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 Wi)t 3lliuoi0 Centrol Mailroatr. 
 
 ITS POSITION AND PROSPECTS. 
 
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ILLINOIS CENTRAL EAIL IIOAI). 
 
 For the purpose of aiding the construction of " a 
 Rail Road from the southern terminus of the Illinois and 
 Michigan Canal to a point at or near the junction of the 
 Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, with a Branch of the same 
 to Chicago, on Lake Michigan, and another via the town 
 of Galena to Dubuque, in the State of Iowa," the Con- 
 gress of the United States, by an Act, approved September 
 20, 1850, granted to the State of Illinois, 
 
 1st. The right of way 200 feet wide, through the public 
 lands, and of taking necessary materials of earth, stone, 
 lumber, &c. 
 
 2d. Every alternate section of land, designated by even 
 numbers for six sections in width on each side of said 
 Road and Branches, or if any such have been sold, so much 
 land most contiguous to such sections and not exceeding 
 fifteen miles from the line of the road as shall be equal to 
 those sold. 
 
 By an Act of the Legislature of the State of Illinois, 
 passed the present year, Robert Schuyler, George Gris- 
 wold, Gouveneur Morris, Franklin Haven, David A. Neal, 
 Robert Rantoul, jun., Jonathan Sturgis, George W. Lud- 
 low, John F. Sanford, Henry Grinnell, William H. Aspin- 
 wall, Leroy Wiley and Joseph W. Alsop, and such pers'-ijs 
 as shall hereafter become Stockholders, were cr^.ied a 
 body politic and corporate, under the name of the Illinois 
 Central Rail Road Company, with all necessary powers 
 and privileges for constructing and maintaining the Rail 
 Road and Branches, contemplated in the Act of Congress 
 aforesaid, and for this purpose, the right of way, and all 
 the lands that may be selected along the line of said 
 
2 
 
 Road and Branches in the Stale, under the grant in said 
 Act, together with a right of way over and tlirough lands 
 belonging to the State, and all the rights and materials 
 heretofore acquired by the State for the same object, 
 are ceded and granted to said Corporation, on condi- 
 tion that such Road shall be built in four, and said 
 Branches in six years, and that when built and in opera- 
 tion, seven per cent of the gross income shall be paid to 
 the State in lieu of all taxes levied for State purposes. The 
 lands thus granted are to be placed in the hands of Trus- 
 tees, three-fourths for the security of any Bonds issued by 
 the Company, and one-fourth to meet any deficiency from 
 other sources, for the payment of interest, or contingencies. 
 The Capital Stock is fixed by the Act, at one million of 
 dollars, which may be increased at any time, to an amount 
 not exceeding the entire expenditure on account of the Road. 
 
 The Illinois Central Rail Road Company has been orga- 
 nised, the Capital Stock subscribed, and twenty per cent, of 
 it paid in, all the conditions of the Charter have been com- 
 plied with, and all the deeds, grants and trusts executed. 
 Engineers are employed in selecting a route and the 
 donated lands, which will amount to 3840 acres for each 
 mile of road, or in the aggregate, (the Road and Branches 
 being assumed at 670 miles) 2,572,800 acres. 
 
 It is proposed to meet tlie cost of construction by the 
 issue of Bonds, payable in 1875, bearing interest not ex- 
 ceeding seven percent. The security for the principal will 
 be — 1st, the Road itself; and 2d, two million acres of the 
 donated lands. The security for the interest will be 
 1st, the Capital Stock; 2d, the Income of the Road; 3d, 
 two hundred and fifty thousand acres of the land specially 
 appropriated. 
 
 The lands will be valued at prices that will more than 
 cover any possible amount required for construction, but 
 which, it is believed, will be fully realised before the 
 period of the maturity of the Bonds. These Bonds may at 
 any time, be surrendered and any land on sale claimed in 
 lieu of them at the appraisement. None of the lands appro- 
 
priated for their security, cun be disposed of, except on the 
 simultaneous surrender or payment of Bonds to an amount 
 eqital to their appraisal. That appraisal of the two mil- 
 lions of acres mortgaged for their security, that is, the price 
 under which they will not be sold, and to which it is 
 expected they will advance at some time previous to 1S75, 
 will be so arranged, as soon as they are selected and their 
 character known, as to produce the following averages. 
 400,000acres ordinary agricultural lands SG, $2,400,000 
 1,200,000 acres good agricultural lands $10, 12,000,000 
 300,000 acres superior agricultural do. $1.5, 4,500,000 
 100,000 acres town sites, mineral lands $25, 2,500,000 
 
 2,000,000 $21,400,000 
 
 To enable the Company to meet the demand for these 
 lands at any time, short ot the period of the maturity of 
 the Bonds, the right to anticipate their payment has been 
 reserved, but only on condition of giving one hundred and 
 twenty dollars for every hundred so taken up. 
 
 During the time occupied in the construction of the Read 
 the interest on the outlay will be included in its cost. Im- 
 mediately on its completion, the Income, after paying cur- 
 rent expenses and State tax, will be of course applied to 
 this object. If it should not, at first, be sufficient, the 
 earnings from any partial use of the road, before its entire 
 completion, the whole capital stock of the Company, and 
 the entire proceeds of sales of 250,000 acres of land set a- 
 side for this purpose, will form a fund that will be ample 
 under any contingency. 
 
 The basis of this enterprise is founded both on National 
 and State legislation. The powers delegated are ample, 
 the titles are perfect. It is of its merits as a public work, 
 of its capabilities as a great thoroughfare, of its success as 
 a commercial operation, and its consequent estimation as a 
 medium of investment, that I now propose to make some 
 remarks. 
 
