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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 > ■5?- r^r CARLETON COUNTY AND ITS <» mum Hmttu A REPORT ■0- PBESENTBD TO THE WOODSTOCK ATHKN^UM F^BUARY U, 1864. ' ' ^^>0tk^tu^m*^%^t£y^*^\^%^ I^K '\^t^<^^%^^^^k^m,^^it^i%^»^^U0m*%^t k WOODSTOCK, N. B. TED AT THE "CARLBTON SBNTINKL" OFFICE. 1864. ij„j> ; •' ■ , (, \ $ lif REPORT On the Agricultural, Mineral and other Resources, and the Industrial and Commercial condition, of Carleton County, with special reference to the question of Railway Exten-* sion. / < ) To the President and Members of the Woodstock Athenceum : The Committee appointed under Resolution of the Meeting of the Atbenasum of 28th of J/anuary last, to prepare a Report embodying all the statistical information attainable as to the Resources and Trade of Carleton County, have during the two past weeks been engaged in that work, and now present to you the result of their labors. Although no mention is made in the Resolution under which the Committee was raised of the subject of Railway extension, it was under- stood at the meeting that the Report was to bear directly upon that question. This idea of the extension of our system of Railways has been re- cently taken up in the City of St. John by leading and influential men of our commercial metropolis ; and has been readily caught up and welcomed in a number of places on the western side of the Province. The proposition, as enunciated in a paper read before a meeting com- posed of the members of the St. John Chamber of Commerce, and other gentlemen of that city, it is to connect St. John with the St. Andrew's line ; to connect by a branch line with Fredericton ; and by another branch line with St. Stephen. This movement is in connection with a similar one in the State of Maine, the object of which is to unite the system of Railways of Maine with those of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia ; it being believed that should the union be made between New Brunswick and Maine, Nova Scotia would lose little time in building Fhatever length of road was neccBsary in order to bring her Railways into connection with ours. This done, we should have the long contem- i ' plated European & North American Railway completed, and a connec- tion made between tlio interior of the Province and the principal sea- ports on its Soutliern and Western sides. The paper read by Mr. Karpoo before the St. John Chamber of Commerce has since been published in pamphlet form, and in several of the newspapers, and has thus been widely circulated throughout the Province. The proposed scheme has excited much attention, and met with very general favor in the western and southern sections of the Province. It is even said that it is not unfavorably regarded by some of the members for Westmorland and Kent. Mr. Burpee, having vis- ited Woodstock to ascertain the feelings of our people in the matter, has had an opportunity of explaining his views to a number of our lead- ing men ; and the preliminary stops have been taken to call a public meeting of the people of the County, that a formal expression of their opinion may be had on this important question. Meanwhile the Athenneum, which has had the subject under its no- tice, has resolved to do what it can to inform the public mind with res- pect to the position which Carleton should tAke in the matter of Eailway Extension ; and with that object has ordered the preparation of this Report, with the intention of publishing the information which it con- tains. Let us now, without further preface, enquire, first, of what value gene- rally the proposed extension of Railways would be to our own County. The Province has expended some five millions of dollars upon the St. John and Shediac Road, which, so far from being of any direct ser- vice to Carleton, has been a positive disadvantage, because ic has ena- bled the agriculturists of Prince Edward Island to compete with ours in the markets of this Province. We have been saddled with a heavy annual tax, to assist the people of another colony to drive us out of our legitimate markets. In any further construction of Railways by the Government, or expenditure by Government upon theur construction, it becomes us to insist that due regard should be paid to our long neglect- ed interests. And if the proposed extension gives a promise of ^rving those interests, and is feasible in itself, it behoves the people of Carleton to give it a prompt, unanimous and hearty support. connec- pal sca- nber of several out too ind met I of the )y some ing vis- matter, ir lead- i public of their ■ its no- nth res- lailway I of this I it con- 18 gene- '^ounty. pon tbe reot ser- )a3 ena- ours in a heavy t of our i by the ction, it neglcct- gerving larleton m This scheme carried out, Oarleton County would be united, by its> eentre of business, Woodstock, by Railway with Fredericton, St. An- drews, St. Stephen, Calais, St. John. And by St, Andrews, St. John and St. Stephen, it would have connection, in one direction, with all important places in the United States; and in another direction, with the Northern and North Eastern portions of this Province, and with Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Let us glance, very briefly, at a few of tho facilities which we shall thus have secured. A resident of Carleton could get into a train at Woodstock. He could be in Fredericton in say four hours and a half; or in St. Stephen or Calais in four hours and a quarter; or in St. Andrews in four hours and a half; or in St. Jphn m six hours. In twelve hours he would be on the borders of Nova Scotia. To reach St. John now requires 38 hours. At certain seasons of tho year there is a connection by which St. John may be reached in a day and a night ; but for all practical purposes we cannot call the journey much less than 1^ days. Next considey the relative cost of travelling by the two modes of con- veyance — that at present available, and that provided by a Railway. During, the season in which steamers