unparalleled progression in population, wealth, in-rapid strides. To this get object the energies and canals were discharged, eng ge in a work of such fluence and prosperity. resources of Pennsylvania have ben espec ally d.- magnitude, without incurring an increased and opThe city of New York, commanding one of the rec.ed. Aided by a gigantic mond institution, pressive debt, and subjecting the people to taxation. finest harbors in the world, and possessing a popu- with which she has formed a recent ali ince, her et- The naked favor of an act of incorporation was lation peculiarly ctive and en erprising, has been forts are continued and increased, with a determin-fin lly granted to them, and a hope was held out the great mart of the Union for commercial opera-ed zeal, if not with a sound discretion. And how-and entertained, that the State would subscribe adtions, both foreign and domestic. Nor have the ver disreputable and ultimately dangerous we may equately to the stock. But, when a consummation constituted authorities of the State, by the improve- deem the means to which she has resorted to ac- of this hope was sought for and expected, they were ment of natural and the construction of artificial celerate the accomplishment of her object, we should net by the plausible if not reasonable objection, channels of communication, been unmindful of the ot close our judgment to the convicion, that un- that it would be manifestly improper, and a danmens which were requisite to secure to its com- esisted, they are adequate to the end in view.-- gerous precedent, for the State to become a comercial emporium this desirable pre-eminence. "Money is power," and when auxiliary to amb.-partner with an incorporated company. But the spirit of improvement is abroad-it is actious designs and inveterate rival interests, can on- As a dernier resort, therefore, those who have tive and progressive. Its operations cannot be conly be successfully counteracted by the persevering cherished a deep interest in the speedy accomplishfined to narrow and sectional limits--to particulu efforts of honest enterprise, of viltuous and patric-ment of this important work, have solicited assist modes and methods--or restrained by that con- ic energies. We may raise the voice of indigna- ince from the State, in the mode which the bill tracted policy whose views are bounded by the pre- tion, we may point the finger of reproach, but these from the Assembly provides. And whatever opinsent. Other States have been stimulated by our expressions will avail us little. If the governmention the committee may entertain as to the prefer examples. In a spirit of emulation, laudable in it- of this State, to which the people have been taught ence to which either of the first mentioned modes self, and which it becomes us rather to counteracı to look for aid in these mitters, remains indifferent, might, under other circumstances, be entitled, they than to complain of, they are pressing forward for or worse than indifferent, to the rivalries that threa- consider that point as having been decided by our the prize which we have so long enjoyed. ten us; if it not only refuses to lend or contribute predecessors; and that it would be ungenerous and its resources, but withholds its countenance and en- unjust to array the merits of exploded propositions couragement from the patriotic exertions of its citi- to prejudice or defeat the only one which now rezens, what must be the natural, what the inevita- meins to be adopted. ble, consequences?

But, fortunately, as your committee believe, ths
State is not elted upon to put forth any extraordi-
linary exercise of its power, or to make any corres-
ponding appropriation of its resources.
The way
is plain, and fiee from difficulties or dangers. I
lemands but the improvement of natural advan
ges. It claims but the exercise of that spirit of

The principal points, then, which appear to remain for the consideration of the committee,

are.

1. Whether the company, which has been authorized to construct this work, and by whom and on whose behalf the proposed aid has been asked, has organized and progressed in good faith; whe ther its proceedings have been thus far judicious, and such as to justify a confidence that it intends to persevere in the undertaking, as rapidly as its pecuniary mens will warrant, and with a view to, und a prospect of, its ulumate completion?

2. Will the entire road when constructed, or the everal divisions thereof as requied by the bill to e completed, be of a sufficient value, and yield an dequate revenue, to secure the State against liaility to pay the interest, and against ultimate loss pon the proportionate amounts and the agg egate sum for which the credit of the State is proposed to De loaned?

The documents accompanying and referred to in he Governor's message, and others which the committee have had an opportunity of examining, urnish the material facts upon the first branch of

