34th Congress, 
 ls£ Session. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 Report 
 No. 274. 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 July 24, 1856. —Ordered to be printed. 
 
 July 28, 1856.— Resolved, That ten thousand extra copies of the Majority and two 
 Minority Reports of the Select Committee on the subject of the Pacific Railroad, be printed 
 for the use of the members of the House of Representatives ; said reports to be stitched 
 together for distribution. 
 
 Mr. Denver, from the Select Committee, gave notice that, when in 
 
 order, he would submit the following 
 
 REPORT. 
 
 The Select Committee to whom was referred the hill to provide for the 
 establishment of railroad and telegraphic communication between the 
 Atlantic States and the Pacific ocean , and for other purposes , beg 
 leave to make the following report: 
 
 The necessity that exists for constructing lines of railroad and tele¬ 
 graphic communication between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of this 
 continent is no longer a question for argument; it is conceded by 
 every one. In order to maintain our present position on the Pacific, 
 we must have some more speedy and direct means of intercourse than 
 is at present afforded by the route through the possessions of a foreign 
 power. 
 
 The importance of our Pacific possessions is felt in ever} r pursuit 
 and in every relation of life. The gold of California has furnished 
 the merchant and trader with a capital by which enterprises have 
 been undertaken and accomplished which were before deemed im¬ 
 practicable. Our commercial marine has been nearly doubled since 
 1848; internal improvements have been pushed forward with aston¬ 
 ishing rapidity ; the value of every kind of property has been doubled; 
 and the evidences of prosperity and thrift are everywhere to be seen. 
 The security and protection of that country from whence have ema¬ 
 nated nearly all these satisfactory results, is of the greatest import¬ 
 ance; and that can be accomplished only by direct and easy commu¬ 
 nications through our own territories. Railroads will effect this. At 
 present, we are forced to resort to a very circuitous route by sea, 
 through the tropics and across the continent, at the most sickly point 
 in the torrid zone. Should a war break out between our countrv and 
 any other maritime nation, or should a difficulty arise with one of the 
 petty Spanisli-American States through which these routes lie, our 
 communications would be interrupted, and the unity of our confederacy 
 actually broken up. 
 
 Looking to these facts alone to secure the construction of these 
 lines of communication, has given to them such an importance as 
 never attached to any work of internal improvements since the time 
 when, during President Jefferson’s administration, it was thought ne- 
 
2 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 cessary to connect the States lying on the Atlantic seaboard with the 
 States lying in the valley of the Mississippi, by means of roads across 
 the Alleghany mountains. Insignificant as such an undertaking as 
 the building of a wagon road across the Alleghanies may appear now, 
 the proposition was then deemed exceedingly difficult and occupied 
 quite as much of the public attention as the Pacific railroad does at 
 the present time. The States were then separated only by the moun¬ 
 tain range of the Alleghanies, but the western country was so remote 
 and access to it so difficult, that the construction of a road was con¬ 
 sidered absolutely necessary, and sufficient to authorize the earnest 
 attention of Congress. The people of the western frontier were at 
 that time exposed to frequent incursions of the Indians. The coun¬ 
 try was exceedingly fertile, but the markets were so distant that the 
 productions were an incumbrance rather than a profit to the farmer, 
 and vast tracts of rich agricultural lands were suffered to remain an 
 unbroken waste. The action of the government attracted public at¬ 
 tention, and awakened private enterprise. Canals were projected, 
 and then followed railroads, until every part of that country, which 
 was but a few years ago called the “ far west,” has been brought 
 within three or four days’ communication with the cities on the sea¬ 
 board, giving a new impulse to commerce, increasing the value of 
 property, and relieving the frontiers from all the dangers of a hostile 
 foe. No better example can be given of the benefits resulting from 
 the construction of railroads, to both public and private property, than 
 that of the Illinois Central Railroad. On the line of that road the 
 public lands had been offered for sale many years without finding a 
 purchaser, and were at last reduced to the lowest minimum price, 
 twelve and a half cents per acre. Even this reduction was not suffi¬ 
 cient to induce their sale; but after the government had given 
 away one-half to assist in building the road, the other half was very 
 readily sold for two dollars and fifty cents per acre. Similar results 
 have followed the building of nearly every other railroad in the coun¬ 
 try, although in many instances, as in this, the roads came in direct 
 competition with river and canal transportation. 
 
 A railroad across the continent would open up a vast extent of coun¬ 
 try to settlement, and much of what is now believed to be sterile and 
 barren will, no doubt, (as in California) be found to yield bountifully 
 to the agriculturist. 
 
 These lands are now totally without value, no matter how fertile 
 they may be, and to the government worthless. By giving away one 
 half' for the construction of the proposed roads, the government will 
 thereby attach a value to the remainder ; and whatever that value 
 may be, will be the amount the government is gainer by the transac¬ 
 tion, Your committee have not thought proper to step aside from 
 the long established system of the government in granting lands only 
 to aid in the construction of the roads under consideration, except in¬ 
 cidentally, in the payment for transportation of troops, munitions of 
 war, &e., and for carrying the mails ; at the same time they have en¬ 
 deavored to extend to every portion of the-country an equal share of 
 the benefits to be derived from it. Every part of the country, extend¬ 
 ing from Lake Superior to the Gulf of Mexico, is brought in direct 
 
PH^p 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 3 
 
 contact with one or the other of the proposed roads, and from the 
 western frontiers of the States lying west of the Mississippi, connex¬ 
 ions are easily made with roads already completed to the cities on the 
 Atlantic seaboard. 
 
 By thus combining all the great interests of the country, an effort 
 has been made to allay sectional jealousies and to bind together more 
 firmly every part of the country. 
 
 The policy of granting lands, or the proceeds of the sales thereof, 
 for the purposes of internal improvements, and to increase the value 
 of the public property, was early adopted by our government. By 
 the act of April 30, 1802, one twentieth of the net proceeds of the 
 sales of the public lands lying within the State of Ohio was set apart 
 to “ be applied to the laying out and making public roads, leading 
 from the navigable waters emptying into the Atlantic to the Ohio, to 
 the said State and through the same ; such roads to be laid out un¬ 
 der the authority of Congress, with the consent of the several States 
 through which the road shall pass.” By the act of May 1, T802, it 
 is provided i<r that it shall and may be lawful for the Secretary of the 
 Treasury to cause to be viewed, marked, and opened, such roads 
 within the territory northwest of the Ohio, as, in his opinion, may 
 best serve to promote the sales of the public lands in future.” Both 
 these acts were approved by Mr. Jefferson, and form the basis on 
 which all similar acts have been predicated. Every Executive since 
 that time approved of similar acts, and the only change made was in the 
 manner of making the grant, the lands having been given instead of 
 the net proceeds of the sales thereof. The plan thus proposed pre¬ 
 cludes the necessity of entering into an estimate of the expense to be 
 incurred in constructing any of the proposed roads. Nor does it mat¬ 
 ter how many roads are thus authorized to be constructed. If built, 
 they will open up a vast extent of country to settlement, and thus the 
 government and the people will be mutually benefited. If the roads 
 should not be built within the time specified, the lands revert to the 
 government, and the parties take nothing by the grant. Nothing is 
 given without a corresponding benefit is to accrue. 
 
 As a means of military defence, the Secretary of War, in his last 
 annual report, has placed this measure in such a strong point of view 
 that your committee have thought proper to make the following ex¬ 
 tract. Alluding to our Pacific possessions, he says: “ This terri¬ 
 tory is not more remote from the principal European States than from 
 those parts of our own country whence it would derive its military 
 supplies ; and some of those States have colonies and possessions on 
 the Pacific which w y ould greatly facilitate their operations against it. 
 With these advantages, and those which the attacking force always 
 has, of choice of time and place, an enemy possessing a considerable 
 military marine could, with comparatively little cost to himself, sub¬ 
 ject us to enormous expenses in giving to our Pacific frontier that 
 protection which it is the duty of the general government to afford. 
 In the first years of a war with any great maritime power, the com¬ 
 munication by sea could not be relied upon for the transportation of 
 supplies from the Atlantic to the Pacific States. Our naval peace es¬ 
 tablishment would not furnish adequate convoys for the number ol 
 
4 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 storesliips which it would he necessary to employ, and storeships alone, 
 laden with supplies, could not undertake a voyage of twenty thousand 
 miles, passing numerous neutral ports, where an enemy’s armed ves¬ 
 sels, even of the smallest size, might lie in wait to intercept them. 
 The only line of communication, then, would he overland ; and by 
 this it would he impracticable, with any means heretofore used, to 
 furnish the amount of supplies required for the defence of the Pacific 
 frontier. At the present prices, over the best part of this route, the 
 expense of land transportation alone, for the annual supplies of pro¬ 
 visions, clothing, camp equipage, and ammunition for such an army 
 as it would he necessary to maintain there, would exceed $20,000,000; 
 and to maintain troops, and carry on defensive operations under those 
 circumstances, the expense per man would be six times greater than 
 it is now. The land transportation of each field twelve-pounder, with 
 a due supply of ammunition for one year, would cost $2,500 ; of each 
 twenty-four-pounder and ammunition, $9,000 ; and of a sea-coast gun 
 and ammunition, $12,000. The transportation of ammunition for a 
 year for 1,000 sea-coast guns, would cost $10,000,000. But the ex¬ 
 pense of transportation would be vastly increased by a war, and, at 
 the rates paid on the same articles during the last war with Great 
 Britain, the above estimates would be trebled. The time required 
 for the overland journey would he from four to six months. In point 
 of fact, however, supplies for such an army could not he transported 
 across the continent. On the arid and barren belts to he crossed, the 
 limited quantities of water and grass would soon be exhausted by the 
 numerous draught animals required for heavy trains, and over such 
 distances forage could not be carried for their subsistence. On the 
 other hand the enemy would send out his supplies at from one-seventh 
 to one-twentieth the above rates, and in less time—perhaps in 
 one-fourtli the time—if he should obtain command of the isthmus 
 routes. 
 
 “Any reliance, therefore, Upon furnishing that part of our frontier 
 with means of defence from the Atlantic and interior States, after the 
 commencement of hostilities, would be vain, and the next resource 
 wmuld be to accumulate there such amount of stores and supplies as 
 would suffice during the continuance of the contest, or until we could 
 obtain command of the sea. Assigning but a moderate limit to this 
 period, the expense would yet be enormous. The fortifications, de¬ 
 pots, and storehouses, would necessarily be on the largest scale, and 
 the cost of placing supplies there for five years would amount to 
 nearly one hundred millions of dollars. In many respects the cost 
 during peace would be equivalent to that during var. 
 
 “The perishable character of many articles would render it perhaps 
 impracticable to put provisions in depot for such a length of time ; 
 and, in any case, there would be deterioration amounting to some 
 millions of dollars per year. 
 
 “ These considerations, and others of a strictly military character, 
 cause the department to examine with interest all projects promising 
 the accomplishment of a railroad communication between the naviga¬ 
 ble waters of the Mississippi and those of the Pacific ocean. As mili¬ 
 tary operations depend in a greater degree upon rapidity and cer- 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 5 
 
 tainty of movement than upon any other circumstance, the introduc¬ 
 tion of railway transportation has greatly improved the means of de¬ 
 fending our Atlantic and inland frontiers ; and to give us a sense of 
 security from attack upon the most exposed portion of our territory, 
 it is requisite that the* facility of railroad transportation should be ex¬ 
 tended to the Pacific coast. Were such a road completed, our Pacific 
 coast, instead of being further removed in time, and less accessible to 
 us than to an enemy, would he brought within a few days of easy 
 communication, and the cost of supplying an army there, instead of 
 being many times greater to us than to him, would he about equal. 
 We would be relieved of the necessity of accumulating large supplies 
 on that coast to waste, perhaps, through long years of peace ; and we 
 could feel entire confidence that, let war come when and with whom 
 it may, before a hostile expedition could reach that exposed frontier, 
 an ample force could be placed there to repel any attempt at invasion. 
 
 “ From the results of the surveys authorized by Congress, we derive, 
 at least, the assurance that the work is practicable ; and may dismiss 
 the apprehensions which, previously, we could not but entertain as to 
 the possibility of defending our Pacific territory through a long war 
 with a powerful maritime enemy. 
 
 u The judgment which may be formed as to the prospect of its com¬ 
 pletion, must control our future plans for the military defence of that 
 frontier ; and any plan for the purpose which should leave that con¬ 
 sideration out of view, would be as imperfect as if it should disregard 
 all those other resources with which commerce and art aid the opera¬ 
 tions of armies. 
 
 “ Whether we shall depend on private capital and enterprise alone 
 for the early establishment of railroad communication, or shall pro¬ 
 mote its construction by such aid as the general government may con¬ 
 stitutionally give ; whether we shall rely on the continuance of peace 
 until the increase of the population and resources of the Pacific States 
 shall render them independent of aid from those of the Atlantic slope 
 and Mississippi valley, or whether we shall adopt the extensive sys¬ 
 tem of defence above referred to, are questions of public policy which 
 belongs to Congress to decide. 
 
 “ Beyond the direct employment of such a road for military purposes, 
 it has other relations to all the great interests of our confederacy, po¬ 
 litical, commercial, and social, the prosperity of which essentially 
 contributes to the common defence. Of these it is not my purpose to 
 treat, further than to point to the additional resources which it would 
 develop, and the increase of population which must attend upon giv¬ 
 ing such facility of communication to a country so tempting to enter¬ 
 prise, much of which, having most valuable products, is beyond the 
 reach of market.” 
 
 Some of the considerations which bear upon the questions submitted 
 to the committee, have thus been briefly suggested. But we do not 
 deem it necessary to enter upon an extended argument to show either 
 the constitutional power of Congress to aid .the construction of the 
 proposed roads, or its duty to exercise that power. The public mind 
 has already formed its judgment on both these points. The public 
 press, popular assemblies, and legislative resolutions, have spoken 
 
6 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 with a concurring voice ; and recent representative conventions of the 
 Democratic party at Cincinnati, and the Republican party at Phila¬ 
 delphia, have, with most remarkable unanimity and emphasis, de¬ 
 clared the will of the people on this subject in resolutions intended for 
 our instruction. The committee have deemed it their duty to give 
 effect to this general wish, and have examined with much care the 
 various plans which have from time to time been proposed. 
 
 They have thought proper to change the provisions of the bill re¬ 
 ferred to them very materially—preferring to make the grants directly 
 to companies whose interests and well-established ability give assu¬ 
 rance that they will press the work forward to completion at the earli¬ 
 est day possible. 
 
 They therefore report the following bill, and recommend its adoption* 
 
 A BILL to provide for the establishment of railroad and telegraphic comnmnication be¬ 
 tween the Atlantic States and Pacific Ocean, and for other purposes. 
 
 Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
 the United States of America in Congress assembled , That for the purpose 
 of aiding in the construction of a railroad and telegraphic communica¬ 
 tion from the western boundaries of Missouri and Iowa, north of the 
 thirty-eighth and south of the forty-fourth degrees of north latitude, to 
 some point on the navigable waters of the Pacific ocean, in the State 
 of California, the railroad companies herein named, and their associ¬ 
 ates, successors, and assigns—that is to say, the Hannibal and St. 
 Joseph Railroad Company, and the Pacific Railroad Company, of the 
 State of Missouri; and the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad 
 Company ; the Philadelphia, Fort Wayne and Platte Valley Rail¬ 
 road Company ; ,the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad Company ; the 
 Iowa Central Air-line Railroad Company ; the Dubuque and Pacific 
 Railroad Company ; and the North Iowa Railroad Company, of the 
 State of Iowa, and their associates, successors, and assigns—are here¬ 
 by authorized to extend their said several roads from their western 
 termini westwardly, through the territories of the United States, so 
 as to form a junction with each other at some point near Fort Kearney, 
 and not south of the same, or at such point as, after actual survey, 
 may be agreed upon by all the parties constructing their several roads 
 to said junction ; and from the place of said junction they may con¬ 
 jointly extend a line westward to the eastern boundary of the State of 
 California, and from thence, with the consent of the legislature of 
 said State, to some point to be by them selected on the navigable 
 waters of the Pacific ocean, and also connect by means of a branch 
 jailroad with the cities of Marysville, Sacramento, Stockton, and San 
 Jose; and, to enable them to construct the same, together with a 
 telegraphic line along each, there shall be, and hereby is, granted to 
 each one of said railroad companies the right of way for one hundred 
 feet in width along the entire line of each of said railroads (with 
 land sufficient for all necessary sites for depots, watering places, and 
 workshops) to the point of junction at Fort Kearney ; and every 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH'. 
 
 7 
 
 alternate section of land designated on the maps of the survey of the 
 public lands (when made) by uneven numbers, for six sections in 
 width on each side of said roads, for the entire length from their 
 present western termini to said place of junction, to be held and con¬ 
 veyed as herein provided; and in all cases where the United States 
 shall have disposed of any such lands, or shall from any cause he un¬ 
 able to convey a title thereto, the deficiency may be made up from the 
 nearest vacant lands in like manner, by alternate sections, by the 
 party or parties entitled thereto, from any unoccupied and unappro¬ 
 priated public lands belonging to the United States within the terri¬ 
 tories north of thirty-eight and south of forty-four degrees of north 
 latitude ; and from the place of said junction there is hereby granted 
 to said companies, their associates, successors, and assigns, or to such 
 of them as shall, within one year from the passage of this act, by an 
 agreement in writing properly executed between them, and filed in the 
 Department of the Interior, associate for the construction of said road 
 westward to the navigable waters of the Pacific ocean, in the State of 
 California, and the branch to San Jose, every alternate section of land 
 designated on the maps of the survey, when made, by uneven num¬ 
 bers, for thirty sections in width on each side of the length of said 
 road, commencing at the point of junction aforesaid, and extending to 
 a point two hundred miles west of the same, and thence in like manner 
 forty alternate sections in width on each side of said road to the west¬ 
 ern base of the Sierra Nevada range, and thence through the State of 
 California, in like manner, six alternate sections of land per each 
 mile of railroad, including the branch aforesaid, which lands may, 
 at the request of the parties hereinbefore mentioned, be withdrawn 
 from sale or entry, and if required so to be, shall be surveyed under 
 the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, and be held and con¬ 
 veyed as herein provided; and in all cases where the United States 
 may have disposed of any such lands, or shall from any cause be un¬ 
 able to convey a title thereto, or when such land shall be condemned 
 by the United States surveyors as unfit to be surveyed, the deficiency 
 may be made up in like manner by alternate sections, by the party or 
 parties entitled thereto, from the nearest unoccupied and unappropri¬ 
 ated public lands belonging to the United States north of the thirty- 
 eighth degree of north latitude: Provided , however , That for such 
 deficiencv in the State of California, and also in lieu of all mineral 
 lands in said State, (which are excepted from the grant herein made,) 
 such selection may be made from any unoccupied and unappropriated 
 lands of the United States, within the said State of California, lying 
 north of the thirty-seventh degree of north latitude ; but the grant 
 of lands herein made to the State of California shall in no wise im¬ 
 pair the right of the State of California, first to select such lands as 
 said State is entitled to, and said selections to be made in accordance 
 with the provisions of existing laws: And provided further , That the 
 title to said lands shall vest in the parties aforesaid only as such roads 
 shall be constructed, and no patent shall issue for said land except as 
 each fifty miles of said roads shall be completed : And provided fur¬ 
 ther, That any of the said companies which shall fail to construct fifty 
 miles of road west of the Missouri river within three years from the 
 
8 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 passage of this act shall not he entitled to any of the lands, hut the 
 lands thus forfeited shall be divided equally among the companies 
 which shall within said time complete said length of road not to ex¬ 
 ceed six additional sections per mile to each of said roads. And to 
 aid in the construction of a railroad from the city of Sacramento to 
 the city of Benicia, a grant of public lands to the State of California, 
 of the same amount per mile as is granted to aid in building a branch 
 railroad to San Jose, is hereby made for the use of the San Francisco 
 and Sacramento Railroad Company, upon the like conditions and limita¬ 
 tions, and upon the further condition that the railroad shall be com¬ 
 pleted on or before the fist day of January, eighteen hundred and 
 sixty : And 'provided further , That if the said Hannibal and St. 
 Joseph and the Pacific Railroad Companies, of the State of Missouri, 
 and the said Iowa Central Air-line, the Dubuque and Pacific, and the 
 North Iowa Railroad Companies, of the State of Iowa, or either of 
 them, instead of forming a junction with other roads at or near Fort 
 Kearney, as before provided, shall desire to extend their respective 
 roads, or if any two or more of them shall unite and conjointly ex¬ 
 tend one line of road on either side of said route, for the purpose of in¬ 
 tersection with the road from Fort Kearney to the Pacific ocean, at 
 some point further west than said Fort Kearney, they are hereby 
 authorized so to do; and the same grant of lands per mile (that is to 
 say, six alternate sections per mile) shall be extended to them re¬ 
 spectively or conjointly, for each mile of railroad by them actually 
 built, in the same manner as is provided in case of a junction at or 
 near Fort Kearney: And provided further , That the extent of interest 
 which each of the aforesaid companies shall acquire in the grant of 
 lands herein made for the construction of a xailroad and line of tele¬ 
 graph from Fort Kearney westward, to the western termini, by com¬ 
 plying with the conditions contained in this act, as also the interest 
 they shall thereby obtain in the construction of said lines from Fort 
 Kearney westward, shall be in proportion to the amount of money 
 each company shall actually pay in for the construction of such line or 
 lines of railroad and telegraph. 
 
 Sec. 2. And he it further enacted , That the government of the 
 United States shall at all times have the preference in the use of said 
 roads and of all other roads provided for in this act, for transportation 
 purposes, and also in the use of said lines of telegraph ; and, as 
 compensation for such uses, that is to say, for the use of such rail¬ 
 roads for postal, military, and all other government purposes, and 
 for the use of said telegraphs as well in time of war as of peace, the 
 United States shall pay to the said parties, proprietors of said roads, 
 a sum not to exceed five hundred dollars per mile per annum (unless 
 otherwise provided by Congress) for the period of ten years from and 
 after the entire completion of said roads, or at that rate for any por¬ 
 tion of the same, should the government wish to use any part of said 
 road before the whole line shall be completed ; but should the gov¬ 
 ernment transportation and business on said roads be so great as, at the 
 customary rates of charges on said roads, to exceed in value fifty per 
 cent, of the sum proposed per annum, estimating the mail service at 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 9 
 
 three hundred dollars a mile annually, then the government will pay 
 for such extra service an additional compensation to be fixed by Con¬ 
 gress ; but in this allowance the several railroads projected and 
 herein named, till completed to the point of junction, shall be consid¬ 
 ered as one line of road and telegraph, and the payment to each shall 
 be in proportion to the amount of work which such road shall do, 
 the payment for mail matter to be equally divided between them ; but 
 should any of them fail, neglect, or refuse to unite, then the whole 
 amount shall, in like manner, be paid to the remaining company or 
 companies which shall construct the road as herein directed : Provided, 
 however, That the government shall be forever entitled to the use of 
 said roads and telegraph lines for the purposes herein designated, 
 and at a rate of compensation not greater than that heretofore speci¬ 
 fied, unless otherwise provided by Congress: And provided further, 
 That all the land hereby granted for right of way and the purposes 
 of depots, watering places, and work-shops, shall be exempt from 
 taxation in the Territories while they may remain such. 
 
 Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That, if the parties shall fail to 
 build the railroads aud telegraph lines hereinbefore provided for 
 within the period of ten years from the date of the location and 
 establishment of the line, which location shall be made within three 
 years from the passage of this act, or shall substantially fail, neglect, 
 or refuse to prosecute the work undertaken by said parties in a man¬ 
 ner to secure the completion thereof in the time stipulated, or should 
 such parties violate the terms herein prescribed, then all the rights 
 of the said parties to the uncompleted part of said road or right of 
 way, the property thereto belonging, and the lands not patented, 
 shall be forfeited, and the United States may and shall enter upon 
 and possess the same. In the event of such forfeiture, to be deter¬ 
 mined. by the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Interior, and 
 the Postmaster General, the said Secretaries and Postmaster General 
 shall proceed to re-let the said roads and lines uncompleted under 
 such forfeited contract, in such manner as, in their opinion, will 
 secure their earliest completion ; and for this purpose they are author¬ 
 ized to transfer everything thus forfeited, to said subsequent contract¬ 
 ing parties ; the United States to pay nothing more than is herein¬ 
 before appropriated, and reserving all the rights and privileges 
 hereinbefore specified. 
 
 Sec. 4. And be it further enacted , That all grants and contracts 
 made in pursuance of this act for the construction and keeping up of 
 said railroad and telegraphic lines are, and shall be, made on the 
 express condition that said lines of railroad and telegraph shall be 
 constructed in h substantial, thorough, and workmanlike manner, 
 with all necessary drains, culverts, bridges, viaducts, crossings, turn¬ 
 outs, sidings, watering-places, and all other appurtenances, including 
 the furniture of the road, equal in all respects to a road of the first 
 class, when prepared for business, with rails of the best quality, 
 weighing not less than sixty pounds to the yard, and of a uniform 
 gauge ; and shall also provide for and require a telegraph line with 
 each road, of the most approved and substantial description. 
 
10 ' 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That there shall be, and hereby 
 are, granted to the States of Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri, sev¬ 
 erally, ten alternate sections of land per each mile of railroad, and 
 on each side thereof, to aid in the construction of railroads and tele¬ 
 graph lines from New Orleans, via Opelousas, to Shrevesport ; from 
 Vicksburg, via Shrevesport, to the west boundary-line of Louisiana; 
 and from the Iron mountains, in Missouri, via Little Rock, to Shreves¬ 
 port, and to the railroads running westwardly from Cairo, Memphis, 
 and Gaines' Landing, deducting so many acres therefrom as may have 
 been granted heretofore for any part of any road or branch herein 
 named. Fifty miles of each of said roads and branches shall be built 
 within three years, and the remainder thereof shall be completed 
 within five years thereafter, or the lands lying upon the unfinished 
 portions of any road or branch shall revert to the United States. The 
 title to the lands shall vest in said States respectively, in the manner 
 prescribed in acts of Congress granting public lands to said States for 
 kindred purposes, and subject to corresponding limitations and restric¬ 
 tions, except as modified or altered by the provisions of this act. 
 
