IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 7 ^ A y '% (P.- "m W, I 1.0 I.I 1.25 ilia iM IM |||||Z2 2,0 ••4 III 1.6 Vi <^ //, ' / //// Photographic Sciences Corporation # ^l>^ # es originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprim^e sont filmds et: commen^ant par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la dernidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second plat, selon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont filmds en commenpant par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illus'iration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — ^> signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Maps, plates, charts, ate, may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmds d des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clichd, il est fiim6 d partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. rata >elure. J 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 i" • . ■ i 6 THE riiorosEjD TOEONTO, GREY AND BRUCE NARROW GUAGE RAILWAY DISCDHSED IN THE LIGHT OF REPORTS BY NARROW GUAGE ENGINEERS, -• • •— tVifh some lieasons why a Charfft' should not he f/tunited to the TovontOf Grey and Bruce Bailurnj Cowpant/. » ak^ HAMILTON: PRINTED AT THE " SPBOTATOR" STEAM rRINTINO OFKKE, TUINCe'S SQUARE. 1868. ^:X45P. NAUROW GUA^IE RAILWAYS DISCUSSED IN THE LKiHT OF Ii^]P01ITS OF NAEROW GUAGE ENGINEERS, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE TORONTO, GRE^' AND BRUCE RAILWAY. [From the Hamilton Spectator] Whatever may be our opinion on tlie subject of narrow guaure railways, of wliicli so much has been said lately, no one can withhold a meed of praise from tlie ener- getic-promoters of this comparatively n«!\v theory, for the perseverence with which they are strivinjj to maiie converts to Llicir scheme, If Mr, Geo Laidlaw of Toronto, possesses no other attribute, he cannot bo denied the merit of enthusiasm in relation to this system of railways, lunonj; the ad- vocates of which, in this country, he stands in the foremost rank. Ilis paniplilet. issued (jonie time ago, was the lirsr tliini^ which called public attention prominently to the question; and siiKie its issiu; he has left no opportunity unimproved to con- vince people that he was rijiht. The dep- utation whicli recently visited the north- west countie'i, holding a numb 'r of nieet- inj^s there, which, it we are to tnke the reports which appeared in the Toronto papers without allowance, were great suc- cesses, owed whatever success attended them to him. That he has aroused a cer- tain interest in the question, in the oountj'' of Bruce especially, wo do not pretend to deny. But that that interc'-t is due to a preference on the part of the intelligent ratepayers ot that county lor the narrow guage svstera of railway in theaWstract, or for the Toronto route in preference to the Guelph, ail our information loads us to doubt. A letter on this subject, ad dressed to the Press of the County of Bsuce, by Mr. Thomas While, Jr, which we republisli elsewhere, uuich more accu- rately accounts for the apparent assent of the public meetings held in that comity, and affords information to it;5 residents which we are sure will satisfy them that the Wellington, Grey and Bruce Kailvvay Company, with which their interests are mucli more closely connected, is neither indifferent nor idle in the matter of press- ing forward the construction of this im- portant work. Mr. Laidlaw's latest efTort is the produc- tion of a sixty-nine page pamphlet, em- l)odying his correspondence with leading engineers and railway managers m those countries in which the narrow-guage railways have been built and are now running, and its distribution among the members of tlie Legislative Assembly of Ontario The correspondence affords a great deal of information of a highly im- portant character; and as it is designed to convince the people of Ontario, not sim- ly of the intrinsic value of this class of railways, but ot their superiority over the broad-guage, the standard guage of this country, we propose, as brietly as the sub- ject will permit, to examine its st itemeats, and to show, as we think we shall be able t:i do, that the evidence here produced, in- stead of justifying tlie granting of a char- ter to the Toronto, Grey and Bruce Rail- way Company, ought to lead to the refusal of that charter, as it certainly fails tociinvince anyone acquainted Wiethe country proposed to be served bj^that roud, that it would be prudent