.^'VJ
•A
"^v.
,.%
.r,^^
IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)
A
M// J"^^
%
f/J^ €<^W
<?
1.0
1.1
!.25
If 1^ 12.0
M
22
1.8
M. IIIIII.6
A"
O
Phol ^,
Sciences
Corporation
23 WEST MAIN STREET
WEBSTER, N.Y. )4S80
(716) 872-4503
k
:>"%
.<p
CIHM/ICMH
Microfiche
Series.
\
CIHM/ICMH
Collection de
microfiches.
Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproducticns / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques
^
O
!k
1981
Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques
The Institute has attempted to obtain the best
original copy available for filming. Features of this
copy which may be bibliographically uniqMe.
which may alter any of the images in the
reproduction, or which may significantly change
the usual method of ' Iming, are checked below.
L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire
qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Les details
de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-dtre uniques du
point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier
une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une
modification dans la mdthode normale de filmage
sont indiquis ci-dess^ous.
V
D
D
D
D
Coloured covers/
Couverture de couleur
□ Covers damaged/
Couverture endommagee
Covers restored and/or laminated/
Couverture restaur6e et/cu pellicul6e
□ Cover title missing/
Le titre de couverture manque
□ Coloured maps/
Cartes g^ographiques en couleur
Coloured init (i.e. other than blue or black)/
ere de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire)
□ Coloured plates and/or illustrations/
Plane
iches ei/ou illustrations en couleur
Bound with other material/
Reli6 avec d'autres documents
Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion
along interior margin/
La reliure serree peut causer de I'ombre ou de la
distortion le long de la marge intdrieure
Blank leaves added during restoration may
appear within the text. Whenever possible, these
have been omitted from filming/
II se peut que certainas pages blanches ajout^es
lors d'unp restauration apparaissent dans le texte,
maii.-, lorsque cela 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont
pas dt6 filmdes.
I I Coloured p^^'^es/
D
D
D
•
n
n
Pages de couleur
Pages damaged/
Pages endommagdes
Pages restored and/or laminated/
Pages restaurdes et/ou pellicul6es
Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/
Pages ddcolordes, tachet^es ou piqu^es
Pages detached/
Pages d^tach^es
Showthrough/
Transparence
Quality of print varies/
Qualitd indgale de I'impression
□ Includes supplementary material/
Comprend du materiel supplementaire
I I Only edition available/
Seule Edition disponible
Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata
slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to
ensure the best possible image/
Les pages totalement ou part'ellement
obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata. une pelure,
etc., ont 6t6 filnides d nouveau de facon d
obtenir la meilleure image possibK?.
D
Additional comments:/
Commentairos suppl^mentaires;
This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/
Ce document est filmd au taux de r^durJon indiqu6 ci-dessous.
10X 14X 18X 22X
26X
30X
J
12X
16X
20X
24X
28X
32X
wim
The copy filmed here has been reprodi^ced thanks
to the generosity of:
Library of the Public
Archives of Canada
L'exemplaire film6 fut reproduit grftce d la
g^nArositd de:
La bibliothdque des Archives
publiques du Canada
The images appearing here are the best quality
possible considering the condition and legibility
of the original copy and in iceeping with the
filming contract specifications.
Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed
beginning with the front cover anc ending on
the last page with a printed or illustrated impres-
sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All
other original copies are filmed beginning on the
first page wi*h a printed or illustrated impres-
sion, and ending on the !ast page with a printed
or illustiated impression.
Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le
plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et
de la nettetd de l'exemplaire film6, et en
conformity avec les conditions du contrat de
filmage.
Les exempiaires originaux dont la couverturn en
papier est imprimie sont filmds en comme.tpant
par ie premier plat et en terminant soit par la
dernidre page qui comporte une empreinte
d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second
plat, salon le cas. Tous les autres exempiaires
originaux sont filmds en commen^ant par la
premidre page qui comporte une empreinte
d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par
la dernidre page qui comporte une telle
empreinte.
