^, s>%^. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) i.O ^i^ 1^ ^^ lit 1^ 12.2 S? 124 ■" 11.25 iU iL6 I 6" ^ 75 ^^ .^ '/ Sciences Corporalion .p V iV <^ V 23 WIST MAIN iTRfiT WiBSTiR,N.Y. I45M (716) •73-4503 4^t:% '^y^ ^ , f CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHIVI/ICIVIK Collection de microfiches. Canadian Instituta for Historical Microreproductlons / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiquas ;V Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et biblioyraphiquet The Institute has attenrtptod to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checiced below. D D D D Coloured covers/ Couverture de coulcur □ Covers damaged/ Ccutf6rtute endon D endommag^e Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaur^ et/ou pellicula Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque I I Coloured maps/ Cartes giographiques en couleur □ Coloured init (i.e. other than blue or blacic)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) I I Coloured plates and/or Illustrations/ Pianches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ Reli6 avec d'autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La re liure serrde peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge intArieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajouttes lore d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela Atait possible, ces pages n'ont pas 4t6 filmtes. Additional comments:/ Commentaires suppl^mentaires; i.'lnstltut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il iui a 4tA possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-Atre uniques du point de vue bibliographique. qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la mAthode normale de fllmage sont indiquAs ci-dessous. a D H n n This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checlced below/ Ce document est f iimA au taux de rMuction indiquA ci-dessous. Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur Pages dsmaged/ Pages endommagtes Pages restored and/or laminated/ Pages restaurtes et/ou peliicuJAes Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages dAcoiortes, tachettes ou piquies Pages detached/ Pages d^tachtes Th to rri Showthrough/ Transparence Quality of prin Quality inigale de I'impresslon Includes supplementary materii Comprend du materiel suppKmentaire Only edition available/ Seule Mition disponible I I Quality of print varies/ I I Includes supplementary material/ I — I Only edition available/ Pag9s wholly or partially obscured by errata ilips. tissues, etc., have been ref limed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partiellemecit obscurcies par un feuiliet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont 4tA film^es A nouveau de fagon A obtenir la meilleure Image possible. Tf PC of fll Oi bfl th si< ot fir si< or T» sh Ti wl M di er b( ri< re m 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X aox X 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X Th« copy filmad h«r« ha* bMn r«produc«d thanks to tha ganarosity of: Library of tha Public Archives of Canada L'axamplaira fiinni fut raproduit grica i la gAnAroait* da: La bibliothdqua das Archivas publiquas du Canada Tha Imagas appearing hara ara tha baat quality possibia considaring tha condition and lagibiiity of tha original copy and in icaaping with tha filming contract spaciflcations. OriginaC copiaa in printad papar covara ara filmad beginning with tha front covar and ending on tha iaat page with a printed or Illustrated impres- sion, or the bacic cover whan appropriate. All other original copies ara filmed beginning on the first page with a printad or iiluatrated imprea- sion, and ending on the iaat page with a printad or illustrated impression. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol -^ (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol y (meaning "END"), whichever applioa. Mapa, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Thoae too !arge to be entirely included in one exposure ara filmad beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many framea aa required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Lea imagca suivantes ont tt6 reproduites avec In plus grand soin, compta tenu de la condition et de la netteiA de I'exempiaire film6, et en conformitii avec las conditions du contrat de filmage. Lea exempiairas originaux dont la couverture an papier eat imprimAe sont fiimAs en commen^ant par la premier plat et en terminant soit par la darniire page qu] comporte une empreinte d'impreasion ou d'iiiustr^tion, soit par la second plat, jelon ie cas. Tous las autres exempiairas originaux sont filmto en commenpant par la pramlAre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impreasion ou d'illustration et en terminant par la darnlAre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboies suivants apparaftra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon ie ces: ie symbols -^ signifie "A SUIVRE". 