to ad(.pt this description of road. ADMITTEDLY INFEIilOR CHARAOTEK OF TDB NAR- ROW-GOAQB. What strikes one forcibly in reading this correspc idence is, that not one of the gentlemen who speik ot these narrow- guage railways, attempts to justifj' their construction except through sparselv settled and comparatively inhospita'de districts, where traffic lor the more sub- stantial broad'guage joad could not be looked for, and where, tlierefure, that class of road could not be built; and as feeders to main lines, all of which, even in the countries alluded to, are broad guage. Mr. John T. Schwartz, Director of the Drammen Randsfjord Railway, expresses the opinio 1 " that railways of a narrow " guage, like ours, will be the most effec- " tive and appropriate means ot comma- " nloatlon/or any country with romparatirely " limited resources and vioJcrale Iraffl :." — Mr. Fitzjjlbbons takes tlie surae ground substantially, maintain^ that " it is tiio v/isest possible policy to " provide only for the wants we now " forsee, and carry out cHectiially a sys- " teiu of Railways which is within our pre- *' sent means, leavinir posterity to decide " what further expenditure should be in- ' ' cu rred to meet its wants ' Mr. Hoyd, of New Brunswick, the consulting engineer of the Toronto narrow i.:uage gentlemen, tells us that " after fairly discussing the '' natter, the Swedish Engineers have de- " cided upon a three feet six inch guage " for alllocallines or feeders." C. I'hil, who is one of the leading autliorities quot- ed by Mr. Laidlaw, and who, judging by his letters, is quite as great an enthusiast, in the matter of these narrow guage Hall- ways as that gentleman himself, after giv- ing a number of facts iu relation to them says : "In stating these facts it is not my " intention to advocate a high speed on •' these lines, with light engines of only ;{ " feet to 3 feet 9 inches driving wheels, as " on lines of a broader guage, . Tlie ThrondhjemStoren line had following results: Iho former, duruijj 4 engines, 10 carriages and GO yoods wag- the nine years between lSa2 and 5,0ns; its length was 31J miles and it cost 18G1, increased in population . > -osf: i|25,0U0 per mile! The Drammen Kands- than two hundred and ninety-three jj^..^ i{,,i,wav line had 6 engines. 15 car- per cent; and the latter but fifty Hages and 145 goods waggons; its length per cent. In 1861 the population ot was 50 miles and it cost $22,815 per mUf.! the former numbered 8 44o souls more And the Kongsvinger Railway had 9 en- than the latter. The former produced, ■ 3-, carriages and 272 goods wag- according to the census of 1801, about ^„ it, ^ ,^^ „.^s 71 j^i,g jj,7j three mdl.onbiishels of cereals, the exact r^^ ^^^^. ^^ mile no less than $30,- liguresbeing2,923 34ol)ushels, while the 3-0 , ^^^y ^^^^,^Q figures, which are latter only produced 214b,3<(> busliels. f„r„ished bv Mr. La.dlaw himself, en- Comparing the former District wlih that able us to judge somewhat accurately of tributary to the Northern Railway, the re- ^^^^ capacity ot tliese railways, and of their suit IS scarcely less fiivourable In 1S(.1, adaptation to a Country like that propos- the occupiers of land in the Wellington, ^.(i to be traversed by them. We have Grey anu Bruce section exceeded in num- sUo^n that it Is not unreasonable to as- ber those of the Northern by no less than j,„„^c t,,at, the trallic returns ot the forty-four per cent; the area of lands WellinL'ton, Grey and Bruce will under cultivation was only seven anc f^om the very outset exceed those a-half percent less, while the area of wood ^f (.^jg Northern Railway Let us and wild lands-that is, of lands in the gee then whnt quantity of rolling stock is hands of settlers but as yet uncleared- req,„,ed on the Northern Railway to exceeded by one hundred and thirt.v^se en meet the wrmts of the (Country. By the per cent that of the J^orthern district. Annual Report of the Directors of the Now, what must be borne in mmd is this, Northern, for the year 1866, we find the that he North-west Counties have attain- rolling stock in use stated as follows :- ed this large development without the 1 in- ,,. ", 0,1 petus which railways always give to a J '^st class passenger cars, 8 wheels, 18 country. When It is remembered tliat the Directors ear 1 total tonnage going south over the North- oecond-class cars 1 ern Railway in 18GG, had increased over Jf'^V '^"-' "^ggage cars J that of 1855, the first year during which Freight conductors cars 7 the road was opened its entire