~r"7'5br 
 
/ 
 
 THE liBRARY 
 OF THE 
 
 UHlVERSiTY OF ILLINOIS 
 
 
/O 
 
 " THE EOAD TO RIJIH: 
 
 OR, THE 
 
 etlitte anb Jfall 
 
 OF 
 
 THE HOOSAC TUNNEL. 
 
 Save Me from My Friends.” 
 
 By 
 
 F. W. BIRD. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 WRIGHT & POTTER, PRINTERS, 4 SPRING LANE. 
 1 8 6 2 . 
 
C C> Wv . I ^ . H 'i X i 2 "(JK 
 
 355,4 
 
 T7‘5J>r 
 
 'Y 
 
 a 
 
 * REVIEW. 
 
 C\ , 
 
 cs 
 
 We would gladly avoid the task before us. We entered upon 
 the examination before the Committee, conscious of no other pur- 
 pose than to aid in an honest, impartial, thorough investigation of 
 a matter of public policy. We expected, of course, that just that 
 and no other would be the purpose of the Committee. Before 
 the second day’s hearing closed, we found that there was an iron 
 majority of the Committee against any such investigation. We 
 ' hope no one of that majority entertains so poor an opinion of our 
 ! penetration or good sense as to suppose that we were, for a moment, 
 deluded with the idea that the hearing was any thing but a farce. 
 We charge no conscious intention of unfairness upon that majority. 
 We are inclined to believe that they really thought they were 
 giving us a fair hearing. The more’s the pity I 
 
 We did our best to get facts before the Committee, in the way 
 of documentary papers and by the testimony of experts. We did 
 not suppose any of them would alter a foregone conclusion ; we 
 did hope that some of them would find their way into a report. 
 How mistaken we were, the report tells. There was but one 
 course left ; and that was, to bring out the facts, as we intend to 
 do in the following paper. 
 
 To myself, personally, this duty is very painful. I fear it will 
 'cost the alienation of dear friends. I shall be assailed as hostile 
 
 v; 
 
 to an enterprise to which I have always been and am still friendly. 
 So strongly was I in favor of it that I accepted the constant assev- 
 erations of its friends (and mine) that every thing was all right. 
 Recent events have opened my eyes. I have seen whole tiers of 
 towns, once the strongholds of Freedom, swung over, in almost 
 solid column, into the ranks of the pro-slavery democracy. Where 
 once rallied the indomitable Swiss Legions, doing yeoman service 
 for God and Liberty, now muster only Hessian mercenaries bawling 
 “ Beef ! Beef ! ” The representatives in the House (by the election 
 
 u 56485 
 
4 
 
 of my friend from Greenfield, the Senate was saved from that 
 disgrace) with a few noble exceptions, make this scheme paramount 
 to every consideration of public policy and political principle. I 
 already hear tlie howl which this declaration will let loose upon 
 me ; but it is true ; and there is not an intelligent man in the 
 House v)ho does not know it^ nor an lionest one who does not 
 lament it. Come what will to me personally, I shall do what I 
 can to lay bare tlie malign influence which is working such mischief. 
 
 Historical. 
 
 Before examining the extraordinary Report of the Joint Special i 
 Committee on the Troy and Greenfield Railroad, and the still more 
 extraordinary Bill accompanying it, we present a very brief histor- j 
 ical sketch of the legislation relating to the enterprise. We do j 
 this for the purpose of showing how entirely the cliaracter of the i 
 
 tunnel ” has changed so far as its relations to the State are f 
 concerned. We shall see how it commenced as an ordinary and I 
 harmless railroad corporation, asking only, in the language of the j 
 petitioners to the legislature of 1848 in aid of the enterprise, for* 
 the privilege of building their own road with their* own money i 
 until it now asks that the key of the State treasury may be deliv- 
 ered to its contractor to finish a work in which all its original 
 friends have long ago refused to invest a single dollar. 
 
 The first charter was, chap. 307 of the Acts of 1848, an ordinary 
 Act incorporating a railroad company, requiring the road to be 
 located and built within seven years ! 
 
 By chap. 108 of the Acts of 1849, they were authorized to 
 alter the location. By chap. 312, Acts of 1850, the time for 
 changing the location was extended. 
 
 In 1851 the company applied for a State loan, and was refused. 
 
 Chapter 40, Acts of 1852, is unimportant. Chapter 297 of the 
 same year authorized a union with the Southern Yennont Railroad 
 Company. 
 
 In 1853 another ajqdication for a loan was defeated. 
 
 In chap. 220, Acts of 1854, their importunity was rewarded by 
 the passage of “ An Act authorizing a loan of the State credit to 
 enable the Troy and (Irccnricld Railroad Company to construct 
 the Iloosac 'runnel^ 4''his Act {)rovidcd for a loan of credit to 
 the amount of •‘f>2,000,()0() upon condition, that when six hundred 
 thousand dollars had been subscribed to the stock and twenty 
 
per cent, actually paid in, seven miles of road built, and one 
 thousand lineal feet of the tunnel “completed,’’ then one hundred 
 thousand dollars of scrip should be delivered, and so on ; carefully 
 providing that payments on the subscription shall keep pace with 
 the deliveries of tlie scrip, so that the whole of the six hundred 
 thousand dollars must be paid in before the scrip is all delivered ; 
 and also, “ subject to this proviso, that the last two hundred thou- 
 sand dollars of said scrip shall be reserved until said company, 
 their successors or representatives, have opened said railroad 
 for use through the Hoosac, and laid a continuous railroad from 
 Greenfield to the line of the State in Williamstown.” Observe, 
 the legislature required this subscription of 1600,000 to build the 
 railroad^ and loaned their credit “ for the purpose of enabling the 
 I said company to construct a tunnel and railroad under and through 
 \ the Hoosac Mountain.” Ten per cent, of each issue of scrip, and 
 I $25,000 annually, after the opening of the road, were to be 
 applied to a sinking fund. 
 
 Chapter 294, Acts of 1855, authorized certain towns to subscribe 
 to the stock. 
 
 In 1856, finding that they could not procure the subscription 
 of $600,000 necessary as a condition precedent to their receiving 
 the State scrip, tlie corporation petitioned the legislature for a 
 State subscription of $150,000 to the stock, to enable them to 
 draw the State scrip ! This cool proposition was defeated. 
 
 Chapter 237, Acts of 1856, authorized a change of location, “in 
 such places as will, in the opinion of the chief engineer, improve 
 the line of the road, shorten the same, and diminish the cost of 
 construction.” 
 
 In 1857, an Act modifying the previous Acts for the benefit of 
 the corporation, (or rather contractors,) passed the legislature, 
 but was vetoed by Governor Gardner. 
 
 Chapter 117, Acts of 1859, is a modification of the Loan Act 
 of 1854, more favorable to the corporation, but under which 
 nothing was done. 
 
 We have sketched this history in detail to show the successive 
 steps by which, from asking only to “ build their own road with 
 their own money,” they come to getting a loan from the State 
 of $2,000,000 upon condition of furnishing from other sources 
 $600,000. They broke down in this, having succeeded in raising 
 in cash only $66,058.28. (See Mr. Kimball’s very elaborate report, 
 
House Doc. No. 185, 1860.) It is true, by some sort of legerde- 
 main, Mr. Haupt — for he bad now literally pocketed the corpora- 
 tion — managed to get out of the State some two or three hundred 
 thousand dollars of scrip by bogus subscriptions to the stock, 
 which he could well afford to make, having made a contract to 
 receive four million dollars for building road and tunnel which he 
 says can be finished, all complete for about 12,100,000, omitting 
 all considerations of interest!” which four millions embraces a 
 bonus of i300,000 as a consideration for subscribing for $600,000 
 of the stock. 
 
 The diagrams annexed show how the tunnel has also changed in 
 its character, growing “ small by degrees and beautifully less.” 
 
 The Act of 1860, chapter 202, is a still longer step on the down- 
 ward road. It abandons the requirement of the $600, OOC' 
 subscription by other parties ; abandons all payments into the 
 sinking fund ; abandons the security of requiring the road to bf 
 built pari passu with the tunnel, divides the unexpended portior 
 of the loan, giving $650,000 to the road, and $1,120,000 to th| 
 tunnel ; but requires that the work shall be substantially peij! 
 formed ;” and provides, that the deliveries of scrip shall be a 
 the rate of fifty dollars for each lineal foot of tunnel,” whicl 
 would bore the mountain with the $1,120,000, provided they can 
 keep on at that price ; and also, that — 
 
 “ The scrip shall be delivered on the road in the proportion which the 
 value of the work done and the materials delivered each month bears to 
 the estimated cost of the whole work and materials required on the portion 
 of the road aforesaid.” 
 
 Now, any one who looks at the Act even superficially will see 
 that this last furnishes the only security which the State has, 
 
 that her money wilt not all he spent and the road abandoned, long 
 before it is finished I 
 
 And yet the Re[)ort of the Committee, now before us, flings 
 away even this last vestige of security which the State has that 
 the work will I)e ‘‘ substantially performed.” In the order of 
 history, we come now to this last, longest downward step of all — 
 
 “ licyond tlie lowest depth a lower deep,” 
 and into this the Committee have plunged. 
 
Before dissecting this extraordinary document — without a 
 I parallel in the legislative reports of Massachusetts — it will be 
 ') necessary to trace the history of this present controversy. 
 
 ' When Mr. Whitwell, the State Engineer, appointed in May, 
 
 , 1861, came to determine the amount of the work done on the 
 I road in June, and ‘‘ to estimate,” as he is required by the Act, 
 
 * “ the proportion which the work done upon the road since the 
 preceding estimate bore to the whole of the work to be done,” 
 he found that if he issued his certificate for scrip to the corpora- 
 I tion, that is, to Herman Haupt, on the same basis as his prede- 
 , cessors, Messrs. Lincoln and Stevenson, had done, it would 
 I require, after the whole of the $650,000 had been issued by the 
 I State, a large additional sum to finish the graduation, masonry, 
 bridging and superstructure in a “ substantial ” manner. He 
 .therefore issued his certificate to the Governor for what he con- 
 sidered due. Mr. Haupt claimed about a hundred thousand 
 dollars additional, and the work was suspended. 
 
 The matter came before the Executive Council. It was referred 
 to a committee .consisting of Messrs. Hugh W. Greene, Joel 
 Hayden and E. C. Sherman. A hearing was had, and the witnesses 
 examined were Messrs. Ezra Lincoln and C. L. Stevenson, the 
 two State engineers whose estimates Mr. Haupt claimed were the 
 correct ones ; Mr. H. Harley, Mr. Haupt’s engineer ; Mr. Henry 
 Cartwright, Mr. Haupt’s partner; Mr. E. L. Childs, Mr. Haupt’s 
 bridge-builder ; Mr. B. N. Farren, one of Mr. Haupt’s sub-con- 
 tractors ; Mr. Herman Haupt himself; and Mr. William S. Whit- 
 well, the present State Engineer. (Mr. John A. Haven, editor of 
 the Railway Times, was called to testify in regard to the author- 
 ship of an article in his paper.) With the exception of Mr. 
 Whitwell and Mr. Haven the witnesses were entirely agreeable, 
 and of course the committee came to a unanimous conclusion ; 
 and that was, to recommend to the Council to direct the State 
 Engineer to revise his estimates upon the basis established by 
 Colonel Lincoln,” “ and that those conditions, estimates and prices 
 shall be the basis of all future payments, until otherwise ordered 
 by the Governor and Council.” 
 
 The conclusions of this ex parte hearing not being entirely 
 satisfactory to the Governor, another hearing was had before the 
 Governor and Council, to which a large number of the most 
 accomplished and scientific civil engineers, railroad superintend- 
 
8 
 
 ents and contractors were summoned at the request of both 
 parties. With entire unanimity the testimony of these experts 
 sustained Mr. Whitwell upon the points upon which he differed 
 from Messrs. Lincoln and Stevenson. In this state of the case, 
 the matter came before the Joint Special Committee. 
 
 Up to this time the only question had been, Were Messrs. 
 Lincoln and Stevenson right in their basis of estimates ? or was 
 Mr. Whitwell right in his ? If the former, Mr. Haupt was entitled 
 to a considerable additional amount ; if Mr. Whitwell was right, 
 he had no claim. 
 