run both above and below Fre- dericton, the fare through to St. John is generally two dollars fifty cents. As you have two days travel, you must add, at the lowest esti- mate, one dollar fifty cents for other necessary expenses; making the actual expense four dollars. But for one half the summer steamers do not run above Fredericton ; and during this time the only public con- veyance is the stage, with a fare of three dollars, between Woodstock and Fredericton. In winter, say from the fifteenth of November to the first of May, nearly six months, the t^ole distance must be travelled by stage. By the proposed Railway one could leave Woodstock after a meal, and arrive in St. John in time for the next ; and this at a cost, in Sum- mer and Winter alike, of two dollars fifty cents. To make a trip to St. John at any season would occupy little more time than it now does in Summer to run to Fredericton and back by steamboat. The mer- chant, lumberer, fanner or mechanic fiom any part of Carleton would ber enabled to leave his residence any morning, go to St. Jobn, and bo back at homo in the evening of the next day, having out of the thirty-five or forty hours of his brief absence, upwards of twenty hours to bestow upon his business. This facility of travel would alone make, in a few years, no small revolution in the County. With respect to freights the proposed Railway extension would afford us advantages of still greater importance. Our freight from St. John now comes mostly up the river. Goods are hauled over to Indiantown ; shipped at that place ; landed on tho wharves at Fredericton, and perhaps warehoused there ; and again shipped for Woodstock. The cost of transportation is about sixty cents per barrel. But traders well understand that tho detention, damage of goods, and danger of loss, by this route constitute a draw back which adds a heavy per centage to the cost. And this is only a portion of tho disadvantages under which we labor. During the whole winter, nearly one half tho year, transport by this route is impossible ; unless resort is had to the expensive resource of hauling by teams over one hundred and twenty eight miles of road. By the proposed Railway, neither Summer nor Winter, high water nor low water, would affect transportation in any considerable degree. Mr. Burpee, in his calculations, puts the tariff of freight at two cents per ton per mile ; which is actually higher than the tariff on the St. John and Shediac Road. At this rate the transportation of a ton from St. John to Woodstock would cost two dollars fifty cents ; and a barrel of flour would cost say twenty-five cents. We should have the benefit of the same proportionate reduction in down freights. A bushel of oats would be carried to St. John for four and a quarter cents ; a thousand of shingles for twenty-five cents. In these illustrations we have spoken only of St. John. But W3 should have the same facilities of travel and transport to and from St. Andrews, St. Stephen, Calais, Fredericton, and other places. We should have opened for the agricultural, lumbering and mineral produc- tions of Carleton, the markets, not only of our Province, but of the sister Colonies, of the United States, and of the West India Islands. The industrial classes of our County would be ensured a prompt, ready and regular gale for their products, and would receive more for them ; while on tho other hand every consumer of imported goods would have to pay less for these than ho does at present. A trip to Boston, to tho North Shore, or to Nova Scotia, would scarcely cost more, either in time or money, than does now a trip to St. John, Having satisfied themselves that the proposed Railway extension would be an advantage to them, the people of Carloton should next turn their attention to the cost of tho work, and tho probable receipts from traflBc and passengers, in order to ascertain the amount of tho burdon which. the construction will impose upon tho Provinces, and the paying capa- bilities of the lines. Mr. Burpee estimates the cost of tho extensions at thirty two tliou- sand dollars per mile. The whole length of Road necessary to bo built to complete the connec^ons with St. John, Frcdericton, Woodstock and St. Stephen, would bo, say one hundred and eight miles. At $32,000 per mile tho expanse of construction would be $3,456,000. He makes an elaborate calculation of the probable receipts, by which he shows that after making all necessary deductions there would bo $185,500 a year to meet the interest payable upon the money expended in construc- tion. That interest would amount, at six per cenc to $207,860 ; leav- ing $21,860 to bo provided out of the Provincial Treasury to meet the surplus interest. As the country prospers, and industry and trade grow, tho earnings of the Roads would increase, anij the amount necessary to meet surplus interest would decrease. If tho Road fell short no more than twenty one or twenty two thousand dollars of paying tho whole interest the first year of its existence, it is as certain as anything can I well be that in three years its business would increase to that extent, [if not, indeed, to much more. The proceeds of the St. Andrew's Rail- Iway for 1863 were probably $40,000 ; this year they are, on good [grounds, estimated at $70,000. But if the amount to be paid by tho [Province towards the annual interest should bo the sum named above, [the share of this County, according to population would be but about [$1,400 a year. Surely if our people had to* pay this for a few years, [until the Road became self-supporting, it would be the cheapest of all [possible bargains, considering the inestimable advantages which the cx- I tensions Iroald secure to us. I Your Gqmmlttee are of opinion that if the County of Carleton gives its support to tbo proposed Railway oxtonslon it should be on tho ex- ))ro.sd condition that tho St. Andrew's lino, or a branch thoroof, bo car- ried in to tap tho River St. John at the town of Woodstock. This is nuuessary not only for the purpose of securing the traffic