M3lo T- / On the Railway Connections of Philadelphia with the Central West. LETTERS PROF. il^DWARji ij, MxViNfeiJ^'iJliLJL), JUJi K. ii^l M' ''l\' On the Railway Connections of Pliiladelpliia witli tlie Central West. LETTERS PEOF. EDWARD D. MANSFIELD, OF CINCINNATI, JOB R. TYSON, Esq., LL.D. OF PHILADELPHIA. PHILADELPHIA: JOHN 0. CLARK, PRINTKR, 68 DOCK STREET. 1853. Having read the Letters on the Railway connections of Philadelphia with the Central West, written by Professor Mans- field of Cincinnati, Ohio, and believing that they contain most valuable information of that interesting region, we ask our friend, J. R. Tyson, to permit us to publish them in pamphlet form. JOHN FARNUM & CO. Philadelphia, 1st Mo. 6th, 1853. / John Farnum & Co. y Gentlemen^I place in your hands for publication, as you fj desire, the interesting and valuable manuscript of Professor Mans- t field. Be pleased to let your note, and this reply precede the ^ Letters, in the published copy. qJ Very respectfully, your friend, J. R. TYSON. ^ Philadelphia, January 6, 1853. r" '^ INDEX. PAGE. 1. Direct route, geographically, to tidewater, - - 6 2. Marietta and Chillicothe on that line, - . . 3 3. Lake routes not the best, 8 — 9 4. Centralization of commerce in the Ohio valley, - 10 — 11 5. River and lake cities, 12 6. River and lake navigation, ----- 13 — 14 7. Imports of western produce at tidewater, - - 14 — 15 8. Centralization of railways at Cincinnati, - - 16 9. Southern and south-western connections with Cin- cinnati, and with the Marietta line, - - 18 — 20 10. Change of trade from the natural route, - - 22 11. Philadelphia connections, 24 12. Necessity of connecting at Marietta, . - - 25 13. Railways to New York and Philadelphia, - - 26 14. Hempfield route, 27 15. Cincinnati and Marietta line, - - - . 28 — 29 16. Hempfield and Marietta connection, - - - 29 17. Routes from Philadelphia to the south-west, by Ma- rietta and Big Sandy, 30 — 32 18. Review, - - 33—36 LETTERS. LETTER I. Cincinnati, December 1, 1852. J. R. Tyson, Esq. Dear Sir, — While in the city of Philadelphia, last autumn, I had the pleasure of reading your letters (addressed to my friend, William Peter, Esq. ) on the "Resources and Commerce of Philadelphia." They illustrate the duty of every good citizen to do something for the Republic; and also, that in our country its best statesmen are not so much those clothed with official authority as those who, in the midst of the people, influence their thoughts and opinions. It is Sallust, I think, who says, ''PuLCHRUM est bene facere reipuhUcce ; etiam bene dicer e haud absurdum est.^' Your letters brought to my mind several interest- ing topics connected with western trade and Atlan- tic cities; subjects which have recently occupied much of my attention. They are presented to me, a citizen of Ohio, in the midst of its central val- ley, at a different point of view from which they are seen by a citizen of New York or Philadelphia. I look at them from an interior point, whence the lines of trade and commerce radiate in every direc- tion ; and not merely from the circumference, whence, A 6 in regard to our country, the lines of union can only point inwards. Allow me, therefore, to take a hint from yourself, and address a letter or two on these public interests to you, an enlightened and influen- tial citizen of Philadelphia. My subject will be "The Railway Connections of Philadelphia with the central west." Your own letters, while they are more distinctly on the importance of foreign com- merce, prove what is plain to see, in all the Atlantic cities, that there is in them all a profound conviction of the great importance of the western trade, and an earnest strife to share in its profits. The ques- tion with Philadelphia, then, is precisely what it is for each of the others. " What is the shortest and cheapest route to the central west?" For, it re- quires no superior sagacity to perceive, that on the shortest and cheapest line the largest share of the traffic will pass. The strife in each city is to get the shortest line possible. In regard to that let me make, in advance, two remarks. The first is, that when we come to ultimate results, the geographical elements of the country must ever exercise over trade the most controlling influence; and, secondly, that in regard to those geographical elements, and their ultimate influences, there have been, and are yet, most erroneous ideas entertained, even by en- lightened men, in the eastern cities. A few words will explain what I mean : First, What is, geographically, the best route from the central valley of the Ohio to tide-water? I will relate to you some of the pioneer impressions as they were told me, in respect to the best route from Ohio to the east. In the years 1803-5, my father, then Surveyor General of the North-western Ter- ritory, was a resident of Marietta. His predecessor, General Rufus Putnam, was also there. Judge Greene, Mr. Woodbridge, Mr. Elijah Backus, and other gentlemen of education and intelligence, were also citizens. No steam engines had then propelled a vessel, or a locomotive. No iron bars had then been laid on the Allegheny ridge, nor had Fulton an- nounced, in a stage-coach (as he afterwards did), to staring, doubting, and wondering travellers, the marvellous idea, that such events were coming ! The best mode of conveyance was either lumbering wa- gons, on land, or the pine ark floating with the stream, or the keel-boat, poled by the stalwart arms of men. At that time, those intelligent gentlemen speculated, as we now do, by the firesides of Mari- etta, on future events. One of the topics was, the long journey to the east, and how it would be made. They had to consider the question by the light they then had: and you see at once that, as that had very little control over nature, their views were chiefly modified by the geographical element. Marietta, Chillicothe, and Cincinnati were then the leading towns of Ohio. Washington city was then just founded, and regarded as the central point of the Union. Looking to these facts, the road from Cin- cinnati to Chillicothe, Marietta, and then, through