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Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc.. peuvent «tre fiimis i des teux de reduction diff«rents. Lorsque le document est trop grend pour «tre reproduit en un seul ciich*. il est film* « pertir de I'engie sup*rieur geuche, de gauche * droite, et de haut an bes. en prenent le nombre d'imeges n*cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants lllustrant le m*thode. 1 2 3 1 jj^0m<Bt^tU anH WLuUt MvU MMIW^^ UMlr . To the Beeves and Deputy Reeves of the Townships of Woodhouse, Windham and Norwich, and of the Towns of Woodstock and Simcoe. GENTLEMEN— Thb Board of Directoiis of llie Woodstock and Lake Erie Riilway and Harbour Company, beg to submit the following statement to you, showing their present position and future prospects : — This Company's position is materially improved, as its President and Directors have made arrangements for effecting an amulgamation wirh tile Erie and Llnlario Railway Company, (subject to ihe approval of ihe Share- holders of each Company) ; the importance of this amalgamation caimot be too highly estimated— it gives to this Company the use as a terminus on Lake Ontario of oni- of the best Harbours, (Niagara.) and (he iniporlant privi- Ir^a of running steamboats, &c, on that Lake, maierially enhanced by llii< Company already possessing !.imilar privileges on Lake Erie, ll further ^ecures to lliis Company the right of crossing the Suspension Bridge, a ri^/'ht which was reserved to the Erie and Ontario Railway Company, when the Great Western Railway "compmiy leased the iijiper or Railway floor of that Bridge from tiie Bridge Company. It secures to the Woodstock Kail- way Cumpany, a direct line to the Suspension Bridgr , avoiding the mouuiain riJgc :rossed, and consequently the heavy grades traversed by the Great Western Eailnay ; the Erie ai,d Onlario Company and this Company bcini entitled under their existing charters to meet at Dunnville ; and it connects by an unbroken line of Railway two of the best Uarbours (Port Dover and Niagara.) on the Lakes of Eric ami Ontario, which is of the greatest possi- ble importance when wc remember how much time and expei.se is consumed in taking cargoes and merchandiza through the Welland Can«l. The Companies jointly have applied to. Parliament for an extension of their line to St. Thomas, which there ii erery prospect of their obtaining this Session ; should they succeed, it will inevitably secure to ihcm the command of the Great Southern llirough Line, connecting the Southern Michigan Railroad with the New York CentrM Railroad at the Suspension Bridge. central The amalgamation canipj oat and the cxtcn?ions obtained, the parties interested in these Companie-t amon<r whom will be fouiid some of the most iniluenlial men in the Province, stand pledged to occupy so much of th« united lines as lie between the Simcoe Junction and Otierville, as a part of the Southern Line, if Carried out — llie immediate and beneficial effect that arrang*-ment would hnve on the position and prospects of our road vou are we I able to judge ; and althou.-h the advantages of a Southern Through Line, in a commercial point of view are but too well known, and hare been too often canvassed to need repetition, it may be confide ed not out ol' place now tha the Great VVestern Railway has been opened twelve months, to give a few figures, which derived from the actual returns of that Railway, have .n every way a practical advantage^ver those heretofore ghen. The Great Western Railway Company's Receipts are now avera-^ino- £S 000 nor wPf 1- ^-.n,! ti »i. „ SVootn'"' ," °'t°'" "- b..-.ess oifered) or AlGfiOO per annum. = U^i^' cost"^ of conttr c t as b 1' OOO^mJiSS;:-^^^^ t may fairly be assumed that the through traffic would be ennal to hat carried bvihrrw\v V n^ ' ' \^' length of the Southern line at 226,] miles, its co« at £10 000 per mi k oi X ' #, f,, r '" ^^f V^^"' Z"^" \'"> receipt, a, £416 ()00 the same as 'given ihe Great WeslSn r"^ w J^ab vta'nl' iJow as waiu a° Vom ' '"'/',f that sum for working e.xpenses, th« remaining half will give a dividend on tl e o tlav emni n Q 1 *?^°7'"'>'' ''""^ In the foregoing estimates we ha-e not iriven the Sn.tEln LT.T^Ll^^^^^ P«r cent. i In tlic rorogoirijj .ilatt'iiieiil il is taken lui' iji'anted timt tlie .SouIIihih Tliiougli Line will be as (;ood a paying line as tlic Great W estoni llailway— that it will not draw any of tli« d'leat Western llailway's Irairio ; in otbur words, it is not a competing line, llie tbrnier being dcpepdent on the fcioutbern .Michigan Railroad, and the latter on tliat of the Central Alicliigun, and that it can be built Cor i; 10,000 per niilc, or two-thirds of the cost of the Great Western lUilway, including ull contingencies. At the time that the Directors of this Company had completed their arrangements and were in n positiou to commence the construction of the road to I'ort Dover, two courses were open for their adoption — the one was by a contract at a fixed low cash price per mile ; the other at a far higher figure, by e(iual payments of cash, bonda and stock, with a charge in favor of tlie Municipalities for the cash (debentures) advanced by them to the extent of one-third the contract price. \\ iii, a view to carrying out the future prospects and plans of this Company, now