of the County, ami of the Upper St. John, but as a measure of justice to the County itself. Here we have already gathered the rudiments of a city, a home market, and a manufiicturing centre. Woodstock, both by its natural location and the progress which it has made, is the natural centre of businoss for tho County. If the lower St. John desires these exten* sivHi.s and expects tbo support of the Upper St. John, wo aro entitled to domund the lino to tho St. John River at Woodstock as an integral portion of the whole scheme. It is in vain to expect that a Road with a terminus seven miles from the River, and much nearer Houlton than Woodstock, can secure the trade of this County. If it is desired, in order to secure the Aroostook tiade, to make a branch to Houlton, let it so be : but we should ask, as an indespensable portion of the scheme, that our County should meet the consideration to which it is entitled in fy.itness to itself, and which is much less than it would have a right to ask in return for the traffic which it could give to the proposed extensions. In order to show what the County of Carleton can now do, and of wliut she is capable, in furnishing traffic for the proposed lines, we pre- sent some of the statistics of her resources and production. Carleton and Victoria occupy a peculiar position on tho Map of tho Province. They are further from the seaboard than any other portion of New Brunswick. Out of our fourteen Counties, eight, — Charlotte, St. John, Albert, Westmorland, Kent, Northumberland, Gloucester and Kestigouche, — border on the sea ; and have all the advantages afforded by their proximity to the great highway of nations. Through four others, — King's Queen's Sunbury and York, — runs *ho St. John River, which though closed in Winter, is navigable in Summer, through- out all these Counties, as far as Fredericton, for largo steamers and for schooners. The tide actually makes to a point five miles above Freder- icton. But Carle jn and Victoria are far inland — far removed from the facilities of commerce possessed by the seaboard Counties, and to a less, but still very great, extent by the lower River Counties. Were our County far in the rear in industrial and oommercial progress, we might ' n tho ex- )f, be car« This is 3 County, e County jT, a home bs natural contra of se exten- sntitlod to a integral oad with a alton than lesired, in Iton, let it le scheme, entitled in a right to xtensions. lo, and of s, we prc- ap of tho ar portion Charlotte, cester and afforded )ugh four St. John , through- rs and for re Freder- 1 from the to a less, Were our we might well adduce this as a more V./jlh sufficient excuse. TTiey have at their doors, the highway of the ocean ; we can only reach that liighway by tho bye path of one hundred and fifty miles of a River, tlie upper portion of which is practically unnavigable for seven or oiglit months of tho year. Then, in extent Carleton County is insignificant compared to iho area of the Province. It covers perhaps seven hundred thousand acren, or about 4-24 per cent of the 16,500,000 acres of the area of New Brunswick. . » M; ..* , tir .* , i Yet, with all these disadvantages, what is Carlrtonnow industrially ? what has it done? and what has it the capacity to do ? Wo shall cite ji few facts from the Census lleturns of 1861, which may perhaps astonish those who, while they confine their travels, in their own country, prin- cipally to the expansive districts of the "North Market Wharf" and " Cht.bb's Corner," fancy tlioy bioia the Province of New IJrunswlek. The population of Carleton County much exceeds jiroportionately it;^ area, forming 649 per centum of that of tho Province. Comparing Carleton with the Province, we find that in 1861 she had 9-17 per centum of the improved lands — more than double her proportion according to area ; and that the value of her farms u. .s 7-89 per centum, or nearly double the proportion of her area. In that year she raised 9-19 per centum of the Hay ; 9-69 of the Wheat ; 18-61 per cent., or more than four times the proportion of her area, of tho Oats ; 22 per cent, of the Buckwheat; and 26 per cent., or more than one quarter, of the Rye- Follow up the inquiry: she raised 11-51 per cent, of the Turnip.'^; 22-95 of the Beans; 15-43 of the Peas; 22-20 of the Indian Corn ; and 83-26 of the Clover Seed. Only in a few articles of farm -"oduce — Carrots, Potatoes, Barley, ko., did she fall short of these ratios. then proceeding to other productions of the Farm, the Loom, and the Factory, we find that Carleton produced 10-60 per cent, of the Butter ; 11-74 of the Cheese ; 11-07 of the Maple Sugar ; 11-05 of the Wool (an astonishing production considering her large annual exports of Sheep overland to the United States markets) ; 9-18 per cent, of the Pork ; 9-61 of the Cloth and other Home manufactures. Of Honey, over one third of the production of the Province is in Carleton County — 35-52 per centum. The Carleton Tanneries produce^ 8 per cent of the Leather ; and her shops over 13 per cent, of the Saddlery, and over 8 . n i) ^ I 9 per ceDt. of the Boots and Shoes. And nothing speaks more strongly cf the progress of Garleton than the fact that, insulated and cut off from the outer world as she has been for many long years, only one County has, in the ten years from 1851 to 1861, surpassed her in proportion- ate increase of population, and that she was five per centum above any other, and i7-3o per cent, above the average of the Province. Albert, owing to the richness of her mines, increased 49-59 per centum ; Car- leton 47-40, and Victoria 42-40. This wonderful proportionate production of our County must be at- tributed in the first place to the surpassing fertility of its soil, and sec- ondly to the spirit and enterprise of its people. But Garleton would have shown a much more wonderful production than this were it not for the barrier drawn across its centre by the liiver St. John. On the West side are the centres of business, the towns and villiages, the principal mail routes and