Im. Legis. ) H. R. < 11th Assem. 
 
 REPORT 
 
 THE SELECT COMIVTITTEE 
 
 PROPOSED CHANGE OF THE SOUTHERN TERMINATION 
 
 THE CENTRAL RAILROAD; 
 
 SUBMITTED 
 
 TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 
 
 JANUARY 28, 1839. 
 
 VANDALIA: 
 
 William Walters, Public Printw. 
 
 1839. 
 
- # 
 
SOUTHERN TERMINATION OF THE CENTRAL RAILROAD. 
 
 January 28, 1839. 
 Read, and laid on the table. 
 
 Mr. CopiiAND, from the select committee to which the subject had 
 been referred, made the following 
 
 REPORT: 
 
 The select committee to which was referred the petition of sundry inhabit- 
 ants of this State, praying for an alteration in the southern termination 
 of the Central railroad, and for a re-examination and locution of a 
 route for the same, beg leave to report : \ 
 
 That, in the opinion of this committee, the leading object of the sys- 
 tem of internal improvements, as adopted by this State, was to increase 
 the facilities for the transportation of all the products of the interior to 
 such points on the navigable waters of the State as should afford either 
 eligible marts for their sale and transfer, or proper facilities for forwarding 
 them to their ultimate market. This system, the expense of whicli must 
 be boine by all, should be carried out, honestly and faithfully, for the 
 benefit of all so as to give, at the least expense, the greatest amount of 
 public accommodation ; and so as to place, as nearly as practicable, the 
 producers in the interior on an equal footing with those bordering upon 
 navigable waters. 
 
 In this system the Central railroad is first in importance. It com- 
 mences within a few miles of the northern boundary of the State, where 
 the severity of the winter months obstructs all the natural avenues to 
 market, and terminates, at its extreme southern border, in a latitude so 
 mild as to leave all commercial facilities, at all times, in vigorous and un- 
 interrupted action. 
 
 From the commencement of this road, at Galena, to the town of Van- 
 dalia, its route conforms to the existing interests of the country; and, 
 without regard to cheapness of construction or directness of line, it is 
 made to turn aside to accommodate established local centres of trade and 
 intercourse. From Vandalia to the site of the city of Cairo, near the 
 confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, no intermediate point is 
 designated by law; and, by the requirements of the internal improvement 
 act, the road is directed to be constructed on the most direct and eligible 
 route between those two points. This line, if a direct one, would pass 
 eight miles west of Salem, in Marion county; eleven west of Mount Ver- 
 non, in Jefferson county; twelve west of Frankfort, in Franklin county; 
 and eleven west of Vienna, in Johnson county. All these towns are seats 
 
of justice for their respective counties, and these counties form a central 
 tier, dividing the State, east and west of them, into two equal parts, hav- 
 ing an equal extent of territory, and an equal number of counties on 
 either side. 
 
 It has been before remarked that, on all other parts of this road, and 
 on all other lines of road within this State, material deviations from a 
 straight line are directed to be made, v/ith the view of accommodating the 
 improvements of the country, to the established centres of population and 
 business wdthin the interior. In pursuance of this principle, the Alton 
 and Mount Carmel railroad, in the section of country now "under consid- 
 eration, is made to deviate, many miles, from the most direct and eligible 
 route, in order to reach the towns of Albion, Fairfield, and Carlyle ; and 
 the Shawneetown and Alton road is diverted from twelve to fifteen miles 
 from its true course, for the sole purpose of reaching Pinckneyville, the 
 seat of justice for Perry county. In declining, then, to fix intermediate 
 points for the Cential railroad, between its southern termination and the 
 town of Vandalia, it is presumed the Legislature believed a direct and 
 eligible route between those points could be had; otherwise, it is not be- 
 lieved by this committee that a departure from the principles adopted on 
 all other routes, doing manifest injustice to a large portion of the State, 
 would have been sanctioned. Whether such a route can be obtained, or 
 not, this committee has no sufficient means of ascertaining, as no survey 
 has been made of a line at all approximating to a direct one ; but your 
 committee has ascertained that the line of road, as at present located, is 
 very circuitous, and deviates further from a direct one than either of the 
 intermediate points referred to. 
 
