, perhaps, unnecessarily long ; but it seemed important to show how utterly unreliable all estimates of cost or time have heretofore been, even when made, as those I have referred to were, by the most competent men in the coun¬ try. Nobody questions, least of all do I question Mr. Latrobe's integrity, impartiality and capacity. If any man could make reliable estimates, he could. From this examination — and it might be carried to almost any extent with the same results — it is perfectly apparent that no estimates as to the future are entitled to the slightest con¬ fidence ; that unforeseen difficulties are constantly developing ; that the expense of machinery will increase rather than dimin¬ ish ; and that the only basis for a reliable calculation of the cost and time of completing the tunnel will be found in the actual results of the work for the last year or two. These two years have shown more favorable results than can be expected here¬ after. Everybody knows that the farther the work goes into the mountain the greater will be the cost. The ordinary expenses increase, and the extraordinary expenses, owing to increase of water and other hidden difficulties, may increase indefinitely. The friends of the tunnel surely cannot complain of our adopting the results of these two years as the basis of a calcu¬ lation for the future. Two years ago they proclaimed that up to that time heavy expenditures had been incurred in making preparations for effective work, but then they were all ready and would show great results during the next year. The next year went by, and a year ago we were treated to the same old story of unforeseen difficulties, but at last they were nearly 11 ready, and they assured the legislature that if the ensuing year did not show results justifying their claims, they would give up their case ; and they carried the appropriation through the House upon the appeal, " They say the work has never yet been in the hands of practical men ; now they have got their own man — Colonel Crocker — let them have one year more." Well, they have had it, and now, on the basis of the work of this year, What will it Cost to complete the Thnnel? On page six, we have found the amount remaining undone January 1, 1868, was 412,206 cubic yards. Now, the expenditure for these fourteen months has been $603,666 ; the total excavation, 25,808 cubic yards ; the exca¬ vation remaining to be done, 412,206 cubic yards. The prob¬ lem is a very simple one: If the excavation of 25,808 yards cost $603,666, what will 412,206 yards cost? Answer, $9,640,000. But this is not the whole of the cost. It does not 'include interest. For how long shall the interest be computed? If it required fourteen months to excavate 25,808 yards, how long will it take to excavate 412,206 yards? Answer, 224 months, or eighteen years and eight months ! (This is what the Ajax Telamón of the tunnel has accomplished in a year of unlimited control. His matchless energy has driven the work at a rate which will complete the tunnel in eighteen years !) Now it will not be said that Mr. Crocker has not done all that was in his power. He knew the assurances of great prog¬ ress which were given last winter. He felt as no other man could feel, that his reputation was at stake ; and he applied himself for every day and every hour of the time, with enthusi¬ asm, energy and will, for all of which qualities I cheerfully ad¬ mit he is distinguished, to show great results. That Mr. Crocker has accomplished all that was practicable in pushing the headings, I think no one will doubt. As Mr. Latrobe says, " The heading is being pushed wildly on, under the specious idea 12 that popular favor will be best propitiated by a mere progress in run¬ ning feet." (P. 53. The italics are Mr. Latrobe's.) In the headings, then, Mr. Crocker has undoubtedly done all that was possible. The enlargement might have been pushed more vig¬ orously, and it may be hereafter, until it overtakes the head¬ ings. Suppose this is done, and that two more faces are opened, a year or two hence, from the central shaft, and allowing that on these accounts the time, after opening the faces from the central shaft, may be shortened one-half, say to eleven years ; dividing the whole cost into eleven equal parts, each part rep¬ resenting the expenditure of a year, and computing the interest on each half-year's expenditure from the time of the expenditure to the end of the eleven years, compounded semi-annually, and we have the following result : — Cost, without interest, .... $9,640,000 00 Expenditure each year, $964,000. Interest, ...... 3,728,690 00 Total cost of completing work undone Jan., 1868. including interest, . . . $13,368,690 00 But this is not all. I had almost overlooked the insignificant item of a million or two spent last year, or to be spent here¬ after, on the railroad. Indeed, it is not strange that this item should be omitted, for there is not the slightest allusion to the amount expended on the road in the reports. We have the re¬ port of Hon. Alvah Crocker, Commissioner, and of Hon. Alvah Crocker, Acting Superintendent, and now the Resident En¬ gineer, Mr. Granger, having retired, and the reports of the Consulting Engineer and of the Resident Engineer, and a letter from Josiah Brown, whom Colonel Crocker certifies to be "a competent engineer," and a paper called " Accidents — Casual¬ ties," stated by Colonel Crocker to be " Mr. Peet's report," ( which we must believe to be the fact, at least that it could not have been written by Colonel Crocker ; for it contains a para¬ graph charging to Mr. Doane the responsibility of an accident from the use of gun cotton on March 18th, because " Mr. 13 Doane before leaving had ordered Mr. Hill to use the article, without the knowledge of the Commissioners, Mr Crocker being engaged between the 5th and 18th upon the pumps at the West Shaft." A captious person might suggest that, as Mr. Doane left the tunnel January 4, 1867, and as Colonel Crocker was in charge of the work ten weeks before the accident occurred, it is singular that Mr. Doane's order had not been countermanded,) and the report of the Operative Chemist, and, last but not least, the report of " Alfred R. Field, Chief Engineer Troy and Gree7ifield Railroad." From none of these reports could we in¬ fer that a dollar had been spent by or under the Commissioners, except ás stated on page 23 of Colonel Crocker's report. Mr. Field, indeed, speaks, on page 77, of an expenditure of " about $15,000," for certain purposes there stated, and the inference would be that that was the nhole amount expended on the road, except what is contained in Colonel Crocker's " statistical ac¬ count." I do not charge an intention to deceive ; but I do say, that in an official report to the legislature upon a public work of this character and magnitude, there