means of communica- tion. To reach the world the East side must cross the River. A great gulf separates East from West. During the winter the ice forms a suf- ficient Bri'^oje. But during summer the only means of crossing are boats projjelled by hand (except one horse boat). One can scarcely, without an actual experience, realise the loss, cost, and vexation arising from the want of better facilities for crossing. In the Spring and Fall, when the ice is running, even these pooi* substitutes ibr a Bridge are laid up ; and for weeks the Iliver is, for the purposes of ordinary busi- ness, impassible. It follows that the East side is regarded as a sort of forlorn region. Land is of less value — the farmer and laborer's toil is less remunerative, on that side than on this. On this account the bOttlement of the Batit side is v<^ry much retarded. Nevertheless set- tlement, under all these drawbacks, is proceeding on that side with as- tonishing rapidity. More than one half the surface of Carleton lies on the East side of the River St. John. The East has 385,000 acres; the West 315,000. But the effect which the River has had is shown in this : on the Western side there are 81,247 uores improved ; on Ihe Eastern side but 19,983. On the Western side there are in farms un- improved 190,202 acres ; on the Eastern side only 70,558 acres. And while on the ^stern side there remains probably some 150,000 acres of ungranted lands, the Crown baa soaroely an acre left on the West. ^.■#:. strongly oflf from County oportion- bove any Albert, m; Car- st be at- and sec- poduction re by the ness, the nmunica- A great 3sing are D arising ind Fall, idge are ary busi- a sort of rs toil is ount the )less set- witb as- iQ lies on acres; is shown Nevertheless ; despite the drawbacks which we have here set out, and our statements respecting which are corroborated by the figures above given, settlement proceeds on the Eastern side with great rapid- ity. The extensive and prosperous settlements of Glassville and John- ville are the work of but a few years. A half dozen years since there could scarcely be found a settler in these regions ; but a year ago even one of them had become so important that the Legislature set it apart as a new parish. If we wish to form a pretty correct notion of the rate at which settlement is proceeding in the Eastern portion of this County we have but to turn to the Report of the Crown Land Department for the year ending 31st October, 1862, and observe the approvals of applications for G-overnment lands under the Labour Act. It will be easily understood that lands applied for by actual settlers are applied for under the Labour Ace ; and that lands which are applied for by payment down, or by instalments, are generally bought for purpo- ses of speculation. Now in the year mentioned, the Crown Land Re- turns show that of 1,004 approvals of applications under the Labour Act in the Province, there were 234 for lands in Carleton County ; ^j^e of the number of acres for which applications was thus made, in aft ^5,955, over a third, — 23,202, — were located in the County of Owleton. Had there been a Bridge across the River for the last ten years, at this day the East side would probably have been little, if at all, behind the West side^ki production. A Bridge would nearly equalize the advantages of^tho ttvo sides ; and with a Railway to Woodstock such an impetus would be given to settlement upon the enormous extent of wild lands on the East side, that in ten years from the time at which the Bridge was completed we should have the productions of the County double those of its West side. With these facilities of communication Carleton would, in a few years drive from the markets the competing produce of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Her capacity for agricultural production cannot be judged by what she does at present produce, both from the want of access to the East side, and because her farmers ha\.; no regular and steady market in which to dispose of their surplus produce. The home demand in our villages and in the lumber woods, £a118 yery fax short of what is necessary to draw forth the oapa- 10 m !(' ;M i 5 i bilitios of the soil. Consequently production is cramped, and kept down to the narrow limits of demand. Of most of the Mineral resources of Carleton litttle is as yet known. The presence of Copper over a considerable extent of country has been known for years ; and Copper Mines have been opened and worked, but not as yet profitably. Limestone is abundant in several districts. Hydraulic Limestone has been found ; as has also been Antimony and other minerals, besides large quarries of Roofing Slate. To these and other minerals and stones we shall make no further reference ; as they cannot be counted on as of immediate availability in furnishing traffic for a Railway. But the developement of the Iron Mines has already commenced ; and in them Carleton possesses the crude materials which must, with Railway communication, make her second in wealth to no district of the same extent in North America. The great difficulties under which we labor in the working of our Iron Mines, are, first, the inconvenience and cost of the present mode of transportation to and from the seaboard, and, secondly, the want of Mineral Coal. As yet none but charcoal iron can be produced ; and although this demands the highest price in the British markets, yet its production is limited by the difficulty of transport already mentioned, and must always be lim- ited by tbe extent and cost of the supply of fuel. The following statis- tics regarding the present works, and the extent of the iron beds, have been kindly furnished by Mr. Norris Best, Manager of the Charcoal Iron Works at Upper Woodstock. The quantity of wood required for the operations of these works in 1864 is estimated at 12,000 cords, which will strip say 400 acres. Evidently with this consumption an- nually added to that necessary for tne ordinary purposes of the County, wood must go up in price, and the expense