Clarksburg, Virginia, to Washington city, was re- garded as the future great route of travel and com- merce. This was based on the geographical idea, that it was nearly or quite the most direct \me pos- sible from central Ohio to navigable tide-water. You will observe, that the circuitous route, by 8 the lakes, was never thought of — I mean in re- gard to the Ohio valley. These were sagacious and thoughtful men. They knew, although at that time scarcely a ray of cultivation had penetrated the dark wilderness of the west, that, in Ohio and Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois, were the most arable, grain- producing lands of our country, if not the world. In the private letters of Washington you will see that he knew this also, and that the acute observers who informed him, had already fully comprehended the richness of the Miami valley. The gentlemen at Marietta, to whom I have referred, looking at this fact, and also considering that the surplus produc- tions of such a country must reach tide-water to find markets, concluded that the direct route from Cincinnati, through Marietta and Clarksburg was the route. Such were pioneer impressions. You will admit that, geographically, they were right; but, since then, art has, by new inventions and discoveries, wonderfully increased its power over locomotion. This enables it to modify^ but certainly not to control the elements of nature. We have no longer one, but two great principles to examine in their bearings on interior trade. We have the geographical element of position; and we have the artificial element of steam power; each modifying the other. The great principle, however, that, on the whole, the most direct line is the best, cannot be changed. It is a final truth. I remarked that, on this subject, there are even now, in some of the eastern cities, very errone- ous opinions. These opinions are, that the great rail road lines are those which are directed to, or on, the basin of the lakes. Such seems to me to be the opinion of Boston and New York. I hold that to be a great mistake. It is, however, a very natural one. If, from one point of the country to an- other, there were two roads, one on a semi-circle, but traversed by steam cars; the other on the diameter, but a mere common turnpike, passed over by wa- gons, the whole world would say, the semi-circular road was the best. Practically it is. But will any intelligent man say, that a road with the same mo- tive power, and the same construction, over the dia- meter is not better than one over the semi-circle ? Such, however, is the precise case presented be- tween those long lines pointing to and going round the basin of the lake, and those direct lines which cut the Alleghenies, and get into the garden valley of the Ohio. One is on a circumference, and the other on a diameter. You have yourself traced out most graphically the origin and progress of this erroneous view, and the effect of the lake roads upon Philadelphia. The superiority of New York commerce began when the Erie canal was finished; and it has now received a second impetus by the Erie Rail Road. And, whence do they get their trade ? Is it not from lake ports? But, whence do these lake ports get their trade? Is it not from long lines of lateral ca- nals and railways, whose ultimate termination is on the Ohio river? Eleven hundred miles of canal, and five hundred miles of railway connect the mouths of those lake railways with the perennial foun- tains of the Ohio. Thus these New York and New England lines of railway, which now exert 10 such a prodigious influence on the commerce of the east are, in reality, merely circumference lines, in regard to the points connected. It is from Phila- delphia and Baltimore the DIAMETER LINES must ruu. But you will observe, those semi-circular roads are finished and in operation, while yours are not finish- ed. You have given the reason, an all-sufficient rea- son (in the obstructions of the Portage Railway), why the Pennsylvania works could not compete with the Erie Canal, and no central rail road, to the central west, has yet been completed. There is, and has been, therefore, no competition with the cir- cumference routes ; and, until the great central lines are completed to Cincinnati and St. Louis, I do not expect any one to realize the commercial revolution they will surely produce. Having made these general remarks, allow me to direct your thoughts to some of the great facts in the commerce, growth, navigation, and railways of the west — facts which the Atlantic cities, striving for a share in the wealth and trade of that vast country, should be most thoroughly acquainted with. The first of these facts is the centralization OF COMMERCE in the Ohio valley, and especially at Cincinnati. A man, who is merely a superficial ob- server of commercial currents, might ask, why is it necessary to seek a direct route to Cincinnati or the lower Ohio? Has not experience proved that the Erie Canal, and the Erie Rail Road, and the Buf- falo railways, will draw the trade of the west, and that New York and Boston capital is sufficient to command it? Are not our cars and boats filled 11 with traffic and passengers derived from Cleveland, Sandusky, Toledo, Detroit, Chicago, and Milwau- kie? Are they not the granaries of the west? He might say this with some plausibility, if he looked only at the shipments from those ports ; but those towns, or the lands about them, are no more the producers of those products, than New York pays the revenue of the United States, because a large part of it is collected there. Those lake ports are unquestionably the natural and necessary marts for whatever trade arises from the basin of the lakes. However great that is, it is theirs. But, beyond that, their commerce cannot extend, when the direct lines of railway in the val- ley of the Ohio are completed, and prolonged to the Atlantic cities. It is first necessary there should be a grand channel of movement in the valley of the Ohio, and that continued and connected with Philadelphia, Baltimore, and whatever cities can make the connection. When that is done, there will be a real and a