 Between these two routes, there are some points of comparison deserv- 
 ing attention. The line, as located, approaches the town of Jonesboro, 
 in Union county; where, after traversing the country for more than thirty- 
 three miles from its southern termination, it is only ten miles east of the 
 Mississippi and more than forty west of the Ohio ; while the town of 
 Vienna, in Johnson county, (a point in the proposed line nearly opposite,) 
 is but two miles east of midway between these two rivers; and the town 
 of Frankfort, in Franklin county, (also a point in the proposed line.) 
 exactly divides the distance between them; while the located line oppo- 
 site the town of Brownsville, in Jackson county, is less than twenty-four 
 miles from the Mississippi, and more than sixty from the Ohio; and, for 
 twenty miles, the route of the located line is but a few miles east oi, and 
 nearly parallel, to that part of the Shawneetown and Alton railroad be- 
 tween the towns of Pinckneyville and Nashville. 
 
 Under these circumstances, your committee cannot perceive any suffi- 
 cient reason why such intermediate towns, between Vandalia and the 
 point of termination of the Central railroad, as can be reached without 
 serious injury to the capacity of the road, or materially increasing its 
 length, should not be subject to the general principles of the system, and 
 be made points in the route of this improvement; more especially are they 
 unable to see sufficient grounds to justify their exclusion, without examin- 
 ation and survey, by the adoption of a line more indirect and less central 
 than the one under consideration. They are, also, unable to appreciate 
 a policy by which the State shall expend the resources of the whole people 
 
ill the construction of an improvement Avluch, for more than one hun- 
 dred and fifty miles, by circuitous ami winding ways, avoids all the estab- 
 lished points of intercourse of the country, reaches no town, and connects 
 with no depots of trade and business — when, by a line nearly direct, it 
 would assume a central position, and pass through and connect the seats 
 of justice and commercial centres of iour important counties. 
 
 The attention of your committc has also been given, with particular 
 care, to the section of country in which the road is, b\' the present law, 
 to terminate. They find that the whole country ai the confluence of the 
 Ohio and Mississippi, and for several miles above, is composed of an allu- 
 vial deposite from the waters of these streams, and, of necessity, easily 
 alTected by their action ; and that, on the Mississippi side, the violence of 
 that stream is making daily and rai)id encroachments upon all points left 
 unprotected by timber. The danger from this source is so great as to 
 cause the engineer of the road to express, in his report, the apprehension 
 that its ravages will extend to the embankments of the road. In addi- 
 tion to this, the whole country south of the mouth of Cache river is over- 
 flowed, annually, from river to river. The height of these floods is vari- 
 ous, sometimes covering the highest ground but two or three feet, but 
 occasionally to the depth of eight and ten feet. 
 
 In determining the capabilities of this section for either the termination 
 of a railroad or a site for a town, there is neither security nor prudence 
 in any views based upon an average height of waters. The maximum 
 known height should be the governing consideration; and your commit- 
 tee accordingly find that the engineer who had the determination of the 
 proper elevation of the road has prudently fixed it from ten to twelve feet 
 above the natural surface of the ground at its terminus ; and which, he 
 says, is the most elevated point for the termination of the road within the 
 site of the city of Cairo. But this elevation, though necessary for secu- 
 rity, involves an inconvenience in its use, which will cost the State, in the 
 arrangement of its depots and landings, an immense amount of money to 
 remedy; and which will place the business of the road entirely beyond 
 the ordinary means of individual enterprise. 
 
 in selecting the proper point for the southern termination of this im- 
 provement, regard should be had to the following considerations : 
 
 1st. That it should be accessible at all seasons of the year, and at all 
 stages of water, to all classes of boats that are capable of reaching the 
 mouth of the Ohio. 
 
 2d. That the geological formation of the country should be such as to 
 insure the strongest probability that it will not be subject to considerable 
 change from ordinary causes; and that its surface should be so elevated as 
 to be at least above ordinary high water, or be capable of being conve- 
 niently and economically made so by artificial means. 
 
