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Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont filmte en commengant par la premidre page qui comporto une empreinte d'impression ou d'iilustration et en terminant par la dernlAre page qui comporte une telie empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols — ^ signifie "A SUIVRE", le symboie y signifie 'FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre fiimAs d des taux de rMuction diff6rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atra reproduit en un seui ciicliA, il est film6 d partir de I'angle supArieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. 12 3 1 2 3 4 S 6 i :' \y\ CHEAP RAILWAYS. ■♦♦- A LETTER Til TlIK I'Koi'U: OF BRUCE AND GREY sli<)WiN(i iiii; ^di'antaow, f ratficaWlitjj and Cost XIF A CHEir RAILWAY FROM TORONTO TilllOUGH THESE COUNTiES; WJTU AX APPENDIX ADDRESSED TU THE PEOPLE OE (J.NTARIO AND VICTORIA. By GEORGE L AIDE AW. #»(, -«•»- TORONTO : ULOBK PHIXTING COMPANV, 26 & 28 KIN« HTHKKT KAHT. 1807. CHEAP RAILWAYS. -*«- A LETTEK TO THE PEOPLE OF BRUCE AND GREY, SHOAVINO THE ^MnUpf, f vittttatrttitt) mA €m OF A CHEAP RAIIWAY FROM TORONTO THROUGH THESE COUNTIES;. WITH AN APPENDIX ADDRESSED TO THE PEOPLE OF ONTARIO AND VICTORIA. By GEORGE LAIDLAW. -*•»- TORONTO : 3L0BE PRINTING COMPANY, 26 & 28 KING STREET EAST. 1867. To the Wardens of Bruce and Grey^ the Mayor of Given Sound, and the Farmers on the Route of the Proposed Central Railway. Gentlemen, — I beg leave most respectfully to submit, for your con- sideration, reasons why you should heartily and energetically support the immediate construction of a railway direct to Toronto, in preference to one on any other route ; and wiU endeavour to show that tlie railway should be built on the cheap light narrow gauge principle, such as cost in one instance, in Australia, about £2,100 Sterling per mile, and which paid the first year 8 per cent, dividend. , These kind of railways give great satisfaction in Norway, a country similar 'to Canada in climate and productions, but presenting many difficulties to the construction of cheap rail- ways, being so mountainous and rugged. The distance of your counties from the leading markets renders unprofitable the cultivation of a surplus over local v/ants, of barley, peas, oats and roots. The average price of these articles rales so low that they won't generally pay reasonable cost for production, and heavy charges for freight to remote markets. Wheat, pork, butter and ashes, being greater value in less bulk, bear heavy charges for freight better than the coarser kinds of farm and forest produce. Observe, the bulk of your wheat is bought in winter, for less than its relative value, because it cannot be moved until spring, and has to be held a long time, subject to heavy charges for interest, insurance and storage — a loss further augmented by the caution of Bankers and Dealers, who require and will have plenty of margin to cover such long risks. ■ 4 CUKAl' RAILWAYS. Tliese ciiciuii8tancea diminish competition. The bug-bear which retards the settlement of our wild laiids, and the rock which diverts from our favoured country the current of emigration, is tlie timber, which for want of freight you are compelled to destroy, at a cost in labour of about $14 an acre. Your summer sky is darkened with the smoke of burn- ing money, while elm and onk are worth in Quebec Is. 3d. to Is. 9d. a cubic foot, and pine lumber in Toronto $10, $16, $20^ as in quality. Yourselves and families labour with weary lind)s to log up and burn your beech and maple, while the citizens of To- ronto are paying $7 50 per cord, and cartage, for fuel, and those who cannot buy a cord at a time, jmy 8d. per stick for what will cook their food and keep death by cold from their hearths. Tnthis city,thereis consumed annuallyabout 350,000 dollars' worth of cordwood, and imported coals to the value of $200,000. A decrease in the price of cordwood to $4 50, or even $5, would probably change in your favour the disbursement of half that large amount, it you had a railway worked in favour of local interests, and hound by law to carry cordwood. Picture the value, to the farmers on the Central Eoute, of a market at each station for fuel for the railway, and for the city of Toronto, where $lf to $2 hi cash could behad forevery cord ! An engine, twelve cars and throe or four men, at $2^ per cord freight, would gross on the Central light nan'ow gauge railway $110 per diem. This trade would profit Upper 'Canada more than carry- ing Chicago Hour to Boston, at rates charged for flour manu- factured in the county of York. The loss is incalculable to the districts traversed by the G. W. R., G. T. R,, and N". R., because these roads have not afforded facilities for the conversion of cordwood into money, and consequently, now unbroken wilds into green fields. The increase of traffic would have more than repaid any advance in the cost of the fuel for their engines. The people, by legislation, ought to compel these railway (HEAP KAILWAYS. companies, yet, to cany corchvood, on an eciuitalile basis; it is vexatiinia to- see how they strain after tiirongh traffic, for the benefit of our imneif^hbourly neieing fully identical on this question. The people of Canada will sooner or later have to take such action as will protect them from being mere " counters" in the calculation of our Railroad managers. ]\rany of the United States are groaning under railroad tyranny, and some of them, as will be seen from the subjoined extract, are endeavouring to emancipate themselves. The Titusville Herald says : " A committee of the Ohio State Senate 4as been engaged in overhauling the management of railroads, express companies and telegraph companies. The results of its laboiurs are embodied in a report, containing various recommendations, and in two bills containing such provisions as are necessary to carry out the conclusions to wluch they have come. They recommend that no railroad company shall be permitted to charge more for a shorter distance than for a longer one ; that every company shall publish its tariff of rates and shall ad- 8 CHEAP RAILWAYS. here to them, and be prohibited under penalties from allowing reductions from, it to individual shippers or classes of shippers, and that preference in transportation shall be prohibited, except such as are allowed to live stock, perishable freight, and the like. The committee condemn the policy of freight and express companies liaving portions of their stock in the hands of railroad officers, and declare that agents and officers of every grade deal with the roads, accept offices and employ- ments inconsistent with their duties, and engage in business which interferes with the rights of the general public. The employment of station agents by express companies is cen- sured, as tending to interfere with the rights of the public in the carrying of baggage and parcels on passenger trains, with the interest of the road in its freight traffic, and with the rights of