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 TO THE 
 
 
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 COMMITTEE ON CLAIMS 
 
 APPOINTED BY THE 
 
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 BOARD OF DIRECTORS 
 
 OF THE 
 
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 HORE RMLWAT 
 
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 *^* QUEBE6 : 
 T?R[NTED BY C. DAKVHAU 
 
 
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BIBLIOTHBQUB DE LA 
 VILLE DE MONTREAL 
 
 COLLECTION 
 GAGNON 
 
 
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 Iformc ir>Sl» I -'id 
 
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TO THE 
 
 COMMITTEE ON CLAIMS 
 
 APPOINTED BY THE 
 
 BOARD OF DIRECTORS 
 
 n 
 
 'A'&310^ 
 
 OF THE 
 
 30041 
 
 HORTH SHORE RilLWAI COHPANY, 
 
 "*' '""'^*"W •^^'^ Mn**«v«-'va. 
 
 QUEBEC : 
 PRINTED BY C. DARVEAU. 
 
 1873. 
 
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TO THE 
 
 COMMITTEE ON CLAIMS 
 
 APPOINTED BY THE 
 
 BOARD OF DIRECTORS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NORTH SHORE RAILWAY COMPANY. 
 
 GrENTLEMEN, 
 
 The reference made to you, has been made, as it is 
 well known to the Board, to inquire into certain claims, 
 which exist for the reimbursement of various preliminary 
 expenses which are indispensable in the initiating and 
 organising of all great projects, but more particulary of an 
 extensive railway. To put into motion public opinion, to 
 bring the necessary pressure to bear upon the public 
 authorities, to secure the influence of those who are power- 
 ful in the localities affected, to reconcile conflicting in- 
 terests, and to guide the whole into a harmony of action, 
 requires not only great personal zeal and attention on the 
 part of those directing the movement, but a very consi- 
 derable expenditure of money in incidental and perfectly 
 legitimate expenses. At the time when I, in conjunction 
 with others, undertook the task of reviving the North 
 
— 4 — 
 
 Shore Railway, the Company had not any pecuniary means 
 whatever, nor was there the remotest chance or hope of 
 obtaining any, but having resolved upon the prosecution 
 of the enterprise, in the expectation that the expenditure 
 
 would nbt b6 great, 1 entered upoh it by advancing my 
 means, and through the effect of unforseen obstacles I 
 have been led into an outlay which would never have 
 commenced had I originally contemplated the extent to 
 which I was unavoidably led. The Board feeling that 
 these obligations must be met, have adopted the course of 
 refering them for examination to your Committee, a course 
 of proceeding whose convenience is obvious, and in ac- 
 cordance with which I shall offer full explanations to the 
 Committee. 
 
 The claim which I now prefer is to be reimbursed 
 expenses incurred by me in promoting this enterprise 
 during a period of now upwards of five years past, and 
 the best mode of explaining it will be to give a succinct 
 account or history of the proceedings of myself and certain 
 of my friends, in connection with the undertaking during 
 that period. It will be satisfactory to you, Grcntlemen, to 
 know that the first point, the existence of the claim has 
 been conceded, and that to you only remains the duty of 
 defining its shape and amount. In an undefined form 
 the claim has all along been admitted by those who during 
 that time had the control of the affairs of the company, and 
 was only desired to await an opportune moment to 
 take it up and put it into some definite form. So much 
 was this the case, that those charged with obtaining the 
 necessary legislation to reorganise the company, provided 
 for this very subject and have given you the very highest 
 
— 5— 
 
 sanction for acting in this business. With a view to the 
 ultimate adjustment" of this account, the Legislature of 
 Quebec, by the Stat. 84, Vic. chap. 22, Sec. 12, enacted 
 that " The expenses incurred by the said Company and 
 the obligations it may have contracted up to the passing of 
 the Act and which may be lawfully due shall be the Hrgt 
 charge thereupon." This statute passed, as expressed in 
 the preamble, at the request of the Company, sufficiently 
 recognises the existence of certain claims, and none other 
 then existed than those herein refered to, which had to bo 
 met. And indeed it is well known, to those cognizant of 
 this legislation, that the clause was inserted, expressly to 
 enable Ihe Company to deal with this particular claim and 
 others of a similar character. 
 