"The memorial of the mayor, aldermen and commonalty of the city of New York," in favor of th passage of the bill now before your committee, emanted from a body of citizens whose experience, sagacity and vigilance enti le their views to respect, is, upon this point, and in ny others connected with the subject, worthy of serious consideration. sets forth forcibly, and, as your committee conceive, truly," that the construction of the proposed road has become indispensibly necessary to this metropolis, in order to preserve and extend the lucrativ commerce it has heretofore enjoyed with the popu-liberality and patriotism which have hi herto prelous and increasing territories of the west: that the vailed in our councils. The New York and Era existing channels of intercourse, rendered useless railroad, not merely in its ultimate, but by its specby the severity of our climate for a large partion o ly completion, covering as it will the whole conteste the year, have become in a gre it degre inadequate ground, cannot fail to secure the anticipated advanto that objec." and "that the energetic and per-tage of these improvements which other States t severing exertions of the canal and rail-road compa- te spirit of kindness and reciprocal intercourse ar nies, chir.ered and powerfully patronized by the extending towards us, and to counteract the tenAtlantic States south of this port, to divert from dency an design of those works, the original obs the city and State of New York the great and ex- ject of which was to draw from this State its dep panding comme ce of the western com nunities, de-y cherished commercial advantages. Passing fo mand immediate and corresponding efforts on our part to provide without delay new and additiona fac lities of commercial communication between this city and the interior." The memorialists express their entire confidence in the projected rail-road and that it "has become an object of transcend importance to the public, not only in maintaining the commercial advantages of this city, but also in af fording to the large and increasing population within the Interior of our own State the means of rap.d, cheap, and regular communication with the seaboard." And, among many just and importan considerat ons urged, and for which they refer to the memorial itself, the following has impressed itsel with p-culiar force upon the minds of the committee:That in view of the position occupied by th State of New York in respect to the adjacent mem bers of the National Union, the accomplishment of his work will become of paramount importance, b securing in time of war the means of rapid commu Without, therefore, entering into further detai. nication through our own territory for the military or ilius ration at present, the committee repeat thei: forces of the republic, and at all times the expedi-conviction, that this enterprize, from its magnitude tious pissage of the public mails and consequen. and extent, and the important results which must Since the report of Judge Wright, the engineer diffusion of commercial intelligence." low from it in a commercial, physical and mora. appointed by the State to survey the route of the The young, enterprising and rapidly increasing point of view, is worthy of the recognition and pa- road, which was communicated to the Legislature at city of Brooklyn, similarly located, and relying for tronage of the State, as an important branch of its ts last session, he company have appointed him its prosperity upon the same commercial advanta- ystem of internal improvements. And they con- their chief engineer; and in August last associated ges and business sources as the city of New York, ur with his Excellency the Governor, that "the with him in consultation two engineers of great ex has responded to the foregoing views in the recent node and amount of the assistance which the State perience and reputation, viz: Moncure Robinson, of resolutions of its mayor and common council which ngh: to contribute towards the accomplishment of Pennsylvania, and Jonathan Knight, of Maryland. were referred to the committee. his work, deserves our muture deliberation, uninfo this board of engineers the surveys, and pro fluenced by any other views than such as are in spired by a comprehensive regard for the public good."

seventy miles through the valley of the Delawar,
raversing the broad valleys of the Susquehanna
and its tributary streams, touching upon the head
waters of the Alleg ny, and connecting with tha
noble expanse of inland waters, Lake Erie, at a
point where its navigation within this State is fonquiry,
The shortest period obstructed by the ice of winter
-this railroad must not only be the medium through
which incalculable amounts of merch and ze win
piss from the city of New York to the far, the fe
tie and rapidly populating west, but must rende
tributary to it those channels of communication
which would otherwise divert the trade from our
southern and western counties, supplying througi,
those channels the northern and middle counties o
Pennsylvania with the merchandize, the salt and
laster of this State, and drawing to our markets it
return much of the coal and other products of those
regions.

Your committee are, however, aware that many
of the public works now in progress in the western
States, and to accomplish which the governments of
those States have made such large and liberal appro In relation, however, to the "mode" of this as-
priations, are designed to connect with the works of sistance: the friends of this project originally anc
this State, and that most of them have been orig-zealously urged, that as a legitimate public in
nated with the direct object of an ultimate connec-provement, the work ought to be undertaken by
tion with the New York and Erie railroad. But nd constructed at the expense of, the State. Had
there are others, particularly those of Virginia, Ma- they persevered in this object, it is by no mean
ryland and Pennsylvania, which are in their con improbable they would have eventually succeeded,
ception and progress purely of a rival character. for it cannot be believed that with an application so
The streams of the western valleys, and the canals just extended before it, the Legislature would have
of Pennsylvania, Ohio, &c. are navigable for severa! authorized in preference the further expenditure of
weeks earlier in the spring, and later in the fall, twelve or fifteen millions of dollars for the purpos
than the canals of this State, and the railroads of of enlarging the Erie canal. But our constituents
those States, rapidly increasing in numbers and ex-
nd fellow citizens who were the applicants in this
tent, may be used at all seasons of the year. To case, ever ready to sacrifice their own wish to en-
those western waters, to those channels of co-larged considerations of the general good, yielded to
munication which we have regarded as the outlets
and tributaries of our commerce, Pennsylvania, and
Maryland, and Virginia, are pressing forward with

the objections which met them.thatthe treasury wa
impoverished, and that the State could not, unti
the obligations incurred for the construction of the

From the report of the directors of the company filed in the office of the Secretary of State on the 12th January, 1836, which is verified by the oaths or the president and comptroller of the board, it ppears that 23,621 shares of the capital stock (mount ng to $2,382,100) have been subscribed, upon which instalments have been paid to the mount of

Interest on the sums deposited,

Total receipts,

Paid out for various purposes,

Balance on hand, deposited at an inte-
rest of 5 per cent.,

$223,760 00 2,604 00 $226,364 00 38,621 38

$189,742 68

les, and the general plan of the whole work, were submitted. They also proceeded to view a difficult point of the proposed work, and their conjoint report, (which accompanied that of the directors bove mentioned,) "in the belief of the directors, is entitled to full confidence in every respect."

In November last, the directors put under contract a compratively diffi ált section of their road, xtending from Calicoon creek to the village of Desite, in the valley of the D laware, a distance of bout 40 miles. This section was taken by twen y six contractors of approved responsibility, seve al of whom had already commenced the execution of their respective portions of the work. These contracts amounted to $313,572, or $7,742 per mile, and exhibit a saving in the expense of gradu❤ ting this section of $52,736, or 16 1-2 per cent. below the estimate as submitted (in Judge Wright's report) to the Legislature.