permanent competition with all the circuitous lines. You are aware that the whole of this grand work is going forward, in its several parts, from St. Louis to Cincinnati, from Cincinnati to Belpre, Marietta, Wheeling, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. I say this by the way ; for I am now about to show that the most important work (as a whole), ever undertaken in this country, is fully justified by the centralization of commerce and population on the banks of the Ohio. Looking on the map of the United States, you will see the valley of the Ohio extends from the foot of the Alleghenies, in North Alabama, to LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF ILLIN§ld within about eighty miles of Lake Erie; and from Olean (N. Y.), to Cairo, on the Mississippi, a sur- face of about 250,000 square miles. Compared with this there is, except the peninsula of Michi- gan and Northern Wisconsin, little in the Lake basin. Let us take some mode of comparison, such as the cities of the valley, the grain produc- tions, and the commercial navigation. To begin with the cities, we have the following results : — The River Valley. The Lake Basin. Inhabitants. Inhabitants. Pittsburg, Pa. 80,000 Buffalo, N. Y. 40,266 Steubenville, Ohio, 7,000 Cleveland, Ohio, 17,074 Wheeling, Va. 15,000 Sandusky, „ 5,000 Marietta, Ohio, 4,000 Toledo, „ 4,000 Portsmouth, do. 4,000 Detroit, Mich. 21,057 Maysville, Kr. 8,000 Chicago, 111. 28,269 Cincinnati, Ohio, 116,108 Milwaukie, Wise. 20,026 M^arlismi TnH 8,000 43,217 XTXCZUIOV/IA, XXAV&. Louisville, Ky. Total, 135,692 New Albany, Ind. 8,000 Evansville, „ 8,000 St. Louis, Mo. 82,744 Total, 384,069 If we were to add to the cities of the- Lakes the population of New Orleans, Mobile, and Galves- ton, the cities of the Gulf of Mexico, we should fall nearly an hundred thousand short of the population of the cities in the Ohio valley, including St. Louis, which is on the great railway line. So also, after deducting all of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, which geographically belonj^s to the Lake basin, you will find that the population of the Ohio valley is more 13 than double that which belongs to the lakes. I 'need not pursue this topic further. But it may be said, these lake towns and lake States are new, and will grow immensely. So they will; but is there no growth in the Ohio valley? There is no where any thing equal to it. The increase of Cincinnati, in ten years, was equal to the entire cities of Buffalo and Detroit ! But let us proceed to commercial navigation. In the United States Steam Marine Report, you will find a full and complete return of the steam vessels of the United States, their localities, tonnage, and crews. On page 37, you will find that on the Lakes above Niagara there are 126 steamers, with crews of about 2000 men; on the Mississippi, 241 steam- ers, with crews of 6414 men; and on the Ohio ba- sin, 317 steamers, with crews of 8338 men. You will thus see that the steam marine of the Ohio basin is nearly equal to that of the upper lakes and the Mississippi river together ! That on the Ohio is more than double that on the lakes. When you have observed this, I shall ask you to look at the hundreds and thousands of flatboats which descend the Ohio, laden with the surplus food, provisions, and minerals of the valley. Behold the thousands of arrivals of flats at Cincinnati, and the thousands of steamboat departures. Finally, I ask you to consider with me the com- merce of this port. Look to New York, one thou- sand miles, by railway, to the north-east; and New Orleans, fifteen hundred miles, by steamboat, to the south-west. Do you think that New York railways are carrying the whole surplus of the Ohio I B u valley? Then count the thousands and tens of thousands of barrels, and kegs, and hogsheads, and boxes, of every description of produce, and manu- factures made from grain, or animals which are fill- ing those hundreds of steamboats and flats, on their way to New Orleans. But a more realizing idea may, perhaps, be formed from the following figures, representing the values of domestic produce re- ceived at tidewater, via the three routes of the St. Lawrence, the Hudson, and the Mississippi, in the year 1851. Tidewater, via St. Lawrence, $9,153,580 via Hudson, $53,927,508 via Mississippi, $108,051,708 You see that New Orleans has just double the receipts of domestic produce that New York has! Now let me add to this, that the receipts last year, at New Orleans, of corn, flour, the products of the hog, beef, tobacco, whiskey, lead, and hemp — pro- ducts, almost the whole of which are shipped from above the mouth of the Ohio, amounted to thirty- five millions of dollars! What proportion to this vast aggregate is the produce borne on the Penn- sylvania works? What might Philadelphia have, if she had only the advantages by art w^hich she has by nature? It is fifteen hundred miles from this to New Orleans. It is but five hundred miles to Philadelphia, on a direct line. It need be only six hundred and forty by railway. Now, what proportion do the products of the Lake basin bear to the products of the Ohio val- ley? If you examine the agricultural statistics of 15 the United States census, you will find that Indian corn (the basis of pork, beef, and whiskey) raised in the Ohio valley is seven-fold that in the whole basin of the Lakes; that the live stock is three times as great; that the wheat is more than equal; that tobacco and hemp is a hundred-fold; and that, in fine, it is the Ohio valley which furnishes the great surpluses of western produce. It is in con- sequence of this fact, that you see rapidly central- izing on the banks of the Ohio, population, pro- duction, and commerce. One last illustration, and I close this part of my discussion. It is this : in five years past, the com- merce of Cincinnati has doubled; and at the pre- sent time, the process of increase is going on more rapidly than ever. Instead of northern lateral rail- ways, diverting commerce from the valley, the very reverse is the fact. It is rapidly concentrating in the cities of the Ohio. Their commercial arms are already extended far beyond what was once thought possible. There is here a centralization of all the elements, which make and extend the dominion of commerce. This is the first great fact to be recog- nised: for, unless you realize this clearly and strongly, you make a great mistake, as to the points in the western valley with which you should make your connections. In succeeding letters, I will endeavour to show that your railways may yet command a large and full share of that immense traffic which centralizes from the w^est, south, and north, on the banks of the Ohio. Yours respectfully, EDW. D. MANSFIELD. 