 The dnty of the State Engineer is very clearly defined in the 
 Act 1860, chap. 202, sect. 3. We copy those parts of the section 
 which bear upon this point : — 
 
 “ He shall monthly, immediately after the first day of each month, esti-[| 
 mate the proportion which the-work done upon the road, since the preceding^ 
 estimate, bears to the whole of the work required to be done in the gradua-l 
 tion, masonry, bridging and superstructure of said railroad east of thJ 
 Hoosac Tunnel, and also the work done in the excavation of said tunne| 
 which he shall certify separately to the governor, together with the amounj' 
 of state scrip to which the company is entitled under the provisions 
 this act. 
 
 The deliveries of scrip shall be at the rate of fifty dollars for each lineal 
 foot of tunnel, divided between heading and full sized tunnel, in the propor- 
 tion of thirty dollars for each lineal foot of heading and twenty dollars per 
 lineal foot for the remaining excavation ; and of six hundred and fifty 
 thousand dollars for the whole of the graduation, masonry, bridging and 
 superstructure of the unfinished portion of the road east of the tunnel. 
 
 The scrip shall be delivered on the road in the proportion which the 
 value of the work done and the materials delivered each month bears to 
 the estimated cost of the whole work and materials required on the portion 
 of road aforesaid. 
 
 No expenditures shall be required merely for the purposes of ornament, 
 but the work shall be substantially performed, and the rails shall weigh not 
 less than fifty-six j)ounds to the lineal yard: for any defective materials or 
 work, a fu’oportionate arnoimt of scrip shall be withheld.” 
 
 Now what (lid tlie State, by that Act, agree to do V Not to give 
 to the corj)oratioii f 660, 000 ; not to subscribe that amount to its 
 capital stock ; not to place that amount at the disposal of the State 
 Engineer to be certified away by him for such a road as he thinks | 
 s;itisfactory ; but it was to be loaned to the corporation in sums,/ 
 
9 
 
 from time to time, in proportion to the progress of the work ; and 
 so proportioned, that the whole money should be advanced only 
 when the whole work should have been “ substantially performed.” 
 This was the only security the State had that the whole of her 
 money should not be spent before the work was finished; and 
 then she should be compelled to finish it or lose the whole. 
 
 On the other hand, Messrs. Lincoln and Stevenson and the 
 Committee of the Council take the absurd position that the basis 
 which was adopted for the first month’s estimate should be 
 adhered to, till the whole money was paid out, although it should 
 be found, in the progress of the work, as it has been found in the 
 history of many or quite every railroad in New England^ that the 
 actual cost of construction exceeded the original estimates from 
 twenty-five to fifty, and often, a hundred per cent. 
 
 It has been very material to Mr. Haupt, in order to force upon 
 the Loan Act the construction necessary to answer his purposes, to 
 mystify and pervert its requirements. Here are the portions which 
 define the duty of the State Engineer — -not of the State Engineer 
 first appointed, but of the State Engineer who shall be ‘‘ appointed 
 annually “ He shall monthly^ immediately after the first day of 
 each month, estimate the proportion which the work done upon 
 the road, since the preceding estimate, bears to the whole of the 
 work required to be done in the graduation, masonry, bridging 
 and superstructure of said railroad east of the Hoosac Tunnel.” 
 
 “ The scrip shall be delivered on the road in the proportion 
 which the value of the work done and the materials delivered each 
 month bears to the estimated cost of the whole work and materials 
 required on the portion of the road aforesaid.” 
 
 “ For any defective materials or work a proportional amount of 
 scrip shall be withheld.” 
 
 Now we affirm that it is not possible to express more clearly the 
 intention of the legislature than is here done ; namely, that 
 the payments shall be made, from month to month, in such 
 amounts as to moAntain the proportion which the work done and 
 the work to be done bear to the portion of the loan advanced and 
 the portion to be advanced. 
 
 Most clearly, then, it is the engineer’s duty, at the end of every 
 month, to answer these questions: What is the whole amount of 
 work done and materials furnished to this time ? What is the 
 whole amount of work to be done and materials to be furnished to 
 
 2 
 
10 
 
 complete the wliole road “ substantially ” ? The sum of these 
 constitutes the whole work and materials as required by the 
 statute ; and the proportion which the work done and materials 
 delivered up to that time bear to the whole amount of work and 
 materials for the entire road, furnishes the proportion wliich the 
 amount due up to that time bears to the whole loan ; and the 
 difference between that amount and the amount of scrip previously 
 issued determines the amount of scrip due for the last month’s 
 estimates. 
 
 Let us illustrate. Suppose that when the engineer came to 
 make up the estimate for the payment for the June work, 
 he found, upon ascertaining the amount of work and mate- 
 rials up to July 1st, and estimating the amount of work and 
 materials required to finish the road, that nine-thirteenths of 
 the whole road was finished. The contractor was thus entitled, 
 for all the work done to that time, to nine-thirteenths of the 
 loan, or $450,000. But he had received for estimates up to the 
 first of the preceding month $355,000. He was therefore enti- 
 tled, for the month of June, to $95,000. Now it is perfectly clear 
 tliat it is only by retaining these proportions that the engineer 
 preserves the only security the State has for the completion of the 
 work ; and it is not possible to preserve these proportions with- 
 out changing the prices from time to time as the changing character 
 of the work requires. As we have elsewhere said, and it wdll 
 bear repetition — for it is of the utmost importance— -the rigid 
 adherence to this rule, from month to month, is the only security 
 the State has that the loan shall not be exhausted long before the 
 work is done. 
 
 Now what was the actual difference between Messrs. Lincoln 
 and Stevenson and Mr. Whitwell ? It was this : 
 
 Upon carefully examining the road as soon as possible after his 
 a})pointment, Mr. Whitwell found, among other items of what the 
 Act calls “ defective work,” that the slopes had been left at so 
 steep an inclination, that large amounts of earth would inevitably 
 slide, and require to be taken out of the ditches before the road 
 could he safely worked ; and, worse still, he found that a large 
 amount of trestle-work, fit only for temporary use while building 
 the road, had been put up, some forty or fifty feet high, which in 
 his judgment as well as that of every competent engineer, should 
 have been earth embankments. As an honest man he would not 
 
11 
 
 
 certify that this work was properly done when it was not, and 
 when he had no security that it ever would be done ; and as an 
 engineer, he could not certify that such work complied with 
 the requirements of the Act that the work should be “ substantially 
 performed.” No respectable engineer has been found who does 
 not say tliat this work must be done before the road is in a con- 
 dition for use. Even Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Stevenson and Mr. 
 Haupt now admit that this work must, sooner or later, be done by 
 somebody; but they claim that Mr. Haupt is entitled to the 
 whole of the State loan before doing this work, thus leaving the 
 whole of it to be done by the State, for the obvious reason that 
 nobody else will put a dollar in the enterprise. On the other hand, 
 Mr. Whitwell claims that the statute requires this work to be 
 done before the State loan is all expended. 
 
 Here are the items of this imperfect work : 
 
 1. Slopes. 
 
 All the slopes in the cuttings were left at an inclination of one 
 foot horizontal to one foot vertical, or “ one to one ; ” that is, at an 
 angle of forty-five degrees ; whereas Mr. Whitwell decided, (and 
 his decision is sustained by the uniform testimony of railroad engi- 
 neers and experts, and the uniform practice of all Neiv England 
 railroads,) that they should have been left at an inclination of one 
 and a half feet horizontal to one vertical, or “ one and a half to one ” 
 — that is, at an angle of thirty-three degrees. Upon this point the 
 testimony and the facts are so overwhelming that Mr. Haupt has 
 practically abandoned his original position . In his argument before 
 the Committee of the Council he says : “ The slopes on the Troy 
 
 and Greenfield Railroad have been precisely the same as the slopes 
 on the Pennsylvania Central road, and on many other roads and 
 then adds broadly: ‘‘We claim that the slope which has been 
 given — one to one — is, under all the circumstances, the best possi- 
 ble ; that in many cases, a greater slope would render it necessary to 
 extend the excavations nearly to the summit of the hills.” (That 
 is, having changed the location of the road to steep side-hill cuttings, 
 to save first cost, and at the expense of heavy subsequent repairs, he 
 pleads his own wrong-doing to justify his subsequent short-comings ; 
 in other words, he can’t make proper slopes because, to save money, 
 he put the road on side-hills where no competent engineer, acting in 
 
12 
 
 good faith, would have located it.*) We drove him from this unte- 
 nable position — disreputable for any engineer to attempt to occupy 
 — by quoting from subsequent reports of this same Pennsylvania 
 Central road, (pages 21 and 22 of Gov. Boutwell’s argument,) 
 showing that this very model road of his had been obliged to spend 
 large amounts of money in reducing these very slopes wliicli Uaupt 
 says were “ the best possible.” He attempts to evade the crush- 
 ing effect of these quotations, by saying in his reply to Gov. Bout- 
 well : “ The cuts referred to were rock, taken out originally with 
 rock slopes, but a rock that disintegrated rapidly, and masses had 
 to be removed to keep them from falling.” To this we reply, first, 
 that a competent engineer would have known that the rock would 
 “ disintegrate rapidly,” and would have taken it 'out to proper 
 slopes at the time, and not left the falling masses to endanger life 
 by falling upon the track. 
 
 Second. We reply that the extracts disprove his statement, 
 showing*, as far as they speak of the material, that it was some- 
 times “ soft earth ;” sometimes ‘‘ rock and earth ;” the worst pos- 
 sible material, inasmuch as rocks, carried down with the earth, and 
 rolling upon the track, are much more mischievous and dangerous 
 than mere earth-slides. 
 
 We also proved, by the testimony before the Governor and 
 Council, and by others, that cuts in New England will not stand 
 at a slope of one to one, or an angle of forty-five degrees ; that in 
 a short time all earth cuttings will, under the operation of rains 
 and freezing and thawing, take a slope of about one and a half to 
 one, or about thirty-three degrees — some soils, especially clays, 
 even flatter than that — and that the uniform experience of all 
 New England railroads has been, that where cuttings were left at 
 a steeper slope than one and a half to one, the earth has fallen 
 into the ditches, and has always cost more to remove it when thus 
 fallen than it would have done to reduce the slope properly in the 
 first instance. On this point the testimony is uniform, that every 
 well conducted railroad company considers it cheaper and better to 
 finish the slo{)es hefore opening the road for trafiic. Mr. Whitwell 
 very })roi)erly decided that the Loan Act in requiring a ‘‘ substan- 
 tially” built road, rcipiired this sloping to be done. Mr. Uaupt 
 
 * \Vli;it, will they do if they should ever need to lay a double track on this side- 
 hill road-be*i V 
 
13 
 
 very wisely, in his closing argument, had very little to say of the 
 matter of slopes. 
 
 2. Trestle-Work. 
 
 Over deep ravines Mr. Haupt had built trestle-work instead of 
 earth embankments. He admits that this was temporary, and 
 that, sooner or later, earth embankments must be substituted ; 
 yet he claimed that he must have the whole of the loan without 
 filling up the trestle-work, leaving it for the State to do it after 
 he had got his money. Mr. Whitwell claimed that the work was 
 not “ substantially performed” till this earth-work was done ; and 
 here, too, he was sustained by the uniform testimony of the 
 experts. 
 
 Besides, it was shown that the trestle-work was of the most 
 unsubstantial character ; that Mr. Haupt had never ventured a 
 locomotive upon it, and every expert gave it as his opinion that 
 no prudent engineer v)ould ever venture a \ruin over large portions 
 of it. 
 
 We understand that Mr. Haupt and his friends are making 
 strenuous efforts to mystify this matter of the trestle-work. They 
 say they have not been paid for it. Nobody says they have. 
 This is not the point at issue. 
 
 If the matter needs any farther explanation, here it is : Mr. 
 Whitwell found that Messrs. Lincoln and Stevenson had estimated 
 this trestle-work as “ completed ” road — that is, that in estimating 
 the whole amount of work required to finish the road, according 
 to the Act, Messrs. Lincoln and Stevenson had not included the 
 earth-vwrk necessary to fill up these ravines as constituting any 
 part of ‘‘ the whole work to be done and upon their basis of 
 estimates, the whole of the 1650,000 would have been paid over 
 to Mr. Haupt, and this work would have been left undone. The 
 amount required to fill up this trestle-work would be over 100,000 
 yards, costing some $20,000 to $25,000. Mr. Whitwell claims 
 that the filling of these ravines forms just as much a part of the 
 contract to build a ‘‘substantial” road as any other part of the 
 earth- work ; and he is therefore compelled, by the requirements of 
 the Act, to include this work in “ the estimated cost of the whole 
 work and materials required ” to finish the road. 
 
