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REPORT 
 
 ur THU 
 
 SELECT COMMITTEE 
 
 , or TBI 
 
 )9onourai)U t^t Itgaiutilit SLMtmhlu of tbt ^robinrr of CanaHa, 
 
 ON THE PETITION OF THE 
 
 TORONTO AND LAKE HURON 
 
 KAIL ROAD COMPANY. 
 
 • - ..■ MoNTRBAI,, Feruuart, 1845, 
 
 TiiR Committee to whom was referred the petition of the Toronto and Lake H ;ron Uail Uoao Cohpant, 
 beg leave to represent, that by an Act of the Parli.<ment of Upper Canada, passed on the 10th day of 
 April, 1836, the said Company was incorporated, with power to construct an iron or wooden Uail Iload or way, 
 between the City of Toronto and some portion of the navigable waters of Lake Huron, within the limits of the 
 Home Dittrict. 
 
 That stock to a very large amount was taken up, and the Company provided with the necessary surveys, 
 and had plans and specifications of the entire route mide and completed at a very heavy expense. The under- 
 taking having thus been commenced, with every prospect of success, the unhappy troubles of 1837 began, and 
 owing to the depressed state of the country consequent thereon, your petitioners state they were compelled to 
 abandon their intentions for some time ; but that within the last twelve months public attention has been called 
 to the subject, and that it has been suggested to them that a Planked or Blocked Road would Itcttcr suit the 
 present circumstances of the country. That it would at the same time have an almost equal tendency to 
 develope its resources. That a Rail Road would mainly depend for support on foreign travel and traffic, whikt 
 a Planked or Blocked Road would be of immediate benefit to the districts and counties through which it might 
 pass. That it would be much less expensive, and might be brought into use at a much earlier period. 
 
 In this view of the case, your petitioners pray for an amendment in their Act of incorporation, so as to put 
 it in their power, if they think fit, to construct a Planked or Blocked Road, or a Rail Road in their discretion, 
 which your Committee beg leave to recommend to the favourable consideration of your honourable House. 
 
 Your Committee beg leave also to recommend, in pursuance of the prayer of the petitioners, that the said 
 Act may be farther amended, by leaving it in the discretion of the said Coin|)any, to fix the terminus of the 
 proposed Road to Lake Huron, at such point as they may deem most advisable, without confining it to tho 
 Home Dittrict, and tliat the time limited for the completion of the said Road, wliich will expire in less tluut two 
 years, be extended to a period of four years. 
 
Your Committee have been led to rcvommoml the terminus of the mid Iload to be in the diaeretion of the 
 Mid Company, not only from a conviction that it will be im|H)rtant to nuke the route as short as possible, but 
 that it will be desirable to Uy it down in such a nuumcr as will, in addition to the benefit which will lie derived 
 from it in opening an unsettled country, Iw calcuUtcd to invite to the Province and through it, foreign trafllo 
 and foreign conmierco. 
 
 U|ion the subject as regards its bearing in these respects, and with a view to the advantage of all sections 
 of tlut vast and fertile portion of Canada which lies between Laked Hubon and Ontahio, in a northerly and 
 teetlerly dirtetum from Tobonto, your Committee have devoted a good deal of time and consideration. The 
 prominent places on the southern shore of Lake Huron, within the limits of this Province, which arc now 
 attracting much attention, are Penetanguuhene, Oteen'i Sound, Saugin, and Oodkricii. The main travelled 
 Road leading from Toronto to the interior of the country in a northerly direction, is the natural line of commu- 
 nication in connection with the inland waters of Lake Simcoe with Penetanguishene on T^ake Huron. This 
 Iload has been much improved within the Ust four years, and from its being one of the main travelled Roads of 
 the Province, there can be little doubt but that this route in a short time will be made complete. 
 
