Afrv. 
 
 '^^^^ 
 
 
24th Congress, r g-r | 
 
 2d Session. '■ ' 
 
 \ 
 
 MEMOMIAIL 
 
 OF THE 
 
 GALENA AND CHICAGO UNION RAILROAD COMPANY 
 
 5 
 
 Asking a Right of Way through the Public Lands. 
 
 January 3, 1837. — Referrecl to the r'ommiltee on Roads and 'Canals. 
 Januauy 20, 1837. — Ordered to be printed. 
 
 To the Senate and House of Representatives in the Congress of the United 
 
 States assembled : 
 
 The memorial of the President, Directors, and Stockholders of the Ga- 
 lena and Chicago Union Railroad Company 
 
 RESPECTFULLY REPRESENTS : 
 
 That, by an act of the Legislature of the State of Illinois, pa-.sed on 
 the 16th day of January, 1836, a company was incorporated for the term 
 of sixty years from the passage of the act, for the purpose of constructing 
 a railroad from the town of Galena, on Fever river, six miles from the Mis- 
 sissippi river, to the town of Chicago, on Lake Michigan, in the said State 
 of Illinois, as will appear from the charter of said company, and to which 
 your memorialists more particularly refer for the character of said act. 
 Your memorialists further represent that, in pursuance of the powers 
 contained in said act of incorporation, a full million of dollars of the 
 stock of said company has been subscribed, and the first instalment 
 thereon paid ; that an experienced engineer is now actually engaged in 
 making the survey of the line of the said road, and preparing the esti- 
 mates of the cost of constructing the same, preparatory to the commervce- 
 ment of the work, which it is bona fide the intention of your memorial- 
 ists to commence, without delay, so soon as the said survey and estimates 
 shall have been completed. The probable iengtli of the whole line of 
 the road will be about one hundred and fifty miles, and will pass through 
 a large portion of the unsurveyed public lands of the United States which 
 lie on the line of route. It will therefore be obvious to your honorable 
 body, that, to enable your memorialists to construct a large portion of 
 this work, it is indispensably necessary that the corporation should obtain 
 a permanent right of way over so much of the land along the line as the 
 Government of the United States ov.ns. It is also of more importance 
 to the success of this enterprise, that, in addition to the right of way, the 
 company should obtain a pre-emption right of purchase of one section of 
 the public lands on each side of the line of the route, for tiie purpose of 
 aiding them in effectuating the completion of tlie work. 
 [Gales & Seaton, print.] 
 
f 87 ] 2 
 
 Your memorialists further represent that, for the purpose of securing 
 this right of way, and obtaining the ownership of the land, the corporation 
 are disposed to offer to the Government, what must be admitted to be 
 not only a fair but an exceedingly liberal equivalent. They propose that, 
 hy an act of your honorable body, the right of way necessary to the 
 -construction of the proposed railroad, and for depots^ and the erection of 
 toll-houses, and other appendages thereto, not exceeding three hundred 
 yards in width along the line of the route where the same shall pass over 
 the public land of the United States, be ceded to the president and di- 
 rectors of the said company, and to their successors forever, in fee sim- 
 ple ; and that they be further permitted, within twelve months after the 
 passage of the act, to purchase the public lands by pre-emption right or pre- 
 vious right of purchase, one mile or section in depth from the said way, on 
 each side of the line of the route, which shall be reserved from sale for such 
 purpose, at the minimum price of the public lands, on a credit of ten years. 
 For which privilege, the corporation propose to carry the public mails 
 daily.) if required, or at such other times as the Post Office Department 
 may require, not being oftener than the time stated, on the said road, as 
 fast as sections of five miles or more of the road shall have been com- 
 pleted, during the whole period of time for which the charter has been 
 ;granted. 
 
 To duly estimate the important nature of this proposition, and to fairly 
 appreciate the liberality of its character, your memorialists will not more 
 than advert to the probable amount of yearly compensation which would 
 l>e dejnanded upon a similar length of line of railroad for the daily trans- 
 portation of the mail. The amount would, in the opinion of your memo- 
 rialists, be more than forty times the whole value of the lands sought to 
 be purchased of the Government, and the right of way of the strip re- 
 quired for the construction of the road could not bear the slightest com- 
 pasison with the value of the services offered to be performed. The pre- 
 emption right of purchase on a credit, and the strip of land asked to be 
 *j;iven, is then all that your memorialists seek in return for the offered 
 service of the daily transportation of the mail by railroad cars, a distance 
 of three hundred miles, for sixty years, which will be found, on a calcu- 
 lation, supposing the service to be worth only one dollar per mile or three 
 jftundred dollars per day for the distance of 300 miles daily transport, cal- 
 culating the route both ways, to amount in 60 years to the sum of six mil- 
 lions five hundi-ed and fifty-two thousand dollars. 
 