 3. Rip-Rapping. 
 
 The embankments exposed to washing by the river should be 
 rip-rapped, that is, covered with loose rock. 
 
14 
 
 4. Bridges. 
 
 Eepairs of bridges, or making them safe, particularly that 
 over Green River. The first and only time this bridge was tried, 
 it broke down. Mr. Haupt has labored very hard to show that the 
 defect was in some of the material, which could be remedied at com- 
 paratively small expense ; but the best testimony went to show that 
 the defects are inherent. Mr. Vose, wlio examined this bridge 
 carefully, and who is an accomplished and scientific engineer, gave 
 it as his unqualified judgment that it is impossible to make the 
 bridge safe by any repairs that can be made ; and the cheapest and 
 only ivay is to pull it down and build anew,^’’ No one attempted 
 to question the correctness of this statement.* 
 
 V 
 
 
 5. Culvert Masonry. 
 
 When the trestle-work comes to be filled, culverts will be 
 necessary, for which no allowance has been made. These culverts, 
 the base of such high embankments being very wide, will be 
 necessarily of heavy masonry and the cost large. 
 
 Upon the lowest estimates of the cost of these items, we arrive 
 at the following as the amount which must be spent to make it a 
 “ substantially” built road ; but which Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Haupt 
 leave for the State to do after the present loan is gone : — 
 
 Slopes to be reduced. 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 110,000 00 
 
 Trestle-work to be filled 
 
 up. 
 
 
 
 
 20,000 00 
 
 Rip-rapping, . 
 
 Culvert masonry, including 
 
 that 
 
 under 
 
 7,500 00 
 
 trestle-work. 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 20,000 00 
 
 Repairs of bridges, . 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 10,000 00 
 
 New bridge over Green 
 
 River, 
 
 
 
 
 20,000 00 
 
 Additional earth. 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 9,000 00 
 
 ‘‘ rock. 
 
 , 
 
 
 
 
 13,000 00 
 
 “ loose rock. 
 
 • 
 
 
 
 
 4,000 00 
 
 $113 500 
 
 Now every item of this work is to be done by somebody, and 
 every dolliii- of tliis money to be paid, before tlie road is in a proper 
 condition for use — the only dilference being, that Mr. Whitwcll 
 
 ♦Appendix, [A.] 
 
 1 
 
15 
 
 claims that the Loan Act requires tlie corporation, that is, Mr. 
 Haupt, to do it ; while Mr. Haupt claims the money without doing 
 it, leaving it to be done by somebody who shall turn up. 
 
 But this is only a small item of the amount which the State 
 will be called upon to pay, before the road can be of any use or 
 any value as security. 
 
 When the Loan Act of 1860 was passed, it was stated that 
 means were expected from other sources to pay for indispensable 
 outlays for superstructure and equipment. Hon. Moses Kimball 
 stated that such was the testimony of the advocates of the Act 
 before the committee. Among these outlays are those for land- 
 damages, switches, side-tracks, turn-outs, turn-tables, station- 
 houses and rolling stock. For these items we take Mr. Steven- 
 son’s figures, (statement, page 8) which he himself says are 
 
 Land-damages, 11,000 per mile, 
 Fencing, 19,200 rods, at ^1.00, 
 Depots, stations, fixtures, cars, 
 110,000 per mile. 
 
 Half mile of road east of tunnel. 
 Bridge across Deerfield River, nt 
 
 . $30,000 00 
 
 . • 19,200 00 
 
 engines, <fec., at 
 
 . 300,000 00 
 
 10,000 00 
 
 ar tunnel, . . 10,000 00 
 
 $369,200 00 
 
 The whole of this is to be provided by somebody after the loan 
 is expended. This amount is to be added to the amount of 
 unfinished work on slopes, etc., which is $113,500, giving a total 
 of $182,700 to be provided by somebody, after Mr. Haupt’s con- 
 tract is closed, before the road ‘can be opened for trafic. 
 
 If it should be said that they do not expect to operate the road 
 themselves, but to lease it and thus save the cost of rolling stock, 
 the answer is that for the use of the rolling stock of another 
 corporation they must pay the interest, or more than the interest, 
 of the cost of an equipment of their own ; and thus, though 
 they might avoid immediate outlay, nothing would be saved in 
 the end. 
 
 We come now to the provisions of the Act, and we confess, we 
 enter upon the examination of the action of the Committee with 
 amazement, that, with the facts which leaked out during the hear- 
 ing, and in the present condition of the finances of the State and 
 
16 
 
 the country, any ten gentlemen in the State could be found to 
 recommend such an Act. 
 
 The Gratuity. 
 
 1st. They recommend that 1150,000 be paid to the president 
 of tlie Troy and Greenfield Railroad, to be ‘‘ applied by him in 
 satisfaction of claims for labor, etc., and other liabilities incurred 
 before July 12, 1861, and to relieve all attachments, and dis- 
 charge all liens on said material ; ” and if there is any left, it 
 shall be paid back into the treasury ! This is neither more nor 
 less than a gratuity to Herman Haupt of 1150,000 ; for every 
 dollar of this money goes to him to pay his debts for work and 
 materials, for every dollar's vjorth of ivhich he has already been 
 paid by the Slate ! Now notice : 1st, This money is to be paid 
 out by the president of a corporation which has no existence 
 except in the pocket of Herman Haupt ; to this same Haupt who, 
 by his own votes, makes and unmakes directors and president at 
 his will. True, we are happy to say, that the president, Hon. 
 Alvah Crocker, has a pretty large interest in the enterprise, — 
 being, as appears by a report of a legislative committee, in 1857, 
 the owner of fifteen shares of the capital stock, which were made 
 over to him ‘‘ for services,” the par value of which (the stock, 
 not ‘‘ the services,”) is $1,500. Still, ordinary prudence would 
 suggest the propriety of referring claims of this large amount to 
 some auditing board, whose independent position would remove 
 the possibility of cavil by the ill-disposed. 
 
 2d. It would seem to us, with all respect, that the Committee 
 travelled entirely out of their legislative province in recommend- 
 ing this gratuity. There was no petition for it from any body ; 
 there was no intimation at the hearing that any such gratuity was 
 dreamed of, and of course there was no opportunity to scrutinize 
 any such claims ; and nobody knows, now, whether this money 
 will go to the hard-working laborers, — from whom Mr. Haupt 
 has withheld the money, beloni^ing' to them^ which he has received 
 from the State, — or whether it will go to pay for the visionary 
 and wretched cxj)eriments on boring machines and “pneumatic 
 drills” the wrecks of which deform the approaches to the tunnel. 
 Under the terms of the Act it may all go to these purposes, as 
 these machines were used, or attempted to bo used, “in carrying 
 on the work of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad.” So far as we 
 
17 
 
 know, it is an unprecedented proceeding for a Committee to 
 recommend a gratuity of such an amount, for which nobody has 
 publicly asked, which was never brought to the notice of the 
 legislature, and was never made the subject of inquiry (ope.nly) 
 before the Committee. 
 
 3d. Every dollar of this money, (except that which might be 
 paid for land damages, and for them the State was never bound 
 to pay, and never agreed to pay, and for them Mr. Haupt is 
 bound by his contract to pay,) every dollar goes to satisfy claims 
 which, if they are honest, have been included in the monthly 
 estimates and for every dollar of which the State has already 
 paid Mr. Haupt in full ! 
 
 If an appeal be made to sympathy for laborers or sub-contractors, 
 the reply is, that even if Mr. Haupt refuses to pay them after he 
 has received his pay from the State for them., they have no claim 
 upon the State to pay them again. But the only evidence before 
 the Committee was, that they had all been paid in full. Mr. 
 Harley testified before the Committee of the Council (page 22), 
 “ that the sub-contractors and laborers were paid promptly until 
 the delay in receiving the June estimate, when, instead of paying 
 on the 15th as usual, we did not pay until the 28th and Mr. 
 Haupt testified at this hearing that out of the proceeds of the 
 last scrip received in July he “ first paid the men and the balance 
 he paid to the Rensselaer Iron Company.” Unless he misstated 
 the fact for the sake of getting the credit of paying the sub- 
 contractors, and the laborers, he owes them nothing now. 
 
 Section 2d provides for paying to Mr. Haupt $195,000 for work 
 to be done on the road, being the unexpended balance of the 
 $650,000. This amount, added to the $150,000 gratuity, gives 
 Mr. Haupt $50,000 more than he ever claimed under Messrs. 
 Lincoln and Stevenson’s estimates. 
 
 Section 3d, after repeating the provisions of payment for the 
 tunnel, adds — 
 
 “ And if machinery should be purchased or constructed, or if additional 
 facilities be wanted, with the approval of the governor and council, for the 
 purpose of facilitating the work upon the tunnel, or if one or more addi- 
 tional shafts or slopes should be sunk for the same purpose, or machinery 
 provided therefor, the cost of such machinery, shafts or slopes, shall also be 
 advanced monthly, on the certificate of the state engineer, as aforesaid, 
 together with the necessary expenses of engineering and supervision.” 
 
 3 
 
18 
 
 This is a beautifiil arrangement for paying for patent pneumatic 
 drills ! The only check upon the expenditure of the whole of the 
 loan ill such gimcracks is, that the appropriations are made 
 subject to the approval of the Governor and Council and the State 
 Engineer. As the section stands, the approval of the Governor 
 and Council is limited to the first two clauses of the extract ; but 
 even if applied to the whole, if Massachusetts should again have 
 Governors, Councils and State Engineers as agreeable as tliose 
 functionaries were till last year, this check would be of very little 
 account. 
 
 Section 4 provides that the net earnings (!) of the road shall 
 first be applied to the interest on the State scrip, and the balance 
 to the sinking fund 1 ! And then, with commendable caution — a 
 caution rendered necessary by the statement in the Report, as 
 the most favorable view they could present of its income, that 
 “ responsible parties stand ready to take a lease of the road when 
 completed, at a rent which will equal the interest of the amount 
 necessary to put it in running order (and more if the road earns 
 more 1) — with commendable caution they provide that if the net 
 receipts should not pay the interest on the scrip, the State shall 
 PAY THE DEFICIENCY in casli, and take the amount in the stock of 
 a corporation declared insolvent by the Committee ! I ! 
 
 One word here in relation to the above-quoted assertion that 
 “ responsible parties stand ready to take a lease of the road, Ac., 
 Ac.” It is not possible that the Committee could have know- 
 ingly subscribed to that statement. Early in the hearing Mr. 
 Haupt stated that Mr. Swift, who is director of the Vermont and 
 Massachusetts, and the president of the Fitchburg Railroad, was 
 prepared to take a lease of the road on very favorable terms ; and 
 that he would lay before the Committee Mr. Swift’s proposition or 
 that Mr. Swift himself would present it. 
 
 But neither the proposition nor Mr. Swift ever appeared ; and 
 Mr. ilaupt took good care not to allude to it again. We happen 
 to know that Mr. Swift was urged to go before the Committee 
 and declined. We say it, respectfully, but decidedly, there was 
 not a shadow of proof (^opculy^ to sustain the statement of the 
 Committee. 
 
19 
 
 The Report. 
 