9e symbols V signifie "FIN". Les csrtes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmte A des taux de reduction diffArents. Lorsque Ie document est trop grand pour fttre reproduit en un seul clich6, 11 est film* A partir de I'ongie sup6rieur gauche, de gauchf^ it droite. et de haut en bas, en prenant ie nombre d'images nAcessaira. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 mmssm // MEMORIAL 11 OF THE EUROPEAN & NORTH AMERICAN RAILWAY COMPANY TO THE LEGISLATURE OF MASSACHUSETTS. JANUARY, 1866. BOSTON : WRIGHT 8f POTTER, STATE PRINTERS, No. 4 Spring Lane. 1865. 1^ t,^ HOUSE •...No. 7. (dmnmonriDealtl) of i!lta00ad)it6ett0. MEMORIAL. To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts ^ in Leg-islaturs assembled: — The European and North American Railway Company, a corporation established by the laws of the State of Maine, respectfully requests such aid, assistance and encouragement from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, towards the comple- tion of a line of railway from the city of Boston to the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, as the importance of the enterprise to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the obligation of the Commonwealth to the State of Maine, growing out of their common ownership of public lands lying in Maine, may seem fairly to demand. The European and North American Railway, when con- structed, will complete the chain of railroads, from the city of Boston through the States of New Hampshire and Maine, and the Provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to the city of Halifax, a distance of 706 miles. The line is now completed as far east as Bangor, a distance of 248 miles ; from thence to the city of St. John, in New Brunswick, — the distance of 196 miles, — remains unfinished ; although a large portion of the v^ MEMORIAL. [Jan. means fdr its construction is already provided, — for the comple- tion of w^ch, the aid of the Commonwealth is invoked. From the city of St. John east toward Halifax, 101 miles in New Brunswick are already constructed, and 61 miles in Nova Scotia, — from Halifax to Truro, — leaving 100 miles to be built, between Halifax and St. John, to complete the link between the two cities. Arrangements have been consummated by the governments of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a company of English capitalists, to build this 100 miles, — 69 miles of which are in the Province of Nova Scotia, and 31 miles in the Province of New Brunswick*; — so that the means are provided for completing the entire chain of milways between Boston and Halifax, with the simple exception of the section between Bangor and St. John, — 88 miles of it lying in New Brunswick, and 108 miles in Maine. From the reports of the surveys, now in progress, a compar- atively favorable route has been ascertained and adopted, passing from Bangor up the Penobscot River to the valley of the Mattawamkeag River, crossing the boundary below the Gheputnecook Lakes, on the St. Croix, and north of Oromocto Lake, in New Brunswick, through the Douglas Valley, to the Suspension Bridge at St. John city. The Province of New Brunswick granted a charter April 13, 1864, for the extension of this lue from St. John city to the boundary of Maine, and the company thus incorporated pro- poses to raise $400,000 in subscriptions to its stock. The government of the Province has granted aid to said company at the rate of $10,000 per mile, as a gift, on which neither prin- ciprl nor interest is to be returned, — payable as the work progresses. The State of Maine, by an Act approved March 24, 1864, donated the timber on ten (10) townships of her public lands, and all her claims against the United States government which accrued prior to 1860, to aid the construction of this line, and the extension of a branch line to the St. John River at the north-eastern frontier of the United States. The claims of this enterprise were presented to Congress, and an able committee of the House of Representatives, on the 20th of June, 1864, reported unanimously a bill designed to satisfy 1866.] house—No. 7. 