The last recorded frame on each microfiche
shall contain fhe symbol -^ jmeaniiig "CON-
TINUED "), or the symbol V (meaning "END"),
whichever applies.
Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la
dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le
cas: le symbols ^^- signifie "A SUIVRE", le
symbole V signifie "FIN".
Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at
different reduction ratios. Those too large to be
entirely included in one exposure are filmed
beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to
right and top to bottom, as many frames as
required. The following diagrams illustrate the
method:
Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre
filmds d des taux de r6duction diffdrents.
Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre
reproduit en un seul cliche, il est fiimd d partir
de I'angle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite,
et de haut en bas, en prenant !e nombre
d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants
illustrent la mithode.
w 1
2
3
1
2
3
4
5
6
r
I
]
h
&Q TJDIWS
cRm
F
I
ei
oad
SUPERSEDES -THE R^LWaP
y . 1
■'BOM *BOnV, V HAU^^. f " ^«"« HO
li urERAfir, ARE HBSERVID
-^- - : "^:;:^^„!™ --s^x'-Mii"-
■#: ?^
READ, STUDY, COMPREHEND, THEN CRITICISE.
GO TTDIE'S
Perpetual Sleigh Road
SUPERSEDES THE RAILWAY,
AMD IB OAPABLR Gt OABBTIMO PA8SSI102BS AT k
RATE OF EIGHTY TO ONE HUNDRED MILES AN HOUR.
FROM THE ATLANTIC TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN IN 40 TO 46 HOUBR
FPOM MONTREAL TO FORT GARRY IN 16 TO 16 HOURS;
FROM TORONTO TO HALIFAX. N. S., IN 16 HOURS ;
OR FROM LONDON TO ST. JOHN, N. B., IN
20 HOURS.
PATENTED, OR PATENTS APPLIED FOR, IN CANADA,
U. S., ENGLAND, FRANCE, &c., &c.
Ml RIGHTS, MECHANICAL AND LITERARY, ARE RESERVED,
FXtXC23 $1.00.
TORONTO :
PBINTSU AT THB OFFICE OF THE "MON£TABT TIMEB."
64 Axm 66 obubob vsxun.
1874.
irnmm
PREFACE.
'^f'^•'•ii:^^■?i ■Mk.'it,
" Bring forth the blind people that have sjea, and the deaf that have ears :
let the people bo asBembied ; let them bring forth their vritneoaeE, that they maj
be justified : or let them liear and »ay it ia the truth."
This pamphlet is composed of two parts, written at different times,
but each intimately connected with the other — 1st, the letter addressed
to our Honorable Premier ; 2nd, the Appendix ; — and I ask your very
careful consideration of both, as the one will help to a more tJiorough
understanding of the other,andeach will be found tocontain both /acts a.nd
figures which it is very important you should he acquainted vnth. Indeed,
I have no hesitation in saying that the letter addrea^ed to the Premier
and the Appendix — altogether apart from the novel scheme of
transit which they describe — will be found to contain an amount of
technicul and other information concerning the railway system to be
found nowhere else ; informati'^n which it cost me weary months of •
labor to cull from a hundred different sources, many of them not
easily accessible to the general reader. It will, therefore, amply repay
the most careful perusal
It may also be well to remark that as it is now nearly three years
since the letter was written, and chronic ill-health has prevented me
thoroughly revising or re-writing it ; and as it was intended to influence
the Pacific Railway policy of the late Government, there may be found
slight discrepancies in figures and dates, or trivial errors in speaking cf
political actions or events, but nothing which can iu any way affect the
conclusions sought to be established. The letter, however, although
prepared for the consideration of the late Government, was never sent
to it, as previous to its publication I had received such
information from Ottawa as convinced me that their policy
on that most important subject (the Pacific Railway) had
actually passed beyond their own control, thoy having made
arrangements with Sir Hugh Allan such as precluded the possibility of
a change, no matter how advantageous the change might offer to be;
and further, that if I published my scheme, or tried to create a public
feeling in favor of it, the likelihood was, that I would be accused of
being in league with the enemies of my country, and one of those who,
bribed with American gold (tic), were doing everything in their power
to prevent the success of the Canada Pacific Railway. Hence, having
first submitted my plan to the person most interested in the Pacific
Railway, I concluded that it would be better for me to keep quiet until
Sir Hugh had made the failure which, from the knowlege of railways I
then possessed, T felt certain he would make, and the Government of
the day had decided what plan was to be tried next.