16 LETTER II. Cincinnati f December 3, 1852. J. R. Tyson, Esq. Philadelphia. Dear Sir, — I closed my last letter, with a view ' of the CENTRALIZATION of population, production, and commerce, rapidly going on in the valley of the Ohio. In that, I referred to the extraordinary growth of trade and manufactures in Cincinnati. This city is the focal point, around which and to which gravitate the trade of the region I described as lying between north Alabama in the south, and the heads of those short streams, which flow into Lake Erie. That fact you can examine at your leisure, by reference to various statistical docu- ments. I now proceed more directly to my imme- diate subject, the railway connections of Philadel- phia in the west. The first great fact in that discussion, is the one I have established, that Cin- cinnati is the point to which you must direct your primary lines of railways. The next is the concen- tration of rvestern, south-western, and southern rail- rvays at Cincinnati, and on the southern side of Ohio, up to Marietta. The importance of this fact you will at once recognise, when you consider that one-half the surface, and one-third the popula- tion of the Ohio valley lies south of the river. There is not a town on the Tennessee river, which does not trade more or less with Cincinnati. It is 17 now more than twenty years since a merchant in- formed me, that he had a regular annual trade with Knoxville, in the mountains of East Tennessee. In the last year, I was informed that a trade had sprung up between Cincinnati and Northern Geor- gia, by the way of Nashville and Chattanooga. You know, that the railway line is now complete from Chattanooga to Savannah, Augusta and Charleston; and that it is nearly finished between Nashville and Chattanooga. From this port to Nashville, steamboats depart every day. This suf- ficiently explains the commencement of that trade, which now but a mere speck on the horizon, will soon enlarge to an object of great magnitude. Let me here, by the way, hint at a change in the trade of Atlantic cities. If I am not greatly mis- taken, the southern towns of Wilmington, Charles- ton, Savannah, Augusta, &c., have received from New York and Boston, a considerable amount of produce, the growth of the western States. These products have either gone by the way of the lakes or of New Orleans. The interior routes were closed for the want of rapid and cheap transporta- tion. But, suppose that from all these points on the Atlantic there proceed railways of the best con- struction, at half the cost of the eastern railways, to all the grain-growing States in the valley of the Ohio, how long would these places receive their supplies by the circuitous routes of New York and Boston? But I must proceed ; and, in order to make these south-western and southern connections clear to your view, I will simply enumerate the railways, di- 18 rect and indirect, whose eastern Atlantic business must pass through Cincinnati, or on some part of the line between Cincinnati and Marietta. 1. The Cincinnati and St. Louis line, 330 miles. You will readily see that, as this is the most south- erly east and west line, in Ohio, Indiana and Illi- nois, that all the railways from the south, crossing tlie Ohio river, must intersect this line, and that the eastern business coming upon them from the south, will pass over this, because they can have no possi- ble interest to proceed further to find another line. 2. The Mobile and Ohio line, to Salem, Illinois, 620 miles. You may be surprised that I enumerate this work. But just imagine yourself at any point from Mobile to Illinois, and intending to go on to Baltimore, Philadelphia, or New York, and that these railways are finished; how could you reach those cities so short or quick as by passing on the Mobile road to Salem (111.)? and thence directly east, through Cincinnati ? Certainly that would be the easiest and most direct route from any point in Western Kentucky, or Western Tennessee, or from Arkansas beyond them. 3. The Evansville and Timbuctoo Rail Road, 50 miles from Vincennes, to Evansville, and thence by Henderson to Nashville. 4. The New Albany and Salem Rail Road, 62 miles from Orleans to New Albany and Louisville, thence to Nashville 5. The Jeflfersonville (Louisville) Rail Road, from Columbus (Ind.), 70 miles. 6. The Madison and Indianapolis Rail Road, 50 miles to Madison (Ind.), on the Ohio. 19 7. At Cincinnati, the Covington, Lexington, and Danville Rail Road, 106 miles to Danville (Ky.). Thence three railways are chartered, and part of the stock obtained; one to Nashville, one to M'Minnville, and the other to Knoxville (Tenn.). I have no doubt all will be made, because they are essential to the interests of Kentucky and Tennes- see. The last one (to Knoxville, Tenn.), will com- plete the grand iron highway from Cincinnati to Charleston, S. C, which was planned in this city in 1836, and in which the late Dr. Daniel Drake; Go- vernor Vance, of Ohio ; the late General Hayne, of S. C; the late General James Taylor, of Kentucky; Judge Hall, of this city, and other eminent citizens, were zealous coadjutors. In this enterprise, and with such associates, longo intervallo, I took a zeal- ous, if not an efficient part. I looked enough into that subject to be thoroughly convinced that it was one of the most important enterprises which could engage the attention of the commercial public. 