4 
 
 If to make two blades of grass grow where but one grew 
 before, be worthy the high commendation of the philoso- 
 pher and patriot, it will not be deemed an act al together 
 unimportant or useless to the country to open to the ap- 
 proach of industry, millions of acres of the most fertile soil 
 the sun ever shone upon, and to make available at once, 
 the alluvial deposites of countless ages. An enterprise that 
 will thus bring into use, wealth heretofore buried, that will 
 lighten the burthen, while it will increase the rewards of 
 labor, that will add to the resources of the poor, and offer 
 new and valuable investments to the rich, will hardly 
 want friends, when such pretensions shall be established. 
 The construction of a Rail Road traversing in its whole 
 length the State of Illinois from Cairo, where the waters 
 of the Mississippi and the Ohio meet, bearing on their sur- 
 face the various productions of the North and the South, 
 of the East and the West, to the vast mineral regions of 
 Galena in the North West and to Chicago the emporium 
 of the commerce of the great Lakes at the North East, will 
 it is believed accomplish these objects. Its practicability, 
 with the means at the disposal of its projectors and friends, 
 is an important consideration. This, it is evident, must 
 mainly depend on the ultimate value of the work when 
 completed, and of the effect on the property which forms 
 the basis of all its financial operations. The value of the 
 work may be estimated by the use that can be made of it, 
 or rather by the extent of production to which the ability 
 to use it, will give birth. The sources of income will be 
 found, 
 
 1st. In the produce of the mines and forests, for these 
 furnish articles ready for use, and of general consumption 
 every where. 
 
 2d. In the produce of the soil, which requires easy and 
 cheap transportation to induce, as much as it does sun- 
 shine and rain, to perfect its cultivation. 
 
 3d. In the supplies requisite to those Avho may be enga- 
 ged in occupations connected with or incident to the two 
 above named branches of business. 
 
4th. In the movements of the same persons for purposes 
 of business or pleasure. 
 
 5th. In the transit of persons and goods between points 
 beyond the limits of the State, for which the route will 
 afford the most convenient and expeditious passage. 
 
 6th. In the transportation of mails and expresses, and 
 in other miscellaneous operations. 
 
 Having settled these points with as much precision as 
 the nature of the case admits, it will be easy to estimate 
 the value of the Road as an investment, and consequently 
 as a security per se for the means necessary to construct 
 it. If it cannot be shown that it will yield some income 
 beyond its current expenses, no one will probably take the 
 trouble to carry on the enterprise, and consequently no 
 means will be required for its construction. If therefore 
 these means are sought, it will be proof that its projectors 
 believe it will be of some intrinsic value. It may be more 
 or less, or they may be altogether mistaken. 
 
 If the latter be not the case, then the property which 
 they receive for carrying out the plan, must also be worth 
 something. How much, will depend on the demand for it, 
 and the demand will be proportionate to the number of 
 persons who may be induced, by the prospect of success, 
 to cluster about it. We come back then to the great ques- 
 tion of population. In estimating what it may be some 
 four or five or six years hence, in the region to be traversed 
 by this or any other Road, we have the same lights to 
 guide us that are always used by prudent men in their 
 daily operations. 
 
 The merchant embarks in a well known traffic, with 
 confidence, because he knows the number and wants of 
 his customers. The manufacturer trusts, without ques- 
 tion, the most valuable material in the hands of the opera- 
 tive, because he believes, that in its new form it will have 
 acquired a new value from the fact that there are people 
 whose comforts will be increased by its use. The farmer 
 casts his seed into the ground, with little doubt of eventful 
 re-payment, not only in the crops which must ensue, but 
 
6 
 
 in his ability to exchange them for other things of whicli 
 he has more need. So, if we offer a richer soil and greater 
 facilities for disposing of its produce, than can be found 
 elsewhere, we may fairly calculate on drawing to it a 
 portion of the vast body of men that are always in motion, 
 seeking rest, and competence and wealth, and just in pro- 
 portion as are the inducements, will be the rapidity of its 
 settlement and the value of the property. How rapid it 
 will be, and how great the appreciation, we can judge 
 when we know the whole case from analogy and expe- 
 rience. These are the true prophets. No man can be 
 called speculative in the opprobrious sense of the term, 
 that bases his operations on these as a foundation, and 
 legitimately forms his opinions, and acts on them, from an 
 accurate knowledge of facts and of their ordinary effects. 
 In doing this however, we should weigh carefully all the 
 conflicting circumstances, give no heed to the dictates of 
 interest or the fascinations of a favorite theory. On the 
 contrary we should always assume that there will be difll- 
 culties we have not discovered, and some points on which 
 we have been deceived by false information or misled by 
 specious pretensions. 
 
 In presenting the following views and estimates, I have 
 not only endeavored, to keep within these rules, but to 
 make more than ample allowance for any possible con- 
 tingency. 
 
 The geographical character of the State of Illinois lias 
 not been favorable to a rapid development of its resources. 
 The Mississippi forms its entire western boundary, and the 
 Ohio and Wabash its southern and eastern. It is inter- 
 sected but by one navigable river, the Illinois. It has but 
 one harbor on the Lakes, Chicago. A large portion of the 
 ^tate is without wood. A much larger portion of it is 
 without roads, or the means of making them. Its streams 
 are the only practicable routes for heavy transportation, 
 and they are frozen in winter, and almost dry in summer. 
 
 Its financial position has not been, for several years 
 
past, of stidh a character as to invite an increase of popu- 
 lation. With a view to counteract the actual disadvantages 
 mentioned, an extensive system of internal improvement 
 was very early projected by the State Government, but the 
 only results were unfinished works, enormous debts and 
 heavy taxation. 
 
