LETTER OE HON. E. W. BIRD,
II
ADDRESSED TO
GEORGE H. MIJmOE, OF ROXBURY.
Published in the Boston Journal, Nov, 3, 1862.
EXTRACTS FROM THE PÜBLISHED SPEECH
OF
HON. WM. D. SWAN,
Delivered in the Senate April 16, 1862.
EXTRACTS FROM THE CONCLUSION OF THE REPORT
OF THE
OOMMISSIONEE-S
ON THE
TROY AXD GREENFIELD R. R. AND HOOSAC TUNNEL,
Made February 28, 1863.
LETTER OF HOI. F. W. BIRD.
East Walpole, November 1, 1862.
My Dear Sir,—In reply to your note of yesterday I have
to say ;
The " Tunnel " fight was organized and directed by three
members of the Third House.
The Tunnel matter came before the Senate late in the
session, when many important questions demanded the
attention of the Senate and rendered it very difficult for
them to make personal investigations.
As to Mr. Swan, he very frankly declared that the whole
subject was so new to him that he must rely upon us for his
materials.
His published speeches upon the Tunnel, upon which his
fame as a práctical legislator is based by his friends, were
written substantially by one of us beforehand, and after¬
wards revised by all of us for the press.
We furnished every fact, made every calculation, prepared
every table and arranged every point and every argument
logically and rhetorically.
I think the only portion of the pamphlet speech which is
original, is the rather extravagant compliments to me against
which I protested as not pertinent, and in bad taste.
This is matter of no great moment. I feel quite sure
that Mr. Swan himself would answer your inquiries sub¬
stantially as I have, for I think he does not ask for votes on
false pretences.
By the way, is n't it amusing to hear ofir conservative
friends denouncing Frank Bird as a " radical," with no
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practical capacity, and extolling Bill Swan as a man of pre¬
eminent practical ability, as proved in his management of
the Tunnel question ?
You are at liberty to make what use of this you may
think proper.
Faithfully yours,
P. W. BIKD.
EXTRACTS FROM SPEECH OF HON. WM. D. SWAN.
Suppose you loan your money to an individual who is
engaged in some great enterprise, then loan him more, next
modify the contracts which you have made with him for
your security, be as lenient as you may, and after you have
loaned him nine hundred thousand dollars let him come up
to you boldly and say, "Loan me more money, or,you will
lose what you have already put in." How would you sub¬
mit to the demand ? Is there a gentleman at this Board,
Sir, who will go before his constituents and say that this is
the way he transacts business as an individual ? Is there a
gentleman here who tvould not say, as I have substantially
said in this bill : " No ; I have loaned you money ; you have
not done what you agreed to do ; I do not wish to lose my
money ; I like the enterprise in which you are engaged ; I
wish to see it carried through, but I have no confidence that
you ever can do it ;—and having loaned you this large
amount of money, I must now take possession of your prop¬
erty to protect myself ? "
I am aware. Sir, that it may be said ; " You are going to
stop a great enterprise." No I am not. I have no such
intention. I am in favor of the Hoosac Tunnel. If Massa-
chusetts has granted her aid for the accomplishment of any
great purpose, I am for going through with it. I am for
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going through with the tunnel ; but I am for going through
with it understandingly ; and if Massachusetts is to do the
work, let us know that we are to obtain something like an
equivalent for our expenditure.
Now, Mr. President, I take this occasion to say that I
very heartily sympathize in common with the Senators at
this Board with the managers of the Troy and Greenfield
Corporation ; I sympathize with the men who have been
carrying on this enterprise in their great struggles. In the
course of my life, which has not been an uneventful one to
me certainly, I have been engaged in great enterprises, and
I know what sleepless nights, hard-working days, and cease¬
less anxieties mean ; and I therefore say, that if I, as an
individual, had mortgaged my property, in an effort to
sustain any enterprise in which I was engaged, I should
really feel that I had a most lenient creditor if he should
come to me and say : "I do not believe that you can carry
through your work to completion ; I loanl you to succeed ; I
am willing to loan you more money, if I can see that your
plan is feasible ; but you must give me time, with an able
commission, to look over the whole matter ; but before doing
this, I must take possession of your property, under my
mortgage ; yet, while I do it, I do not intend to wrest it
from you, but will give you ten long years to redeem it ! "
And if. Sir, in relation to the Troy and Greenfield Railroad,
all the promises, all the prophecies, all the speculations in
reference to the great amount of freight coming from the
almost boundless prairies of the West, waiting even now for
an avenue through this tunnel to Boston, if all these brilliant
matter-of-fact statements, to say nothing of the poetry and
romance, if half of them be true, this Corporation will be
able to redeem the road after it is completed. We say,
then, to the Corporation, we will send intelligent commis¬
sioners to examine the road and tunnel, and if the report to
us, or our successors next year, is favorable to this great
enterprise, we will go on loith it ; we will bore Mole through
the mountain, we will arch it, lay the track, and give you
ten years in which to redeem the property.
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EXTRACTS FROM THE COMMISSIONERS' REPORT.
A very large proportion of these vast expenditures, to
take the Western trade to other cities, has been incurred
since Massachusetts made her only successful effort; and
while the avenues to other cities have been widening, deep¬
ening, and growing more numerous, those to Boston have
not been improved.
It has naturally resulted that the relations between the
West and the other Atlantic cities have grown more and
more intimate, and those with Boston less so, as the relative
distance between Boston and the West has year by year
increased.
We cannot but suggest, that Massachusetts can hardly
look with indifference upon the gradual waning of her rela¬
tions with those who, in the early future, must control the
country.
The impulse given to business by the new facility would
soon fill up the new line, and make up the temporary loss
felt by any other.
Considering the large sum which the Commonwealth has
already invested in this work, which must be sunk if it is
not completed ; the reasonable protection from loss which
is offered by the other Companies interested in the line ; the
more intimate relations it may promote between Massachu¬
setts and the West ; and the benefits which such an addi¬
tional facility promises to the great interests of the city and
State, we are of opinion that the work should be undertaken
by the Coml^nwealth, and completed as early as it can be,
with due regard to economy.