8. Maysville and Lexington Rail Road, 70 miles. This is in course of construction, and, when finish- ed, will be continued in Ohio to the point of inter- section with the eastern line. 9. Lexington and Big Sandy Rail Road, 128 miles. This line has recently received large stock subscriptions, and is, I imagine, but little understood in the Atlantic cities. I will call your attention to a single fact; that from Lexington, the heart of Kentucky (where there will be a centralization of railways), to a point on the Cincinnati and Marietta line, between M 'Arthur and Athens, will be 178 miles, while from Lexington to the same point, via 20 Cincinnati, will be 228 miles. This will make a cut-off of about fifty miles. 10. The "Richmond and Ohio Rail Road" has been chartered by the Legislature of Virginia, to construct a railway from Lynchburg, connecting with Richmond, to the mouth of the Great Ken- hawa. The " Central Rail Road," now constructing, or this company, it seems now understood, will complete this work, either to the mouth of the Ken- tucky or that of the Big Sandy. It may take some years in a country of so thin a population, and dif- ficult mountains, to finish this enterprise; but I have no doubt that a great line to Richmond will ultimate- ly be made to terminate either at the mouth of the Kenhawa, the Big Sandy, or the Guyandotte. A connection with the Cincinnati and Marietta line will be made in about 50 miles, and open to that work a communication with the interior of Ken- tucky and Virginia; a vast productive region, as yet scarcely visible to commerce, which seems merely to skirt its borders. In reviewing what I have said above, on southern and south-western connections, you will see that there are no less than ten lines of railway coming from the south side of the central line through St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Marietta, to intersect that line. Of these, six come in between Cincinnati and St. Louis; one at Cincinnati, and three between Cin- cinnati and Marietta. These lines comprise 1,600 miles at least, without going further south than Dan- ville, Kentucky. But, if we were to count the con- tinuances beyond that point, as they will exist in not more than three years from this time, we should 21 count thousands on thousands of miles, connecting this city with every point from Charleston to New Orleans, But I need go no further than I have done, in order to excite you, a citizen of Philadelphia, zeal- ous for her welfare, to the most earnest attention. How else, than by some one or all these south-west- ern connections, will you reach that half of the Ohio valley, south of the river? How else reach the val- leys of the Kenhawa and the Sandy, in Western Virginia? How else reach Lexington and Dan- ville, and the Green River, and Nashville, and Knoxville, and that immense country which, even yet, almost in the repose of nature, seems to be un- known, terra incognita, to Atlantic cities? I sup- pose that Philadelphia will scarcely consent to make her highway to the south-west through the streets of Baltimore and Richmond. Nor is there the least necessity for it ; and, in another letter, if your patience be not too severely tried, I will sketch some of the connections Philadelphia has already made, and some which, in my opinion, she ought to make. Yours, &c. ^c. EDW. D. MANSFIELD. 22 LETTER III. Cincinnati, December 6, 1852. J. R. Tyson, Esq., Philadelphia. My dear Sir, — My subject enlarges as I proceed, and there seems to be no way of bringing my re- marks within reasonable limits but by treating it in the briefest manner, without even referring to the vast aggregate and variety of that commerce which offers itself to the capital and enterprise of Atlantic merchants. At this moment, as my pen traces these lines, there is a fact before my eyes, pregnant with a volume of illustration upon what I have just said upon the necessity of securing the best and short- est connection with that part of the Ohio valley, south of the Ohio river. It is a drove of cattle from Bourbon county (Ky.), driven to Cincinnati, he7'e to be put in railway cars for New York. Now, mark; these cattle formerly took the route by Maysville, &c., to get to the National Road, and thence to Philadelphia and New York — your city being the ■preferred market. Now, suppose the railways were finished from Central Kentucky to the Big Sandy, thence to the Marietta Railway, and thence a rail- way connecting the Marietta with the Hempfield Rail Road, do you not see that these cattle would resume their old route and be carried to Philadel- phia? Could the owners have any temptation to take them on any other route ? And, are you aware 23 that this cattle trade is a large and extensive branch of business? It may be taken, simply, as an illus- tration of the trade of Kentucky, and of the ease with which it may be diverted, by quicker modes of transportation, from long established routes. But I must return to the main topic. In tracing what Philadelphia was, when she was in advance of her sister cities, you say, " the rich trade of the west seemed destined by nature, aided by the facilities of improved roads, to centre in Philadelphia." This is true. At that time Penn- sylvania was distinguished for her superior turnpike roads, and Pittsburg was on the highway to the cen- tral west. But new modes of conveyance came, and the currents of commerce changed their course. There was not only the Erie Canal, but the National Road to Wheeling, which, I assure you, made a great change in the relations which Baltimore bore to the west. Recently, again, you have the Erie Rail Road on your northern flank, and now you have its continuance in the Lake Shore Rail Road. To-day cattle are passing from Cincinnati to New York on an uninterrupted line of railway, 884 miles in length, instead of going to Philadelphia, which by railway may be made 250 miles less ! But you have no such continuous railway. The first effect of the Erie Rail Road on Philadelphia has been a good one. It has produced that great and noble work, the Pennsylvania Rail Road, which, when it has been completed round the portage summit, will be one of the finest and most successful monuments erected to the railway enterprise of this country. But will you stop there ? Can you stop there ? How 24 do you propose to connect with Cincinnati? But if you have arranged that, how do you propose to connect with the southern part of the Ohio valley, rvith Kentucky and Tennessee, and Western Vir- ginia! I confess to have seen no Philadelphia plan which meets that case. Let me review, distinctly, what Philadelphia has, so far, proposed in her railway connections with the west ; and what I think remains to he done. First. You have, or propose to have, direct rail- ways to Erie, and to Cleveland; and you will have a tolerably direct one to Sandusky, by Mansfield. These are lake ports, and will give you a fair share in the business of the Lake Basin. Secondly. You have continuances in Ohio, Indi- ana, &c., of the Pennsylvania Central Railway; one by Massillon, Wooster, &c.