AN ACT TO INCORPOKATE THE PHILADELPHIA, EASTON AND WATER-GAP RAILROAD COMPANY. Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa¬ tives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , in General Assembly met , and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same , That John 0. James, Samuel H. Gillingham, Andrew Manderson, Elwood M. Smith, Josiah Brant, William E. Morris, Isaac S. Waterman, John Jordan, William P. Brock, William B. Hart, Charles Santee, Joseph M. Hol- lingshead, Harry Conrad, John Gilbert, James S. Young, Solomon Smith, Thomas Taylor, William Baiguel, John Ely, William C. Lud¬ wig, Samuel H. Bush, Daniel Dalby, Benjamin Kemerer, S. M. Bunn, George Barron, James Shields, Charles Koons, Milton Cooper, Henry Budd, John T. Maull, John Thomason, Joseph M. Thomas, and Peter Sieger, of Philadelphia County; William T. Rogers, John Brown, C. E. Wright, Stephen Brock, John B. Pugh, William S. Hendrie, R. Thornton, R. Watson, William Carr and E. J. Fox, of Bucks County; Peter Ihrie, M. H. Jones, Jacob Wagner, William H. Lawall, Michael Buttz, Jacob Rader, George Troxell, Jacob Rice, Augustus Wolle, G. H. Goundie, J. J. Levers, William Beitel, Samuel Straub, James M. Porter and Samuel Taylor, of Northamp¬ ton County ; and Joseph Lukens, John Shaffer, Sr., George Sechler, Jacob Wentz, Henry Dickenson, of Montgomery County, or any three of them, be, and they are hereby appointed commissioners, to open books, receive subscriptions, and organize a Company by the name, style and title of “The Philadelphia, Easton and Water Gap Railroad Company,” with power and authority to construct a Rail¬ road, beginning at a point North of Vine Street, in the County of Philadelphia, and thence by the most expedient and practicable route, 2 to or near the Borough of Easton, or some other point in Northamp¬ ton County, with the right to extend said Bailroad to any point or place in Monroe or Pike Counties, and to connect with the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Bailroad, the Delaware and Cobb’s Gap Bailroad, and the New York and Erie Bailroad, or any other Bailroad which may have connected with it in Pennsylvania, subject to all the provisions and restrictions of an Act regulating Bailroad Companies, approved the nineteenth day of February, one thousand eight-hundred and forty-nine, so far as the same are not altered or supplied by this act, and the said Pfiiladelphia, Easton and Water Gap Railroad Company shall have the right, subject to the provisions and restrictions of the Act aforesaid, to connect their Bail¬ road by lateral or branch-roads, with any Bailroad constructed or to be constructed, in any of the Counties through which the same may pass, and also to construct one or more bridges across the river Dela¬ ware, and to connect by one or more lateral or branch-roads with any Bailroad or other public improvement in the State of New Jersey. Section 2. That the Capital Stock of the said Company shall consist of thirty-thousand shares. Provided , That the said Company may, from time to time, by a vote of the Stockholders at a meeting called for the purpose, increase the Capital Stock if it shall be deemed necessary, to an amount sufficient to carry out the true intent and meaning of this Act. For the purpose of completing and equipping the said Bailroad, the said Company shall have the power of borrowing any sum not exceeding two-millions of dollars, at a rate of interest not exceeding seven per centum per annum, and to secure the pay¬ ment of the same by the issue of bonds and a mortgage of the said Bailroad, together with the corporate rights and franchise granted by this Act, and to annex to the said bonds and mortgage the privilege of converting the same into Capital Stock of the said Company at par, at the option of the holders, if they shall signify their election in writing so to convert the same one year before their maturity. Provided , That said Company shall issue no certificate of loan of less denomination than one-hundred dollars. Section 3. That said Company shall have power to connect with any Bailroad belonging to any other Company using part of said route in any and every case where it may be deemed inexpedient for a time to build the whole of the road authorized by this act; and said 2 \ Q-K.Oxt 3 Company shall have as full power and control over the part or parts built by said Company, in every respect, as if said Company had built the whole of the road authorized by this Act. Section 4. That if