of producing Charcoal Iron must be increased. But the present works furnish a very considerable addition to the business of the County, and would provide an item in Railway traffic of no small importance. The estimateid production of pig iron for 1864 is 2,.750 tons, employing at the mines and about the furnace and works seventy-five men. Twelve teams, with their drivers, find constant employment in hauling the ore, while to cut the wood re- quires say one hundred and fifty r^eji for twelve weeks; and to haul it some sixty teams and their diivws f(ir the same length of time. The down freight of the pig iron for 1864 is estimated at $5,600. During the winter the iron, in order to keep up a regular supply for the English market, has to be hauled on sleds to the Houlton Road terminus of the St. Andrew's Railway, a distance of nine miles, thence sent by Railway to St. Andrews ; and from that place shipped by schooner to St. John ; and every ton thus transported from Woodstock to St. John, costs one dollar and twenty-five cents additional. With a Railway communication between Woodstock and St. John, the iron could be sent for two dol- lars throughout the year, and thus on one half the quantity produced there would be a saving in transport within the Province of one dollar and a quarter per ton. The up freight for the Works is estimated for 1864 at $4,500. Thus for 1864, fi-om the works of the Iron Com- pany alone, the proposed Railway would receive a traffic at pre&jnt worth $10,000. Mr. Beat states to your Committee that if there were continuous Railway communication from St. John to Woodstock, so that mineral coal could be delivered at the works at a rate of 1^ cents per ton per mile, it could be used profitably for iron smelting in this County ; and that every description of iron, whether for the varied uses to which malleable iron is put, or for castings, could be produced in Carleton County and sent to St. John at a price so low as to compete successfully with P]ng- lish and Scotch irons. In fact, the result would be that three-fourths of the importation of British and Foreign iron would cease. Of the crude material we have such abundance as would not only supply our own consumption but furnish almost any amount needed for expor.^ation. A notion is abroad in some parts of the Province that the present company monopolizes all the iron mines of Carleton. But the truth is that the portion held by lease by the present company is a mere patch compared with the enormous extent of our mines. The Iron Dis- trict runs in a North Easterly direction from the Parish of Richmond across the whole extent of the County. How far it extends into the State of Maine does not matter in the present inquiry. From Richmond it extends across the whole Parish of Wakefield, then crosses the River and extends up the Begaguimic River. Mr. Best has traced it a distance of some twenty eight miles. Mr. Cadman, Engineer of the Iron Works, while on tho Tobique River, found the same Iron Belt extending as far !. !-■■ I St ( ! iK 12 as the Agulquac, say sixty-five miles from our starting point in Rich- mond ; and although he made no attempt to trace it further, he judged that, from the nature of tlie country, it continued on — how far he had no means of judging. This belt of ore varies in width, but has say an average width of six miles. Of this vast iron region, covering probably 250,000 acres, the present Charcoal Iron Company have under lease from the Crown 5760 acres, or less than one forty third part. The actual mining operations of the late company and the present, have been con- fined to opening the ground in a number of places, ovei' a surface of less than two acres ; the greatest depth reached in any one place being per- haps 20 feet. Four acres of the same richness in ore would provide one furnace with ore for fifty years. These statements can, we believe, be proved beyond the shadow of a doubt. We believe that all scientific men who have visited this district ha^e expressed but one opinion as to the surpassing ricbnGss of our iron mines, and as to the almost inex- haustible means of wealth which Carleton possesses in them. In their developeraent we need only Railways. And your committee can boldly declare that if the proposed extension served no purpose other than to develope the iron mines of this County the building of it would be the most profitable public work in which New Brunswick could engage. One of the most important items which Carleton would furnish as freight for the Railway would be small lumber. The capacity of this County and Victoria for the production of this description of goods is enormous ; and while the Railway would produce an immense expansion of the business, the present production is very great. The getting of tamarac and other roots has increased rapidly within a few years. During the present winter the quantities of these which are being got out along the line of the St. Andrew's Railway, and in this County, are enormous. The Railway is lined with them ; they may be counted by acres. Daily we see load after load passing through Woodstock to the Houlton Road Station, brought from the upper country and the East side of the River. The production of this County alone for this winter may be safely esti- mated at 10,000. An addition has recently been made to our timber business. It is well known that Hard Pine of a large size is brought from the Southern States to St. John for ship building purposes. But a gentleman from Carleton, St. John, has recently engaged a Carleton 13 County lumberer to furnish him with 100 pieces of large Tamarack for the same purposes to which the Hard Pine has been heretofore applied, and is to pay him $2,400 for the hundred pieces. The Shingle business has also increased wonderfully within a few years. Mr. Burpee states that the down-i-iver traffic for 1863 was 32,000,000. The Deputy Treasurer at Woodstock informs your com- mittee that in the same year 15,750,000 foreign shingles, (made in the adjoining parts of the State of Maine