 As the time has now arrived when events point to 
 the auspicious termination of the labours of the company in 
 the completion of their road, and that the provision to be 
 made for the future expenditure of the Company will be 
 limited to that for the actual construction and management 
 of the Company's works, it becomes an imperative neces- 
 sity for the Board, as it is its desire, to look the back inci- 
 dental expenses in the face, and to make provision before 
 the absorption of all its assets in the construction contract, 
 for the discharge of those obligations, incurred in the early 
 stage of the reorganization of the company, which cannot 
 be overlooked or avoided with either justice or honor. It 
 is to meet this desire and the present action of the Board 
 that 1 have prepared the present statement. 
 
 I may at once assert, that the whol' of the outlay in 
 curred and made in reviving and promoting the enterprise 
 of the North Shore Railway, amalgamated with the Piles 
 
— 6 — 
 
 Railway, and by means of which it has been brought through 
 numberless diiliculties to its present encouraging condition 
 has been borne by myself and by Mr. P. B. Vanasse of 
 Three Rivers, liy means of these indispensable preliminary 
 expenses and an expenditure of money which attends all 
 such undertakings and by the great personal exertions of 
 Mr. Vanasse and myself, the North Shore and Piles Rail- 
 ways which had long been abandoned, as projects hopeless 
 of achievement, were revived and resuscitated and have 
 been placed upon a foundation such as to insure their ulti- 
 mate fulfilment, hi making this statement I do not wish 
 to detract from the value of the services of those who co- 
 operated with us, but 1 claim for ourselves the merit of 
 having originated the idea of bringing about the construc- 
 tion of these roads under the existing charters, and of ha- 
 ving perseveringly followed it up with labour and with 
 money in every field where these could be usefully applied, 
 and without the expenditure of which these enterprises 
 would long since have fallen through. 
 
 In order to make my claim perfectly clear and to en- 
 able your Committee to be perfectly aware of its nature and 
 extent, it is necessary that I should narrate the principal cir- 
 cumstances connected with the course I have pursued, and 
 point out the occasions, though not all, which gave rise to 
 a large expenditure of money. In this narrative I shall 
 have to mention many things well known to the Committee 
 and indeed to the whole community, but which must ne- 
 cessarily be stated in order to furnish a consistent and con- 
 tinuous account of the events which have culminated in 
 the present position of the Company. 
 
 In the year 1853 an act of the Parliament of Canada 
 
— 7 — 
 
 was passed incorporating the Morth Shore Railway Com- 
 pany for the construction of a railway along the north 
 shore of the river St. Lawrence, between the cities of Que- 
 bec and Montreal. Subsequently, in 1857, another act was 
 passed incorporating the St. Maurice Railway and Naviga- 
 tion Company for the construction of a road from the city 
 of Three Rivers to the Grand Piles, a point on the St. Mau- 
 rice less than thirty miles north of Three Rivers and where 
 that river has an inland navigation of seventy miles to La 
 Tuque. These companies ultimately became united under 
 a power of amalgamation granted to the North Sh(»re Com- 
 pany. The first enterprise, from the impossibility of ob- 
 taining capital, and from the adverse inlluences brought 
 to bear, speedily fell through, and received, as was univer- 
 sally considered, an eternal quietus in the construction of 
 the Quebec and Richmond Railway which supplied, it 
 was thought, every want for railway communication be- 
 tween Quebec and Montreal, so that the North Shore Road 
 was definitively abandoned, and not one man in a thousand 
 knew otherwise than that the charter had expired. That 
 was indeed the general impression and when the subject 
 was spoken of it was with regret as of a project of the past, 
 in the abandonment of which, the interests of Quebec had 
 been sacrificed to powerful influences. To renew an ap- 
 plication for a new charter, was so hopeless that it never 
 entered into the minds of any, and indeed, seeing the past 
 failure, and the influences against it, such a request would 
 have met a decided refusal from the Government, always 
 hostile to the expenditure of money. 
 