 The advantages which would accrue to the Government from the ac- 
 ceptance of this offer, is thus demonstrable by actual calculation, even 
 supposing that the data upon which it is based should be too great by one 
 Aalf. It is scarcely deemed necessary to remark that the celerity of this 
 •species of transportation must eventually produce a compulsory action 
 towards its adoption for all mail facilities between distant and important 
 points of our extended confederacy, and there can be little doubt that the 
 ^^jisblic interests, when considered with reference to a state of peace, but 
 /more especially that of war, will demand it; nor can it be supposed that 
 Ike ordinary means of mail transportation will satisfy the reasonable ex- 
 pectations of the community, whose rapidly-increasing communications 
 will justly require the same increased speed in their transmission as may 
 li-e enjoyed and obtained by private conveyance. The objects to be ob- 
 
3 \ ^ I 
 
 tained by the establishment of the Post Office Department of this GoveiTi- 
 ment would otherwise be lost, and the principles of its erection destroyed 
 and superseded by individual enterprise. Of what benefit will the public 
 mails be if private conveyances in point of speed and at little or no ex- 
 pense, are to be rendered so much more desirable because of their cele- 
 rity ? Believing that these considerations need only to be stated to be 
 rendered obvious, your memorialists will, in conclusion, merely refer to 
 the importance of the proposed connexion of Galena with Chicago. 
 
 The inexhaustible mineral resources of the region in,which Galena is 
 situated, and the facilities which the proposed communication would of- 
 fer for the transport of the vast quantities of lead and other ores whick 
 are smelted there, to the Atlantic and Eastern States are unappreciable. 
 The reduction of expense of transportation on this route over the one 
 now in use on the Mississippi by New Orleans, would enable the hold- 
 ers of these ores to deliver them on the Atlantic board at a reduction of 
 one-half of its present cost. An immense tonnage of shipping leaves 
 the port of Chicago in sand ballast every year, for the want of freight. 
 Lead would be gladly received and transported to Buffalo free of charges 
 by these vessels. Hence it is obvious that the price of lead would be 
 lessened by this cause. Other considerations w'ith reference to the 
 eventual transport and shipment of the productions of Illinois might be 
 stated and enlarged upon; but, as it is the purpose of your memorialists to 
 state propositions rather than to offer arguments to enforce the justice of 
 their character, they foibear to enter into a field which, if diligently 
 reaped, would afford a harvest of the most cogent reasons in support of 
 the reasonable character of the grant they seek, and of the highly valu- 
 able nature of the service they propose in return for the concession asked^, 
 vastly beneficial alike to the Government and the community. 
 
 OJice of the Galena and Chicago Union ) 
 Railroad Company^ November 30, 1836. ) 
 
 At a meeting of the board of directors of the company, it was 
 Resolved^ That the aforegoing memorial be adopted and presented to 
 the Congress of the United States, and that the same be authenticate<5 
 under the hand of the president and the seal of the company. 
 
 [seal] THEO. W. smith, PresidenL 
 
 An act to incorporate the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad Com- 
 pany. 
 
 Theo's W. Smith, President; Edmund D. Taylor, Josiah C. Goodhue,. 
 John T. Temple, George Smith, Ebenezer Peck, James H. Collins, Di- 
 rectors. 
 
 Sec. 1 . Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois^ represent- 
 ed in the General Assembly, That all such persons as shall become stock- 
 holders agreeably to the provisions of this act, in the corporation hereby 
 created, shall be, and for the term of sixty years from and after the pas*- 
 
[ §7 ] 4 
 
 sage. of this act, shall continue to be a body corporate and politic, by the 
 name of the " Galena and Chicago Union Railroad Company," and 
 by that name shall have succession for the term of years above specified, 
 may sue and be sued, complain and defend, in any court of law or equity; 
 may make and use a common seal, and alter the same at pleasure ; may 
 make by-laws, rules, and regulations for the management of its proper- 
 ty, the regulation of its affairs, and for the transfer of its stock, not in- 
 consistent with the existing laws and the constitution of this State and 
 of the United States ; and may moreover appoint such subordinate agents, 
 ofiBcers, and servants, as the business of the said corporation may require, 
 and allow to them a suitable compensation, prescribe their duties, and 
 require bond for the faithful performance thereof, in such penal sums, 
 and with such sureties as they may choose, who shall hold their offices 
 during the pleasure of a majority of the directors of the said corpora- 
 tion. 
 