competing express companies. Finally, it is recom- mended that there shaU be appointed a Commissioner of EaUways, who shall be charged with the duty of collecting the statistics and the experience of railroad management in the State ; of observing its immediate wants and defects ; of attending to the enforcement of the law against railroad corporations, and of examining into abuses in railroad affiiirs, with the view of protecting the rights of the stockholders and of the public." Toronto is indebted for its pre-eminence as the commercial capital of Upper Canada to its excellent harbour, and the extent and fertility of the country northwards. It is the best market, because the best distriluiting point for all that part of the peninsula north-M'est, north, and north-earit of it. Freights from Toronto to Oswego, Kingston, Cape ^ incent, Ogdens- burg, and out to seaward, are cheaper, on account of its excellent harbou^' and other facilities of the port, than from any other point on the 7iorth shw'c of Lake Ontario. These advantages redound to the benelit of all the people who here seek a shipping port or a market. If the rates of freight from all points east of Sarnia and Goderich, to Toronto, were fixed at the same rates as charged from these points to Montreal, Quebec, or Portland, then this city, by virtue of its position and facilities, would receive and re-ship to other markets, by water or rail, as might suit the interests of the CHEAP RAILWAYS. 9 holders (identical with those of the producer) all the products of the districts tributary to the G. T. R. west, better markets often being attainable, at less cost for freight, than tliose on the line of thac road. The cheapest road to the best markets is what you want to find, and having found, it is your interest to support the cstdblishmnt of that route, with all your financial, municipal, and political strength. That route is the Central, on the light narrow gauge system, and Toronto is the market. You know the latter fact already, and the other two v/e will endeavour to sliow you. Subjoined you have a table of the rates of freight to which your produce would be sul)ject via the branch loads, at the lates charged by the G. T. K. and the N. E. for equal distances. If they made the rates less than those stated on the branch roads, then tht difference would be lost to the stockholders of the branches, which possibly would not disturb tlie other companies. TABLE OF DISTANCES. Toronto to Walkerton 95 miles, air-line. Angus to Walkerton (35 " " Toronto to Angus oW uiilet^, air-line, 73 1 ly N.RIi. Walkerton to Seaforth 41 miles, air-line. Toronto to Seaforth 113 miles by G. T. R. Freight from Walker- ton to Angus, ap per rates charged by N.R.R. Lumber per car. . .$16 50 Staves " 16 60 Livestock" 28 00 Cordwood (not carried.) Flour, per Brl.... 27 Grain, per Bush. 60 lbs 7^ Goods per ton, Si-d class 3 80 From Angus to Toi-onto, as })er tariff. .$16 50. . 16 50. . 29 00. Total Freight Walker- ton to Toronto, via AngtiK. 28.., 4 (X)... .$33 00. . 33 00. . 57 00. 0*55.. 15.. 7 80.. '* 1 10 Freight to Seaforth from Walkerton, as per rates charged by G.T.K to Toronto all slei^ghing time. Lumber per car. . .^13 50 Staves " 13 50 Livestock" 14 50 Cordwood ^ot carried.) Flour, per Brl.... 20 Grain, per Bush. 60 lbs 06 Goods, per ton,3d class 2 60 CHEAP KAILWAYS. From Seafurth to Tor- onto, as per tariff, for the sleighiiig time. .$21 00. . 21 00. . 27 00. . 33. . 10. . 4 20. :otal Freight, Walker- ton to Toronto, via Seaforth. .$34 50. . 34 50. , 41 50. . 53. . 16. . 6 80. Contrast this with the charges on the direct or central route from Walkerton to Toronto, at the same rate of freight per mile as the G. T. R. charges from Seaforth to Toronto, FPtEIGHT— WALKERTON TO TORONTO. Lumber (per car) $17 50 Livestock " 22 70 Flour (perBrl.) 27| Grain (per Bush, of 60 lbs.) <: 8| Goods (per ton, 3rd Class) .' 3 53 Cordwood, Lumber Rates, (per cord) 2 50 Staves, (per car) 17 50 In considering the ft>rogoing statement and tables, you will sec that trade is diverted from its natural channel and markets by the irresponsible and arbitrary fiats of gentlemen who necessarily study and carry out a policy favourable to the interests of their English employers, however disadvantageous that policy may be to the interests of the districts affected, or damaging to the prosperity of the capital of this Province. One-fifth of the rolling stock now employed in carrying to the eastern termini of the G. T. R., would bring to this city from the western sections G, T. R., at fair rates, all the produce, timber, cordwood, &c., destined for consumption in this or intermediate markets. If other sections of the G. T. R. fail to pay expenses, is it the fault of yourselves and neighbours, that you have to make good the loss ? CHEAP RAILWAYS. 11 The G. T. R. Company like to load their cars at the west- em termini and run them through at round freights to the other termini — Quebec or Portland — and reload for the same jour- ney backwards, which is no doubt for the advantage of the Company, but is very far from being for the true interests of the farmers west of Toronto, which is the main point for youi- consideration. So much for a poor young country like Canadfi building a railway in the most thriftless and extravagant manner, alongside an unrivalled natural water communica- tion. Only one-tenth of the wheat and flour of Upper Canada were marketed in Montreal last year, wliich is a startling fact. They won't buy our fall wheat. It has all to be sold to Americans, and the G. T. R carries no fall wheat except the portion shipped for consumption in Maine and Boston. The whole of our fall wheat, and the greater portion of our fall wheat flour, and all our barley, have to be shipped across lake Ontario, as our best markets for these articles are along the Erie canal, in the rich towns accessi])le therefrom, and in the great city of New ^ork. Butfalo also receives for distribution a small portion o' our produce, when western stuff is deficient in qutdity (^r qiiantity. Lower Canada and those fishing villages on the Atlaritic coast will never be to us the markets that the commercial and manufacturing centres of the United States are and have been ; the very possibility is forbidden by their poverty and geograpliical position. Therefore you should so endeavour to aiTange the arteries of your trade that ^they may lead direct to those markets where your products are most appreciated, and where, in con- sequence, the highest prices can be realized for them. The following extracts from the Honble. T. F Hatch's Report on Internal Commerce and Transportation, to the United States Government, contain sound teaching on these and kindred subjects, which are worthy of your careful atten- tion. Mr. Hatch says : — " In the New World the chief effort of 12 CHEAP RAILWAYS. staresmansliip, applied to material objects, is to develop as early and to as great an extent as is possible the resources of our own territories. Other nations are compelled to