 The Piles Road, however, was always a cherished pro- 
 ject with the people of Three Rivers, as it offered them the im- 
 
— 8 — 
 
 mense advantage of connecting the city with the great source 
 of its prosperity, the vast lumbering land in the north, the 
 mineral resources known to exist, and the navigation inland 
 of the St. Maurice. But that project also attracted so little 
 notice, was so exclusively local in its benefits, and being dis- 
 sociated from the lost North Shore Road, that it also faded 
 from mens' expectations and even from their thoughts. More- 
 over it had lost its promoter in the late Mr. Turcotte, who 
 would no doubt have kepi; it before the public mind and 
 have brought it to a successful termination. The public 
 attention as to railway communication was completely 
 diverted elsewhere, and it is impossible to describe the 
 utter oblivion into which the whole subject qf the North 
 Shore and Piles railways had fallen. 
 
 The desire however to construct the latter road 
 continued to animate some persons in Three Rivers, whose 
 occupations brought its advantages under their special 
 notice, and in the years 1866 and 1867 communications 
 were made to me by Mr. P. B. Vanasse of that city, to the 
 efiect that Mrs. Turcotte held the contract still in force for 
 the construction of the Piles road, and he thought she 
 could be induced to part with it for a consideration, and 
 the price was fixed at twenty thousand dollars. After con- 
 ferences with Mr. Vanasse, necessitating, for both, many 
 trips between Quebec and Three Rivers, |and seeing that 
 by a donation of 1,500,000, acres of land to the road, which 
 had been made by the act of incorporation, there was a 
 basis to build upon, a decision was come to, to purchase 
 the contract from Mrs. Widow Turcotte, which design was 
 carried into effect on the 17th March 1867. 
 
 The c-iaim for this appropriation of 1,500,000,. acres of 
 
— 9 — 
 
 land for the construction of the Piles Railway, having been 
 made upon the G-overnment, was met with a determined 
 opposition. The attitude of the minjstry was unyeilding, 
 and being sustained by the feeling of the house of assembly 
 and by public opinion il was impossible to enforce the de- 
 mand. A long discussion in the press ensued, which at 
 last placed the subject on the basis that Government was 
 under the obligation to aflford a reasonable assistance to the 
 railway. Although the claim was perfectly clear under 
 the letter of the law, it was urged, and not without some 
 show of reason, that the grant contemplated the united enter- 
 prises of the North Shore and Piles Railways, the latter being 
 only a branch railway. It was known or perhaj)S only sus- 
 mised, that powerful influences had secured this enormous 
 grant to a line under thirty miles in length and it was felt 
 to be impossible to face the hostile attitude of the G-overn- 
 ment backed by public opinion. 
 
 Matters thus came to a dead lock, and the North Shore 
 Railway being considered as abandonned, the Piles its ac- 
 cessory, deprived of the Government grant, became an im- 
 possibility. This state of things cannot be better expressed 
 than in the language of Mr. Chauveau, the leader of the 
 Government, who in his letter of the 26th January 1870, 
 announced his determination to oppose the Piles grant, but 
 expressing himself as favorably disposed to the united en- 
 terprises of the Piles and North Shore Railways, added that 
 ^' the latter scheme was then abandonned. " 
 
 It was clear that under this expression Mr. Chauveau 
 considered the Government relieved from all future obli- 
 gation, and that his letter was to be looked on as final. 
 