3 the claims of Maine, with an elaborate statement of the facts of the case, — proposing a contribution of $10,000 per mile to aid the construction of the European and North American Railway, — which bill is now pending before Congress. The limited amount of capital applicable to the construction of railways in the eastern part of Maine, and the constitutional inhibition upon the use of the credit of the State, — many years stnce established, — have rendered it impossible to carry the work beyond Bangor. Two attempts to construct this line beyond Bangor have failed of success. But the capital expended has not been entirely lost. The Penobscot Railroad Company partially completed the line from Bangor to Milford, and the Oldtown and Lincoln Railroad Company expended a considerable amount in extension of the line from Milford to Mattawamkeag. A transfer has been made of all the rights of these two companies to the European and North American Railway Company, under authority of an Act of the legislature of Maine ; so that this company is now in possession of property costing over $350,000, at the prices of former years, — worth at this time more than that amount, from the favorable terms on which the right of way was secured, and the substantial character of the work of construction. The city of Bangor, under authority of an Act approved March 25, 1864, authorizing a loan of its credii to aid the con- struction of this line, has, by unanimous vote of both branches of the city council and by vote of the citizens, in the proportion of 1,780 to 112, authorized a loan of its credit to the amount of $500,000, payable on the completion of the line from Bangor to Lincoln. Resolutions were adopted by the Maine legislature of 1864, inviting the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to co-operate with Maine in extending aid to this railway, and in full expectation thereof, Maine made a further grant of all its residuary interest in its public lands on the waters of the Penobscot and St. John, to aid the construction of this railway, on condition that Massa- chusetts would discharge her debt against Maine, and assign the claims against the United States government, held by her, jointly with Maine, to the same purpose. The governor of Maine, in his recent address to the legisla- ture of that State, makes use of the following language : — MEMORIAL. [Jan. " Until it is settled whether the European and North American Rail- way Company shall so far comply with the conditions of the Resolves in favor of that corporation, sales of lands or timber will be necessarily held in abej'ance. In compliance with certain Resolves invoking the aid of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in behalf of this important enterprise, Hot.orable Messrs. Kent, Hubbard, and Washburn, were appointed commissioners to present the subject to the government of our parent Commonwealth. They will make a report of their doings which will be laid before you in due season. ** The application was not successful, and one very strong ground of objection was the alleged unfriendly action of the legislature of this State some years since, and still unrepealed, in regard to connections with railroads west of Portland, having their termini at Boston. I would respectfully call your attention to this subject for the purpose of ascer- taining whether the supposed exigency, which called for this legislation, exists at this time. In the early history of railroads in this State, certain policies were regarded as indispensable, the wisdom of which has hardly been justified by experience. That the legislation referred to, belongs to that class, is more than probable. A neighboring State can hardly be expected to contribute in aid of an enterprise, in the benefits of which it is not to be allowed to participate. It is only upon the ground of a common interest to be promoted by the freest intercommunication that any such claim for co-operation can be asked with prospect of success. In addition to a common interest believed to exist, there are considera- tions connected with the past history of the public lands of Maine, forming the joint property of Massachusetts and our own State, which may fairly be urged as a reason for seeking assistance from that Com- monwealth in aid of the European and North American Railway Company. Many years since arrangements were entered into between the two States for the management of their common domain, and among other stipulations was one for the expenditure of the proceeds of the sales of the land and timber, to the extent of not more than ten per cent, in making improvements through these lands by the construction of roado, and rendering the water-courses navigable. But a very small part of this sum was expended, as it is well known to every person at all conversant with the history of our public lands." It cannot be doubted that the interests of the State of Maine, and more especially those of the city of Portland, will be pro- moted by the extension of a line of railway on the road gauge, between Portland and Boston, securing the transit of produce, goods and merchandise, without transhipment, between Boston 1886.] HOUSE— No. 7. and Canada by this channel, which would otherwise floek other routes, — connecting at Portland with the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada, and with the railways on the same gauge, extending through Maine to the lower British