seek abroad for those means of employment and prosperity which we possess at home, and to an extent practically unlimited. This development is the chief object of our wisest political economy ; and it can in no other way be so well promoted as by constructing or enlarging the various means of communi- cation which carry emigrants to those regions where their toil will be most amply rewarded, and at the same time bring the productions of all parts of our common country to those mar- kets where they command the highest price, or, in other words, return the greatest remuneration to human labour. We thus also stimulate immigration from abroad, and provide the essential elements for the most profitable foreign trade. " Commerce has always in every country sought the first channels formed by nature, as the easiest and cheapest high- ways from the interior to the seaboard. " Hitherto, in the gigantic struggles for the internal carry- ing trade of our own country, railways have not been success- ful competitors with our inland routes of communication by water, for the carriage of heavy or bulky articles during the seasons of navigation. The qdestion is determined by the different results of motive power applied to land and water. An elaborate investigation shows the following results, as ex- emplified by a fair comparison of the relative cost of trans- portation by rail; and the other means of conveyance best known in the United States; Excess of cost pt'i- cent, greater. By rail over ocean ti-ansportation 733.3 By rail over great lakes 525.0 By rail over Mississippi and St. Lawrence Transportation 316.6 By rail over Hudson 400.0 By "ail over Illijiois improvement 257.1 By rail over Erie canal enlarged '. 215.0 By rail over ordinary canal 150.0 " Boats or vessels, if made of wood, and propelled either by sail or steam-engine, will endure for many years. If made of iron, which, before many years have elapsed, will probably supersede wood as the chief material for ship-building, they will last a centur;^ They run through water which costs nothing, and does not wear out. A crew of five or six men can manage a canal steamer of 600 tons, and ten or twenty men are sufficient for a lake ship or steamer of 600 or 1,200 CHEAP KAILWAYS. 13 tons. On the otlier hand, a railway and its trains of cars, eacli of which can carry only 150 or 200 tons of freight, are sub- ject to great loss from ordinary and necessary wear and tear need continual replacement and repairs, require a much larger proportion of men to watch and manage them, and are rapidly worn out by a stress of increased business, wnich, comparatively, would do little injury to a canal, " It is stated, as curiously illustrative of the comparative cheapness of carriage by rail and the ocean, tliat a ship recently arrived at Philadelphia from San Francisco, having brought a cargo of wheat at nearly the same freight it would have cost from Chicago to Philadelphia by rail. " For the reasons thus elucidated, the freight on railways, where they enter into competition with the ordinarj' means of water communication, consists for a considerable proportion of the year chiefly of the lighter and more costly articles re- quiring rapid transit and delivery, while ordinary products of the West, in quantities so great that it is difficult to form an adequate understanding of their magnitude, are carried on our lakes, rivers and canals. With the increase of Western culti- vation and production thus occasioned by the cheapest possible freight during the milder months, the amount of railroad tra- vel is also multiplied, as well as the consumption of those articles for Avliich carnage by rail is eagerly sought at ad- vanced rates. " It thu J becomes evident that in attempting to find a solu- tion of our chief commercial problems, and estimating the comparative importance of the various routes to the ocean from the West, duly examining the physical characteristics of the country, and the natural adaptation of its different sections to internal commerce, and the cheap delivery of freight, the gi'eat saving effected by the use of water communication must be borne in mind. " The remarkable increase thus exemplified in the progress of the West is chiefly due to the construction of the railroads, to which the surface of their country is so well adapted, bring- ing produce to the great lakes, over w^hich, and by the con- necting links of eastern canals and rivers, it reaches our sea- ports. " In 1850 these States had only 1,263 miles of railroad ; fourteen years later, in 1864, they had 12,519 miles in oper- ation, and no less than 18,136 either completed or in progress of construction. 14 CHEAP RAILWAYS. Hi' "A distinguished United States Senator from the north-west explained the methods by which, in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa, certain railroad companies had become so far con- solidated as to constitute almost a complete monopoly for transportation in those States, with the natural result of exorbitant freights, unjustly putting money into the pockets of the few at the expense of the producers of national wealth. The Senator, on behalf of the people of his country, protested against regarding the Erie canal ' in any other light than as a national work,' stating in strong terms his reluctance ' to let a company occupy the only unoccupied ground for a transit route that there is between the Mississippi river and the Atlantic ocean, and then set all people that are west of it at defiance, and charge just such tolls as they choose.' " The Board of Trade of St. Paul reported, July 5, 1865, that * freight on grain from St. Paul and other river towns north of Winona to Chicago is now thirty cents per bushel, and has most of the time for the last two years exceeded that figure.' Even now it is stated that the farmers of Minnesota are paying forty cents freight upon a bushel of wheat to Chicago or Milwaukee. This is a a higher freight than the western shipper has paid during the last year upon grain from Chicago to our seaport cities via the lakes and New York canals, the average freight of the season being much lower. Accusations pgainst eastern lines of transportation for exorbi- tant prices certainly proceed with an ill grace from States where the farmer cannot move the product of his labour out of his own State without paying charges more than sufficient to eat it up." . EXTRACT FROM A SPEECH OF SENATOR BENNETT. " New Orleans, I see from the exchanges of that city, is making Herculean efforts to draw the trade of the West down the Mississippi. Heretofore they have had no elevators there for handling grain. They are moving to secure the advantage that elevators give. I understand Western parties are going there with capital, to give New Orleans the great benefit of large elevators. It will be remembered there are no tolTd on the Mississippi river. The distance is greater, but that is of smaU account as compared with water routes unrestricted by tolls. They are bringing into operation on the Mississippi transportation by barges, towed by tugs, one tug taking a large number of barges in tow, the same as on the Hudson river. There were tows that went down the Mississippi from the CHEAP RAILWAYS. 