 Sec. 2. The said corporation shall have the right to construct, and du- 
 ring its continuance, to maintain and continue a railroad with a single or 
 double track, and with such appendages as may be deemed necessary for 
 the convenient use of the same, from the town of Galena, in the county 
 of Joe Daviess, to such point at the town of Chicago as shall be deter- 
 mined after a survey shall have been made of the route, to be the most 
 eligible, proper, direct, and convenient therefor. 
 
 Sec. 3. The capital stock of the said corporation shall be one hundred 
 thousand dollars, which shall be deemed personal property^ and shall be 
 divided into shares of one hundred dollars each. The capital stock of 
 said corporation may, at any time hereafter, be increased to a sum not 
 exceeding one million of dollars, if the same shall be judged necessary 
 to the completion of the said work; and the same shall be subscribed for 
 and taken under the direction of the directors of the said corporation, 
 wherever they shall direct one or more boo«ks to be opened for such pur- 
 pose, and shall be subscribed and taken in such manner as the directors 
 of the said corporation for that purpose shall order and appoint. 
 
 Sec. 4. That William Bennett, Thomas Drummond, J. C. Goodhue, 
 Peter Semple, J. W. Turner, E. D. Taylor, and J. B. Thomas, jr., shall 
 be commissioners for securing subscriptions to the capital stock of said 
 corporation, who shall give notice within twelve months after the passage 
 of this act of the time and place where books will be opened at Galena 
 and Chicago, and such other places as they may deem necessary, in some 
 public newspaper printed at the said places, at least thirty days previous 
 to the opening such books, for the receiving subscriptions to the capital 
 stock of said corporation. The majority of the commissioners shall at- 
 tend at the time and place appointed by such notice for the opening of 
 said books, and shall continue to receive such subscriptions to the capi- 
 tal stock of said corporation, from all persons who will subscribe thereto, 
 until the whole amount thereof shall have been subscribed, when the 
 said books shall be closed. Each subscriber, at the time of subscribing, 
 shall pay to the commissioners one dollar on each share of the stock sub- 
 scribed for by him ; and the said commissioners shall, as soon as the di- 
 rectors are elected, deliver to them the whole amount so received. 
 
 Sec. 5. The affairs of said corporation shall be managed by a board of 
 seven directors, to be annually chosen by the stockholders from among 
 
5 I 87 J 
 
 themselves, as soon as may be after the stock has been subscribed. The 
 commissioners shall give notice of the time and place at which a meeting 
 of the stockholders will be held for the choice of directors ; and at such 
 time and place appointed for that purpose, the commissioners, or a ma- 
 jority of them, shall attend and act as inspectors of said election ; and 
 the Stockholders present shall proceed to elect their directors by ballot, 
 and the commissioners present shall certify the result of such election, 
 under their hands, which certificate shall be recorded in the books of the 
 corporation, and shall be sufficient evidence of the election of the di- 
 rectors therein named. 
 
 All future elections shall be held at the time and in the manner pre- 
 scribed by the by-laws and regulations of the said corporation. Each 
 stockholder shall be allowed as many votes as he owns shares at the 
 commencement of such election, and a plurality of votes shall determine 
 the choice ; but no stockholder shall be allowed to vote at any election 
 after the first, for any stock which shall have been assigned to him within 
 thirty days previous to holding such election. 
 
 The said directors shall hold their offices for one year after their elec- 
 tion, and shall elect one of their number as president of the said board. 
 