 Such are some of the extraordinary provisions of the Act. 
 The Report is hardly less extraordinary. We approach the exam- 
 ination far “ more in sorrow than in anger.” They have adopted 
 Mr. Haiipt’s construction of the law, in opposition to the lucid 
 and positive opinion of the law officer of the Commonwealth, 
 without giving the shadow of a reason for that construction ; they 
 have adopted Mr. Haupt’s engineering theories against the uniform 
 statements of the most eminent railroad engineers and experts in 
 New England ; they have accepted Mr. Haupt’s assertions as to 
 the financial condition of the enterprise, past and prospective, 
 although contradicted by the whole experience of the past, and 
 proved visionary by every disinterested and reliable witness as to 
 the future ; and they report a bill, making to Mr. Haupt a gratuity 
 of 1150,000 for which he never dared ask openly before the Com- 
 mittee ; they autliorize almost indefinite expenditures for drills, 
 borers, &c.; they make most material modifications of previous Acts, 
 all tending to weaken and diminish the security of the State and 
 benefit Mr. Haupt ; and for all these favors to this adventurer, 
 their Report, from beginning to end, does not give one single 
 reason, or state one single fact to prove that the interests or the 
 honor of the State require that they should be conferred. Any 
 person who should read the Report would not dream that such a 
 Bill could grow out of it ; and any person who should read the 
 Bill would look in vain for any reasons in the Report for it, or for 
 any connection between the Bill and the Report. After giving 
 certain tabular statements, which contain all the facts which 
 they have been able to gather from what they very modestly 
 call their “ long, patient and careful investigation,” they come to 
 this conclusion : 
 
 “Your Committee are, however, of opinion that the information thus 
 obtained is of little practical value, and a moment’s reflection will, it seems 
 to us, satisfy the legislature that this result was to have been expected. 
 
 The original estimates of the cost of the tunnel were based upon a work 
 of very different character from that actually commenced — upon a tunnel 
 of sufficient size for a double track, while the first modification of the loan 
 Act allowed the corporation to construct a tunnel of size sufficient for either 
 one or two tracks, and, in fact, the work was commenced and has thus far 
 progressed for a single track alone. 
 
20 
 
 The expense attending the commencement of an enterprise like this — tlie 
 experiments necessary to determine the manner the work sliould be carried 
 on — the sinking of tlie shaft — all form part of the actual cost of what has 
 been done, yet can afford no reliable basis from which ta determine future 
 cost when once the work is well under way. 
 
 With regard to the road, the estimates seem purely conjectural, and in 
 addition to the difficulty, not to say impossibility, of determining the cost of 
 completion, before the damage from suspension can be known, the fact that 
 each person has estimated upon his peculiar views of the wants of the 
 location, and the character of the road to be constructed, must compel the 
 legislature to decide upon details of construction before deriving any benefit 
 from the information received.” 
 
 That is, we have obtained no information of much “ practical 
 value ; ” we have ‘‘ no reliable basis from which to determine 
 future cost ; ” “ the estimates seem purely conjectural ; ” in fact, 
 we do n’t know any thing about it ; and, therefore, we give Mr. 
 Haupt all he ever asked, and f 150,000 in addition as a gratuity ! 
 
 In the very outset, the Committee give the whole case to Mr. 
 Haupt. They say: “In their opinion, the true construction of 
 the Act of 1860 required the State Engineer who should be first 
 appointed under it, to decide upon the quality of the road to be 
 constructed, and to determine its peculiar characteristics, and that 
 this decision was properly subject to no change except at the 
 instigation of the Governor and Council.” 
 
 Now, in the first place, they cannot stand upon this doctrine a 
 moment ; for Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Stevenson both did make 
 changes repeatedly. 
 
 In the next place, the Act nowhere gives the first engineer the 
 shadow of the right to decide for his successors upon the quality 
 of the road to be constructed, or determine its characteristics. 
 These points the legislature settled, by declaring that the work 
 should be “ substantially performed,” and by instructing him, 
 “ for any defective work or materials,” to make proper deduction. 
 The engineer’s duty is to ascertain, from time to time, whether 
 tlie work comjdies with the requirements of the Act, and to see 
 tliat, with the last certificate for the $650,000, the road should be 
 “ sul)stantially ” built. 
 
 Again, — look at the abyurdity which this construction involves. 
 In tl»c original estimate of tlie cost of graduation of the road, 
 (Mr. Stev(3nson’s statement, jiage 5,) the item of earth-work is, 
 “IM 0,000 cubic yards earth, at 21 cents, $71,400.” Now, suppose 
 
21 
 
 that in the progress of the work it had been found that 60,000 
 yards of this was solid rock ; and this is a not very uncommon 
 occurrence, and to a greater or less extent occurs on this road, 
 owing to imperfect preliminary explorations. This would leave 
 
 280,000 yards of earth ; and the cost would be as follows : 
 
 280,000 cubic yards earth, at 21 cents, . . S58,800 
 
 60,000 cubic yards solid rock, at 81.05, . . 63,000 
 
 8121,800 
 
 being 850,400 over the original estimate, wliich assumed the 
 whole 340,000 yards to be earth. Now, upon the doctrine of the 
 Committee, that subsequent engineers have no power to change 
 the estimates of the first engineer, there is no power to secure 
 the excavation of this rock. The contractor says he won’t do it 
 for the price of earth-work, and the engineer says, I can’t allow 
 any more ; my predecessor has tied my hands. Mr. Whitwell 
 says, the Act requires me to revise prices so as to secure the com- 
 pletion of the work ; otherwise the State loses the only security 
 the Act provides for its completion. 
 
 ‘‘ But,” says Mr. Haupt to Mr. Whitwell, ‘‘ at least pay me for 
 the work done last month at the same prices as previously.” Mr. 
 Whitwell replies : “ No ; the Act makes it my duty to give my 
 certificate for the scrip ‘ in the proportion which the value of the 
 work done and the materials delivered last month bears to the 
 estimated cost of the vjJwle work and materials required;’’ and I 
 must graduate my scale of prices for the whole work/^wsi as I 
 should have done at the commencement of the work, had we 
 known that this 60,000 yards was rock.” It is too clear to need 
 argument or illustration, except to the wilfully blind, that just 
 this and nothing else was what the Act required. 
 
 The Committee say : — 
 
 “ All the evidence submitted to the Committee, possibly excepting the 
 statements of a single gentleman, tended to show that the completion of the 
 work would find the State in possession of adequate security for the full 
 amount of the $2,000,000 loan, and whatever interest might be required 
 thereon beyond the amount received from the corporation during the 
 progress of the work.” 
 
22 
 
 Now, we affirm that there was not a particle of evidence sub- 
 mitted {o})enly') to show that the road, when completed, could 
 possibly pay its running expenses, nor were any responsible party 
 or parties produced wlio would take a lease of the road and pay 
 one dollar towards the interest on the State loan. 
 
 Again, the Committee say, (Report, page 4) “ tlic contractors 
 have expended in cash and incurred liabilities to an amount 
 exceeding $350,000.” Such statements are amazing. They 
 prove, either that the report was not written by the Committee, 
 or that it was made up from private communications to the 
 Committee ; for we say, without fear of contradiction, that no 
 such fact was proved, no such fact was asserted, no such fact was 
 alluded to at the public hearing. It is pure fiction, so far as 
 any thing that occurred puhliclij is concerned. 
 
 The Faith of the State! 
 
 The Committee proceed — 
 
 “ But there is another, and, to the minds of the Committee, graver light 
 in which this question should be viewed. Commencing in 1854, repeated 
 legislation has settled the policy of the State respecting this enterprise. 
 Regarding the good faith of the Commonwealth, it can hardly be now con- 
 sidered an open question. To the extent of a loan of $2,000,000, the 
 State faith is pledged to the aid of the work.” 
 
 Tliis is purely a gratuitous assumption. In 1854, the State 
 granted a loan of its credit’for $2,000,000 upon certain conditions. 
 We have elsewhere shown how gradually those conditions have 
 been changed, not on account of “ the imperfection of previous 
 legislation,” but solely for the benefit of the corporation, that is, 
 of JJerman Ilaupt. Time and again the State has been relieved, 
 liy tlie failure of the corporation to fulfil its part of the contract, 
 from every, even the slightest obligation to carry out hers. But 
 sbe lias never availed herself of this undoubted right. On the 
 other hand, she has relaxed the conditions, released her security, 
 and continued her aid; and it comes with an ill-grace for the 
 paidy wliiidi has never complied with one single one of the stipu- 
 lations of the contract, to impute bad faith to the State which 
 has scrupulously fulhled all hors, and generously relinquished 
 her clear rights for the benefit of the defaulting parly. • There is 
 
23 
 
 not a respectable lawyer in the State who would not say that there 
 has not been a day for the last five years when the Commonwealth 
 had not the indubitable right, legally and equitably, to take 
 possession of the road and foreclose the mortgage for breach of 
 conditions. 
 
 We notice only one passage more of the Report. It is the allu- 
 sion to Mr. Daniel L. Harris, on page 7. A citizen of Massachu- 
 setts, feeling a just pride in the dignity which characterizes the 
 reports of committees of our legislature, would rather turn away 
 from so humiliating a page. We would not refer to it now were 
 it not that it illustrates so strikingly how malignant was tlie 
 influence which dominated the Committee. Mr. Harris, as the 
 Committee themselves state, was their own witness. Sitting in a 
 judicial capacity, they summoned him as an expert. (See Mr. 
 Babson’s communication to Mr. Harris.) A lawyer can hardly 
 do a more disreputable act than to attempt to discredit his own 
 witness. We shall not insult Mr. Harris by entering into any 
 defence of a gentleman of his professional and social position 
 against the aspersions and sneers of the Report. It distorts the 
 facts in regard to Mr. Harris’s examination of the road, which 
 occupied several days, and was minute and thorough, and not an 
 item of which was shaken by the scrutiny to which Mr. Haupt 
 subjected it before the Committee ; and the attack upon Mr. 
 Harris was too evidently dictated by an enemy who skulks behind 
 a screen which should not be prostituted to such a purpose — 
 
 “ Willing to wound and yet afraid to strike.” 
 
 No man with a proper self-respect will ever go before a legisla- 
 tive committee upon a matter of public policy, if such an outrage 
 is allowed to pass unrebuked. 
 
 We come now to speak of Mr. Haupt’s connection with this 
 enterprise and to examine some of his statements. 
 
 Mr. Haupt’s Disinterestedness. 
 
 Mr. Haupt makes great parade of his sacrifices in carrying on 
 this work. Now there has never been produced a tittle of evidence 
 to show that he has ever put a single dollar into this work in 
 addition to what he has received from the State, or from other 
 sources. On the other hand, it is capable of absolute demonstra- 
 tion that he has received some hundreds of thousands of dollars 
 
24 
 
 more than the work could have been done for, if well managed, 
 and contracts properly made. How much money he may have 
 squandered in visionary experiments, or wild speculations, I 
 don’t know and don’t care ; but I do aflirm that he lias received 
 large amounts for the work, more than it would cost if conducted 
 by a competent engineer, and an honest -man. Ilere are the 
 figures, and they cannot be gainsaid. 
 
 We copy from a note appended to Mr. Harris’s statement to the 
 Committee, now in print. Mr. Haupt may blackguard Mr. Harris, 
 but he cannot dispute his figures: — 
 
 Estimated expenditure and liabilities incurred in working, 
 thus far, the eastern division of the road, from Greenfield 
 
 to the tunnel, . $410,000 00 
 
 The railroad company, in their petition to the legislature, in 
 January, 1856, state that the gradation and masonry on that 
 part of the road between North Adams and Williamstown 
 are so far advanced “that a further outlay of $10,000 will 
 prepare the same for the superstructure.” This superstruc- 
 ture would cost some $45,000. To cover ail contingencies, 
 call the expenditures made on this section of the road, at 
 the charge present contractors, ..... 100,000 00 
 
 The actual cost of the Southern Vermont section of the road 
 
 did not exceed, 90,000 00 
 
 Estimated amount expended in excavating 
 
 and propping up the tunnel, . . . $141,250 00 . 
 
 Probable cost of the approaches and shaft of 
 
 ditto, 27,000 00 
 
 168,250 00 
 
 Total, $768,250 00 
 
 Against these expenditures the Commonwealth has advanced 
 scrip as follows : — 
 
 Dll the eastern division, .... $505,000 00 
 
 On the North Adams and Williamstown sec- 
 tion, say one-half of the first instalment paid 
 
 on road and tunnel, . . . . 
 
 ( )n the Southern Vermont section of six miles. 
 On tlie tunnel, about . . . . . 
 
 50,000 00 
 200,000 00 
 170,689 00 
 
 925,389 00 
 
 Ihdance, . . . . . 
 
 Ami tin; towns along tin*, line have, paid 
 
 .$157,139 00 
 . 125,500 00 
 
 Making total rccei)»tH beyond the estimated cost of work done, $282,639 00 
 
25 
 
 Similar statements have been previously made. Mr. Kimball 
 called upon Mr. Haupt to state the cost of work done. He 
 declined, and asked that the interrogatories should be put in 
 writing. This was done, and he refused to answer. We tried 
 to get the information from him this winter, and he refused, and 
 the Committee sustained him in that refusal, — as, indeed, they 
 did in every thing else. We asked for the books, and the 
 Committee decided that we had no right to examine them ! 
 