is not the slightest allu¬ sion to an expenditure of nearly half a million dollars. I do not suppose that this omission would not have been discovered by the legislature ; but I confess that, though pretty familiar with this whole subject, and perhaps specially suspicious of trickery, this omission did not occur to me until after all my cal¬ culations of cost had been made and printed. In a paper published within a few days Mr. Shute states the expenditures on the railroad last year to have been $371,296. (This amount, added to the amount stated by Mr. Crocker, viz., $603,666, gives $974,962 as the amount of money taken from the treasury and expended on the entire work last year !) Mr. Farren's contract provides for completing the road to the mountain for $545,000. Of this, $371,296 having been paid him, we assume that he will finish the road for the balance, $173,000. Another item of heavy cost is the building of the road from the west end of the tunnel to the Troy and Boston Railroad. A 14 reference to Mr. Latrobe's report, (pp. 45 and 46,) and Mr. Crocker's, (pp. 17 and 18,) shows that this is to be a very ex¬ pensive work, made more expensive by the culpable neglect of the Commissioners in not securing the right of way, before the land had so largely increased in price. This road, two miles long, will cost, if ever built, half a million dollars. I put it down, to avoid cavil, at $250,000. Again, if the tunnel is ever opened for use, the road must be equipped ; and if run by another corporation, it must pay, di¬ rectly or indirectly, for its fair proportion of the equipment of the whole line. Now the average cost per mile of equipment — that is, for passenger and freight cars and locomotives —in this State is over $8,000. To do the same traffic, this road must have an dqual equipment, that is, for 42J miles, $340,000. To this must be added, for shops, station-houses, &c., &c., &c., say, at a low figure, $100,000. Again, Mr. Crocker says a railroad bridge over Deerfield River near the tunnel, estimated by Mr. Field, chief engineer to cost $25,000, (it will probably cost more than double that,) and a common road over the same river, must be built. Put them down as costing only $30,000. " A new road up the Deerfield, from the mouth of the tun¬ nel," is a recently discovered necessity, " so important," gran¬ diloquently says Mr. Crocker, " in the development of this section of Massachusetts." One would suppose that the " Deer¬ field River " was almost navigable above this point ; at least, available, when this section is " developed," for water power; whereas, it is a mere mountain brook, with hardly water enough in the summer, a mile or two above the tunnel, to turn a child's mimic water-wheel. But this section of Massachusetts is to be " developed." It will next be found to be a political, as well as a financial necessity to build the common roads, as well as the railroads, of Franklin County. Indeed, Mr. Crocker, (p. 21,) recommends the "improve¬ ment of the common road over the mountain," the State nomi¬ nally to aid other parties, " one spirited individual," really, in the end, as in the case of the tunnel, to do the whole. 15 How much will these two, the road up the Deerfield Biver and the road over the mountain, cost? I don't know, Mr. Crocker has not told us, how far up the valley of the Deerfield is to be " developed." We must guess. Call both $20,000. We have then the following; items of additional cost : — Finishing of railroad east of mountain, " " west of " Equipment, .... Station-houses, shops, &c., &c., Bridges across Deerfield River, $173,000 00 250,000 00 340,000 00 100,000 00 30,000 00 Roads up the river, &c., over the mountain, . 20,000 00 Total, $913,000 00 More than one-half of this amount must be spent at once ; the balance might be postponed till near the time of opening the tunnel. It will be fair, then, to compute the interest on half this amount, say on $450,000, for ten years. This, com¬ pounded annually, would be $354,690. We have then the fol¬ lowing as the aggregate of the various items of cost of finishing the tunnel and road from this date : — Cost of tunnel and interest, (page 11,) . . $13,368,690 00 Cost of additional items, (above,) . . 913,000 00 Interest on one-half, say $450,000, . . 354,690 00 Total cost of road and tunnel, . . $14,636,380 00 I hardly need repeat that this result conies from premises mainly taken from official reports of the special friends of the tunnel. I have reduced the time one-half from what it would be at the rate of last year's work ; I have made no allowance for the additional cost which the inevitable increase of water and other unforeseen difficulties must cause ; so far as estimates are made, I have followed the reports whenever they have given us any light, and in other cases have put the cost, as I honestly believe, fifty per cent, below what will be found to be the actual cost, should the work ever be done ; and there is the result. 16 I am well aware that the friends of the tunnel will exclaim, " These figures are too extravagant to be entitled to a moment's O o consideration." Such has always been the cry with which they have tried to evade the effect of facts. I have only to reply : For twenty years you have made predictions which have uniformly and grossly failed, and no man not afflicted with tunnel on the brain will place the slightest reliance on any similar predictions from the same parties. Careful, candid men, of large acquaint¬ ance with such works, sympathizing with the enterprise, but under no bias which could lead them to hazard their profes¬ sional reputations by making too favorable estimates, have, from time to time, made estimates of cost ; but results have invariably shown the cost to be two to four times larger than their figures. What are we, the tax-payers, to do? Let you go on, after misleading, deluding, humbugging us out of our money, year after year, and place the same faith in your mistaken calcu¬ lations, your falsified predictions, your broken promises? No, gentlemen ; it may be sport to you, but it is death to us. We mean to look this thing in the face. For five years you have had the State treasury at your control. We have given you all you asked for — time and money to fulfil your promises — and if ever the time is to be when we must disenchant ourselves of all hallucinations and appeal to results, the time has come. If five years of work, carried on in your own way, has not brought us to a point where we can test the cost by actual re¬ sults, we never shall reach it ; and we must drive on wildly, blindly, at whatever cost, or stop where we are. I repeat, then, most emphatically, there is no other reliable method of ascertaining the cost of completing the tunnel than by making the past the basis of estimates for the future, and when we take the