 Sec. 6 . And be it further enacted, That the several railroad com¬ 
 panies authorized, or who may he authorized, by said States of Loui¬ 
 siana, Arkansas, and Missouri, severally, to construct railroads along 
 the routes indicated in the preceding section, together with such com¬ 
 pany or companies as are or may be authorized by the States of Texas 
 and California, severally, to construct a railroad or railroads along 
 the route between San Francisco and Shrevesport, or such one or more 
 of said companies as may elect to avail themselves of the privileges 
 herein granted, are hereby authorized to construct a railroad from El 
 Paso, or from some point between El Paso and Fort Fillmore, in New 
 Mexico, upon the line separating that Territory from the State of Texas, 
 to the State of California, and thence, with the assent of said State, to 
 the city of San Francisco ; and two branches—one to San Diego, and 
 the other to a suitable point on the Pacific ocean, or to navigable 
 waters leading thereto. The company or companies electing to build 
 said railroad shall file, within twelve months from January next, in the 
 Department of the Interior, their written acceptance of the grant herein 
 contained, and within three years thereafter shall build and equip not 
 less than fifty miles of said road. And, to aid in the construction of 
 said railroad and telegraph line, there are hereby granted to said com¬ 
 pany or companies thus filing as aforesaid their acceptance of the provis¬ 
 ions of this section, upon the conditions, limitations, and restrictions 
 stated in this act, forty alternate sections of land per mile of road, lying 
 on each side of said railroad, beginning on the boundary line of the 
 State of Texas, in the Territory of New Mexico, and Extending to the 
 one hundred and eighteenth degree of longitude west from Greenwich, 
 and from thence, ten sections per mile, to the terminus of said road, 
 and the same quantity of land per mile to aid in the construction of 
 each of the two branches thereof. And all privileges as to right of 
 way, donation of lands, and of all other kinds whatsoever, granted 
 to the company or companies authorized by this act to construct a rail¬ 
 road westward from Fort Kearney, are hereby granted to and con¬ 
 ferred upon the company or companies that shall undertake to con- 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 11 
 
 struct a railroad from Texas to San Francisco: Provided , however, 
 That the> shall also be subject to the same restrictions, limitations, 
 and liabilities, as the company or companies authorized to build said 
 railroad and telegraph line west from Fort Kearney. The pay for 
 carrying the mail, freight, or persons, for the United States, shall be 
 the same per mile an both routes ; and whenever a railroad shall be 
 completed from Shrevesport to New Mexico, the pay for carrying the 
 mail, freight, or persons, for the United States over said road, shall 
 be the same per mile, and subject to the same conditions, as stipulated 
 to be paid for carrying the same on the railroad authorized to be built 
 from Fort Kearney to California. 
 
 Sec. 7. And he it further enacted , That for carrying freight, mails, 
 and persons for the United States, the railroads herein provided for 
 within the States of Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri shall be al¬ 
 lowed per mile the same rate of compensation, and be subject to like 
 conditions, as directed by this act to be paid to the railroad companies 
 authorized to build railroads from Fort Kearney east to the Missouri 
 river. 
 
 Sec. 8. And he it further enacted , That the Pacific Railroad Com¬ 
 pany of Missouri may extend its Southwest Branch railroad from 
 Springfield, with the assent of said State, to such point on the rail¬ 
 road from San Francisco to Texas as said company, after making the 
 necessary surveys, may select ; and to aid in the construction of said 
 Southwest Branch railroad from Springfield to the Texas and San 
 Francisco railroad there is hereby granted to said Pacific Railroad 
 Company of Missouri one half of the quantity of public lands—ref¬ 
 erence being had to the number of miles of railroad to be built— 
 which is granted by this act to aid in constructing the main road 
 from San Francisco to Texas, together with similar rights, privileges, 
 and immunities, (except as to the rate of compensation for services to 
 the United States which shall be hereafter fixed by Congress,) and 
 subject to the same restrictions, as said main road ; deficiencies of 
 land arising from like causes shall be made up in like manner as pro¬ 
 vided for by this act for the benefit of the road running west from 
 Fort Kearney ; fifty miles of said Southwest Branch railroad shall be 
 built within four years, and the whole within fifteen years from the 
 date of this act ; no lands shall be sold by said company prior to the 
 completion of twenty-five miles of the road, and then only so many 
 sections as are granted for such twenty-five miles of road, and so on for 
 each twenty-five miles of road as finished. If said company fails to 
 complete said road within the time specified, the lands herein granted 
 shall revert to the United States: Provided , That the company shall not 
 be deprived of lands for so many miles of railroad as it shall actually 
 construct, equip, and run, but only of the amount granted to aid in the 
 construction of the portion of railroad remaining unbuilt : And pro- 
 vided further , That in no case provided for in this act shall patents 
 for lands issue in advance of the actual completion of the portion of 
 road in aid of the construction of which they were granted. 
 
 Sec. 9. And he it further enacted , That for the purpose of aiding 
 in the construction of a railroad and telegraphic communication be- 
 
12 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 tween the northern lakes and the Pacific ocean, north of the forty- 
 fourth degree of north latitude, there is hereby granted to the North¬ 
 ern Lakes and Pacific Railroad Company, of which Alexander Ram¬ 
 sey is president, and to their associates, successors, and assigns, the 
 quantity of twenty sections of land per mile for the length of this 
 line of railroad and telegraph, from such eligible point as may be se¬ 
 lected by them for their eastern terminus, near the lake or river St. 
 Croix on the western boundary of tbe State of Wisconsin, by way of 
 St. Paul, to the one hundredth degree of longitude west from Green¬ 
 wich^ and the quantity of forty sections per mile from said last men¬ 
 tioned point to such point on the navigable waters of Puget's sound 
 as said company may select for the western terminus of said railroad 
 and telegraph ; and there is also hereby granted to said railroad com¬ 
 pany the quantity of forty sections of land per mile to aid in the con¬ 
 struction of a branch line of railroad and telegraph, commencing on 
 their main line at some suitable point, to be by them selected west of 
 the Rocky mountains, and running to the Columbia river at or near 
 the mouth of the Willamette river, in the Territory of Oregon ; and 
 the quantity of twenty sections of land jper mile is also hereby grant¬ 
 ed to said company, to aid in the construction of a branch railroad 
 and telegraph line from the main line of said Northern Lakes and 
 Pacific Railroad, at such point east of the one hundredth degree of 
 longitude, west from Greenwich, as said company may select, to some 
 point on Lake Superior to be by them selected ; but all the grants of 
 land provided for in this section are to be taken with all the condi¬ 
 tions, limitations, restrictions, and reservations, and the selections of 
 lands shall be made in the same manner, as are prescribed and pro¬ 
 vided for in the grants herein made to aid in the construction of lines 
 of railroad and telegraph between the thirty-eighth and forty-fourth 
 degrees of north latitude. 
 
 Sec. 10. And be it further enacted , That if any railroad already 
 located shall be used for any portion of the railroads herein provided 
 for, then the lands heretofore granted by the United States to aid in 
 the construction of such railroads shall be deducted from the quantity 
 hereby granted to such road or portions of road : Provided , however , 
 That if it should be found that the lands thus heretofore granted to 
 any of the roads proposed to be extended under this act, to aid in its 
 construction, shall fall short of the full amount intended to be appro¬ 
 priated thereto; then said road shall be entitled to make uj) the defi¬ 
 ciency out of any unoccupied and unappropriated lands of the United 
 States within the State or Territory in which such road is located ; 
 and on the approval by the Secretary of the Interior of the selections 
 made by such company, he shall issue patents or certified lists there¬ 
 for : And'provided further , That if the parties hereinbefore named 
 desire to lay down more than one tract, they are hereby authorized so 
 to do. 
 
 Sec. 11 And be it%further enacted , That the said lines of railroad 
 and telegraph shall be kept in good repair and in good working 
 order by the proprietors thereof; and for any unwarrantable delay in 
 the transmission of messages, or the transportation of troops, stores, 
 mails, and other things that may be required by the United States, 
 
13 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 the said companies shall be subject to such fines and penalties as may 
 be hereafter directed by law, and the same shall be deducted from the 
 moneys to be paid for such services to the said companies or company. 
 And the said companies or company shall severally make an annual 
 report of the progress and condition of said roads and telegraphic 
 lines respectively to the Secretary of War, and the Secretary of War 
 may appoint any engineer of the United States to make the necessary 
 examination, and report from year to year. 
 
 Sec. 12. And be it further enacted , That the lands hereby granted 
 shall be exclusively applied in the construction of the roads for which 
 they are respectively granted and selected, under the requirements of 
 this act, and the same shall be applied to no other purposes whatso¬ 
 ever. 
 
 Sec. 13. And be it further enacted.I, That this act shall not be con¬ 
 strued as applying to any lands hitherto reserved by the United 
 States for any purpose whatsoever, or to lands in any manner selected 
 or reserved by any competent authority under the provisions of exist¬ 
 ing laws: Provided , however , That the right of way, as hereinbe¬ 
 fore provided, is granted through such reserved lands not in the 
 actual occupancy by the United States for purposes inconsistent there¬ 
 with : And provided further , That no road shall be located through 
 any Indian reservation or Territory, except upon the written approval 
 of the Secretary of the Interior, and the consent of the Indian tribe 
 or tribes interested therein, previously obtained by the government 
 of the United States. 
 
 Sec. 14. And be it further enacted , That the sections and parts of 
 sections of land remaining to the United States on each side of the 
 roads herein provided for, shall not be sold for less than double the 
 minimum price of the public lands. 
 
 Sec. 15. And be it further enacted , That all minerals, whether of 
 gold, silver, copper, tin, or quicksilver, shall be, and hereby are, ex¬ 
 pressly reserved and excepted in all grants or conveyances of lands 
 made by the United States to any person or persons, company or 
 companies, whatsoever ; and Congress shall hereafter direct the 
 manner of working such mines. 
 
 i 
 
14 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 MINORITY REPORT. 
 
 July 24, 1856. 
 
 Mr. J. M. Wood, from the Select Committee, gave notice that, at a 
 proper time, he should submit the following minority report : 
 
 The undersigned , *being one of the Select Committee to whom ivas referred\ 
 the subject of the construction of a railroad from the Atlantic States to 
 the Pacific ocean , and differing from the views entertained by a ma¬ 
 jority of that committee, asks leave to submit the following as a mi¬ 
 nority report: 
 
 It is admitted by all parties that it is desirable to have constructed, 
 as speedily as may be, a railroad from the valley of the Mississippi 
 river to the Pacific ocean. The agitation of this question during the 
 past few years has necessarily had the effect of rendering the project 
 somewhat familiar to the popular mind. The subject is unquestion¬ 
 ably one which involves many difficulties, owing in part to the vast¬ 
 ness of the country embraced within the limits explored, and the 
 numerous and perhaps conflicting interests that are struggling for 
 particular and favorite routes. The question, therefore, should be 
 approached, as far as possible, without prejudice, and with the lead¬ 
 ing view of accommodating the largest possible portion of the commu¬ 
 nity who are to be benefited by this great work. It ma,y safely be said 
 that a majority of the people now demand that the government of the 
 United States should take early measures to provide for the construc¬ 
 tion of a wagon road and a railroad from some point in the Mississippi 
 valley to the Pacific coast. Having given the subject some considera¬ 
 tion, I have come to the following conclusions, namely: 
 
 That, to accomplish this object with certainty, and in a reasonable 
 time, the government of the United States must furnish the cash 
 means to prosecute the work. The mode in which these means may 
 be furnished is indicated at the conclusion of this report. 
 
 That, in selecting a route for this line regard should be had to the 
 geographical position of the thirty-one States of the Union relatively 
 to each other as they are now formed and settled; and also to other 
 lines of railway now leading to the Mississippi valley. 
 
 By an examination of the map of the United St ates, and tracing the 
 different lines of railroad thereon designated, the converging termini 
 of these roads will toe found to be at a point on the Missouri river, 
 somewhere between the parallels of thirty-nine and forty-one degrees 
 of north latitude ; and from such a point the road should be com¬ 
 menced at this end, and follow the most direct and practicable route 
 to San Francisco. The harbor of San Francisco is acknowdedged to 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 15 
 
 be the best on the Pacific coast; and that port is now the great centre 
 of all the commercial relations of our western coast. The Columbia 
 river at the north will in time become a point of importance as a com¬ 
 mercial port for the inhabitants of Oregon and Washington Terri¬ 
 tories, and at the south we have the port of San Diego, with a good 
 harbor, but less capacious than either of the others. It is believed, 
 however, that no route can be made generally satisfactory, under the 
 present state of things, which does not contemplate San Francisco as 
 the terminus on the west, and at the east some point sufficiently central 
 to accommodate the greatest amount of population and business enter¬ 
 prise. In this instance, as in all others of a like nature, the same rule 
 of action should be observed which lies at the foundation of all success, 
 namely, a due regard to the great centres of commercial enterprise 
 and industry. Keeping this idea in view, it will be at once conceded 
 that, other things being equal, this road, if built at all, should be 
 built through such districts as will be most likely to concentrate the 
 largest amount of population in the shortest time. 
 
 The explorations and surveys, reports of which accompany the re¬ 
 port of the Secretary of War, are sufficient to decide upon what route 
 the road should be built. There are undoubtedly preferences accord¬ 
 ing to sectional localities ; but, if only one road is to be built, the 
 weightiest arguments would unquestionably tend fo a decision in favor 
 of a route which, if practicable, will accommodate the greatest amount 
 of the busy population of the country. 
 
 The determination of a route for a railroad is not always to be gov¬ 
 erned by the facility or cheapness with which it may he constructed. 
 If such were the case, many roads would be built in favorable locali¬ 
 ties where there are but limited means for their support. 
 
 The map and profiles accompanying the Secretary’s report indicate 
 five distinct routes from the Mississippi valley to the Pacific ocean. 
 
 Profile No. 1 is of the most northern line, commencing at St. Paul, 
 and terminating either at Vancouver, or Columbia river, or Seattle, 
 in Port Discovery, on Puget’s sound. 
 
 Profile No. 2 is of a line commencing at Westport or mouth of 
 Kansas river, passing through South Pass, and terminating at the 
 same point as No. 1. 
 
 Profile No. 3 is of a line commencing at Council Bluffs, and going 
 through the Cheyenne and Bridger’s Passes of the Rocky mountains, 
 and near Salt Lake, across the Great Basin, through Madeline Pass 
 and Sacramento valley, to Benicia, in San Francisco bay. 
 
 Profile No. 4 is of the central route, through Sangre de Christo and 
 Coo-che-to-pa Passes to the Great Basin, where the route was aban¬ 
 doned as impracticable. 
 
 Profile No. 5 is of a cross-route from Independence, Missouri, to El 
 Paso del Norte. 
 
 Profile No. 6 is of a route from Fort Smith, passing near Santa Fe, 
 and terminating at San Pedro. 
 
 Profile No. 7 is the southern route, from Fulton, through El Paso, 
 El Dado, mouth of the Gila, and Gorgonia Pass, to Martinez, on an 
 arm of San Francisco bay, opposite Benicia. 
 
16 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 Profile No. 8 is a spur of the last-named route, commencing at In- 
 dianola, Texas, a harbor on the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
 The information contained in the report and estimates furnished by 
 the Secretary of War would lead to the rejection of all these routes, 
 except the 1st, 3d, and 7th—that is to say, the routes of the 47th, 
 41st, and 32d parallels of latitude. 
 
 On profile No. 2 there is no estimate or report, the minutes seem¬ 
 ing to be made up by former reports not combined with the late sur¬ 
 veys or explorations. 
 
 Profile No. 4 is left unfinished, and is declared impracticable. 
 
 Profile No. 5, a cross-line, is not suitable for the road in question. 
 
 Profile No. 6 is considered as too expensive, and is objectionable on 
 the score of high grades. 
 
 From the reports it appears that the nature of the explorations will 
 not admit of determining the amount of curvature upon any of these 
 lines ; and, as regards the estimates, probably no two of them were 
 made by the same party—consequently no one standard of expense 
 could have been assumed to govern all the estimates. This is exhib¬ 
 ited in the fact that upwards of twenty millions of dollars were added 
 to the estimates of Governor Stevens for the northern route, and a 
 very large amount deducted from the estimates for the southern route ; 
 thus making the estimates for the northern line read $140,871,000, 
 instead of $117,121,000, and reducing the estimate of the southern 
 line to $93,120,000. The estimate for the route by the 35th parallel 
 (profile No. 6) is left undisturbed at $169,000,000, though it is stated 
 to be in excess of the probable cost. 
 
 The profiles of all these routes exhibit only the lines of average 
 grades. Undoubtedly many undulations will occur in construction 
 which are not at present represented. An analysis of what is given 
 is shown in the following table : 
 
 1 
 
 Total length 
 ofroad. 
 
 • 
 
 Grades level 
 and up to 
 
 30 feet. 
 
 Grades be¬ 
 tween 30 
 and 60 feet. 
 
 Grades be¬ 
 tween 60 
 and 90 teet. 
 
 Grades 
 above 90 
 feet. 
 
 Maximum grade. 
 
 Length 
 
 Rate 
 p’r mile. 
 
 
 Miles. 
 
 • 
 
 Miles. 
 
 Miles. 
 
 Miles. 
 
 Miles. 
 
 Miles. 
 
 Feet. 
 
 Profile No. 1, northern line. 
 
 2,025 
 
 1,761 
 
 264 
 
 
 
 25 
 
 60 
 
 Profile No. 2. .... 
 
 2.152 
 
 1,903 
 
 95 
 
 38 
 
 116 
 
 3.5 
 
 324 
 
 Profile No. 3, central line.. 
 
 1,988 
 
 1,747 
 
 164 
 
 71 
 
 6 
 
 3.6 
 
 126 
 
 Profile No. 6, and part of 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 # 
 
 
 No. 7. 
 
 2,298 
 
 1,837 
 
 219 
 
 101 
 
 141 
 
 3.5 
 
 183 
 
 Profile No. 7, southern line. 
 
 2,039 
 
 1,661 
 
 179 
 
 112 
 
 87 
 
 7.2 
 
 173 
 
 % 
 
 On an examination of this table, the extraordinary proportion ex¬ 
 isting among all the lines of somewhere about eighty-five per cent, of 
 the length of each, consisting of gradients of thirty feet per mile and 
 less to a level, will be apparent. 
 
 Profile No. 1, of the northern line, is very favorable, and must be 
 allowed to be superior to all the others, both in its grades and the 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 17 
 
 small sum of ascent and descent. Were there no other questions to 
 he taken into consideration, this route would certainly be preferable 
 to all the others as regards facility of construction. The objections 
 to it are, its high northern latitude, leaving almost the whole United 
 States territory to the south of it ; its requiring a tunnel at Cadotte 
 Pass four and a half miles in length ; its terminating in a remote 
 corner of the country at a great distance from the commercial centre 
 of the Pacific coast; and its high cost as given in the Secretary of 
 War’s report. 
 
 Profile No. 2 represents a line terminating at the same points as 
 above, is longer than that of No. 1, and is more objectionable on account 
 of its grades, thirty-eight miles of which rate from sixty to ninety 
 feet per mile, and one hundred and sixteen miles 'rate from ninety to 
 three hundred and twenty-four feet per mile. 
 
 Route No. 3—the central route, as respects grades—is second only 
 to No. 1, and is greatly superior to any of the others. It has seventy- 
 one miles, rating from sixty to ninety feet per mile, and only six 
 miles above ninety feet per mile—the maximum grade being one hun¬ 
 dred and twenty-five feet per mile ; but that grade is only three miles 
 and six-tenths of a mile in length. Besides, the whole of this extreme 
 high grade is concentrated at the western pass of the Sierra Nevada 
 mountain, and ma}^ probably be modified so as to be reduced to a rate 
 of ninety feet per mile, or less. Indeed, it is stated in the report that 
 a new, and apparently more feasible, route has been discovered since 
 the report of Lieutenant Beckwith was made. The total rise and fall 
 in this line is twenty-nine thousand one hundred and twenty feet. 
 
 Profile No. 6, continued to San Francisco bay by the western por¬ 
 tion of profile No. 7, shows one hundred and forty-one miles’ length 
 of gradients ranging above ninety feet per mile, with a maximum 
 grade of one hundred and eighty-three feet per mile for three and a 
 half miles, and a total cost of $169,000,000. 
 
 Profile No. 7 represents the southern route two thousand and thirty- 
 nine miles from Fulton to San Francisco bay. As respects grades, 
 this line is much inferior to that of profile No. 3, the central line. 
 There are one hundred and twelve miles having grades varying from 
 sixty to ninety feet, and thirty-seven miles with grades above ninety 
 feet per mile, to which must be added a maximum grade of one hun¬ 
 dred and seventy-three feet per mile for a distance of seven miles and 
 two-tenths of a mile. These high grades are distributed occasionally 
 throughout the length of the line, rendering it necessary to stock a 
 large portion of the whole length of the road with the heaviest and 
 most expensive locomotives. Of the grades above ninety feet per mile 
 on this route, we have those of 91, 93, 94, 95,108, 115,119, 132, 155, 
 and 157 feet per mile, besides the maximum of one hundred and 
 seventy-three feet per mile. The total rise and fall upon this line is 
 forty-two thousand nine hundred and thirty-four feet. 
 
 Admitting that each of these three routes is suitable for the purpose 
 of constructing a good and sufficient railroad, it must also be admitted 
 that, as regards gradients, the northern line is superior to the other 
 two; and as regards expense, the southern line is superior to the others. 
 The manner of estimating, however, is open to criticism. It appears 
 II. Rep. 274-2 
 
18 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 that the standard of estimating has been fixed by likening the route 
 to some well known railroad in operation in the North, such as the 
 “ Baltimore and Ohio, 5 ' the “ New York and Erie/' the 6{ Hudson 
 River,” &c. Now it is indisputable, that the same amount of work 
 required on any of the above named roads could not be done as far 
 south as the thirty-second parallel of latitude, by an equal number of 
 men in the same space of time, nor at the same rate of expense. The 
 climate is such that the amount of work done is less per day, and the 
 rate of wages must also be somewhat higher. This must always 
 greatly enhance the cost of any public work commenced so far south 
 as the thirty-second degree of north latitude. 
 
 The Secretary of "War objects to the northern line because it runs so 
 near the territory of a powerful foreign government. Will not the 
 “same objection apply, in some measure at least, to the southern route 
 also ? Are we so weak as to express any fears on this account ? Shall 
 we not be better able to defend our frontier from the very fact that we 
 have the means of transporting war material all along the line? 
 
 But the main facts which ought to decide the question of route have not 
 yet appeared. Let us ask the questions, On what latitude is the great cen¬ 
 tral mass of the population of this country situated? and in which direc¬ 
 tion is the current of the moving population pressing ? The readies to 
 these queries should have more bearing in determining the route than 
 perhaps any other considerations, after the practicability of the three 
 great routes is admitted. Referring to the map of the United States, 
 and the last census, it will be found that the whole population is enu¬ 
 merated at twenty-three millions. Scanning closely the map of the 
 United States, it will be perceived that every State north of Arkansas, 
 Tennessee, and North Carolina, will be better accommodated by the 
 central line than by any other. Considering St. Louis as a point of 
 departure for the central line, it will be seen that Arkansas and Ten¬ 
 nessee are equally as well accommodated by the central as by the 
 southern line. The population of the States north of the States of 
 Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina, is upwards of seventeen 
 millions—nearly three-fourths of all the inhabitants of the Union. (See 
 table of States.) Even excluding New England, New York, Michi¬ 
 gan, and Wisconsin, we yet have a population, centrally situated, of 
 ten million five hundred and seventy-seven thousand, or nearly one- 
 half of the whole. Every one who is familiar with railroad enter¬ 
 prises knows that it is the moving population which actually supports 
 the system ; and that a railroad, to be well supported, must be con¬ 
 structed on the line in which that population wishes to move. The 
 population even north of the latitude of forty degrees is ten million 
 eight hundred and eighty thousand—nearly one-half of the whole ; 
 and if we look upon the railroad map, we see most of the lines lying 
 in an east and west direction, absolutely indicating the course of the 
 greatest amount of travel. The amount of overland travel is already 
 great on the central line, a fact which cannot be shown in respect of 
 either of the others. The communication of the Mormons, both east 
 and w T est, is also large. The Mormon settlement, situated as it is, 
 must be a great aid in the construction and support of a railroad to 
 the Pacific. 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 19 
 
 Again, the central line is the shortest between the two great com¬ 
 mercial cities on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. This is shown by 
 
 the following statement of distances: 
 
 Miles. 
 
 From New York to Benicia, via central line, is. 3,240 
 
 From New York to Martinez, via southern line, is. 3,647 
 
 From New York to Vancouver, via northern line, is 3,054 
 miles ; and adding 580 miles to Benicia, not yet surveyed, 
 we have a total of.. 3,634 
 
 Here is a distance of about four hundred miles in favor of the cen¬ 
 tral line, or nearly a ninth part of the whole distance. 
 
 The northern line does not accommodate the State of California at 
 all without an addition of about 580 miles parallel to the seacoast to 
 carry the line to San Francisco bay. 
 
 Objection has been made in some quarters to northern and central 
 lines on account of the deep snows common to high northern latitudes. 
 This objection has some plausibility when we take into consideration 
 the manner in which roads were located and constructed in the old 
 States some years ago; but the observation and experience of later 
 years have taught engineers, and those having charge of locations, 
 the necessity of elevating their road-beds much higher than was for¬ 
 merly the practice; thus avoiding the evil consequences attendant upon 
 hugging the surface of a level plain too closely. This improved ele¬ 
 vation has resulted in entire relief from the effects of snows, as expe¬ 
 rience has shown, besides producing a better drainage, and not adding 
 materially to the cost of construction. 
 