 3d. That the surface of the road should nearly coincide with the sur- 
 face of the ground; and that it should be of easy access, and capable of 
 being connected with, by individuals, by depots and ware-houses, at mod- 
 erate cost. 
 
 4th. That the grounds adjacent to the termination of the road, and 
 the country in its immediate vicinity, should have as few natural obstacles 
 in the way of its speedy and economical settlement and improvement as 
 possible. 
 
6 
 
 Your committee are are of the opinion tliat the site selected for the ter- 
 mination of this road is deficient in most of these requisites; 
 and that further examination should be had, for the purpose of 
 ascertaining whether some point on the Ohio river, between its 
 mouth and the Grand Chain, where the first obstructions in that 
 river commence, cannot be selected presenting greater advantages 
 than the present point of termination. Your committee would not 
 express this opinion did they not believe that such examination would 
 clearly prove that points do exist on the Ohio, between the Grand Chain 
 and the present termination of the road, that possess every requisite enu- 
 merated by them for a commercial depot ; and by the adoption of which, 
 at least six miles of embankment, varying from eight feet to more than 
 twenty in height, and exposed to the ravages of the river floods, together 
 with an expensive bridge over Cache river, will be avoided: and that the 
 completion of the improvement will be expedited, and a very large 
 amount of money saved to the State. 
 
 It appears, from the report of the Commissioner of the third judicial 
 district, that the amount of money expended upon the Central railroad, 
 within that district, was, at the time of making that report, less than forty 
 thousand dollars. This sum though large in itself, is of trifling import- 
 ance when compared with the additional accommodation given, by the 
 proposed change, to an extensive section of the State; and is altogether 
 of no consideration when contrasted with the diminished cost and 
 increased advantages of a proper termination of the road. 
 
 The confidence of your committee in the views here presented is 
 strengthened by the opinions of the Board of Commissioners of Public 
 Works, as expressed in their recent report to this body; in which they 
 say that "it is believed that, in every instance, the lines may be improved, 
 locations changed, and improvoments made in the construction, that may 
 lessten the cost" of the works. 
 
 Your committe, in conclusion, report that, in their opinion, the prayer 
 of the petitioners is just and reasonable; and beg leave to introduce a 
 bill directing a resurvey and location of all that part of the Central rail- 
 road south of Vandalia. 
 
 J. COPLAND. Chairman, 
 
REPORT OF THE MINORITY. 
 
 January 28, 1839. 
 
 Read, and laid on the table. 
 
 Mr. Murphy, from the minority of the select committee to which the 
 subject had been referred, made the following 
 
 REPORT: 
 
 The minority of tfie select committee to which wis referred the petition 
 of certain inhabitants of this State praying for an alteration in the 
 southern termination of the Central railroad^ and for a re-examina- 
 tion and location of a route for the same, report : 
 
 That the undersigned does not subscribe to the doctrine, industriously 
 sought to be propagated by interested individuals, that great and impor- 
 tant public works, determined on by one Legislature, should be subject 
 to be changed by a succeeding one, except under circumstances of 
 imperious necessity. The undersigned will, in all cases, require that 
 proposed changes in any general law should be proved, beyond the 
 possibility of cavil or doubt, to be decidedly more beneficial than one 
 solemnly enacted, under which (and the faith of the State pledged therein) 
 investments of capital may have been made to a large amount; and a 
 change in which might eventuate in great individual' loss and embarrass- 
 ment. It is a high and important object in legislation to preserve the 
 national faith, and to redeem, to the letter, all promises expressed or 
 implied in the law itself This, as a principle of legislative action, is far 
 more worthy of preservation than the treasures of a nation. The princi- 
 ple is the same in individual transactions; and he who shall violate it, 
 to promote any end, is sure to meet with the scorn and contempt 
 of every honorable mind. Of all the passions which exercise the 
 greatest sway over man, self-interest is probably the strongest, the most 
 easily excited, the most insatiable, and the promptings of which should 
 be watched with the greatest jealousy. They who are actuated by it 
 cannot make up an unbiassed decision upon the matter in issue ; nor can 
 a mass of persons, however respectable they may be, having strong local 
 interests — which is but an expansionof self interest — become a competent 
 tribunal to decide upon the propriety, or the contrary, of a public measure 
 materially atfecting those interests. Whatever representations persons 
 thus situated may make should be received with many grains of allow- 
 ance; and the public good would always require that they should receive 
 a strict and searching examination. 
 