the said Company shall not commence the construction of said road within five years, and complete it in ten years from the passage of this Act, the same shall be null and void, except so far as the same may be necessary to settle up the affairs and pay the debts of said Company. JOHN S. RHEY, Speaker of the House of Representatives. JOHN H. WALKER, Speaker of the Senate. Approved the Eighth day of April, A. D., one-thousand eight- hundred and fifty-two. WM. BIGLER. SECRETARY’S OFFICE. Pennsylvania , ss: o 1 do hereby certify , that the foregoing and annexed is a true and 'C correct copy of the original Act of the General Assembly, as the same remains on file in this office. In testimony whereof , I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the Seal of the Secretary’s Office to be hereunto affixed, [seal.] at Harrisburg, this Twenty-sixth day of May, A. D. one-thousand eight-hundred and fifty-two. E. S. GOODRICH, Deputy Secretary of the Commonwealth. jh cr I 5 Section 4, of an Act Authorizing Municipal Subscriptions to the Philadelphia , Easton and Water-Gap Railroad Company. Sec. 4. That it shall be lawful for the constituted authorities of the City of Philadelphia, the incorporated districts in the County of Philadelphia, the Borough of Easton in the County of Northampton, and the counties of Monroe and Pike, or either of them, to subscribe for shares in the Capital Stock of the Philadelphia, Easton and Water Gap Bailroad Company, to borrow money to pay therefor, and to make provision for the principal and interest of the money so borrowed, as in other cases of loans to said City, Counties, Boroughs, and Town¬ ships, respectively; and no certificate of loan or bond shall be for a less sum than one hundred dollars, and shall be transferable only on the books of the respective City, Districts, Counties and Boroughs, kept for that purpose; and the certificates of loan or bonds to be issued by such authorities, for the purpose aforesaid, bearing an interest of six per cent, per annum, payable half-yearly, shall be re¬ ceived as cash at par by the said Company in payment of the instal¬ ments or shares subscribed, as aforesaid; and the said City, Counties, Boroughs and Townships, respectively, may vote at the elections of said Company, by their officers especially authorized for the purpose, in the same manner as individual stockholders; and the said Com¬ pany shall not sell or dispose of, below their par value, any bonds re¬ ceived in payment of stock subscriptions, as aforesaid, without giving at least sixty days’ notice to the municipal corporation having issued the same, that an instalment has been called in upon said stocks; and if the said corporations shall pay the instalment so called, the bonds shall be returned to them ; but, upon their failure to make such payment, the Company shall have power to dispose of said bonds to the best advantage : Provided , that no subscription made by any municipal corporation, authorized by this section to subscribe to the Capital Stock of said Company, shall exceed ten per cent, on the assessed valuation of the real and personal estate in the City, District, Borough, or County, making such subscription. t 5 SECRETARY’S OFFICE. Pennsylvania , ss: I do hereby certify, that the foregoing and annexed is a true and correct copy of Section 4, of the original act of the General Assembly, entitled, “ An Act for the relief of Patterson and Wit- mer, relative to the Manheim and Lebanon Turnpike Company to the claim of Thomas Maguire, authorizing certain corporations to sub¬ scribe stock to the Philadelphia, Easton and Water Gap Railroad Company,” and for other purposes. Approved the sixth day of May, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, as the same remains on file in this office. In testimony whereof ’, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the Secretary’s Office to be affixed, at Har- [seal.] risburg, this sixth day of May, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-two. E. S. GOODRICH, Deputy Secretary of the Commonwealth . THE PHILADELPHIA, EASTON AND WATER-GAP RAILROAD COMPANY. The Committee of General Superintendenee, appointed to further the organization of the “ Philadelphia, Easton and Water G-ap Railroad Company,” at a meeting of the Commissioners named in the act incorporating said Company, held in the Eagle Hotel, Philadelphia, June 8th, 1852, submit to the consideration of cap - italists and business men, who are alike interested in the trade and prosperity