 Such, however, is the extraordinary richness of its soil, 
 the ease with which it is cultivated, and the enormous 
 returns it yields for the labor bestowed upon it, that the 
 number of its inhabitants has been steadily progressive, 
 and has now reached between 8 and 900,000, and 15 to the 
 square mile. The adverse circumstances which have re- 
 tarded its prosperity no longer operate to the same extent, 
 and will soon disappear altogether. Her Canal is com- 
 pleted, her debt in process of liquidation, and her finances 
 rapidly assuming a position that will no longer require the 
 imposition of heavy taxes to sustain her credit and restore 
 her reputation. But beyond anything else, the construction 
 of Rail Roads will, in the course of four or five years do 
 more for Illinois, than the discovery of its sierras of 
 gold has done for California. The National Government 
 has acted with a true regard to its own interests, in passing 
 the act granting to the States of Illinois, Mississippi and 
 Alabama, alternate sections of the public lands, twelve 
 miles in width, whenever and wherever they would con- 
 struct a Rail Road that should commence on the Gulf of 
 Mexico, and terminate at the Lakes, and on the head wa- 
 ters of the Mississippi. The portion allotted to Illinois, in 
 this work, extends from Cairo, at the junction of the 
 Mississippi and Ohio rivers, to Chicago, on its north-east- 
 ern, and to Galena, on its north-western boundary. 
 
 The peculiar formation of this tract of country, makes 
 it perhaps more than any other in the world, the j)lace for 
 the location of Rail Roads. Its topographical character is 
 extremely favorable to their construction. On its vast 
 prairies the levels are already formed. The embankments 
 and ditches may be made by turning the sods from the 
 sides to the centre. There are but few streams to cross, 
 
8 
 
 no rocks to blast, no mountains to perforate, and no valua- 
 ble estates through which to purchase at enormous rates, 
 the right of way. The difficulties are all of an inferior 
 grade. The want of material at hand for the purposes of 
 masonry, construction of bridges, and ballasting the Road 
 way, will be obviated by laying the track on the banks 
 made from the side drains, and transporting on it the rock, 
 wood and gravel required, and which, from the great dis- 
 tance between the points where they are found and where 
 they are wanted, could be done in no other way. The very 
 low cost of Rail Roads already completed in Illinois, fully 
 sustain the fact of the great facilities which the nature of 
 the country affords for their construction. It is probable 
 they can be built at less cost here than in any other part 
 of the globe. It is certain they will do comparatively more 
 good. Any where they are better than rivers. Every 
 where they increase wealth by facilitating the means of 
 acquiring it. But here they open access to a country 
 through which no river runs, and from which no river can 
 now be reached. They develope resources that must other- 
 wise have remained hidden from human sight, and beyond 
 the grasp of human hands. 
 
 Aware of the importance of introducing this engine of 
 prosperity into their State with the least possible delay, the 
 Legislature of Illinois wisely decided to transfer the boon 
 offered by the General Government, to any responsible party 
 that would undertake the enterprise, reserving to itself a 
 fair share of the profits to be derived from it, and tendering 
 to it all the protection which the broad seal of the State, 
 and the solemnity of a contract, capable of being enforced 
 in the Supreme Court of the United States, could give. 
 The original gift and its subsequent transfer will, we trust, 
 prove to be in fact, a deed of beneficence, blessing those 
 who gave, and those who received it. 
 
 The Association, to whom the grant has been made by 
 the State of Illinois, have received all waters, land, materi- 
 als, privileges, rights of way, gradings, embankments, 
 surveys, property, profiles and papers, belonging to the 
 State, and necessary for the purpose of constructing the 
 
9 
 
 Road, free of cost and expense, subject to their control and 
 for their use forever. 
 
 The Road to be built is restricted only to within seven- 
 teen miles each side of a straight line from the city of Cairo 
 to the Southern terminus of the lUinois Canal, which line 
 is nearly coincident with the third principal meridian, 
 thence a branch by any convenient route to Galena. From 
 a point in about the latitude of °39.30 North latitude, will 
 diverge the branch to be buih to Chicago. The Main Line 
 to be completed in four years, the Branches in six. No 
 taxes to be levied until the road is completed ; then in lieu 
 of all other taxes the Company are to pay seven per cent, 
 of the gross earnings of the Road, as already stated. The 
 donated lands consist of every alternate section designated 
 by even numbers, for six sections in width on each side of 
 the Road as it may be located, or if any of these have 
 been sold, then an equal quantity may be taken from con- 
 tiguous tiers of sections any where within fifteen miles of 
 the line. 
 
 Under this grant, the Road will be located through tlie 
 most fertile prairies, the most valuable forests, and the 
 richest mineral lands in the State; but these have been ne- 
 glected by settlers in consequence of the utter impossibil- 
 ity of getting their productions to market. Ihitil the lUi- 
 nois Central Rail Road Company shall have selected their 
 lands, the Books of the General Land Oflice in Washing- 
 ton are closed against entries in this region, and when 
 opened, the price is to be double that of the other lands. 
 The Company are therefore fully protected. They have 
 organized under their charter, all the deeds and necessary 
 documents have been executed by the Governor of the 
 State, the trustees, and its own officers. The whole stock 
 has been taken and twenty per cent, been paid in, in cash, 
 and the same deposited with the State Treasurer of Illi- 
 nois, to be returned on completion of fifty miles of the 
 Road. Robert Schuyler, Esq., of New York, a gentleman 
 more conversant with and more largely interested in Rail 
 Roads than any other person on the Western continent, 
 has been chosen President, and Morris Ketchum, Esq., of 
 
10 
 
 llie very wealthy and well known house of Rogers, Ketch- 
 uiTi & Bemcnt, Treasurer of the Association, R. B. Ma- 
 son, Esq., of the New York and New Haven Rail Road, 
 has been appointed Chief, and he has engaged seven resi- 
 dent and a large corps of assistant Engineers, who have 
 proceeded to Illinois to locate the Road and select the do- 
 nated lands. The system devised for procuring the means 
 of building this Road by the sale of Bonds, and for the 
 payment of them when or before they become due, is 
 unique in its character and provisions. It is believed to 
 afford not simply entire security for the current interest 
 and redemption at maturity, but a strong probability of a 
 great advance in value, in consequence of the peculiar 
 conditions annexed to the sale of the property which forms 
 a branch of the collateral security embraced in the plan. 
 