In closing the above mentioned report, the direc tors state, that they have carefully and attentive

66

ly examined the roule of their pop sed ro id, and compared its facilities or execution with those presenied by other works of similar charac er, and by that ex mination, and especially by the resuits which they have recen ly obtained by actual experience, as is above st ited, of the cost of graduation, they have become tuny convinced that the whol work can be completed upon the plan reco.nmen ›ed in the report o. the bard of enginers above re ferred to (including vehicles to the amount of five hundred thousand dollus) for a sum not exceeding, and probably falling considerably short of, six mi lions of doil rs; that the road when finished with admit of the use of locomotive engines throu,hout its whole extent drawing loads of at least forty tous nett, ni at a rate of speed which will redu e th time of passage within forty hours from the Hud o river to Lake Erie; and that if the necessary funds shall be secured without undue delay, the whore work can easily be completed and put in operation within five years from this date."

In their "first annual report" to the stockholders, Sept. 1935, the directors give a more detailed account of their previous operations, the surveys and estimutes of the eng neers, the general outlines and features of the rod, and the ultimate advantage and income to be derived from it. The entire cosi of a single track, from the Hudson to L ke Ei, with the vehicles and other necessary app ratus. including $525,482 for coa ingencies beyond the etim utes of the engineers, is stated at $6,000,000 requiring a net revenue of $360,000 to produce a interest of s x per cent. per annon up on the inves ment. "The final complisament (they say) of this enterprise h s only become a question of tam ;' and the as-istance of th: State is de med neces sary to susy he expectations of the people in reference toi, o his eu its completion, and the mrspedity and certainly to secure the extensive commre il dv tages and palic be efi's which musi result therefrom. And they add: "The board of directors, upon whom his dev vd the respons.b lity of conducting this importint work, believing it to be the only m de of rescuing the interests : this city from the danger in which they are placed and feeling that the exigency of the case dein in is their best efforts, PLEDGE STOCKHOLDERS AND TO THE COMMUNITY, to spare no exertions on their part to carry the enterprize steadily onward to a successful issue."

THEMSELVES TO THE

ad by pro h tie v sion, or to be comprehended by
um in foresight and sagacity.

ecurs, what amount of business it may reasonably expect, nd what amount of revenue wil be derived there from?

When the Erie Canal was projected, and commence 1, its enemies were more confident in then The route of the road traverses no less than ten predictions aganist, than were its friends in their of the counties of this State, viz: Rockland, inticipations in favor of, its productiveness. The Orange, Sullivan, Delaw: re, Broome, Tioga, Steudvoc ues of this great work were at a loss for data en, Allegany, Cattaraugus and C. autauque, empm which to fund their estimates of revenue; bracing about one-third of the territorial area of nd the statements upon wh cu they ventured h the Stre, and already numbering a population of fallen far short of constituting a just basis for the 293,408 inhabitants; and this, too, without r reality. Had this canal been adequate, and had eluding the large portion of the wealthy and popu ffec's been, to accommodate only the business of lous county of Ulster lying in the vicinity of the he country in its then existing state of improve-routs. And it is not unworthy of notice that the nent, and the natural and unaided increase of its progress in population of that in portant dives on of population and resources-had not its construc ion he State, and especially in that section lying bep rated like a charm to develop the resources, ex- tween the Delaware river and lake Erie, has been te the enterprize and increase the population, within the last five years more rapid than in any wealth, an ag cultural products of the territories other portion of the State of equal extent. The hrough which i passed, far beyond what was antide of emigration, which for twenty years had cipated or predicted, it would not to this da ve yielded an income sufficient to pay the in terest on the cost of construction and the expense of keeping it in repair. The sou ces of its revenu ive been princ pally those of its own creat.on. The benefits which it his so widely and liberally lispensed have returned upon it, and a proportionue income is the natural result.

wet by then, s ems now, in spite of unequal legislation, to be turning into those secluded c un ies, lem nitrating how un ounded are the prejudices which would deny to thes wide s read portion of our territory the epibility of sustaining a properous and increasing population.

Adjacent to the tier of coun tes thus traversed by the line of the road, lies that flourishing inland dis To assert that the New York and Erie Railroadtrici, embracing the populous counties of Otsego, ill prove equal in commercial importance, in geneutility, and in consequent revenue, to the Erie nal, may be assuming for it a higher character tion it meri's. But that its prospects in the se respects are no inferior to those clanned for that grea vork in its incipient stages, would not be an undesonable position.

Shenango and Cortland, situated midway between the route of the Erie can. I and that of the Erie rail. road, and occupying the lands around the head wa ters of the Susquehannah. And to those who may ave been led to believe that the district traversed by the Erie railroad Fes in a high, cold and mountainous region, it will be useful to state, that the Your committee have ex mined briefly the gene-verage level above the tide of the three cour mal festures of the rod, in iliustrating its character s a public improvement. They will recur to the se aru es, as pplic ble more particularly to the subpe of revenue.

ties last mentioned lics several hundred feet higher than the average level of the road. Proceed ng westwardly, the route approach s the immedte vicinity of the counties of Tompkins, Yates and

board by resorting to this channel of communi cation.