length, no 1^*^^ freight cars 114 less than two hundred and twenty-nine ^"»S platform cars 229 and a-half per cent, the result of a similar '^uort do. 4 cause — the construction of railways — ,n i. 1 /• 1 — "Z^ through the North-west Counties, wou'd -^0^^' ^^^^ ^'f a'l kinds 379 deveh)p them far beyond the value of the Hence the number of engines was 18 district traversed by the Northern Rail- the lightest being 24:j tons, and the hea- way. Indeed it is not too much to say. look- viest 331 tons, while the eneines on the ing at the character of the country, and narrow guage railways are but 14 tons, Its development in the past, that, to-day, the power as every one must know being the North-western district would yield in proportion to the weight. Thus we larger returns to a railway, were one built find that, on the best equipped of the nar- through it, than the Northern now does. row guage railways— that which cost over thirty thousand dollars a mile, instead of flfteen thousand, the number of cars was .'UO ajfainst 1579 on the Northern, and the number ol engines was 1) against 18 ! But even those llgures do not adequately re- present ".the difl'erenee. M. i'il»l tells us that these four-wheeled light carriages for light narrow guago railways, will carry but live tons net, while the cars on the Northern carry just double or ten tons of i)aying freight. And tho passenger carriages, on the narrow guage, are adapted for thirty seats each, while those on the broad guage have from sixty to seventy each. So that in reality, so far as the carrying capacity of the rolling stoclv on the two classes of roads is concerned, even taking the most heavily stoclced of the narrow guage railways cited by Mr. rihl, and published approvingly by M. Laidlaw, that which cost over thirty thou- sand dollars a mile, and the diU'erence Is this : Narrow guage 155 cars, Northern 379 ! We arc Inclined to think that by the time tho narrow guage is stocked up to the present capacity of the Northern Kail- way, two results will follow : First, the " cheap" feature will have vanished ; and second, the road will be sq blocked up with trains, endeavoring to 'get the pro- duce to market, as to prove an utter failure. Upon this point, Mr. Cumberland, In a letter addressed by him to the people of Grey, shows that the freight load of each train ©u the Northern Railway is 200 per cent more than is claimed as the greatest carrying power of a " clieap " train, even on lighter grades ; and he establishes very clearly, that, to perform the work which the Northern to-day performs — assuming, according to Mr. Laidlaw's authorities, that gross loads of 150 tons represent the transport power of clieap railways— it will require fifteen trains to move "the same tonnage as the Northern does with seven " involving, of course, an extravagant '" increase in the number of englue- "• drivers,llremen, conductors, brakesmen, " and all other charges embraced in the " cost ot transport." We think, therefore, that we have established our first propo- sition, that the Counties of Wellington, Grey and Bruce do not come within that description of country for which— even according to their admirers — the narrow- guage railway is adapted; and second, that even assuming the highest standard of narrow-guage given In the authorities quoted bv Mr. Laidlaw, a railway costing not $15,000, but $30,000 per mile, It would be utterl}'^ InsulTicient to meet even the present, to say nothing of the prospective traffic of the line district proposed to be served by it. The question of co.st, and the argument based upon it, will next re* celve our attention. TUB VfBSTlON OF COST. The second Important question which presents Itself to us in discussing this sub- ject of the narrow guage railway, is wliether, in fact, there is that (llll'crunco of cost between the two projects before the public— the Wellington. Grey and Bruce broad guage, and admittedly supe- rior road, and the Toronto, Grey and Bruce narrow guage, and decidedly Infer- ior road— as to justify the construction of the latter. Wo have already shown con- clusively that the District proposed to be served by these railways Is not of the class which Is described as being well served by the narrow guage .system; and that. In fact, the best stocked and most expensively constructed of these cited In Mr. Laidlaw's pamphlet does not possess more than half sufficient rolling stock to meet the wants of the Northwest country, ilavlng established that, we might leave the