 Taking a broad view of the whole matter, the construction, the con¬ 
 dition when built, the amount of population to be accommodated, and 
 the amount of moving population to support the road, added to various 
 other considerations not here enumerated, there would seem to be no 
 question as to the vast preponderance of the reasons in favor of the 
 central line. 
 
 A further survey, however, for a final location will be necessary, 
 and this, it is believed, could be best accomplished by a mixed com¬ 
 mission of engineers. One-half of this commission should consist of 
 gentlemen in the employ of the United States government, and the 
 other half should be taken from the most eminent of the profession, 
 who have heretofore been employed upon railroads and public works 
 by corporations. 
 
 In the appointment of commissioners to superintend and take charge 
 of the construction of the work, there should be appointed, in connec¬ 
 tion with the Secretary of War, a board of directors, or commission¬ 
 ers, consisting of not less than five, nor more than thirteen, practical, 
 experienced men—men who have been engaged heretofore on works 
 of a like kind. A portion of this board should be constantly on duty 
 on the line of road. 
 
 * Propositions should then be called for, and 200 miles of road at 
 each end be placed under contract simultaneously, and the further 
 progress should be as rapid as prudence and circumstances would 
 permit. 
 
20 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 For tlie purpose of meeting the expenditure necessary to carry on 
 this work on the part of the government, an appropriation of one 
 hundred millions of dollars should be made by Congress, to be sup¬ 
 plied in the following manner, namely: That all surplus money in 
 the United States treasury, after defraying the ordinary current ex¬ 
 penses of the government, should be appropriated to this use ; and 
 further, that, if necessary, bonds of the United States government, 
 having thirty years to run, and bearing live per cent, interest, should 
 be issued in such annual amounts as the requirements of expendi¬ 
 ture on the work might demand. 
 
 For the redemption of these bonds at maturity, the public lands of 
 the United States, not otherwise appropriated, should be set apart; 
 and from and after the first of July, 1857, a sinking fund should be 
 established for this purpose, to be made up of the avails of these 
 lands as rapidly as they are disposed of. 
 
 In accordance with the foregoing views, the undersigned has pre¬ 
 pared a bill, which he herewith submits, embodying the principal 
 ideas expressed in this report. Many important matters of detail are 
 necessarily omitted as being only fit subjects for consideration when 
 the question itself shall come up for discussion in the ordinary course 
 of legislative business. 
 
 The chief object of the undersigned has been to foreshadow what he 
 believes to be the only feasible and practicable method of commencing 
 and carrying on to completion this great national work—a work de¬ 
 manded alike by the requirements of a great majority of the people 
 of the United States, and by all the exigencies and interests of every 
 section of the country. 
 
 JOHN M. WOOD. 
 
 A BILL to provide for the construction of a wagon road, a railroad, and a telegraphic 
 line of communication from a point on the Missouri river, between the thirty-ninth 
 and forty first degrees of north latitude, to the Pacific ocean, at or near the city of San 
 Francisco, in the State of California. 
 
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
 States of America in Congress assembled , That for the purpose of con¬ 
 structing a wagon road, a railroad, and a telegraphic line of com¬ 
 munication from a point on the Missouri river, between the thirty- 
 ninth and forty-first degrees of north latitude, (said point to be 
 finally determined as hereinafter provided,) to the Pacific ocean, 
 at or near the city of San Francisco, in the State of California, 
 the sum of one hundred millions of dollars shall be, and is 
 of the United States, or by the issuing of bonds of the government of 
 hereby appropriated, out of any moneys in the treasury of the 
 United States not otherwise appropriated, or which may hereafter 
 be in the said treasury of the United States not otherwise appro¬ 
 priated, or which may hereafter accrue to the said treasury of 
 the United States in such amounts and proportions as may be required, 
 as is hereinafter provided. 
 
 Sec. 2. And be it further enacted , Thai, for the purpose of superin- 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 21 
 
 tending the construction of the said wagon road, railroad, and tele¬ 
 graphic line of communication, and the disbursement of the said 
 sum of one hundred millions of dollars, the President of the United 
 States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall ap¬ 
 point nine suitable persons who have had experience in the construc¬ 
 tion of works of a like nature, who shall be styled “ Commissioners 
 of Construction and Disbursements,” and who shall receive out of 
 the treasury of the United States, for their services, an annual com¬ 
 pensation not exceeding- thousand dollars each : Provided al- 
 
 tuays , That in case of malfeasance in office, or other disqualification 
 on the part of any of the said commissioners, he or they may he re¬ 
 moved by the President of the United States, and the vacancy or 
 vacancies thereby occasioned shall he filled by new appointments by 
 the President of the United States, which appointments shall remain 
 in force until they are confirmed or rejected by the Senate: And pro¬ 
 vided further , That in case of the death or resignation of any of the said 
 commissioners, the President of the United States may fill the va¬ 
 cancy or vacancies thereby occasioned in the same manner as is pro¬ 
 vided in the next preceding proviso. 
 
 Sec. 3. And be it further enacted , That, for the purpose of making 
 an immediate and final location of the said wagon road, railroad, and 
 telegraphic line of communication, the Secretary of War is hereby 
 authorized and required to appoint four persons from among the most 
 eminent engineers now in the service of the United States, to act in 
 conjunction with five other suitable persons to be selected by the Pres¬ 
 ident of the United States, who is hereby authorized, by and with the 
 advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint the same from the most 
 eminent engineers not in the service of the United States ; and that 
 on the recommendation of, or agreement upon, any particular loca¬ 
 tion by a majority of the said engineers, the commissioners aforesaid 
 shall accept the said location, and thenceforth and thereon proceed to 
 the construction of said wagon road, railroad, and telegraphic line of 
 communication in the manner provided for in the next following sec¬ 
 tion of this act. 
 
 Sec. 4. And be it further enacted , That the location of said wagon 
 road, railroad, and telegraphic line of communication being determined 
 upon as aforesaid, the said commissioners shall cause proposals for 
 contracts to be published in at least one principal newspaper in each 
 State of the Union, for the construction of not more than two hun¬ 
 dred miles of said roads and telegraphic line of communication at 
 each end of the said line ; and the said proposals for contracts shall 
 appear at least sixty days in the said newspapers prior to the letting 
 of said contracts, which, in all cases, shall be let to the lowest bidder 
 who shall give sufficient security for the due and faithful performance 
 of the same ; and that, as speedily as circumstances will permit, the 
 said commissioners shall put additional sections under contract, until 
 the whole is completed. 
 
 Sec. 5. And be it further enacted , That, for the purpose of meeting 
 the current expenditures in the construction of the said roads and 
 telegraphic line of communication, all surplus money in the United 
 States treasury remaining therein, over and above the amounts ap- 
 
99 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 propriated by Congress to meet the current expenses of the govern¬ 
 ment, shall be subject to the drafts of the said commissioners, or of 
 some one or more of them duly authorized by the whole, to meet the 
 monthly estimates as certified to by the engineers in the immediate 
 charge of the works ; and that, in case the said surplus should at any 
 time he inadequate to meet the requirements of said current expend¬ 
 itures, the Secretary of the Treasury he authorized and required to 
 issue bonds of the United States, in sums of not less than one thousand 
 dollars, payable in thirty years from date, and bearing interest at the 
 rate of five per centum per annum, from time to time, according to 
 the amounts required to meet the said estimates. 
 
 Sec. 6 . And be it further enacted , That to secure the redemption of 
 the aforesaid bonds at maturity, all the public lands not otherwise 
 appropriated, belonging to the United States, from and after the first 
 day of July, one thousand eight hundred and fifty seven, shall be set 
 apart, and the moneys accruing from sales thereof shall constitute a 
 sinking fund to be appropriated to that purpose, and to no other 
 whatever. 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 23 
 
 ♦ 
 
 MINORITY REPORT. 
 
 July 24, 1856. 
 
 Mr. Kedwell, from the Select Committee, gave notice that at a proper 
 time he would submit the following minority report: 
 
 The undersigned , a member of the Select Committee , appointed on the 
 21st day of February , 1856, to inquire into the propriety and ex¬ 
 pediency of building , or aiding to build , one or more railroads from 
 the Mississippi river to San Francisco, on the Pacific ocean , dis¬ 
 senting from the opinions of the majority of the committee , begs leave 
 to submit the following report: 
 
 In considering this subject the undersigned has carefully inquired— 
 1st. Is a railroad between the settlements upon the Pacific coast 
 and those upon the hanks of the river Mississippi desirable? 
 
 2d. Is a railroad (between the points named) feasible , at a first cost 
 for construction, and a subsequent cost for maintenance, which is at all 
 reasonable? 
 
 3d. If a railroad between the said points is, from any cause, desi¬ 
 rable, and is feasible, is it politic for the government of the United 
 States (admitting it has the constitutional authority to do so) to fore¬ 
 stall individual enterprise, and construct a railroad for the accommo¬ 
 dation of trade and travel? 
 
 4th. If it is impolitic for the United States to engage in a competi¬ 
 tion with its own citizens, in the business of building railroads for the 
 use of persons engaged in the business of trade and travel, can the 
 United States, with propriety, and with advantage both to the gov¬ 
 ernment and to the trading and travelling classes, construct a national 
 military road, or a postal road, and then lay rails upon it for the use 
 both of the government and of traders and travellers ? 
 
 5th. Admitting a railroad from the Pacific ocean to the Mississippi 
 river is desirable ; that it can be easily and cheaply built; that it is 
 politic, in this particular case, to interfere with the individual and 
 State enterprise which has constructed the railroads and canals of 
 this country ; that there is propriety and wisdom in the construction 
 of a national military and postal railroad to be used in copartnership, 
 or in common, by government and by individuals ; has the government 
 of the United States constitutional authority to push individuals, Terri¬ 
 tories, or States out of its way, and enter upon the construction, con¬ 
 trol, and management of a railroad for the use and benefit either of 
 traders or of mail contractors ? Has government constitutional authority 
 to build other than a military road, for strictly military purposes, in 
 that confined and exclusive sense which defines the military purposes 
 of Torts, ships of war, government arsenals, and government found¬ 
 ries, and dedicates them to exclusive military uses ? Under the plea 
 
24 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 of providing a military, can Congress constitutionally proceed to con¬ 
 struct a commercial road? 
 
 In tlie outset the committee was called upon to consider whether— 
 
 First. A railroad from some suitable point or points upon the Paci¬ 
 fic ocean to corresponding ones upon the Mississippi river is desirable f 
 
 Upon this point the undersigned has no doubt whatever. Good 
 railroads from New Orleans, St. Louis, Chicago, and from the head 
 of Lake Superior, across the continent, within our own country, to 
 San Diego, San Francisco, mouth of the Columbia, and Puget’s sound, 
 would, in peace and in war, be productive of consequences the most 
 beneficent both to individuals and to the nation, to agriculture and to 
 commerce, to manufactures, and to the mechanic arts. 
 
 Like the railroads to the east of the Mississippi, those west of it 
 would be a military protection and a commercial convenience of a 
 higher character than any known to the ancients. One or more rail¬ 
 roads to the Pacific from the Mississippi may, therefore, be justly 
 considered not only desirable , but exceedingly important, in every 
 national point of view. 
 
 Second. Is a railroad between the Pacific and the Mississippi feasi- 
 ble, at a reasonable cost for original construction and subsequent 
 support ? 
 
 Upon this point there is a decided difference of opinion between a 
 majority of the committee and the undersigned. That a railroad can 
 be built over, or even through , almost any mountain in this country, 
 by an able engineer who has at his command ample means and modern 
 science, there can be but little doubt. I think it possible , perhaps, to 
 build a railroad hence to the Polar sea, or even up the lofty heights 
 of the Coochetopa Pass of the Rocky mountains. But there are many 
 mountains in this country over the heights of which a railroad cannot 
 be built at a reasonable cost, or with suitable grades and curves, or 
 that could be profitably used in the summer, or at all in the winter. 
 
 After bestowing much labor upon the investigation of this branch 
 of the subject, the undersigned is convinced that no route has yet been 
 discovered to exist in this country, between the northern boundary 
 line of Mexico and the southern boundary line of the British posses¬ 
 sions, where a railroad from the Pacific to the Mississippi can be loca¬ 
 ted wuth such grades and curves, and constructed at such a cost, as 
 would justify either the government, or individuals, in attempting to 
 build it, and rely upon its earnings to keep it in repair and pay for 
 the use of the money expended even one per cent, per annum upon the 
 first cost of the road. Nay, it is exceedingly doubtful whether a road 
 located upon the best known route could be maintained from its earn¬ 
 ings during the first ten or fifteen years, even should its builders be 
 willing to sink all their capital , and abandon the road to whomsoever 
 would give security to maintain and run it. And at the end of that 
 period of time, money would have to be obtained to rebuild the whole 
 railroad—to replace the iron rails, the ties, and the furniture of the 
 road. Could the debt which this necessary re-construction would caj^se 
 to be created, be paid within the next then ensuing ten or fifteen years 
 from the mere earnings of the road ? And, in that period, would the 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 25 
 
 earnings also furnish the further large sum with which to again re¬ 
 build the road ? For experience teaches that ten or fifteen years is 
 the average period of time such materials last, after which a rebuild¬ 
 ing must follow. 
 
 Many reasons exist, some temporary and others enduring, which 
 induce the belief that such a railroad must he very costly to construct, 
 very costly to maintain in an effective condition, and yet would pro¬ 
 duce hut small sums of money. 
 
 Among these reasons, the chief one is undoubtedly to he found in 
 the fact that vast sterile plains, and rugged, extensive, and uninhab¬ 
 ited mountains interpose between the termini of the railroad, and 
 must be crossed. No engineering skill can teach us how to avoid 
 these arid plains, nor how to turn those lofty ranges of mountains, 
 either on the right hand or on the left. The sand plains must he 
 crossed, the mountains must he scaled. No route has yet been discov¬ 
 ered, north or south, after numerous and most diligent explorations, 
 whose mountain passes are so low as one mile high above the level of 
 the sea: not one. All are more than one mile high. 
 
 So lofty, irregular, and rugged are these mountain ranges, it is 
 difficult for an unpracticed writer to find language to convey an ade¬ 
 quate idea of their real character. The whole mountain region ap¬ 
 pears as though it had been uplifted amid some great convulsion of 
 nature ; broken, irregular, often destitute of all vegetation, and rarely 
 exhibiting even small sections fit for cultivation without a resort to 
 irrigation. Water, timber, and grasses are found sufficiently abund¬ 
 ant in some places to prove the existence of a soil suitable for agri¬ 
 cultural purposes, hut only at infrequent and distant intervals. Hun¬ 
 dreds of miles may he traversed, on this side of the Rocky mountains , 
 without finding timber fit to make even an axle-tree or an axe-helve. 
 Throughout all that vast region of desolation, the cold and the hun¬ 
 gry traveller finds no fuel even for the most common uses, save the 
 dried dung of the animals who roam over it. Along the Platte valley 
 route (a favorite one with the committee) for 600 miles upon this east¬ 
 ern side of the South Pass, there is an absolute destitution of timber 
 for all useful purposes whatsoever ; there is none with which to repair 
 a car, or to replace even a cross-tie. 
 
 To show still further the difficulty of building a railroad through 
 these solitary and uninhabited regions at any cost, and the improba¬ 
 bility of its furnishing business to the road when built, it is only 
 necessary to point to the absence of water , involving, as that lack 
 does, a perpetual absence of agricultural pursuits in those desolate re¬ 
 gions, and compelling the railroad to follow the endless sinuosities of 
 the streams, in order to obtain a needful supply of the indispensable 
 element. These streams are but few, and are wholly maintained by 
 the snows of the mountains from which they come. A single glance 
 at a map delineating the Platte river from its mouth to Fort Laramie, 
 wfill show how greatly the length of a railroad between those points 
 must be elongated, if it is necessarily located along the banks of that 
 crooked river. 
 
 But other difficulties, besides these of the plains, exist in and 
 among the stupendous mountains lying to the west of them. These 
 consist, in part, of the vast altitude, not only of the mountains, but 
 
26 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 also of the lowest passes through them, the narrowness, depth, and 
 crookedness of the defiles, gorges, and canons, and the greater severity 
 of climate. Even on the South Pass route, 705 miles lie in and 
 among these mountains, between the Rocky and the Snowy mount¬ 
 ains, which are more than 3,000 feet high in the lowest place. 
 
 If a railroad were constructed from Washington city to Boston upon 
 a mountain ridge 1,000 feet higher than the present surface of the 
 earth, the humblest individual, upon seeing it elevated above him, 
 could readily comprehend its increased disadvantages in point of cli¬ 
 mate. Yet the extreme southern route, via El Paso, has 1,118 miles 
 which are upwards of 1,000 feet high above the level of the sea. The 
 extreme northern route (from Lake Superior to Puget's sound) has 
 1,555 miles at the same height; the Platte River and South Pass 
 route has 1,818 miles ; Col. Benton’s route, through Coochetopa, has 
 2,015; and the St. Louis and Albuquerque route, 1,492 miles. The 
 levellest has over 1,100 miles, and the highest more than 2,000 miles, 
 which are more than 1,000 feet above the level of the sea. 
 
 Again: the most northern route (which is the levellest) runs over 
 ground of the following elevations: 975 miles are at a height of more 
 than 2,000 feet, 255 miles exceed 3,000 feet in height, 125 miles ex¬ 
 ceed 4,000 feet, and 28 miles are more than 5,000 feet above the level 
 of the sea. Its loftiest pass is 6,044 feet high. 
 
 The southern route has 747 miles which are more than 2,000 feet 
 high ; 620 miles rise higher than 3,000 feet; 520 miles average 4,000 
 feet; and 28 miles are more than 5,000 feet above the level of the 
 sea ! Its loftiest pass is more than a mile high, being 5,727 feet 
 high. 
 
 The St. Louis and Albuquerque route (Memphis route on the sur¬ 
 vey) has 1,153 miles which are above 2,000 feet high; 935 miles 
 which are more than 3,000 feet high ; 745 miles which are 4,000 feet 
 high ; 651 miles which are 5,000 feet high ; 317 miles which are 
 6,000 feet high ; and 25 miles which are 7,000 feet above the level of 
 the sea ! Its highest pass is 7,750 feet high. 
 
 The Platte river and South Pass route has 1,579 miles which are 
 more than 2,000 feet high ; 1,432 miles which are 3,000 feet high ; 
 1,278 miles which are 4,000 feet high ; 693 miles which are above 
 5,000 feet high ; 391 miles which are more than 6,000 feet high ; 119 
 miles which are more than 7,000 feet high ; and 16 miles which ris'e 
 above 8,000 feet above the level of the sea ! Its highest pass is 8,373 
 feet high above the level of the sea. 
 
 Colonel Benton’s route over the heights of Coochetopa it is not 
 necessary to describe, it having been found utterly impracticable, 
 being about two miles high. The highest pass yet discovered and 
 measured on the North American continent is Coochetopa ! The 
 heights and depths of the adjacent mountains and valleys are of cor¬ 
 responding grandeur and impracticability. 
 
 It may be well to dwell a few moments upon these astounding 
 geographical and topographical facts. The northern route has 125 
 miles about three-quarters of a mile high, and 28 miles about one mile 
 high. The southern route has 520 miles about three-quarters of a mile 
 high , and 28 miles about a mile high above the level of the sea. These 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 27 
 
 are the most favorable routes according to the official surveys. On 
 the Platte River and South Pass route it is still worse, 1,278 miles ex¬ 
 ceeding a height of three-quarters of a mile ; 693 are about one mile 
 high; 391 miles are about one mile and a quarter high ; and 16 miles 
 are about one mile and a half high above the level of the sea. 
 
 And it must be recollected that the line run by the engineers is not 
 upon the top of a mountain range, but, like all similar routes through 
 lofty ranges, u it passes through gorges and narrow defiles, overhung 
 by rocks and by mountain peaks of the most terrific altitude. These 
 mountains, through and among which the asked-for railroad would 
 run, are from 7,000 to 10,000, 12,000, and even 16,000 feet high. In 
 two places the road would have to be upwards of 8,000 feet above the 
 level of the sea. Amid these vast solitudes the snow must necessarily 
 drift in heaps of mountain magnitude, and, it is said, lies unmelted 
 during by far the larger half of the year. If the art of man could by 
 any possibility contrive to remove, at a reasonable expense of time 
 and money, these vast masses of snow, it could not prevent a return of 
 the labor upon the recurrence of every wintry storm. And these 
 storms must happen late in the spring as well as early in the fall; 
 for the rains of the lowlands are indices of snows in the mountains. 
 When it rains in the valleys it generally snows in the mountains, ex¬ 
 cept in very warm weather/'—(Ho. of Peps. Report No. 773, 1st sess. 
 29th Cong., on a railroad through the South Pass.) 
 
 In confirmation of these views the undersigned copies the following 
 brief paragraph from the St. Louis Republican of May 30, 1856. It 
 is embodied in a letter from its correspondent at Independence: 
 
 u The Salt Lake mail arrived here one day last week, but had been 
 out some time, detained by snow and high water ; and bringing but 
 little news of interest, I thought it hardly worth to advise you." 
 
 Here it is ; snows in the mountains and high waters in the plains 
 below in April and May, sufficient to impede the p>cissage of mules and 
 horses conveying the mails through the passes of these formidable 
 mountains, and over the rivers of the valleys. Nor is this a solitary 
 instance in an extraordinary year. Such detentions, late in the 
 spring and early in the fall, are neither new nor extraordinary occur¬ 
 rences. They are as certain as nature, and recur with the seasons 
 which annually produce them. Aware of the depth of the snow, 
 and its long continuance upon the ground, Colonel Benton proposes 
 to make use of it instead of idly overlooking its existence. Knowing 
 the usefulness of snow-shoes, dog trains, and sleighs, he long since 
 recommended their use during the winter season. The length of 
 time such appliances could be annually resorted to with profit was 
 definitely ascertained and stated by that accurate senator more than 
 thirty years ago, as appears from a debate in the Senate between him 
 and Governor Dickerson, of New Jersey. Governor Dickerson had 
 ventured to start some “ difficulties " in the way of the execution of 
 Colonel Benton's plans. In reply Colonel Benton thought there 
 could be no serious difficulty in climbing mountains “ whose aspiring 
 summits present twelve feet of defying snow to the burning rays of a 
 J uly sun. The passage through the mountains was free from difficulty . 
 For eight months in the year snoiv and sleighs could be confidently 
 
28 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 relied on.” Five and twenty years afterwards, with all the lights 
 before him which modern explorations had shed on the subject, Colo¬ 
 nel Benton said, in a very elaborate senatorial speech : “ Mails in an 
 uninhabited country of more than two thousand five hundred miles, 
 traversed by savages, and running over mountains of seven or eight 
 thousand feet, where deep snows lie for more than a thousand miles 
 more than one half of the year , could not be carried by a solitary con¬ 
 veyance of a contractor’s man or boy. Four or five mounted riflemen, 
 going together, and started from the different posts to relieve each 
 other, alone could do it. In winter they ivould have sleighs draivn by 
 dogs , the reliefs always being ready at each post. A non-commissioned 
 officer and four or five men, relieved at each post, are the only practi¬ 
 cable mail carriers over such a line.” 
 
 Since the delivery of that speech, a mail has been carried between 
 Independence and Salt Lake, over the mountains, described so graph¬ 
 ically, and in a manner somewhat like that stated. The sleds and 
 dogs have not probably been used by the mail contractor, though in 
 common use among the fur-traders. 
 
 But the snows are not obstructive in the Rocky mountains only; 
 they are equally troublesome in the Sierra Nevada. Col. Fremont 
 says : “The high waters came from the melting snows, which, during 
 the past winter, had accumulated to a great depth in the mountains, 
 and , at the end of June, lay in the approaches to the Bear River pass, 
 on a breadth of ten or fifteen miles , and this below the level of 7,200 
 feet. In rainy seasons, when the rains begin with November, and 
 the snoius lie on the mountains till July ,” &c. See Geographical Me¬ 
 moir, page 19. The same work, page 7, fixes the latitude of that 
 pass at 39° 17' 12". 
 
 These facts show luliy Colonel Benton, in his “bill to provide for 
 the location and construction of a central national road from the 
 Pacific ocean to the Mississippi river,” did not provide for the con¬ 
 struction of a railroad all the way. He knew the rail-car could be 
 used only in summer, and he expected to use “some other convey¬ 
 ance—the sleigh, for example—for that region, in the time of the 
 snows.” Section 3d of his bill, in accordance with this his intention, 
 begins thus: “And be it further enacted, that the said central and 
 branch roads shall be iron railways, where practicable and advan¬ 
 tageous, and shall be macadamized , or otherwise constructed , where 
 not so practicable and advantageous.” 
 
 But the bill of a majority of this committee provides for the con¬ 
 struction of railroads, and railroads only , through the passes where 
 Messrs. Benton and Fremont inform us the snows lie from six to 
 eight months in the year, and where only dogs and sleds can be profit¬ 
 ably used for the conduction of an East Indian business. Those gen¬ 
 tlemen have explored the capacities of the several routes, and it is 
 most respectfully submitted, whether, when they have pronounced in 
 favor of dogs and sleighs, “in the time of the snows,” all neophytes 
 cannot by opponents be considered as fairly concluded, ? It is submit¬ 
 ted whether, when they have decided for dogs and sleighs “where 
 deep snows lie for more than a thousand miles more than one-half of 
 the year,” men of less knowledge of those vast mountain regions are 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 29 
 
 justifiable in attempting to induce an inexperienced Congress to sub¬ 
 stitute engines and cars for dogs and sleds ? Whether it is seemly to 
 attempt to beguile Congress into the making of an effort to substitute 
 the railway for the dog-path, even among those extraordinary mount¬ 
 ains, u whose aspiring summits present twelve feet of defying snow to 
 the burning rays of a July sun?” 
 