above Woodstock), were bonded here for exportation from the lower ports. It has been stated on the authority of an extensive lumberer that the production of shingles this winter above Grand Falls will be 50,000,000. A leading merchant of Victoria puts the production from Tobique upwards at 60,000,000. We may, therefore, say that at a low estimate 80,000,000 will be made in the St. ejohn valley from Woodstock upwards; and that with a Rail- way tapping the River St. John 50,000,000 would be sent over it. At 25 cents per thousand this branch of production alone would produce to a Railway $12,500. Immense quantities of other small lumber might be depended upon as soon as Railway communication was perfected to the various markets and seaports of the Province. Among the most noticeable of these are clapboards and laths. But our wood production is already expanding into other equally profitable branches. We may mention that in the vicin- ity of the Houlton Road Station a manufactory of barrel, cask and hogshead hoops has been recently commenced. The proprietor pays persons in the vicinity twenty dollars a thousand. United States cur- rency, for the small poles from which the hoops are made, and em- ploys eleven men in making them. He states, your committee are informed, that the wood of tl:3 County is of a superior quality for this purpose, and talks of establishing factories along the River, in order to afford central points in every section to which farmers and operators may haul in the poles. The market for this description of lumber is Qxten- sive enough for an enormous business. From hoops we shall proceed to staves ; and having got to furnishing the wood for " heads," we may consider the barrel and cask business perfected. Of course the manu- facture and exportation of all these would form an important branch of our West India trade. u li ll : ! ( i i! I 5 On the trade of the Cownty, and its exports and imports generally your Committee do not propose to dwell at much length, as their extent importance and rapid increase, must be patent to the most cursory ob- server. In attempting to obtain statistics of the traffic and travel on this River tliey have met unexpected obstacles. The following figures, however, may bo relied upon as coming as near the mark as necessary for practical purposes : • Importation of gooods into Woodstock for retail trade, say $350,000 00 Freight paid on goods upwards from Frodericton, by steamer and towboat, say - - - - ' - , - 50,000 00 Passengers fare on same route, both ways, say : - - 25,000 00' The imports into port of Woodstock, (as given by Deputy Treasurer) for year ending 31st December, 18G3, wore 147,123 69 The exports from same port for 1862 were - - 50,617 87 While for the year 1863 they had increased to - - 122,069 60 Of course these amounts are but what appears on the Custom House books ; but they convey some notion of the exteat of the business now done at this port. An important export from Carleton is that of Cattle and Sheep for the United States markets. Large numbers of cattle and immense flocks of sheep and lambs, are collected by drovers who pass through the County, from farm to farm. These are now driven over the Road to Bangor, and thence forward to the Brighton and other markets. Sheep in droves of from one to five hundred pass through Woodstock during the summer. This trade has existed for many years, and is on the increase. In 1863 probably some 7,000 sheep were thus exported : Notwithstanding this great and regular annual exportation such has been the production that while the increase of sheep in the whole Province, from 1851 to 1861, was about 27 per centum, the increase in Carleton was over 36 per centum. Were there a communication the whole dis- tance by Railway, the whole of these sheep and cattle would be sent thus to market ; and their freight would form an important item in the receipts of a Railway. Put the rate from Wooostock to St. Stephen at 25 cents each ; ".nd the 7000 sheep would produce annually for the Road $1,750. Cheapness and facility of transport would increase the business ; and with the proposed Railway extension the export would be doubled in a few years. . . 15 Wo have ent^ed at some length upon the various produc ons and resources of Carleton County in order to show what business wo could immediately furnish to a Bailway ; what increase in that business we might reasonably expect. We desired also to place Carleton County before the public in a light somewhat more consistent with her actual importance than that in which she is generally viewed. In other por- tions of the Province, more particularly in the commercial metropolis, no adequate notion of what Carleton is, and of what she is capable, exists. True she has a high reputation as an agricultural district, and her people are favorably known for their intelligence and enterprise ; but that reputation is rather a shadowy one ; and if people abroad were asked to give facts and figures to substantiate the popular opinion con- cerning us, they would probably be puzzled to do so off-hand. Many of the facts and 'figures which are given in this Report may be found in official and other documents; but these are little studied. And it must be recollected that Carleton cannot be fairly judged by her pre- sent actual production, magnificent proportionately as that is. What she now does is but a trifle to what she could do under favorable circum- stances. As we have already stated, the inland position which she occupies, and the consequent difficulty and expense of reachirg markets, have beer a fearful clog to her advance ; not only keeping down produc- tion in the branches of industry already opened, but preventing most effectually the opening of others which might be made equally remune- rative. With proper facilities of Railways and Bridges, not july would her present production be probably quadrupled in ten years ; but nume- rous new openings would be made for industry ; aad her production would increase in kind not less than in quantity. Whatever