question. But so much stress has been laid upon tliis question of cost, that It is due to the fair discussion of the sub- ject to refer more particularly to it. Mr. Boyd estimates the cost of the nar- rowfguage railway from Toronto to Lake Huron direct, at $15,000 a mile. He has !iot made any personal examination of the country, and assumes therefore his figures from the general cost of such a railway, and from estimates made some time ago by Mr. Frank Shanly, in a letter to tho Keeve of Southampton. We shall not, however, we hope, be accused of unfair- ncss. If we prefer taking tbe s*^ateraents furnished in Mr. Laidlaw's uamphlet of the actual cost of these railways in Europe, where they have been built, and are now in actual operation. As the testimony of the engineers and managers of those roads is all that we have, ot a practical charac- ter, to j ustify the adoption in Canada of this new system of railway, no complaint can be made if we avail ourselves of the facts furnished by them for the purposes of this discussion. ESTIMATE OP SIR CHABLKS FOX A SON. We have already, in another connection, referred to the cost of these railways, but It is as well to repeat the figures. Mr. Boyd, in his report to the Directors of the Toronto, Grey and Bruce Railway, in which he epitomises the testimony of a number of European engineers, after re- ferring particularly to the statement of M. Carl Pihl, in relation to the Norwe- gian lines, remarks that " Sir Charles Fox "^& Son, speaking of such a line In this " country, say : < We have appended an , "' estimate of the cost, in which we be- '' ' llevo we have fully provided for contlii- " ' ^elides, and which aniounts to £.'{,01)0 "' per mile.'" It would liavo been satis- factory had the iiartieularsof .Sir Ciiarles Fox's estimate been given anioufj the other papers that are published. IJnt as this Is not tiio case, we aio lefc to ih'tcr- mine its value, by reference lo these >Jor- weirian lines, upon an examination ot which he has ventured upon the statement that a road in this country, on tlie Hue of the proposed Toronto, (.Jrey, and IJiuce llailway, would probably cost $15000 a mile, it is u somewhat reuuirkable lact, however, that the only details of cost fur- nished by this lirm, have relation to a line constructed by them in India. llavin;jf been requested by a Mr. Middleton to com- municate with Mr. Laidlaw on the subject of these llal ' and water, 15 tons, witli U. ;J tons on the " two pair driving wiiecls. Of these en- '• glues there is rarely mi re tftan one used " at a time. Th. rolling stock co.isists ot " live passenger carriages, each for oU s(iats, " [i brake vans, and litiy goods waggons, " all on lour wheels eacli. For the en " gine service, there are, besides the " foreman ot the repairing shop, wlio has " also to make duty as a driver when " necessary, 1 entjine-diiver. 1 stoker, 2 " guards, and 4 workmen in itie shop." We certainly think the llamar Elverum liailway realizes the ideal of a cheap rail- way with a vengeance, although it cost more per mile tluin these nanow-guage gentlemen assume ;is the cost of their road to Lake Huron. But we put it to the in- telligent ratepayers of Wellington, GIrey and Bruce, whether, looking at the rolling stock on tlie Isorthern — every car being equal in carrying capacity to two ot the narrow-guage cars— they think sucli a system is calculated to serve the interests of their productive and rapidly increasing Counties. jS TUG QUESTION IIKKK A " CIIUAl' " KAILWAY OU NONU. We have thus shown, that, viewed in the light ol the evidenc(! furnished by Mr. Laidhiw hinrselt, the pretension that a narrow-guage railway can be built from T'oronto to Lake Union, with the heavy rock cuttings which have to be encoun- tered in making tlie ascent from tlie Lake Ontario level, and efjnipped to meet the wants of that growing district, at $15,000 a mile, is sim;;l,v a delusion on the part ot llie promoters of that road, or a wiltul de- ception attempted to be practiced by them upon the people ot this country. As a matter of fact, these railways have only been constructed, where they have been built, through districts where there was not trallic sudicient to justify the con- struction of the more substantial broad- guage railway. M. Carl Pihl, candidly ailmits this. In a commr.nication to The £n(jineenn(j, in reply to an article against tliese narrow guage railways, he said:-— " When it is said that the adoption of the " narrow guage has been enforced by the " necessity