8 
 
 The undersigned is led to these remarks from the fact that the petition- 
 ers who have thus sought to disturb a system which has received the 
 sanction of our predecessors, and of the people generally, irom their 
 location, must be presumed to have personal interests which they believe 
 will be promoted by the changes prayed for — otherwise, it is not to be 
 supposed that they would make the effort. So far as they are directly 
 concerned, the undersigned believes that they have no right to demand of 
 the State any change in a system which is not local in its character, and 
 in the harmony and advantages oi which the whole State has a great 
 and abiding interest. He does not believe that the citizens of any one 
 of the counties petitioning have such an interest in a system co-extensive 
 with the entire State as to justify any change for their exclusive advan- 
 tage and convenience. In all similar cases, it would be just to require 
 that it should be demonstrated that a proposed change was demanded by 
 great public considerations affecting the interests of the whole State, and 
 not those small local interests only of a very inconsiderable part of it. 
 The undersigned does not doubt that petitions could be obtained, and 
 numerously signed, to change any given part of every railroad embraced 
 in our system, notwithstanding experienced and competent engineers, 
 sworn to discharge their duties honestly and faithfully, should determine, 
 with reference to the great interests of the whole State, against its 
 propriety. 
 
 Although the most respectful attention should at all times be given to 
 the requests of our citizens conveyed in the form of a petition or other- 
 wise, no matter, numerically regarded, how inconsiderable they may be; 
 still, when legislative action is desired, and great and important changes 
 are insisted on by them, in any law of a general nature, it is then the 
 duty of the Legislature to look beyond the citizens petiti,oning, and com- 
 prehend within the scope of their vision the interest of the great mass, 
 and deliberate long and carefully how the change may affect that mass. 
 The greatest good of the greatest number is especially to be regarded. 
 The rights of individuals also, who may have undertaken enterprises, and 
 expended n^oney in faith of an existing law, and under its promises and 
 inducements, should experience the protecting care of a just Legislature; 
 and, if finally required to yield for the public good, the case must be 
 strong and palpable in which the surrender will be demanded. 
 
 These considerations led the undersigned to a particular examination 
 of the objects sought to be attained by the petitioners — the points of 
 difference between him and the majority of the committee, with whom 
 he regrets to differ — and how, in his opinion, the great interests of the 
 State will be affected injuriously by granting their prayer. 
 
 It is known to all conversant with the proceedings of the last General 
 Assembly, that there were many conflicting interests involved in the 
 creation of the present system of internal improvements, all of which 
 could not receive the favorable regard of that body. Some had to be 
 passed over, others postponed, and some made prominent by receiving the 
 most fovorable regard of the Legislature after a full, fair, and impartial 
 examination of them all. 
 
 Among the interests supposed to be the most concerned, were those 
 existing on either side of the route of the Central railroad. A tier of 
 
counties through which the petitioners now propose to pass this raih'oad — 
 their centres lying from ten to fourteen miles east of the meridian — 
 presented their claims through their attentive representatives; whilst the 
 tier west of that line were equally zealous in asserting theirs to be the 
 route most proper for the road to occupy. They were all heard — their 
 claims duly considered, the great interests of the State at large consulted, 
 arid a determination made by law that this great artery of the system 
 should commence at "Cairo city," and be constructed on the most direct 
 and eligible route between that point and Vandalia. The site of Cairo 
 city is in township seventeen south, range one, westot the third principal 
 meridian ; and Vandalia in township six north, range one, east of the 
 same line ; consequently, the mosi direct route would exhibit but little di- 
 vergence either way from that line. The report of the Board of Public 
 Works shows that an "eligible route" has been obtained between these 
 points, the whole distance of which is 155 miles. 
 
