MEMORIAL
OF THE
JOINT COMPANIES,
TO THE
SENATE AND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE
STATE OF NEW JERSEY.
The Executive Committee of the Joint Companies, (the
Delaware and Raritan Canal and the Camden and Amboy
Railroad and Transportation Companies,) would respectfully
represent, that they perceive by the newspapers containing
the proceedings of your honorable bodies, that an act to in¬
corporate the Princeton and Trenton Railroad Company has
passed the House of Assembly, without the consent of the said
Companies, and which, if made, undoubtedly will compete in
business with the railroad of the Joint Companies, and that
other applications are pending for charters for railroads to
compete in business with the Joint Companies, which if passed
into laws, will be, not only in violation of laio, but will, to use
the language of an act of a former Legislature, be " unjust,
2
ivipolitic, and in violation of the plighted faith of the State,
and deeply injurious to its interests !" What is that contract ?
New Jersey has leased the right of way across the State to
these companies for the purpose of a canal and railroad for a
term of years ; the canal and railroad to be built at the ex¬
pense and risk of the lessees, and at the end of the lease the
State to have the right to take the works at an appraised
value not to exceed their cost. Was this a lease gratuitously
granted by the Legislature, which could be altered, amended
or abrogated at their pleasure ? By no means. It was on a
full and valuable consideration. The lessees or companies
pay the State for this lease the dividends on two thousand
shares of stock, and a transit duty on every passenger and
ton of merchandize carried across the State, already amount¬
ing to the annual sum of one hundred and forty thousand two
hundred and eighty-six dollars ; and the amount which has
been received from the Companies by the State, up to the
present time, has exceeded the sum of two millions three
hundred and thii-ty-six thousand dollars, in addition to the
two thousand shares of stock, the first cost of which is two
hundred thousand dollars—besides the additional expense of
one million of dollars for the enlargement of the canal, over
and above the sum required by the original charter—to which
may be added the sum of two millions eighty-eight thou¬
sand dollars for the construction of lateral roads, which the
Joint Companies have been principally instrumental in con¬
structing, for the accommodation of the public in different
parts of the State, and which probably would not have been
made by any other parties, and certainly would not have
been made by the Joint Companies but for their exclusive
privileges, Qn jlie part of the State it was enacted that no
other railroad should be authorized during the existence of
the charters of the Joint Companies, to compete with these
lessees in business. It is a contract, therefore, in which there
is a perfect mutuality—both parties are bound, and both
benefitted. The section of the law granting the exclusive
privileges, may be found in the act of the second of March,
eighteen hundred and thirty-two, and is as follows >
■ Sec. 2. And he it enacted, That it shall not be lawful, at
any time during the said railroad charter, to construct any
other railroad or railroads in this State, without the consent
of the said Companies, which shall be intended or used for
the transportation of passengers or merchandize between the
cities of New York and Philadelphia, or to compete in busi¬
ness with the railroad authorized by the act to which this
supplement is relative ; provided always, that nothing in this
act shall be so construed as to prevent the construction of a
railroad from the city of New Brunswick to the Hudson
river, or any lateral road that may be hereafter authorized
by an act of the Legdslature, from a suitable point or points
intersecting said road, to be designated and agreed upon by
the said Companies, or any lateral road or roads not intended
or used for the purpose of competition as aforesaid.
Briefly to recapitulate, the case stands thus. In eighteen
hundred and thirty-two the Legislature of New Jersey granted
to the Joint Companies an exclusive privilege, which has
cost the Companies what their works would have cost them
without protection—more than four millions of dollars. The
State has received during the year past the sum of one hun¬
dred and forty thousand two hundred and eighty-six dollars,
and has for the last twenty-eight years received, semi-an¬
nually, the full amount of her interest under the contract ;
4
and while she has been the recipient of so large a revenue,
she has at no time paid, or promised to pay or hazarded one
dollar in the construction of or for the protection of the
works. The Companies have, for more than a quarter of a
century, been greatly instrumental in promoting the pros¬
perity and happiness of the commonwealth, by supplying a
source of revenue more than sufficient to defray the whole
annual expenses of the State government, and have largely
contributed to the convenience and business of the people by
reducing the fares to an average rate lower, as we believe,
than any other railroad in or out of the boundaries, of the
State. This will fully appear by the table of rates now
charged on the railroads of the Companies, and which will
be submitted.
It will thus be perceived that there is not only a contract
between the State and the Joint Companies, but an executed
contract. The Companies have faithfully completed the
works as required, and have paid to the State the considera¬
tion for a number of years, according to the terms of the
contract. The State has never questioned its validity, but
on the contrary, the Legislature has at different periods re¬
affirmed its validity by acts and resolutions, as may be seen
by examining their proceedings in the years 1832, '35, '37,
and '54.
In conclusion, we may be permitted to refer to the opin¬
ions of some of the a!blest lawyers in the United States^
among whom may be found our venerated fellow citizens.
Gov. Williamson, Gen. Wall, Judge Southard, and George
Wood, Esq., and also to a recent decision of the highest
court in the State of Virginia, which is as follows :
"The decision of_the Court of Appeals of Virginia, made
in the case of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac
5
Railroad vs. the Virginia Central Railroad, prohibits the
latter road and its connections hereafter from carrying
through passengers between Richmond and Washington, as
the right to do so was granted exclusively to the former
road, for twenty-seven years, by its charter. The decision
further decrees that the Central road and its connections
shall refund the amount received for through travel, after
deducting the fare paid to it while the Fredericksburg route
was obstructed by ice in the Potomac. The amount to be
refunded is about two hundred and fifty thousand dollars."