results of the best year in the past, no charge of unfairness can be sustained. But it may be claimed that incidental expenses have been proportionally larger last year than they will be hereafter. I take the liberty to doubt. Mr. Crocker's policy has been to show the largest possible results with the least possible expenditure, 17 and accordingly his whole system (if system it can be called,) has been one of makeshifts ; penny wise and pound foolish, carried to such an extent as to call forth the repeated disapproval and rebukes of Mr. Latrobe. Indeed, a comparison of the expenditures for machinery, buildings, &c., during the last two years, gives the following result: (Report, 1868, p. 23.) From Nov. 1, 1SG5, From Nov. 1, 1866, to Nov. 1, I860. to Jan. 1, 1868. Deerfield dam §2,063 00 East End dam 266 00 — Wheelpits and house 24,845 00 $2,300 00 Gates and overflow 566 00 Race, or canal 2,064 00 325 00 Buildings, East End 3,837 00 — " Central shaft 2,406 00 1,953 00 " West End shaft 6,933 00 1,028 00 " general account 1,842 00 149 00 Machinery, Deerfield dam 523 00 — " East End 66,494 00 43,231 00 " Central shaft 28,891 00 7,773 00 " Westshaft 20,723 00 17,909 00 " West End... 503 00 36 00 " general account 43,673 00 1,370 00 Totals, §205,629 00 $76,074 00 It thus appears that the expenditures from November, 1865, to November, 1866, for buildings, machinery and appurte¬ nances, were nearly three times as large as the expenditures for the same purposes from November 1, 1866, to January 1, 1868. Nobody will pretend that the expenditures for the former of these periods were not proper ; every building, every piece of ma¬ chinery , has been since used by Mr. Crocker. There is no pretence that any expenditure was made not absolutely necessary to supply new machinery and buildings as they were needed, or to keep the old in repair ; and therefore the inference is a fair one, that Mr. Crocker has reduced the expenditures on buildings and machinery to their minimum, and applied every available dollar to pushing the excavation. 18 But my purpose in copying these figures was to show that there has no unusual proportion of the expenditures of last year gone into buildings and machinery, and, therefore, that the cost of excavation last year furnishes too favorable a basis for estimating future cost. I think any fair-minded man will say that the cost hereafter will be greater, rather than less, than it was last year, on account of this policy of Mr. Crocker to get all possible work out of the buildings and machinery at the least temporary expenditure. But this is not all. In the expenditures of last year no charge is made of the value of buildings and machinery burned at central shaft. This sad affair, which involved the destruction of two hundred thousand dollars' worth of property, the suspen¬ sion of the work on the shaft for an indefinite period, and the death of thirteen men, is dismissed by Mr. Crocker (Report, p. 10) in two lines, referring us " for detailed account to Mr. Peet's report herewith." We find no report from Mr. Peet, but an anonymous paragraph in the Appendix (p. 74) informs us that "the fire destroyed the shaft building, machine shop, blacksmith shop, office, saw-mill, wood-shed, together with a large amount of material and machinery, including about five hundred cords of wood and thirty-five thousand feet of lumber, making a total loss of at least $40,000." Mr. Latrobe (Re¬ port, p. 33) refers to it as the disastrous fire which destroyed the buildings and machinery, &c., &c." I assume then that all the buildings and machinei-y were desti-oyed, excepting, of course, that parts of the machinery which are not combustible will be worth something. The report says, " The total loss was at least $40,000." There is a great deal of virtue in that " at least." The cost of buildings and machinery at the Central Shaft is stated in the last report (p. 23,) to have been, up to January 1, 1868, as follows : — Buildings, ....... $13,980 00 Machinery, . . . . . 59,137 00 Total cost, $73,117 00 19 Add to this the value of the wood, lumber and other material destroyed, and I think it will be agreed that the writer was safe in stating the total loss to have been at least $40,000. This loss, nearer $80,000 than $40,000, is fairly to be added to last year's expenditures, when we use those expenditures as the basis of an estimate of future cost. If any honest man is inclined to believe that the expendi¬ tures for machinery, &c., will be less hereafter than heretofore, let him read carefully the reports of Col. Crocker and of Mr. Latrobe, and note the expenditures there foreshadowed. The new flume, new turbine wheels, steam-engines, to take the place of water-power when the water fails from drought in summer and anchor-ice in winter ; machine drills—Mr. Latrobe, (p. 56,) suggests that there ought to be three times as many on hand as there now are at the tunnel ; pumps — the doctors dis¬ agree on this matter. Mr. Latrobe shows very clearly that Mr. Crocker's system of makeshifts works especially badly in this department; that ''the pumps are reported to be subject to pretty frequent stoppage for repair ; " that the present arrange¬ ment can take out " about twenty-nine per cent, in excess of the present influx of water, and may be sufficient for some little time to come, at the slow rates at which the East Heading is advancing, &c. With a more rapid progress of both these headings, [so desirable ( !)] a correspondingly rapid increase of water may reasonably be expected, and the margin of pumping power will be found too small." After speaking of the kind of pumps which he recommends, Mr. Latrobe says: "Such engines would have undoubtedly cost more at the outset than the machines which have been employed, but they would have been more reliable, and in the end more economical, where the great object, in a financial and economical point of view of the great work, is duly considered." " I do not find fault with the temporary use of small, cheap pumps heretofore, to save time while large and effective ones were in preparation ; but looking now at the fact that the flow of water has been increased from twenty-five gallons in 1864, to one thousand gallons in 1867, 20 the prudence of ample provision of the proper sort for farther increase, not, it is to be hoped indeed, in that high ratio, is most earnestly enjoined." Mr. Latrobe is very decided, also, in the opinion that the main pumps ought to be outside of the tunnel, for the reason that " the position of these and the larger pumps within the tunnel, although attended with advantage on the score of econ¬ omy in the transmission of steam and assistance to ventilation, is coupled with the risk of submersion and damage, should the tunnel again fill in consequence of serious disaster to the pumps." (It will be remembered