15 upper portion of that river last season with between one and two hundred thousand bushels of grain in one large tow. The Chambers of Commerce of St. Louis and New Orleans have this question of barge transportation under discussion, and .ire determined to draw the business of the West by what they call the great natural channel to the city of New Orleans. St. Louis and New Orleans are working together with might and main for the accomplishment of the before-mentioned object — to draw the trade of the great West to the Gulf of Mexico. The superiority of free water transportation is shown by a recent event. The ship David Crocket, during December last, arrived at Philadelphia in ninety-four days from San Fran- cisco, with a cargo of seventy-six thousand bushels of wheat, subject to a freight of only fifty-eight cents per bushel of sixty pounds. The distance is about eighteen thousand miles. " The railroad rate this winter on wheat, from Chicago to Philadelphia, is 51 cents per bushel of 60 pounds, and the distance is only eight hundred and twenty-four miles." These are the views of distinguished gentlemen who are the able advocates of immense interests, to which our '^ Little Central Railway" bears no more comparison than does a con- tract for opening up a new concession road to the gigantic operations of Jackson, Peto, Brassy and Betts ; and having con- sidered them attentively, you will see the folly of delivering yourselves over, all well and securely bound, into the hands of the G. T. R. Company, who will take very good care that hence- forward you will be free from the risks of the " dangers of navigation," and be effectually cut out From the cheapest highway to the best markets, by the route to Toronto and the waterways. Add to these facts the knowledge that the G. T. R has been, and will continue to be, unable to move with reasonable dispatch over its icliolc length the produce of U. C, especially the coarser kinds of freights,, obtained from the woods, and does not and will not, as long as it can be avoided, carry freight to this port, and you have incontrovertible reasons why you should not encourage the thriftless idea, lately ad- vanced by one of your representatives, of building a railway from your county to Stratford or Seaforth, to act as a feeder 16 CHEAP KAILWAYS. to an anaconda, of sucli slow, but expensive digestion, as the G. T. R Million after million has been tossed, under various pre- texts, into its voracious maw, and yet it continues hungry. Our Local Parliament will have no more important duty to consider than how to encourage the construction and ex- tension of the means of communication, which will carry out the trees and carry in the people to those places where their toil will reward their employers, and provide themselves with means, in a few years, to emi)loy those whom they will invite by their prosperity to leave the old " sod " and join them, in prosperous Canada. Our immigration business drags, somehow. Of the few who come determined to settle in Canada, a poi"tion re-emi- grate to the States ; mainly because they cannot afford to buy dear wild land, and are afraid to "tackle the trees," bum them, and have to wait two years before they can eat bread of their own growing. The construction of cheap railways, bound by law to carry cordwood, would in many instances remove those difficulties ; th^^efore these roads ought to be built and pushed into tlie heart of the country, and people brought to form the nucleus of settlements, wherever settle- ments Avere possible. If the British Government would place at the disposal of our Confederate Government a half dozen of the old wooden men-of-war, with men enough to work them, and if our own Government would furnish the provisions, and send to an English, Irish, Scotch, or German port, one ship each, to secure at Whitsuntide the farm labourers, bring them here free, and give each head of a family, or young man, a ticket securing him one or two years' employment with a farmer, or other person, according to a pre-arranged plan, and a location ticket for 100 acres of land, to be patented on the fulfil- ment of certain defined conditions, we would Imve plenty of im^ migrants. The class referred to is poor, and cannot move without CHEAP RAILWAYS. 17 assistance. The same course could be pursued among the poor miners of Korway and Sweden, who would he the most desinible innnij^rants tor the extensive minerahand agricultural region round the Georgian Bay and eastwards. If a free passage both ways were ottered men from the section of country to which the " man-of-peace" was bound, each voyage, spring and fall, and some advertising judiciously done, they would soon o))tain the desired complement of immigrants. Men who immigrated to this countiy, and arrived poor, but who by their economy and industry have got comparatively rich as farmers, are the riglit sort of emigratioy agents tf) send on these missions. Each iurme. ov other party requiring hired assistance could send their ticket to the captain for the sort of help ref[uired, and tlie law could be made to make the contract l)inding on both siiles. A great portion of the expense could be reco\ered by charging the immigrant one or two months' >vages, payable on aiTival, by the farmer, or by the immigTant after the expiiy of one year. These vessels could cany home deals, &c., and make a great deal more, perhaps, than the expense of the voyage. Hy this means thousands of steady and laborious poor people would suddenly find themselves on the road to an unexpected inde- pendence. It is unnecessary to eidarge on the general increase of material wealth to be derived by your counties and this city from the construction of a sufficient railway, on a l»asis of sound engineering and commercial principles, to connect your counties, and the large fertile intervening tract of countiy, with this city, and through it, with all the rich and important cities of New York and neighbouring States, containing a population of twelve millions of people, who are our natural and indispen- sable customers for our choicest productions, and who will con- tinue to be so, notwithstanding their present erratic legislation. You wiU clearly see how your interests are to he advanced by stations becoming market towns, and how idle water privileges will become, under the stimulus of railway traffic > 18 CHEAP RAILWAYS. busy centres of manufacturing industry. Household comforts, now beyond the reach of many, will be easily attainable in exchange for all your minor farm produce, wood, &c. All this, you say, is apparent, but you do not see your way to getting the railroad. Tliere is a difficulty in getting a railroad, because the waste, extravagance and mismanagement attending the con- struction of our jiresent lines have rendered them unprofit- able. Tlie