By the maps and pofiles of the smvays, it a-Livingston. rs that "more thin four-fifths of the whole line Thp pulation of the extensive district embrac f 493 miles lies imm dit ly upon the banks of di these six intermediate counties, now amounts ivers and heir ribut tries: h one uni erupte o 206,206 inhabitants; and it will not be deemed section of one hundred and twenty-five miles long i xtravagant to es imate, that at least one hif of ituated on the margin of the Susquehannah and its is number will contribute to the business and rerincip d branches; another, of eighty-three and a vne of the road. It may also be reasonably exhalf miles, along the Alegny and its tributaries; ected, that during that portion of the year when e of sixty-nine and another thirty-nine miles alon cima. navigation is closed, considerable portions of the Delaware and its principal confluents; and that the counties of Cayuga, Senec, Ontario and Geneother minor sections along the smaller streams, in-see, will seek facili ies of intercourse with the sea. With these facts and declarations before themluding nineteen miles in the valley of the Ramapo. with a person knowledge that many of the direc ake up a total amount of t leist four hundre tors and stockholders of the company are gen le and twenty miles, in which the route of the road ob men of worth and intelligence, whose charactertuns the advantage of following the margin of wa for pecuniary responsiblity, business probity and ter corses. Of the remaining portions of the line, mor i integrity, a e above suspicion or reproch-mbracing in the aggregate about sixty miles in the committee cunnot entertain a doubt, thit the length, where the route crosses the valleys of the stick as sted his been subscribed, and the road streims more or less transversely, about thirty commenced in good faith. And they believe tha n'les are comprised in different sections within the full confidence y be reposed in the directors faith-ounties of Sillivan, Orange, and Rockland, about fully to expend all moneys which may be ntrusted to them for the purpose, and in the intentions an persevering efforts of the company to prosecute the work with all practicable and prudent despatch to its final completion.

wenty miles between the head waters of the Dela
vare and those of the Susquehannah

Chenan

It will further be observed, that the line of the road, which is generally from 80 to 100 miles south of the Erie canal, frequently approaches very near o the eight northern counties of the State of Pennylvani, comprising an extensive distric, which s hitherto suffered like the southern count es of his State, from their difficulty of access to market; but which now exhibit, by their recent and rapid progress in population, the effects of the expended ystem of improvements of that State. There can be no doubt, but that this portion of territory, an nated in its in lustry by the expenditures incurred the construction of the public works of that commonwealth, will, in common with the adjacent counties of our own State, make rapid strides in he development of its resources and the increase of construction of the work, or to its capacity of conits population; and that the inhabitants of those ributing to the revenue of the road in the trans-eight northern counties of Pennsylvania, now exceeding 100,000, will, within ten years, be more han doubled in number.

10 and the teating ten mucs in the descent t
Lake Erie."

ment of $6,000,000 in the construction of the work, the population of the districts, which will at once contribute to the business and revenue of the oad, may be estimated as follows:

From this topographical view of the route of th In respect to the probable revenue of the road, or road, it will be seen that it embraces a range o of its various portions when completed, upon which ountry of most favorable aspect, whether taken in reliance may be placed to meet the payment of in-reference to the facilities it presents for a cheap teres, and finally to reimburse the principal of the stock loaned, the committee are aware that it is point upon which there have been, and may still re-portation of persons and property, main, honest differences of opinion. Works of this The question of the mechanical capacity of the description are generally productive in proportion work to transport in large masses the products o Without, however, indulging in any anticipa to their extent and utily. If they their facilitate the country with cheapness and rapidity, appeirs ions of the immediate increase in wealth and poptravel and commercial intercourse, and are in these to be abundantly settled on the consultation of mulation, which must inevitably follow the disburse respects without competition-if they furnish new. ent engineers, whose report is among the docucheaper and more expeditious ch innels for the con- ments referred to by his excellency the Gove nor. veyince of agricultural productions and manufac¦ The favorable result obtained upon that consultatured articles to and from market—and embrace a ion, furnishes abundant evidence of the cap city of range of territory in which these productions are the road, and is summed up by the board of direct numerous, or may be mate i lly increased—their rs in their annual report as follows: "That loads utility is established, and a profitable return inevita|| of sixty tons gross, (or, deducting the weight of curs bly follows. Bit by what rule of mathematics can forty tons nett, my be drawn in a single train from, we me sure the benefits or the income of any pr the Hulson to Lake Erie, and at an average speed of jected work of internal improvement, in a young, a from twelve to fourteen miles to the hour; that wil fertile and increasing country like this? We may the rite of speed augmented one half, a locomotive enreason from an logy-we may judge from compri- gine will nevertheless suffice to transport two hundred son-we may find in the experience of the past a passengers and their baggage; that no stationary en guide to direct us in our anticipations of the future:gine will be requisite on any part of the work; and but the resources of nature, which chance, or the that one, or at most, two auxiliary engines only wi industry of men may develop-the inventions and be requisite on the whole length of the line." improvements which genius and enterprize may As it is, therefore, sufficiently demonstrated that acc mpl sh, and the results which may follow them the road, when constructed, will be capable of are not to be determined by the ruies and princi-transporting property and persons in large quanti- || 25,000 tons ples of the exact sciences: they are not to be scan-ties, and with great expedition, the question again