 Having no data to determine accurately the length of the line as pro- 
 posed to be located by the petitioners, the undersigned can only approxi- 
 mate to it from a general knowledge of the face of the country, which is 
 hilly and occupied by many steep ridges and abrupt ravines, and the 
 distances between the several towns specified in the petition, as deter- 
 mined by the map. From these items of information, he believes a line 
 cannot be had to pass the points indicated, of a shorter length than 165 
 miles, making a difference in expense of at least $80,000, in distance 
 alone ; nor can the road be constructed at the same price, for the reason 
 that the deep ravines and high ridges at the head of the South branch of 
 Saline river, together with those at the heads of the several branches of 
 Muddy river, would require a great outlay, if passed by a direct line ; 
 or, if carried by a circuitous route, the cost of construction would be 
 equally enhanced. Besides all, by pursuing that route the most direct 
 line, as required by law, is not obtained, Cairo city being nearly on the 
 meridian, Vandalia two miles east of it, and Vienna, Frankfort, and 
 Mount Vernon each fourteen miles east, and Salem about ten. It will be 
 observ'ed, also, that all the counties named in the petition are abundantly 
 provided with facilities for transportation. Johnson, besides being washed 
 by the Ohio, and having a coast on that stream throughout the whole 
 extent of its southern border, has received from the State, for common 
 roads and bridges, more than $5,000; Frankfort brought into immediate 
 contact with that river by the Alton and Shawneetown road passing 
 through it; Mount Vernon within twelve miles of the Central railroad as 
 now located; and Marion penetrated by the Alton and Mount Carmel 
 railroad, and by the Great Western mail route, both of which cross 
 the Central railroad withhi twelve miles of Salem, its "commercial 
 centre." 
 
 It was designed by the Legislature, upon a principle of compromise, 
 that no points should be named between Vandalia and Cairo city, leaving 
 it entirely to sworn engineers, under the direction of an honest public 
 officer, to select the most direct and eligible route. This route has been 
 selected; purchases, at high prices, for farms have been made upon it, 
 with an eye to the increased advantages that would flow to them from 
 the construction of the road ; while, on the other hand, no investments 
 
10 
 
 can have been made in either of the counties named, from the same con- 
 sideration, the law nowhere encouraging the idea that a direct and eligible 
 route would be changed forgone less so. No inducements have been held 
 forth, b)?^ law, to any one of their citizens, no promises made, no guaran- 
 ties given, that they should be any more benefitted by the system than is 
 expressed in the law. 
 
 It is true, as asserted by the majority of the committee, that on other 
 lines of road, and north of Vandalia on the Central road, points of 
 divergence have been established by law. Would they consider it just 
 that those points should now be changed for no other reason than that 
 ^a rival point or antagonist interest desires it? Would not all who have 
 relied upon the law fixing those points have just reason to complain of 
 violated faith; and would not that reputation we have always enjoyed, 
 even in the most disastrous times, for our high sense of honor, be justly 
 tarnished? Do the majority of the committee believe that the owners of 
 property at any one of the points indicated in the act establishing the 
 internal improvement system, on the routes of the several roads, would 
 consent to ^'•bird lines''' from one terminus to the other, or that they 
 would have advocated and sustained the system, with such a provision in 
 the law? They cannot, nor can the undersigned, believe it; nor can he 
 perceive any difference in principle, so far as results are concerned, between 
 making a direct line, as the Central road is south of Vandalia, a circui- 
 tous one, in the manner proposed by the petitioners, and making more 
 direct other roads which have points of divergence established by law. 
 Disappointment, disorder, a want of confidence, and great losses in either 
 case would be the inevitable result. The State has already expended 
 near $40,000, and made contracts binding on the State, according to the 
 report of the Commissioner of the third judicial circuit, (which the under- 
 signed has been permitted to examine,) amounting to $237,794, or there- 
 abouts, for work doing and to be done at Cairo city, and on the first 
 twenty-three miles of road. These sums amount, in the aggregate, to 
 f 277,794. The same report informs the undersigned that a large force 
 has been employed during the summer and fall, and is now employed, in 
 performing the work on that part of the road, much to the satisfaction of 
 the Commissioner and engineers, and is prosecuting it with all fidelity 
 and despatch under efficient contractors. These persons have acquired a 
 right to their contracts amounting to the aggregate sum above stated, and 
 could justly complain of the State for any violation of them. It is not to 
 be supposed, with a knowledge of these facts, that a Legislature, actuated 
 by principles of justice, would do any act which would give to any of its 
 citizens occasion to complain of it as having violated their rights and 
 destroyed contracts entered into in good faith, and in a rapid course of 
 completion. Further than this, the Commissioner, as appears by the 
 same report, has obtained, on favorable terms, ten acres of land in the 
 city tract for a depot for State use, the title to which is vested in the 
 State. This land the undersigned believes, if the designs of the company 
 who own the city shall be carried into effect, as declared ni their prospec- 
 tus lately published in the "State Register," will, in the opinion of the 
 undersigned, be worth to the State, at a reasonable estimate, !ii;200,000. 
 This will also be lost should the State abandon their pledge. But the 
 