 The length of the Road and Branches will probably not 
 be less than 670 miles, which will entitle the Company, as 
 before stated, to an aggregate donation of 2,572,800 acres. 
 No estimate of its cost has been attempted, for no particu- 
 lar survey of the whole route has yet been made. It is 
 said that $1.5,000 per mile is the highest that any Road 
 (allowing for heavy T rail,) has as yet cost in Illinois ; — 
 $20,000 per mile would require about $14,000,000. It is 
 intended to use the strictest economy, consistent with the 
 construction of a good, substantial Road. It is also in- 
 tended to pay for every thing with cash. There are vari- 
 ous reasons besides for believing that this Road will be 
 built for comparatively little money; but as ample secu- 
 rity will be offered for any possible sum that may be re- 
 quired, it is unnecessary in this connection to go into any 
 detail on that subject. 
 
 The Bonds will be dated April 1, 1S51, with Coupons 
 attached, at rate of interest to be hereafter agreed on, not 
 exceeding seven per cent. It is desirable to negotiate at 
 once (if practicable,) for enough to ensure the building the 
 Road, but to be paid by instalments as wanted. 
 
 The first security for these Bonds that will be offered, 
 will be the Road itself. To render this satisfactory, it 
 must be shown, with a reasonable degree of certainty, 
 
11 
 
 that it will pay its current expenses, taxes and interest on 
 the capital invested. There will be wilhin fifteen miles of 
 the line of this Road, upwards of 12,000,01)0 acres of land. 
 It is adapted to the cultivation of any kind of grain, but 
 particularly of Indian corn, of which it is said it produces 
 60 a 70 bushels to the acre, and to be inexhaustible. 
 There are at various points on the Road, large quantities 
 of bituminous coal. There is one field of peculiarly 
 good quality near Danville, about 120 miles from Chicago, 
 from which all the shore towns and steamers of Lake 
 Michigan may be supplied. Another, 50 miles from Ca- 
 iro, which may supply the demands for steamboats, both 
 on the Ohio and Mississippi. A large part of Illinois, es- 
 peciallj' that distant from the banks of the rivers, is desti- 
 tute of forests. Chicago is the great depot for the lumber 
 of both Michigan and Wisconsin, and it can always be 
 obtained here in any quantities at low prices. Cairo is at 
 tlie head of navigation for tlie large steamers of the Low- 
 er Mississippi, and the place of transhipment from them to 
 the vessels of lighter draft, and vice versa, both of passen- 
 gers and freight. Frequently the rivers above are impeded 
 with ice, swollen from freshets or impassible for want of 
 water. The Illinois Central Rail Road will furnish a rapid 
 communication with and through the central, most fertile 
 and most healthy portions of the State. Its means of trans- 
 portation, will be ample, uninterrupted and safe. It will 
 be completed probably in four years from the time of its 
 active commencement. 
 
 One mode of increasing the population of the country 
 will be the mass of laborers that must be introduced to 
 build the Road. The amount paid to workmen alone, em- 
 ployed in grading, will not probably be less on an average, 
 than $6000 per mile. Assuming the wages at ^l per day, 
 and the road 666 2-3 miles long, we have 4,000,000 days 
 work — or divided among four years, 1,000,000 per annum — 
 and supposing 250 working days in the year, we require 
 4000 men to be constantly at work. With the prospect of 
 so long a job. large numbers of these will have their fami- 
 lies with them, and thus add at least 50 per cent to the 
 
12 
 
 number. With them will naturally be brought those who 
 look for profit in supplying them. An immediate market 
 will be introduced for small farmers all along the line, 
 who will clear their land in a single year from the disposal 
 of their surplus produce. Three fourths of the money ex- 
 pended in constructing the road, will remain in the country, 
 or be remitted to Washington, in payment for Government 
 lands. Settlers will thus have an unprecedented opportu- 
 nity to make themselves not only owners of the soil, but 
 establish themselves with comfort and independence for 
 life. This will arrest the tide of immigration at this point. 
 It will be known throughout Europe, as the spot where 
 labor is in demand, wages good, pay prompt, living cheap, 
 and farms paid for from the profits of a single crop. By 
 these means this strip of thirty miles in width, or parcel of 
 20,000 square miles of country, will soon become spotted 
 with an industrious population. 
 
 But these will not be the only means, nor agriculture 
 the only inducement for drawing settlers to this region. 
 Where the ground produces so exuberantly, the greater 
 part of its productions must find a foreign market. The 
 corn grown by the Irish immigrant, now raised to the 
 dignity of landed proprietor, will go to feed his relatives 
 and friends in the old country. The hemp rotted in the 
 waters of the Illinois and Kaskaskias, already almost the 
 only kind used in the Eastern States, will meet and com- 
 pete with, and put down the product of the Serf labor of 
 Russia, in the London Market. The beef, pork and lard 
 of the Prairie, will not only feed all the inhabitants between 
 the Mississippi and the yVtlantic coast, but will crowd, 
 more than ever, the docks and rise in higher piles on the 
 quays of Liverpool. The immense flocks, for which this 
 portion of the country is already becoming celebrated, will 
 supply the mills that are found on every stream in New 
 England, at a cheaper rate, and with a better article, than 
 that for which they have till latterly sent and still do to 
 some extent send their ships to gather in the extreme cor- 
 ners of the earth. The returns for these substantial items 
 of food and raiment must consist of all the variety of com- 
 
13 
 
 forts and luxuries which the hard-working laborer requires 
 and which the prosperous farmer will have. This niter- 
 change of commodities must employ many heads and 
 many hands. It will cause the establishment of stores, 
 villages, towns and cities. These will be connected by 
 earth roads and plank roads and rail roads. Churches 
 and schools will spring up in every direction. It will be 
 the reverse of the country of the poet, " where wealth ac- 
 cumulates and men decay." Men grow happier and bet- 
 ter where wealth increases from their own exertions, where 
 industry is sure to give them competence, and enterprise 
 will secure abundance. 
 