 Sec. 6. The said corporation is authorized to construct, make, and use, 
 a single or double railroad, or way, of suitable width and dimensions, to 
 be determined by the said corporation, on the line, course, or way, which 
 may be designated and selected by the directors as the line, course, or 
 "Way whereon to construct or make the same ; and shall have power to 
 regulate the time and manner in which goods, effects, and passengers 
 shall be transported, taken, and carried on the same ; and to prescribe 
 the manner in which the said railroad shall be used ; by what force the 
 carriages to be used thereon may be propelled ; and the rate of toll for the 
 transportation of persons or property thereon ; and shall have power to 
 erect and maintain houses, toll-gates, and other buildings, for the accom- 
 modation and management of the said road, and transport thereon as may 
 be deemed suitable to their interest. And they may also construct, 
 maintain, and use such other lateral routes as may be deemed advanta- 
 geous and expedient, and necessary, under the same rights and privi- 
 leges as by this act is provided for the constructing of the main route. 
 And it shall be lawful, also, for the said corpoiation to unite with any 
 other railroad company already incorporated, or which may be incorpo- 
 rated upon any part of the route of said road, upon such terms as may 
 be agreed upon by the directors of said companies ; and also to construct 
 such other and lateral loutes as may be necessary to connect them with 
 any other route or routes which may be deemed expedient. 
 
 Sec. 7. If, at any time after the passage of this act, it shall be deemed 
 advisable by the directors of the said corporation to make and construct a 
 good and permanent turnpike road upon any portion of the route of the 
 railroad by this act authorized to be constructed, then the said directors 
 are hereby authorized and empowered to construct a turnpikC; on any 
 portion of the said route, of the following dimensions: not less than one 
 hundred feet wide, twenty-two feet of which shall be based with stone 
 or gravel or other hard substance, well compacted together, and of suffi- 
 cient depth to secure a good foundation where necessary, the whole of 
 which shall be faced with gravel or stone of a depth not less than six 
 
[ 87 ] 6 
 
 inches, in such manner as to secure a firm and even surface, rising in 
 the middle by a gradual arch ; and where other roads may intersect, it 
 shall be so constructed that carriages may conveniently pass over the 
 turnpike road. And the said corporation is hereby authorized to erect 
 at both ends of said road, and at such other points upon the line thereof, 
 as many gates as shall be deemed necessary thereon. 
 
 Sec. 8. It shall be lawful for said corporation to appoint toll-gatherers 
 to collect and receive of and from all persons using said road, the fol- 
 lowing rates of toll, to wit : For each and every mile of transport or 
 travel upon the said turnpike road, for a man and horse, two cents ; or for 
 a single person, one cent ; for four or six horses or ox wagon and driver, 
 loaded, three cents, and for the same when empty, two cents ; for all 
 four-horse carriages and driver, five cents ; for a two-horse wagon or 
 one yoke of oxen and wagon, three cents ; for two-horse pleasure car- 
 riages, four cents; for a one-horse carriage or gig, two cents; for horses, 
 mules, or cattle in droves, half a cent per head ; for hogs, goats, and 
 sheep, one mill per head ; when sleds are used instead of wheels, one- 
 half of the above-specified toll. And it shall be lawful for any toll- 
 gatherer to stop and detain any person from going on said road until 
 he shall pay to him the toll properly chargeable to him, and when 
 any person shall pay to the toll-gatherer the toll chargeable to him, 
 the toll-gatherer shall give to him a ticket authorizing him to pass the 
 whole distance of the road for which he has paid. And the president 
 and directors shall cause to be kept upon each gate, in some conspicu- 
 ous place where it may be easily read, a printed list of the tolls which 
 may be lawfully demanded. Said corporation shall cause to be erected 
 mile-posts or stones to be maintained, and also erect guide-posts at the 
 intersection of all highways leading into or from such turnpike road, on 
 which shall be inscribed the name of the town or public place to which 
 it leads ; and if any person shall wilfully cut down such posts, or shall 
 wilfully break or throw down any of the said gates or turnpike, or shall 
 dig or spoil any of the said road, or any thing thereunto belonging, or shall 
 forcibly pass either of the gates without first having paid the legal tolls, 
 such person shall pay and forfeit for every such offence and injury, the 
 sum of twenty-five dollars, to be recovered by the said corporation 
 in an action of debt before any justice of the peace of the county 
 where the offender or offenders may be found ; and if any person shall 
 turn out of the said road and pass any of the gates, and again enter upon 
 such road to avoid the payment of toll, he shall forfeit to the corporation 
 the sum of five dollars, to be recovered in like manner. 
 
 Sec. 9. If any toll-gatherer shall unreasonable delay or hinder any 
 traveller or passenger, or shall demand more toll than by this act is al- 
 lowed, he shall forfeit and pay to the person injured the sum of five dol- 
 lars, in the manner provided in the preceding section ; and if he shall 
 be unable to pay it, the corporation shall be held responsible therefor. 
 