money spent in their construction, so far as the first shareholders are concerned, has been totally lost, except- ing in the case pf the Great Western Railway. The system of paying contractors their own exorbitant prices, if they took stock in part payment, was ruinous. In consequence of this untoward state of matters, not a dollar can be borrowed to cotistnict much needed lines on the most thoroughly econo- mical principles, without some more tangible basis than mere Canada Railroad Stocks. It is contrary to the genius of our Government to guaran- tee the interest on outlays for purely local works ; there- fore, sufficient land must be ' obtained from the I^ocal Government to induce capitalists, or men with any spare means in Canada and elsewhere, to take the requisite amount of stock in these roads to secure their immediate construction. If every $100 stock carried with it a patent or scrip for a certain lot of 100 acres of land, and if these bonds and the land scrip were saleable and transferable, separately or together, the amount of money required to build a cheap, light, Narrow-Gauge Railway, on the Central Route, would very quickly be forthcom- ing, and the scream of the locomotive would very soon awaken the echoes of your solitudes, and startle your population into sudden activity and prosperity; iind yourselves would largely benefit from the credit derived from land, which, under present circumstances, not one in one thousand of our people of the present generation will ever see. Of course I refer to the land east of the Georgian Bay, north of the new townships, all the way to and beyond lake Nipissing, to which the people CHEAP RAILWAYS. 19 of Toronto propose in time to extend the line projected to Gull River. * Who are so well entitled to the use of the Crown Lands, as a basis of credit for promoting important and necessary- public works, as the very men by whose hardships, toil and industry these lands have been rendered or are likely to be made of any practical value, and who are the parties mainly to be benefited by the construction of these railroads? It would be highly impolitic, in view of the progress desired for the country, as well as cruel to these less favoured settlers, to deny them the advantages obtained at such enor- mous and unnecessary cost, by those who live in more favoured localities. The land will not be removed, and these roads, for which a small portion of it is sold, will ue the very means of filling it with immigrants. The Government sold last year, in the County of Simcoe, 30,000 or 40,000 acres of land, at public auction at Barrie, at prices varying from 10c. to 20c. .an acre; what, therefore, is the worth of the unbroken wilderness round lake Nipissing? — Not a farthing, unless we point a railroad in that direction, which cannot he done without direct assistance from the Government, or by the aid of a land grant. The Grand Trunk style of railroad, and cost, is beyond our power under any circum- stances. Therefore we must go canny, and seek the establish- ment of a system of railways more suitable to our means and requirements, as has been successfully done in Australia, India, Norway and Sweden. As much as possible of the stocks of these two new rail- ways, one to run north-west aijd the other north-east of this city, should be taken by the people of the country traversed and the people of Toronto, so as to secure local managemeitt and proper attention to local interests. The following extracts from a pamphlet by J. Edward Boyd, Civil Engineer, New Brunswick, and extracts from the report of Mr. Fitzgibbon, Chief Engineer to the Government !■ w 20 CIIKAI' HAILWAYH. of Qu«.enslan(I, Austmliu, will explain moiv authoritatively ami clearly to you the imture of tiie cheap light narrow gauge system, from "which you will infer its suitahlenesn for local routes in Canada. Mr. IJoyd .say.s : — " The cost of a railway i«, all other con- ditiou.s heing similar, controlled to a great extent hy the gauge. Assuming a gauge of .1 feel; inches for Trunk lines, it by no means follows that for tributary lines and inde])endent lines in country districts, a narrow p;auge (say *.) feet) might not be introduced with advantage, it is conceded that the resist- ance due to curves deceases as the width lietween the rails is reduced, as sharper curves could therefore be introduced without a coiTesponding increase in. the resistance. " Heavy earthworks could be avoided, without resort to steep gradients, and narrow gauge tributaries could be carried into many districts when lines of the wider gauge would be enormously ex])ensive, in both construction and o))eration. "This reduction of the gauge would be followed by a diminution of the cost of every part of the road, from the turninff of the Jirnt sod to the dnvinij of the lad sjnkc, as follows : — Saving on earth, 5(1 ])er cent. ; on masonry, 25 per cent. ; the engines -would weigh from t^eh'e to fourteen tons, instead of twenty-eight tons ; and the weight of the rails, chairs, &c., being proportionately less, the cost of j/ermanent ■way v'ovld he about one-ha/f witli a corresj^onding reduction in the cost of rolling stc^'k. " Tiie railway of narroAvest gauge used for ])assenger traffic, worked by locomotives, is in Merionetshire, Wales — gauge, 2 feet. Between June, 18G3, and February, 1865, the four engines employed on this road (7| tons) had run 57,000 miles without leaving the rails — the steepest gTadient being 1 in 60. Up these gradients, these engines take a load of 50 tons at ten miles an hour ; sharpest curves on the line, 132 feet radius. " In the colliery districts of England and Wales there are lines of 2 feet 4 inches, 2 feet 6 inches, and 2 feet 8 inches, which are used with great succ^s. " The Norwegian lines have a gauge of 3 feet 6 inches ; engines weigh 14 tons ; speed 15 miles an hour. A gauge pf 3 feet 9 inches has been successfuly worked in Belguim. Upon a line three feet gauge, passenger trains could be run at 15 to 20 mUes an hour, the carriages being say 7 feet 6 inches wide inside — ample room for comfortable seats — less width would answer freight cars." ClIEAP Il.VIIAVAY.s. 2X Mr. Boyd quotes as follows from Mr. Fitzgihbon, Chief Eii«j;iueer to the (foveriiineilt of (Queensland, Australia : — " A railway of ?