 But for our present purpose, these pictures, which are too 
 true to nature in our Western country to be considered any 
 thing more speculative than is the plan of the architect, 
 who has his materials ready purchased and his contracts 
 ready drawn, these may be entirely dispensed with, we 
 may if we can, crowd ourselves down to the idea that this 
 region, now about to be emancipated from its native wild- 
 ness, will crawl along so that at the end of four or fiv« 
 years it will have attained a population no greater than the 
 present average of the whole State. Even then there will 
 be dependent on this road for their supplies and for the 
 sale of their produce, at least 300,000 persons, each one 
 of whom will be located somewhere within eighteen miles 
 of a Station on the Illinois Central Rail Road. 
 
 Under the circumstances and with the advantages that 
 have been thus alluded to, can there be a doubt that the 
 Road will be sustained and pay, even the first year it may 
 be put in operation, a liberal income on its cost? It is 
 hard to conceive a state of things in which such must not be 
 the case. As this, however, is an important matter, it may 
 be as well to descend to particulars, and in doing so, I 
 will assume there is to be no progress, no incentive, no en- 
 terprise ; that no spirit is to be awakened, no impulse giv- 
 en by the outlay of millions of money, and no advantage 
 taken of the millions of acres of the richest soil in the 
 world, located in the absolute centre of the United States, 
 which will be thrown before the thousands that are daily 
 
14 
 
 flocking to these shores for the very purpose of gaining 
 a foothold and freehold in our country. The calculations 
 Aviil be based simply on what would nov) be the business 
 of the Road, if it were completed, supposing it to have the 
 advantage of only the present average density of popula- 
 tion in the State and conceding to its industry but the least 
 probable amount of productiveness. 
 
 The first source of income to this Road, it has been 
 already stated, would be found in the produce of the 
 mines and forests, in other words in the transportation of 
 coal and lumber. Coal of a bituminous character is found 
 in many places in Illinois. Two fields of very superior 
 quality will be found intersected by this Road or its Chi- 
 cago Branch, one about 50 miles from Cairo, the other 
 ]20 miles from Chicago. It is not probable that any con- 
 siderable quantities will be exported from Cairo, because 
 the coal from the Ohio, being contiguous to its banks, can 
 be delivered on shipboard for less money. It will, howev- 
 er, be wanted by every steamboat that touches at that 
 place, and the convenience and facility with which it may 
 be furnished from the Road, will ensure that custom. In 
 1850, it is stated that 1500 arrivals of steam boats were 
 chronicled at Cairo. These boats require from 5 to 30 tons 
 of coal or an equivalent in other fuel every day they are 
 under steam. I am not well advised on this subject, but 
 suppose a supply to each boat on an average, of three days 
 or fifty tons would be considered small. Tbis, however, 
 ■would require an import of 75,000 tons per annum, for this 
 sole object. How much would be carried north for the 
 supply of the inhabitants is still more problematical. From 
 the mines near Danville, Chicago and all the towns on 
 Lake Michigan would draw their supplies of coal to more 
 advantage than from any other source. So also could all 
 the steamers navigating that Lake. It will surely be safe 
 to estimate all this at 75.000 tons more. The average 
 transportation will be over 75 miles, and the lowest 
 rate would be $1 1-2 per ton, which would amount to 
 ^225,000. The interior counties of the State have no 
 tin:iber, while those to whicli tlie coal will be carried can 
 
15 
 
 supply liimbor and wood to any amount. The. sonthcm 
 portion of Illinois lias fine forests. At Dnbnque or its vi- 
 cinity are saw mills which are amply supplied from Mine- 
 sota. Chicago is well known as the great lumber depot of 
 the lakes, taking most of its supply from the adjoining 
 State of Wisconsin. The Rock Valley Rail Road termi- 
 nating here, passes through vast forests of white pine. 
 Now in the prairie lands of Illinois, through which the 
 Central Rail Road will be carried for a large part of it.s 
 whole distance, every article for building, fencing and fuel 
 must be drawn from one or the other of the above sources. 
 The cars therefore carrying coal, as well as those carrying 
 produce to Chicago, will find employment on their return 
 trips, in the transportation of timber. The gross income 
 from the use of them cannot be set down at less than 
 $300,000. 
 
 The second source indicated, from which the Road is to 
 be sustained, is " the produce of the soil." The transpor- 
 tation of Indian corn and other grains will be the import- 
 ant business of this Road. Their production will in time 
 be limited by the capacity of the Road to carry it off. In an 
 estimate of this sort then, it may be safe to neglect all other 
 kinds of produce, or rather consider them as merged into 
 the one article of maize or Indian corn. We have already 
 restricted ourselves to a population in the district of coun- 
 try lying within fifteen miles of the Rail Road, to the den- 
 sity of the whole State by the census of 1850, or fifteen to 
 the square mile. There will be, as before stated, 20,000 of 
 such miles, and the number of inhabitants will be of course 
 300.000. A large portion of these will be male adults, but 
 taking the usual calculation of five to a family, we have 
 60,000 families. Deducting again one sixth for other em- 
 ployments, we have then 50,000 families presumed to be 
 engaged in the cultivation of the soil. Now it cannot be 
 doubted, I think, that ten families can easily till and take 
 care of lOOO acres of Indian corn in Illinois, by an inter- 
 change of labor. It is as certain that the land will give 50, 
 60 and 70 bushels to the acre. This gives an average of 
 100 acres of cultivated ground, and 6000 bushels of coin to 
 
16 
 
 each family. But to be sure not to overtask the powers of 
 the people or of the soil, we reduce both one half, 50 acres 
 and 30 bushels per acre, giving to each family 1500 bush- 
 els. Of this, suppose one third to be used in the family 
 and on the farm and wasted. There remains 1000 bush- 
 els. As a portion of this may be represented by less bulky 
 and more valuable articles, we again reduce it one third 
 to get at the weight that will require transportation to a 
 market. This leaves us 666 1-3 bushels of corn, or an 
 equivalent in other things, and which multiplied by the 
 number of families gives equal to 33,333,000 bushels of 
 Indian corn. The usual mode is to estimate 33 bushels to 
 the ton. At 33 1-3 it gives 1,000,900 tons. The average 
 distance which it would have to be transported to a market 
 could not be less than 100 miles, and the price would be 
 low at five cents per ton per mile. This would give 
 $4,000,000. 
 