— 10 — 
 
 Nothing daunted by these almost insuperable difficul- 
 ties, resort was had to every imaginable expf^dient, to ac- 
 complish the object w hich had already absorbed so much 
 time and attention, and had involved me not only in actual 
 expenditure of considerable amount, but in obligations to be 
 met in the future. My attention was naturally directed to 
 the condition of the ISorth 8hore Railway enterprise, which 
 seemed to be the key to the position. The more influential 
 portion of the public was apathetic, the records of the Com- 
 pany were destroyed or lost, and no light could be obtained 
 to discover a foundation on which to reconstruct the 
 scheme. It was obviously necessary to start anew, wipe 
 out all old proceedings and liabilities, and to treat the mat- 
 ter as if nothing had ever been attempted. An examina- 
 tion of the law sLiowed that the Charter was still in force, 
 though about to expire, and most unexpectedly it was 
 discovered that the North kihore Railway had a legislative 
 dotation separate from that of the Piles, of 1.200,000 acres 
 of land, ix.aking for the two roads a total grant of 2,700,000 
 acres. These lands, which at the time of the grant were 
 little esteemed ; s a means of raising capital, had by the 
 lapse of time, the augmentation of the lumber trade, and 
 the general increase in the prosperity of the Country, be- 
 come of greatly enhanced value and, to my mind, afforded a 
 sufficient basis for the reconstruction of the enterprises in 
 question. The Government could now be boldly ap- 
 proached with a complete answer to Mr. Chauveau's ob- 
 jections and be called upon to fulfil its obligations. But 
 previously public opinion had to be roused to put us in a 
 position to take this stand. By the provisions of the law the 
 Hon. M. Cau.chon remained president of the Company. I 
 
— 11 — 
 
 approached him. with my arguments, the force of which he, 
 at once, perceived, entertained the project favorably, and 
 has ever since rendered his powerful and efficient aid to the 
 undertaking. 
 
 But what was the condition of the Company we were 
 about to galvanize into Hfe. The books and records were 
 burnt or lost. With difficulty, from a few scraps of paper, 
 we obtained some knowledge of the names of the stock- 
 holders ; money, of course there was none; and there was 
 not a man in Quebec w^ho would take a single share of 
 stock. Yet money was indispensable ; to look for stock was 
 out of the question ; but means available for expenses must 
 be had. The City of Quebec had subscrided $1,200,009, 
 but the subscription had fallen through ; the same was the 
 case with the subscriptions of Three Rivers of $oO.OOO, and 
 of the county of St. Maurice oi ^200.000. It was resolved 
 to revive there subscriptions and to add to them those of 
 all the couuties between Quebec and jMontreal,' as lying on 
 the route and so, being interested in the road. After efforts 
 w^hich it is impossible to detail, numerous voyages through 
 the Counties and to Three Rivers, conferences with the 
 leading men in each locality, the end proposed of obtaining 
 subscription was acromplished. with the exception of one or 
 two Counties, and although the rural subscriptions, being 
 conditioned upon securing a complete subscription through 
 the entire route, fell through by the defection of the County 
 of Champlain, an event brought about by political influence, 
 those of Quebec, Three Rivers, and St. Sauveur still subsist. 
 As to the rural subscriptioris, the loss of them is not felt, as 
 they were burthened with conditions which rendered them 
 
- 12- 
 
 .nore onerous than profitable, and would not now be 
 accepted, but on other and more advantageous terms. 
 
 The Government now perceived that their position 
 with regard to these enterprises was entirely changed, by 
 the circumstances above detailed ; and being besides forced 
 by those and other measures to inaugurate a railway pol- 
 icy, they gave us reliable promises of a fair measure ol 
 support. 
 
 In the prosecution of this work I was also forced, as a 
 matter of necessity to call in the aid of Counsel, to 
 ascertain and examine the legal position of the various 
 matters under consideration, to interpret the various sta- 
 tutes and point out their effect and bearing, to direct cor- 
 respondence and assist at interviews with the members of 
 the Grovernment and other skilled persons with whom the 
 business brought me in contact. Counsel at my instance 
 was heard before a Committee of the House, and before 
 the Municipal Council of Three Rivers on the subject, first 
 of the land grant, and secondly of the grant of one hundred 
 thousand dollars which was ultimately obtained from Three 
 Rivers, and assistance and advice was obtained almost daily 
 on the different matters which came up for consideration. 
 
 The result of all was that the Company was put in 
 possession of $1,000,000, of stock subscribed by the City of 
 Quebec, $100,000, subscribed by Three Rivers, and a 
 reliable promise, which has since been fulfilled, of efficient 
 aid from the Government. 
 