^ and the other by Steubenville. These lines will connect you with northern and central parts of Ohio and Indiana. Thirdly. You have one Ohio line, which pro- poses to conduct you to Cincinnati, via Zanesville, Circleville, and Wilmington; quite a direct route. But mark — to avail yourselves at all of this line, you are obliged to depart from the original route, by Pittsburg. You do this by the Hempfield cut-off (a lucky thought!), and without which, you can have no direct route to the valley of the Ohio. Such a route requires you to be at Wheeling. Now if, as I deem inevitable, there be cut-offs from Lexington (Ky.) to Maysville, and the mouth of the Big Sandy, especially the latter, horv do you propose to connect with these cut-offs? Horv do you propose to secure to Philadelphia a fair compe- tition in the trade of Kentucky, Tennessee, and 25 Western Virginia? If, for example, those cattle of which I spoke, or certain hogsheads of tobacco, or bales of hemp, are to be transported to Philadel- phia by the short route, can they come on either of the above described lines? Not one of them. They will pass on to the Cincinnati and Belpre Rail Road, and thence to Baltimore. Observe, you have no connection between any one of your lines, and the Cincinnati and Marietta railway; none whatever. It is exactly that connection — from Ma- rietta to Wheeling — you need. You cannot pass westwardly over the mountains of Virginia. You must take an Ohio valley line, and that, where your Hempfield Rail Road terminates. In one word, you must complete the connection between Wheeling and Marietta on one side, and the Hemp- field road on the other, in order to have any connec- tion whatever with the south-west by the Lexington cut-offs. The gulf between you cannot be passed in any other rvay. If you make not the connection from the southern bend of the Pennsylvania Cen- tral Rail Road and Marietta, in Ohio, you leave Baltimore without a rival in all the eastern busi- ness which those cut-ofifs may produce. But I will follow each of your connections, by Pittsburg or Wheeling, as they are traced on the map, and I re- quest your attention to the result. Suppose New York and Philadelphia at one end of the line, and Cincinnati at the other — the object being to connect the centres of commerce on the Atlantic with the centre of commerce in the Ohio valley. I have a map before me, by which the ex- isting railways now undertaken between these points, appear as follow : — 26 1. The New York, Albany, and Buffalo line, via Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, and Co- MUes. lumbus, to Cincinnati, on the Ohio, - 922 2. The New York and Erie line, via Dun- kirk and Cleveland, _ - _ _ 872 3. Philadelphia line, via Pittsburg, Massillon, Wooster, Gallion and Columbus, - - 716 4. Philadelphia, via Pittsburg, Steubenville, Coshocton and Columbus, _ _ _ 657 5. Philadelphia, via Hempfield, Wheeling, Zanesville, Circleville and Wilmington, 643 Now what is this but a series of concentric curves ? The inner curves have been successively made, or undertaken, not merely for local advan- tages, but by vast expenditures of New York and Philadelphia capital, for the purpose of getting the shortest line. New York, by great energy and im- mense sums, amounting to about thirty millions of dollars, has succeeded in making the outer, or cir- cumferential curve, first; and of course reaping the first harvest. Next we find Philadelphia energeti- cally pushing her great central trunk towards Pitts- burg, her ancient friend and ally, and that ally wisely endeavouring to concentrate all of Phila- delphia influence and enterprise through herself. What has been done in that regard is well done. But has it attained the nearest route to Cincinnati, much less to the coveted trade of the south-west? On the contrary, the first Pittsburg curve through Wooster is nearly an hundred miles out of the way! Next we have the Steubenville line, much shorter, but still not attaining the object of the 21 shortest line. Nor is it yossihle for any Pittsburg route to attain that end, for di physical reason, which nothing can overcome. Pittsburg is no less than sixty miles, on a straight line, north of the direct line between Philadelphia and Cincinnati. This is decisive. Rail roads cannot be made on straight lines, but they can approximate them much nearer than that. Finally, we have the Hempfield route, which cuts off the Pittsburg angle, and reaches the Ohio river at Wheeling, in the same distance that the Pitts- burg line reaches it at Steubenville. Taking there the Zanesville, Circleville, and Wilmington Rail Road, Philadelphia arrives at Cincinnati by the shortest of all the curves yet positively undertaken. But has Philadelphia yet come within sight of the great harvest fields of the south-western trade? Not at all. Unless you do more than that, there is a gulf between you and the south-western lines of Ohio and Kentucky; and till you pass that gulf, you cannot connect with the south-western lines, except at Cincinnati, where you are met with com- petition from every quarter of the compass. Can- not you meet the cut-off lines to Lexington and the south-west, before you reach there, just as well as Baltimore can? To go to Cincinnati, and there meet the great line to St. Louis, and the net-work of railways spread