that the work in the West Shaft was stopped from four to six months last year on account of water.) But Mr. Qrocker adheres to the makeshift system, and declares, most emphatically, " Were I to express my humble opinion, or if the work was my own, I would not freight the heavy Wilmington machinery, (the pumps recommended by Mr. Latrobe,) for a year's use of it, if the freight was the only charge. When AVell No. 4 and the adit between it and West Shaft is finished, I shall transfer the pumping machines to it, and save thirty-two feet of lift, or thirteen and one-half per cent. ; and I want no pump or boiler that I cannot easily move from its present position in the supplementary shaft." Thus do the doctors disagree. Meantime, the patient pays the bills. Whichever system is adopted —Mr. Latrobe's, who comprehends the magnitude of the enterprise, and who would adopt a system which shall be most effective and most econom¬ ical in the long run ; or Mr. Crocker's, whose system is one of temporary expediency, running for luck, aiming to show great immediate apparent results, believing that every additional appropriation made by the State increases the probability that she will keep on — whichever system is adopted, everybody knows that the cost of maintaining, repairing and replacing machinery, worked as all machinery performing such service must be, is very great; and however Mr. Crocker may strive to present only the bright side, the fact is, that hereafter the legitimate annual expense for machinery will be greater than 21 the average for the last five years (omitting the Deerfield dam as strictly exceptional). But even this calculation, with its frightful result, is made upon a basis too favorable to be applied to future operations. About one-third of the excavation last year was done by Dull, Gowan & Co., under contract. Of the whole 25,808 cubic yards, Dull, Gowan & Co. removed 2,944 cubic yards of heading and 4,391 yards of enlargement, total 7,335 yards, for which, under their contract, they were paid $53,110, averaging $7.24 per cubic yard, while the work done under Mr. Crocker cost $29.70 per cubic yard. Deducting the amount paid them from the total expenditure of the 14 months, $603,666 — $53,110=$550,556, which is the amount it cost the State to excavate 18,473 cubic yards. The question of the cost of completing the tunnel on this basis would be answered by the solution of the following problem : If 14,473 yards cost $550,556, what will 412,206 yards (remain¬ ing undone January 1, 1868,) cost? Answer, $15,628,000, without interest ! Of course the work done by Dull, Gowan & Co. is fairly chargeable with its proportion of contingent expenses borne by the State, and this would increase the cost of that portion of the year's work and diminish proportionately the cost of the portion done by Mr. Crocker, and thus bring the cost of completing the work, on the basis of work done by Mr. Crocker last year, somewhat below this sum. In another respect, certainly, the cost of the whole work of last year, gives too favorable a basis for future calculations. Over one-third of the work of the year was done at prices below cost, — so much below as to break, clown the contractors. It would be clearly unfair to claim that the work hereafter can be done as low as it was done last year, when over one-third of last year's work was done below cost, under a contract made with able, energetic men, who struggled desperately to make their ends meet and failed. And yet Mr. Crocker is using the result of the labors of men who worked for the State to their 22 own loss, to prove tlifit hereafter he can carry on this work to an early completion, while his own work cost the State at least three times as much per cubic yard as that done by the very men whose work at ruinous prices he makes the foundation of his claim to triumphal achievements in the future. Of course it is unfair to compare Dull, Gowan & Co.'s work with a portion of that done by Mr. Crocker, as some portion, the west approach for instance, was much more costly, and for this reason it will not do for Mr. Crocker to claim that he can complete the tunnel at the price per yard paid to Dull, Gowan & Co. Hitherto, I have calculated only the cost of completing the tunnel from January 1, 1868. My aim has been to confine attention to the single question, Is the tunnel worth finishing to¬ day ? Is it better to lose what we have expended, or to expend ten or fifteen millions more, and in the end lose the whole? But this record of folly would be incomplete if we omit the entire cost to the State., of this enterprise, from the beginning. The first report of the Commissioners (p. 23,) gives the net amount, principal and interest, of the advances by the State up to January 1, 1863, as $968,862. The sums expended from that time to January 1, 1868, were as follows : — In 1863, (one-half of two years, $415,483,) . $207,742 00 1864, 207,742 00 1865, 477,142 00 1866, 590,904 00 1867, 975,514 00 $2,459,044 00 The interest on the advances from January 1, 1863, and on the expenditures from their dates respectively to the time we have estimated for the completion of the tunnel, January 1, 1879, amounts to $3,516,000. We have then the following as the 23 Total Cost to the State, of Road and Tunnel from the Beginning to its Completion. Amount of advances to 1863, ... $ 908,862 00 of expenditures from 1863 to 1868, 2,459,044 00 Interest on above, to January 1, 1879, . 3,516,000 00 Cost of completing, from January 1, 1868, (ante, p. 14,) ..... 14,636,380 00 Ultimate cost to the State, . . . $21,520,286 00 And this estimates for a single track only. Another track will add, for construction and iron, nearly a million more. This is the entertainment to which we are now invited by the men who originally humbly asked the State for the privilege of " building their own road with their own money." I am aware that the figures representing the ultimate cost of this work are startling compared with the confident assertion of the tunnelites ; they seem too extravagant for credit. But I challenge the most captious critic to detect a flaw either in the premises or the result. I have shown that all the predictions of the friends of the work have been falsified, their estimates of cost have been exceeded five to tenfold ; that the most careful estimates of engineers, fair-minded and scientific experts, have uniformly fallen fifty, a hundred, two hundred per cent, short of actual results. I have taken the past as the only reliable basis, and the last year as the most favorable year. I have shown why the result of last year's operations was more favor¬ able than can reasonably be expected hereafter, for three rea¬ sons : — 1st, Because over one-third of the work was done for less than cost ; 2d, because under Mr. Crocker's makeshift pol¬ icy, the