 Not wishing, however, to appear anxious to limit the enterprising 
 disposition of the majority, even when it seems to inconsiderately 
 trample under foot the mountainous knowledge of Messrs. Benton and 
 Fremont, nor even when adventuring to build railroads a mile and a 
 half high , through regions where snow lies on the ground for a thou¬ 
 sand miles during six continuous months of the year, the undersigned 
 will not further press this point, but proceed to call attention to the 
 difficulty of running a railroad on the plains this side of the Rocky 
 mountains during several months of the year. 
 
 As Colonel Benton and Colonel Fremont are leading friends of a 
 railroad, of course, when their evidence is unfriendly to the road, it is 
 to be considered strictly reliable and conclusive against the road, for 
 their attacks are necessarily unwilling attacks, and only made be¬ 
 cause truth compels them so to do. Speaking of the severity of storms 
 on the plains, and of Colonel Fremont’s skill in sheltering himself, 
 Colonel Benton says: ce He has been safe in his camp, in a grove of 
 wood, during a snow-storm which killed all animals on the prairie; 
 witness the loss of about a thousand head of government oxen return¬ 
 ing from New Mexico in 1848, while he, in the same snow-storm, 
 sheltered by ivoods, lost not an animal,” &c., &c. This storm was 
 south of the Platte river, south of the Kansas river, and upon a part 
 of the plain only some 1,800 or 2,000 feet high. But suppose he had 
 been caught ten miles from timber —it is not necessary to say 100 or 
 200 miles—neither Colonel Fremont himself , nor his oxen and mules, 
 could have possibly have escaped alive from the horrors of that howl¬ 
 ing tempest. So rapid is the fall of the snow, and so resistless do the 
 winds sweep over those almost boundless plains, it is quite impossible 
 to gain a distant shelter. 
 
 So with a train of cars running up the plain from Iowa or Missouri 
 to the foot of the Rocky mountains, a distance of some 800 miles, 
 how, in a storm, is shelter, or wood, or water, or food, to be gained? 
 Arrested 800 miles from Iowa in November, how is a train of cars to 
 be relieved before May ? By what means could it even be visited ? 
 In such a case the sheltering skill would be useless. To talk of doing 
 business in the winter season on a road through such a region, though, 
 every conductor was a Kit .Carson and every traveller a Fremont, 
 would seem to be idle and preposterous. The attempt would soon 
 make mule-meat fashionable, and u thrilling narratives” super¬ 
 abundant. 
 
 It is supposed that no one believes a railroad which can be used but 
 from four to six months a year will prove a desirable and paying 
 road. 
 
 As to the road from El Paso to California, the same high railroad 
 authority, Col. Benton, says it passes over a country so sandy, sterile, 
 and desolate, that a ‘ i wolf could not make his living!” Devoid of 
 
30 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 water, fuel, soil, food, and population, it is indeed difficult to see why 
 a costly road should be built across a country which few have seen 
 and no one will inhabit. The swiftest riding for four and twenty 
 hours on the fleetest horse may fail to convey the traveller to the res¬ 
 idence of any human being ; and this holds good of every route, 
 north and south, recommended by the committee ! If the cc way busi¬ 
 ness” is the chief reliance of every road in New York and New Eng¬ 
 land, what can be expected of roads, the way business of either one 
 of which, for a distance of 1,500 miles, would scarcely exceed the 
 business furnished by the most insignificant county in the whole State 
 of New York, along a line of 15 miles? Who expects a population 
 of half a million of souls, including men, women, and children, to 
 supply business enough to support three railroads, each road 2,000 
 miles long, running over mountains covered with snow, and across 
 deserts of sand ? That eminent friend of the scheme of building a 
 railroad across those lofty plains, covered only with artemisia, and 
 only inhabited, here and there, by wandering tribes who gain a pre¬ 
 carious subsistence by digging roots and gathering snails, thus de¬ 
 scribes one portion of a route recently surveyed for a road : “ Then 
 
 comes the Mohahve, which it ascends and crosses ten times ; a river of 
 sand—swallowed up in sand—and percolating through a desert of 
 sand, rolling like the leaves of the ocean under the action of the wind ! 
 where neither man nor beast could lie down or stand still without be¬ 
 ing buried alive—but not to remain long alive—under a tumulus of 
 sand! ’ J 
 
 And yet this route, bad as Col. Benton considers it, is believed by 
 Kit Carson (another Pacific railroad man) to be the best of any ! If 
 the best, what must be the characteristics of the worst? Carson 
 says: 
 
 “ I know but one route across the continent which can be travelled 
 winter and summer, and over a remarkably level country, and that 
 one must cross the Kio Grande del Norte within fifty or' sixty miles 
 of Sante Fe, and from thence as direct as the nature of the country 
 will allow. There is no manner of doubt that the trail from Albu¬ 
 querque by Zuni, along the headwaters of the streams that run into 
 the Gila, and then crossing the Big river about the Mohahve, and so 
 on, is the easiest road that can be found. Any old mountaineer, that 
 knows anything about it , will say that the southern route through 
 New Mexico is the best. The South Pass 1 consider almost impracti¬ 
 cable. The snows lie early and late, in both the rocky and snowy 
 mountain countries.” 
 
 These authorities are quoted because friendly to the scheme. How 
 terrible are the obstacles which they show to be in the way of build¬ 
 ing a railroad through these mountains and deserts ! They are also 
 quoted to show how unreliable and how contradictory are the author¬ 
 ities upon which Congress is called to act in a matter of such large 
 public concern. Take this very route recommended by Kit Carson, 
 the most skilful mountaineer in the world ; not only does he and 
 Col. Benton differ in their estimates of its availability and value, but 
 great differences exist in the estimates of the engineers. At the 
 last Congress the cost of the road from Fort Smith, by way of Albu- 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 31 
 
 querque, to San Francisco, was estimated at tlie sum of $175,877,265. 
 Ifc is now estimated at $94,720,000. Difference, $81,157,265. 
 
 Here is a reduction in one year, and without any materially addi¬ 
 tional surveys, of more than eighty-one millions of dollars! And we 
 are told by the engineer in his report that “ it is believed by him that 
 the amount will be much diminished !” 
 
 Now, whether the first estimate was submitted in order to exhibit 
 in favorable contrast the route a couple of hundred miles south of it, 
 and the second one to conciliate those great central interests that had 
 been injured by the first, or whether it was truly and verily a mathe¬ 
 matical mistake of eiglity-one millions of dollars, it is quite foreign 
 from the purpose of the undersigned to inquire. The discrepancy 
 exists. Nor is it intended to charge, nor to intimate, that the discrep¬ 
 ancy cannot be accounted for in a manner consistent with the highest 
 sense of honor ; but it is intended to intimate, and to broadly assert, 
 that when the friends of a gigantic measure, which threatens to in¬ 
 volve our country in a huge national debt, admit the existence of natu¬ 
 ral obstacles of the gravest character on each route ; when the engi¬ 
 neers admit the existence of mistakes in their estimates to an amount 
 of more than eighty-one millions of dollars, (an amount almost equal 
 to the cost of the revolutionary war,) it is both proper and called for 
 to refuse to act upon authority which may be so justly characterized 
 as unreliable. 
 
 Even if a national railroad ought to be built by the general gov¬ 
 ernment, it were temerity to enter upon its construction with the pres¬ 
 ent uncertain information now before Congress. Undoubtedly a road 
 from Baltimore, by the way of Wheeling, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Al¬ 
 buquerque, and Zuili, to San Francisco,^ would avoid most of the 
 snows on the one hand, and most of the sandy plains on the other. 
 Undoubtedly, too, it would well accommodate both sections of the na¬ 
 tion. The temptation, on the part of rival routes, is very great to 
 exaggerate the estimates of its cost. The temptation to cut down its 
 cost is equally great on the part of its friends. 
 
 And yet this central route—the most fairly located of any to ac¬ 
 commodate the mass of the people and the great cities, and therefore 
 having far the most political strength of either route—is the route the 
 estimates of the cost of which have been subjected to such a serious 
 mistake. 
 
 If grave mistakes were committed on a route where more care and 
 more labor would be likely to be bestowed upon estimates of cost than 
 upon the estimates of cost of the less important routes upon each side 
 of it, what reliance ought to be placed upon the estimates of cost made 
 up for routes of minor importance ? Surely greater care, greater labor, 
 and greater pains-taking, were not likely to be bestowed upon the 
 lesser objects than upon the greater. 
 
 Viewed in any aspect, reliance ought not to be placed upon the es¬ 
 timates submitted—certainly not to such an extent as to base action 
 that will impose a national debt upon the people. This is proved by 
 a moment’s reflection. The Boston and Worcester railroad has been 
 in existence about twenty years, and its present cost per mile is about 
 $71,000, including equipment, &c. Now, if that road, with all its 
 
32 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 conveniences of material and labor, has cost $71,000 per mile, will 
 not the cost of a railroad amid those vast solitudes in the rocky and 
 snowy mountains exceed the cost of the Boston and Worcester twice 
 or three times, even at the end of one year’s running, instead of twenty 
 years ? Take either of the roads—from Shrevesport, Springfield, In¬ 
 dependence, or Council Bluffs, to San Francisco—the distance exceeds 
 two thousand miles ; at the cost of the Boston and Worcester railroad 
 either road would cost one hundred and forty-two millions of dollars ; 
 at double the cost, would be two hundred and eightv-four millions of 
 dollars ; at three times the cost, the cost would be four hundred and 
 twenty-six millions of dollars. The latter will be about the true cost 
 of either road ten years from the date of its being sufficiently com¬ 
 pleted to be used— -for a railroad is never finished. The Boston and 
 Worcester railroad (probably the best managed road in this country) 
 when put in use, in 1835, had cost $1,160,553 ; in 1853, the cost was 
 $4,850,784. True, the company built branches twenty-four miles 
 long, but they cost only some $595,000 ; thus increasing its cost three 
 times in eighteen years, after deducting the cost of its branches ! A 
 ^ road may be quoted as having been cheaply built, or dearly, and both 
 quotations may be true; this is done by stating the cost at different 
 periods. 
 
 It being evident that the cost of building and maintaining these 
 Pacific railroads will ultimately be thrown upon the United States, if 
 the bill of the majority of this committee shall become a law, it is 
 deemed important that Congress shall have some positive knowledge 
 of the costliness of the u bargain ” they are buying, and hence the fol¬ 
 lowing official table is submitted; it thoroughly explains itself, and 
 is most instructive: 
 
BOSTON AND WORCESTER RAILROAD. 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH 
 
 33 
 
 % 
 
34 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 As in the case of the Boston and Worcester railroad, so would it he 
 with the Pacific railroads—the steady increase of the cost would he 
 as u reliable/’ and could as safely he counted upon as Colonel Ben¬ 
 ton's twelve feet of (t defying snow to the burning rays of a July 
 sun." If that road, under good management, increased its cost 300 
 per cent, in fifteen years, the Pacific roads would certainly do no 
 better, and probably would do far worse. Supposing one of them 
 built for 200 or 300 millions of dollars, the same sum , if it was man¬ 
 aged as well as the Boston and Worcester road, woidd have to be 
 expended every five years. If not as well managed, the expenditure 
 would be far more. 
 
 This becomes serious when it is known that it is impossible for the 
 earnings of the road to pay its annual expenses. Could it for a few 
 years pay 7 per cent, dividend per year, after paying all expenses, as 
 in the case of the Boston and Worcester road, it might go on for a 
 few years, perhaps, but bankruptcy would surely overtake it. No 
 railroad company can long escape insolvency if every five years a sum 
 equal to its entire first cost must be added to its aggregate cost. And 
 if a well-managed road in New England did not escape this necessity 
 during the first fifteen years of its existence, how can we reasonably 
 expect a railroad to do better that is managed by remote, ill-regulated, 
 and irresponsible subordinates, amid the Rocky and Snowy mountains, 
 one, two, and three thousand miles distant from the controlling power 
 at Washington city—especially when both superior and inferior 
 managers were appointed by politicians, in reward for past, and in 
 expectation of future, political services? It is believed to be pre¬ 
 posterous to suppose that efficiency and economy could possibly flow 
 from such a source in political times like the present. And, besides, 
 while a rigid supervision may be maintained over a road only forty- 
 four miles long, where every employee, of all grades of service, is 
 daily under the eye of stockholders, as well as directors, such effective 
 supervision cannot be had, on any terms, when the employees are far 
 removed from such an all-pervading influence, and such a multiplied 
 oversight. 
 
 But to return. The cost of the Boston and Worcester railroad 
 (44f miles long) was, in 1855, including equipments, $4,865,439 03; 
 th'e cost of the Pennsylvania railroad (248 miles long) was, in 1855, 
 $10,245,000, and the outfit $2,900,000—total cost, $13,145,000 ; the 
 cost of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad (379 miles long) was, in 
 1855, including equipments, real estate, and $996,777 26 expended 
 on a second track, $22,760,205 05 ; the cost of the New York and 
 Erie railroad (460 miles long) was, in 1855, including equipments, 
 $33,742,817 11 ; the cost of the New York Central railroad (297 miles 
 long) was, in 1855, including equipments, $27,360,731 05 ; the cost 
 of the Western railroad, Massachusetts, (155 miles long,) was, in 1855, 
 including equipments, $10,495,504 96. 
 
 The total length of these six railroads, more important, and located 
 amidst a more dense population than any other six railroads in the 
 United States, is 1,589 miles. Having command of labor, food, ma¬ 
 terials, and skill, on the best possible terms, upon the very line of the 
 roads, and throughout their extent, their builders constructed them 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 35 
 
 at far cheaper rates than can he hoped for upon the sand plains, or 
 upon the snowy mountains, far distant from the habitations of men. 
 And yet the cost of building and equipping those 1,589 miles, in the 
 best part of the country, was $112,369,697 20 ! which is over $70,000 
 per mile, and but a very small part of it double track ! 
 
 In the face of this experience of the cost of building railroads in the 
 most populous portions of the United States, the engineers have sub¬ 
 mitted official statements, estimating the cost of building a railroad 
 from Fulton, in Arkansas, through Texas, over waterless sand-plains 
 and across lofty mountains, 2,075 miles, to San Francisco, in Califor¬ 
 nia, at the sum of $87,990,000 ! They officially state, for our official 
 guidance, that, in their opinions, a road 480 miles longer than those 
 six railroads, and at $24,379,697 20 less cost than what we know 
 those six roads cost, can be built across those uninhabited, barren, 
 and irregular mountains ! 
 
 They also estimate that the shortest southern route, (from Fort 
 Smith to San Francisco,) which is 2,025 miles long, can be built for 
 the sum of $94,720,000. This road is 436 miles longer than the six 
 roads referred to, and yet they estimate that it can be built for 
 $17,649,697 20 less money ! 
 
 Without the examination of a single figure to see wherein the en¬ 
 gineers have erred, does not the judgment of every well-informed man 
 instruct him at once that such estimates cannot be relied upon by any 
 considerate person ? Who would take stock and expend his money in 
 furtherance of a scheme based upon estimates so entirely at war with 
 all the experience of railroad men, especially if the estimates were 
 made by army engineers, who have had no practical acquaintance with 
 the business of railroad building ? And shall the nation be less con¬ 
 siderate in the appropriation of its money than individuals ? Surely 
 not. 
 
 The undersigned has heard no practical railroad man estimate the 
 cost of constructing a railroad upon the deserts and in the mountains, 
 far removed from the labor and the materials which have to be con¬ 
 veyed there from the ends of the road, at so low a price as twice the 
 cost of building the best roads in the eastern States, where materials, 
 labor, and food are close at hand. A road 2,075 miles long, at only 
 $70,000 per mile, (which is the average cost of the six large eastern 
 railroads,) would cost$145,250,000, instead of costing only $87,990,000, 
 as estimated by the engineers, for the guidance of Congress ; and the 
 road 2,025 miles long, at $70,000 per mile, would cost $141,750,000; 
 whereas the latest estimates of the engineers tell us it can be built 
 for $94,720,000. 
 
 But it is not believed that either of the two roads can be built for 
 $70,000 per mile. A double-track road—and no other could be safely 
 used in deserts and mountains far removed from the abodes of men— 
 cannot, in the opinion of the undersigned, be built and suitably 
 equipped for the transaction of a business gigantic enough to pay legal 
 interest upon its cost, short of $140,000 per mile ; it is not at all cer¬ 
 tain that it can be built for double $70,000 per mile—$140,000 per 
 mile. It is difficult to conceive at what cost cross-ties and rails can 
 be conveyed hundreds of miles ; at what cost grading, embanking, 
 
36 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 and blasting can be done, when laborers, and food, and tools, are to 
 be conveyed, more than a thousand miles. Having no experience to 
 teach us, we are compelled to wander in the wilderness of conjecture. 
 If the experience of the United States in conveying stores high up 
 the plains is in any way applicable, it would teach us that the cost of 
 heavy articles is largely multiplied by the mere expense of transpor¬ 
 tation. The opinion is entertained that all estimates of cost of public 
 works in distant mountains and sultry deserts are in danger of being 
 too loiv rather than too high ; the tendency of the mind is to constantly 
 refer to similar work done elsewhere, though the surrounding cir¬ 
 cumstances may be wholly unlike. No hesitation is felt in placing 
 upon record the opinion, that no railroad 2,000 miles long, from the 
 valley of the Mississippi to San Francisco, upon any route whatever, 
 can be built and stocked for $100,000 per mile—$200,000,000. For 
 however cheaply built, the road will require an immense stock to 
 enable it to have sufficient capacity to earn interest upon the prodi¬ 
 gious expenditures of money its building will necessarily involve. 
 
 A few additional thoughts, and the subject of the feasibility of build¬ 
 ing a railroad from the Pacific across the mountains to the Missis¬ 
 sippi river, at a remunerative cost, will be dismissed. 
 
 Suppose a railroad can be built as desired, and at a cost not exceed¬ 
 ing $70,000 per mile, which is a cost of $140,000,000 for 2,000 miles. 
 The interest on that sum, per year, is $8,400,000. That road is a 
 well managed one which, after paying all expenses, saves 45 to 48 
 per cent of its earnings ; but, in this case, suppose one-half of the 
 earnings are saved, and can be counted as clear profit. To clear a 
 profit of $8,500,000 with which to pay the interest, the road would 
 have to do a business of twice that amount, or $17,000,000 per year ! 
 Does any reflecting man suppose that a community of 500,000 souls 
 on the Pacific coast can do an overland business, (which is, in all 
 cases, less than the maritime business of a people having a sea-coast 
 extending and meandering through seventeen degrees of latitude,) 
 the very cost of transporting ivhich exceeds $17,000,000? 
 
 Let us look at this in a practical way. The entire value of the 
 foreign imports of California by both sea and land, during the past year, 
 amounted only to $5,951,379 ; the foreign exports to $8,224,066— 
 total $14,175,445. Of these exports, no less than $1,034,651 con¬ 
 sisted of “ foreign produce/’ which was not wanted, and therefore 
 was sent to other countries. These figures were obtained at the Treas¬ 
 ury, and may be relied on. Now, if the entire value of the foreign 
 commerce of California is only about $14,000,000, what was the price 
 paid for carrying to and from California that $14,000,000 worth of 
 goods? If that commerce had consisted wholly of iron, beef, pork, 
 flour, naval stores, &c., the cost of freighting it hither and thither 
 would have been about one-tenth of the value of the articles carried—- 
 say $1,500,000. If that commerce had consisted wholly of brandy, 
 the cost of carrying it would have been about one-fortieth or one-fif¬ 
 tieth of its value—say $350,000. If that commerce had consisted en¬ 
 tirely of cloths, (whether of wool, cotton, or silk,) the freight would 
 have amounted to a very small sum of money. 
 
 And here it is well to recall a great fact, viz : that of the commerce 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 37 
 
 of the United States, whether foreign or domestic, but an insignificant 
 part is conveyed upon railroads. The great body of the trade is done 
 upon the ocean, the lakes, the rivers, the canals, and upon plank and 
 gravel roads. The business of freighting done upon railroads, im¬ 
 portant as it truly is, may, when contrasted with that done upon the 
 water, be safely pronounced insignificant. 
 
 It is also safe to say that the freight of the $14,000,000 of California 
 commerce for the year 1855 did not probably exceed one and a half 
 millions of dollars ; probably considerably less. 
 
 Supposing that the freights earned on domestic goods sent to and 
 from California by shippers from the Atlantic ports of the United 
 States during the year 1855 amounted to three millions of dollars ; 
 the aggregate freights earned by shippers of foreign and domestic 
 goods would be four or four and a half millions of dollars—an ag¬ 
 gregate by far above the reality. 
 
 By adding the fares for all passengers to and from California, by 
 sea and by land, in 1855, the aggregate income from passengers, and. 
 from freights, at the high rates assumed, might amount to some five 
 or six millions of dollars. 
 
 But a small portion of this trade could be taken away from ship¬ 
 pers ; and even if it could, it would go but part way towards sup¬ 
 porting one railroad instead of maintaining three , recommended by 
 the committee. But a small portion of the freight of any country 
 that is favored with an extensive sea-coast is conveyed upon roads of 
 any kind, except to and from the seaports. This holds true, not only 
 with New York, but also with the interior States of Ohio, Michigan, 
 Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, and Missouri; the great mass of the 
 freight of each one of which States is carried to market by water, and 
 not by land conveyances. The Ohio, and the Mississippi, and the 
 Illinois rivers, and the lakes, and their connecting canals, bear upon 
 their bosoms a hundred times more tons of freight than all the rail¬ 
 roads in all the States which border upon those waters. 
 
 So (only in a greater degree) with the ocean conveyances contrasted 
 with roads. How numerous are the instances where articles are con¬ 
 veyed hundreds of miles along the Atlantic coast in light vessels, and 
 laid down at the seaports, and sold at a less price than the same arti¬ 
 cles brought in upon roads only some fifteen or twenty miles. Any 
 member of Congress can learn of various instances of this kind by in¬ 
 quiring of business men in this very city. And Congress is not at 
 liberty to be blind to the existence of facts in relation to the relative 
 cost of water and land transportation which bear so directly upon the 
 feasibility of those great mountain roads, considered in an economical 
 point of view. 
 
 To show that the shipping interest is really and truly able to 
 maintain its business undiminished in the face of any competition 
 which any mountain railroad can possibly start against it, and that 
 railroads cannot take it away from the ship-owners, attention is in¬ 
 vited to the various letters appended to this report. Not being per¬ 
 sonally acquainted with large shipping merchants of intelligence and 
 probity in the northern cities, the Speaker of the House (and this 
 occasion is gladly embraced to make acknowledgments for the cheer- 
 
88 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 ful politeness with which the service was rendered) enclosed the in- 
 quiries of the undersigned to eminent Boston merchants. Mr. Wm. 
 Sturgis, who, in the language of the Speaker, “is one of the oldest 
 and most intelligent merchants of this country /* says, “ I am unable 
 to give the relative cost of transportation over the several routes named 
 in the memorandum ; hut, assuming four cents per ton per mile as 
 the lowest rate, and the shortest route from New York to San Fran¬ 
 cisco to he 2,500 miles, it would cost one hundred dollars to carry a 
 ton of goods from one of these cities to the other by railroad ; a 
 charge quite disproportionate to the average value of goods usually 
 shipped between the two places, and too heavy to he borne by most 
 of them. 
 
 6£ The best answer I can give to the inquiry as to the present and 
 prospective rates of transportation over existing railroads, will be 
 found in a pamphlet recently published by Captain Wm. H. Swift, 
 formerly in the United States service, a copy of which will be sent 
 with this. I entirely concur with him in opinion that these rates 
 must be materially increased to make railroads remunerative ; and 
 this remark will apply to those that may hereafter be constructed, as 
 well as to those already in use. 
 
 “I doubt if a railroad from the Mississippi to the Pacific would 
 derive much support from the transportation of merchandise. The 
 advocates for building this road profess to believe that a large por¬ 
 tion of the productions of India and China would ultimately find their 
 way to the Atlantic States b}^ this route. Such is not my belief. At 
 the present time, first-class ships that will carry 2,000 tons each way 
 may be chartered for a voyage from New York or Boston, thence to 
 Canton or Calcutta and back to the United States, for $50,000 the 
 voyage round; thus bringing the rate of freight to $12 50 per ton, out 
 or home. It will cost nearly or quite as much to bring a ton of mer¬ 
 chandise from Canton or Calcutta to San Francisco as to bring it to 
 the Atlantic ; and the expense of bringing it from California to New 
 York by railroad would be at least three times as much as the profit 
 expected by the merchant upon the whole voyage, as now carried on.” 
 
 The foregoing extract throws much most valuable light upon seve¬ 
 ral important points connected with the subject under consideration. 
 The pamphlet of Captain Swift, to which Mr. Sturgis alludes, places 
 the actual cost* of carrying freight on the New England roads at 
 two cents and four-tenths of a cent per ton per mile ; if the profits 
 are to be as much as the costs, then the railroad charge for car¬ 
 rying freight should be four cents and eight-tenths of a cent per 
 ton per mile. Mr. Sturgis reckoned the freight at four cents a ton 
 per mile, which would be too low , even in New England; far less 
 among the Rocky and Snowy mountains, where the expenses would be 
 so much greater. Instead of four and eight-tenths of a cent, call the 
 freight Jive cents per ton per mile. So as to distance. Mr. Sturgis 
 makes it too short; from San Francisco to Fort Smith is 2,025 miles, 
 or from San Francisco to the southwest line of Missouri, near Spring- 
 field, is 2,025 miles; and from thereto St. Louis, 350 miles; and 
 thence to New York, 1,150 miles: in all, from San Francisco to New 
 York city 3,525 miles, and not 2.500 miles as he estimates. The ex- 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 39 
 
 treme southern route would he still longer. At five cents per ton 
 per mile, it would cost, to carry a ton of merchandise from San Fran¬ 
 cisco to New York, on a railroad, no less than $176 25 ; at four cents 
 per ton per mile, it would cost $141 ; at three cents per ton per 
 mile, it would cost $105 75. 
 