she has as yet been enabled to accomplish, has been accomplished in spite of diffi- culties and drawbacks the most disheartening. Everything has been against her except the richness of her resources land the enterprise of her people. For more than half the year she has been shut in from the outside world ; what her people produced for sale could bo got to mar- ket but for a brief trifte in the year, and that time the very one at which their attention was most required to their work at home. During the romainder of the season, her farmers could dispoi^ of their produce only by hawking around the streets of a few villages and hamlets. With beef at three or four cents a pound, and oats at twenty-five to thirty [oents a bushel,— as has often been the case,— the agrieultnrist has littlo 16 'I ; ( ;r. i .h Si; I ! " I , : i' ' i ■ ) inoitement to the cxpendituro of skill and capital upon his soil. But open to him tho markets of the Province, the United States and the West Indies, and the effect upon production, both in kind, and quantity, would be marvellous. Our fields and mines and forests have but to bo called upcn in order to make a response in production that would build up the county at Railway speed. It is not so much higher prices that our farmers need as a regular, ready and always open cash market. This has been the chief want — and the great and crying necessity. That want has chilled our energies — has dampened enterprise — has chocked production. Give us an opening ! — is our cry ; in some direction ; in any direction. If our own sea ports will not aid us in finding an opening for our surplus production and for our trade, we must search for it elsewhere. If we cannot have it by way of St. John, we will be driven to look for it by way of Bangor. Carle- ton desires the prosperity of St. John, and of every portion of the Pro- vince ; the people of Carleton would prefer to have such a Railtvay com- munication as would enable them to make St. John their medium of communication with the world, because while their own ends would be accomplished they would assist in building up our own Province, rather than the cities of a foreign State. But our people cannot but feel, and do keenly feel, that very little has ever been done to supply our great want ; that five millions of dollars have been spent to build a Railway coast wise from St. John to Shediac, to the disadvantage of our agricul- turists ; while upon our only highway to the sea, the St. John River, we have been grudged the few thousand pounds that have been expended. That Carleton and Victoria, with their immense resources, and their great production, could do more towards building up St. John than three or four coast Railways we fully believe. Last year the Province imported to the value of 1,900,000 dollars of agricultural produce. With proper Railway communication Carleton and Victoria could from their surplus supply this want, and that at a cheaper rate than St. John now buys. And it must be recollected that while Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, whence a large proportion of these exports come, take mainly in exchange money, Carleton and Victoria, dealing with St. John, would expend in that City almost the whole of the amount received for their farm stuffs sold there. We should supply the St. John markets at lower prices than those which at present rule in them ; and we should leave in St. John the very money with which we were 17 paid. Wo should supply her r'ith lumber for bor shipbuilding and manufactures at lower rates than she could otherwise obtain it ; and wo should give to her merchants and manufacturers the supplying of our I greatly increased wants. In every way tley would gain. Lot not the people of St. John delude themselves with tho flattering I idea that the St. John River secures to tliora under any circumstances the trade of Carleton and Victoria. The River serves us for fivo months put of the year passably well ; for the other seven it is either partiaHy [or entirely useless. That this state of things can last let those believe [who will ; the people of Carleton do not. A gradually fermentation of [public opinion has been going on ; if an outlet cannoi 09 found in tho [direction which they might wish, they will accept u in any other direc- Ition which offers. Already their eyes are directed westward. The St- lAndrews line is doing good service, notwithstanding tho unfortunate [location of the Station at its upper terminus. Already no inconsid- Icrable portion of the trade of Carleton and Victoria have been direc- jtei, through means of this Road, from our commercial metropolis. — ilmost all of the goods sent in bond to Woodstock came by way of St. Fohn ; but of the $147,000 imports of this port for 1863 over $131,000 ;ame frjjm United States over the St. Andrews Railway. If the mer. chants of our own seaports underrate the importance of our trade, the jjhrewd and enterprising men of the State of Maine understand well its ralue, look to it with longing eyes, and are feeling after, and handling |t with the tenacious grasp of the " Down East'* Yankee. They bring ^ver New England waggons and sleighs, and fill our County with them exchange for cattle and sheep, and sheep skins. They send agents ^ho sweep our butter off by wholesale for their own markets. They ividently desire the benefit of our trade ; and instead of following the ^lan of some that we can name, of sitting at home with folded hands ex- acting it to come, they are sending out their emmissaries in every lirection. Should the long projected Bangor and Aroostook Railway carried out, and an extension be made to tap the St. John River at ''oodstock, as is proposed, our trade would as surely flow through the itlet thus made as does the water down the valley of the St. John. Still another pomt is worthy of consideration. . The people of St. )hn wish Railway communication with the United States. They de- re it both for the purpose of the additional business which it may bring ^eir city, and as an