for sharp curves, the conjecture " is not quite in accordance with tho facts " of the case here, as we have hitherto " been able to avoid curves of less than "eleven chtiins With as it has been a " question of x>rovidin(j a railway communi- '• cation at a comparatively small cost in a " country of large extent, with little traffic and limited resources; and although the " (jreatcr facility of traversing sharp curves '* is a decided, and no unimportant advan- " tage to be gained by the use of the small '" guage, this consideration has not enforc- " ed its adoption here. It has been in "THIS CASE THE CHOICE BETWEEN A "CHEAV AND EFFICIENT RAILWAY OR " NONE." That is the whole question in a nutshell. The cheap narrow guage rail- way is better than no railway, and where it becomes a question, as, according to M. IMhl it was in Norway, between such a railway or none, there can be little doubt of the wisdom of adopting it. We shall proceed to show tliat no such alternative is presented to the ratepayers of the fine (bounties of Wellington, Grey and Bruce. NO SUCH ALTERNATIVE PRICSENTKU TO THE PEOPLE OF THE NORTU-WEST CO0NT1ES. We say that no such alternative as that which compelled tlie adoption of the nar- row guage railways in Norway, is pre- sented to the people of the North-west counties. With them it is not a question of a narrow guage railway or no railway, and therefore the very grounds upon which these narrow guage railways are advocated by their admirers, do not exist here. So far from this being the case, we shall, we think, havenodifliculty hi prov- ing that, even taking the cost of the nar- row guage at the price named by Mr. Laidlaw, $15,000 a mile, ignoring all the facts which he himseif has furnished to us, and which go to show that the cost, wherever these roads have been built, has been much greater, the construction of the Toronto, Grey and Bruce Railway in- volves a much larger outlay of capital, in the first instance, the very thing which we are told is to bo avoided, than the Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway; and that therefore there is no doubt, on the ground of capital to be raised, that the people of those counties will be advan- taged by the construction of the railway to Guelph. We entirely concur in tlio doc- trine laid down by these narrow <(na<^c advocates, that the icreat desideratum at this time in the construction of railways in Canada is, tliat the capital reciuired shall be reduced to the minimum sum. There is undoubtedly a difficulty in ob- taining capital for the construction oi any railway in this country at this time, and therefore any unnecessary expenditure of money, simply (or the advantage of ii particular locality, would be an act of madness of which we do not believe the people of Wellington, Grey and Bruce will be guilty. THE RELATIVE DISTANCES I!Y TIIK BROAD AND NARROW-GUAOE. According to the table of distance?) fu r- nlshed by ilr. Laidlaw, and in whicli Walkerto'i is very fairly assumed as the most central point to be reached by each of the projected roads, Hamilton is, by the Great Western llaihvay and Guelph extension lOCiJ miles from Walkerton ; Toronto is, by the Grand Trunk and Guelph extension, 108 miles; and by the Central light narrow guage scheme, assuming an air line track— wliich if it were possible to constrncf;, would do aw;iy with the peculinr necessity of the narrow guage, the abil - ity to make sharp curves, is 94 mile;. Thus the saving of distance in reaching Lake Ontario would be 1:2s to It miles Icks respectively by the Central light narrow guage railway, a dill'eronce, however, which, in so far as passengers are con- cerned, would be far more tlum made up by the greater speed on the broad guage road, and so far as freight is concerued,by avoitiing the necessity lor transliipmeiit at Toronto. So that it is not luifair to this narrow guage railway to assume that for practical purposes the distances would be the same to Toronto; and to Hamiltun, ii the reciprocity treaty sliould be renewed, and the American nuirket become tiie principal one for produce, the distance by the narrow guage would be twenty-seven miles longer, involving unavoidably the additional cost of transhipment. The per- tinent point to consider, however, is the length of new road to be constructed by the two proposed routes, — and the capital required. Taking Walkerton again, as the common point of destination, the length of new road to be built by the To- ronto, Grey and Bruce ilailway would