> feet G inches gauge will acconnnodate a traflfic of 400 tons cf goods and 800 passengei-s in each twelve hours. During the nine months eiuling ;iOth Septend)er, 18CG, the average daily traflic on the E. and N. A. Kailway was 484 passengers antl 1 85 tons freight, and (jn the N. S. Rail- way, 400 passengers and 180 tons freight. " On 22 miles of one line, when it passes over the Little Liverj)Ool and Main Ranges, numerous curves of 5 chains radius are introduced, in order to uvoid thn heavy works in excavation, tunnelling, viaducts, &c., which the use of curves of a larger radius would involve ; Imt had a gauge of 4 feet 8^ inches been adopted, curves of 8 chains radius (as used in crossing the Blue Mountains in New Soutlt Wales) would have been necessary ; and it was founil, on a calculation of the quantities of work, that the cost of the line with 4 feet 8| inch gauge would exceed that of the .'i feet 6 inch gauge by more than three-fold. " Taking the item of ))ermauent way, we tind that on the New South Wales lines the, cost per mile is £2,996 7s. 6d. ; while on one 3 feetG inch gauge line the cost is £2,162 4s. Od. per mile, including broken stone ballast ; giving a difference of £834 per mile in favour of the uhitow gfi"gG- " A statement which is appended to thvi report shows that, taking an equal quantity of ••oiling stock on each line, the cost of that of tlie 3 feet 6 inch gauge is 64]^ per cent, of the cost on the 4 feet 6 inch gauge. " It appears that a speed of over 20 miles an hour has been attained on the 3 feet 6 inch line, without any percep- tible oscillation or unsteadiness of the carriages, which are roomy and comfortal)le, and give the greatest satisfaction to the public. " Mr, Fitzgihhon hiaiiitnins that it is the wisest possible policy to provide only for the imnt& we now foresee, and to carry out effectually a system of railways ivhich is vnthin our present incans, leaving posterity to decide wimt further €,rpendit lire should he incurred to meet its wants. " Again, to expend two or three times the necessary amount now", with a view to meeting a want which cannot be felt for perhaps twenty years or more, is simply to expend in interest V 22 CHEAP RAILWAYS. h: alone a sum sufficient to re-build an entirely new system of communication, " The construction of the road, and the various appliances employed, are in all respects equal to any railway in the world, exceptiiig only that they are limited in power to the wants of the case." Mr, Boyd roniends that if the diminution of cost is so great as betwt^ on a 3 feet 6 inch gauge and one of 4 feet 8 inches, the difference between one of 3 feet and of 5 feet 6 inches is certainly not estimated at 50 per cent. The same author remarks, in a subsequent letter, that " after fully discussing the matter, the k-Jwedish engineers have decided upon a 3 feet B inch gauge for ail local lines or feed- ers — and several of such having beer' built during the last few years, are giving entire satisfaction. In one of those the embankments are 13 feet broad ; weight of rails. 37 lbs. per yard, connected with fish plates, speed, 16 miles an hour, but occasionally brought up to 30 and 35 miles an hour," The following extract from " Engineering," published in London, England, explains itself, and is convincing proof of the adaptability of the 3 ft, 6 in, gauge to our Central Road, and many other routes in Canada, The paragi-aph in italics was not italicis^id in the original. Tt accords exactly with the views so clearly set forth l)}-^ Mr. Fitzgibbon, from the antipodes of Norway. Wherever ex- pressed, these truths are as irresistible as Palliser's spherical chilled shot. " THE 3-FEET 6-INCH RAILWAY GAUGE, ' To THE Editor of ' Engineering.' " Sir, — By request of my friend Mr. C. Pilil, chief engineer of the Norwegian Government railways, I beg to hand you the enclosed paper on the 3 ft. 6 in. railway gauge, and knowing well the trustworthiness of his practical experience, I have no doubt that by inserting it in your valuable periodical much additional light would be tiirown on the question to which it relates. " I remain. Sir, your obedient Servant, "W. TOTTIE, "Eoyal Swedish and Norwegian Consulate-General, "London, March 7, 1867." CHEAP RAILWAYS. 23 " Sir, — In ' Engineering,' of 4tli January, I find, in an article headed ' Eailways in LQliput,* views with regard to the 3 ft. 6 in. gauge railway system (as carried out in Queens- land, India, and Norway), which are so much at variance with the experience gained in this country, where railways of this description have been in full operation since 1861, that you wiQ allow me, no doubt, as the engineer of the lines, to make a few remarks, wlrich may possibly be acceptable to those of your readers who feel . interested in this matter. " In your article you ask what is to compensate for the manifest disadvantages of the 3 ft. 6 in. gauge, pnci for an answer refer to a letter which Mr. Wm. T. Doyne, Memb. Inst. C.E., has lately published m Queensland, in which he says lie considers that the safe maximum speed on the 3 ft. 6 in. gauge cannot exceed ten or, at most, twelve miles an hour, and that, although he has travelled twenty-two miles an hour on this gauge, he doubts whether the working stock would admit of it, except in the case of the engine running down steep gradients ; and he states that he would feel more at his ease on a line of ordinary gauge at fifty miles an hour. He further says : ' In Queensland the features of the country ' enforce the use of five-chain curves, and consequently a 3 * ft. 6 in. gauge.' On this ywi make the following remarks: ' Before engineers inflict a wholly insufficient gauge upon the * railway system of a colony, iliey should first ascertain ' whether, even with curves of minimum radii, rolling stock * cannot be constructed to work them upon the ordinary 'gauge;' and, in concluding your article, you say that the same remarks apply to India and Norway. "With regard to the information received from, and opinions formed on the Queensland Railway, it is not for me to make any remark, except when they affect the system, and ar" at variance with facts gained by experience. My inten- tions are not, however, to enter into any polemical discussion, as the 4 ft. 8^ in. as well as the 3 ft. 6 in. gauge systems have bee^i in operation here for many years. There is no doubt or uncertainty with us about the question at issue ; and I will, therefore, merely give facts and results as supplementary to the information you are already in possession of from Queens- land, and which may be of interest to those who wish to in- vestigate the subject. "When it is said that the adoption of the narrow gauge has been enforced by tlie necessity for sharp curvei, the conjee- 24 CHEAP UAILWAYS. ture is not quite m accordance witli the facts of the case here, as we have hitherto been able to avoid curves of less than 11 chains. With us it has been a question of providing a railway commuuication at a comparatively small cost in a country of large extent, with little traffic and limited resources; and al- though the greater facility of traversing sJuirp c^irvcs is a deci- ded and no iinivvportant advantage to he rained hy the itse of the small gauge, this consideration has rvot enforced its adoption liere. It has been in this cci^c the choice Ictiveen a cheav and e^cient raihoaif or none. " With what success these lines liave been earned out we shall see. I will now give the cost of three separate railways, which I built at tne sfiine time, under equal circumstances, and with the same view as to economy and efficiency ; the one line, the Kongsvinger line, of 4 ft. 8| in. gauge, with a length of fifty-six miles, has cost £6,350 per mile, incl iding stations