 When it is considered that merchandise can he conveyed from 
 China, or from the East Indies, to New York or Boston for $12 50 
 per ton ; and when it is known that “ it will cost nearly or quite as 
 much to bring a ton of merchandise from Canton or Calcutta to San 
 Francisco as to bring it to the Atlantic,” can any member of this 
 House suppose that merchandise will be sent from China and India 
 to California, to be sent overland to New York at a cost of $176 25 
 per ton ? 
 
 As this point is an exceedingly important one, and worthy of the 
 most careful consideration, attention is specially invited to the follow¬ 
 ing extracts from an able letter written by Messrs. (Hidden & Wil¬ 
 liams, at the instance of Messrs. James M. Beebe & Co., and the 
 secretary of the Boston “Board of Trade,” Mr. J. W. Bates. After 
 stating that the cost of sending ‘goods from New York via isthmus 
 of Panama to San Francisco, by steam propellers, may be estimated 
 at $52 per ton, “ and say for deadweight about one-third less, or 
 $35 per ton,” Messrs. Glidden & Williams add: “We would re¬ 
 mark, however, that there are not many goods that can afford to pay 
 such high rates. We think that while shippers can place their goods 
 in San Francisco from New York and Boston at $12 and $14 per ton, 
 as now, by first-class clipper ships, there will not be enough of the 
 finer goods sent forward to tend to a reduction of present rates to 
 even the prices named above, and that the trade will be carried on 
 principally by sailing vessels around the Horn, the steamers taking 
 goods of high value, and such as may be temporarily in great demand, 
 continuing to get high rates for them.” 
 
 It is thus seen that sailing vessels are carrying goods from the 
 Atlantic to the Pacific ports at a cost of from $12 to $14 per ton, and 
 that “ there are not many goods that can afford to pay such high 
 rates ” as $52 per ton for being conveyed from New York to San 
 Francisco. How, then, can the friends of the plan of building three 
 railroads,^with numerous branches, expect to obtain freight at prices 
 more than three times as high f True, silks, satins, crapes, and cash¬ 
 meres, a single half ton of which would supply so many merchants, 
 and have a value so large, would be carried by that conveyance which 
 is the quickest; for, at the rate of $12, or even $25 per ton, what 
 would be the cost of carrying one yard of silk, or satin, or lace ? Not 
 enough to affect its cost, of course ; and hence the greatest speed will 
 be sought for without regard to its cost. .But, as Messrs. Glidden & 
 Williams say, there are not many goods that can afford to pay even 
 $50 per ton for carriage from one port to another. This fact, taken 
 in connexion with the statement of Mr. Sturgis, that “ it will cost 
 nearly or quite as much to bring a ton of merchandise from Canton 
 or Calcutta to San Francisco as to bring it to the Atlantic,” and that 
 the “ expense of bringing it from California to New York by railroad 
 would be at least three times as much as the profit expected by the 
 
40 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 merchant upon the whole voyage as now carried on/’ must satisfy 
 even the most prejudiced that the trade of Asia is not likely to he 
 taken from ships, and placed in the cars which traverse the mountains 
 of Utah and the desert plains of New Mexico and Nebraska. 
 
 But it may he said that, although u freight” cannot be profitably 
 diverted from ships to a mountain road, upon which, after being car¬ 
 ried 2,000 miles, it would still he left 50 or 75 miles west of the 
 western boundaries of Arkansas, Missouri, or Iowa, yet that the 
 travel over it would he far larger than the undersigned has admitted ; 
 that the u passengers” traffic would he large enough to make one first 
 class military commercial railroad remunerative. Let us test this sup¬ 
 position by comparing it with known facts. 
 
 Of course travellers would start from one or the other of the two 
 ends of the railroad, as people do not live in any considerable num¬ 
 bers in the deserts and the mountains. The u way” business will he 
 inconsiderable; the “ through” business will he almost the sole 
 business 
 
 The receipts of the great Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (379 miles 
 long) were, last year, $3,711,453 85 ; of which no less than $3,103,- 
 154 85 were derived from Cl tonnage,” and only $608,299 from 
 “ way” and tc through” passengers both ! At the same rate, the re¬ 
 ceipts for passengers on the Pacific railroad, 2,000 miles long, would 
 be $3,210,000 per year ! This would not keep the machinery and the 
 road-bed in repair ! 
 
 During the last year the New York and Erie Railroad, one of the 
 longest and most important roads in this country, conveyed 980,449 
 passengers, earning $1,698,670 15. Of the 980,449 passengers, 924,- 
 106 were “ way” passengers, earning $1,104,017 48, and but 56,- 
 340 were u through” passengers, earning $594,652 67. 
 
 Of “ way” passengers, who compose the bulk on every passenger rail¬ 
 road of importance in the United States , the Pacific railroad would 
 have next to none at all , until after it becomes possible for people to 
 live in the deserts and in the Rocky mountains. 
 
 Should a Pacific railroad, beginning at San Francisco and termi¬ 
 nating on the western borders of either Arkansas, Missouri, or Iowa, 
 where population is sparse, and so continues quite down to the Mis¬ 
 sissippi river, 300 miles further east—should such a road, thus unfavor¬ 
 ably terminating at the east, have a u through” passenger business 
 as large as the Erie road, which connects the western States directly 
 with New York and Boston, it would amount to but $2,563,000 !' 
 scarcely one-fourth of the money necessary to keep up the road and 
 machinery, supposing the road was built and made a present of to 
 those who would undertake to run it and keep it in good repair! The 
 entire u through” passenger business of the New York Central, the 
 New York and Erie, the Pennsylvania, and the Baltimore and Ohio 
 railroads, does not yield money enough to keep in repair and run a 
 Pacific railroad, although those four roads connect 15,000,000 of 
 people with the four greatest commercial cities upon the Atlantic 
 coast! 
 
 How can Congress rationally suppose that theory a sound one which 
 necessarily assumes that the passenger traffic between 500,000 men, 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 41 
 
 women, and children on tlie Pacific coast, 2,000 miles off, and the 
 border population west of Arkansas, or Missouri, or Iowa, will be 
 greater than that carried on over the four great connecting roads be¬ 
 tween Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and the hundreds 
 of small cities and manufacturing villages on the one hand, and the 
 whole west on the other ? 
 
 The Boston merchants have shown, as before set forth, that a rail¬ 
 road across the mountains cannot successfully compete in the freight¬ 
 ing business with those shipping men who have carried the American 
 flag into every sea. And we have seen that if its through passenger 
 business, mile for mile, were as great as that of the New York and 
 Erie railroad, its earnings would not equal one-fourth of its annual 
 expenses. 
 
 Take, then, the travel, and what freight can be obtained, and who 
 cam say that the earnings of a road from California to the Mississippi 
 would he equal to the sum of $8,400,000 per year? If a road cannot 
 be relied on to earn that vast sum, then its construction ought not to 
 be commenced. At $10,000 per mile, either road would cost a little 
 over one hundred and forty millions of dollars ; the annual interest 
 upon which, at six per cent., is $8,400,000. Of the earnings it takes 
 one-lialf to pay the expenses of running the road and keeping it in re¬ 
 pair. To realize the $8,400,000 with which to pay the interest upon 
 the cost, the road, therefore, would have to earn double that sum, which 
 is $16,800,000 ! Now can any one show thattlieroad can earn the first 
 half of that sum , ivithiuhich to run it and keep it in repair , much less 
 the second, $8,400,000, with which to pay the interest on first cost? 
 Can any one point out satisfactorily from what sources even half 
 enough earnings ($4,200,000) can be obtained to keep the road running 
 and in good repair ? 
 
 But instead of building and equipping one of those roads for the 
 price of a Massachusetts, or New York, or Pennsylvania, or of a Mary¬ 
 land railroad, the cost may be safely calculated to be more than twice 
 as much ; if so, the interest would be at least $16,800,000 per year ; 
 and to pay that sum would require gross earnings to an amount of 
 not less than thirty-three million six hundred thousand dollars per 
 annum, forever ! 
 
 Not onlv so. The committee recommend the House to construct 
 
 %j 
 
 three such roads , the shortest of which to be not less than 2,032 miles 
 long, and ending with seven roads east of the mountains and three 
 west of it! To properly support that hydra-headed road alone, the 
 united support of the entire industrial interests of the whole British 
 empire would prove utterly inadequate ! 
 
 The southern road has proportions equally gigantic and pretentious, 
 whilst the hyperborean route, looking into Puget's sound from the 
 head of Lake Superior, is dwarfed into the modest length of 2,025 
 miles ! Had the route from Kansas, in Missouri, across the Arkan¬ 
 sas, along the Huerfano, up the acclivities of Mr. Fremont’s El San- 
 gre de Christo pass, through the Sierra Blanca, into the long ascend¬ 
 ing valley leading up to the grand and majestic heights of Colonel 
 Benton’s far-famed Coo-cha-to-pe pass in the Rocky mountains; thence 
 down its violent western declivities through narrow gorges, dangerous 
 
42 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 defiles, and deep and crooked canons, into the swift and bounding 
 waters of Grand river ; thence scale the steep sides of the Wah-Satch 
 agglomeration of mountains, and descend from their giddy heights to 
 Colonel Benton’s beautiful spring O-jo San Jose ; thence descend to 
 the Santa Clara meadows, which are hut one mile high above the level 
 of the sea ; thence onward through the picturesque country which 
 Colonel Fremont aptly describes as a country “ bristling with moun¬ 
 tains ;” and thence to the Sandy desert, along the “ river of sand,” 
 through Walker’s pass of the Snowy mountains, down said mountains 
 to the San Joachim, and thence along the same to San Francisco ; 
 had this route, only some 2,080 miles long, been added to the hill 
 reported by the majority, the completeness of the scheme would have 
 rendered the labor of preparing this report entirely superfluous. The 
 hill would have been self-expository and self-condemnatory ; as it is, 
 however, even without that most extraordinary of all routes ever seri¬ 
 ously proposed for a railroad by men “with beards on their faces,” 
 examination must show the scheme of the committee to be, if not a 
 financial absurdity , at least one of extremely questionable merits. 
 
 If one railroad is built across those vast desert plains and moun¬ 
 tains, it will, in all probability, require to keep it in running order, 
 and to pay only simple interest upon its first cost, annual earnings to 
 an amount not less than $33,600,000 ! If two such railroads shall bo 
 built, annual earnings to the amount of $67,200,000 will be required; 
 if three roads, then $100,800,000! A sum of money greater, proba¬ 
 bly, than is yearly earned by all the shipping of all the oceans of the 
 world ! 
 
 In other words, a railroad is too costly a thing to be employed every¬ 
 where e, for every purpose; because it is a great and self-sustaining com¬ 
 mercial convenience in a densely populated country of divers indus¬ 
 trial pursuits, it by no means is to be inferred that goods sense calls 
 for its introduction into Iceland, Africa, or Patagonia. Nor is the 
 success of railroads in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Georgia, to 
 be taken and held as proof that it is well to attempt to construct one 
 2,000 miles long over numerous ranges of lofty and uninhabited moun¬ 
 tains, merely to transact the business of half a million of people in 
 California ; especially when that people front more than 1,500 miles 
 upon the most tranquil ocean upon the globe. 
 
 The undersigned, for the foregoing and many other reasons which 
 time does not allow to be adequately set forth upon this occasion, is 
 of the opinion that, considered in reference to its ability to maintain 
 itself from its own earnings, a railroad from the Mississippi river to 
 the Pacific ocean is not feasible upon any route yet explored and re¬ 
 ported upon to Congress. If not one, of course not several. 
 
 Third. But supposing the road were feasible , considered in a money 
 point of view, is it politic (if it has the legal power) for the general 
 government to forestall individual enterprise, and proceed to construct 
 a railroad for the accommodation of trade and travel ? Clearly not. 
 The nations of Europe, as nations, build canals, turnpikes, colleges, 
 churches, &c. The policy of the United States, on the other hand, 
 has hitherto been to leave these things to be done by the several 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 43 
 
 States, and "by the people. Of the upwards of 24,000 miles of rail¬ 
 road now in actual operation in the United States, not a mile has been 
 built by the United States government. And yet the expansion of 
 the railroad system, without being stimulated by national competi¬ 
 tion into greater activity, has been quite as rapid as the welfare of 
 other material interests would justify—quite. What interest has 
 represented to Congress that too small an amount of capital has been 
 invested in railroads and canals, and requesting such legislation as 
 will cause capital to be more rapidly invested in new railroads? True, 
 Congress has occasionally, and, at the present session, frequently , 
 aided the construction of railroads through government lands , taking 
 care to double the price of the alternate reserved sections. But this 
 system is of recent date, and by no means meets with universal approval; 
 the solidity of the objections urged against it is already becoming so 
 manifest to all, that it is exceedingly doubtful whether it will be main¬ 
 tained beyond the existence of the present Congress. The small stimu¬ 
 lus afforded to the business of railroad building by this aid given by 
 Congress to roads built or building through its unsettled lands, is not 
 believed to have had, so far, a very material influence upon the gene¬ 
 ral movements of the capitalists of the country; except so far as re¬ 
 lates to Illinois, Missouri, and Alabama, its influence upon railroad 
 building has, probably, had no perceptible influence. 
 
 Shall Congress go a step further ? Shall it step forward, and, by 
 the use of its lands, or of its money, build one, two, or three conti¬ 
 nental railways, each of them not less than 2,000 miles long, and each of 
 them costing not less than double the cost of roads in the settled por¬ 
 tions of the country—say $140,000 per mile, which is $280,000,000 
 for 2,000 miles of road? 
 
 At the time this country shook off the dominion of G-reat Britain, 
 wealth was very equally divided. Rarely could an individual be found 
 whose property was worth one hundred thousand dollars. Paupers 
 were almost unknown. The country had but little wealth, and but 
 little pauperism. In 1800, the country was still poor, and the govern¬ 
 ment was in debt. Individuals lacked the capital necessary to open 
 mines, dig canals, construct roads, or to clear out rivers and harbors; 
 and, hence, the development of these sources, and of these means 
 with which to acquire wealth, was necessarily slow, as compared with 
 the rapid developments of the present. To quicken movements, 
 States commenced digging canals by making use of their several 
 credits ; associated companies built turnpikes, and founded banks 
 with small capitals and large issues ; cities built wharves and im¬ 
 proved harbors by using their municipal credit ; and, in obedience to 
 the popular impulse, the general government itself used its credit to 
 found a bank, with the notes of which to swell the amount of the cur¬ 
 rency. 
 
 The results were productive of great good and of much evil. An 
 immense interior canal navigation, without a rival in the world, was 
 created ; many thousands of miles of turnpike-roads were built ; mines 
 were opened, factories built, ships and steamboats launched, and for¬ 
 tunes created with a rapidity never before witnessed. The railroad 
 system followed with like rapidity, distancing all the world beside. 
 
44 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 On the first day of January, 1856, the railroads of the United States 
 numbered more miles of road in actual operation than those of all 
 other nations added together. 
 
 But experience taught that managing hanks and building national 
 roads was a business for which the general government was peculiarly 
 unfitted. The experience of the several States teaches the same lesson; 
 in proof of which, it is only necessary to point to the financial diffi¬ 
 culties occasioned by attempting to execute works of internal improve¬ 
 ment. Look, for example, at the experience of Pennsylvania, Mary¬ 
 land, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Mississippi. Even New 
 York, with its supposed success in its schemes, was compelled to resort 
 to direct taxation to restore its severely wounded credit. 
 
 Most of the railroads and turnpikes, most of the academies, colleges, 
 and universities, all of the churches, and most of the libraries, all of 
 the ships, steamboats, shops, founderies and factories, and the open¬ 
 ing up of farms, plantations, and mines, may be pronounced the re¬ 
 sults of individual, and not of government enterprise. 
 
 There is between the condition of things existing in 1800 and in 
 1856 very little similitude. Then , capital was scarce ; the mines uno¬ 
 pened; manufactures unestablished; steamboats, railroads, telegraphs, 
 and the cotton-gin uninvented; and even country turnpikes, as well as 
 canals, remaining unbuilt. Now, no nation has a larger capital, or 
 a greater volume of a hand-to-hand currency, composed of coin and 
 bank paper, or more valuable opened mines, or more extensive man¬ 
 ufactures, or larger agricultural products, nor so many ships, steam¬ 
 boats, miles of canal, railroad, plank road, turnpike-road, or of tele¬ 
 graph lines, as the United States. Wherever it can be shown that 
 by building a new railroad, a new foundry, a new factory, or a new 
 ship, a handsome profit can be made, there will capitalists speedily 
 make their appearance. So it is in mining, so in farming, and 
 planting. 
 
 When the country was truly poor, there was some excuse for desir¬ 
 ing government to come to the aid of individuals seeking to build 
 roads to their mines, to their shops, or to their farms. But now, 
 when the country is rich, and when capital is seeking investment in 
 any and all enterprises that are both safe and profitable, it is at war 
 with sound policy for those charged with the administration of the 
 government to seek, or to allow themselves to be persuaded, to enlarge 
 its patronage and increase its cumbrousness by entering upon the 
 business of railroad building. For if government once enters upon 
 the business, though only in the humble capacity of assistant , the 
 speculators and agents who may be interested will soon contrive to 
 convert it into the 'principal. 
 
 If the contemplated railroads will be as profitable as claimed, then 
 their construction ought to be left to those gentlemen whose regular 
 business it is. They ought not to be deprived of it. Government 
 ought not to interfere with the business of its citizens ; it ought not 
 to compete with them in the transportation of trade and travel upon 
 the land any more than upon water. If Congress builds a line of road 
 as a matter of accommodation , and not for competition , then it should 
 do the same thing wherever desired. To do less, is partiality. And 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 45 
 
 an honest government is necessarily impartial ; it ceases to be honest 
 the moment it loses its impartiality. 
 
 As capital is abundant and enterprise superabundant, individuals 
 will build the roads west from the Mississippi, as they have from the 
 east to the Mississippi, if those roads may he fairly considered paying 
 roads; and as the majority of the committee are of opinion that they 
 will be, it is respectfully submitted whether sound policy does not re¬ 
 quire Congress to leave the work, and the profits thereof, to those 
 enterprising persons who so commendably seek to enjoy it ! 
 
 If, however, the work will not pay, but will entail ever-continuing 
 expense, why should Congress build a road that prudent capitalists 
 will not touch ? Why should government he less wise and less pru¬ 
 dent than individuals—especially as it would cost government far more 
 to build, and far more to maintain, a railroad than it would experienced 
 and prudent individuals ? Where prudent and experienced men hesi¬ 
 tate, the government may well pause before committing itself to an 
 expenditure of hundreds of millions of dollars. 
 
 And, besides, it is considered entirely inexpedient and impolitic to 
 enter upon the business of constructing railroads for the accommoda¬ 
 tion of trade and travel. If this policy is entered upon, why shall 
 not the United States next proceed to build a direct road from Wash¬ 
 ington to New York, and thence to Portland ? Why shall it not seek 
 to avoid the errors of location committed by the New York Central 
 railroad, and build a road from New York to Buffalo on a more direct 
 and shorter line? Why not build a road from New York to Erie, in 
 Pennsylvania, on a line that will more perfectly accommodate trade 
 and travel than does the New York and Erie railroad? If the gov¬ 
 ernment is induced to enter upon a competition with capitalists to 
 supply railroad accommodations, ichen and where is it to stop ? If a 
 crevasse is once opened, who can foretell the extent of the ravages of 
 the flood? Who can say where the new channel will run ? What 
 interest would be safe from congressional incursion when all barriers 
 hut discretion are removed ? When lobby agents for competing rail¬ 
 roads shall be as numerous as steamship agents, what railroad stock¬ 
 holder shall be able to say his road will not next be subjected to gov¬ 
 ernment competition f And when five or ten years hence the Territories 
 shall be States, who can predict that the subject of government’s duty 
 to furnish the people railroads to put down u corporate monopolies” 
 will not succeed the present Territorial agitations ? 
 
 The undersigned is immovably opposed to the recognition of the 
 doctrine that it is the duty of Congress to build railroads for the ac¬ 
 commodation of trade and travel. The object of government is to 
 protect the property and business of its citizens, and not to lessen or 
 to injure the one or the other by entering into competition with them, 
 backed by its enormous treasury and credit. 
 
 But we pass from this important point to a consideration of another 
 plausibility, which has been much relied on by many latitudinarian 
 expounders of the power and objects of the general government. 
 
 Fourth. If it is impolitic and unseemly for the government to en¬ 
 gage in a competition with its own citizens, can it not, with propriety, 
 
46 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 construct either a military or a postal railroad for the use both of the 
 United States and of traders and travellers ? No ; for if govern¬ 
 ment builds a military railroad, it could not legally be wrested from 
 the object of its construction, and converted into a commercial road. 
 As well might the Secretary of the Navy rent an office in New York 
 or Boston, order the United States ships-of-war into the harbor, and 
 commence a freighting business between the United States and Eng¬ 
 land, in competition with the shipping merchants ! As well might 
 the officers and soldiers of the army be hired out to farmers, or set to 
 work in factories ! As well might forts and arsenals be converted 
 into flour mills, or blacksmith’s shops, or town halls, for the conve¬ 
 nience and pleasure of the people living near them ! Gfovernment 
 was instituted for the protection of its citizens against foreign inva¬ 
 sion and domestic- insurrection, and not to enter into the freighting 
 business, or into railroad building, for the benefit of the trading and 
 travelling classes. 
 
 It can lawfully build a fort ; but, under the pretence of its being a 
 fort, it cannot build a flour-mill. So also can it build a military road, 
 if absolutely necessary for military 'purposes ; but, under the pretence 
 of building a military road, it cannot proceed to build a commercial 
 road, open ticket offices, build stores, depots, and sheds, and com¬ 
 mence a freighting business in competition with its citizens. Such 
 power was never given, for the reason, among others, that whatever 
 lousiness government entered upon, having power to protect itself, it 
 would crush out all competition. And, besides, the powers granted 
 by the constitution are expressed in clear and direct terms. The 
 whole spirit of the instrument is at war with evasions. That spirit, 
 at times like the present, ought to be respected. 
 
 As to the building of postal roads, nothing need be said about the 
 danger of their perversion to other purposes, for no authority appears 
 to have been given Congress to build one. 
 
 But aside from the impropriety of perverting a military road to 
 uses other than those for which it was, at least, ostensibly built, there 
 are other reasons why a commercial road, under the pretence of its 
 being a military one, should not be built by the United States. 
 
 In 1812, the cost of transporting troops, munitions of war, &c., 
 through the interior of New York, Ohio, and Michigan, to the Canada 
 frontier, was truly enormous. The extra cost of transportation would 
 have built good military roads ; but war not having been anticipated, 
 they were not built, and the cost of transportation had to be encoun¬ 
 tered. 
 
 After the war was closed, burdened with debt, distressed by a 
 disordered currency, and unwilling to foster a military spirit at the 
 expense of the arts of peace, the wise men at the head of our govern¬ 
 ment resolved to pretermit the subject of building expensive military 
 roads and fortifications, not doubting but that with the growth of the 
 country good roads would keep pace. It was deemed best to depend 
 in time of war upon the roads which the people used in time of peace, 
 instead of rolling up an onerous public debt. 
 
 The wisdom of this policy has been nobly vindicated by results. 
 From Maine to Wisconsin, along the whole Canadian frontier, 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 47 
 
 good country roads leading thereto everywhere exist. In addition, 
 fine canals have been dug and lined with thousands of canal-boats, 
 and extensive railroads, in most advantageous directions, have been 
 built and efficiently equipped with suitable rolling stock. Railroads 
 have also been built, or are now building, not only along the whole 
 Atlantic and Gulf frontiers, hut railroads connecting with these at 
 innumerable points, from the remotest interior States, have also been 
 built, have been well stocked, and are well managed. All these have 
 been built by States and by individuals, without taxing the federal 
 treasury. These canals and railroads are well and profitably man¬ 
 aged ; they serve in time of peace as distributors of .the goods from 
 which the government derives its income, and in war will prove the 
 most efficient instruments of defence known among military men. 
 A greater number of men can be conveyed by them in twenty-four 
 hours to any considerable city between New Orleans and Portland, 
 than any fleet of any one nation can land at one time at the one point; 
 so that, at the moment of landing, an invading foe ivould stand in the 
 'presence of a superior force. 
 
 Had the government involved the nation in a debt of $800,000,000, 
 a better system of military roads could not have been put in operation. 
 
 Why, then, should the government of a people so enterprising and 
 so energetic change its policy, and, at this late day, distrusting the 
 future, commence the construction of military railroads? 
 
 Looked at from another point, reasons against entering upon a 
 , new line of policy present themselves. Hitherto it has been an ob¬ 
 ject with the wisest of our statesmen not to unnecessarily enlarge 
 the operations or the patronage of the general government, but 
 rather to keep both within as narrow limits as duty and usefulness 
 will permit. 
 
 Placing out of view the fact that a commercial railroad, in every 
 day use , will be kept in a higher state of efficiency and at far more 
 economical rates than a military one, and is, therefore, better fitted 
 for military emergencies than would be an exclusive and but seldom 
 used military railroad; putting all this out of view, the enormous 
 amount of patronage (of a character that could be but indifferently 
 well controlled) which would be devolved upon the general govern¬ 
 ment, is a most serious objection to constructing a military railroad 
 across the mountains to the Pacific ocean. To be able to appreciate 
 this, at least to some feeble extent, it may be well to examine the 
 patronage, in part, (for time will not allow of a full examination,) 
 which a military railroad 2,000 miles long would confer on the execu¬ 
 tive department of the government. 
 
 To do the business on the great road from Boston to Albany, 200 
 miles, requires the labor of 1,961 men. At the same rate, a Pacific 
 railroad, 2,000 miles long, would require 19,610 men ! 
 
 The Baltimore and Ohio railroad, which is 379 miles long, em¬ 
 ployed, last year, 4,259 men. At the same rate, the Pacific railroad 
 would employ 22,472 ! 
 