In the 10 southern counties of this State, as aove stated,

293,403 103,103

In the 6 middle counties, (one half)
In the 8 ner hern counties of Pennsylvania,100,000

Total,

496,511

The pursuits of this population are mostly agrinurl. They send to the seaboard the products of their fields and forests, and receive, in exchange, he various fabrics and materials comprised, under he general term, merchandize." As a general ule, the consumption of merchandize, (as the term is here explain d,) by any given population capa sle of exporting products, is in the ratio of at least to every 500,000 inhabitants; and

the products (or experts) by which this merchan

dize shall be purchased, on account of their superor weight in proportion to their value, wil cons tute a tonnage of at least 4 to 1, ia comparison wii. that of the imported articles.

The imports, thereior, of the great communitie. include in the foreg ing esumate, now numberin 496,511 inhabitants, even without allowing for their inevitable and rapid increase during the progress o the work, will not be less than Imports,

25,000 tons. 100,000" Total, 125,000 " It will be apparent, that this chain of communication, connecte i, as it will be,n the one hand by the Cuenango Canal, the Ithaca & Owego Railro and other lateral communications now in contemplation, with the salt, lime, and pluster districts o our State; and on the other, by the public and private works now in active progress in the norther counties of Pennsylvania, with the anthracite ano bituminous coal, and the iron of th it great minerai region, will se ure and accelerate a vast amount of commerce along the middle division of'i s line, pu ely internal in its characte-contributing, at the 's me time, to unite in harmonious connexion the two great canal and railroad sec ions of our State, and afford.ng to both the means of beneficial and profitable intercourse.

And their corresponding exports,

The amount of this interior transportation, not connected with the seaboard, and to be conducted upon the gentle grades, fortunately presented on the very div sions of the road where these bulky articles will need to be conveyed, may safely be estimuted at not less than 50,000 tons, Making, with the preceding items, an aggregate of 175,000 tons.

olis to pour through its deep, safe and rapid chan-
el in the ealy spring, the supplies for a population
rendy exceeding three millions of human being
It is indeed difficult to fix bounds to the pecu i ry
value of such an avenue of trade, augmen ing, as
I must to a vast extent, the comme ce and riche
of our capital. It may, however, be safely compu
ed, that of the 150,000 tons of merch indize annu-
dly sent from the different points on the seaboare
into the great valley of the Ohio, at least 30,000
ons will find its way through this expeditious,
heap and early channel of conveyance.

It is also fortunate, that in the vicinity of the Al-
g ny river, nature, in lavishing herb unties up n
ir favorite State, has placed the fine-t, the mos
extensive and valuable supply of pine lumber exist.
ng in the United States. This will afford the lo
comotive machinery and vehicles employed i
ransporting the merchan fize from the city of New
York to the banks of this river, a constant, st ady
nd profitable trade, equal in amount to the ascen-
ng tonnage.

And when it is considered tht he nett revenue of the Erie canal, open only seven months in the ear, and ffording no tacni ies for the rapiu convey unce of passengers, amounts to more than a hion of ditars, and that the profi's cared by the 10,000 persons engaged the en in transportation, annot be less than an addition I sum of $500,000 annually, it will not be deemed unreason il so conTode that the Erie railroad, when completed from he oce in to the great western waters, open and vailable with but few days of interruption throughut the whole year, will yield the nett revenue of $922,000, above stated. If so, it must afford ade Jute security to the State, for the proposed loan of s credit, to the full extent.

Nor is the security of the proposed loan depenient upon the completion of the entire road. The il is strongly precautionary, in its provisions.I authorizes the issuing of two millions of the State s ock, in amounts propor ioned to sections of the road which are required first to be finished; and with the laudable and double purpose of securing ne State from loss, and ensuring the ultimate and speedy e mpletion of this great and benefic.al im

roven.en,

It provides,

How far the connexion of the road with the watrs of lake Erie, most important in many points of view, will contribue to its sources of revenue, th ommittee will not now undertake to estimate.They will refer but to one other source, 100 con- 1. That $600,000 of the stock shall be issued to siderable in its amount to be omitted. When the the company, when it shall have constructed a sinspeed and facilities of travel which railroads affordgie rail-way from the Del ware and Hudson canal re considered, together with the interesting fic. o the intersection of the Chien ngo canal, (near that by this route passengers may travel from the the village of Binghamton,) a distance of 146 miles, seabord to lake Eric in forty hours, and when the and requiring an expenditure, according to the estiseveral links in the great chain of communication nate of the engineers, of $1,646,826. now constructing in the western States shall b completed, from Ike Erie to the Gulf of Mexico in four days, and from New York to New Orleans in six days, there can be no doubt that this road wit When it is considered that the total tonnage last! become an immense thoroughfire to the transpor year of the Erie Canal exceeded 600,000 tons, it tion of passengers. It will be difficult to anticwill be admitted that the above estimate of 175,000 ate the number of persons who will annually be tons is by no means extravagant. Indeed, the com- conveyed upon it, or the revenue to be derived from mittee deern it much within the limi.s of truth; an his source of income. If, however, it be true, as in proof thereof, refer to the fact, that the transpor-sserted, that 200,000 persons annually pass by the tation las. year on the Baltimore & Ohio Raitro id, present modes of conveyance between Albany and reaching only 82 miles in o che interior, and extend-Jtica, we have some data upon which to found an.sued, when a section shall in iike manner be finishing the means of transportation to a population no estimate, and it is not unreasonable to compute tha: exceeding 150,000 in number, amounted to 72,634||

tons.