 3d. The returns that will be made to the producers of 
 this large amount of property must bear some proportion 
 to it in value and in bulk. If the corn nets but 15 cents 
 per bushel, it will give to each family $100, and to the 
 no,0(yO families $5,000,000. To keep within bounds, we 
 will suppose that exclusive of the lumber by the coal and 
 other trains, only one-eighth of the outward tonnage is re- 
 turned in supplies. This would give the Road, at the 
 enhanced rate which such goods would bear, (say 5 cents 
 per ton per mile) or $5 per ton, $625,000. 
 
 4th. The local travel of this same population will be 
 an item of some importance. They must be considerably 
 scattered, and if they associate at all, they will use the 
 Road. Each head of a family will have his own produce 
 to dispose of, and that will require his presence at the mar- 
 ket towns. Now, if each family averages five journeys 
 of 60 miles each, or 300 miles per annum for the whole 
 household, it will cause tlie road to carry one passenger 
 18,000,000 miles, which at 3 cents per mile is five hundred 
 and forty thousand dollars. This would amount to nine 
 dollars for each family per annum. If we reduce it one 
 half, there can be little doubt of the other half being made 
 
19 
 
 highest rate of compensation allowed hy law. Placing it 
 
 however in the second class, the amonnt would be at least 
 
 $67,000 per annum. If we add for expenses, parcels, and 
 
 miscellaneous, 631,000, we close our estimate of probable 
 
 Income, making the total amount as follows:— 
 
 150,000 tons coal carried 75 miles each Gross Income $225,000 
 
 150,000 " lumber " 100 " " " " 300,000 
 
 1,000,000 " produce " 100 " " " *' 4,000,000 
 
 125,000 " Merchandise back " " " •* 625,000 
 
 60.000 passengers (local) 300 " " " " 540,000 
 
 26,000 " (through) 400 " " " " 312,000 
 
 20,000 tons through freight 400 miles each. " " 200,000 
 
 6,202,000 
 Mails, &c., .... 98,000 
 
 $6,300,000 
 To transport the above, 258,000,000 tons of merchandise 
 or individual passengers must have been carried one mile, 
 estimating each ton of merchandise outward as two, but 
 not estimating anything for the return freight, and putting 
 the expenses at one cent per ton, or per passenger carried 
 one mile, the cost is $2,580,000 
 
 and leaving a JNet Income of 3,720,000 
 
 less 7 per ct. of Gross income 440,000— leaves 3,280,000 
 or an interest of 7 per cent on nearly $47,000,000. It is, 
 however, an amount of business that could not be performed 
 on a single track, and with the depot accommodation such 
 as we presume the Company will have prepared at the 
 outset. The statement however, seems to show that there 
 will be as much business as can be well managed when 
 the Road is first opened. It may therefore be proper to 
 show what can be conveniently done with a single track, 
 and what equipment will be required to do it. 
 
 It may be set dov/n as an axiom in Rail Road manage- 
 ment, that it should be prepared to do every day and any 
 day double its annual average. Thus, if the whole ton- 
 nage of the 313 working days in the year be 313,000 tons 
 or an average of 1000 tons per day, the Road should be 
 prepared always to take 2000 tons, because it may at any 
 time be called on to do so. But to do this, it is evident it 
 
20 
 
 must have an equipment sufficient, not simply to carry 
 this amount, but also sutTicient to allow for cars and en- 
 gines detained, as they may be from several causes. If 
 not thus provided it cannot adapt itself to all the variations 
 of trade. 
 
 I suppose the Company could conveniently enough 
 operate the Road as follows — daily and each way : 
 
 1. One treiglit train from Dubuque to the point of deviation (in 89 
 
 deg. 30 m.) of tlie Chicago Branch, - - 260 miles, 
 
 2. One passenger train, do. ... 260 " 
 
 3. One freight train, halfway between Junction and 
 
 Dubuque, say ..... 130 " 
 
 4. Two freight trains from Junction to Cairo, say 174 " 
 
 5. Five freight trains from Junction to Chicago, - 226 " 
 
 6. One coal train from mines to Cairo, - - 54 " 
 
 7. One • " Danville to Chicago, - - 120 
 
 8. One passenger train, Cairo to Chicago, accomodation, 400 " 
 
 9. One " " express, 400 " 
 These trains will require, for actual use, the following 
 
 equipment, and will run the distances annexed : 
 
 ]\Iiles per Annum. 
 
 60 Double freight cars and 4 locomotives, making 188,760 
 
 20 Pass'r cars, 60 seals each, 
 60 Double freight cars, and 
 
 1. 
 2. 
 
 3. 
 4. 
 
 5. 
 G. 
 
 7. 
 8. 
 9. 
 