 It was so all the way through. If we asked a question of 
 Herman Haupt, the engineer, the answer would be, that that was 
 a matter connected with the contractors’ department. If we 
 asked for information relating to the work, Mr. Haupt shielded 
 himself behind his prerogative as the agent or representative of 
 the corporation. There was a dodge for every question, and a 
 quibble or an evasion for every scrutiny ; until, finding that the 
 ‘‘investigation” took only such a direction as Mr. Haupt indicated, 
 and that the conclusion was from the start foregone, we gave up 
 in despair of any good result from the hearing, and only continued 
 the farce so as to preserve a status in court, and retain the right 
 of appeal. 
 
 We repeat, Herman Haupt has never produced vouchers to 
 show that the fair value of the work done does not fall nearly three 
 hundred thousand dollars short of what he has received of the 
 money of the people of Massachusetts, — of the people of Norfolk, 
 and Barnstable, and Nantucket. This charge has been heretofore 
 made by responsible parties, and is now repeated ; and, until he 
 meets it with something more than sneers, he must not boast of 
 his sacrifices for the great enterprise. 
 
 Take another fact as to Mr. Haupt’s disinterestedness. In 
 February, 1858, Mr. Haupt made a contract with the corporation 
 (House Doc. 1860, No. 185, page 51,) by which they transfer to 
 Mr. Haupt the entire property of the corporation, with all sub- 
 scriptions, present and prospective, and agreeing that he shall 
 have all the State loans to build the tunnel, and in addition two 
 millions of dollars to build the road; viz., $900,000 in mortgage 
 bonds, and the balance in cash, if they could raise it, or in stock. 
 Now here are $4,000,000 in addition to what he could get from 
 other sources. Now Mr. Haupt’s friends have affirmed over and 
 over again, that the road and tunnel would not cost over 
 $2,100,000. Here, then, he would receive, as contractor, — 
 
 4 
 
As above, 
 
 From towns, . 
 Gratuity this year, . 
 
 26 
 
 $4,000,000 00 
 125,000 00 
 • 150,000 00 
 
 $4,275,000 00 
 
 for work which, according to his friends, could not cost him over 
 $2,100,000. If he finds committees as amiable hereafter as he 
 does this winter, he will add a few more gratuities of $150,000 to 
 that pile. 
 
 Massachusetts’ Bad Faith. 
 
 Evidently nettled by governor Boutwell’s criticisms upon his 
 charge of bad faith on the part of the State, Mr. Haupt attempts 
 to throw off the odium of that charge upon the Committee of 
 the Council. He says : “ according to the testimony of the 
 Committee of Council themselves, the State of Massachusetts 
 through her agents has acted towards us in violation of good faith 
 and repaid our confidence and zeal with parsimony and injustice.” 
 That won’t do. That committee has sins and follies enough to 
 answer for, but they did not say what Mr. Haupt puts in their 
 mouths. This is what tlie Committee said — “ It is our opinion 
 tliat the good faith of the State was lawfully pledged by the first 
 engineer.” 
 
 Mr. Haupt represents them as having said in addition ; “ and 
 repaid our confidence and zeal with parsimony and injustice'^ 
 For tills base libel upon Massachusetts we hold him responsible. 
 Again, in his letter to D. N. Carpenter, Esq., Oct. 4, 1861, he says, 
 ([lage 7) : ‘‘ Can it be wondered at if I should be almost tempted 
 to believe that honesty^ public spirit and good faith had bid adieu 
 to Massachusetts^ and tliat practical Christianity has only been 
 exliibitcd in the fact tliat I and my associates came to the State as 
 strangers and were taken in 
 
 Again in his communication to the Committee this winter, dated 
 .January ‘11, jiage 11, he says: “ We expected when we came to 
 Massschusetts that obligations contracted by her people, her cor- 
 porations and hei’ agents, would be carried out honorably^ fairly ^ 
 and with liberal construction, leaning towards us rather than 
 against ns ; that her State authorities would be disposed to help 
 onr elforts to comidete a great work, from which Massachusetts, 
 
27 
 
 not ourselves, was to derive the chief benefits, rather than throw 
 impediments in our way ; but ive have been mistaken^ and expect 
 to pay for our temerity and misplaced confidence by the loss of 
 property.” And this is said, by this adventurer, of a State and 
 people, 'f 300,000 of whose money has gone ‘into his pocket unac- 
 counted for ! 
 
 Who Practiced Bad Faith? 
 
 Let us look at another transaction of Herman Haupt’s to illus- 
 trate his right to lecture the State and people of Massachusetts 
 upon honor and good faith. 
 
 When Mr. Whitwell gave to Mr. Haupt the certificate for work 
 and materials in June, he included in it 2,800 tons of iron repre- 
 sented to have been delivered to the corporation. It turned 
 out that he was deceived as to the delivery of a part of the 
 iron. About 800 tons was in transitu — not actually placed 
 upon the premises of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad, and was 
 afterwards attached by sundry parties for debts due them by Her- 
 man Haupt. The certificate was issued on July 9th; the iron 
 was attached on July 11th ! How happened it that an attaching 
 process should come from Troy so rapidly ? It may be explained 
 by the fact that the attorney of the Troy Iron Works is also the 
 attorney of Herman Haupt ! * 
 
 Mr. Haupt testified before the Committee that from the proceeds 
 of the scrip issued upon Mr. Whitwell’s certificate, about 190,000, 
 he first “ paid the men ” (though he says now he did’nt pay 
 them and asks this gratuity of $150,000 to enable him to do it) — 
 he ‘‘ first paid the men, and the balance he paid to the Rensselaer 
 Iron Company, telling them he hdidi stopped the workl^’’ Upon 
 that gentle hint they acted, and attached not only this lot, but 
 the whole 2,800 tons of iron on the road, and Massachusetts has 
 got to fight for it, and perhaps lose the whole ! 
 
 * We find, upon inquiry at the State Treasurer’s office, that the exact dates 
 of issuing the scrip give to the transaction a still darker character. The scrip 
 was issued as follows : $38,000 on July 10th ; $55,000 on July 11th, and $500 
 on July 12th. Of course, there could have been no communication with the 
 Iron Company at Troy. The transactions were strictly contemporaneous, or 
 rather simultaneous. Mr. Haupt’s attorney is also the Iron Company’s attorney. 
 He receives the scrip from Mr. Haupt, pays it over to himself as agent of the 
 L-on Company, and issues the writ of attachment all In one day ! 
 
28 
 
 Now, look at tlie transaction. Here were some 45,000 dollars’ 
 worth of iron, which he represented to Mr. Whitwcll as delivered 
 to the corporation ; he got the money from the State for every 
 pound of it, and then gave to the Renssalaer Iron Company infor- 
 mation which he knew would lead them to attach it, and force 
 the State into litigation to recover its property. That may be 
 “ practical Christianity” in Pennsylvania ; but here, the perpetra- 
 tion of so base an act 
 
 “ Should put in every honest hand a wliip, 
 
 To lash the rascal naked from the State.” 
 
 Here is another transaction which shows what kind of faith has 
 been kept with the Commonwealth. On May 26, 1858, (see Kim- 
 ball’s Report, page 59,) at a meeting of the directors of the Troy 
 and Greenfield Railroad Company, it was 
 
 “ Voted^ That whereas, it has been agreed between II. Haupt 
 & Co., and the Rensselaer Iron Works of Troy, that the party 
 furnishing the iron shall retain the ownership of the same after 
 it shall have been laid upon the road^ until it shall have been actu- 
 ally paid for, the president is hereby authorized to indorse upon 
 the contract the approval of this arrangement by the Troy and 
 Greenfield Railroad Company R Now, note thatdhe now existing 
 contract between Haupt and the corporation was made in Feb- 
 ruary, 1858, so that this vote of the directors applies to this 
 contract, and is in force at the present time. 
 
 On July 11, 1861, the Rensselaer Iron Company attached the 
 whole iron previously sent, stated in the writ as 2,900 tons, of the 
 value of f 175, 000. Under this vote of the corporation, they can 
 hold every pound of it, provided Haupt owes them that amount, 
 although the State has paid Haupt for every rail. How much he 
 owes the Rensselaer Company, nobody knows. He admitted 
 helbre the Committee that he owed them some seventy odd thou- 
 sand dollars. How much more, remains to bo seen. The ad 
 damnum of the writ is j)ut at 120,000 ! 
 
 W'e now see liow des])erate was the extremity whicli drove him 
 to ask tlie (Jommittce, (as we assume lie did, privately — he never 
 (lid, publicly,) to make liim a [ireseiit of ttl50,000, and wo see 
 wb(*i-(‘ a large poi-tiou ol‘ tliis $150,000 must go. l>y the terms 
 of the contract, and the vote of tlie corporation, this iron belongs 
 
29 
 
 to the Rensselaer Iron Company, until it is paid for in full. Of 
 course, they will not discharge tlieir attachment until tliey have 
 received the uttermost farthing of Mr. Haupt’s debt to them. 
 
 We understand that Mr. Haupt now says, that this contract only 
 applied to iron delivered west of the mountain and is not now in 
 force. We have to say : 
 
 1st. By the terms of the vote, it applies to all iron delivered, 
 as well for the road east of the mountain as west. 
 
 2d. Nobody pretends that the vote has been rescinded by the 
 corporation, and if it has been, 
 
 3d. Such rescinding vote is invalid unless accepted by the 
 Rensselaer Iron Company. 
 
 The matter is of such importance that we must be excused from 
 taking the statements of the party in interest against the record. 
 
 But Mr. Haupt’s friends argue that the fact of the Rensselaer 
 Company attaching the property proves that they do not claim the 
 iron under that contract. It may be on the other hand, that the 
 attachment was laid to cover a possible defect of title under that 
 lien. 
 
 Again, it is urged by his friends that the attachment is of itself 
 a waiver of all claim under that contract and voids it. This is a 
 nut for the lawyers to crack. If it be so, then the Iron Company 
 will hold only under their attachment. Either way, it shows how 
 false has been the faith towards the Commonwealth. If the 
 contract holds, it proves that Haupt received of the State, pay for 
 iron which he knew belonged to tlie manufacturers. If the 
 attachment holds, it must be remembered that it was laid after 
 Haupt had received pay for it of the State and in consequence of 
 information which he or his attorney communicated to the Iron 
 Company or their attorney. 
 
 As an illustration of the fraudulent and swindling nature of the 
 management, look at this fact: To be entitled, under the Act of 
 1854, to receive a part of the State loan, they were to procure a 
 subscription of §600,000, of which twenty per cent, was to be paid 
 in. Mr. Haupt paid the assessment of twenty per cent, on his 
 5,000 shares by “ procuring §100,000 of bank bills in packages, to 
 be immediately returned, without the intention that the hilts should 
 become the property of the contractors^ and the contractors handed 
 them to the treasurer of the company, who, as he testified, took 
 them, credited §100,000 on the stock book^ and then handed the 
 
30 
 
 money hack to the contractors^ by whom it was rotiirned where it 
 belonged!!” (the cashier being present to keep watch of his 
 money and to receive it hack after it had gone tliroiigh tlie 
 ceremony !) And this was sworn to as a bona fide payment of 
 assessments. By sucli disreputable thimble-rigging was the State 
 swindled out of the first instalment of the scrip.* 
 
 Mr. Haupt enforces his piteous appeal for sympathy by charging 
 that Mr. Whitwell, by his withholding of what he claims is due 
 
 Stopped the Work. 
 
 In reply to this, in addition to the proof we have given elsewliere 
 that Haupt has received for the entire work some $300,000 more 
 than it should have cos£, at fair prices, we have to say, that all the 
 facts go to show that Mr. Haupt had received from Mr, Whitwell 
 several thousand dollars more than he was entitled to even on his 
 and Mr, Lincoln’s basis. Taking the figures of Mr. Harley, 
 (Mr. Haupt’s engineer,) allowing all that he claimed, making no 
 deductions for slopes, trestle-work or any thing else, the very 
 highest amount he can show as belonging to him, over and above 
 what Mr. Whitwell allowed him, is $61,000. Now, Mr. Whitwell 
 paid him $45'000 for iron which was not delivered, and over 
 $20,000 for bridges estimated and paid for as finished which were 
 not finished. Here are over $65,000 which Mr. Haupt has re- 
 ceived for materials which he had not furnished ; being four 
 thousand dollars more than the highest amount he can claim for 
 work done and materials furnished, and yet lie talks about being 
 compelled to suspend’the work by the unjust withholding of money 
 which justly belonged to him ! 
 