through the valley and there concentrating, was, I have endeavoured to show, your first great object. But there is certainly ano- ther, and one of no small importance to you. That is, to share with Baltimore the trade coming up through Central Kentucky and Tennessee, in search of the shortest route to the east. I will endeavour 28 to show one way in which this can he accomplished by present charters, and with little additional capi- tal. The first thing to be observed is, that the object of all the lines which I have above referred to, is to attain a direct line, or as near to it as possible, between the connected points. Hence each new plan proposes to move on a shorter curve; and, in the table above, you see the results. Now let us begin where we mean to end. Where is the straight line from Philadelphia to Cincinnati ? What places does it touch, and where does it deflect from the above lines? Take your map, and lay a straight line from Philadelphia to Cincinnati, and you will find that Chillicothe and Marietta are precisely on that straight line; and that ever^/ place on the connecting lines, before described, is north of that line; or, as I have already said, on curves receding more and more from the diameter. Columbus is 40 miles, Zanesville 30, Pittsburg 60 miles from the straight line. Now, the Cincinnati and Marietta Railway has its entire line under contract, and much of it is nearly graded. The whole distance is about 180 miles, and is nearly as direct as can possibly be made. It is plain that this entire line is in Ohio, on the straight line to Philadelphia ; and that nothing more direct can possibly be obtained. You will also see that the Lexington and Big Sandy Rail Road, as well as the Lexington and Maysville Road will be pro- longed to the Marietta line, on the ancient and natural routes to the north-east. You will again observe, that the Cincinnati and 29 Marietta line have also a termination at Belpre, 12 miles below Marietta, where they will connect with the North Western Rail Road, on the line to Bal- timore. Now, is it not self-evident that, with this most direct line to the east, in Ohio, with south- western rail roads connecting with Lexington, Knoxville, Chattanooga and Nashville, intersecting this line, with all of them connecting with Balti- more by Parkersburg, and Philadelphia having no connection with the Cincinnati line and Marietta ; is it not evident, I say, that Philadelphia can make no competition with Baltimore; that she cannot even share in that trade, which must inevitably fall into the Marietta and Belpre line, south-east of Cincin- nati? I shall not elaborate this point. The map and the table of distances will demonstrate what I have said. I shall not stop to prove how valuable that trade is; but I proceed at once to the important inquiry, what shall Philadelphia do to share in the south-western trade of Ohio, Kentucky and Ten- nessee ? To Marietta is the straight line. If it were continued east, it would cross a portion of Virginia, But there are, at present, two obstacles seemingly insuperable. The first is the refusal of Virginia to grant charters; and the second is, that you are probably shut in, by the mountains, to the valley of the Juniatta. What remains to be done, then, is to connect Marietta rvith the Philadelphia Ceritral Rail Road, hy the Hempjield route. I am aware that this is not geographically so direct as if you could have crossed Virginia, but it requires lit- tle to be done, and that little will be of immense advantage to the interior commerce of Philadelphia. I) 30 In Ohio, you will observe, it is altogether the most direct route, intersecting the river, in fifty miles less distance than any Ii?ie north of it. From Marietta to Wheeling this line will lie in the immediate valley of the Ohio, where it is easy of construction, and where the obstructions in the river and the products of the valley, will conspire to give it a profitable local traffic. The distance cannot much exceed 70 miles, which, with the Hempfield Railway, will make but 146 miles from Greensburg to the Ohio,. 170 miles below Pittsburg! I will close this, I fear tedious letter, with a brief review of some of the consequences which you may expect to result from this single connection, unim- portant, as it might seem at the first glance. I have said that the railways from Lexington, pointing to Maysville and the Big Sandy, are inevitable. That to Maysville is under contract, and large subscrip- tions have been made to the other. Now, if these lines are made, your connections with the south will be formed thus : From Philadelphia to Nashville — To Greensburg, Wheeling, Marietta, Big Sandy, Lexington (Ky.), Danville, Nashville, Aggregate, 326 miles 72 72 110 128 36 170 914 miles. 748 miles 70 „ 80 „ 60 „ 958 miles 31 Philadelphia to Chattanooga- As above — to Danville, to Barkersville (Ky.), to M'Minnville (Tenn.), to Chattanooga, Aggregate, From Nashville to Chattanooga, being 120 miles, you will see that the M'Minnville route is a cut-off of 80 miles, from the Nashville route to the same point. The Big Sandy line is a cut-off oi 50 miles from Cincinnati, so that, if you desire to reach Chattanooga, the central point of the southern rail- ways, the connection from Hempfield to Marietta gives you a clear gain of 130 miles. From Philadelphia to Knoxville — As above — to Danville, - 748 miles, to Barboursville, 70 ,, to Knoxville, - 100 ,, Aggregate, 918 miles. I shall pursue these illustrations no further. It is enough to say, that so far as the south-west (in- cluding the whole country south of the Ohio river) is concerned, Philadelphia can reach it in no way so short as by Marietta. Nay, unless that connec- tion be made, Baltimore will have undisputed pos- session of the entire field. So far as Baltimore 32 herself is concerned, the people of the west will have no objections. She is an energetic and pros- perous city, whose plans for the western trade have been wisely laid, and most vigorously pursued. She well deserves all that she can acquire. But, you can readily see, that if it be desirable for the At- lantic cities to share in our commerce, so, also, it is desirable for us to increase the number of our markets. We welcome every arm extended to us from the shores of the Atlantic and the Pacific. I have only aimed to prove, in this letter, that Phila- delphia can add one more, to the advantage of the country and her own great profit. I remain yours, EDW. D. MANSFIELD. 