 A Road has been also laid out and made passable by the Qovemment, trom the Township of Nicbol, a dis- 
 tance westerly of about fifty-five miles from Toronto to Owen's Sound on Lake Huron, and it has been suggested, 
 and your Committee have reason to believe that it is in contemplation, to lay another Road from the Township 
 of Woolwich, abont ten miles farther west to Saugin on Lake Huron, about twenty mile* above Owen's 
 Sound. These two Roads, when the latter is completed, will pass through a most fertile and eligible tract 
 of country fur settlement, and which is yet in the hiuids of Government, and in an entirely wild state. In 
 the courie of their inquiry it tecu tuggated to your Committee, and they ue every retuon to t^fprtt^^ of the 
 tuggestion, that the eonlemplated Road proposed to be conttrueted by the Toronto and Lakb Huron Railroad 
 CoMHANY suouLD HAvi ITS TERMINATION AT GouERicH, a Town and HarbouT established by the Canada Com- 
 pany upon the tract of bind purchased by them from the Government some years ago, and that it ought to 
 be undertaken and completed as a portion of the public works of the Province. Should thit route be ulti- 
 mately determined on and adopted, it would powbss many and superior advantaoes over any other. The 
 Roads already mentioned from Owen's Sound and Saugin, on Lake Huron, would intersect it, and thereby afforl 
 the inhabitants who may hereafter occupy the section of oomitry, through which they may pass, the facil'iy 
 of an easy access to market, and besides they will enhance four hundred-fold the present value of the pi'olic 
 lands in that section, which may be estimated in round numbers at 5,000,000 of acres. 
 
 Such an undertaking would unite all the various local interests in the north-western portbn of this Province, 
 which hitherto have been, as your Committee are willing to admit, of necessity neglected. The distance from 
 Toronto to Ooderich, in the probable direction which such a Road would take, is about 120 miles. On extending 
 it from Toronto it would pass through the Townships of York, Etobicoke, Toronto, Esquesmg, Trafalgar, 
 Nasagawaya, and Eramosa, a distance of about 65 miles. The land in these Townships is of the best quality, 
 and the lots are almost all occupied and in a state of advanced improvement ; from thence it would pass through 
 the Township of Nichol, which is also thickly inhabited, having the flourishing town of Guelph about six miles 
 to its south, and from thence it would pass through the Townships of Peel and Maryborough, both of which are 
 set apart for the support of the Clergy, though the former is as yet unsurveyed ; thence its course would be 
 through the unsurveyed and unappropriated hinds of the Crown for the distance of about 60 miles, until it 
 would reaoh the Huron Tract, the property of the Canada Company as before mentioned; through this part 
 it would pass about 14 miles, till it reached the harbour of Goderich. 
 
 The general advantages which this route would confer upon the country, by afibrding increased facilities to 
 trade, commerce, and agriculture, would be immense. The foreign trade, as well as travel, which would, by the 
 construction of such a Road, be drawn through the Province, would of themselves abundantly repay a much 
 greater outbiy than would bo re({uircd. The course of trade from Chicago and the westeni shores of Lake 
 Huron, is through Lake Huron and Lake St. Clair into Lake Erie, thence to Buffalo or through the WcUand 
 Canal into Lake Ontario. The length of time required to accomplish this journey has been found a great 
 drawback to trade. After passing through Lake Huron to Sarnia, at the head of the St. Clair, the distance to 
 Buffalo is upwards of four hmulred miles, and by water to Rochester nearly five hundred miles. The distance 
 
from Chicago to Sarnia is about the same aa from Chicago to Oodcrich* The diatanco ft^m Omlcrirh to Toronto 
 has already been stated at one liundred and twenty miles, making in favour of the |)ro|M)(ie<l route over thr 
 present a saving in distance of upwards of two hundred miles. The ordinary time which is now taken by a 
 steamer to go from Sarnia to Uufflklo is from seventy-two to eighty-four hours, whereas a ti,«vcllor by way of 
 Qoderich, in the event of the projioHed improvement being matic, would be able to reach Uochester in twenty 
 hours. 
 
 Besides, it is estimated, and your Committee bcliovo correctly, that exclusively of the said Townships set 
 apart for the support of the Clergy, there would be at least 70,000 acres of land at present unsurveyed aii<! un- 
 granted adjoining the said Road, the value of which, even i^ an ordinary Road wore constructc<l thra-:^h it, 
 wou!d not be more than 5t. an acre, or ^£'17,600, would be immediately increased in value to .f 70,000 at least ; 
 and the land six miles in depth on either side of such a Road, comprising upwards of 400,000 acres, would bo 
 thereby trebled in value, and become densely populated, whereas it is now a perfect wilderness, and likely to 
 remain so for many years to come, unless some effbrta are made by the Government and Legislature to bring 
 about the improvement to which your Committee have now called the attention of your honourable House, all of 
 which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 * The diaUnce from Chicago to Goderich ii 70 roilea nearer than from Chicago to Sarnia. 
 
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