11 
 
 majority of the committee insist that the site selected is not a proper one 
 for a commercial mart. If so, then the land there owned by the State 
 will be worth nothing. They quote a part of the report of the engineer 
 of the road, expressing his apprehension that the ravages of the Missis- 
 sippi will extend to the embankments of the road. The undersigned will 
 refes to other parts of the same report on this subject., He says: "The 
 law having confined the point of starting at Cairo city, there was but 
 little range in the selection of a site for the depot. Several causes opera- 
 ted in the selection of the present site. Its position is on the Ohio river, 
 about three-fourths of a mile above its mouth. The river bank at this 
 point is the highest of any throughout the extent of the city front. Its 
 vicinity to the mouth will diminish materially the inconvenience in touch- 
 ing at the port for vessels engaged in the Mississippi trade; whilst the 
 gentleness of the current, and the unvarying depth of the water, at once 
 makes it as good a harbor as can be desired. The Mississippi, on the 
 contrary, from its impetuosity and the variableness of its channel, renders 
 the permanency of a good harbor and landing very uncertain. It will, 
 however, be a matter of future consideration whether a depot and landing 
 place should not be constructed on the Mississippi bank, to be used when 
 the stage of water will permit. 
 
 "The reiteration of statements extremely disadvantageous to the posi- 
 tion of the point required by law to be selected for this depot — vague and 
 uncertain to some extent as they are, and originating perhaps in antago- 
 nistical interest — although discredited by me, has had the effect to cause 
 a very careful examination of the whole point. The result has been a 
 thorough conviction that the State incurs no risk in completing her works. 
 The earth is firm and dry, and fully capable of sustaining the weight of 
 any mass of buildings which could be crowded thereon. During the 
 highest water, there is very Httle current out of the channel of the river; 
 and as the grade line is established at such elevation that it cannot be 
 overtopped, there is no danger to be apprehended of the destruction of 
 the embankment. There is but one source of danger — it is from the 
 ravages of the Mississippi upon its banks, threatening to extend its in- 
 roads as far as the embankments. That the bank has wasted to some 
 extent is certain, but the river now shows a disposition to remain station- 
 ary; and this, in that river, is generally followed by recession. In thfe 
 event, however, of the wasting continuing, I am assured by Mr. D. B. 
 Holbrook, the person most concerned in Cairo city, that immediate steps 
 will be taken to curb it ; and the successful result of proper measures to 
 effect this will not admit of doubt." 
 