 The Hudson River railroad, which is 144 miles long, and very level, 
 employs 1,238 men. At the same rate, the Pacific railroad would 
 employ 17,193 men. 
 
48 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 In other words, the Baltimore and Ohio railroad employs 11 men 
 per mile; the Hudson Kiver road, 8 men per mile; the Boston and 
 Worcester road, 8 men per mile; the Western railroad, (from Wor¬ 
 cester to Albany,) 9 men per mile. On 8,116 miles of English rail¬ 
 roads, 12J men are employed per mile; on the Hew York Central 
 road, 10 men per mile; and on the Pennsylvania railroad, 16J men 
 per mile are employed. At the rate employed on the English rail¬ 
 roads, the Pacific railroad, if just 2,000 miles long, would employ ex¬ 
 actly 25,000 men! At the rate of the Pennsylvania railroad, 33,000 
 men! The three Pacific roads, 99,000 men ! 
 
 And can we reasonably suppose that a road through such a region 
 of difficulties and dangers would require less labor than the before- 
 named roads? By oue single enactment—establishing one military 
 railroad—the patronage of the government would he increased from 
 25,000 to 35,000 men! If the creation of one or two places justly 
 causes reflection and debate, how should a measure creating 35,000, 
 or rather 100,000 places, he received? That this is not all , will be 
 shown next. 
 
 To exhibit, in part , the value of the patronage which a military 
 railroad, doing commercial business, would bestow, the following 
 table has been prepared. The table will show certain expenses neces¬ 
 sarily encountered by certain companies : 
 
 
 New York 
 Central. 
 
 New York 
 and Erie. 
 
 Pennsylv’a 
 R. R. Co. 
 
 Baltimore & 
 Ohio. 
 
 Boston and 
 Worcester. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Number of miles of road of 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 main road. 
 
 298 
 
 460 
 
 248 
 
 379 
 
 44 
 
 1,430 
 
 Number of locomotive en- 
 
 
 gines. 
 
 188 
 
 203 
 
 115 
 
 208 
 
 29 
 
 743 
 
 Number of passenger cars .... 
 
 2,425 
 
 125 
 
 94 
 
 73 
 
 107 
 
 *399 
 
 
 (all kinds.) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Number of baggage cars. 
 
 
 43 
 
 24 
 
 14 
 
 18 
 
 *99 
 
 Number oi freight cars. 
 
 
 2,770 
 
 1,485 
 
 3,338 
 
 746 
 
 *8,339 
 
 Number of cars. 
 
 2,425 
 
 2,938 
 
 1,603 
 
 3,425 
 
 781 
 
 11,172 
 
 Cost of fuel, per year, for en- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 gines. 
 
 $589,830 61 
 
 $481,270 91 
 
 $138,202 43 
 
 .$726,204 96 
 
 $151,475 98 
 
 $2,086,984 89 
 
 Yearly cost of oil, tallow, &c, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 for engines and cars. 
 
 126,007 15 
 
 98,808 38 
 
 31,431 50 
 
 66,443 45 
 
 10,341 33 
 
 333,031 81 
 
 Cost of waste, &c., for clean- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ing. 
 
 
 
 4,244 24 
 
 9,798 61 
 
 986 06 
 
 15 028 91 
 
 Loss and damage of goods 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 and baggage . 
 
 35,083 84 
 
 21,631 40 
 
 
 
 
 f56,715 24 
 
 Repairs of fences and gates... 
 
 8,340 56 
 
 9,132 50 
 
 
 
 
 fl7,479 06 
 
 Damages for injuries to per- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 sons. 
 
 43,839 43 
 
 3 015 00 
 
 
 1 670 70 
 
 10 556 54 
 
 *59.081 67 
 
 Damages to property, inclu- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ding damages by fire, and 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 cattle killed on the railroad. 
 
 12,280 94 
 
 96,813 96 
 
 
 30,734 34 
 
 
 1139,829 24 
 
 Repairs of roadbed and rail- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 way. 
 
 657,290 20 
 
 530,400 88 
 
 181,717 01 
 
 476,547 58 
 
 104,737 24 
 
 1,940,692 91 
 
 For taxes and insurance. 
 
 111,529 47 
 
 54,583 05 
 
 141,213 35 
 
 
 9,857 01 
 
 317,182 88 
 
 For repairs of station build- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ings, fixtures,and furniture. 
 
 56,325 71 
 
 25,031 05 
 
 
 49,000 00 
 
 19,398 05 
 
 f149,754 81 
 
 Amount of materials kept on 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 hand. 
 
 664,374 06 
 
 504,655 06 
 
 252,506 11 
 
 293,733 63 
 
 203,396 18 
 
 1,918,665 04 
 
 Cost of repairs of machinery. 
 
 778,360 79 
 
 386,894 90 
 
 620,578 04 
 
 503,884 68 
 
 96,673 33 
 
 2,386,391 74 
 
 * For four roads. f For two roads. | For three roads. 
 
 The above table takes no notice of the salaries of the officers and 
 pay of the men; and yet the five items—cost of fuel, cost of oil for 
 wheels and waste for cleaning, &c., cost of insurance and taxes, cost 
 of keeping the machinery in repair, and keeping the road-bed and rail- 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 49 
 
 way in repair—for those five railroads, having a total length of 1,430 
 miles, amount, per year, to no less than $7,079,313 14 I 
 
 If, after leaving out the entire cost of management, the mere fuel, oil, 
 repairing the road, repairing the machinery, and paying insurance 
 and taxes, alone cost, annually, over seven millions of dollars to keep 
 up fourteen hundred and thirty miles of road located in the best part 
 of the United States, what vrould it cost to support more than 2,000 
 miles of railroad amid deserts and mountains? If it requires 743 
 locomotive engines on 1,430 miles of railroad in the Atlantic States, 
 and $1,918,665 04 worth of materials kept constantly on hand, in 
 readiness for repairs of machinery and road-way, how many engines, 
 and what amount of materials, would he required on a road running 
 over mountains upwards of 3,000 feet high, for a distance of 1,432 
 miles, as does the South Pass route? An examination of the letters 
 appended hereto will show the lessened power of engines when re¬ 
 quired to move a train up a steep grade, or against sharp curves. 
 High grades and sharp curves are the attendant evils of mountain 
 routes, and not only call for a largety increased number of engines, 
 requiring more men, fuel, oil, repairs, &c., but also more speedily use 
 up both the machinery and the road-way. Even on the New England 
 railroads, Mr. Appleton says, the rails last but five or ten years, and 
 locomotives last but some ten to fifteen years. So, also, in regard to 
 cars. On the five roads, no less than 11,172 cars are in use. What, 
 then, must be the number which would be required on a continental 
 railway, equipped to do a continental business corresponding with the 
 mammoth capital invested ? 
 
 These few items will give a faint idea of the immense patronage that 
 the building and management of a railroad constructed nominally for 
 military , but used for commercial purposes, would confer upon the 
 government. It would create a debt of mountain magnitude; and 
 yet it would not in all probability earn enough to repair its machinery 
 and road-way, and pay for the fuel to drive and the oil to lubricate the 
 wheels of its cars, even if its thirty-odd thousand employees would 
 perform the necessary labor gratis. 
 
 Why, then, should this government, even if it has the constitutional 
 authority to do so, attempt to build a railroad so expensive and wholly 
 unproductive—especially as the enterprise of the American people 
 has furnished to the government, without charge, the best of railways 
 for military, postal, and commercial purposes ; and that, too, without 
 imposing upon the nation the necessity of a patronage at once wide¬ 
 spread, measurably irresponsible, and of most demoralizing political 
 tendencies ? 
 
 Fifth. Has the Congress of the United States constitutional author¬ 
 ity conferred upon it authorizing it to provide for building either rail¬ 
 roads or canals for the uses and conveniences of the people? 
 
 It has not. Wise men like Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Madison, Mr. Macon, 
 Mr. Polk, Judge Woodbury, and many others of high authority upon 
 questions of constitutional law, believed that the constitution conferred 
 no such authority upon Congress. Referring, for the reasons upon which 
 he bases his opinion, to the numerous able expositions of this subject, 
 H. Rep. 274—4 
 
50 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 (without presuming to attempt to add new ideas upon them,) the un¬ 
 dersigned satisfies himself with an expression of the opinion that Con¬ 
 gress has no authority, express or implied, to build a railroad either 
 in the States or in the Territories. But for the great length to which 
 this report has already been extended, a summary of the opinions of 
 great constitutional expounders upon this point would have been added 
 hereto. It is, perhaps, scarcely necessary. 
 
 Occasion is taken to express, in terms of thankfulness, the many 
 favors received from leading railroad and shipping men in different 
 parts of the United States. In nearly every case where information 
 has been sought, it has been cheerfully and promptly afforded, though 
 sometimes occasioning much trouble and loss of valuable time. Few 
 valuable avenues of information have been left neglected, nor has any 
 been closed ; want of skill and experience has alone prevented a more 
 perfect use of the valuable materials placed at the disposition of the 
 undersigned : if any errors of fact, or of inference, have escaped him, 
 it is justly attributable to the same cause. However imperfect the 
 result may be found, the aim has been to reach just and reliable con¬ 
 clusions. 
 
 In conclusion, the undersigned believes that Congress ought not to 
 attempt to build, in whole or in part, alone or in partnership, as a 
 principal or as an aider, with money or with land, one or more rail¬ 
 roads from the Mississippi river to San Francisco, on the Pacific 
 ocean. 
 
 All of which is most respectfully submitted. 
 
 Z. KIDWELL. 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
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PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH, 
 
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 that the road 
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 94,720,000 
 
 68,970,000 
 
 19,020,000 
 
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 2,207 
 
 180 
 
 2,583 
 
 3,026 
 
 3,360 
 
 2,969 
 
 2,161 
 
 660 
 
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 29,120 
 
 49,986 
 
 56,514 
 
 49,954 
 
 29,784 
 
 9,617 
 
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 1,597 
 
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 1,410 
 
 1,740 
 
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 1,400 
 
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PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 53 
 
 No. 3 . 
 
 Boston, March 31, 1856. 
 
 My Bear Sir: Your favor, enclosing a memorandum from Mr. Kid- 
 well, (both without date,) is received, but circumstances have pre¬ 
 vented me from giving an earlier reply. The memorandum asks 
 information relative to the cost of transporting freight upon rail¬ 
 roads, particularly upon certain existing and contemplated lines 
 therein named. It is well known to those familiar with these mat¬ 
 ters that there is great difference in the cost of transportation upon 
 different roads, caused by the location and characteristics of such 
 roads, and other circumstances, which must be known, or assumed as 
 the basis of calculation, for even an approximate estimate of such cost. 
 The grade of the road—a very important item ; the facility and ex¬ 
 pense of procuring fuel and water ; full loads each way, to save loss 
 by drawing empty cars, &c., materially affect the cost of transporta¬ 
 tion. For instance, the Reading railroad—over which a vast quan¬ 
 tity of coal is annually carried—is on a level or descending grade 
 nearly the whole distance from Pottsville to Philadelphia ; there is at 
 all times a full supply of freight, so that the quantity by each train 
 can be adapted to the motive power ; fuel is obtained at the mines at 
 a cheap rate; and every circumstance is favorable for transporting at 
 low cost excepting the fact that a portion of the cars must be returned, 
 to the mines empty. Over this road coal is carried at something less 
 than two cents per ton per mile, while four cents per mile for the mis¬ 
 cellaneous freight usually carried over our New England roads proves 
 to be unremunerative to most of them. 
 
 I am unable to give the relative cost of transportation over the sev¬ 
 eral routes named in the memorandum ; but, assuming four cents per 
 ton per mile as the lowest rate, and the shortest route from New York 
 to San Francisco to be 2,500 miles, it would cost one hundred dollars 
 to carry a ton of goods from one of these cities to the other by rail¬ 
 road, a charge quite disproportionate to the average value of goods 
 usually shipped between the two places, and too heavy to be borne by 
 most of them. The best answer I can give to the inquiry as to the 
 present and prospective rates of transportation over existing railroads 
 will be found in a pamphlet recently published by Captain William 
 H. Swift, formerly in the United States service, a copy of which will 
 be sent with this. I entirely concur with him in opinion, that these 
 rates must be materially increased to make railroads remunerative, 
 and this remark will apply to those that may hereafter be constructed 
 as well as to those already in use. I doubt if a railroad from the Mis¬ 
 sissippi to the Pacific would derive much support from the transporta¬ 
 tion of merchandise. The advocates for building this road profess to 
 believe that a large portion of the productions of India and China 
 would ultimately find their way to the Atlantic States by this route. 
 Such is not my belief. At the present time, first-class ships, that will 
 carry 2,000 tons each, may be chartered for a voj^age from New York 
 or Boston thence to Canton or Calcutta, and back to the United States, 
 for $50,000 the voyage round, thus bringing the rate of freight to 
 
54 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 $12 50 per ton out or home. It will cost nearly or quite as much to 
 bring a ton of merchandise from Canton or Calcutta to San Francisco 
 as to bring it to the Atlantic States, and the expense of bringing it 
 from California to New York by railroad would be at least three times 
 as much as the profit expected by the merchant upon the whole voy¬ 
 age as now carried on. 
 
 Respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 WILLIAM STURGIS. 
 
 Hon. N. P. Banks, Jr., 
 
 Washington , D. C. 
 
 No. 4. 
 
 Thursday Evening, April 3 . 
 
 My Dear Sir : Mr. Sturgis is one of the oldest and most intelligent 
 merchants of this country. He was early connected with the com¬ 
 merce of the Pacific. 
 
 Truly yours. 
 
 N. P. BANKS, Jr. 
 
 No. 5. 
 
 Memorandum. 
 
 I desire to learn from one of the ablest shipping merch mts of 
 Boston, what would be the ordinary expenses, per ton, of shipping 
 goods in sailing-vessels, or in propellers, from Boston, by the way of 
 the Isthmus of Panama, to San Francisco? In making his calcula¬ 
 tions, I wish him to assume that good wharves, piers, docks, and store¬ 
 houses exist at both Panama and Aspinwall; and that the railroad 
 across the Isthmus has a double track and abundance of rolling 
 stock. 
 
 The answer is desired for the purpose of publishing it with a report 
 upon the subject of constructing a railroad to the Pacific, and hence 
 as near an approximation to the truth as possible from such imperfect 
 data will much oblige. 
 
 Truly, 
 
 Z. KIDWELL. 
 
 Hon. Speaker Banks, 
 
 House of Representatives. 
 
 Boston, March 29, 1856. 
 
 Sir: The inquiries of the Hon. Mr. Kidwell, which reached us under 
 cover of your favor of 7th instant, have been submitted to one of our 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 55 
 
 most intelligent shipping houses, largely engaged in the Pacific 
 trade, and herewith we beg to give their reply. 
 
 Very truly, your obedient servants, 
 
 J. M. BEEBE, RICHARDSON & CO. 
 Hon. N. P. Banks, Jr., 
 
 Speaker of House of Representatives , Washington , D. C, 
 
 Office of the Board of Trade, 
 
 Boston , March 29, 1856. 
 
 Gentlemen : The letter of Mr. Banks, and the memorandum of Mr. 
 Kidwell concerning the cost of transporting merchandise from Boston 
 to San Francisco, I handed to Messrs. Glidden & Williams, who 
 are largely engaged in the shipping business with that place. 
 
 Enclosed I have the honor of transmitting to you their reply, and 
 to remain, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 J. C. BATES, 
 
 Secretary . 
 
 Messrs. James M. Beebe & Co., 
 
 Boston . 
 
 Boston, March 28, 1856. 
 
 Dear Sir: In reply to Hon. Mr. Kidwell’s inquiries, through Mr. 
 Banks, we beg to say, that an answer will have to he based only on 
 estimate, as there are no vessels in the trade from here, via the Isth¬ 
 mus of Panama, to San Francisco. 
 
 The rate now from New York by steamboats, on each side, is $2 50 
 per foot, or $100 per ton for measurement goods. We estimate that a 
 fair price would be, by propellers—- 
 
 Hence to Aspinwall. 40 cents per foot. 
 
 Railroad—Aspinwall to Panama. 30 “ 
 
 Panama to San Francisco. 60 u 
 
 $1 30 
 
 or $52 per ton ; and say for dead weight about one-third less—$35 
 per ton. 
 
 This is on the supposition that there should he regular lines of 
 propellers connecting promptly on each side, with a fair amount of 
 business to sustain them. 
 
 For sailing-vessels the rates would he one-half that named for 
 propellers; say— 
 
 To Aspinwall... 20 cents per foot. 
 
 Railroad to Panama. 30 iC 
 
 Panama to San Francisco. 30 (i 
 
 80 “ 
 
 or $32 per ton ; for dead weight about one-third less—$22 per ton. 
 
56 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 We would remark, however, that there are not many goods- that 
 can afford to pay such high rates. We think that while shippers can 
 place their goods in San Francisco from New York and Boston, at 
 $12 to $14 per ton, as now, by first class*clipper ships, there will not 
 he enough of the finer goods sent forward to lead to a reduction of 
 present rates to even the prices named above, and that the trade will 
 he carried on principally by sailing-vessels around the Horn, the 
 steamers taking goods of high value, and such as may he temporarily 
 in great demand continuing to get high rates for them. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 GLIDDEN & WILLIAMS. 
 
 J. C. Bates, Esq., - 
 
 Secretary Board of Trade . 
 
 No. 6. 
 
 Court Street, Boston, Mass., 
 
 March 18, 1856. 
 
 Hon. N. P. Banks: Your favor, enclosing the queries of Mr. Kid- 
 well, is before me. It finds me very busy. The questions cover a 
 wide surface, and some of them would require much thought and 
 careful estimates for a very exact reply ; hut I will endeavor, to the 
 best of my ability, to respond to most of the inquiries. 
 
 It is difficult to measure the capacity of a railroad without defining 
 the gradients; for the same engine which draws 700 tons on a level, 
 will take less than 70 over a gradient of eighty feet to the mile. It 
 will also draw 1,000 passengers on a level line with the same facility 
 it can take 150 on the 80-feet gradient. 
 
 Assuming a line 100 miles long, with no gradient exceeding ten 
 feet to the mile, and an inexhaustible supply of business at each ex¬ 
 tremity, I entertain no doubt that a single track might transport 
 annually a million of tons and a million of passengers. 
 
 In practice, however, these advantages are not found. Few lines 
 have less than thirty-feet gradients, the trains are rarely filled, the 
 business fluctuates the season, is very irregular, and under the most 
 favorable circumstances, and under the best management, I think a 
 single track may have an extreme capacity to transport yearly 500,000 
 passengers and 500,000 tons of freight. The highest limit thus far 
 attained, in my experience, is not, however, more than two-thirds of 
 that amount. By doubling the tracks the capacity is increased at 
 least seven-fold ; and I know of one line, the Reading railroad, now 
 transporting annually about two and a half million tons of freight, 
 mostly in one direction. 
 
 The average cost of transportation here has increased, in the last 
 eight years, more than 40 per cent.; it is, however, now falling. The 
 rise has been caused by the advance of materials, labor, and fuel, par¬ 
 ticularly the last, which is becoming exhausted in many districts of 
 our State. A part of the rise is due to repairs deferred from previous 
 years, and I consider the permanent rise to be not far from 25 per cent. 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 57 
 
 Assuming a railroad built from New York to San Francisco cost¬ 
 ing $40,000 a mile for a single track, and transporting but 30,000 
 passengers, or 50—viz: one car load—daily in each direction, I should, 
 of course, send but one light engine in each direction every week-day, 
 and having no competition, except by sea and the Isthmus, would 
 charge at least 5 cents per mile. I should estimate the cost of trans¬ 
 portation at one-half the charge, and should thus net from passengers 
 2^ cents per mile, $2 50 per mile daily, and $780 yearly. I should 
 charge for mails $500 per mile more, making net $1,280, or 3^ per 
 cent, on my capital. On gold by the same train, say forty millions 
 of dollars, I should charge at least two per cent., or $800,000 ; this 
 would yield me $260 per mile more, or of one per cent. I should 
 thus have 3 L YV per cent, on my capital. I should calculate by my ex¬ 
 press freight on the same train to make T y F of one per cent., thus 
 earning my four per cent, by one passenger train. 
 
 As a line to the Pacific would probably follow the emigrant route 
 by Fort Laramie, I should expect from New York to Fort Laramie, 
 or two-thirds of the way, an average gradient less than thirty feet to 
 the mile ; and with plenty of through freight for one or more trains 
 daily, each way, and but one loading and unloading, I tbink the cost 
 would fall below one cent per ton a mile ; for the remaining third of 
 the distance I should expect to double the cost, and thus make the ave¬ 
 rage cost less than 1^ cents per ton a mile. 
 
 I think the charge on through freight should be at least 2J cents 
 per ton a mile. 
 
 In thus responding to these inquiries, however, I do not wish to ex¬ 
 press, even by implication, the opinion that the through travel, with 
 a continuous track to the Pacific, would be limited to 30,000, or even 
 100,000 passengers. I believe that in five years after a line should 
 be laid down from the mouth of the Kansas to Fort Laramie, the local 
 population on each side, created by the line, would more than pay all 
 its expenses. I believe, also, that the great business of a Pacific rail¬ 
 way would be to supply the valley of the Mississippi with silks, spices, 
 coffee, tea, oil, and sugar, and to take back western emigrants, dairy 
 produce, live stock, tobacco, and other western produce. 
 
 It is the result of my experience, that it requires an annual expendi¬ 
 ture of twenty per cent, in the cost of cars and engines, to cover re¬ 
 pairs and deterioration ; and companies which wish to keep up their 
 stock make such expenditure. The wear of passenger cars is quite as 
 heavy as the usual wear of freight cars. 
 
 The railroads of Massachusetts derive more than half their income 
 from way-business. More than two-thirds the passengers are way-pas¬ 
 sengers, and as you lengthen the line the proportion of through busi¬ 
 ness diminishes. On the line from Boston to Albany, 75 per cent, of 
 the gross income is derived from way-business. 
 
 The Reading railroad, however, in Pennsylvania, which carries 
 freight at six mills per ton a mile, in trains of 423 tons, carries most 
 of its tonnage over seven-eighths of its line, and in one direction re¬ 
 turning with empty trains. It pays interest on its debt, and earns 
 16 per cent, on its stock; and I think more than three-fourths of this 
 is derived from what is substantially through business. 
 
58 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 The Boston and Worcester railroad is 44 miles long, from Wor¬ 
 cester to Boston. It is fed by three railroads at Worcester, and has 
 consequently more through business than the Western. I have been 
 conversant with its affairs for twenty years, and have lived near it. 
 When first built it cost $1,800,000; had little traffic except through 
 business. The local was not considered of value. 
 
 It paid six to seven per cent., and soon built up a large local busi¬ 
 ness, and populous villages now stand in places then desolate. As its 
 business increased it doubled its tracks and stations and equipage, and 
 made branches, and since 1839 has nearly trebled its capital, and still 
 pays six to eight per cent. 
 
 I do not think, however, its local business alone would have paid it 
 for twenty years above three per cent. 
 
 With respect to the cost of transportation on railroads, it depends 
 on four elements: The length of line, fuel, gradients, and amount of 
 business. Where the run is short, say ten miles, the loading and un¬ 
 loading costs three cents per mile, and the engine and cars cannot 
 average with freight trains more than half a day’s duty. Transport¬ 
 ation in such cases may cost seven cents per mile. 
 
 Where the run is 100 miles or more, and the fuel cheap and the 
 business ample and gradient light, a vast business can he done, and 
 passengers and freight be transported at less than one cent per pas¬ 
 senger and ton per mile. 
 
 Cities and towns spring up in twenty years. Worcester and Spring- 
 field have in that time increased six fold ; and if a new line be now 
 laid through a fertile solitude, I have no doubt it will create a popu¬ 
 lous country aiound it. 
 
 I am, very respectfully, yours, 
 
 E. H. DERBY. 
 
 P. S.—I cannot conclude this letter without expressing a few hopes 
 as to the Pacific railway. Should Congress grant charters, let me 
 express the hope, that they will not he intrusted to reckless speculators 
 alone, but that Congress, like Hapoleon, will select the most compe¬ 
 tent men in the country as corporators. Such course will, in my 
 opinion, save one-third the cost of construction. Let me advocate, too, 
 the policy of adopting at once three lines; one from the mouth of the 
 Kansas, by Fort Laramie, to San Francisco; another from the frontier 
 of Texas to the mouth of the Gila ; another from Superior to the 
 Straits of St. Juan de Fuca. It seems to me they are all necessary to 
 develop the country and to quiet the different sections of the Union. 
 
 Had I the honor to act on the committee, I should advocate three 
 charters for these lines, and for each mile finished I would suggest a 
 grant of $10,000 per mile, for which the company should give its 
 bond, conditioned to transport the mail daily, in each direction, at the 
 rate of 500 miles per day, and to carry free the officers, soldiers, and 
 sailors of the United States, and the munitions of war, at a low fixed 
 price, in preference to all other freight. 
 
 For fifty millions the government might thus cheaply secure vast 
 advantages ; and rating government stock at 4| per cent., would se¬ 
 em e them at little more than the ordinary cost of mail transportation. 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 59 
 
 I would then suggest a grant of a width of ten rods for the road 
 of each alternate section for fifteen miles on each side of the road to 
 the company, coupled with the condition that it should be faithfully 
 applied to defray the cost of the road, and reserving to the United 
 States the privilege, at any time, of taking the line at the cost over 
 the mortgage, with interest, at the rate of eight per cent., and an ad¬ 
 vance of twenty-five per cent, on such cost and interest after crediting 
 ninety per cent, of the amount that should be realized from the sales 
 of the land granted. 
 
 Such plans would enable the government always to exert a salutary 
 control over the rates of transportation, and the grant of land would 
 thus inure to the benefit of the Union. 
 
 The State also should have the appointment of some of the directors. 
 
 No. 7. 
 