 Stopped the vjork I’’ Why, Mr. Haupt admitted before the 
 Committee, that he owed the Rensselaer Iron Company over 
 $70,000, (every dollar of which he had received from the State,) 
 and how much more, we shall not know till the suit pending under 
 their attachment is tried ; how much he owes the sub-ccntractors, 
 nobody knows. Upon the usual rule of withholding from sub- 
 contractors twenty-five per cent, as security for the completion of 
 the work, he cannot owe them less than $50,000 or $60,000 ; 
 so that liis delits for the road must amount to a good deal 
 nioi’c than his highest claim of Mr. Whitwell. Indeed, the Coin- 
 
 * A]»j)emli.\, [Ih] 
 
31 
 
 mittee, by giving him fl50,000 to pay his debts, admit that he 
 cannot get along without that sum. And yet he talks about Mr. 
 Whitwell’s stopping the work 1 
 
 The Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company a Myth! 
 
 Hon. Moses Kimball, in his statements at the hearing, pro- 
 nounced the corporation a myth.” 
 
 If any proof of the utterly mythical character of the corporation 
 be necessary, it will be found in Mr. Kimball’s Report. Read 
 the contract made with Mr. Haupt, Feb. 18, 1858. By this con- 
 tract the whole of the property of the corporation is made over to 
 him — State scrip, subscriptions, every thing ; the only consideration 
 it receives in return is, Mr. Haupt’s promise to pay to the corpo- 
 ration ‘‘ annually^ the sum of not less than five hundred dollars^ to 
 defray the necessary expenses of organization and of printing.” So 
 helpless and hopeless is the condition of the corporation, that it con- 
 fesses itself the stipendiary of its contractor, and “ borrows leave 
 to be ” by transferring to an irresponsible “ stranger ” (as he 
 declares himself) the absolute control of its franchise and of two 
 millions of dollars of State scrip, if he will only promise them five 
 hundred dollars annually to pay their printers’ bills ! And for 
 his performance of the contract they take not the slightest security. 
 The uniform practice of well-conducted railroad companies is, to 
 pay to contractors only seventy-five per cent, of the contract price, 
 reserving twenty-five per cent, as security till the work is finished. 
 There is no precaution of this kind here— nothing to prevent his 
 abandoning the work at any moment when he finds it his interest 
 to leave it. 
 
 To illustrate still further how completely Haupt owns the cor- 
 poration, bear in mind that Haupt holds 5,987 shares of the stock, 
 and all others 1,679 .shares ; so that Haupt, as (nominal) stock- 
 holder, holds nearly four times as many shares as all others, and 
 he chooses directors, president, treasurer and all. 
 
 The holders of these 1,679 shares are the only bona fide stock- 
 holders, for they are the only ones who have paid a dollar of 
 assessments. Mr. Haupt has never paid a dollar in easily or even 
 in any thing equivalent to cash. He pretended to pay in work ; 
 (see Mr. Kimball’s Report, pages 16, Ac.,) but in consideration 
 of a subscription of 1600,000 to the stock, three hundred thousand 
 dollars was added to his contract ! 
 
32 
 
 If any should be deceived into the notion tliat the State has any 
 security or any control by having 
 
 Four State Directors, 
 
 as proposed by the bill, a moments reflection will show how 
 shallow a sham that proposition is. If the State chose every one 
 of the directors, she would have no more control over any of tlie 
 affairs of the corporation than she has over the counsels of the 
 king of Dahomey. No board of directors can go behind, or change 
 any of the provisions of the contract of February, 1858, without 
 the consent of Herman Haupt. Indeed, that contract is irrevoca- 
 ble and perpetual; and there is no power on earth that can take the 
 control of the corporation out of his hands, except the Common- 
 wealth as 7 nortgagee^ foreclosing for breach of conditions. The 
 directors, whoever they are, whether chosen by the State or by 
 Haupt, have nothing to do, and can do nothing, but register the 
 edicts of Herman Haupt. 
 
 As further proof of the entire abandonment of the enterprise into 
 Haiipt’s hands, it is noticeable that not a single person from the 
 line of the road appeared before the Committee. (Mr. Abercrom- 
 bie was summoned as State director, at our request.) One of the 
 original friends of the tunnel, residing in this city, happened to 
 be present — a gentleman of singularly upright and earnest char- 
 acter, warmed with the beautiful enthusiasm 
 
 “ Of one whose nature, vision-bowed, 
 
 Clasps a god in every cloud, — ” 
 
 and charmed the audience with rose-colored sketches of the teem- 
 ing wealth of the West, pouring into Boston through an auger- 
 hole fourteen feet wide by eighteen feet high, under the Hoosac 
 Mountain ! 
 
 “ Of such stud' dreams arc made I” 
 
 Not another person appeared in behalf of the enterprise. In- 
 deed, tliere was no occasion for any of them. Mr. Haupt’s aim 
 evidently was to pi’event investigation, and in that he succeeded 
 j‘emarkal)Iy well. Fvery attempt we made at thorough investiga- 
 tion was resisted, and, generally, successfully; and what little 
 facilities were allowed us were only extorted by hard work, and 
 
33 
 
 granted only after long delay, and because refusal would clearly 
 damage Mr. Haupt’s case. 
 
 Let us look at Mr. Haupt’s comparison with the 
 
 Western Railroad. 
 
 Mr. Haupt, in his opening statement, introduces a deceptive 
 statement relating to State aid to the Western Railroad. He does 
 not dare to put upon paper a comparison between the loans to the 
 two roads and the relative security. We will make the com- 
 parison. 
 
 The Western Railroad was chartered in 1833. In 1836, the 
 State subscribed for f 1,000,000 of the stock, and the condition 
 was, that assessments should be paid by State and by private 
 subscribers, In 1837, the stockholders had paid in 
 1262,000, and the State, 1100,000. In 1838, the stockholders 
 had paid in 1102,530 ; the State, 1200,000. In the same year, 
 the State loaned its credit for $2,100,000, to be paid in instal- 
 ments in proportion to payments by stockholders. In February, 
 1839, stockholders had paid in $580,555 ; the State, $300,000 on 
 subscription and $524,444 as instalments of the loan. In October 
 of that year, the road was opened to Springfield, and from that 
 time the earnings were applied to reduce the interest until 1842, 
 when the nett income was more than sufficient to pay the interest 
 on the scrip. 
 
 The figures of Mr. Haupt’s table, on page 28 of his statement, 
 are purely imaginary. As stated above, the stockholders had paid 
 in, in cash, $580,555 when the State had advanced $824,444, — 
 that is, $300,000 on assessments and $524,444 of the loan, — and 
 this was the worst condition the State was ever in, as regarded 
 that road ; for, after that, the road was earning money enough to 
 show that the enterprise was beyond all hazard of loss to the 
 State ; and Mr. Haupt dares to say, that when stockholders had 
 “paid or secured” $600,000, “the State had paid $3,700,000”! 
 The State never paid a dollar except in the proportion as pre- 
 viously stated. Issue of scrip was made in all cases conditioned 
 upon cash subscriptions actually paid into the treasury of the 
 corporation by the stockholders. 
 
 Now compare these facts with those in the tunnel case. Only 
 $66,000 have ever been paid in, in cash, by subscribers, and 
 $125,000 by towns, making $191,000 in all ; whereas the State 
 
 5 
 
34 
 
 has advanced $725,388, and is bound, by tlic terms of the Loan 
 Act, to advance the whole of the $2,000,000 witliout another 
 dollar from private subscriptions. 
 
 Besides, the State had what was equivalent to valuable security, 
 in the character of the directors of the Western Railroad. Here 
 they are — many among the lamented dead ; all the survivors among 
 our most honored citizens: Thomas B. Wales, John Henshaw, 
 Edmund Dwight, Francis Jackson, Robert Rantoul, Jr., Josiah 
 Quincy, Jr., George Bliss, William Jackson, Charles Hudson, and 
 Amasa Walker. 
 
 The following are the names of the directors of the Troy and 
 Greenfield Railroad Company : D. N. Carpenter, Alvah Crocker, 
 James Cheever, Lewis Rice, E. G. Lamson, Peter B. Brigham, 
 Harvey Arnold, H. L. Sabin, and Herman Haupt 1 ! 
 
 Comparative Distance. 
 
 A great deal of noise has been heretofore made about the saving 
 of distance for the great traffic of the West to Boston over the 
 Troy and Greenfield route. Mr. Haupt has claimed that the 
 saving is twe^ity-three miles. By the following table it turns out 
 to be but five miles. 
 
 Boston to Schenectady hy imy of Albany. 
 
 Miles 
 
 Boston to Worcester, ,. . . 441 
 
 Worcester to State Line en Wes- 
 tern Bailroad proper, . . 117^ 
 
 J^lbany and W. Stockhridge R. R., 38 
 
 200 
 
 Albany to Schenectady, ^ .17 
 
 217 
 
 ! Boston to Schenectady by way of Troy. 
 \ Miles. 
 
 Boston to Fitchburg, . . .51 
 
 Fitchburg to Grant’s Corner, . 48 
 
 Grant’s Corner to Greenfield, . 8 
 
 Greenfield to Williamstown, . . 43 
 
 Southern Vermont road, . . 6 
 Vermont Line to Troy, . . .35 
 
 191 
 
 Troy to Schenectady, . . .21 
 
 212 
 
 Chance of Location. 
 
 A's an illustration of the fact, that the change of location was 
 made for the benefit of Mr. Hau])t at the sacrifice of the best 
 interests of the enterprise, especially if it be regarded as part 
 of a great lino for through trafiic, compare the characteristics of 
 the line as originally located with those of the jirosont location. 
 Bear in mind that, not only has Haupt adopted a location with 
 
35 
 
 much worse curves, but he has violated the law, which authorizes 
 the location to be changed solely on the condition that it shortens 
 the Hne,’’^ whereas his change of location adds a mile to the length 
 of the line. 
 
 COMPARATIVE TABLE 
 
 Of Allignments on the Troy and Greenfield Railroad, between Hoosac Mountain 
 and Greenfield, by Contractor’s location, 30 miles ; and between same points, 
 by Engineer’s location, 29 miles. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF LINES. 
 
 Present location of Troy and 
 Oreenfleld R. R. by Con- 
 tractors.* 
 
 Original location of Troy and 
 Greenfield R. R., by En- 
 gineer.t 
 
 Kind of Curve. 
 
 Radius in 
 
 Feet. 
 
 Length in 
 
 Miles. 
 
 No. of 
 
 Curves. 
 
 Amount of 
 
 Curvature. 
 
 Length in 
 
 Miles. 
 
 1 
 
 No. of 
 
 Curves. 
 
 Amount of 
 
 Curvature. 
 
 Under 1°, . 
 
 5,730 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 .78 
 
 4 
 
 25° 
 
 2°, . . . . 
 
 2,865 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 4.79 
 
 21 
 
 309° 
 
 3®, . . . . 
 
 l,9i0 
 
 .63 
 
 6 
 
 o 
 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 3.80 
 
 21 
 
 424° 
 
 Of 3°, . . 
 
 1,910 
 
 1.41 
 
 16 
 
 222° 
 
 2.71 
 
 13 
 
 429° 
 
 Between 3° and 4°, . 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 Of 4°, 
 
 1,432 
 
 3.36 
 
 34 
 
 709° 
 
 3.59 
 
 13 
 
 760° 
 
 Between 4° and 5 °, . 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 .56 
 
 2 
 
 133° 
 
 Of 5°, .... 
 
 1,146 
 
 .75 
 
 8 
 
 200° 
 
 .21 
 
 1 
 
 56° 
 
 5i°, .... 
 
 1,042 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 6°, . . . . 
 
 955 
 
 7.32 
 
 69 
 
 2,318° 
 
 .19 
 
 1 
 
 60° 
 
 7°, . . . . 
 
 818 
 
 .39 
 
 3 
 
 144° 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 8°, . . . . 
 