eztensioQ which will make the Shediao Road more 18 "'i f. r^i profitable, or less of a dead loss. To have the western extension ft profitable work is therefore a matter of the utmost importance. Should the western extension be built it would bo found that the few miles of the branch from the St. Andrews line in to tap the St. John River at Woodstock would bo the best paying portion of the whole Ime. Com- petent authorities havo calculated that after paying expenses it would give a dividend of eight to ten per cent, per annum upon the amount necessary to build it. The additional business which it would furnish to the main lines might mako all the difference between a paying and a non-paying Road. At all events, to divert to it from the St. John River such portion of the Woodstock freight as would naturally take the Rail- way were it extended to the St. John at Woodstock, would swell the receipts of the Road, and in a few years make it a paying and not a losing speculation. Now, clearly, if this will be the effect it is the interest of St. John to support the Woodstock branch. It is not a question be- tween River and Railway. The River will remain where it is if the Railway be built not less than if no Railway ever join Woodstock and St. John. What does it matter to St John whether its goods be carried up the country by River or Railway, except that in sending them by Railway they may furnish it with such an amount of freight as will justify the undertaking of its construction ? Your Committee, before closing this Report desire to add a few words on the Woodstock branch. They have already endoavored to show that in order to complete the extension scheme that branch must bo built. It should be built in order to draw the traffic not only of Carleton which centres at Woodstock, but of the whole valley of the St. John River, above Woodstock. So long as there is no Railway communica- tion further up, the St. John will be used to carry the freight and pas- sengers of the upper country down to and up from the Railway. But to effect this the Railway must touch the River. And Woodstock is the point at which it would naturally tap the St. John, for the reasons which we have already given. But our town is not only the point at which the trade of the county concentrates, and at which the trade of the upper districts would concentre, in order to reach the Railway ; but Woodstock is the point at which in a few years a Bridge must be built to accommodate the much neglected Eastern side, and to develope its resources and promote its settlement. Further, Woodstock is not the centre of our county alone ; a large portion of York County lies in such 10 a position as to bo most a cossiblo tlirough our Town. Tbo boundary lino of Vork is but sovon or eight inilos from Woodstock, whilo it is Homo forty from Frcclcricton. If you draw a lino through tho county of [York at every point oqui-distant from tho capital and our Town, I you will find that from ono third to one-half of tho unsettled lands in York, are nearer us than they are to Fredericton. Woodstock is as nat- urally tho markot and the centre of business for this portion of York as it is of any part of tho County of Carloton itself. Tho cost of this branch, say from DeBock's Mill to the Town, would not bo greater per mile than that of tho extension westward from St. John. Tho distance is variously estimated at 7, 7 J and 8 milos. — Taking tho latter estimate, at £8,000 per mile, it would add to the cost of the whole work $256,000. Tt would pay probably as well as any por- tion of the proposed extension of tho same length, and much better than the average of the whole line. We will only add tbat to get goods car- ried between Woodstock and the present station of the St. Andrews Eailway on tho Houlton Boad, seven miles, costs on an average half as much as the freight of them over tho eighty-eight miles between that station and St. Andrews. Wo leave it to the public to infer from this fact the inconvenience and annoyance and expense which are entailed upon tho community ; and to decide whether this fact itself does not furnish a sufficient justification for the people of Carleton making the building of these seven or eight miles an indispensable part of the scheme. In submitting this Report your committee must express their regret that the circumstances did not admit of the expenditure of more time in obtaining the information respecting the resources and condition of the County required by the Athenaeum. The facts and figures of which the Keport is mainly composed had to be hastily collected from a vast variety of sources; and from tho necessary haste with which the work has been done, your committee have not been able to make it as elaborate, reliable and satisfactory, as they could have desired. Your committee suggest that though it be now necessary to put it in print in its present : form, in order to aid in tho accomplishment of a certain purpose, yet to obtain and publish the fullest and most reliable information possible re- specting our County is a matter not of temporary but of permanent interest. This Report might bo taken as the basis of more searching •« 20 and eztendod rosoarohos ; and tho AthenaDum, taking a sufficiency of time for the porpoee, and applying to tho task the Yaried information and ozperienoo, and the energy and application of its various membors, might produoo such a fall and reliable aooount of the condition, rosour- oes, trade and prospects of Garleton, as would place it before the world in tho position to which by the richness of its natural resources, the deyelopement of its industry, and the intelligence and enteiprise of its people, it is justly entitled. Such a work would be of immense benefit to tlie County, and would worthily employ the labors of our young but spirited association. Respectfully submitted. JAMES EDGAR, Cfhairman of Committee. Woodstock, February 11th, 1864. ifficionoy of information 3 mombors, ion, rosour- ) the world ources, the prise of its nso benefit young but 7ommiUee. 5 ' t ■