 Boston and Worcester Railroad, 
 
 Auditor’s Office, Boston , April 26, 1856. 
 
 Sir : The president of the Boston and Worcester Railroad, to whom 
 your letter of the 14th instant was addressed, in relation to the num¬ 
 ber of persons employed, and the amount paid them by the corporation, 
 has been so much occupied that he has not found time to answer your 
 inquiries, and has directed me to attend to that duty, and explain to 
 you the cause of delay. 
 
 I find, upon making an analysis of our pay-rolls, the following re¬ 
 sult, viz: 
 
 That there are employed in the several offices at the principal sta¬ 
 tion in Boston ten persons, whose annual average compensation is 
 $1,570 each, varying from that of the clerk or secretary of the corpo¬ 
 ration, which is $200, to that of the president, which is $4,000 per 
 annum. 
 
 There are also eighty-three other persons, who are either agents at 
 the several stations, heads of different departments of labor, conductors 
 or engineers of trains, &c., whose pay averages about $675 each, va¬ 
 rying from $200 to $2,000 per annum. 
 
 In addition to the foregoing there was, in 1855, an average of 458 
 persons employed during the whole year, from one dollar to two dol¬ 
 lars per day, or at an average of $1 35 T 8 o, amounting to $193,755 ; 
 making in all 551 persons, at a cost of $265,176. 
 
 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 10 officers and clerks, (president, superintendent, &c.). $15,700 00 
 
 4 superintendents of freight and passengers at the stations 
 
 in Boston and Worcester...$4,340 00 
 
 14 station agents on main road, from $300 to $500. 6, 050 00 
 
 II station agents on branches, from $200 to $500. 3,550 00 
 
 13.920 00 
 
60 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 12 conductors, (passenger trains.) from $600 to $800.$8,400 00 
 
 26 engineers, (passenger and freight trains,) at $750. 19,500 00 
 
 - $27,900 00 
 
 16 road engineers, machinist, carpenter, &c.. 13,901 00 
 
 93 71,421 00 
 
 458 laborers in repair shop, on the road, and at the several stations..._ 193, 755 00 
 
 551 Total pay for 1855. 265,176 00 
 
 In addition to the foregoing there was paid for fuel, which is mostly labor $151. 475 00 
 
 Iron, and other materials. 166,468 00 
 
 Loss account, taxes, and insurance. 20,438 55 
 
 Total cost of running the road. 603, 542 55 
 
 Gross income about $1, 830 for each person employed, or $1, 008, 005. 
 
 Length of road and branches, 68 miles. 
 
 Number of men employed for each mile, 8. 
 
 Number of miles run by all trains, 541. 528. 
 
 Passengers carried one mile, 25, 736, 826. 
 
 Tons of freight carried one mile, 12, 066, 959. 
 
 On the Boston and Maine road, which, with its branches, is 83 miles long, the number 
 of men employed was 683, or 8 per mile. 
 
 The gross income per man was $1, 251. 
 
 Number of miles run by all trains, 583, 016. 
 
 On the Western railroad, from Worcester to Albany, 156 miles, the number of men 
 employed was 9 per mile. 
 
 On 8,116 miles of English roads it was 12 per mile. 
 
 On some of the Massachusetts roads it is but 6£ to the mile. 
 
 You will perceive that the number of men required for operating 
 our roads varies very much, and can make your own conclusions as to 
 the number which would he employed on the one you are advocating. 
 
 The amount of labor and materials will certainly be large, and, ac¬ 
 cording to our views, be put to a good use. 
 
 Your difficulty will be to agree upon the route, as there must be a 
 diversity of opinion, which will be all the more difficult to overcome, 
 because it will result from interest rather than principle. 
 
 We hope you will succeed, and that the road will be built. 
 
 Any further information you may wish, which is within our means, 
 will be cheerfully furnished. 
 
 Respectfully yours, 
 
 DAVID WILDER, Jr., Auditor . 
 
 Hon. Z. Kid well, M. C. 
 
 No. 8. 
 
 t 
 
 Office Pennsylvania Railroad Company, 
 
 Philadelphia, April 11, 1856. 
 
 Dear Sir : Yours of the 7th instant is received. The cost of our 
 best locomotives is ten thousand dollars. These weigh about 60,000 
 pounds. Locomotives weighing from 40,000 to 45,000 pounds may be 
 obtained for $8,000 to $8,500 each. Smaller sizes are still lower. 
 The price of the machine depends, to a considerable extent, upon its 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 61 
 
 style of finish ; that given above is for a plain engine, such as are 
 now in general use. 
 
 Railroad companies anticipate an increase, rather than a decrease 
 in the cost of locomotives. The prices paid in this country are con¬ 
 siderably below those charged at the locomotive manufactories of 
 England, and on the continent of Europe—chiefly owing to the 
 greater amount of work put upon them, which the low rate of interest 
 on money there justifies. 
 
 If it was not for the continual improvements made in railroad 
 machinery, an expenditure of 15 per cent, off their cost, for repairs 
 and renewals upon locomotives and cars, would maintain them in full 
 efficiency for any number of years. These improvements, however, 
 make it true economy to dispense with old machines, and purchase 
 new ones. This has been the case since the introduction of railroads 
 into this country, and will doubtless continue to be so for many 
 years. 
 
 It will afford me pleasure to give you any further information that 
 you may desire upon this subject. I have great faith in the importance 
 and utility of the construction of the Pacific railroad, and believe 
 that it can only be effected in a reasonable time, through the aid of 
 the general government. 
 
 Truly, your obedient servant, 
 
 J. EDGAR THOMSON, C. E . 
 
 Hon. Z. Kid well, M. C . 
 
 No. 9. 
 
 Office Master of Machinery B. & 0. R. R. Co., 
 
 Baltimore , April 9, 1856. 
 
 Dear Sir : I herewith send you answers to the interrogatories made 
 by Mr. Kidwell, whose letter I enclose to you. 
 
 The average cost of our first-class locomotives is. $10,000 
 
 Do.do.second.do. 8,000 
 
 Do.do.third.do. 4,500 
 
 Do not think there will be much, if any, variation in the price of 
 
 locomotives. 
 
 The average cost of our first-class passenger cars is. $3,000 
 
 Do.do.second.do.do. 2,500 
 
 Do.do.third.do.do. 1,800 
 
 Do.do.baggag cars. 1,000 
 
 Do.do.first-class freight cars. 550 
 
 Do.do.do.platform cars. 400 
 
 It costs per year to keep one locomotive in perpetual use, $1,500 ; 
 a passenger car, $400 ; and a freight car, $50. 
 
 The average life of locomotives is between fifteen and twenty years. 
 Hoping the above will prove satisfactory, I am, yours, respectfully, 
 
 S. J. HAYES, 
 
 Master of Machinery . 
 
 Fer Hoblitz Elb, 
 
 Chauncey Brooks, President . 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 Office Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, 
 
 April 9, 1856. 
 
 Dear Sir : Herewith I send you the report of our master of ma¬ 
 chinery on the questions submitted. I likewise send you, by the same 
 mail, one of our annual reports, which may be of service to your com¬ 
 mittee. 
 
 Very respectfully, yours, 
 
 C. BROOKS, President. 
 
 Ho. 10. 
 
 Altoona, Blair County, Pennsylvania, 
 
 April 29, 1856. 
 
 Sir : I acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 14th 
 instant, containing the following inquiries, viz: 
 
 u 1st. What number of men, without reference to length of time, 
 have been employed by your company during the last year?” 
 
 In reply, I would state that, taking one month as the average for 
 the whole year, we employ 4,140 persons. 
 
 “ 2d. What is the average sum of money paid to such persons, in¬ 
 clusive of all persons, from the president down to the humblest la¬ 
 borer?” 
 
 To this I answer, that in one month we pay out as compensation 
 for services rendered the sum of $109,509 44, which yields to each a 
 monthly average of $26 45 f&To) an d yearly $317 41 xWV* 
 
 Very respectfully, yours, &c., 
 
 J. EDGAR THOMSON, 
 Per H. J. Lanbaut, Supt . 
 
 Hon. Z. Kid well, 
 
 House of Representatives , Washington , D. C. 
 
 No. 11. 
 
 Boston and Worcester Railroad Office, 
 
 Boston , April 11, 1856. 
 
 Sir : In reply to your favor of the 7th instant, I have to say, that a 
 part of the questions which you ask can be replied to in only very 
 general terms, and by estimates applicable to a peculiar state of facts. 
 
 The life of an engine or car, as well as the cost of repairs, will be 
 more or less according to the amount of service done by it, the char¬ 
 acter of its original construction, and the character for evenness, 
 solidity, grades, and curves of the track it is used upon. 
 
 An engine will be much affected, also, by the fuel used—coal wear¬ 
 ing an engine much faster than wood. More, perhaps, than either of 
 these causes, the rate of speed affects the duration of all rolling stock. 
 
 With a view to all these varieties, for which you will have to make 
 due allowances, I will give you my best estimates from my own expe- 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 63 
 
 rience, premising, however, that I consider ours a first-class New 
 England road in its general features, above alluded to, in all but 
 curves ; in that particular it is rather a hard one. 
 
 For its characteristics, I would refer you to the legislative returns 
 of Massachusetts roads, which I had the honor to send to you a few 
 weeks since. 
 
 / 
 
 Cost of engines, say for the last five years. 
 
 First class used by us average $9,000 ; second class, $7,500 ; third 
 class, $7,000. Weights varying from eighteen to twenty-six tons, 
 net. 
 
 The cost has increased and probably will increase. The reasons— 
 increased rate of cost of skilled labor, depreciation of value of money, 
 and increased finish, with modern improvements. 
 
 Life of a good engine twelve years. Annual repairs in full employ¬ 
 ment, say running one hundred miles per day, at a speed of twenty- 
 five to thirty miles per hour, $1,500. 
 
 Cost of cars. 
 
 First passenger-cars, sixty seats, $2,000 to $2,500—say $2,250. 
 
 I have two cars that cost $3,000 each. 
 
 Estimated cost of repairs, $300 per annum; duration, say ten 
 years. 
 
 Freight car. 
 
 Box, eight wheels, $650.; platform, $550. Duration about the 
 same, say ten years ; repairs $100 annually. 
 
 Baggage cars cost $1,000 to $2,000—say $1,500. Duration about 
 the same as freights ; annual repairs, $250. 
 
 We use nothing which we call trucks , except as parts of the above- 
 named cars. 
 
 Yours, very respectfully, 
 
 THOS. HOPKINSON, President , dc. 
 
 Hon. Z. Km well. 
 
 No. 12. 
 
 * 
 
 Office of the N. York and Erie Pi. Pi. Go., 
 
 New York , April 15, 1856. 
 
 Sir : The first cost of locomotives of the different classes range 
 from $9,000 to $15,000 each. We cannot expect them to be lower 
 for some time to come ; hut anything on this subject must he conjec¬ 
 tural, as the prices are, of course, affected by the cost of iron and 
 other materials, which are very fluctuating, and also by demand and 
 supply. 
 
 Passenger cars cost from $2,000 to $3,000 each ; freight (box) cars, 
 from $625 to $675 ; cattle-cars, from $575 to $650 ; flat cars, (plat¬ 
 form,) from $475 to $525 ; baggage cars, from $650 to $750. 
 
64 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 It is difficult to say what the average business life of the above is ; 
 in fact, they may he said never to die, except through accident, as 
 their several parts are renewed as fast as they fail, so that, in course 
 of a few years, no part of the original machine remains, and yet that 
 which 'purports to be the same still remains in all its efficiency. 
 “ Rolling stock,” run say 100 miles per day, 313 days per year, will 
 cost for renewals and repairs sufficient to keep it in permanent 
 efficiency for use, from 15 to 20 per cent, per annum on its original 
 cost. 
 
 Respectfully, 
 
 H. RUNNDELL, President. 
 
 Hon. Z. Kidyvell, M. C., Washington. 
 
 No. 13. 
 
 President’s Office, Hudson River Railroad, 
 
 68 Warren street , New York , April 16, 1856. 
 
 Dear Sir : During the fiscal year ending September 30, 1855, we 
 employed, on an average, 1,238 men, and paid $491,322 36 ; the road 
 being 144 miles long. 
 
 Yours, &c., 
 
 SAM. SLOAN, President. 
 
 Hon. Z, Kidwell, Washington. 
 
 No. 14. 
 
 APPLETON’S 11 MASSACHUSETTS RAILROADS—1842 TO 1855." 
 
 A meeting of several persons interested in the stock of various rail- 
 road corporations in Massachusetts was recently holden in Boston, 
 for the purpose of considering the causes of the present great depres¬ 
 sion of value in that species of property—of examining certain sta¬ 
 tistics which had been collected in regard to the operations of some of 
 the principal railroads in the State—and of consultation upon the 
 most expedient mode of securing to stockholders a fair and just re¬ 
 turn upon the capital invested in these enterprises. 
 
 An introductory statement was made by Mr. William Appleton, 
 who submitted certain tables prepared by Mr. William H. Swift, ac¬ 
 companied by an expression of views and opinions which the meeting 
 regarded as of great interest and importance. It was determined that 
 these statements should be printed and widely distributed. 
 
 It is hoped that the facts thus presented will receive the attention 
 which their importance demands. The reasons of the depreciation of 
 property, above alluded to, are obvious, and the remedy is in the 
 hands of its owners. 
 
 Boston, February 4, 1856. 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 65 
 
 Remarks of Mr, Appleton, 
 
 The origin and progress of railroads in this country is so recent 
 that they have grown up during the business life of many of the stock¬ 
 holders, yet something of the history of their commencement may be 
 interesting to a portion of them. 
 
 The legislature of Massachusetts, in 1829, appointed a surve}'' to 
 ascertain the practicability and expense of making a railroad from 
 Boston to Lowell, and granted two hundred and fifty dollars for that 
 purpose. They reported that it might be built for something less than 
 four hundred thousand dollars. Those interested in having a road 
 built appointed a committee, who caused a second survey to be made, 
 and the committee reported in 1831. The fact that the stock was not 
 subscribed when the books were opened for that purpose, might have 
 arisen from the want of confidence in the report made to the legisla¬ 
 ture. 
 
 The estimates they presented were made with great care, and they 
 did not hesitate to avow their belief that the cost of the work would 
 not exceed the sum stated, viz: four hundred and sixty-nine thousand 
 two hundred and ninety-six and T W dollars—-the estimate being for 
 the road from Lechmere Point to Lowell. The committee said they 
 were willing to express their belief that six hundred thousand dollars 
 would be sufficient to build the road, and furnish everything necessary 
 to accommodate the amount of travel and transportation calculated in 
 their statements. The committee then go into an estimate of the re¬ 
 ceipts, and close their report by saying: 
 
 “If, then, these estimates are correct, the gross receipts for carriage 
 and tolls on the road will be at least $58,514 per annum. From this 
 must be deducted the annual expense for carriage repairs, &c., which, 
 as exhibited in Statement No. 3, will amount to $22,424, leaving a 
 net income of $36,090, which is six per cent, per annum to the pro¬ 
 prietors of the capital employed. 
 
 “This may be considered a small rent, not sufficient to induce capi¬ 
 talists to embark in such a project. The committee would agree to 
 this, and would not venture to offer a scheme which promised so little 
 income, were they not confident that they have made their estimate of 
 the cost and annual expenses so high, and of the income so low, as to 
 render it almost certain that the net income will be fully equal to 
 their calculation. And they must venture an opinion, that a property 
 of this kind, not subject to loss by fire, or other like casualties, will 
 be considered good for investment, if an income of five per cent, per 
 annum can be calculated upon with certainty, and the prospect of in¬ 
 crease of business on this road is so good as to render it certain, in the 
 opinion of the committee, that the income will fully equal the state¬ 
 ment in this report/’ 
 
 Time has shown how incorrect was the estimate of the cost of 
 making, running, and repairing the road, and of the amount of its 
 business. 
 
 H. Rep. 274-5 
 
66 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 In 1835 the gross receipts on this road were. $64,654 00 
 
 And the expenses of operating the road were. 19,125 00 
 
 Net. 45,529 00 
 
 Cost of construction and equipment. 1,312,239 00 
 
 In 1844, from receipts. 316,909 00 
 
 expenses. 139,293 00 
 
 Net. 177,616 00 
 
 Cost of construction and equipment. 1,902,555 00 
 
 In 1854, trom receipts. 442,497 00 
 
 expenses. 364,478 00 
 
 Net. 78,019 00 
 
 Cost of construction and equipment. 2,158,932 00 
 
 From 1839 to 1851, inclusive, the corporation paid dividends of 
 eight per cent, per annum upon a capital of from $1,698,496, in 1839, 
 to $1,945,646 in 1851 ; since that time the property lias diminished in 
 value from causes, to a greater or less extent operative upon all roads, 
 which it is one of the objects of this meeting to investigate. 
 
 The Boston and Lowell, Boston and Worcester, and Boston and 
 Providence railroads, were in process of making at nearly the same 
 time, and the estimates for expense of building did not materially 
 differ. As the business of the roads increased in ratio with the cost 
 of putting them in operation, no disappointment was shown at the ex¬ 
 cess of cost; on the contrary, the income was such as to cause large 
 dividends to be made and to reduce the price charged for carrying 
 passengers and freight, and at the same time to increase their means 
 ot‘ doing business by laying double tracks, extending depot accommo¬ 
 dations, and making branch roads, until, as will be seen, the amount 
 of stock has doubled, and in some cases trebled, the original estimate, 
 and doubled since the road was in successful operation. 
 
 But this is not the only difficulty. A very insufficient allowance 
 was made for repairs, particularly of the rails, which it is now ad¬ 
 mitted required to be relaid in from five to ten years. 
 
 For the last ten years, while the dividends to the stockholders have 
 not been large, the increase of expenditure for permanent additions to 
 the road has very materially increased, and has been charged to con¬ 
 struction without adequate increase of business. 
 
 The question occurs, what course should be pursued by which the 
 capitalist shall receive a fair remuneration for his investment, while 
 the public are accommodated. There appears to be no other than to 
 return so far towards the prices charged on passengers and freight, 
 when the roads were opened as will effect the object. The charges 
 made for carrying freight and passengers when the roads were put into 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 67 
 
 operation would be more than would be necessary. The travelling 
 community will most cheerfully give a fair remuneration to capital so 
 invested, which affords so much saving in time and expense as the 
 railroads do in place of stages, or other modes of conveyance formerly 
 in use. 
 
 The legislature guarded the public against extravagant charges by 
 the railroads, by reserving the right to take the property after a 
 limited number of years, by paying the proprietors their capital in¬ 
 vested and ten per cent, for the annual use of the same, and by re¬ 
 serving the power to reduce the tolls. 
 
 By comparing we find that the proprietors of the more than twenty 
 millions of capital invested in the roads terminating in Boston are 
 to a very considerable extent the same. We find that many of the 
 stockholders have invested in all, or nearly all the roads, whicn would 
 show that any rivalry between companies was in all cases against the 
 interest of the proprietors. 
 
 It may be supposed that the railroad stocks are held by capitalists 
 who would not be materially inconvenienced if the income were re¬ 
 duced or annihilated. This would be a very great error, as the stocks 
 are very much distributed, more so than is generally understood. We 
 cannot state the precise number of stockholders in the seven roads 
 terminating in Boston, but we find more than three thousand are in 
 one company. 
 
 Wishing to lay before the stockholders as perfect a view of the state 
 of their property as was possible, Captain Swift, whose acknowledged 
 acquaintance with the subject and high standing, will give lull confi¬ 
 dence to his report, was applied to, and he has kindly complied with 
 the request, and his reply is now presented to the gentlemen whom 
 we have taken the liberty of asking to meet us at this time. 
 
 Boston, January 22, 1856. 
 
 Dear Sir : At your suggestion I have brought together, in the form 
 of tables, some of the more important statistics of the Massachusetts 
 railroads, more particularly of those leading out of Boston, and for a 
 series of years—say 1842 to 1854 inclusive. The returns for 1855 have 
 not as yet been printed by the legislature, consequently the opera¬ 
 tions of that year are not included. 
 
 The main object to be attained by this exhibition is to show the 
 amount of capital employed in the roads referred to at various periods 
 of time, and at intervals—say of four years, the amount of money 
 which has been received by the several companies for doing the work, 
 and the actual cost incurred by them in performing the same. 
 
 The tables have been constructed in all cases from data derived 
 from official sources, either from the condensed and well-prepared 
 statements published annually, in the “ Railway Times’’ of Boston, 
 or taken directly from the legislative reports themselves. 
 
 I have added some inferences and opinions suggested by an exami¬ 
 nation of the facts as exhibited in these tables, and I place the papers 
 at your disposal for such use as you may desire to make of them. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 W. H. SWIFT. 
 
 Hon. W. Appleton. 
 
68 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS RAILROADS—1842 TO 1854. 
 
 The accompanying tables are compiled and condensed from the official 
 reports of the several railroad corporations to the legislature. 
 
 Table 1 exhibits the work and expenses of all the roads which fur¬ 
 nished complete returns—say for the ten roads in 1840, the sixteen in 
 1846, the thirty-two in 1850, and the thirty-seven in 1854. 
 
 It was not until the year 1846 that these returns were required to 
 be made in their present detailed form, hence the number of passen¬ 
 gers, and the number of tons of freight carried one mile, cannot be 
 stated prior to that year ; but from 1846 forward, they can be stated. 
 
 It is obvious that no proper comparison can be made of the work of 
 one year with another year, or the work of one road with that of 
 another, without such data, these two items constituting in fact the 
 greater part of all the work done ; expresses, mails, &c., forming a 
 very small proportion of the cost of doing the work, although they 
 constitute a considerable item in the yearly receipts. 
 
 For the present purpose it will be sufficient to show the general re¬ 
 sults furnished by the operations of the Massachusetts railroads for the 
 past thirteen years. Referring to table 1, we shall see the net in¬ 
 come produced in the four years of 1842, 1846, 1850, and 1854, viz : 
 
 
 1842. 
 
 1846. 
 
 1850. 
 
 1854. 
 
 Lanital emnloved_ 
 
 $19,241,000 
 
 1,012,000 
 
 $27,034,000 
 
 1,945,000 
 
 $50,959,000 
 
 3,306,000 
 
 $59,030,000 
 
 3,260,000 
 
 Net revenue __ 
 
 Net earnings, per cent. 
 
 5. 26 
 
 7. 20 
 
 6. 49 
 
 5. 52 
 
 The striking result shown in this exhibit, is the fact that $46,000 
 more was earned in 1850 than in 1854, with $8,000,000 less ot capital 
 employed, or, in 1850 we had about 6| per cent, against 5^ in 1854. 
 
 In 1846 was the highest rate of all, 7-J- per cent. Now, in 1846, 
 121,319,000 passengers or tons of freight were carried one mile, and 
 the mean rate received was 3 T ^Vo cents for each, while the expenses 
 were lyVA cents for each. In 1850, 219,717,000 passengers or tons 
 were in like manner carried one mile, the rate of each being 2 T <yy ? Q -, 
 expenses lyVoV* And in 1854, 298,741,000 were carried at 2 T Vo^ 
 received, against lyVoV cost, or the net revenue on each passen¬ 
 ger or ton carried one mile in 1846, 1850, and 1854, was respectively 
 1 tVW> ItoWj an d ^tVoV- These results refer to the Massachusetts 
 roads generally, or to such as furnished reports in full to the legislature. 
 
 The same exhibit for seven of the principal roads out of Boston, 
 will show the following results for the years 1850 and 1854. 
 
 1850. 1854. 
 
 Capital employed... $24,502,000 $32,938,000 
 
 Net revenue... 2,396,000 2,199,000 
 
 Net earnings per cent 
 
 9.78 
 
 6.18 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 69 
 
 Here again the net revenue in 1854, with more capital employed 
 than in 1850, by the sum of $8,436,000, was $197,000 less than it was 
 in the last named year, or the rate of earnings was reduced 38 per 
 cent, in the four years. In 1850 the average receipt for passengers or 
 per ton of freight carried one mile, was 2.82 cents, while the expenses 
 were 1.50 cents each. In 1854 the average receipt was 2.82 cents, 
 same as in 1850, but the expense had increased from 1.50 cents to 
 1.82 cents, leaving the average net earnings in 1850 1.47 cents against 
 1.15 in 1854. 
 
 The aggregate of passengers and tons carried one mile, was 
 
 In 1850. 165,890,000 
 
 In 1854. 219,799,000 
 
 The roads included in the statement, are the Eastern, Boston and 
 Maine, Boston and Lowell, Fitchburg, Boston and Providence, Boston, 
 and Worcester, and Western, seven in all. Old Colony is omitted, 
 because consolidated with Fall Kiver between 1850 and 1854. 
 
 The average working expenses of the above named roads in 1850, 
 were 48.63 per cent, of the gross receipts ; the largest ratio being the 
 Boston and Lowell, 63.44 ; the least (as reported) was the Eastern, 
 41.11. 
 
 The average for 1854 was 65.63 ; the largest Fitchburg being 91.95 ; 
 (Fitchburg consider $216,000 of the expenses to be of that class called 
 construction by other roads ;) Lowell, 76.38 ; and the least, the Eastern 
 again, 52.56. 
 
 The results exhibited in the tables furnish the means of making a 
 variety of comparative statements and of corresponding deductions. 
 The general and important inference is a very plain one, viz: that 
 while the gross revenue has largely increased from 1850 to 1854, the 
 earnings or net revenue has very sensibly diminished, if taken in 
 regard to the increased amount of capital employed to do the work. 
 
 What are the leading causes which have brought about this dis¬ 
 astrous RESULT? 
 
 1st. Competition. This has been carried on not only by roads run¬ 
 ning side by side, as between the Boston and Maine and Eastern, the 
 Vermont Central and the Rutland and Burlington, &c., but it has 
 been carried on by the last two named roads with the Western and the 
 New York Central, for the western or lake business, and the same, it 
 may be remarked, has been done by other roads via New York, for the 
 same western business, and all this competition or irregular traffic, it 
 is believed, has been carried on at less price to the forwarder or ship¬ 
 per than the actual cost to the railroad companies. 
 