Provinces, — and by increa»> ing the business of the Grand Trunk Railway and tlto connecting lines east of Portland, cheapen the cost of transit over the rail- ways o? Maine ; — and it can hardly be doubted, that all laws in restraint of such an arrangement, will be repealed in accordance with the suggestion of the governor of Maine. The application of last year to the legislature of Massachu- setts, in behalf of this enterprise, was urged, more upon grounds of public policy than by an assertion of the claims of Maine, growing out of the joint ownership of their large public domain. The former intimate political relations of the two States, the fidelity of Maine to her obligations under the Act of separation, and the equitable claims of Maine upon the Com- monwealth of Massachusetts, justify a reference to their past history. The New England Company^ whose charter from King James, of November 8d, 1620, gave them a territory extending from the fortieth to the forty-eighth parallel of north latitude, and from ocean to ocean, granted that portion of New England, from the Merrimac to the Sagadahoc, to Sir Fer- dinando Gorges and John Mason, under the name of " the Province of Maine" August 22d, 1622. The Piscatuqua became the boundary between these grantees, and the title of Gorges to Maine was confirmed by the crown, extending one hundred and twenty miles inland, from the Piscataqua to th'? Sagadahoc. " Masonia^" or New Hampshire, fell to John Mason in the division. The company of Massachusetts Bay, whose charter was dated March 19th, 1629, subsequently set up a claim to a large portion of Maine, running a line due east from a point three miles north of the head or source of the Merrimac River. By a system of intimidation at one time, and by a course of cajolery at another, the government of Maine was weakened, 80 that during the reign of the Puritans, in the times of the Commonwealth, the Massachusetts colony acquired a show of submission to her authority from the people of Maine. But MEMORIAL. [Jan. being finally defeatod in these attempts to override the grant of August 22d, 1622, to Gorges and Mason, they purchased froiii Gorges' heirs their title to Maine for X 1,250, March 18th, 1678. On the vacation of the Massachusetts cliarte:* on quo warranto^ October 18th, 1684, her title to Maine was relaxed ; but the charter of William and Mary, of October 7tli, 1691, united the colony of Massachusetts Bay, the colony of Ply- mouth, " the Province of Maine," the country of Acadia, and all the territory lying between Acadia, or Nova Scotia, and Maine, called the territory of Sagadahoc, into u single govern- ment, called '* the Province of Massachusetts Bay," and Sir William Phipps, a native of Maine, was appointed governor. In this way, Massachusetts acquired her title to this public domain of more than 20,000,000 of acres. Wi 'h these lands, Massachusetts endowed her public institutions, and from the sale of portions of them, amounting to millions of acres, mad 3 to William Bingham and others, she realized large sums of money to her treasury towards paying off the debt of the Revolution. By the Act of separation — reluctantly granted in the year 1819 — the Commonwealth of Massachusetts retained one-half of the unsold lands lying in Maine, amounting at that time to 11,824,438 acres. Of this amount, 3.207,680 acres wore sub- sequently, for the sake of peace, surrondored up, or coded to the United States government by the treaty of Wasliington, leaving 8,616,758 acres, one half of which, 4,388,379 acres fell to Massachusetts. This land was to be exempt from taxa- tion, while the title remained in the Commonwealth. How faithfully Maine vindicated this principle, in spite of all the evasions of the right of taxation, the judicial records of our State will show. At the time of the separation the lands had but little value in cash, but were regarded as of great impor- tance for settling, and as a means of increasing the wealth and politi'^al power of the country. Proposals of sale were inter- changed. Massachusetts would have transferred her interest to Maine for $150,000. Maine offered $100,000, and the nego- tiations were dropped, most unfortunately for Maine. Portions of the lands were afterwards divided by alternate townships, and up to 1832, Massachusetts received into her treasury $122,465.94, as proceeds of sales of lands and timber 1866.] HOUSE— No. 7. ill Maine. In 1832, an agreomont of tho land agonts of the two States for a systom of management and Joint sulos, was assented to by tho respective legislatures, and in and by this convention, it was agreed that ten per cent, of the gross pro- ceeds of the »alos should bo expended for improvements in tho way of roads, bridges and rendering water-courses navigable for the floating of timber, thereby la'*gely enhancing tlio value of the