t

100,000 persons will annually pass over this great
venue of intercourse when it shall be completed.
But it was not the design of the committee to pre
sent a general detail of estimates, or of the sourc s
frevenue. They have embr ced, to a greater ex-

2. That the amount of $700,000 shail be thus isued, when a section is finished in the same maner, from Binghamton to the Allegany river, a disance of 181 mil s, and requiring a further expenditure of $1,322,989.

3. That he amount of $300,000 shall be thus issued, when a section shall be finished m like manner from the Allegany river to Lake Erie, a distance of 79 miles, and requi ing a further expenditure of $640,547.

4. That the amount of $400,000 shall be thus isd from the Huds n river in Rockland county, to the Delaware and Hudson canal, a distance of 77 miles, as the route of the road runs, and requiring a farther expenditure of $1,064,156.

[These several items of expenditures, amounting in the aggregate to $1,674,518, are independent of

But the most striking feature, in illustration of this part of the subject, remains to be presented. It is one to which the committee have already adverted, but which they feel justified in presentingent than they originally intend. d, those prominente sums o $300,000 for engineering and expenses,

more at large, under a deep conviction of its magnitude and importance, not only in respect to the pecury revenue of this great work, but also to it effec.s upon the commerce of our State and its m tropolis, with the vast communities lying beyon our western borders, and rapidly peoping he grea valley of the Mississipp'.

facts and features which seemed requisite to guide 500,000 for cost of vehicles and app ratus, and of
heir own conclusions, and to lead the Senate to
$525,482 added for contingencies, which, with the
xmine this interesting and important branch o tenis above stated, make the entire cost of the road,
the subject. And they now pres nt, with full con vith a single track complete, (and graduated for a
idence that it will fall short of, rather thin exceed,||d uble track,) including vehicles and other necessa-
he results to be ascertained by experience, the folary apparatus, $6,000,000.]

i he commitee allude toowing summ ry estimate of the revenue of the road, And,
derived from the foregoing data:
Nett profit arising from the transporta-
tion of 25,000 tons of merchandize
sent into the interior from the sea-
board, at $4 per ton,

the Allegany river; and they cannot but wonder,
that public attention should not have been sooner
attracted to the commerci dimportance of that valu
able stream, as a channel through which to control
the immense trade of that portion of the west wa-
tered by the Ohio and its tributaries.

During this investigation, the committee have become fully satisfied that in the Allegany river the State of New York possesses a source of intern navigation unequalled during its continuance for cheapness, security and expedition; that its waters, gathered among its sourc's in Pennsylvania, become swelled by the various branches it receives within our limits to a deep, smooth and capacious river, flowing over a pebbled bottom, unobstructed by rocks or sand bars, with a swift, though uniform descent from our State line 192 miles to the great western emporium of Pittsburgh; that the naviga tion of this stream remains open frequently inte mid-winter, and during this present year was not closed until after the 20th of January; that it in variably opens within the first ten days of March, and often before that time, and always remains open and perfectly available for the purpose of descending navigation for at least six, and frequently for ten or twelve weeks in the spring; and, finally, that merchandize placed on its banks may be delivered in the warehouses of Pittsburgh in three days from the State line, and at an expense not exceeding fifteen cents per hundred pounds.

.

- of 100,000 tons of products sent to
the seaboard in return, at $2.50 per
ton,

of 50,000 tons of interior transporta-
tion on the middle sections of the line,
at $1 per ton,

- of 30,000 tons of merchandize sent to
the Allegany river, for exportation

down the Ohio valley, at $8 per ton,
- 30,000 tons of lumber, &c., in return,
at $4 per ton,

of 100,000 passengers, at $3 each,

5. That a single track being thus completed for he whole distance, and two milions of sock issued, he remaining amount o! $1.000,000 shall not be dvanced until a double track shall be constructed $100,000 from the Hudson river to Lake Erie, requiring, by the same estimate, a further expenditure of $1,857,000,

250,000

$1,060,000

Total,
The above sums are estimated as the clear'
profits of transportation, after deducting
the current expenses, including the wear
and tear and repairs of vehicles. The
cost of repairing the railroad itself will
vary from $250 to $300 per mile for each
track. If the single track only is laid
down, the amount at $300, for 460 miles,
(to which length the road has been re-
duced by recent improvements in the
line,) will be