 2d. An unnecessary number of trains has been run by these compe¬ 
 ting roads to secure passenger traffic; in some instances four trains 
 have been run where two would have been ample for all necessary ac¬ 
 commodation of travellers, and this, too, for distances of hundreds of 
 miles, day after day, producing a larger expenditure for fuel, repairs 
 of engines and cars, repairs of road, way, &c., than necessary, and 
 causing an increase in cost approaching nearly the ratio of the in¬ 
 creased mileage, omitting, also, all consideration of the frequent deten¬ 
 tion produced on single-track roads to the freight transportation by 
 
70 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 these additional or extra passenger trains ; the freight having to wait 
 or to he out of their way in all cases. 
 
 3d. Excessive speed given to all trains , not only express but accom¬ 
 modation and freight trains ; also, arising from the necessity, in the 
 last case, of keeping out of the way of passenger trains, and fre¬ 
 quently requiring an undue velocity to he maintained by the freights 
 between the stations to effect that object. Larger and more expensive 
 machines , required to move the passenger trains at the increased speed , 
 the destruction produced by these heavy engines to the iron rails and 
 the bridges, &c. 
 
 The injury to both the trains and the track, it is to be remembered, 
 is not in the simple ratio of the velocity, but it is in the duplicate 
 ratio, four times the injury when the speed is doubled, nine times 
 when trebled, &c. 
 
 4th. The very great increase in price of all materials required for 
 use on the road and in the repair shops ; the same of every description 
 of mechanical labor, the very inferior quality of all iron rails which 
 have been manufactured in England for America for these five or six 
 years past, nominally cheaper, indeed, than when we paid £10 a £12 
 per ton, but in reality very much dearer; the bad iron and the 
 heavier engines and trains, with their great momentum, combining 
 to produce the most rapid destruction to the track, and also to the 
 bridges. 
 
 5th. The fact that all the older roads in Massachusetts (and many 
 of the newer) having had to increase their lands at stations, provide 
 more buildings, &e., and to renew their entire superstructure, inclu¬ 
 ding a large proportion of the motive power and the wooden bridges, 
 and this too when prices of all kinds of materials and labor have been 
 greatly in advance of prices of five or ten years ago. 
 
 6th. The preposterous principle laid down by certain men ignorant 
 of the subject, and having a direct interest in reducing prices, that 
 low rates of transportation of both passengers and freight is in the 
 end more productive than higher rates ; that more money can be made 
 by carrying a passenger, say between Boston and Albany for 1| cents 
 per mile or $3, than if the price were 2^ cents or $5 ; that flour 
 in large quantities, at 25 cents per bbl. or $2 50 per ton, would in 
 time bring more money into the treasury than at 50 cents, or $5 
 per ton, &c. 
 
 This very acceptable doctrine to forwarders met abundant support 
 on the part of peisons interested in a particular kind of business, of 
 course, and so of passengers, if, happily for themselves, they were not 
 owners of the non-paying railroad. 
 
 In the early management of railroads, prices were fixed rather ar¬ 
 bitrarily, as there was no experience to guide in establishing the 
 proper rates, but we all know that these rates were very much higher 
 than those of the present day. 
 
 At this time we do know what it costs to do the aggregate work of 
 a railroad, but in consequence of the manner in which the greater 
 number of the companies keep their account of expenses, the exact 
 cost of transporting one passenger one mile, or one ton of freight 
 one mile, cannot be stated separately ; to do this rigidly, would 
 require an account to be kept with each engine upon the road, her 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 71 
 
 consumption of fuel, expense of repairs, &c. Hence the apportion¬ 
 ment of the cost of these repairs and those of the roadway to any one 
 department cannot be correctly made, and the same is to be said of 
 the miscellaneous or general expenses. A train for two hundred pas¬ 
 sengers w.ill require, say one engine and tender, five cars (all kinds) and 
 six men. A freight train for two hundred tons will require sav one 
 engine and tender, twenty-five cars and six men; in the passenger 
 train there would be, say, about one hundred and twenty-five tons in 
 all, and in the freight there would he two hundred and fifty tons of 
 cars and two hundred tons of load, together say five hundred tons, 
 or the momentum of the passenger train at thirty miles an hour 
 would be equal to three thousand seven hundred and fifty tons, and 
 the freight train at twenty miles an hour would be ten thousand tons. 
 Who would not say that both must be very destructive to the track, 
 and who would not admit, also, that the “ hammering” so produced 
 must he in proportion to the momentum? 
 
 Again, the cost of loading and unloading a ton of freight (if in 
 large quantities) we shall find to be about 15 cents for each operation; 
 smaller quantities at way stations, say 20 cents. 
 
 The Taunton Branch railroad pay the Boston and Providence rail¬ 
 road 15 cents for loading and the same for unloading per ton, and 
 this after much experience by the Taunton Branch in that onerous 
 parr of railroad work. 
 
 These remarks are designed to show that it costs much more to 
 transport one ton one mile, than to transport one passenger one mile. 
 As I desire to say something on this point by and by, I refer to the 
 matter here. 
 
 The above constitute some of the causes which have combined to 
 enhance the cost of working railroads within the last five years. 
 
 Having, as I say, the knowledge of the aggregate cost of this work, 
 and of the capital required to conduct it, it would seem to be an easy 
 problem to determine what the owners of the property ought to re¬ 
 ceive as a return upon their investment. 
 
 Referring to table 1, we shall see that in 1846 we received 3 cents 
 per passenger, or per ton one mile, that it cost 1.4 cents to do the 
 work, and that the net result was 1.6 cents. In 1850 we received 2.92 
 cents, we paid l 42 cents, and we had 1.50 cents left. In 1854 we 
 received 2.91 cents, we paid 1.82 cents, and we had only 1.09 cents 
 left, or we regularly declined in each four years from 1.6 to 1.5, and 
 finally to 1.1. These are very large desc nts certainly. Now let us, 
 with the help of a little assumption, determine the probable cost of 
 transporting a passenger one mile, and of a ton one mile, separately, 
 and this not for the best roads we have in point of grades, but take 
 all together, the good and the bad, as they stand in the table. 
 
 In 1854, by table 1, we see that 194,158,000 passengers and 
 104,583,000 tons of freight were carried each one mile ; aggregate, 
 say 289,741,000 one mile. 
 
 The average cost of moving one or the other of these one mile, was 
 1 to¥o cents. 
 
 I suppose all will concede that it does cost more here to move a ton 
 of freight one mile, including the loading and the unloading, than it 
 costs to move a passenger the same distance. The exact proportion 
 
72 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 is not known, nor can it be determined by the reports, for tbe reasons 
 before given ; whether it costs double to move one ton that it costs 
 to move one passenger, or whether more or less, we do not positively 
 know. My own experience, and certain information of a tolerably 
 exact nature, which exists upon this subject, has led me to the con¬ 
 clusion that in general with us, it does cost just about twice as much 
 to move a ton one mile as it does to move a passenger the same dis¬ 
 tance. I shall so assume it here. 
 
 « 
 
 Mean or average cost of one in 1854, . . . . . . . 1.82 cts. 
 
 Do do do two do.3.64 cts. 
 
 Calling the proportion as 1 to 2, it will be found that one 
 
 passenger costs.1.213 cts. 
 
 One ton costs... 2.426 cts. 
 
 in other words, it may be said under this assumption in the relative 
 cost of passengers and tons, that for the year 1854 it cost, in round 
 numbers, about 1J cents per passenger per mile, and 2| cents per 
 ton per mile. 
 
 7 th. This brings me to mention the commutation or season pas¬ 
 sengers , so called, on the roads leading out of Boston, and used by 
 these passengers, say from three to fifteen miles. It has been con¬ 
 ceded by nearly all the roads, and for years past, that this class of 
 business is, for its extent, the very worst of all. I think this remark 
 will apply to all the roads where the commutation principle prevails, 
 and nearly in the same degree. Perhaps the Boston and Maine will 
 furnish the most striking illustration, and as it has been stated that it 
 was the only company which refused at a convention of all the Boston 
 roads, held early in 1855, to increase its rates for commutation pas¬ 
 sengers, it may be instructive to see what the company received for 
 this service. 
 
 By the report of an investigating committee of the Boston and 
 Maine railroad, made in September, 1855, there is a return of the 
 commutation or season passengers for the years 1852, 1853, and 1854. 
 The number of these passengers carried one mile during these years 
 was 1,672,705, or about 560,000 per year. These people were carried 
 an average distance of 8.72 miles, and at an average cost of very little 
 more than f of one cent per mile, (0.78,) so that in addition to the 
 evil of not receiving a remuneration for the work performed by the 
 company, there was the risk of injuring some of the numerous patrons 
 of the road in this branch of their business. It is at least plain that 
 there could have been no profit in it. Other roads leading out of 
 Boston are doing the same thing ; but I hope there is no case quite so 
 bad as this, for the directors of the roads, generally, as I understand, 
 are striving to increase the rates for this hitherto unprofitable kind 
 of work. 
 
 W bat are the consequences of this unwise practice of doing work 
 at less than remunerating prices? One of them is palpably shown 
 in a small table herewith, (No. 3), the date for which will be found 
 in Mr. Martin’s book on the Stock Market, showing by figures to be 
 found therein the great depreciation in the market value of seven of 
 the leading railroads out of Boston, from 1845 to 1856, the roads being 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 73 
 
 the same which are named in our table No. 2. The value of these 
 roads in 1845, then represented by 164,000 shares of stock, was 
 $18,539,000. On the first of January, 1856, the market value of the 
 same number of shares as shown in the stock lists, was $12,279,000 
 only. 
 
 But it is to be borne in mind, that within the period referred to, 
 11 years, the number of shares in the seven roads named had been 
 increased from 164,000 to 278,000, or that there had been a total 
 depreciation in the market value of the securities named of upwards 
 of $10,000,000, and this within a period of 11 years ! It is to be 
 remembered, also, that this loss has not fallen upon the larger capital¬ 
 ists as a general thing, they having in a majority of cases withdrawn 
 their large investments in railroad securities to a great extent. The 
 losses have been sustained by holders possessing more moderate 
 means. The class of owners of from five to twenty shares have been 
 the greatest sufferers: widows, orphans, minors, charitable institu¬ 
 tions, &c., persons not in a condition to watch this description of 
 property quite so sharply as those of the class first referred to. 
 
 The remedy for the evil attendant upon the present system of work¬ 
 ing the railroads of Massachusetts is certainly within the reach of 
 the owners of the property. Doubtless there are various opinions as 
 to the expedient mode of applying it. 
 
 To recapitulate some of the more 'prominent of the causes which have 
 produced the present condition of railroad property in Massachusetts . 
 
 1. Doing the work at less than remunerating prices ; more particu¬ 
 larly in the freight department, and in the commutation system for 
 passengers. 
 
 2. More mileage of trains than the business in the passenger depart¬ 
 ment will justify. If the same principle could be applied to passen¬ 
 gers which is applied to freight, sending off no more cars or trains 
 than are needed day by day for the business offered, this evil would 
 remedy itself; but as this, from the nature of the case, cannot be 
 done, let the daily number of trains be diminished, by putting the 
 whole number to be transported daily, say in two trains rather than 
 four trains ! This principle applied to the commutation passengers, 
 would undoubtedly produce a great saving in the cost of transportation 
 in that particular department of the work. For example, there are 
 eight trains each way between Boston and Dedham ; that is 160 miles 
 daily. This large number of trains, it is to be supposed, the conveni¬ 
 ence of the public demands ; let us see the probable cost to the com¬ 
 pany of doing this particular work. 
 
 The cost of each mile run by trains in 1854 on the Boston and 
 Providence road was just 1.00, as shown in table 2; it may be in¬ 
 ferred therefore, that if four trains were run daily, instead of eight, 
 $80 per diem might be saved in the cost of the Dedham business. 
 This is not an unreasonable deduction, for the 1.00 applies to all freight 
 trains as well as to passengers, and these remarks in the Dedham case 
 being applied to passengers alone, would seem to show that 1 00 per 
 mile run is not too much to place to cost of that particular work. 
 
74 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 But I use these figures merely for illustration ; there are plenty like 
 them elsewhere. 
 
 3. Excessive speed. Heavy engines necessary to maintain this 
 high velocity, and consequent destruction to motive power, iron rails, 
 and wooden bridges. 
 
 4. Cost of renewing worn-out rails, wooden bridges, &c., and all 
 these at higher prices for every item except the iron rails, as compared 
 with those of a period five years back. The rails, however, purchased 
 at half or two-thirds of the former prices, (10 and 15 years since), be¬ 
 ing so notoriously inferior in quality that they do not last, under the 
 heavy engines and higher speed, one half the time that the older rails 
 lasted. 
 
 5. The fallacy propagated by a certain school, that an excessive 
 amount of work, at an infinitely small price, will produce more money 
 than less work at higher rates. Regarding the maxim to be true, 
 that “ time is money,” it is to be inferred that few people ride on 
 railroads because it is a cheap amusement; they ride because of other 
 motives, business, &c., and they are willing to pay a fair price for the 
 privilege, as we know. 
 
 Suppose, for example, that the Western Railroad should advertise 
 to the world, that during the year 1856, passengers might pass be¬ 
 tween Albany and Boston free; after a month of novelty, how many 
 would be found throwing away their time in this unprofitable employ¬ 
 ment? It is not likely, either, that the number of passengers would 
 be increased by demanding one or two dollars for the ride ; nor would 
 the same sum, more or less, deter any from the journey, if business 
 or pleasure should be the motive for undertaking it; in short, none 
 would go who had not some other object in view than a cheap ride; 
 for loss of time, if no other consideration, would prevent. 
 
 These are some of the causes which, in my opinion, have brought 
 about the great depreciation in the value of railroad securities. The 
 remedy is certainly within the control of the proprietors of the roads,, 
 and there is no doubt that directors will cheerfully obey any proper 
 instructions tending to improve the condition of their property which 
 the stockholders may deem it expedient to give them. 
 
 Having expressed an opinion upon the causes which have led to the 
 present depressed condition of railroad property, I will venture the 
 further expression of an opinion as to the proper remedy to be applied 
 to counteract the evil. 
 
 1st. To increase, generally , the rates for all kinds of transportation 
 on the Massachusetts railroads, but more particularly in freight, and 
 in that part of it which is usually denominated the second and third 
 classes in the tariff. 
 
 2d. That no competition be entered into between any two roads for 
 a business which does not in itself afford a reasonable profit; compe¬ 
 tition need not imply positive loss, but we may be assured that it has 
 produced that result in many cases within the last five years in rail¬ 
 road transportation. 
 
 3d. That the mileage or the daily number of trains for passenger 
 traffic be reduced in all cases where it can be done without manifest 
 injury to the reasonable accommodation of the travelling community. 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 75 
 
 4th. That the speed of all trains be reduced, more particularly in 
 the season of cold weather, when the risk of injury to life and limb is 
 very greatly increased, and when the destruction of motive power and 
 track is so much greater than it is at other seasons. 
 
 5th. That an immediate increase be made in the rates for commu¬ 
 tation or season-ticket subscribers upon the roads generally leading 
 out of Boston. 
 
 While the cost of all kinds of mechanical labor, and of materials of 
 every description used in the construction and repair of railroads, has 
 advanced within the last three years, there seems to be no reason 
 why railroad owners alone should be expected to do their work at less 
 than remunerating prices. It is very certain that they need not, if 
 the parties interested in that kind of property will act in concert with 
 each other, and agree upon some proper and uniform action, the ob¬ 
 ject of which shall simply be to secure fair returns on the capital 
 invested in these, to the community at large, indispensable avenues 
 of intercommunication. 
 
 Tables 1, 2, and 3, have been referred to. Nos. 4, 5, 6, and 7, are 
 also made up from the official returns from 1846 to 1850, inclusive. 
 They were prepared with care for the Western railroad investigating 
 committee in 1852, but the results are quite as instructive at this time 
 as they were when the tables were made. They explain themselvea 
 sufficiently without the necessity for illustration. 
 
 Table No. 8, Boston and Providence railroad, (1842 to 1849, in¬ 
 clusive,) is extracted trom the tables in “ Railway Times” of June 6, 
 1850. The same remark applies to several of the items in table 1, 
 but all are derived trom the same official source, viz;; the legislative 
 returns. 
 
 Boston, tJanuary 22, 1856. 
 
Operations of Massachusetts railroads—thirteen years. 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
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 Fitchburg report that working expenses are $431,922 in 1854, balance expended on new buildings, new cars, &c. 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH, 
 
 79 
 
 No. 3. 
 
 Average market value of railroad shares during the year 1845, and tht 
 
 market value in January , 1856. 
 
 Corporations. 
 
 No. of 
 shares. 
 
 Price, 
 
 1845. 
 
 Amount. 
 
 No. of 
 shares. 
 
 Prices, 
 Jan., 1856. 
 
 Amount. 
 
 Eastern__ 
 
 18,000 
 
 109 
 
 $1,962,000 
 
 18,000 
 
 46 
 
 $828,000 
 
 Maine ___ 
 
 23,000 
 
 112 
 
 2,576,000 
 
 23,000 
 
 84 
 
 1, 932,000 
 
 Fitchburg_ 
 
 18,500 
 
 120 
 
 2,220,000 
 
 18.500 
 
 74* 
 
 1,378,250 
 
 Lowell. __ _ 
 
 18,000 
 
 120 
 
 2,160,000 
 
 18,000 
 
 63 
 
 1, 113,400 
 
 Worcester_ 
 
 35,000 
 
 119 
 
 4, 165,000 
 
 35,000 
 
 85 
 
 2,975,000 
 
 Western_ _ 
 
 30,000 
 
 102 
 
 3,060,000 
 
 30,000 
 
 89 
 
 2, 670,000 
 
 Providence.. 
 
 21,600 
 
 111 
 
 2,396,600 
 
 21,600 
 
 64 
 
 1,382,400 
 
 
 164,000 
 
 
 18,539, 600 
 
 164,100 
 
 
 12,279,000 
 
 
 , 
 
 
 
 Diffe 
 
 rence_ 
 
 6,260,600 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 18,539,600 
 
 The above difference of $6,260,000 is obtained by taking for 1856 
 the same number of shares as in 1846. But these railroads have 
 increased their capital since 1846 $11,450,000, or 114,'>00 shares; and 
 the average market value of the above shares in January was, say 
 $75, (71 8;) now the average value in 1846 as above was, say $113, 
 (112.9 ;) the difference, say $38 per share on the increased number 
 of shares, should be added to the loss of $6,260,000. 
 
 By the tables it appears that in addition to the loss in the market 
 value of the stock, with a capital of 27 millions in 1846, the net 
 
 receipts were. 1.60 
 
 With a capital of 51 millions in 1850, the net receipts were. 1.50 
 
 With a capital of 59 millions in 1854, the net receipts were. 1.09 
 
 So that, with double the capital, and with increased gross receipts, 
 the stockholders of 1856 received 38 per cent, less income than in 
 1846, and at the same time their stock is $38 per share of less value 
 in the market. 
 
80 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH 
 
 No. 4. 
 
 Cost of maintenance of way, and of repairs of engines and cars, on each 
 of the following roads, per mile run hy trains, from 1846 to 1850, 
 inclusive, five years. 
 
 Road. 
 
 Miles run by 
 trains. 
 
 1 
 
 Maintenance 
 of way. 
 
 Do. per 
 mile. 
 
 Repairs of 
 engines 
 and cars. 
 
 Do. per 
 mile. 
 
 Total 
 
 per 
 
 mile. 
 
 
 J\I tfes. 
 
 Dollars. 
 
 Cents. 
 
 Dollars. 
 
 Cents. 
 
 Cents. 
 
 "Western_ 
 
 3,696,713 
 
 690,049 
 
 18. 66 
 
 547,651 
 
 14. 56 
 
 33. 22 
 
 Boston and Worcester. 
 
 2,063, 632 
 
 321,521 
 
 15. 72 
 
 355,621 
 
 17. 23 
 
 32. 95 
 
 Boston and Maine_ 
 
 1,812,422 
 
 206,136 
 
 11. 37 
 
 191,209 
 
 10. 55 
 
 21. 92 
 
 Fitchburg. _ 
 
 1, 557, 937 
 
 127,307 
 
 8. 17 
 
 148,356 
 
 9. 39 
 
 17.56 
 
 Boston and Lowell_ 
 
 1, 202,088 
 
 269,440 
 
 22.41 
 
 296,380 
 
 24. 65 
 
 47. 06 
 
 Eastern.. 
 
 1,356,136 
 
 142,048 
 
 10. 45 
 
 97,659 
 
 7. 20 
 
 17. 65 
 
 Boston and Providence 
 
 1,165.079 
 
 152,328 
 
 13. 07 
 
 133,136 
 
 11. 42 
 
 24. 49 
 
 Old Colony.. 
 
 901,543 
 
 95, 734 
 
 10. 57 
 
 109,318 
 
 12. 12 
 
 22. 69 
 
 
 13,755,550 
 
 2,004,563 
 
 14. 57 
 
 1, S79, 330 
 
 13. 66 
 
 28. 23 
 
 No. 5. 
 
 Table exhibiting the quantity of work done in five years, (1846 to 1850, 
 inclusive,) on each of the following roads, expressed in passengers car¬ 
 ried one mile and in tons of f reight carried one mile; also, the gross 
 expenses of each road for the same period. For the purposes of this 
 comparison, the cost of transporting a passenger one mile, and a ton of 
 freight one mile, is assumed to be the same. 
 
 Roads. 
 
 Number of passen¬ 
 gers and number 
 of tons carried 
 one mile, aggre¬ 
 gate. 
 
 Gross expenses. 
 
 Cost per pas¬ 
 senger or per 
 ton, per mil® 
 carried. 
 
 W eetern___ 
 
 213,925,952 
 
 126,499,456 
 
 92,997,700 
 
 82,702,400 
 
 82,227,452 
 
 74 720,643 
 50,118,288 
 36,198,135 
 
 Dollars. 
 2,937,593 
 1,899,845 
 1,237,515 
 1,077,169 
 1.258,519 
 985,066 
 860,220 
 721,912 
 
 Cents. 
 
 1. 373 
 
 1. 502 
 
 1. 330 
 
 1. 302 
 
 1. 535 
 1.318 
 
 1. 716 
 
 1. 994 
 
 Boston and Worcester... 
 
 Boston and Maine__ 
 
 Fitchburg..... 
 
 Boston and Lowell_ 
 
 Eastern_ 
 
 Boston and Providence. 
 
 Old Colony .... 
 
 759,390,026 
 
 10,977,839 
 
 1.445 
 
PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH 
 
 €1 
 
 No. 6. 
 
 Table exhibiting the useful effect , or work done for each mile run by 
 trains , on the following roads from 1846 to 1850, inclusive, expressed 
 in passengers and tons of freight carried one mile. 
 
 Roads. 
 
 Aggregate of 
 miles run by 
 the trains. 
 
 Aggregate passen¬ 
 gers and tons, 
 freight. 
 
 Average num¬ 
 ber carried 
 for each 
 
 mile. 
 
 Western... 
 
 3, 696,713 
 
 213,925,952 
 
 57.9 
 
 Boston and Worcester___ 
 
 2, 063, 632 
 
 126,499,456 
 
 61.3 
 
 Boston and Maine .... 
 
 1,812,422 
 
 92,997,700 
 
 51. 3 
 
 Fitchburg... 
 
 1,557.937 
 
 82,702,400 
 
 53. 8 
 
 Boston and Lowell - -... 
 
 1,202,088 
 
 82,227,452 
 
 68.4 
 
 Eastern..... 
 
 1,356,136 
 
 74,720, 643 
 
 55. 1 
 
 Boston and Providence. 
 
 1, 165,079 
 
 50,118,288 
 
 43.0 
 
 Old Colony... 
 
 901,543 
 
 36,198,135 
 
 40. 0 
 
 
 13,755,550 
 
 759,390,026 
 
 54. 12 
 
 H. Rep. 274-6 
 
8^ 
 
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84 
 
 PACIFIC RAILROAD AND TELEGRAPH. 
 
 No. 15. 
 
 Treasury Department, 
 
 Register’s Office, June 28, 1856. 
 
 Sir : I have the honor to enclose a statement exhihting the imports 
 to and exports from California, for five years preceding the close of 
 the past fiscal year, and regret that the information is not more com¬ 
 plete. 
 
 The inter-commercial State trade requested cannot he furnished, as 
 no account of the same has heretofore been required of the collectors 
 of customs ; hut it is hoped that Congress will, by carrying out the 
 joint resolution on this subject passed at the present session, enable 
 the department to lay it before them. 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 F. BIGGER, Register. 
 
 Hon. Z. Kidwell, 
 
 House of Representatives. 
 
 Statement exhibiting the value of imports to and exports from California , 
 
 from June 30, 1850, to June 30, 1855. 
 
 Years ending— 
 
 Imports. 
 
 Exports. 
 
 Foreign. 
 
 Domestic. 
 
 Total. 
 
 June 30, 1851... 
 
 30, 1852. 
 
 30, 1853. 
 
 30, 1854.. 
 
 30, 1855. 
 
 Total.. 
 
 a$13, 531 
 64, 648,587 
 alOl,312 
 8,407,701 
 5,951,379 
 
 No returns_ 
 
 No returns_ 
 
 No returns — 
 $1,239,419 
 1,034,651 
 
 No returns_ 
 
 No returns_ 
 
 No returns_ 
 
 C$2,183,976 
 
 7,189,415 
 
 No returns. 
 No returns. 
 No returns. 
 $3,423,395 
 8,224,066 
 
 19,122,510 
 
 2,274,070 
 
 9,373,391 
 
 11,647,461 
 
 a Informal. 
 b No derails. 
 c In part only. 
 
 F. DIGGER, Register. 
 
 Treasury: Department, Register's Office, Jam 28, 1856.