depreciation of machinery has not been provided for ; 3d, because, inevitably, as the tunnel progresses into the moun¬ tain, the cost, from increase of distance, water, and other hid¬ den difficulties, must increase. I have, however, added nothing to the cost hereafter on these accounts, but have calculated it 24 on the basis of last year's work, and there is the result ; and I defy criticism. Clamor, glamour, hallucinations, will no longer avail. Let the friends of the tunnel point out the mistake in these figures, or let them honestly state that they ask an appro¬ priation this year, for the prosecution of a work which must cost the people of this State from this time forward, principal and interest, from twelve to twenty millions of dollars. But admitting, for a moment, that we are all wrong, — that the premises furnished by Mr. Crocker and his friends are in¬ correct, that the calculations are bad, the rules of arithmetic are suspended, that the multiplication table lies, and " division is as bad,"— let us estimate the cost of completing road and tunnel on the basis of Mr. Latrobe's estimate in his first report. He prudently omits interest. We will supply it. His estimate is, that the tunnel can be completed in eight and one-half years from January 1, 1867, at a cost of $3,633,640 without inter¬ est. (Since that time, one-sixth of this amount has been ex¬ pended and one-fourteenth part of the work has been done.) To this is to be added the cost of the road. We have to pick up the items as we best can. I will assume it to be $625,000. (It will largely exceed that.) This will make the cost of road and tunnel, from January 1, 1867, $4,258,640. This would allow an expenditure of $500,000 yearly. Computing the in¬ terest on the half-yearly expenditures at six per cent., com¬ pounded semi-annually, and the amount would be — Principal, ...... $4,258,640 00 Interest, ...... 1,358,175 00 Total cost, under Mr. Latrobe's estimate, $5,616,815 00 We come now to the second question : — How Long will it take to Finish the Tunnel ? Here again we must discard all predictions. Twenty years ago it was to be finished in three to five years. Mr. Brooks 25 estimated from seven and one-half to eight years. Five years have gone, and thirteen and one-third per cent, of the whole has been done. Air. Latrobe calculated last year that it could be "finished in éight and one-half years from January 1, 1867." Well, we have since then the result of fourteen months of ac¬ tive work, driven as it never was driven before, viz. : during these fourteen months, one-seventeenth, or 5T9ff per cent, of the work undone Nov. 1, 1866, has been done; which would give for one year's work at the same rate, a trifle over five per cent, of the whole. These calculations show how utterly unreliable any estimates are as to time, as well as to cost. Taking, then, last year's work as the basis of calculation for the future, we arrive at the following result. On the 1st of January, 1868, there were 412,306 cubic yards of rock to be excavated. In fourteen months, they had removed 25,808 yards, which would give for twelve months, 22,110 yards. If it took one year to remove 22,110 yards, how long would it take to remove 412,306 yards? Answer, two hundred and twenty-four months, or eighteen and two-thirds years. Now, the victims of tunnel on the brain may scout at these figures ; but the premises are undeniably correct, and the logic is irresistible. But, assuming as we did in calculating the cost, that, by workina: two additional faces at the Central Shaft, and increas- o ' ing the force upon the enlargement, they double the progress, (it will be three years before the Central Shaft reaches grade, even at the rate of progress of last year,) this will carry them through "in twelve or thirteen years ; and this, upon their own premises, with their own results, is the shortest possible time for the completion of this new avenue for the wealth of the West to Massachusetts — this is the result of the method of the Eailway King to meet the immediate exigency for the commer¬ cial necessities of Boston ! We come now to the most important question, perhaps, of all, What will the Tunnel be Worth? I admit that if it can be shown conclusively, or even reason- 4 2ß ably, tbat this road will be worth all it costs, all my figures about cost are wasted. If it were clearly shown that, as ail in¬ vestment, the tunnel would pay, the State might have some justification for undertaking it. Or, if the opening of this route w mid develop the resources of this State, or if it reached new fields of wealth or trafile in other States, and thus brought new business to Massachusetts, I agree that these advantages might be of such magnitude as to render its construction by the State comparatively unobjectionable. Can either of these propositions be maintained ? Will the Tunnel Pay as an Investment? The question is answered before it is asked. If the road to the Hudson River through the tunnel should ever be opened, it must compete, as an entire line, for through freight, which, its friends admit, must be its main reliance, with the Boston and Albany road, and other lines bringing Western traffic to Bos¬ ton, and of course cannot charge for through freight, to or from Troy, higher rates than the other roads charge for similar traffic. The Boston and Albany road will have cost, with double track, $17,500,000, or nearly $90,000 per mile; and, consid¬ ering it solely as a matter of dollars and cents, the managers graduate their tariff for freight and passengers, with reference to fair dividends on that sum, and no road can compete success¬ fully with that road if they charge higher rates. Of course, then, unless it can be shown that the traffic will be larger on the tunnel route than on the Boston and Albany, the tariff must be substantially the same on each line. In arranging the division of receipts between the different roads composing the tunnel line, each road must receive its proportion according to its length, and not according to its cost. The connecting roads may now, for a purpose, make professions of a willingness to allow the Troy and Greenfield road more than its proportional share of the income ; but this will last only till the State is in so deep that she must go through. In 27 the end this line will be managed just as all similar railroad lines in the world are managed — each road will receive its share of income in proportion to its length, and no more. It is fair to assume that the tunnel line, if finished through, will cost, (not including the tunnel,) about the same as the Boston and Albany road, $90,000 per mile. This is about the average of well-equipped double-track roads in Massachusetts. In the division of receipts with connecting roads, the Troy and Greenfield road would be entitled to ¿|{ of the income of the