on the eve of being realized, the Directors did not deem it advisable to hamper these prospects and plans by build- ing at a high price per mile, that portion of their road l)ing between Woodstock and Port Dover. A line built or building at a low cash price leaves a Company in a position lo act to advantage 'a occasion may require ; and coupled with the fact that tliey could at that .ime change the nature of their contract, (which was provided for in the ori- ginal tenders) induced the Hoard after mature deliberation, to give out a cash contract, and times being than most promismg, to order the works to be commenced ; and the rcsu't so far os the amalgamation is concempd, has been such as to justify their decision. The extraordinary turn in political and financial affairs during the latter part of the past year, the severe and unprecedented pressure in the money market, at this time so totally unexpected, that it has paralyzed all public works throughout the wor'd, has necessarily had its effect upon this Company in com- mon with all others, of completely changing its position. The Hoard of Directors have not now the power to vary the form or nature of the cv.ntract, were it posfible, at this moment, to find Contractors who could underlake such a contract, payable iji cash, bonds, and stock ; and with the prospect of amalgamation and extensions,would this be advisable I Still a change in tlie nature of the various ^Municipal Loans, as well as further aid, is imperatively call- ed for, not only to enable the Directors to complete the line to Port Dover, but to place the Company in a posi- tion to carry out the proposed amalgamation, thereby securing the Municipalities from any loss from loans already made, which as always been a subject of paramount importance to the Directors, giving thein the many advantages consequent on having a railway running through two of the most productive Counties in this Province, and securing for them a far belter and safer position than was at first contemplated. By the statement below it will be seen that on the part of the Municipalities, a further sum of £75,000 is re- quired to place the Company in a position to borrow on their bonds at a reasonable rate, sufficient to complete the road to Port Dover— to enable theiii to perfect the ncc; -ary arrangements in respect to the amalgamation and ex- tensions above alluded to — upon wliich the completion and ultimate success of this road materially depend ; and we have no doubt if your iMunicipalities will increase their subscriptions, the balance can be raised on the security of the Company. It is but due to the Contractors to state that the sum of 850,000, which appears in the Financial Statement below, is a loan upon the same terms as the loans from the Municipalities made by those gentlemen to this Com- pany, to assist in the construction of the road to Port Dover. The amount required to complete this road to Port Dover, as above mentioned, would be Seventy-fiv9 Thousand I'ounds, (£75,000) as shown by tlie lollowing statement : — No. 1.— Cost of 38J miles of road at £7,000 per mile £269,000 2. — Land for Stations, Right of way. Payments on account of Harbour Purchase, Improvements of ditto, and contingencies to date 38,000 3. — Balance due on the above item, (No. 2) including balance due to Government on Harbour, and completion of improvements to ditto 18,000 Total £325,000 No. 1. — Amount already raised, including loan of £12,500 from Contractors £160,000 2. — Additional amounts required in cash to enable the Company to borrow balance 75,000 Total £235 000 To the 1st of January inst., the work has, with the exception of a temporary suspension, steadily progressed— there has been about 27 miles of road graded, bridged and fenced ; the balance of money in hand the Company purpose devoting almost exclusively to the forwarding of these portions of the works. The Contractors are paid up in full to the 1st inst., and the Directors have the authority of those gentlemen for stating that their Sub-Contractors have been paid up to the same date. As the Government have limited the amount to be issued under the Municipal Loan Fund Acts, nearly the whole of which appropriated to Canada West is taken up, the President and Directors of this Company would urge upon the Municipalities the necessity of immediate action being taken hereon — and as the matter may not only require consideration, but possibly some explanation, it is suggested that an early meeting of all parties interested would be desirable, for which purpose a special meeting of this Company will be held here on Wednesday, the 7th day of February, proximo, at 11, A. M, at which you are invited to attend, on behalf of the interests confided to you by your various Municif alities. The foregoing I beg to submit, on behalf of the Board of Directors and myself, to your careful consideration. And am, Gentlemen, Your obedient servant, ARTHUR A. FARMER, Fresidenl. Woodstock 16th January 1855, :: ; z z I- : I / — -i '^ u 2 u h < < »- CO CO < o 4 t <^ «^ .t5 ^0 1= 2i - • 3 <T I '- i-i-/ -r-c — '"itTir- — = -*.' 3 = 1 1 -*■/-*■ - ; - • * -— fi •— ^ -> ''7 'i *• "/■ ^T^^ ■ .^' y ^ .- „_ .- ir^vJ — f 1 — = X 3 -rr ~ /: ?i * 2 •■ "^ •" . , 71 i- I- <—f ■^t- I*' * r -£=> :4 u 1 c~ 1 © *f O i 1 » ^ i ^ eo" ! O •c •+5 'i 1 1 t i 1 o fc ffil