 716 
 
 .81 
 
 6 
 
 344° 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 Straight, .... 
 
 - 
 
 15.44 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 12.50 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 - 
 
 30.11 
 
 142 
 
 |4,005° 
 
 1 
 
 29.13 
 
 76 
 
 2,196° 
 
 * Average, 133° per mile. Shortest Kadius, 716 feet, 
 t Average, 75° per mile. Shortest Radius, 955 feet. 
 
 The Curvature of the Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad averages 52® per 
 mile. Shortest Radius 921 feet. 
 
36 
 
 Who is Herman Haupt? 
 
 By a lucky turn of tlie wheel of fortune, he is supposed to 
 have made some money, and came to Massacliusetts to play 
 Railroad King. At first, undoubtedly, he dreamed of fame as 
 well as fortune from this great enterprise. Squandering, in wild 
 speculations and visionary experiments, the money he made out 
 of the Pennsylvania Central Railroad, — a road which has had to 
 be built over almost entirely new since he left it, — he soon found 
 that the tunnel was not the El Dorado his dreams had pictured. 
 Driven to extremities, all his ‘‘ great expectations ” having failed, 
 nothing was left but the State treasury. Leaguing himself with 
 the most unscrupulous political gamblers and profligate adventu- 
 rers in the State, he has corrupted the politics and influenced the 
 legislation of the State to an extent which would be impossible 
 to one less unscrupulous and indefatigable. 
 
 His versatility is wonderful. At one time, you admire the sol- 
 emn upturning of eye with which he utters the following : Men 
 
 who are devoted to the interests of humanity and tlie cause of 
 true religion ; whose fortunes are considered, not theoretically but 
 practically as held in trust to be employed as the Great Giver, 
 through the suggestions of an enlightened conscience, may direct ; 
 whose donations have been as munificent as they were unostenta- 
 tious and unknown ; men who have pledged all tlieir share of tlie 
 profit that may be realized on this very Hoosac Tunnel enterprise, 
 to objects of benevolence .” — Haupfs speech at American House ^ 
 June 9, 1857. 
 
 At another time, one could hear the chuckle with which he 
 regarded the proficiency of his pupils, as he drilled them in the 
 tricks of his trade. 
 
 ‘‘The merry old gentleman, placing a snuff-box in one pocket of 
 his trowsers, a note-case in the other, and a watch in his waistcoat 
 pocket, with a guard-chain round his neck, and sticking a mock 
 diamond pin in Ids shirt, buttoned his coat tight round him, and 
 j)uttiiig his spectacle-case and handkerchief in the pockets, trotted 
 uf) and down tlie room witli a stick, in imitation of the manner 
 in wliicli old gentlemen walk about the streets every hour in the 
 day. At last the Dodger trod upon his toes, or ran upon his boot, 
 accidentally, while Oharlcy Dates stumbled up against him behind ; 
 and in that one moment they took from him with the most extra- 
 or(lina,ry raj)idity, snuff-box, note-case, watch-guard, chain, shirt- 
 jdii, pocket handkerchief, — even the spectacle-case.” 
 
37 
 
 ‘‘ Make ’em y’r models, my dear, make ’em y’r models ” said 
 the Jew to honest unsophisticated Oliver; and Oliver tried his 
 hand. 
 
 You’re a clever boy, my dear,” said the playful old gentle- 
 man, patting Oliver on the head approvingly ; “ 1 never saw a 
 sharper lad. Here^s a shilling for you. If you go on in this 
 way, you’ll be the greatest man of the time.” 
 
 Alas, our Fagin has found, not only Charley Bateses and 
 Dodgers, but simple Olivers who don’t know for whose benefit 
 they are pulling chestnuts out of the fire. 
 
 I am at a loss to account for the influence which Mr. Haupt 
 exerts over those with whom he comes in contact. 
 
 I had never known him ; but was prepared, from impressions 
 of him derived from personal friends in the tunnel region, to 
 think very favorably of him. I expected to meet a man of capacity 
 and breadth of character, I found an adroit and unscrupulous 
 special pleader ; I expected to meet an enthusiast, I found a 
 calculating, selfish speculator; I looked for a Cheeryble, I found 
 a Uriah Heep. Plausible and insinuating towards those whom he 
 desires to use, servile and sycophantic towards those who have the 
 power to forward or thwart his schemes, arrogant and insolent 
 towards those whom he can neither humbug nor buy, Shylock and 
 Pecksniff by turns, he has succeeded in exerting an influence 
 to which neither his character or ability entitles him. As an 
 individual he deserves no notice ; as the marplot of this great 
 enterprise — an enterprise whose success, from the day I first 
 voted for its charter in 1848 to this hour, I have earnestly desired 
 and done what I could to promote — he deserves to be exposed. 
 I am forced by the developments of this winter to believe, as I do 
 most profoundly, that Herman Haupt, under professions of philan- 
 thropy and devotion to the public good, is perverting this enter- 
 prise to his own selfish purposes ; that, instead of aiding it, he has 
 stood, and still stands, in the way of its completion, and that the 
 road to success will not be entered upon until his false character is 
 exposed and the enterprise rescued from his control. 
 
 I can have no personal controversy with such a person. I can 
 feel only pity for a man who so perverts powers which might have 
 been directed to a useful purpose, or contempt, when he deceives 
 himself with the idea that sensible men do not see through a 
 disguise which is composed of disgusting cant, superficial dogma* 
 
38 
 
 tism, and unmannerly insolence. He is delightfully indifferent 
 to facts, never discusses principles, and, with singular intellectual 
 or moral obliquity, considers an attack upon an opponent’s motives 
 as a reply to his arguments, — “ mistaking the venom of tlie shaft 
 for the vigor of the bow.” 
 
 The Tunnel. 
 
 Wo have hardly referred to this. Haupt’s game has been to 
 get all the money he could out of the State for the road and leave 
 the tunnel on our hands. Wo know too little about, it to form 
 any intelligent opinion as to its cost. Somebody has got to spend 
 two or three millions to complete it with a double track, as it 
 must have, for any considerable traffic. The annexed profile 
 shows what has been done. 
 
 What shall be Done? 
 
 There is one course, and only one course, which sensible 
 business men would pursue in relation to this matter, — send no 
 new dollars, after the old ones till we have made thorough 
 investigation. If the State fairly and honestly owes any body a 
 dollar, PAY IT. If the work is to be finished, the State must 
 do it ; for not a single dollar will ever come from any other source. 
 Tliis every-body knows. The corporation cannot budge another 
 inch. They cannot possibly fulfil their contract with the State* 
 The main questions to be answered are these, — “ Shall the State 
 wind up the concern and pocket the loss ? or, shall she furnish 
 the money to complete the work ? ” If, as the result of the inves- 
 tigation, it should be decided to go on, the only sensible and 
 economical way is, to take the enterprise into her own hands, 
 and ‘‘ build her own road with her own money.” There are very 
 grave objections to this course, which we have no time to present. 
 As an original proposition, it could not be entertained for a moment. 
 Ihit, having })ut our foot in it,” we must now look the con- 
 seiiuences sejuarely in the face. If the road is to be finished, the 
 State must do it, and do it through her own agents ; for every 
 consideration of economy and policy forbids our going on with 
 tli(5 j)r(iscnt slip-shod and I’cckless system under which one third 
 of oui- inoiKiy sticks to the fingers of speculators and swindlers 
 while we ai’c getting a tunnel of only half the proper size and a 
 road of no value as a greiit conimercial highway. 
 
Cross Sections of Tunnels. 
 
 Julies lo7ig. 
 
 15 Cubic' yard& ptr. Imtcil Jt. 
 
 Soo sac Tunnel as projected and estimated Soosac Tunnel as thus ^far ccmplUed. 
 upon when loan was originally granted. 
 
 4Z73 feet in length 
 11\ Cubic yards 
 
 per, lineal ft. 
 
 
 
 Mngwood Tumid, TaltuncrekOhwR.R. l^l-W Ridge Tunnel in V^. emstmekd/or 
 
 Singh Track and cemphted in 1857. 
 
 
 ft lies long 
 
 '!9h Cubic It ardfi: per lineal ft. 
 
 ggSJO ^ 
 
 Kant Cents Tunnel Under the .dips. 
 
 \ 4527 fiet in length - ^6 of a JUU. j 
 IS Cubic yards per lineal ft j 
 
 fe J 
 
 Tunnel at St Martin's on 
 Bvurbeunats R.R France. 
 
 « Z--ad:-g S-^' . lar'i'ia tin-i 
 
h Ld 
 
 The £lack lines at cither end indicate the progrtsi 
 
 PK«FILE OF THE HO 0 SAP MOITNTMN on TUMEL ELNE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Cress Seitions vf Tunnel. TRtT ^ ^RiiiNJFIJElLDj RAUL R§Ai. 
 
 \ 
 
 Marcli 1862 . 
 
 ^5 Cu.-, 
 
 if.aX ft. 
 
 \ ('opted from Frofile made Iry <A.F. Ed-murds, Enqinti t 
 
 Lith .by .HiLion 3radiey Springr/teld.JCass. 
 
 Shi Cubic yards 
 per, f.neal ft. 
 
 Ihnnel as, pn jeritd and esiimated. 
 upon nhen lean //v/s iriqiuiLiUj iptented 
 
 Tunnel as thus far e.oinpUUcl. 
 
 Eorizonial Scale 2f)CC ft to an inch. 
 Vertical e, 6'€0 « ,, 
 
 J)ip about 5” from i'ertical. 
 Eock-.Mica Slate with Quartz ^Vcdales. 
 
 .J 
 
39 
 
 APPENDIX, 
 
 [A.] 
 
 GREEN RIVER BRIDGE. 
 
 There is no more striking instance of the unaccountable omission of 
 most material facts, than this of the Green River Bridge. Mr. Harris’ 
 testimony as to its worthless character were clear and positive, and uncon- 
 tradicted. He was supported fully by Mr. Vose, who had given the bridge 
 a thorough examination, and reported the results in a statement character- 
 ized by remarkable clearness and scientific exactness, accompanied by 
 drawings taken on the spot, which confirmed, unequivocally, his testimony. 
 There is not the slightest allusion, in the report, to Mr. Vose’s testimony, 
 to the facts, to his drawings, or to the condition of the bridge, and yet here 
 is a piece of Haupt’s work for which the State has paid him $20,000 ! ! 
 
 At our request, Mr. Vose has furnished us with the following report of 
 his testimony before the Committee. 
 
 Statement by Mr. Vose. 
 
 Upon Friday, February 21st last, I saw Mr. Whitwell, who wished me 
 to go to Greenfield, to examine the Green River Bridge. I had never 
 known Mr. Whitwell before, but had heard of him as an engineer. Mr. 
 Haupt I had never seen but once, and knew of him only by his book on 
 Bridge Construction. I had never any connection whatever with either of 
 these engineers, nor with the Troy and Greenfield Railroad. I left Boston 
 Friday evening, February 21, and on the following day inspected the 
 Green River Bridge, examining every timber and nearly every rod. I 
 did not go to Greenfield prejudiced against the structure, although I had 
 heard that the work was not well made. I went to see it as it actually 
 was ; and I have no object in making it appear in any respect better or 
 worse than it is. I made several sketches on the spot, of what appeared 
 to me to be serious defects. These sketches I gave to the Committee, 
 wishing by them to make the bridge speak for itself. The following are 
 the features v/hich appeared to me as defects : 
 
 First. The eastern half of the bridge is on a sharp curve. That a 
 railway train exerts considerable lateral action against the rails upon a 
 
40 
 
 curve, is too plain an assertion to need proof r the tendency of the engine 
 is to move in a straiglit line ; the rails upon the curve prevent such straight 
 motion, and whatever preventive force is thus applied, tends by reaction to 
 push the bridge over sideways. A bridge thus on a curve, needs an 
 unusual amount of lateral strength ; in which the bridge in question seems 
 extraordinarily deficient ; and the novel plan of the bridge seems to me to 
 forbid the introduction of this so much needed element of safety. 
 
 Second. There is a lack of continuity in the timber work over the 
 {)iers. By connecting the different spans in a bridge efficiently, the strength 
 of the central spans is doubled, while that of the end spans is increased 
 fifty per cent. Mr. Ilaupt does not deny this. Now although in the Green 
 River Bridge, the curve does not allow of the ordinary connection over 
 the piers, yet there is not the least trouble in making a good junction. 
 Any bridge builder will, I think, admit this. 
 