remaining unsold lands. From 1832 till 1852, Massa- chusetts paid out only $69,989.49 for roads, bridges or other improvements, while she received $1,927,719.54 as tho pro- ceeds of the sales. Maine paid out from 1832 till 1852, $188,116.23 for roads and bridges, leaving a deficit, duo from Massachusetts of $118,276.74, assuming that the gross amount of sales by the two States was equal. In 1851, Maine became aroused and alarmed at the course pursued by Massachusetts in contravention of tho principles of the compact ; viz. : grant- ing licenses to cut the timber without limit, or soiling the timber and lumber only, retaining the title to tho soil, tliereby shutting up the lands from settlement, and keeping thorn from taxation. Maine remonstrated, but without success, and saw no remedy except that of a purchase from Massachusetts of all her remain- ing interests in tlio public lands. On October 5th, 1853, she paid in cash and notes, $362,500 for the remnants and residuary interests oi Massachusetts, that State having first sold to individuals, — pending the negotiations, — the more valuable portions of tho timber lands, for $283,696.19. Of this sum $47,120 was subsequently remitted by the legislature. Massachusetts has received from individual purchases the sum of $2,164,545.73 after 1832. which makes a total of $2,632,246.90 of net receipts with at interest, including the $200,000 now due from Maine. In addition to this amount, $160,000 was paid to Massachusetts by the United States government for one-half of the lands taken from Maine, under the treaty of Washington, showing a total of $2,682,246.90 received by Massachusetts without interest, since the separation, as the proceeds of sales of land in Maine, drawn from the industry of Maine to aid the school fund of Massachusetts, and to succor, in its hours of difficulty, the drooping fortunes of the Western Railroad. 8 MEMORIAL. [Jan. No adjustment of this claim for def^cienoy of expenditure for ros^ds, bridges and improvements, was attempted at the time of the purchase, — so anxious was Maine to arrest these unfriei dljr proceedings, and secure complete juribdiction and control of the lar/.o within her own territory. It would seem as if this statement of facts was sufficient, to insure a concur- rence of opinion, that Massachusetts is fairly indebted to Maine in the sum of 1146,616.08, without computing interest thereon ; with which, it would largely exceed in amount, the sum now due by Maine to Massachusetts, on account of the purchase. His Excellency, Governor Cony, in his recent address to the legislature of Maine, in allusion to thi? matter, says : — "The State of Maine extinguished the title of Massachusetts in these lands by purchase in 1853. A bargain fairly made is binding upon both parties and not to be complained of, but if the State of Maine ever receives from the land thus purchased, a sum equal to the interest of the principal paid for them, it is as much as those well informed upon the subject ever expected. These considerations may be fairlj addressed to Massachusetts in seeking her aid for this enter- prise, and it is for her authorities to determine their weight." The enterprise is urged upon the attention of the authorities and people of Massachusetts, upon the broadest grounds of public policy, as a means of increasing the material strength, the political influence aud the moral power of New England. The New England of the olden time, as mapped out by the sagacious Gorges, in 1620, and described in tho charter of November 3d of that year, granted at his request, (accordir ,• to the recital of the instrument itself,) included the broad belt of eight degrees of latitude, from the Atlantic to the Pacific seas ; embracing one-half of what is now New Jersey, the bulk of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, an'' Illinois, Northern Missouri, Iowa, and the basin of the great lakes, and a majority of the English speaking people of the continent. It is now limited to less than seveu-fifteenths of the Acadian peninsula, and extends westward only to the valley of Lakc^ Ghamplain. But its power and influence are greatly in excess of itr territoria proportions. And we recognize the duty — so eloquently set forth in the . 1866.] HOUSE— No. 7. 