and rolling stock, but no workshops , the Hamar-Elverum Hne, of 3 ft. 6 in. gauge, and twenty-four miles only, has cost j£3,142 per mile, including stations, rolling r.tock, and small workshops ; the third line, the Throndjem-Storen Railway, also of 3 ft. 6 in. gauge, and thirty-one and a half miles long, has cost £5,300, including eyerything. At the present time there are fifty-six miles more. (the Dramman-Kandstjord Rail- way, of the same narrow gauge) under construction, the half of which is temporarily opened for traffic. This line is cal- culated ill £4,563 per n:ile, and for this sum I Iiave no doubt it will 1)0 completed. On the two last-named lines tlie works fire comparatively very lieavy ; the country wliich we have had to go through lias been difficult to deal with, and neces- sitated many extensive works, such as cuttings (to a great extent in hard rock), frequent bridges and viaducts, some of timber ai\d some of iroi-, several exceeding 70 ft in height .and of considerable len^^th. Besides these, there are exten- sive and comparatively costly stone works along tlie declivi- ties by the side of the rivers and hills. " The regular trains are run here at 14 miles an hour, in- cluding stoppages, or 36 to 20 miles between stations, the very same speed at which the mixed trains run on the 4 ft. 8| in. gauge here. As to tlie safety of fast running, engines and carriages appear to run as safely and steadily at 30 miles an hour on the 3 ft. in. gauge as they do on one of 4 ft. 8^- in., and I have run the veiy engine illustrated in your journal of 2l8t December last at upwards of 40 miles an hour, with / ^ CHE.Vl' KAILWAYS. 25 as much feeling of ease and security as I liave i'elt when run- ning any engine on a broader gauge. The engines, as well as the rest of the rolling stock, are constructed with an angle of stability fully as great as in rolling stock for an ordinary gauge ; this, with a sufficient minimum load on the axle, being the principal condition for stability, leaves the gauge as a factor of practically small importance in limiting the speed. The working stock, when substantially and judiciously con- structed, is as durable in one cfise as in the other. In stating these facts it is not my intention to advocate as high a speed on these lines, with liglit engines of only ?> it. to 3 ft. 9 in. driving wheels, as on lines of a lerchants and property-holders individually, and the city is expected to give, free from rent or taxes, right of way, access to the har- bour, and room for the premises of the Eailway Companies ; privileges, to purchase which, you will understand, would cost a great deal of mxmey. It is important to remember, in consulting amongst > cur- selves what railroad policy it is your interest to support, that in addition to its unrivalled commercial and shipping advan- tages, Toronto is now the seat of our Local Government, as well as the legal, financial, commercial, educational and indus- trial capital of Ontario. Any other terminus of your railways must be at comparatively small places with indifferent markets. A worse fate, for your interests, would result from termi- nating your railways on other roads, which would exact, as usual, heavy toll for their share in the carriage of your stuff to the water and the leading markets. I need not repeat that the lowest freight by the most direct line, to the best market and shipping point, should be your governing motive in selecting routes for your traffic. An independent line to the water, worked, not in the interest of the Great Western Eailway, Grand Trunk Eail- way, or Northern Eailway, but in the interest of your Coun- ties and Toronto, is the only line worthy of your consideration. A line to Guelph is only a little less objectionable than one to Stratford — either is not possible under existing char- ters. The capital will not be forthcoming for such unneces- sarily expensive roads. Toronto has the power and the influ- ence to build a road on the central route to Durham, thence, via Walkerton, to a point on Lake Huron, with a branch from Durham to Owen Sound, and, with or without encourage- ment, will set about the construction of the road as soon as practicable. In the appendix you will find the names of the Provi- sional Officers of the Company who have undertaken this CHEAP RAILWAYS. 31 good work, and who are a guarantee that it will be well and truly performed. Leave nothing undone which may assist them. You must not wait until somebody builds you a road ; you must be up and doing ; a great deal depends on yourselves. Less money than you once offered is enough to secure you the Central Road — only you must give it active suppmi. Communications or suggestions anent the business of the Toronto, Bruce & Grey Railway Company, addressed to their Secretary, Mr. William S. Taylor, Toronto, will receive prompt attention. I am, gentlemen. Your obedient servant, G. LAIDLAW. APPENDIX. To the Wardens of North Ontario and Victm^ia, and the People on the E&iitc of the Toronto and Nippis- sing Railway. Gentlemen, — Being desirous of submittmg to your consideration the views and statements expressed in the preceding pages, in so far as they arc ajyplicablc to your case, without entailing the loss of time and expense involved in preparing a mere repetition for a separate publication, I have added a letter written by myself, in reply to a communication, in the " Leader" newspaper, from Lindsay, and a few other remarks which, I trust, may be of service in calling your attention and arousing your energies to take active measures to co-operate with the Toronto & Nipissing Railway Company, just formed in this city, to secure for you the advantages of a Railway, and, for Toronto, a large accession of new business, without taking it from any other place. The " Leader's " anonymous 5]; ; 32 CHKAP RAILWAYS. 11 ^1' con'esponduut stated tliat the Lindsay ^ Port Hope Hall- way is capable of doinjj; the business of the country for the next thirty years. Nonsense ! In thirty years there will be larger towns thiily, aye, sixty miles further north than Lindsay. The Toronto & Nipissin<; JIailway Avill create those towns. Lindsay meanwhile will prosper with the general prosperity of tlie surrounding townships. There is not an acre of land in North Ontario or Victoria, nor a bushel of grain, nor a saw-log, nor an horse nor cow, sheep nor lamb, neither ]:>igs nor poultry, neitlier cord of wood nor pack of wool, which ^^■ould not T)e greatly increased in value by the competition engendered, and l^y the facilities afforded by a railway to this superior metropolitan market. Put your shoulders to the wheel, and Aery soon you will have markets at your doors for every article of farm produce and every stick in your woods. Eeading and gossiping al)out the new railway won't build it. You must take active and decisive steps at once to encourage and assist the gentlemen who have undertaken the onerous task of constructing this line of railway. "Suas ii a Clauu-nan-Gael. " I commend to your