be at the Very least U4 miles — supposing it to be a straight line, and by the Wellington, Grey and Bruce line, according to actual survey and location of tho road, 00 miles, — that is, in order to reach Toronto direct by the narrow guage railway, ;U mites of additional railway construction is re- quired. Lei us see what this involves. UKLATIVi: COST OF Till; TWO UOADS. That there may be no dispute about figures, we take the estimate of the pro- moters of this Central scheme themselves, as to its mileage cost, simply begging the reailer to bear in mind tiie tacts wliicli we liave already given on tliis point, and as- sume, for the purpose of this argument, that the road could be built and equipped for S1,"),()00 a mile. The cost therefore to Wa'kerton >'0uld be $1,410,000. That is the cash capital that must be raised for that section of the road, and as the Com- pany have, we believe, given up all hope of reeeiyini; a grant of land from thcGov- ment to aid in the construction of the road, the enterprise seems a sufficiently hazard- ous one. The Wellington, Grey and Bruce Jiailw.ay is assumed by Mr. Keid, the Chief Engineer of the Gieat Western Railway, his esti- mate being based upon a thorough survey of the line, to cost 115,500. exclu- sive of rolling stock and cars ; but after making an ample allowance for right of way, general management, engineering, and all contingencies, and including, also, the thorough fencing and drainage of the line, the erection of good and commodious passenger and Ireigiit buildings, and an adequate number of water-tanks, wood- sheds, and engine-houses. The estimate, it is true, does not include rolling stock ; but we may reduce the cost of the narrow- guaire by the per cetitage cost of the rolling stock on the lines cited by Mr- l.aidlaw, that is, about ten per cent, leaving the cost of the narrow guage at $1;{,;jOO a mile, and in this way we arrive at something like a tair comparison. Ac- cording to tills calcuilation, the cash capi- tal required to build this 'cheap"' iiar- row-guage railway from Toronto to Walkerton, ready to receive the rolling stock, would be §1,209,000, while the cash capital required to build tlie broad-guage road from Guelph to Walkerton, ready for the rolling stock, would be but S!)4-'5,r)00, a diirerenceiu the amount of money fo be raised, In favour of the broad guage road of no less than !$;l2Li,500 : We fancy that, with these figures before tlie public', the argument which induced the people of Norway to adopt the narrow-guage rail- way — namely, a cheap railway or none — and which is being presented to the hon- est yeomanry of the North-west Counties by men who ought certainly to know better, will be pretty ellec-tually dissi- pated. 10 TUK QUESTION OK ROLLING STOCK. We have assumed this calculation for both roads without rolliiiof stocli; but this question fo rolling stociv is one which cannot be i0 a mile, and of this 14.1 per cent was for loco- motives, carriajjes, aud wa<,'vvnshlp3 of tlic least ) district, ips of reel, vouldbelelt liom tlie e of making ry tributary Toronto, the •y and Bruce istruction of nterioi- capa- idy occupied viuK a neces- tual isolation ystem of the outlay of up- dolUirs more lid Bruce rail- I latter, bisect- tho Northern, Buffalo and 4 Lake Huron Hallways and Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, avoids com- petition with any other Jiailway, runs throuifh the iinest portion of the country, and secures the absolute control of from twenty to twenty-live niilea ot terri- tory on either side of ir, alonjj almost ils ftnlire leni^tli ! We think, m ilio liirh:; of these facts, our Nortliwesreiu ijoijrhljours win be slow to adopt the ••oncitiv" narrow guage railway which is so disinterestedly urged upon their attention. THE I!fJUSTlCE Oi" GRANTINK A CUAKTER TO TUB NARROW GUAGK. We have but a word or two to add in relation to the application which the To- ronto, Grey and Bruce Hallway are now making to the Legislative Assembly of Toronto for a charter. In His Excellency's, speech on tiie opening of Parliament these words occur:— " In carrying out the special objects lor " which you have been constituted as a " Legislative body, you will also be re- " quired to bestow your most serious con- " sideration upon such applications as " may be made to you for the incorpora- " tiou of companies for Provincial " purposes, or for the promotion of local " works and undertakings And it must " be your endeavour, wlillst altbrdingdue " encouragement to