 120 
 
 240 '« " '♦ 
 
 160 Single coal cars " 
 
 160 " " " 
 
 20 Passenger cars, 60 seats, 
 
 20 
 
 4 
 2 
 4 
 16 
 2 
 2 
 
 50 
 
 To the locomotives we may add for contingencies, 50 pr ct. 
 Passenger cars " " " 50 " 
 
 Freight cars and coal cars " " 100 «' 
 
 And to the distance run, say 
 
 158,760 
 81,380 
 217,840 
 565,904 
 33,804 
 75,120 
 250,400 
 250,400 
 
 1,852,368 
 
 147,632 
 
 Giving 75 engines, 90 passenger, 960 freight and 640 coal 
 
 cars, and distance .... 2,000,000 
 
 With this power and arrangement it would be easy to 
 transport each way, if the business was uniform, for a 
 distance of 200 miles daily, 240Q tons of merchandise; but 
 conforming to the rule, already laid down, of being pre- 
 pared to do double the average, it will be fair to put the 
 
17 
 
 up and much more than made np by the other local pas- 
 senger and freight bushiess, snch as of tliose hving willi- 
 out the hne of twelve miles, of citizens of other States 
 visiting the stations, and the thousand occasions for trips 
 from the terminii to the interior. It seems safe, then, to 
 let this item stand. 
 
 5th. The through travel, which will consist of all pas- 
 sengers passing over the Road or any part of it on their 
 way to and from other States. There is a great tide of 
 travel from the South and West, that has heretofore ebbed 
 and flowed regularly Northerly and Easterly in early 
 Spring, and Southerly and Westerly in Autumn, impelled 
 by business or pleasure, or both. Various channels to ac- 
 commodate this mighty current have been, or will be pro- 
 vided. The principal of these are 
 
 1. The Southern line of rail roads, steam boats and 
 stages through Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia and Al- 
 abama : 
 
 2. The Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road intended to be 
 constructed to Wheeling on the Ohio River : 
 
 3. The Pennsylvania Rail Road and the Ohio Central 
 from Philadelphia to Pittsburg, thence by one line to Lako 
 Erie, and by another through Columbus, and eventually 
 to Vincennes and St. Louis : 
 
 4. The Erie Rail Road to Dunkirk, thence by the Lake 
 Shore Roads to Toledo, thence by Southern Michigan to 
 Chicago : 
 
 5. The Hudson River Road, connecting with all the 
 Albany and Buffalo Roads terminating at Buffalo, or Ni- 
 agara Falls, thence by the Great Western Rail Road 
 through Canada West to Detroit, thence by the Michigan 
 Central to a junction with the Illinois Central at or near 
 Chicago. At Buffalo also, passengers for the West take 
 steam boats for Detroit or direct for Chicago. 
 
 Now all these rotites, except the two first, though to a 
 degree competing among themselves, will disgorge their 
 South-western freight and passengers upon the Illinois 
 Central, which will in turn benefit them by affording the 
 quickest and best line from the Atlantic to New Orleans. 
 
144 miles, 
 
 5 hours, 
 
 300 ' = 
 
 11 " 
 
 229 " 
 
 10 " 
 
 227 " 
 
 10 " 
 
 400 " 
 
 16 " 
 
 500 *' 
 
 20 " 
 
 18 
 
 When the Mobile and Oliio, the Illinois Central, the Great 
 Western and the Hudson River Rail Roads shall be com- 
 pleted, the distances and time of passenger trains will be: 
 
 New York to Albany, 
 
 Albany to Niagara, 
 
 Niagara to Detroit, 
 
 Detroit to Michigan city, 
 
 Michigan city to Cairo, 
 
 Cairo to Mobile, 
 
 1800 72 
 
 all by Rail Road and without change of baggage from 
 the crates. If this can be approximated, and there is no 
 reason why it should not be reached, no route between the 
 East and the West either by sea or land, can successfully 
 compete with it. But supposing all this is imagination 
 and assuming all the present difficulties of this route to 
 continue, snags in the rivers, explosions of the boilers, break 
 down of the machinery, cholera in the vessel and quaran- 
 tines on shore, we shall find few who will estimate the 
 present travel over the roads and streams for which the 
 Illinois Central route will be the substitute, at less than 
 250 weekly each way, averaged through the year on each 
 and every part of them. But suppose this number only 
 pass over 400 miles of the Road, they will travel 10,400,000 
 miles, which at 3 cents per mile will give $312,000. In 
 this same class of business must be included the transpor- 
 tation of merchandise from points beyond the terminii 
 of the Road. As the route will be the shortest, safest and 
 quickest between the West and the East, it will be likely 
 to secure almost all the valuable goods imported or manu- 
 factured by the Atlantic States for the supply of the great 
 Valley of the Mississippi, but in return little except specie 
 can be expected. Putting the amount at 20,000 tons both 
 •ways, and the rate at $10 per ton, gives us $200,000. 
 
 6th. Transportation of the Mail. As this will be the 
 most expeditious route, the least exposed to delay and 
 danger, and will connect Avith all the important lines of 
 Rail Roads and Steamboats, it should be entitled to the 
 
ported by the magnificent domains already granted in ev- 
 ery section for their use, With all the appliances of modern 
 science brought to bear upon its own extraordinary pow- 
 ers of production, with one great trunk Rail Road trav- 
 ersing its whole extent from north to south, and connect- 
 ing the sources of the Mississippi with the waters of the 
 Gulf of Mexico, with rail roads and plank roads inter- 
 secting it in every direction, giving it all needful facil- 
 ities, with a location within 48 hours of New York or 
 New Orleans, with vast fields made ready by nature for 
 the plough or the harrow, with valuable forests, and with 
 inexhaustible beds of lead and coal; under all these advan- 
 tages can there be much doubt of finding purchasers at 
 prices in fee, that in many of the States less populous 
 than this will be in ten years, would hardly pay the rental 
 for a single year. 
 