Leaving a nett revenue of

The first division above stated commences at a oint about 35 miles west from the village of Newburgh, on the Hudson river. It traverses the val50,000y of the Delaware, reaches the valley of the Susquehanna near where that river emerges from the wealthy, populous and productive county of Otse240,000 go, a short distance below the mouth of the Unadil a, down the valley of which the contemplated Uti120.000 ca and Susquehanna railroad will pass, and inter300,000 sec s the valley of the Chenango and the Chenango canal, at the flourishing village of Binghamton.Connected at one extreme with the Hudson and Delaware canal-passing through a territory productive in many articles of agriculture, and the vast resources of which in the productions of the forest furnish so important an item of tonnage, and the country that produces which consumes a greater mount of merchand ze in proportion to its population than a pu ely ag icultural district,-your committee cannot doub-hey will not so depreciate the enterprise and resources of that section of the State, as to doubt, that a railroad passing through such a district for a distance of one hundred and forty miles, will yield a revenue sufficient to pay the interest at the rate of 4 1-2 per cent. per annum, upon $600,000, (which is $27,000;) or that an expenditure of one million six hundred and forty thousand dollars in the construction of such road, would not be adequate security for the ultimate repay

138,000

It must be apparent how important it is to this
State, and particularly to the merchants of our com-
$922,000
mercial metropolis, to have this navigation, aptiv
But if an additional track is constructed, (as it is
termed by our neighbors of Pennsylvania "the key not improbable the increase of business my require
of the Mississippi," placed within their contro.. vithin five years,) then the expense of repairs will
Opening as it does into the immense basin drained be increased $138,000 annually, but will be met by
by that mighty river, it will enable our own metro-a correspending increase of revenue.

ment of that amount.

The second division above stated, commencing at a work, which, if advantageous to the spirited indi-ganization to the end of the last quarter, Binghamton, extends the load from the Hudson and viduals embarked in it, must be so to a portion of terminating on the 31st December, 1855. Delaware canal to the Alleg ny, the importance of the citizens of this State who have not exposed Upon reference to the original estimate which point, both as respects its commercial advan-themselves like these individuals to the hazards of for the branch Railway to Washington, tages and the question of revenue, your committee the undertaking. On the other hand, his duty to and which will be found in the 6th Annual has heretofore endeavored to illustrate. If their the State urges him to great circumspection in givviews and estimates in reference to this point of ing encouragement, by speculative opinions, to the Report of the President and Directors, it communication, and the intermediate territories, investments of its funds, or the assumption of bur-will be perceived that the cost of the road are correct, nothing more need be advanced by them dens upon expectations that are not likely to be was estimated at $1,555,529 47. Circumupon this branch of the subject. The other divi fully realized. While he would be solicitous to cumstances, however, having delayed the sions comprise the two extremes, complete the great guard the State from hazard and ultimate loss, by commencement of the work for one year, chain of communication, and secure the important lending its money to unpromising adventures, he the time was employed in making more results which the committee believe must flow from would be willing to see it seconding individual ef minute and extended surveys, which rethe consummation of this great work. forts in undertakings that improve the condition of any portion of its citizens, and exalt its character sulted in a considerable modification of for public spirit and hardy enterprize." (Assembly the location as it had first been proposed, Jour. 52d sess. 1829, p. 216.) and a new estimate of the cost, based on the improved line, was submitted in the year 1933, amounting, as will be seen on reference to the 7th Annual Report of the President and Directors, to the sum of

They will remark, however, that many short railroads, and short sections of extensive works, have within themselves proved productive. The section of 82 miles of the Ballimore and Ohio railroad which was then completed, produced last year a nett revenue of $108,000. The Boston and Wor-e eester railroad, which is 40 miles in length, produced a nett revenue of $95,000. The Philadelphia

and Columbia rulroad, 80 miles in length, competing at the same time with the Schuylkil and Union canal, and good turnpike roads, produced a nett revenue of $97,000. And the Ithaca and Owego railroad, 29 miles in length, which will intersect with the New York and Erie railroad at Owego, under all the disadvantages of its unfinished condition, produced the fast year a nett income more than Bufficient to pay the interest upon any proportion of the proposed loan which would rest upon any section of the same miles in length of the New York and Erie railroad.

With these enlarged and liberal views, your committee fully concur. They are applicable to the se before them; but without intending to disparage he work to which these views were applied, whicl has been and must continue to be one of much commercial utility, tey cannot forego the suggestion how infinitely more important, in a public point of view, is that extensive undertaking for which similar act of recognition and encouragement is now solicited.

ton.

$1,459,896 38. Upon this estimate its ac

tual construction was then undertaken.