To set at rest forever this question, that has so much agi¬
tated, in times gone past, the community ; and in the hope
that the relinquishment of the exclusive privileges at a given
period, without calling upon the State to purchase the works
—as they were bound by the terms of the charter—the Joint
Companies, without adequate consideration, agreed to relin¬
quish them in eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, as a final
compromise and adjustment, which has not, since eighteen
hundred and fifty-four till the present session of the Legisla¬
ture, been disturbed.
Now, in this view of the contract of the Companies, and
remembering above all that the faith of the State has been
so often pledged for the security of innocent parties who have
vested their money in these works solely in virtue of that
pledged faith, which is as conspicuous and reliable now as it
was in the days of our fathers, who hazarded their all on
their sacred honor—a contract adhered to by both parties with
such uncompromising fidelity for twenty-eight years,and which
has but nine years to continue—how can any honorable man
or patriotic citizen stand up and say, "J repudiate it!"
By order of Committee,
JAMES S. GREEN, Secretary.
TABLES OF RATES.
Statement of one of the 'principal Railroads in each State,
length in miles, through fare and way fare per mile.
NAME OF STATE.
NAME OF RAILKOAD.
Kennebec, Portland and Somerset
Northern Kailroad of New Hampshire..
Rutland and Burlington
Western Railroad
Stonington and Providence
New York and New Haven
New York Central
Pennsylvania Central
Baltimore and Ohio
Delaware, Newcastle and Wilmington..
Virginia Central..
North Carolina Railroad
Greenville and Columbia
Central Railroad of Georgia
Montgomery and West Point
Mobile and Ohio
New Orleans. Opelousas and Great Western..
Nashville and Chattanooga
Louisville and Lexington
Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati
Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago
Illinois Central
Michigan Central
Milwaukie and Minnesota..
North Missouri
120
200
50
76
298
353
379
85
195
225
143
190
88
261
80
151
94
255
467
455
284
200
146
4961 $156 31
25 Roads. Through fare average, 3 15-100 cents per mile. Way fare average, 3 41-100 cents
per mile. Average of way and through, 3 29K-100 cents per mile.
11
Memorandum March 1, 1860, of Fares of Camden and JLm-
hoy Rail Road, and Philadelphia and Trenton R. R.
From. To. Miles. Fare
Philadelphia, Beverly 15.25 .20 1
Burlington, 18.25 -25 . ^
SordeÄ, 27.25 -Jg ^ Jersey.
Trenton, 33.25 .50
Bristol, 20.00 .25
Trenton, 30.00 .50
\
Pennsylvania.
144.00 2.08
Average per mile, 1 44-100 cent.
LATERAL ROADS.
Freehold Rail Road.
Miles. Fare.
Freehold to New York, 55 .50
Mount Holly Rail Road.
Mount Holly to Philadelphia, 24| .38
Belvidere Delaware Rail Road, 94 1.80
Average per mile, 1 54-100 cent.
1731 2.68
Memorandum, March 1, 1860, of fare of JVew Jersey Rail¬
road Company,
Fare.
.25
.30
.35
.50
.13
.25
.50
From.
New York,
To.
Newark,
Miles.
9.23
Elizabeth,'
14.69
It
Rahway,
19.75
t(
New Brunswick,
31..55
Newark,
Elizabeth,
5.46
tl
Rahway,
10.52
New Brunswick,
22.32
Average per mile, two cents.
113.52
2-28
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EXCURSIONS.
Camden and Amhey, and Philadelphia and Trenton Railroa d
Company.
From. To. Miles. E-xcur. Fare.
Philadelphia, Bristol, 40 .25
" Burlington, 36.50 .25
" Trenton, 60 .75
136.50 1.25
Average per mile, 91-100 cent.
EXCURSIONS.
JVéw Jersey Railroad Company.
From. To. Miles. Excur. Fare.
New York, Newark, 18.46 .40
'• Elizabeth, 29.38 .50
" Rahway, 39.50 .60
" New Brunswick, 63.10 1.00
150.44 2.50
Average per mile, 1 66-100 cent.
f
13
Camden and Amhoy and Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad
Company Yearly Tickets.
From. To. Miles. Yearly Ticket.
Philadelphia Burlington, 18.25 $50
" Bordentown, 27.25 65
" Trenton, , 30.00 65
75.50] $180
Average per mile, $2.38.
JVeia Jersey Railroad Company. Yearly Tickets.
From. To. Miles. Yearly Ticket.
New York, Newark, 9.23 $50
" Elizabeth, 14.69 55
" Rahway, 19.75 60
" New Brunswick, 31.55 65
75.22 $280
Average per mile, $3.05.
14
\
Miles of Route without Ferries.
Miles.
Camden & Amboy Rail Road runs 153.25
New Jersey Rail Road runs 30.55
The New Jersey being less than one-sixth of the distance.
AVERAGE OF FARES ON C. & A. & N. J. R. R.—1860.
Average Rate per Mile.
The G. & A. and * TheNewJer-
Ph. and Tr. R. R. sey R. R.
.1.44 Way fares. .2.00
.1.54 Lateral roads, .1.89
.91 Excursion, .1.66
$2.38 Annual commutation, $3.05
Fares taken from Appleton's Guide for 1860, of Roads in
25 States.
Through fare, average per mile, .3.15
Way fare, " " .3.44
General average, .3.29|
Average per Mile of Fares on C. ^ A. R. R.—1860.
Way, .1-44
Through, .3.07
General average, .2.25^