 The same engineer, further on in his report, uses this language: "The 
 termination of the Central railroad is the most remarkable point in the 
 west. It is undeniably the head of low-water navigation for vessels of 
 large size. A series of shoals or bars commencing at Cache island, and 
 extending at short intervals entirely up the Ohio river, prevents its navi- 
 gation for long periods, at a time when the growing commerce of the 
 west requires it should be in the best order. This, in future, will cause a 
 selection of that route for transportation which can be confided in. The 
 Mississippi always supplies that route to the mouth of the Ohio; and from 
 thence advantage can be taken of our internal im provements for conveyance 
 
12 
 
 to the interior, or the smaller boats can freight from thence for the 
 upper rivers. The present situation of our commerce is too plainly 
 seen, and too sensibly felt, to again admit of confidence in the Ohio and 
 Mississippi rivers above their confluence. For the shipment of produce, 
 this place has the advantage of any point above. The river below is 
 seldom obstructed, when all the rivers above are too low for navigation,^ 
 or blocked up with ice. From all these advantages, the interest is appa- 
 rent which the State has in the proper ordering of this important point." 
 
 The undersigned has extracted largely from the report of the chief en- 
 gineer, for the purpose of destroying any erroneous impressions that may 
 have been received from other quarters in regard to the importance of 
 this site. He trusts that his opinions will be satisfactory and conclusive. 
 In addition to them, the undersigned has seen and read the concluding 
 remarks of other engineers employed to examine and report upon the 
 capabilities of this same site for improvement. These engineers are the 
 celebrated William Strickland and Richard C. Wright, of Pennsylvania. 
 They say: "In conclusion, we cannot refrain or Avithhold our surprise that 
 any doubts should have been entertained, or acted upon, with reference 
 to the practicability of erecting a city at the confluence of these great 
 navigable rivers. Topographically considered, the site is nearly in the 
 centre of the United States. The textuie and solidity of the banks at 
 the point are as firm and secure as any other positions for building, be- 
 tween it and the rocky formations higher up the streams. It is the ver}' 
 threshold of the most fertile regions of the west, surrounded by the best 
 timber and bituminous coal; and from the construction of the great Cen- 
 tral railroad, and the immense range of navigable rivers all centring at this 
 point, it must, necessarily, have th^ exclusive advantage of becoming the 
 great entrepot of all the agricultural and mineral wealth of this great em- 
 pire of industry and enterprise. In short, there is not in any quarter of 
 the globe a situation so commanding, and replete with every kind of 
 produce and material, to promote the prosperity of the merchant, the 
 skill of the mechanic, and the growth of a great city." 
 
 These are the unbiassed opinions of distinguished and disinterested men, on 
 which the undersigned reposes with confidence. He cannot, with all the 
 light he has been enabled to obtain, believe that the interest of the State 
 would, in any one particular, be promoted by granting the prayer of the 
 petitioners. 
 
 The undersigned would not consider he had discharged the duties his 
 situation imposes upon him, did he close this report without adverting to 
 other topics having a direct and important bearing, upon the pecuniary 
 interests of the State, as connected with this subject. 
 
 In addition to the fact that contractors who have made engagements 
 with the State will, in the event of any change being made, sue for and 
 recover damages, great delay and expense will be caused in the prosecu- 
 tion of the works, as the laborers already collected will disperse to seek 
 employment elsewhere. Six months, or nine, will be consumed in making 
 surveys, attended with all the heavy expenses incident to that branch of 
 the service; to which maybe added the increased expense of letting new 
 contracts, which are by no means light or inconsiderable- 
 
13 
 
 On ihe route as now located the right of way has already been obtain- 
 ed, on the most favorable terms to the State, with the express understand- 
 ing that the road should jiass over the land released ; in faith of which the 
 timber has been cut off, excavations made, and other destruction of prop- 
 erty to a great amount, which must be made up to the owners, if the route 
 is abandoned, in money. The State has also purchased a considerable 
 quanty of land on the present line, which is daily increasing in value, not 
 only suitable for town sites, stations, and depots, but which contains 
 beneath its surface inexhaustible beds of the best coal, building and lime- 
 stone, convenient to the road, and which must become lucrative articles 
 of commerce; the value of all which, by any change, will be materially 
 lessened. 
 
 All of which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 R. G. MURPHY, of said committee. 
 
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