of Philadelphia, the following exhibit :— The metropolis of Pennsylvania, to maintain a successful compe¬ tition against the commercial rivalry of her sister cities, has only to fortify the natural advantages of her position by constructing, now and then, a new link in her system of internal improvements, which shall unite and combine the more recent and approved modes of rapid conveyance and cheap transportation. The same law and tendency of inland trade, which rendered not merely necessary but indispensa¬ ble the construction of a great line of Railroad, reaching from the Delaware to the Ohio, lengthwise across the state, in addition to the lines of Turnpike and Canal then already provided for the accommo¬ dation of travel and transportation, now demands, in the same im¬ perative aspect, a Railroad, which shall connect Philadelphia with the Yalley of the Lehigh, by the most favorable route. Turnpikes and Canals have their uses and advantages, and will continue to enjoy them; but it is idle to rely on Turnpikes and Canals, singly or jointly, against the aggregated triple advantages of Turnpikes, Canals and Railroads. Hence it was that a sagacious foresight and wise policy projected and started the grand enterprise of the Pennsylvania Railroad to reach to the Ohio Yalley, and there connect with the net-work of rail¬ roads, stretching out in the vast country beyond, in order that Phil¬ adelphia might compete successfully with her neighbors for the west¬ ern trade. And hence it is, too, that reasons too portentous to be 7 shunned or disregarded, have awakened attention to the subject of a direct railroad leading into the Lehigh region, lest, through a perilous procrastination, as well as by means of hostile railroad schemes, ex¬ tending eastward across New Jersey, there will be diverted to another market a large, profitable and increasing trade, which has heretofore flowed to Philadelphia, and which may ever be possessed by Phila¬ delphia, through the exercise of a modicum of sagacity and enterprise. There is nothing in the project that assimilates to the shadowy nor experimental—it is a fixed and requisite proposition, with the proof of its origin and aim in the emphatic confirmatory data sur¬ rounding every just view which may be taken of it. The Lehigh Valley abounds with mineral wealth of untold value ; mills and manu¬ factories of various kinds, and forges, furnaces and foundries, ex¬ tend throughout its whole length; these establishments and the coal mines give employment to a large and constantly augmenting popu¬ lation. It is not like a scheme to build a railroad into a wilder¬ ness, trusting to time and circumstances to create business, develop its utility, and make it pay! but it proposes simply to weld to the commercial emporium of the Commonwealth, by a band of iron, a section of the state teeming with “ black diamonds,” thriving towns and busy thousands in active duties and prosperous pursuits. Busi¬ ness, of freight and passenger kind, awaits as it were the making of the road, for an open iron way is essential to the wants of the valley counties, and also the diversified counties farther north, which rank among the most flourishing in the state. The constant inter¬ course, and the extent and variety of business operations ever trans¬ acting between Philadelphia and the north-eastern counties, would amply and profitably maintain a direct railroad. Throughout the Commonwealth, there is no unoccupied ground so desirable for rail¬ road purposes, as the route between Philadelphia and the Lehigh river ; and no unbiased person, who will investigate the subject in all its aspects, can hesitate to concur in this opinion. A railroad lead¬ ing to the waters of the Lehigh, at an eligible point, is destined to become the main trunk of two great lines of railroads, diverging thence, one to the north-west, by way of the Valley of the Lehigh and the North Branch, the other by way of the Delaware Water Gap, Scranton and Great Bend to the north, or to the north-east by way of theJValley of the Delaware, and thence across to the Upper Hudson. 