careful attention the annexed list of the Provisional Officers elected by the Toronto and Nipissing Kailway Company, whose very names are a warrant to you for immediate activity and success. Your obedient servant, G. LAIDLAW. CHEAP EAILAVAYS. "To THE Editor of the 'Leader.' " Sir, — From the tenor of your anonymous Lindsay cor- respondent's letter, he is liable to the suspicion of being a Georgian Bay Canal dreamer, who may have borrowed spec- tacles from Lindsay with -which to examine one of the cheap railway schemes, with a view to a flank attack through them on the ojpponents of the canal. (JHEAr RAILWAYS. " In replying t(» ' Observer's ' irresponsible statenier' I presume, Mr. Editor, that you would not open your columns to any local writer who aimed maliciously to mar the con- struction of a very desirable, practicable and promising i)ublic work, calculated to increase the area, the value of the land and its protlucts, and the population of the teiTitory to the north-east of us, the trade of which is natumlly tributary to Toronto. " The Toronto and Nipissing Itailway was not projected to oppose the Port Hope and Lindsay Kailroad, or rob eitlier it or these towns of any of their Avell-earned business. " The proposed route of the new road will pass about fif- teen miles north of Lindsay, the northern terminus of the P. N. and L R. The latter runs south-east, the former south- west, which renders competition along their routes impossible. " But, while we do not want to rob them of the handling of a board or a spar, we will have the shar"^ that the capi- tal and enterprise of this city may secure lor itself of the produce of the interminable forests that stretch northwards, beyond the immediate vicinity of Linds^ 200 miles to Lake Nipissing. The immediate settlement and weal and prosper- ity of the people already settled in great numbers in the nearer portions of that immense country, (and whose lumber- ing and mercantile interests are mainly sustained by the banking institutions and wholesale merchants of this city,) are general public benefits, which will follow the sagacious extension or multiplication of the means of communication between this city and the interior, and which will benefit Lindsay not less than Toronto. A sudden and rapid increase in the value of land, pine, farm produce, and the opening up of mines, would create such prosperity as would redound to the advantage of every man in Lindsay, and in the townships to the northward. " I am not aware of a single mine having been opened, or even discovered, on the route of our railway ; but those who know the ' geography below the ground,' say there are big indications ! and if our capitalists saw them, and a road for their products, to market, they might be induced to sink some shafts. The nature and the cost of the road will be explained on better authority than mine in a fortnight. " The route proposed will traverse for the first 75 miles one of the finest districts in Upper Canada, rich in agricultu- ral resources, and well settled ; one end of it Avill be carried 3 m I , ^ I 34 niKAI' HAILWAYH. I well into the pine forests, while the other will terminate at the best harbour on the north sliore of liike (Ontario, from whence freifjlits are cheaper than from any other north shore port, because the largest vessels can here load, get return cargoes, and seek a safe shelter. It is said the exports from Port Hope last season were 65,000,000 feet of lumber, or nearly 500 cargoes of 130,000 feet each. This large trade accounts for the purchase by Port Hope merchants, from Toronto owners, of a great many schooners, which used to be the pride of our harbour. " The Northern Kailroad is re])orted to have carried and shipped laut year 41,000,000 feet of lumber, only two-thirds of the exports of I'ort Hope. " Your correspondent admits, for argument sake, our road would secure part of the lumber and minerals, and asks, ' Would not the carriage of this heavy produce constantly wear out the cheap, light rails '' Certainly ; and the more the merrier. HaA'e they got everlasting rails on the Lindsay road ? , " The rules of proportion in engineering science will not be violated by the Engineers who construct the cheap railroad to Gull River, and their reports to the committee will more authoritatively settle the question. " It is alleged by ' Observer ' that the railroad at present in operation is capable of doing the business of the county for the next thirty years, but at the rate of present progress, aided by a new railway, two or three new counties will be added to the civilized area of the country north-eastward before that date expires ; and if twenty lines of road to Gull River would not take a 'twentieth part from the Port ilape line ill either passengers or freight,' there is then no reason to fear such a very little road as is modestly proposed, which, however, your friend admits, * would doubtless secure the grain traffic from the townships thiiMgh which it ran,' which is satisfactory. " The resolutions carried by i he committee, and sent to all- the municipal authorities on the route of ' our road/ ask- ing for information, absolve me from the charge of wittingly ' misleading people ;' but the answers of the above-mentioued and competent authorities may furnish satisfactory reaaona for retorting your correspondent's uncharit&ble suspicions. " Your obedient servant, "Toronto, March 25, 1867. " G. LAIDLAW." TORONTO, GREY AND BRUCE RAILWAY COMPANY. PROVISIONAL DIRECTORS. H. S. HowLAND, Esq., Warilen of York, I'uESiDENr. n. McMastkr, Esq., of Messrs. A. R. MrMastcrA; Bro., Vice-President. DIRECTORS: (r. WoRT.H, Esq., Vici> President, Toronto Bunk. John McDonald, Esq., M. P.P. Robert Walker, Esq. NoAK Barniiart, Esq. The Warden of Grey. The Warden of Bruce. R. Patterson, Esq., Owen ksound. John Gordon, Esq., of Messrs. Gordon k McKay. James Michie, Esq. Thomas Lai ley, Esq. Wm. B. Hamilton, Esq. C. Moore, Esq. Edwasd Blake, Esq., Q.C. Geo. Gooderham, Esq., of Messrs. Gooderham & Worts. G. Laidlaw, Esq. Tiioj^as Scott, Esq., Mayor Owen Sound. Treasurer: — E. ('. Chaffev, E.sq. Secretary: — Wn. Sutherland Taylor, Esg. Solicitor: — W. N. Beatty, Esq. Counsel: — Edward Blake, Esq., Q.C'. TOKONTO AND NIPISSING RAILWAY COMPANY. PROVISIONAL DIRECTORS: Wm. Gooderham, Jr., Esq., of Messrs. Gooderham 4 Worts, President. A. M. Smith, Esq., M.P.P., President of Royal Canadian Bank, VroE- President. DIRECTORS: M. C. Cameron, Esq., M.P.P. Wm. Elliot, Esq., of Messrs. Lyman, ElUot & Co. J. C. Fitoh, Esq., of Messrs. Howland & Pitch. T. C. Chwholm, Esq. Thompson Smith, Esq, J. E. Smith, Esq., Mayor of Toronto. The Rebvb of Uxbridge. Edward Wheeler, Esq., Stoufvilie. Treasurer: — ^John George Miller, Esq Secretary: — Charles Robebtson, Esq, Solidior : — John Lets, Esq. Gmnsel : — M. C. Cameron, Ewq. Thomas Clarkson, Esq. T. Meredith, Eewj. The Reeve of Eldon. George Morse, Esq. W. H. Howland, Esq. Wm. Ince, Esq., of Messrs. F. ft G. Perkins ft Co. James Adamson, Esq. George Laidlaw, Esq. :| '■;>