 Third. The application of the main suspension rods (upon which the 
 whole bridge depends) to the top chords over the piers, is most wretched. 
 Instead of passing the main rods through a hard wood block and an iron 
 plate or washer, the nuts are applied to a soft pine wood floor beam ; the 
 result is as might be expected — the nuts have cut into the wood so as to 
 destroy entirely the fibre. This defect could only be the result of the 
 grossest ignorance, or the grossest carelessness. Mr. Haupt and Mr. Child 
 (the builder) certainly both know better than to allow such detail. 
 
 Fourth. The bridge is quite top-heavy, and the most so when a train is 
 upon it. I can hardly see how a locomotive could pass over the long spans 
 of the bridge and not turn it over. Bridges having the roadway on the 
 top chord, need to be particularly well supplied with lateral vertical braces, 
 since the span is, and must be, top-heavy. I see no way to get in a suffi- 
 cient amount of this kind of tracing in the Green River Bridge ; I do not 
 think the plan admits of it. 
 
 Fifth. The trestle-pier under the west end of the western long span, 
 seemed to me entirely unsafe for bearing the weight of a locomotive. It 
 is made of a few long and slender posts, braced chiefly by small planks 
 I)inned with wooden pins. I do not consider it even sufficient for a tempo- 
 rary work. I would on no account attempt to run an engine over it. 
 
 Sixth. The connection between the small span and the embankment, at 
 the west end, seemed to me quite unfit for the purpose. 
 
 Regarding the cast-iron cylinders, I should not consider them a cause for 
 tiie failure; since if the main rods are properly at work, the cylinders 
 might break into a number of pieces without aflecting the structure. I 
 sliould not use such cylinders myself, nor should I condemn a bridge for 
 having lliern. 1 do not r(‘gard them as accountable for the fall of the 
 bridge. I do not thiidi tlie location demanded a curved bridge; very few 
 
41 
 
 locations do. A curve is too much of an evil to be allowed in a bridge, 
 unless the extra cost of making the line straight is excessive. One thing 
 is however to be borne in mind — the speed of trains at this bridge, being 
 so near the end of the road, would never be high, and the evil of the curve 
 is thus not so great as it would be elsewhere. If I was required to make 
 a good roadway across* Green *River at this point, I should make an entirely 
 new and different bridge. I should use the present masonry, (since it is 
 built,) curve and all, unless the expected traffic was heavy ; but for a 
 great freight road, I should use nothing now on the ground, but should 
 re-locate this part of the line. 
 
 The foregoing is exactly what I think about the Green River Bridge, 
 which, designed by Mr. Haupt, the author of a work on bridges, and built 
 by Mr. Child, one of the best bridge builders in New England, is yet the 
 worst structure for a bridge that it has ever been my fortune to examine. 
 
 GEORGE L. VOSE, Engineer, 
 
 Boston, April 2, 1862. 
 
 [B.] 
 
 THE TWENTY PER CENT. FRAUD. 
 
 This transaction is so characteristic of the double-shuffling manoeuvres 
 which have attended every step in the enterprise since Mr. Haupt joined 
 it, that it deserves something more than a passing notice. We collate the 
 facts from the records of the corporation and directors, as published in the 
 Appendix to Mr. Kimball’s Report. 
 
 It must be borne in mind that at this time, there had not been a particle 
 of proof furnished to the directors or to the “ Finance Committee,” who 
 gave the order for the payment, that Haupt & Co. had done work to the 
 amount of $100,000. The only certificate they had was one signed by 
 “Alfred R. Field, Chief Engineer^ pro tern.” elsewhere styling himself 
 Acting Chief Engineer’^ both styles implying, as was the fact, that Haupt 
 was really Chief Engineer. (This necessity of putting forward respectable 
 men, under these assumed names of “ acting or '‘fro tem.’’ engineers, proving 
 embarrassing, it was soon after disposed of by a vote of the directors. May 
 20, 1859, declaring that “whereas H. Haupt has formally relinquished for 
 himself, his heirs, executors and assigns, all pecuniary interest in any 
 profits that may be realized from this contract, therefore Votef that no 
 impediment exists to his performing the duties of chief engineer.” It is 
 understood that it is this assignment of profits for the benefit of the inhab- 
 6 
 
42 
 
 itants of Boora-boola-gha, to wliicli lie refers when he speaks of “donations 
 as munificent as they were unostentatious and nnknown.'') The only 
 certificate that any thing was due to Mr. Ilaupt was one from Mr. Field, 
 stating that he had not had time to measure the work done, but saying — “I 
 liave no doubt that II. Ilaupt & Co. w^ould be entitled to receive for work 
 done under their contract a sum considerably exceeding iho, j^roposed payment 
 of one hundred thousand dollars at this time.” The only certificate approach- 
 ing the requirements of the statute — and this in no sense does comply with 
 their requirements — is one dated Nov. 28, 1850, in which “II. Ilaupt, 
 engineer,” certifies that “ II. Ilaupt & Co. having completed more than one- 
 fifth part of the work, are entitled to receive, in stock and bonds, the sum 
 of four hundred thousand dollars;” and in this $400,000 are included the 
 $100,000 referred to in Mr. Field’s certificate. But, let the curtain rise. 
 
 “NOW YOU SEE IT; NOW, YOU DON’T.” 
 
 Dramatis Personoe. 
 
 Wendell T. Davis, Treasurer. 
 
 H. Haupt, Stockholder. 
 
 H. Haupt, Contractor. 
 
 H. Haupt, Engineer de facto. 
 
 H. Haupt, Director. 
 
 Friend in need. 
 
 Bank Cashier. 
 
 Bank Teller. 
 
 Haupt, Stockholder. — Good morning, Mr. Treasurer. I called to pay 
 that little assessment on my stock. 
 
 Trea, surer. — Ah, yes. Glad to see you, Mr. Haupt. Let’s see ; five 
 thousand shares ; twenty per cent. — one hundred thousand dollars. Shall 
 I give you a receipt for that amount ? 
 
 Haupt, S . — If you please. Be particular to state that the amount is paid 
 in cash. 
 
 Treasurer. — Certainly. ( Writes.) Here it is, Mr. Haupt. 
 
 Haupt, S. — (To the Cashier.) I’ll take that little package, if you please. 
 
 Cashier. — (aside to Teller — Just lock the door and hand me the key.) 
 Gentlemen, you remember the understanding.’^ 
 
 O nines . — Yes. 
 
 (Cashier liands Haupt llie j)a(;kage, whicli Ilaupt passes to the Treasurer, 
 who comriKincns counting it.) 
 
 Haupt, S. — It is unnecessary to count il. It’s all right, isn’t it Mr. 
 Cashi(!r ? 
 
 Cashier . — All right. 
 
 'Ireasiirer . — V(iry good. 
 
43 
 
 Haupt, Contractor. — I have a small order on you, Mr. Treasurer ; I 
 would like the money to-day, as I am rather short. Besides, a part of it, 
 being the profits, belongs to my friends out in Boora-boola-gha ; and as the 
 next vessel sails to-morrow, I would like to remit. 
 
 Treasurer. — Hem. Order signed “ D. N. Carpenter and B. F. Wells, 
 Finance Committee” — “pay H. Ilaupt & Co. one hundred thousand dollars.” 
 I dare say it is all right, Mr. Haupt. But I don’t remember that any 
 certificate from the Engineer has been filed with me as Clerk, as to amount 
 of work done, as required by the statute. 
 
 Haupt, G. — Oh, ah, I forgot, Mr. Treasurer. Here it is, signed by Mr. 
 Field, “ Chief Engineer, pro tern.’' 
 
 Treasurer. — Yes ; but this certificate is dated to-day, July 24th ; while 
 your order for the money is dated yesterday, July 23d. 
 
 Haupt, Director. — That is all well enough. It won’t do to be too partic- 
 ular. 
 
 Treasurer. — Well, waiving that ; it strikes me that Mr. Field’s certificate 
 ought to state more definitely the amount of work done. As it is, it is only 
 an opinion of his. 
 
 Cashier, ( aside.) — This is getting serious. (To the Teller.) See that 
 nobody jumps out of that window, and keep your eye on the package. 
 
 Haupt, Engineer. — Why, Mr. Treasurer, I am Engineer de facto, and I 
 tell you it’s all right. 
 
 Treasurer. — Yes; but — 
 
 Haupt, Stockholder. — But me no buts, Mr. Treasurer ! I own five 
 thousand shares and upwards of this stock, and I run the machine. 
 
 Treasurer. — I was only going to say, Mr. Haupt, that I didn’t know but 
 good faith to the State required me to be a little cautious to preserve at 
 least the forms of compliance with the statute. But I dare say it is all right. 
 
 Haupt, Contractor. — Now you talk like a sensible man. There ; there’s 
 my receipt for one hundred thousand dollars. Down with the dust. 
 
 Treasurer. — Well — Here’s your money. 
 
 Cashier. — Hold on ! “a bird in the hand ! ” (Siezes the package in transitu 
 and pockets it. Exeunt Cashier and Teller.) 
 
 Treasurer. — Between us, isn’t it rather steep for me to certify to this as a 
 cash payment of twenty per cent, on a hona fide subscription? 
 
 Haupt. — Poh ! You need n’t certify any thing about it. Look at the 
 report of the committee of the directors yesterday, which you have recorded : 
 “ That the whole number of shares subscribed unconditionally and upon each 
 and every share of which twenty per cent, or more has been paid in cash, 
 is six thousand five hundred and nine.” 
 
 (Signed,) D. N. Carpenter, 
 
 • R. H. Wells, 
 
 R. H. Leavitt, 
 
 W. T. Davis, 
 
 Committee of the Directors.’^ 
 
n 
 
 44 
 
 “ W. T. Davis, Director,” is in for it; and it don’t make much difference 
 what “Wendell T. Davis, Clerk,” says or does about it. (Exit llaupt.) 
 
 Treasurer. — (Solus) — He’s got me ! 
 
 “ Oh, what a tangled web we weave, 
 
 When once we practice to deceive ” ! 
 
 Facilis—facilis descensus^ What is the rest of it? Holloa! Isay, 
 old boy! (Enter Friend in need.) 
 
 Friend . — What’s the fun ? 
 
 Treasurer . — I’m stuck. What is the balance of that quotation — Facilis 
 descensus ? 
 
 Friend . — Why, man, have you lost your wits? Any school boy will 
 prompt you — “ Facilis descensus Averni ; sed revocare, ^c.” 
 
 Treasurer. — Ah, 1 remember. How that word Averni stuck in my 
 throat. Why should it, old chap ? 
 
 Friend . — Shouldn’t want to say, my boy. 
 
 Treasurer. — Sed revocare gradum ! There’s the rub. How can I get 
 out of this scrape ? 
 
 Friend . — You remember the story of the frog, climbing two feet out 
 of the well every day, and falling back three every night. Do you re- 
 member how he got out ? 
 
 Treasurer . — (eagerly.) No, I don’t ; how did he ? 
 
 Friend. — Well, I never heard that he did. But I know what I advised 
 him ? 
 
 Treasurer. — What was that ? 
 
 Friend. — Why, to call upon his friends above ground to pull him out. 
 
 Treasurer. — Well, what did he say? 
 
 Friend. — Why, he said he had but precious few friends ; and they 
 were all under water deeper than he was. So, the only comfort I could 
 give him was, as I have often told you, that he had no business to be there ! 
 
 By the way, old boy, would you like to see my sketch of the Great Bore ? 
 Had enough of it, eh? Well, but you must. Look; I place my left 
 thumb on the tip of my nose — thus. I fold the three next fingers, so. 
 
 I extend the little finger, making, with the thumb, an angle of about a 
 hundred and ten degrees. Good! I gyrate! Good-bye, old fellow ! (Exit 
 singing, 
 
 “ The frog he would a wooing go ! ” 
 
 Tol-de-rol-li-ra!) 
 
 Treasurer. — ( Solus, recites,) 
 
 “ Sin has a thousand trcaclierous arts 
 To practice on tlic mind; 
 
 With nattering lips she teini>ts our hearts, 
 lUit leaves a sting behind! ” 
 
 ( Curtain falls.) 
 
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