entire line, and its whole income could pay a dividend only on the fair cost of its road as compared with other roads — that is, to a dividend on $3,800,000. All that the tunnel costs, over this amount, on this theory, will be dead loss. I need not say that this calculation assumes half a dozen favorable elements which do not and never will exist in this case. It assumes that the local traffic on this forty-two and a half miles will be the same as on the rest of the line and on competing roads ; it assumes that at the start the through traffic will be the same on this line as on the Boston and Albany ; it assumes that, with a half a dozen lines competing for Western traffic, a link in this line, with an entirely insig¬ nificant local traffic, can derive a remunerating income from through traffic alone. But I waste time in showing what even its friends admit, that o 7 the tunnel can never pay as an investment, and that every dol¬ lar put into it by the State will be lost. But the opening of another avenue to the West ! The pouring of the products of Western prairie and forest into Boston, making her the com¬ mercial metropolis of the continent ! Let us look at this soberly. We have been humbugged long enough. The simple question is, Is there any exigency for another railroad to connect the New York Central Railroad with Boston ? The Comparative Length of the Routes. It seems to have been taken for granted that there is a large saving in distance by the Tunnel route, over the Western. As 28 a specimen of these disingenuous — I will not say dishonest — attempts to mystify the public on this point, look at a table of distances given by Hon. Alvah Crocker, in a speech in the Senate in 1862. True, he states that it is " a table of distances from Troy ; " but the table is got up to show the advantage of the tunnel route over the Western, and the design is to give the impression that it is a fair statement of the relative merits of the two routes in this respect. Otherwise, the table has no meaning. Thus he gives the distance " to Boston, via Western Bailroad, 208 miles; via Troy and Greenfield, 189 miles." Most people would understand this to mean that Boston is nineteen miles nearer to the West by the tunnel route than hy the Western. The rest of his table is equally deceptive, or more so. Now, the competing point is Schenectady. All the through traffic for both these routes comes to that point. Thence it is brought either by the New York Central road to Albany, for the Western road, or to Troy, for the tunnel route. The dis¬ tances from Schenectady to Boston are, Brom Boston to Schenectady, by Tunnel line, . 212 miles. From Boston to Schenectady, by Western line, . 217 miles. The tunnel line is five miles shorter, but this difference as a matter of time, would be nearly offset by the reduced speed at which trains would be obliged to run through the tunnel. o o Will the Tunnel Route open a New Traffic? Will it tap the West at a different point from existing routes? If it established a connection with a new line of railroad, or with the traffic which reaches the seaboard by way of Lake Ontario, it would be a great point in its favor. But, confess¬ edly, it does nothing of the kind. It simply goes to Schenec¬ tady, and then asks the New York Central road for a share in the traffic which otherwise would come through Albany to Boston. Clearly, then, the tunnel can make no pretensions that it will bring an additional ton of Western freight to Bos¬ ton, provided, the Western road has capabilities for bringing all that offers. 29 In dealing with this matter, we are to consider only the question whether the Western road is capable of bringing east¬ ward, from Albany, all the traffic that seeks Boston. I am not considering what the Western Railroad has done with a ferry at Albany, with forty miles of single track, with its present equipment and under its present management ; but what it is capable of doing with a bridge over the Hudson, with a double track all the way, and under a management full}' alive to the duty of making available the highest resources of modern railroad science and of meeting the commercial exi¬ gencies of the day. With a double track, and with an adequate equipment, there is hardly a limit to the capabilities of a railroad. Thus the Pennsylvania Railroad is tc-day taking freight trains of two hundred and forty tons each over its road, with a grade of 95 feet to the mile for fifteen miles ; whereas, the maximum grade on the Western road eastward is 75J feet to the mile for seven miles. This load of 240 tons is the gross weight of cars and freight, exclusive of engine and tender. Freight cars, well filled as through cars always are, constitute something less than fifty per cent, of the gross weight of the train. This will give something over fifty per cent, as the proportion of paying freight. Calling the net freight as fifty per cent, of the whole load, and we have 120 tons of paying freight to each train. On a double track road, with double the number of passenger trains now run by the Western road, freight trains can be run every twenty minutes and keep out of the way of passenger trains. We will estimate for a freight train each half hour. This will give 240 tons of freight per hour, 5,760 tons per day, and 1,797,120 tons in the year of 312 working days. This is eleven times the amount of freight (162,638 tons,) brought eastward by the Western road last year. But this calculation assumes that freight engines are used of the same size, or but a trifle larger than those now used on the Western road ; whereas, engines are now built, specially adapted to heavy traffic, which will carry nearly double the 30 load above stated. The introduction of them would increase the capacity of the Western road to over three millions of tons eastward annually. Practically, there is hardly a limit to the freighting capabilities of a double track road with adequate equipment. But cavillers may say, "These are estimates ; give us results actually accomplished." They are estimates ; but their cor¬ rectness cannot be disputed. However, here are facts : The New York Central road, with a local traffic probably three times as large as that of the Western Railroad; brought to Albany in I860, COO,000 tons of through freight. What hin¬ ders the Western road, with double track and fully equipped, bringing the same amount of freight to Boston ? The Pennsyl¬ vania Railroad, crossing the Alleghanies with heavy grades, carried about 2,600,000 tons of freight eastward, and the capacity of that line in the estimation of the directors was 6,000,000 of tons ! These are facts ; and what this road can do, the Western can do. But the old bugbear of the high grade on the Western road. o o o Of course, no one denies that the tunnel line has this advan¬ tage ; that its maximum