9 appeal of His Excellency, Goverror Andrew, to the New England Agricultural Society, on Hampden Park, September 9th, 1864 — to the sons of New England, to strengthen and adorn it. The value of that appeal would have been more striking and effective had he pointed out to them the broad falloys of the Penobscot and St. John, as portions of New Englan<'., the rich soils of the Aroostook and Mattawamkeag, and the still untouched forests of the Allegr.sh as the most inviting fields for New England thrift and industry. Maine, with only one-seventh (| ) of her territory under cultivation, has more good farming lands than are found within the other five States of New England ; more good harbors and more available water power than any other section of the country of equal extent ; obvious at once, upon an examination of the configuration of its territory, its physical features, its geograph- ical position and its geological structure, occupying ps it does th** southern and eastern slopes of the Apalachian chain, known as the Acadian Mountains. Their axial ridge forms the common water-shed of the Connecticut, the Androscoggin, the Kennebec, the Penobscot, the St. John, the Ghaudiere and tho St. Francis, — all take their rise in this Alpine region and descend from an elevation of from 2,000 to 8,000 feet, over a succession of terraces, which forms a series of cascades in almost regular gradation to the sea. But a small portion of its soil is granitic, and the country lying north and east of Eatahdin is particularly adapted to the raising of wheat, and capable of supporting a population equal to that of Yermont. Twenty years ago, the people of Massachusetts distrusted the abilty of the people of Maine to construct a ^ine of railway from the open harbor of Portland to the boundary of Canada, con- necting with a line from thence to Montreal. Unaided by other jL^ew England capital, the people of Maine persevered in their efforts, and an unbroken line of railway, from Lake Huron to the ocean, discharges its freight, without transhipment, on board ocean steamers at Portland. A system of railways, embracing a length of 1,396 miles, since finished, is now included in the Grand Trunk Railway of panada, with scarcely any connection with Boston, or other portions of New England, outside of Maine. 10 MEMORIAL. [Jan. Tho next twenty years will develop a railway Rystera in Eastern Maine and the lower British Provinces, on the Provincial gaugo, to a still greater extent, penetrating tho coal-fields of Pictou, and of Eastern Nova Scotia, following along the region of the rich fishing grounds on the shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, to the Bay of Chaleur, and connecting the upper and lower British Provinces, through the valley of the upper St. John, developing some of the finest portions of the continent of North America, taking into view th^r material attractions and natural resources. It is for the interest of Boston, and of all New England, to directly participate in the material development of this eastern region, so naturally connected with it, by both geographical and commercial laws. At the recent meeting of the Boston Board of Trade, it was confidently asserted that Boston could secure western connec- tions which should restdire to her the trade which had been diverted into other channels ; that freight cars, reaching Boston from " St. Louis, Chicago, and other parti of the West, without breaking bulk," should supply produce for export. On the contrary, some believe that beyond the local supply which the Western Railway may bring to the doors of Massachu- setts, it is impossible to lift freight over the Berkshire hills, and bring it to Boston for export to Europe. It will follow the water-line of the Hudson to New York, or of the St. Lawrence to its nearest shipping port in winter, Portland, instead of seal- ing the ridges that separate the valley of the Hudson from the waters of Massachusetts Bay. The experience of the last few years has shown that flour and western produce, to some extent already, come to Boston by the way of Portland, and that Eastern Maine is gradually drawing its supplies from the West by the same route. Flour and grain were at one time exports from Boston to Maine, and a change has been effected^ by the completion of the railway from ^fontreal to Portland, and from thence to the Kennebec, and to Bangor. But Maine is only partially peopled. For nearly one hun- dred years after the occupation of the country by the European races, it was the battle-ground between the French and the English, and, while other portions of New England grew in 1 1865.] HOUSE— No. 7. U wealth and popnl&tion, without serious embarrassment, from 1620 to 1762, Maine wap kept back, till the overthrow of the French power, by the conquest of Quebec in 1759, and the treaty of peace of 1763. Maine, too, was excluded from the New England League of 1643, formed for better protection against savage invasion, because the religion of the mother country was tolerated there, by Gorges, as well as the religion of Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. If Boston " possesses the wealth, the energy, and the experi- ence to insure for itself every artificial facility which its commerce may require," it cannot fail to see that it must look east as well as west, to secure that trade which is to give " rapidity to its growth." Build up Maine, increase