 The object of this memoir is to provoke criticism — to 
 bring forward objections, if there be any, to the course 
 adopted by the Corporation, to elicit the truth by discus- 
 sion, to detect errors of fact and errors of imagination , in 
 a word to arrive at a point in the investigation of the sub- 
 ject about which there can, under no circumstances, be any 
 doubt, and to show a basis for investment that cannot fail 
 in the essential elements of security of capital and prompt 
 and regular receipt of interest. 
 
 The writer subscribes his name, not because it is of any 
 importance who presents facts that are of general notoriety, 
 or draws deductions from them which all can judge of, 
 but because he does not wish to give his representations 
 any effect by concealing his interest in the undertaking, 
 or to let it be surmised that his statements or calculations 
 have any official sanction. They have not been submitted 
 to the Coard of Directors or to any of the officers of the 
 Company. From theui a more elaborate report of the 
 location and character of the Road, of the circumstances 
 of its position, of the probable extent of its traffic, of its 
 future increase, of the value of its property, and of the 
 validity of its securities, may soon be expected. It is the 
 
24 
 
 humble, but perhaps not useless design of these pages to 
 awaken so much curiosity in relation to this subject as will 
 ensure to that Report the attention to which its importance 
 will justly entitle it, and to foreshadow the features of a 
 plan that offers a mode of investment as ample in its guar- 
 anties as the securities of government, without their liabihty 
 to fluctuations with the changing aspects of the times. 
 
 D. A. NEAL. 
 
21 
 
 capacity at 1200 tons, 100 miles outward, and 300 tons in- 
 ward. The coal trains could lake 400 tons, and those to 
 Chicago bring back 400 tons of lumber or heavy goods. 
 Reduce these also to one half, and assuming the outward 
 freight in produce at 4 cents per ton per mile, inward at 5 
 cents, and coal and lumber at 2 cents, and passengers at 3 
 cents per mile, we shall arrive at the following results: 
 
 1200 tons outward freight 312 1-2 clays is 375,000 tons at $4 - - $1,500,000 
 
 300 " inward " " " 93,'750 " " $5 - - 468,750 
 
 200 " coal to Cairo, 313 " 62,600 " " $1 - - 62,600 
 
 200 " coal to Chicago " " 62,600 " " $2 - - 125,200 
 
 200 " lumber from Chicago olSJ " 62,600 " " $2 - - 123,200 
 
 61 " through freight 313 " 20,000 " " $10 - - 200,000 
 
 26,000 through passengers 400 miles each 10,400,000 miles at 3 cents - 312,000 
 
 60,000 local " 300 " " 18,000,000 " " 3 " - 540,000 
 
 Mail $100 per mile 66,000 
 
 Expresses, Parcels, and Miscellaneous ..---- 38,250 
 
 $3,438,000 
 State Tax 7 per cent., say - 238,000 
 
 $3,200,000 
 COST OF OPERATING. 
 73,280,000 tons carried one mile, at 1 1-4 cts per ton, per mile $916,000 
 28,400,000 passengers can-ied one mile at 1 ct per mile - 284,000 1,200,000 
 
 being 60 cents per mile jun by trains. Net Income - $2,000,000 
 
 being 7 per cent., on between twenty-eight and twenty-nine 
 millions of dollars. It is evident that we may deduct one- 
 third from the gross income, and still have enough to 
 ensure the interest on the cost of the Road. In fact, it 
 seems difRcult, without throwing away all the results of 
 experience and rejecting the plainest deductions from the 
 action of well known causes, to make an estimate of the 
 business that will not produce an income, that per se, will 
 appear extravagantly large on the capital invested. Yet 
 if it had been my object to discourage investments in tho 
 stock or bonds of such an enterprise, and had claimed that 
 it could expect no more business than was indicated in the 
 preceding statement, without showing its proceeds, I am 
 sure I should have been accused of a ridiculous deprecia- 
 tion of its probable amount. There seems, indeed, very 
 little doubt, that instead of one, before many years pass 
 by. a double track will be required the whole length of 
 the line, and perhaps four tracks between the coal pits and 
 
22 
 
 the terminii of the Road. My intention, however, is not 
 to show how profitable the Road may prove as a specula- 
 tion, hut to prove that it will be good security for the sum 
 expended in its construction. If it be so, then it is evident 
 that to the bond holder, who wants security and nothing 
 else, It is not of much consequence what the mortgaged 
 lands may be worth, but to those who seek profit it may 
 be, for if these lands should not be wanted at the prices 
 fi^ed by the Directors, they will not be sold, and conse- 
 quently the Bonds will not be taken by the Company at 
 20 per cent, advance at wliich they have retained the right 
 to redeem them. But if there be not some gross fallacy 
 pervading all our previous calculations, if the usual mo- 
 tive that governs men in making their investments, to wit, 
 the proportion that the income will bear to the principal, 
 does not cease to operate, if the increase of native, and 
 the influx of foreign population does not stop, if experi- 
 ence and analogy do not deceive us, and if all who have 
 looked closely into the subject are not grossly mistaken, 
 these lands will bring every dollar at which the Directors 
 of the Company have appraised, or in all probability, will 
 wish them to be sold. 
 
 The prices that have been affixed to these lands may 
 appear large, especially when it is known that there is an 
 equal quantity equally valuable that can and will be 
 entered, as soon as the location of the Road is known, at 
 the Government minimum rate of $2 1-2 per acre. But it 
 must be recollected that it is not of the prices of to-day 
 that we speak ; that it is not an unapproachable wilder- 
 ness, devoid of culture and destitute of inhabitants, that 
 we value. It is not a country on the outskirts of civiliza- 
 tion, untrodden save by the wild animals of the prairie, or 
 the wilder Indian of the forest. But it is Illinois in 1860 
 or 1870, that we are to appreciate. It is a region dotted 
 with flourishing farms and covered with an enterprising 
 and industrious population, that we ofl'er for sale. It is 
 the exact centre of the American Union, sustained by 
 clusters of sister States all around, with its schools sup- 
 
ME 
 
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