gi-ade going east is somewhat less than that of the Western. But this is only a question of increased cost of freight. With auxiliary power used on the five miles of maximum grade near Pittsfield, this disadvantage would be entirely overcome. With this overcome, the Western line is exactly equal as to grades, (in curves it has the advantage,) to the tunnel line. What will it cost to put these two roads on a par in this respect? It reduces itself simply to the cost of auxiliary power to haul the freight up the five miles of maximum gi-ade. Throughout the rest of its entire line, the Western road is in every respect equal, and, as to curves, superior to the tunnel line. What, then, will be the ' Annual Cost of Auxiliary Power for these five miles ? I submitted this problem to a friend who is an accomplished engineer, who replied as follows : — 31 " The problem given by you, if I understand it aright, was to deter¬ mine the cost of an assistant engine on five miles of 75 feet grade, and the number of tons that could be passed, allowing thirty minutes be¬ tween trains. The cost of a first-class engine, with engineer, fireman, fuel and repairs, was formerly covered by about §20 per day. Owing to the large increase in all expenses, we will call it §40. 100 miles per day; at an average of 10 miles per hour, is a full day's work for a freight engine. If trains run day and night, there will 48 trains, in the 24 hours, with 30 minutes intervals. One engine can make ten round trips over the grade; 48 trips will require five engines on road, and a reserve of two engines in shop, — in all, seven. Cost per day of engines, $5x40 =$200. An engine weighing thirty tons will haul fourteen cars, weighing seven tons each, with a load of ten tons, on a grade of 75 feet in the mile. "If, on other parts of the line, the maximum grade eastward be as¬ sumed at 50 feet, an engine can haul on this grade twenty cars, and, aided by the assistant engine on the steep grade, twenty cars to a train would measure the capacity of the road. 48 trains in 24 hours, 200 tons to a train, 300 days to a year, would give a capacity for eastward freights uniformly distributed, and all the cars fully loaded, of 2,880,- 000 tons ; but this regularity of movement is unattainable. It may be calculated, however, that the capacity would not be less than 1,500,000 tons. "The cost of the assistant engines would be $200x300—$60,000 allowing for interest on cost of reserve engines, extra wear of track, &e., 20,000 ; total, $80,000, to cover all contingencies. This is equiv¬ alent to 5J cents per ton ; or one cent per ton per mile on the steep grade, will cover the cost of assistant power, and add 50 per cent, to the capacity of the road." This estimate, it will be observed, gives $80,000 as the extra cost for auxiliary power for 1,500,000 tons ; that is, it will cost to bring 1,500,000 tons of freight to Boston by way of Albany $80,U00 more than it will to bring the same amount of freight to Boston by way of Troy — nearly ten times the largest amount of through freight ever brought in one year from Albany to Boston. And this constitutes the whole of the exigency for building another railroad to connect with the New York Cen¬ tral Railroad. Not another through passenger will be brought to Boston nor a cent cheaper ; not another ton of through freight will be brought to Boston ; but a traffic ten times larger than the highest yet known can be brought to Boston for $80,000 per year — which is the interest of $1,333,333. To save this sum of $80,000 per year, the State is asked to build another 32 road, which will cost in the end an amount, the annual interest of which will be over a million of dollars ! The people of this State are to be taxed over a million dollars yearly to save $80,- 000 yearly ! The New York Central Railroad carried last year, in both di¬ rections, through and local, 1,600,000 tons of freight — all told. 1 have not the statement of the proportions of through and local freight ; about one-quarter of the whole has heretofore been about the proportion of eastward through freight. This would give about 400,000 tons of eastward through freight on the o 7 O O Central road last year. The Western road could have brought the whole of this to Boston for an additional cost of $25,000. Does this constitute an exigency for building the tunnel,—to bring a fraction of this freight to Boston ? o o I have tried to show the utter folly of building a railroad solely for the purpose of competing at Schenectady for a traffic, every particle of which will come to Boston if the tunnel is never built. But a new hallucination has been conjured up this winter, viz. : The Atlantic and Ontario Line. Mr. Edward Crane stands godfather to this bantling and ad¬ vocates it with all his usual enthusiasm. Mr. Crane sees very clearly that the idea of' building the tunnel to bring Western traffic to Boston is sheer folly ; for he says, " When you strike the Hudson where barges or steamboats will float, and tugs take boats to New York, there is a cheaper transit to tide-water, and you may build all the Hoosac Tunnels you please, and your money will be where you put it, bearing no interest." (Call you that backing your friends ?) What then ! He goes on : " The point of commercial competition is not at Newburg, not at Albany, not at Troy, but on Lake Ontario at the point nearest the seaboard. A line of three hundred and sixty miles from Boston, via Hoosac Mountain, Eagle Bridge, Saratoga, to the best point on Ontario, shows the point of commercial com¬ petition for all time." 33 Now, in the first place, after the road is built from Saratoga to Lake Ontario, what is to prevent the traffic going from Sara¬ toga twenty odd miles by rail to Albany, and then one hundred and fifty miles by water to New York, which he admits is " cheaper than by any other method," instead of going from Saratoga by rail ttvo hundred and twenty odd miles through the tunnel to Boston? Again, the traffic for this road is to come through the Wei- land Canal, and over Lake Ontario, both of which are closed by ice six months in the year ! Again, who is to build the road from Saratoga to Oswego? Mr. Crane knows full well that New York null not invest a dol¬ lar in a road, the purpose of which is to bring Western trade to Boston. He knows, too, as everybody knows, that Massachu¬ setts capitalists who have refused to aid the tunnel will not invest fifteen or twenty millions of dollars in a similar enter¬ prise outside of the State. When, therefore, Mr. Crane appeals to "Massachusetts to put the tunnel through, to reach, not Troy, but the point of competition on Lake Ontario," he admits that the road from our State line to Lake Ontario can be built only by the State. I think she will either get or forget the tunnel before she enters upon a still more Quixotic