the manu- facturing industry of the Saco, the Androscoggin, the Kenne- bec, and the Penobscot, and the business of Boston will grow with their growth. The law of commercial gravitation, sweeps the trade of the Connecticut Yalley to New York, as inevitably as the same law of trade takes the business of the upper waters of the Pisca- taqua past j^ortsmouth and Salem to Boston, ovt.r the Boston and Maine Railroad. An able report to the Senate of Massachusetts, in April, 1852, (Senate Doc. No. 123,) advising the grant of aid to the European and North American Railway, says : — " Boston is the natural market of thr peninsula east of Lake Cham- plain, between the River St Lawrence and the Atlantic Ocean ; but all that portion of this peninsula which lies within the influence of New York capital is sending anLually more and more of its business to that city. The State of Maine, portions of New Hampshire, and Vermont, the lower British Provinces, and a part of Canada East will always find Boston their natural market, and the policy of Boston will be most wisely directed to aid the growth of business an<1 population iu the regions above referred to, in preference to measures calculated to advance the growth of our great commercial rival. The trade of Maine is of vast importance to Massachusetts, and from her geographical posi- tion, Maine will naturally be our best customer. If Boston had extended her lines of railway east through Maine to the lower British Provinces, and in connection therewith, to Montreal, instead of expending vast sums in building rival lines across the Connecticut River to Lake Mm 12 MEMORIAL. [Jan. Champlain, the commercial position of all New England would have been materially enhanced. The lines of railway extending from Boston across the Connecticut, since the completion of the Western Railroad, are now directing from Boston to New York as much business, perhaps, as we have gained thereby, whereas an extension of railways into Maine adds directly to the business of Boston, without encountering the compe- tition of New York. The true policy of Massachusetts, therefore, will be found in aiding in all possible ways the building of railtrays east of it, and increasing, in every practicable manner, the means of communication with Maine and the British Provinces." I'lii ^11 1 This reasoning satisfied the Senate of Massachusetts, and a bill granting aid to the European and North American Railway Company, to the amount of $500,000, passed that branch of the legislature, after full discussion, but failed to secure the concur- rence of the House. The controversy, growing out of the joint ownership of the public lands, postponed, for the time, all further efforts to secure aid from Massachusetts. The com- mercial revulsion, following the Crimean war, absorbed at home the English capital, which had been pledged for the building of the road, in the lower Provinces. The more recent movements towards constructing the line in Nen Brunswick and Nova Scotia, have been dependent upon the credit and means of the Provinces. Within the last ten years Boston has witnessed the gradual withdrawal of the trade of Maine, and the growth of a commercial town at the east. The valuation of Portland has increased from $4,634,738 in 1845, to $26,963,939 in 1864. Her exports to foreign countries from $251,097 in 1845, to $4,396,142 in 1864 ; her imports, from $339,791 in 1845, to $13,039,749 in 1864, showing not only a growth of business, but an increase of wealth, unexampled in any other city of New England during the same period. Draw a line from Boston to the St. Lawrence at Montreal, or from Boston to the head of Lake Champlain, and thence to the foot of Lake Ontario, and, north and east of this line, will be included all the territory whose business n&turally gravitates to Boston. Of this region, the territory of Maine, New Bruns- wick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, is by far the most valuable in natural resources. And from their geographi- cal position, sloping to the Atlantic seaboard, their business 1866.] house—No. 7. 18 relations, like those of New Hampshire and Northern Yermont, are most intimately connected with those of Boston. Maine has a territory of 81,766 square miles ; New Brunswick has 27,704 ; Nova Scotia has 18,746 ; Prince Edward Island has 2,134 ; a total of 80,350 square miles, — but little ^ess than that of the island of Great Britain, and fully equal to it in natural resources. The population of Maine, in 1860, was 628,600 ; that of New Brunswick, in 1861, was 262,047 ; that of Nova Scotia, in 1861, was 830,699 ; that of Prince Edward Island, in 1861, was 80,648— a total of 1,291,994 ; while the population of Great Britain, in 1861, was 20,223,746. It is in the direction, therefore, of this eastern empire, that the surplus capital of