individual enterprise, «' to protect the interests of the public at " large from the consequences of rash or " ill-advised speculation." Those are words of wisdom, and the Parliament wjiich unanimously re-echoed them may filrly be expected to act upon their sug- ji«stious, in the legislation tiiat comes before them. Nothing has tended more to I tie want of success in railway enterprise in Canada, or to rasli and ill-considered speculation with regard to it, than the dia- ))Osition of Pailiament, without due con- sideration, to grant cluuters to all applicants, witliout tlio slightest re- ference either to the ability of the parties to construct the works, or the vested interests of other parties. During the last twenty years the number of roads actually constructed bears a very slight proportion to the number of chart- ers granted, and the Lea-islature of Onta- rio will act wisely in seeing that this sys- tem, which has been discreditable to Uie country and Injurious to all interests, is not perpetuated. The AVellington, Gtey and Bruce Hallway (.'oiupauy have alrea- dy a charter. Tiie Company are pressing their enterprise as rapidly as it is possible to press it, and with tlie most perfect good faith. Already no less than §250,000 have been voted by the municipalities interest- ed, towards the construction of the first forty-seven miles. All that is necessary to enable the Company to put their enter- prise upon the market is the amendment of the charter, which they are now asking for. Under these circumstances it is surely not too much that they should ask that no other charter be granted tor a road going through the same territory. From Mount Forest lo Lake Huron, the two roads, it tbc Legislature should be fo unjust as to grant this second charter, would run on precisely the same line. The eflect would be disastrous to both enterprises, and injurious to the country proposed to be served ; and wiien, as we have shewn, the Comiiany already in possession of a charter, can build their road for at least half a mdlion of dollars less than the Toro"t. Grey and Bruce iiarrow- guage cou jC constructed lor, even at the pi ice named by the promoteis of that scheme, every argument in favour of the new charier vanishes. We appeal confi- dentljs therefore, to the Railway Commit- tee and the Legislative Assembly not to embarrass a work which is in a tair way of being completed at once, by invading the chartered rights of an existing com- pany, in granting an Act of incorporation CO tills " cheap " narrow guage line. WELLhNGTON, GREY BRUCE EAILWAY. AND To tho Editor of the Paisley Advocate. Dear Sir, — I have read with a great dtal of interest the reportn of meetings recently held in the county of Bruce by a deputation of gentlemen from Toronto, who viHited you as advocates of the narrow guage Central Hallway ; and was somewhat struck liy the fact that the resolutions proposed ut all tho meetlDLjs appear to have been carried uiiiuii- mouHly. In coaver.sation with a number of gentlemen from your county, I learn that tho cause of this appareut unanimity is not by any means an enthusiastic belief in the supe- riority of tho narrow gua^e railway ; but rather a feeling of disappoiatmeut that 8j little has been done to promote the eompb-- tion of the Wellington, Grey and iUuee Hall- way, about the .superior advautage.s of which there are scarcely, if 1 am rightly iuform''(l, two opinions in the county, aud a hope that iho action of tho narrow guage people, and of tho riitepayer.s of ihuce in appearing to etidorse their views, niuot spur the other Company on to greater e.\(!rtiona. Being assured that such is the feeling of the people of Bruce, I would be obliged if you will give tho nucessary space for a few lines of expla- nation. The Wellington, Gmy and Bruco Railway Company have gone as far as their present )■ 1^ \ charter will permit them, aud until the amendments to that charter, which they are now seeking, are obtainctt, thgy cannot, however deeirous of doing so, go any further. They have secured the charter which was about to expire, and, in order tO «lo this, have subscribed $300,000 of stock, and paid in casli, us an instalment on that stock, $30,000. Tliey have procured the pasoago of by-laws for the Welliugton section of tlie road, am- ounting in all to $250,000, and some of the Debentures under the terms of these by-laws have been deposited witli ti^c Treasurer of the Province, who r'isi^'.'n in trust for the municipalitico, lo ue gi\eu out only on the