enterprise. Let us look at this scheme for a moment, soberly if we can. I don't know what Mr. Crane means by a railroad from Sara¬ toga to Oswego. The line for such a road must run south of the mountainous region which almost touches the Central Bail road thirty miles west of Albany and extends to Lake Ontario, within a few miles of and parallel to the Central road nearly to Oswego. A road from Eagle Bridge over this route is simply an absurdity. I conclude he must mean the Saratoga and Sackett's Harbor route. This line runs for a hundred miles, more or less, through the " New York Wilderness," a region almost inaccessible, explored rarely by hardy trappers, with an occasional lumberman's shanty on a lake or river — a country which will never be settled until chaos is over-populated. I know something about this region and this railroad route. I 5 34 have shot many a deer in its forests, caught many a trout in its lakes and rivers, and " shantied " in the railroad surveyors' cabins ; and, freshly as I recollect the tortures I endured from musquitoes, black flics and punkies, I am comforted in reflect¬ ing that I did not bring upon myself still greater suffering by investing, as I was urged to do, in the Saratoga and Sackett's Harbor Railroad. Fourteen years ago — how much longer I know not — it was pushed " vigorously." Enthusiastic but not very far-seeing capitalists were drawn into it ; hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, were sunk ; millions of acres of lands were bought by its friends, a large portion of which has reverted to the State for non-payment of taxes ; time and again it changed hands ; all its projectors lost all they invested, and all that came of it was some fifteen or twenty miles of worthless railroad from Saratoga towards Sackett's Harbor. I do not believe there is much danger that Massachusetts will resuscitate this defunct concern, or that the suggestion of this scheme will materially influence the judgment of our legislators in deciding upon the expediency of continuing work on the Hoosac Tunnel. In the last " North American Review," Mr. Charles Francis Adams, Jr., has an interesting paper on " Boston,"in which he discusses this tunnel question with judicial clearness and fair¬ ness. I might take exception to the statement that the con¬ struction of such a road (from Saratoga to Sackett's Harbor,) would be both feasible and cheap." Feasibility is a relative term ; so, perhaps, is cheapness ; but, as compared with New England railroads, this road could hardly be cheap. The route runs for over a hundred miles through the New York wilder¬ ness, a region literally covered with mountains, lakes and rivers ; with no valleys or level lands that are not covered with water. Coming east, there is one continuous grade, forty to fifty miles long, some forty or fifty feet to the mile, through a country of the most difficult engineering, and where the construction of any railroad, and especially of one fitted for a large traffic, must be very expensive. Still, money would build it, and therefore 35 it is feasible ; and if there were sufficient object, it might in the end be cheap. Is there an adequate object? Mr. Adams answers this question very conclusively in the following extracts, (pp. 575 and 576:—) "To the Bostonian, however, one doubt suggests itself: Would that movement be to Boston, or would it be to New York? The eastern terminus of the proposed line is Saratoga, and Saratoga is alarmingly near the head-waters of the Hudson, — is already connected by railroad with Troy, « " By whomever built, owned, or managed, the proposed road must be no less open to freight moving from Saratoga to New York than from Saratoga to Boston. " So far as this road is concerned, therefore, Saratoga and Troy must be considered as one, and both as placed at the head-waters of the Hud¬ son,—that river so fatal, which always will flow to the sea. This plan, therefore, while it is brilliant and deserving of careful consideration, while it promises rich returns for the outlay it demands, while to the West it is of the first importance, cannot be considered as undoubtedly tending to the commercial development of Boston. It is more likely to bridge the peninsula from Ontario to the head-waters of the Hudson than from Ontario to tide-water. " This is certainly the view taken of this project by enterprising New Yorkers. It entered into the discussions of the Detroit Convention in 1865, and Mr. Littlejohn, there representing New York, said of it: " ' The nearest point on Lake Ontario to the Hudson River is Sackett's Harbor, and next Oswego. From one or the other of these points, pri¬ vate enterprise will soon construct a double track railway to Troy or Albany. A propeller of fifteen hundred tons could leave Chicago and reach the lower end of Lake Ontario in six days. A traiu could be loaded up by an elevator from the vessel and despatched every two hours, which would take from 200,000 to 250,000 bushels to the Hudson River in every twenty-four hours. The cost of transferring the grain from the vessel to the cars would be but a quarter of a cent per bushel, and the law of gravitation would carry it into the barge at Troy or Albany, and another day would put it on board the ship for Liverpool. ' It may well, therefore, be questioned whether Boston should now turn her attention to the construction of new and dubious lines of communi¬ cation. While the lines already constructed are but half finished, and not utilized to a tenth part of their capacity, she may find in their instant development ample field for enterprise and investment of capital. " To their consolidation and enlightened management she may well direct all her superfluous energies for the next five years. She had best fight it out on that line." Thus far I have considered this Iloosac Tunnel enterprise only in its commercial and financial bearings and results. As a disturbing element in our politics and legislation, it has been 36 demoralizing and mischievous to an extent which dollars and cents fail to measure. My attention was first directed to the disturbing agency of this selfish and malignant element by the election of 1861. In the summer of that year, the controversy arose between Gover¬ nor Andrew and Mr. Haupt, which resulted in the suspension of the work. The following tables of the votes of the tunnel towns proper in 1860 and 1861, will show perfectly that the people of that region considered the tunnel question paramount to all political issues. It will be seen that these towns, which in 1860 gave a vote of nearly five to one for Andrew over Beach, in 1861 gave an actual majority to Mr. Davis. I give the votes also for lieutenant-governor in 1861, to show that the hostility was to Governor Andrew. Governor, I860. Governor and Lieut.Gov., 1861. ¡j « -a g «¡ j¡ o CI g m i