 Sec. 10. As soon as five miles of the turnpike road shall be com- 
 pleted, said corporation may erect gates thereon and collect the toll al- 
 lowed by this act. And it shall be the duty of the said corporation, when 
 said road shall have been completed, to keep it in good repair ; and 
 whenever, from any cause whatever, the same shall become injuied, said 
 corporation shall immediately proceed to repair the same. And it shall 
 
7 [ 87 1 
 
 he lawful for the said corporation to commence the construction of the 
 said railroad, or way, or turnpike, at such points on any part of the afore- 
 said route or routes hereinbefore described, as in its judo-ment may ap- 
 pear expedient and proper. Said corporation are authorized to borrow 
 any sum of money which may, in their discretion, be deemed necessary 
 not exceeding its capital stock, to aid in the construction of the said 
 roads ; and if it shall at any time appear to the said corporation that an\^ 
 part thereof, or any surplus funds, is not necessary to be retained the 
 same may be loaned on such terms as the directors of the said corpora- 
 tion may deem proper ; not, however, at a higher rate of interest than 
 that now allowed by the laws of this State. 
 
 Sec. 11. In case the corporation shall not be able to acquire the title 
 to the lands through which the said road shall be laid, by purchase or 
 voluntary cession, it shall be lawful for the said corporation to appropri- 
 ate so much of said lands as may be necessary for its own use, for the 
 purposes contemplated by this act, on complying with the provisions of 
 the six following sections : 
 
 Sec. 12. The directors may present a petition to the judge of the 
 circuit court of the county in which the said land may be situate, settino- 
 forth, by some proper description, the lands which are wanted for the 
 construction of said railroad or turnpike, or the appendages thereto ; 
 and the names of the owners thereof, if known, distinguishing, with con- 
 venient certainty, if it can be done, the parcels claimed in severalty by 
 the respective owners, and praying or the appointment of appraisers to 
 assess the damages which the owners of said land will severally sustain 
 by reason of the appropriation thereof, by the said corporation, to its own 
 use. 
 
 Sec. 13. On the presentment of such petition, said circuit judge shall 
 appoint a day for the hearing of the parties in interest, and shall direct 
 such notice as he shall deem resonable to be given of the time and place 
 of hearing ; and in case it shall appear that any of the owners of said 
 lands is a femme covert^ an infant, or insane, or otherwise incompetent 
 to take proper care of his or her interest, it shall be the duty of the said 
 Judge to appoint some discreet and reputable person to act in the prem- 
 ises in his or her behalf. 
 
 Sec. 14. At the time appointed for such hearing, the said judge shall 
 appoint thiee disinterested persons, freeholders, residents of the county 
 in which said lands may lie, for the purpose of assessing such damages, 
 and in the order in which they were appointed, shall direct and specify 
 what lands are proposed to be appropriated and occupied by the said cor- 
 poration, for the purposes aforesaid. 
 
 Sec. 15. Said appraisers, after being duly sworn before some officer 
 properly authorized to administer oaths, honestly and impartially to assess 
 such damages, shall proceed by viewing said lands, and by such other 
 evidence as the parties may produce before them, to ascertain and assess 
 the damages which each individual owner will sustain by the appropria- 
 tion of his lands for the use or accommodation of such railroad or turn- 
 pike, or their appendages. 
 
 Sec. 16. The said appraisers shall make a rej ort to the said judge, in 
 waiting, under their hands, reciting the order for their appointment, and 
 specifying the several parcels described therein, with all necessary eer- 
 
[ 87 ] 8 . 
 
 tainty ; the names of the owners of the respective parcels, if known, and 
 if not known, stating that fact ; and specifying, also, the damages which 
 the owners of the said respective parcels will sustain by reason of the ap- 
 propriation of the same for the purposes aforesaid : and in case either of 
 the parties is dissatisfied with the assessment, the said judge may, on the 
 hearing of the parties and interest, modify the assessment as to him shall 
 appear just. 
 