33 LETTER IV. Cincinnati, December 10, 1852. J. R. Tyson, Esq. Philadelphia. My dear sir, — I must close this long, but I hope not useless correspondence, with a very brief re- view of what has been said. You have said much, and well, on the loss Phi- ladelphia sustained in relinquishing her foreign trade; or, at least, in suffering it to decline, as compared with New York. You have recognised, most clearly, the great value of her internal trade, and the necessity of enlarging it. The great point, however, to be referred to, in that respect, is that New York has gained as much, in the western as in the foreign commerce. How ? Simply by com- pleting, first and best, a canal, and then a railway route to the west. When Philadelphia took the lead in turnpike roads to Pittsburg, and those roads were the best conveyance, then she almost controlled the commerce of the west. How is it now? Why has she not as large a proportion of that trade now? Has nature changed? Is she not nearer to it in situ- ation, than New York or Boston? Certainly. But, as in the case of her State works, she hOiS followed New York at such a distance, that New York has gained by art what she had not by nature. New York has now expended fiftij millions of dollars in the Buffalo and Erie lines of railway and their con- 34 tinuances in Ohio. I suppose that Philadelphia will, perhaps, in the course of the next year, have expended idho\e ffteen millions, in the Pennsylvania Central and its continuances. Now it is obvious to my mind, that less that Jive millions more, making not one-half the expenditure of New York, will do all that you need do, to resume your old and natural connections with the central west. You should aid the southern lines in Ohio as far as possible. You should have the Hempfield cut-off completed, as speedily as possible. You should subscribe what- ever is necessary to secure a connection with the Hempfield and Marietta line. Your merchants should see to it, when these lines are finished, that they have uniform, cheap, and continuous tariffs for Philadelphia freight to Wheeling, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Louisville, Lexington, and Nashville. With these things done, Philadelphia merchants will stand, in regard to all means of conveyance, on equal terms with those of Baltimore, and with decided advantage over those of New York. From the Hempfield road to Marietta, and from Marietta to St. Louis, the entire line is a valley line; and, as you will observe, an Axial Line. From Wheeling to Marietta it is nearly on the river, through a good country, and easily construct- ed. Two hours, at most, will be sufl^icient to ac- complish that distance. From Marietta to Cincin- nati is a crT-OFF of the Ohio; the river distance being 280 miles, and the railway 180 miles. From Greensburg to Cincinnati, on this line, will be 328 miles; by Pittsburg, 350"; by river, 500. From Greensburg to Lexington (Ky.), via Big 35 Sandy, will be 375 miles; via Cincinnati and Wheeling, 413 miles; via Pittsburg, 440 miles. I need not repeat the statements I have made in previous letters, but proceed to some general re- llections. If the policy I have recommended be adopted, at the end of two years from this time Philadelphia will have a direct, continuous rail- way to every considerable town in the Ohio valley ! I think you may take it for granted, there will be, in a very short period, twelve thousand miles of railway in the four States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky! With every mile of that immense track you may be connected! Can you imagine the social and commercial influences of such a fact on the growth and wealth of Philadelphia? All experience must deceive us if its influence be not immense. Let me advert to another thing which, with capi- talists, has properly great weight. This is the profits of the investment. I am not an advocate of railway, or any other speculations; but, till the west has an amount of railway much beyond that of which I have spoken, there can be no reasonable doubt that they will be highly profitable. Two considerations are sufficient to make that manifest. Rail roads, west of the Alleghenies, are constructed, on an ave- rage, at 65 per cent, of the cost of those east of the Alleghenies. On the other hand, the surplus pro- ducts of the country are much greater. Take these two facts together, and it is certain, that under equal circumstances, the western railways must be the most profitable. In the valley of the Ohio they must be peculiarly so for the reasons given in 36 this discussion. The only railways finished in Ohio are making immense profits. I have one in my mind which, after dividing 10 per cent., has 8 per cent, of surplus funds. In other words, it has made 18 per cent., nett profit, out of the year's business! Considered, then, as mere investment, I think all the present enterprises will be profitable. There certainly marj be a time when as in England, they will be pushed far beyond the bounds of prudence. That time is not yet. Sagacious men will see it in advance ; and it certainly will not come till far more is done, than all of which I have here spoken. And now, sir, if you have found these remarks sufficiently interesting to be read to the end, I have accomplished something. As you have spoken of foreign commerce, and I of internal trade, I think we shall both agree, that it is a self-dependent power, which must, at last, sustain men, cities, and States. Domestic industry is the first great element of wealth. " Self-depeudent power shall time defy, As rocks resist the billows and the sky." With good wishes for yourself, and the prosperity of your city, I remain Yours, respectfully, EDW. D. MANSFIELD. \ \ \ UNIVERSriY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 3 0112 068222956