8 It will be an inseparable link in tbe chains of railroads, which, with their many branches, ramify southern, central and western New York. It will comprise a part of the shortest and most direct com¬ munication between Philadelphia, Saratoga, Lake Ontario, Niagara, and all intermediate points, and will commend itself to the especial favor of Summer tourists, as well as to business men of all pursuits and occupations, from the exclusive advantages of its location and connections. Bpt, aside from these future contingencies, which, in their turn, shall become golden tokens to the company, the enterprise has too much intrinsic local merit to permit its success to be doubted, or its progress, in this day of commercial activity, to be checked. From Freemansburg, which is on the Lehigh River, ten miles from Easton, to Philadelphia, the air line distance is . 47 miles From Freemansburg to Philadelphia, by canal and tide¬ water, via Easton, New Hope, and Bristol, ... 88 u From Freemansburg to Philadelphia, by railroad, via Eas¬ ton and Trenton,.•.90 u Freemansburg to Philadelphia, by proposed railroad (direct route) about.53 “ Difference in favor of direct railroad over railroad via Trenton,.37 “ Difference in favor of direct railroad over canal route via Easton, New Hope, and Bristol,.35 “ From Freemansburg to New York via Central New Jersey Railroad,. 90 66 From Freemansburg to New York, by railroad, via Tren¬ ton, .117 “ From Freemansburg to New York via Morris Canal, .112 66 Difference in favor of shortest route to Philadelphia from Freemansburg, over shortest route to New York from Freemansburg,.37 “ To make a comparison of distances from Easton, in lieu of Free¬ mansburg, add ten miles to the length of proposed direct railroad, and take off ten miles from all other routes. If the direct Railroad be thrown out of the table, it will be per¬ ceived, by a comparison of the Railroad route from Philadelphia to 9 Easton, via Trenton, and the Central New Jersey Railroad route from Easton to New York, that the distance to New York is no greater than to Philadelphia. The Central New Jersey Railroad direct from New York to Easton, eighty miles in length, will he opened in July of the present year, and will bring Easton within three hours running time of New York. The Lehigh Valley Railroad from Easton to Mauch Chunk, when made, will give the entire Lehigh region a direct Railroad communi¬ cation with New York. The Trenton and Belvidere Railroad, where¬ by the distance from Philadelphia to Easton is eighty miles, will never answer the purposes of Philadelphia, for, in addition to the fact that it is subject to New Jersey control and ownership, it is of a different gauge of track from the gauge prescribed for the Lehigh Valley Road, thus rendering inevitable, a breaking of bulk between Mauch Chunk and Philadelphia, by that circuitous route! A direct Railroad, on the contrary, would be of the uniform Pennsylvania gauge, and cars from the coal mines at Mauch Chunk, the upper Lehigh and Wilkes- barre, could pass without transhipment, directly to tide-water at Philadelphia, over a route at least thirty-five miles shorter than the present water line of transportation! With the direct Railroad in operation, Philadelphia can forever defy competition in the Lehigh basin; and, by its extension at the proper time, make fast allies of important interests in Northeastern Pennsylvania, which, if the road be not built, will be estranged and diverted, to enlarge the influence and swell the coffers of a sister city in a neighbor State. The alternative is inevitable 5 and if Philadel¬ phia do not arouse into a bold effort, and promptly put forth an iron arm to avert the danger, New York will seize upon the treasure and prosper in its possession. The following table exhibits the quantity of Anthracite Coal sent to market from the Lehigh Region, from the commencement of the trade, in 1820, to 1851, inclusive :— Years. Tons. Years Tons Years Tons Years. | Tons. 1820, 365 1827, 32,074 1834, 106,244 1840, : 225,318 1821, 1,073 1828, 30,232 1835, 131,250 1841, 1 143,037 1822; 2,240 1829, 25,110 1836, 148,211 1842, 272,546 1823, 5,823 1830, 41,750 1837, 223,902 1843, i 267,793 1824, 9,541 1831, 40,966 1838, 213,615 1844, I 377,002 1825, 28,393 1832, 70,000 1839, 221,025 1845, | 429,453 1826, 31,280 1833, 123,000 1 Years | Tons. 1846, |523,002 1847, 643,973 1848, 680,746 1849, 801,246 1850, 1722,622 1851,1989,296 10 The quantity of coal sent to market from the Lehigh Region, in 1851, was derived from the following sources. The trade for 1850 is also given for comparison. 1850. 1851. From Mines worked by the Lehigh Company, ^ 424,258 393,353 From the Rhume Run Mines, 87,471 Total from the Company’s Mines, 424,258 480,824 Beaver Meadow Mines,. 27,521 42,263 Spring Mountain (S ..... 43,793 116,517 Colerain <£ . 2,076 39,523 Hazleton “ . 54,236 113,355 Cranberry “ . 22,493 30,651 Sugar Loaf