 Sec. 17. On the payment of the damages thus assessed, together with 
 the expenses of assessment, as the same shall be settled by said judge, 
 or on depositing the amount thereof for the use of such owners in such 
 bank or moneyed incorporation as the said judge shall direct, the said 
 corporation shall immediately become entitled to the use of said lands for 
 the purposes aforesaid ; and the report of the said appraisers, with the 
 order of said judge, modifying the same, if the same shall have been 
 modified, shall be recorded in the office of the recorder of the county in 
 which said lands shall be situate, in the same manner and in the like effect 
 as deeds are recorded, without any other proof than the certificate of the 
 said judge that the report is genuine. 
 
 Sec. is. And when the said order shall have been so recorded as 
 aforesaid, the said corporation shall be seized and possessed of such land 
 or real estate, and may enter upon and take possession, and use the 
 same, for the purposes hereinbefore recited. 
 
 Sec. 19. Said corporation shall be bound to repair all public highways, 
 bridges, and water-courses, which may be injured in constructing said 
 railroad or its appendages; and shall restore them, as far as practicable, 
 to as good a condition as they were before they were injured. 
 
 Sec. 20. The said corporation shall be allowed three years from the 
 passage of this act for the commencement of the construction of the said 
 railroad and turnpike ; and in case the same shall not be completed within 
 (en years thereafter, the privileges herein granted shall be forfeited. 
 
 Sec. 21. Any person who shall wilfully injure said road, or any of the 
 appendages thereto, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall 
 forfeit, to use of the corporation, a sura equal to three times the amount of 
 damages occasioned by such injury, to be recovered, with costs of suit, 
 in the name of such corporation, in an action of debt, before any court 
 having cognizance thereof, or before any j.ustice of the peace in the 
 county where such injury or offence may have been committed. 
 
 Sec. 22. This act shall be deemed and taken as a public act, and shall 
 be construed beneficially for all purposes herein specified or intended ; 
 and all copies thereof, printed by or under the direction of the General 
 Assembly of this State, shall be received in all courts and places what- 
 soever in said State as sufficient evidence thereof, without further proof. 
 
 JAMES TEMPLE, 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 A. M. JENKINS, 
 
 Speaker of the Senate. 
 
 Approved, January 16, 1836. 
 
 JOSEPH DUNCAN. 
 
9 [ 87 ] 
 
 State of Illinois, Department of State : 
 
 I, Alexander P. Field, Secretary of State of the State of Illinois, do 
 certify the foregoing to be a true copy of the enrolled bill on file in this 
 department. 
 
 r "I I^ testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name, and 
 '- ' ^'-' afl&xed the State seal, at Vandalia, the 29th January, 1836. 
 
 A. P. FIELD, Secretary of State. 
 
 Post Office Department, 
 
 January 12, 1837. 
 
 Sir : I have had the honor to receive your note of the 11 th instant, en- 
 closing the memorial of the Galena and Chicago Railroad Company, and 
 asking whether, in my opinion, the public service will be promoted by 
 granting the prayer of the memorialists. 
 
 My sense of the importance of railroads in the transportation of the 
 mails has often been expressed, and it is by no means diminished by 
 time and experience. The road in question, when completed, will be 
 of great importance as a mail line, and its free use in that respect is un- 
 doubtedly worth a high price. The transportation of the mails upon it, 
 when that region becomes populous, cannot be expected to cost less than 
 ^12,000 per annum, at a moderate rate of compensation ; and probably 
 long before the termination of the charter, it would cost double that sum. 
 It appears to me that services so valuable and so important would be 
 cheaply puchased by a grant of the donation and pre-emption asked for, 
 with a reversion to the United States, or some other equivalent security, 
 if the work should not be completed within a reasonable time. 
 
 If, however, an arrangement bo made, it should be stipulated that the 
 company shall receive and deliver the mails at the post offices near the 
 ends of the road, shall supply all post offices which shall be established 
 upon the line, and shall carry the mail daily, and as much oftener as 
 they may at any time run trains of passenger cars, to be secured in such 
 manner as shall be required by the Postmaster General. 
 
 In conclusion, I have only further to remark that, in my opinion, so 
 far as the United States and their interests are concerned, no more use- 
 ful disposition can be made of the public lands than to exchange them in 
 moderate and reasonable quantities for the permanent use of the railroads 
 in transporting the mails, the troops, the munitions of war, and other 
 public property of the United States, free of charge. The memorial is 
 herewith returned. 
 
 Very respectfully. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 AMOS KENDALL. 
 
 Hon. Wm. Hendricks, Chairman 
 
 Committee on Roads and Canals, U. S. Senate. 
 
V. 
 
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