certiticate of an Euginct r to be mutu- ally agreed upon, that tho pi\ 'i..i^}g^ to receive them, have been complied n.U A survey of the road through tho Welling- ton section has been umd^ under the super- intendence of Geo. Lowe Keid, Esq.. tki chief engineer of the Great Western Eai)- way, and his report bos been published. I send you a copy of it, appended to the pros- pectus of the Company, and as it is not lengthy, I would esteem it as a great favoi it you would publish it for the information of your reaviers. The Company might have gone into the county of Bruce and urged the subscdptioi; of Stock or Bonus'js by your Municipalities ■ ' but as they are acting in good faith, and an not desirous of putting the people to incon- venience unnecessarily, they deemed it moru wise and honest to secure all the nocessav; legislation to enable them to go on with thr work ; to place the first section under non- tract, ;ind then to go on with the practical demonstration that they are in a position tc build the road, and ask you to assist in car. rying it on through your county. Hence the reason that they have not been holding meetings in your county, meetings which, while they would doubtless have kept up the railway excitement, wculd not secure the construction of tho Bailway itself one day sooner. Legisla*^ion is necessary to enable the com- pany to go on with the work for this reason : the charter requires a certain amount of stock to be subscribed and paid before bonds are issued. As the Munic ipalities are sub- scribing by way of bonus instead of stock, and as, for their protection, the company covenant to ■ arry the railway to them be- fore asking for their debentures, it is necess. ary to get legislative authority to issue bonds upon the bonusses, and to commence the work with the funds realised from these bonds. So soon as this amendment to the charter B obtained, as obtained it will be, the Com- pany, have already assurance from capitalists that there will be no difficulty in putting the road under contract and pressing it forward to completion without delay. I think these explanations ought to satisfy tho rate-payers of Bruce that the absence of agitation in their county, on the part of the Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway Com- pany, has not been due to want of earnestness in the work, but simply to the fact tbat,uutil their charter was amended.no practical result could follow their inviting the rate-payers to attend meetings. All the rate-pajcrs have to do is to keep themselves aloof froin com- peting enterprises, in the meantime,and they shall have such evidence as will satisfy them fully of the good faith of that Qompany, It is not my purpose to discuss here the question of the narrow guage ; that will have to be dificussed before the Railway committee of the Legislative Assembly, on the applica- tion of the Company for a charter. But there iire one or two statements which, I perceive from reports of the meetings held by the To- ronto Delegation, have been made which de- mand a word of explanation, The first is, that whilj the narrow guage can be built for ijl 5,000, the broad guage will cost $40,000 a mile. I refer you to Mr. Reid's report for th;' aufwor to this : simply remarking that $! 5,000 a mile is siiidto be the ordinary price (.f these narrow guago roads on tolerably level ground .But when they come to make their ascent from Toronto, of thirteen hundred :'j'jt, through rock cutdngs, as the Grand Trunk and Great Western have been compel- led to do, it will bo found that the cost of the narrow guage through the Silurian ridge will be much greater than that of the broad guage, starting above t' at ridge, at Guelph, as the Wi'llingtou, Gr ■••, and Bruce Railway starto. A second pouii, ', ; il'c r.tisertion that these narrow guago railways have answered ad- mirably in New Brun;-wic'v. The truth is, that there is not a mile of narrow guage rail- way in that Province, and that although they are building local roads, they have not been induced, by the arguments which have urged upon them to adopt a system of rail- way which is condemned by every man of practical railway expe' ;ence, as only suited (o the wants of inhospil -ible and sparsely set- (led dlstrias. Tins ling that the people of Bruce will at least give *he Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway Company reasonable time to prove their earnestness and good faith, I remain , Yours truly, THOS. WHITE, Jr. Hamilton, Jan., 29th, 18(58. ^italists