 Things being thus placed in a satisfactory state in this 
 Province, the next step was to engage in the scheme capi- 
 talists, or at least persons who, with their own influence 
 and the prospects they opened, could command capital ; for 
 
— 13 -- 
 
 howover engaging a" spocuhitive schomo mny appear, it is 
 
 idle to place it bci'ore the world, unless under the sanction 
 
 of well known names, persons well acqnainted with all 
 
 the avenues of capital. *The second stage of the project 
 
 and the most difficult was now reached. Accordingly 1 
 
 lost no time, in communicating with friends in New York, 
 
 and was obliged to make many and prolonged stays in 
 
 that City, not only to address directly those whom I had a 
 
 pecular opportunity of knowing, but to seek persons who 
 
 could present me to those whose business it was to take 
 
 hold of such speculations, with such a recommendation as 
 
 would ensure attention. Accordingly, at different times 1 
 
 induced several gentlemen to visit Quebec, to examine 
 
 personally the capabilities of the project. Among these 1 
 
 may mention Dr. Durant of the Union Pacific, who 1 have 
 reason to believe would have entered in^o the scheme but 
 
 that he was then engaged in buikUng a roud in the difficult 
 region of the Adirondacks; Mr. Courtright ; Cul. Jackman ; 
 Samuel B. Smith and other eminent railway men. who at 
 different times, during one or two years, were induced to 
 consider the undertaking. At length the present contrac- 
 tors undertook the construction of the road, upon the credit 
 of its resources, and without any reliance upon private stock 
 capital. 
 
 Added to these exertions, the cause of the railway had 
 to be advocated and defended in the press of Quebec and 
 Montreal, as was done effectually over a consid«^rable 
 period of time ; hospitality had io be extended both here 
 and abroad, on a most generous scale to all gentlemen who 
 were invited to connect themselves with the project or 
 or ward its interests, and open house had to be kept for 
 
— 14 — 
 
 Uiat purpose, io roceiv^o them as gnobis over long periods 
 of time. 
 
 Among those whom I i'eel it a duty to mention as 
 having- rendered most valuable assistance in this matter 
 is Mr. "Wincbell. He was induced by me to come to 
 Quebec to promote this scheme and to do so he remained 
 in Quebec, a guest at my house some twenty months 
 or more, incessantly occupied, in interviews with public 
 men, in calculations connected with the statistics of ihe 
 road, its construction and working expenses, antl in 
 writing lor the press andan correspondence. These labours 
 necessiiated IVequent vovages to Th^'ee Rivers, 'he Counties, 
 Montreal, and New York, and it is to his pen we owe the 
 pamphlets and maps which have exercised so great an 
 inlluence iii the organizaiion of the Company. 11' cir- 
 cumstances have prevented jlr. WincheU's connection wiih 
 the Company, being permamently established, he has 
 peribrmed a work with that intention, wh-ch had to be 
 executed by some one. and which I doubt could have beeu 
 
 done by any so efficiently as he has pe^'lbrmed it. 
 
 The directors know the staie of the stock account, and 
 
 the cash assets of the Company, and that in the past the 
 condition was still worse. Is it not natural for them to in- 
 quire from what source all these preliminary expenses 
 came. The expenses themselves w^ere indispensable, were 
 perfectly legitimate, and if there had been any paid up 
 stock would have be.Mi charged to it. The books of the 
 Company will show that no expense of the kind has been 
 paid out of its assets. I may IK'S well state, at once, ^hat the 
 whole of these expenses have been borne by myself and by 
 Mr. Vanasse and that no oiher persons have contributed in 
 
— 15 — 
 
 the sliirhtest dojTr(?e. I wish, here, in justice to Mr. Vanasse 
 and lo myseli'to define our respective positions. Mr. Va- 
 nasse having i ginated ;he Tiles enterprise, embraced it 
 with enthusiasm and not onlv forwarded it wUh all his in- 
 flaence, which is great in Three Jtivers. but pat into it all 
 his available means, besides devoting to it his labour and 
 time. Having myself a greater command of money than 
 he, either personally or through friends, my expenditure has 
 much exceeded his, and the sphere of my exertions in Ca- 
 nada and the United States being" much more extended, 
 called for a greater ouilay. 
 