The road was finished. with a single set of tracks the entire distance, within less than two years from the time of its comThe measure proposed imparts to this great enter-mencement, and with two sets of tracks prize, and deservedly, a public character. It mikethrough, all the deep cuts, embracing about the credit of the State the credit of the company. It five and a half miles, leaving about twen ensures for it the confidence of foreign capitalist. ty-four and a half miles of the second It stimulates the doubting or slumbering energie track yet to be laid; when that is done, of our own enterprising citizens; and thus, with out the advance or the hazard of a dollar of the the entire work will be completed as origi In every point of view, therefore, whether the public money, secures its final and speedy comple-nally projected. The cost of the road for work be considered as a whole or in detail, it cangraduation and masonry, and constructing not fail of being adequate security for the amount Deeply impressed, therefore with, the correctness the rail tracks as far as they have been for which the bill provides that the State, by the of these views, and the importance of the object-laid, including all materials, is $1,228,821 loan of its credit, shall become responsible. believing it to be in conformity with the just ex- 43, and it is estimated that the additional But it may be asked, if the anticipations of reve-pectations of a large and respectable portion of th nue from this work are well founded, why is the citizens of this State, and without hazard of pecu-half miles, as above stated, will be $174,499 tracks to be laid on the twenty-four and a aid of the State required for its construction? Whyniary loss to its treasury -consistent with that do not capitalists subscribe for the stock, and pro-equitable and enlightened public policy for which the Becute the work as a profitable investment? The State has heretofore been distinguished, and with answer is this: Wealth is so equally diffused in hit "comprehensive regard for the public good this country that few possess a large surplus which his excellency the Governor so properly in capital, and a project inv lving an expenditure of culcates, the committee respectfully recommend 6,000,000 of dollars is well calculated to cause men the passage of the bill. of moderate resources to hesitate. The field of enterprize is far more ample thin the means to improve it; and objects of investment well known, and pro- STATEMENT OF THE RECEIPTS AND DIS- and the Company were also burthened ved by experience to be p ofitable and safe, are continually presenting, sufficient to absorb all the surplus wea tn of the country. No work of internal improvement of magni ude has been prosecuted in this country by individuals or incorporated companies, without the aid of the General or State Governments. To undertakings of this desc iption, Cong ess has au horized subscriptions, and ex.en

sive Tracts of the public In-is the common proper

ty of the people, and large sums from the national treasury have been appropriated to aid the construction of rods.nd canals in the western States and territories. But the bounties thus dispensed have been four-f ld returned to the treasury, by the increased wealth and population of those territories, requiring vast amounts of foreign merchandize, up on which import duties were collected, and by the enhanced value imparted to the public domains.

BURSEMENTS OF THE BALTIMORE AND
OHIO RAILROAD COMPANY.

Baltimore, Feb. 15, 1836.

43, making the entire cost of the road for graduation and masonry, and laying the rails, $1,403,321 36, being less than the estimate upon which it was undertaken, $56,575 02, notwithstanding the tracks are extended into the city of Washington, beyond the point for which the estimate was made, with the additional cost of numerous and extensive landlips, which have precipitated many thousand cubic yards of earth into the roadway, throughout several of the deep cuts along the line, and notwithTO SAMUEL SMITH, Esq., Mayor: Sir, The undersigned beg leave to hand which the work was unhappily exposed, standing also the serious interruption to Philip E. Thomas, Esq., President of the greatly retarded its progress, and involved you a communication received by them from by the repeated riots on the road, which Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, extraordinary expenses to the amount of accompanied by two statements; the one several thousand dollars. giving a detailed account of the receipts time I may add, it is universally conceded, and disbursements of the Baltimore and that this road has been constructed in as Ohio Railroad Company, and the other a substantial, permanent, and efficient a mansimilar exposition of the Branch to Wash-ner, as any railroad in the United States; ington City, from the organization of both and the travel on it has never, in any con up to the first of January, 1836. dition of the weather, or other circumstances, been suspended a single trip since the day it was opened.

The State of Maryland has loaned the pubic Believing, as intimated by Mr. Thomas, eredit to the Chesapeake and Ohio canal company. to the amount of two millions of dollars, and to the that "a clear exhibit of the pecuniary conSusquehannah railroad company for one million of cerns of the Company" would be satisfacdollars. The State of Virginia, by large loans and tory to the Mayor and City Councils, we subscriptions to various canal and railroad compa- most respectfully submit the same to your nies, has contributed efficiently to the prosecution and their consideration. of works of internal improvement within her terri

tory.

At the same

tions and business upon the main line of Although it will be perceived the opera the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad have been steadily increasing every year since the opening of that road, yet hitherto no adequate indication has been afforded of what would be the results of the work City Directors in the B. & O. R. Co. were it completed to the points originally

Respectfully, your ob't sery'ts,

JOHN KETTLEWELL,
REZIN WIGHT,

Baltimore, Feb. 10, 1836.

But this policy is by no means a new one, in the history of the 1 gislat on of this State; nor do your committee deen themselves called upon to defend its propriety, when applied to objects of unquestionable utility. The loan to the Hudson and Delcontemplated. No one acquainted with the aware canal company forms the only precedent vast commerce and travel that will pass worthy of consideration. The distinguished citiover the road when it shall reach the Ohio, zen who then presided over the fiscal department, Gentlemen,-Presuming it might be sa- and become connected, as it then would be, and who is the present able and patriotic Governor isfactory to you, as representatives of the with the trade of that river, and the nume of the State, in a favorable report relative to the City of Baltimore, in the direction of the rous Railroads and Canal communication Security for that loan, submitted to the Legislature Baltimore and Ob Railroad Company, to already projected, or in actual progress, January 27th, 1829, after observing that individu- be able to lay before the Mayor and City ramifying in every direction, and connect als of much private worth had embarked their for- Council, a clear exhibit of the pecuniarying themselves with the Northern Lakes with their last difficulties, remarks: "The Comp-concerns of the Company, I take leave re- and the immense regions lying to the west troller would be extremely unwilling, by an ex-spectfully to hand you a statement of all and south of those waters, can doubt that the monies received, and all the disburse-while this road would at once become the

tunes in that great enterprize, and were struggling

ess of caution, to increase, if his reserve could in

reuse, thcs: dificulties, or delay the completion of ments made, by it, from the time of its or-channel of perhaps the greatest inland