New England should be directed. If the capital of Boston, now lying idle for want of opportunities for investment, was employed in the construction of lines of railway to the coal mines, the slate quarries, the iron works, the timber forests, raid the tanneries of Eastern Maine, and the lower Provinces, a new impulse would be given to every interest of New England ; and the growth of manufactures upon these eastern waters, would make their valleys as populous as those of the Connec- ticut or the Merrimac, whose trade and business would flow backward to their source, as naturally as the waters of the ocean, after being transported by the law of attraction to the distant mountain summits, and fertilizing the regions upon which they fall, aie gathered into streams in the valleys through which they again return to it. The same law of attraction that holds together the people who dwell in the valley of the Hudson, or the basin of the St. Lawrence, unites those who inhabit the shores of the sea from Gape God to Gape Sable. Separated from Canada by the almost inaccessible ridges that divide .them, the outlet by rail- way from Montreal to Portland, affords to Canada in winter, all the a jcess to the open sea that the business of the St. Lawrence Valley at this time demands. The people of the lower British Provinces, like those of Maine, are lumbermen, and builders and owners of ships ; their tastes, habits and pursuits are similar. In 1860, Maine built 57,866 tons of ships, and her people at that Uttm "ere the owners of 801,941 tons of shipping. In 1861, New iirunswick built 48,719 tons of ships. In 1861, Nova Scotia built 39,883 'i 14 MEMORIAL. [Jan. tons, and Prince Edward Island 9,006 tons, The tonnage owned in New Brunswick in that year was 227,718 tons, iu Nova Scotia 248,061 tons, in Prince. Edward Island 45,000 tons. As a grazing country it is unsurpassed ; its uniform supply of moisture gives facilities for the growth of hay and the rearing of cattle and sheep, beyond any other section of the country ; and the wool crop, in the new era that awaits manufacturing industry, shall, in a few years, contest the dominion of king cotton. By introducing manufactures and diversifying the industry of this eastern region, so full of raw material and natural resources ; by drawing fresh treasures from the forest, the farm, the mine and the sea, would be brought about the steady increase^ of its wealth, material power and population, so that instead of 1,291,944 persons in Maine and these three mari- time Provinces, there would be a population equal to that of Massachusetts per square mile, within the next half century, and 12,614,950 persons would bring their trade thence to your doors. New England in this way will become a power in the land, and that energy of character which its bracing climate, its rugged sea-coast, and the grandeur of its natural scenery imparts to man, shall quicken ingenuity, enlarge the objects of human pursuit, multiply works of art and extend the bounda- ries of commerce, bringing in their train a corresponding civilization that shall make the dwellers upon this New England sea-coast of ours the foremost people of the earth in everything that contributes to the highest welfare of the indi- vidual, and to the strength, the power, and the glory of a State. i! ! ;W i The Act of the legislature of Maine, approved March 24th, 1864, lind to which his Excellency, the governor of MaiaC; refers, provides *^m case the Commonwealth of Massachu:jett8 shall assign and transfer to the European and North American Railway Company, or to the State of Maine, in trust for said Company, the claims held by her with Maine, against the general government," " and release and discharge the balance due from the State of Maine, for the purchase of her interests in the public lands lying in Maine," " it shall be lawful for the governor. State treasurer and land agent to transfer to said :i 1865.] house—No. 7. 15 Company all the public lands lying on the waters of the Penob- scot and St. John Rivers for the uses and purposes set forth in this Act." We therefore respectfully ask the legislature of Massachu- setts to assign to said Railway Company, its claims against the United States government, held jointly with Maine, release and discharge .the State of Maine irom its certificates of indebt- edness due for said purchase of said lands, and to grant a loan of the credit of the State, to the amount of $500,000, to aid the construction of said railway, and to render such other and further aid, assistance and encouragement thereto, as the legis- lature in its wisdom may deem prudent and necessary in view of the importance of the European and North American Railway. By order of the Directors. JOHN A. POOR, Preiident of the European and North American B. W. Company. Boston, January 17, 1865. til \i