 A desire min'ht be felt ibr the exhibition of the details 
 of this expenditure, but to give it is dimply impossible. It 
 commenced in the beginning of the year 1867 and has scarce 
 yet terminated in 1873. Among the sources of expense, are 
 numerous trips to Three Ilivers, Montreal, the United States, 
 of which I not only paid my own expenses, but all those in- 
 cident to the-delicate mission 1 was on ; expenses attending 
 public meetings; advances to numerous individuals for 
 their aid; the cost of writing, printing, advertising; hotel 
 accommodation free to all on the business of the underta- 
 king, and a variety of expenses impossible to detail, inci- 
 dental and otherwise all of which had to be paid largely 
 generously, extravagantly, without any regard to an econo- 
 my which might provoke irritation or create enmity. 
 
 it is usual in all great undertakings of this kind, to 
 overcome the difficulty of delini'.ig or accounting for ex- 
 penses of this nature to throw them into a percentage. They 
 are in the nature of secret service money, and if it was 
 known before hand that the expenditure would have to be 
 
— 16 — 
 
 accounted for, it would fail of its object. Accordingly, it is 
 the practice, in the initiation of projects of this kind, to se- 
 lect some influential person, with special knowledge and 
 aptitude for the business, to perform those duties, under the 
 name of Promoter, which circumstances forced upon me. 
 This Promoter is paid by a percentage according to the im- 
 portance of the undertaking, of which, the contract price is 
 as true a measure as can be found. Applying this rule one 
 and a half per cent on the contract would amount to 
 $105,500. ^ 
 
 The claim I now advance is to be reimbursed the ac- 
 tual expenditure of money which I have made on the cre- 
 dit of the company, which the company itself would have 
 been forced to expend as the condition of its existence, an ad- 
 vance which none but mytelf would make, and is in fact a 
 loan made without other security than conhdence in the 
 success of the undertaking, and in the honor of those to 
 whom its future management might be entrusted. 
 
 If to my claim for actual disbursements, I were to add, 
 as I might rightly do, the incidental loss to my business, 
 the employment of additional help, the absorption of my 
 capital, and the remuneration of my services, it would be 
 greatly augmented. 1 have long since regretted having 
 engaged in this undertaking, but having become involved 
 in it, it was impossible to recede without sacrificing the fruit 
 ot my exertions, the money I had already expended, and 
 without breaking engagements I was bound in honor to 
 keep. 
 
 I am prepared to give to the Committee such personal 
 explanations as I hope may satisfy them. The Committee 
 can easily ascertain the incidental expenses incurred by the 
 
— 17 — 
 
 present contractors, since they have undertaken the 
 work ; these expenses are plain, clear and open, and not 
 like those I was forced to incur, in the many movements 
 requisite to reorganise the Company, but the examination 
 will serve to show that no undertaking of this kind can be 
 carried on without uumberless indirect expenses, other 
 than those attending the mere construction. But beyond 
 this point, no comparison can be instituted, for when the 
 present Contractors met the Company to take up the con- 
 tract, the whole Company had been reorganised and 
 presented itself to them with a most valuable dotation. 
 This had been accomplished, by the means I have already 
 adverted to, by labour and expenditure, from the be- 
 ginning of the year 1867 down to April 1872, a period of 
 upwards of five years. Having made as close an approx- 
 imation as is in my power, to fix the amount of my direct 
 and incidental expenditure, so as to reimburse me, I have 
 fixed it at fifty thousand dollars. 
 
 Of this claim it is impossible for me to give full details, 
 the origin and occasion of the expenditure I have mentioned 
 above, statements which I am prepared to supplement by 
 personal explanations that I have no doubt will be sa- 
 tisfactory to the Committee. 
 
 I am. Gentlemen, 
 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 WILLIS RUSSELL. 
 Quebec, Nov. 1873.