Both events are now things of the past. Sir Hugh has made his
failure, and the Government has explained its policy and developed its
plan for the construction of the Canada Pacific Railway : a plan which, but
for the one saving clause in regard to time, would be far more disastrous
to the Dominion than the much reprobated plan of their predecessors.*
^ I repeat that the Government, having now made known their plan
and reiterated their determination to build the Canada Pacific Railway
I hasten to lay mv scheme of " Sleigh or Roller Roads" before you, and
in doing so 1 bespeak for it your very serious and earnest consideration,
so that you may be able to judge whether or uot it is the means by which
you may be enabled to escape the fearful burthen of debt that the
building of a railway to the Pacific must inevitably entail upon you
and your children ; also, whether or not my Sleigh Road would make
our great North-west a really valuable, because an easily accessible,
land.
Doubtless you may find my pamphlet but dry reading, and, in a
literary sense, very faulty, for I am the merest tyro in literary composi-
tion. But in that case I beg of you to allow the vast importance of the
subject, and your own personal interest in it, to cover up the defects of
style. I would also suggest that, should you sometimes feel like
* I of course attach no weight whatever to the clauses of the Bill which enact
that all contracts, agreements, etc., etc., must be submitted to Parliament before
taking effect. Indeed, I look upon it, to coin a phrase, as mere constitutional dust
thrown in the eyes of the public to blind them to the real issue and responsibility ;
for so long as our Government is carried on by party, just so long must the
responsibility rest on the shoulders of the few men acting as leaders, donseqneutly,
whether the Canada Pacific shall be built or left unbuilt — whether the wealth and
resources of our young Dominion shall be developed and husbanded with care, or
recklessly squandered in useless enterprises — are matters that, for the time being,
rest entirely in the hands of the Hon. Alexander Mackenzie and the half-dozen
men who lead the great party of Reform ; and the sooner the general public come
to realize that fact the better it will be for all concerned, for thepublic will then
know exactly where to put the blame or to bestow praise, according as actions are
well done or the contrary. It will also make the weight of responsibility hang all
the heavier on the shoulders of our rulers, and cause ti.em to act with wise cir-
cumspection.
\
:;
•zclaiming, <' Why this repetition, this amplification, and superfluous
explanation V* that you will reflect just for a moment that the talent —
or genius, rather — necessary to write concisely, clearly, and at the same
time interestingly, on a novel and technical subject, is one of th* areat
gifts which nature bestows upon her children, and consequently that
I am to be commiserated, rather than blamed, because she has refused to
place me among the favored few. At the same time I would have you
believe that all, or nearly all, the repetition is intentional and for a pur-
pose. Compression, condensation, etc., are very valuable qualities, par-
ticularly to newspaper editors, who can and do publish a new and cor-
rected edition of the same subject every day for weeks aud months
together ; but for one who has but a single chance of influencing the
public mind — especially if his subject be new and scientific in character —
it is hardly so applicable. I have, therefore, aimed to present csi tain /ac^«
and ideas, in a number of places and in quite a variety of aspects, in the
hope that should they fail to impress you on one page, you may comprdhend
and appreciate thum in another ; and until we are all gifted with the
clear, receptive, and fertile intellects so common among critics — Intel-
lects which require but a hint, a mere suggestion, to put them in full
possession of any subject, however novel and intricate — I am afraid
that some such course of circumlocution will always be necessary in
explaining a new subject to a comparatively thoughtless and unwilling
public.
I may also mention that I have been very severely censured by my
friends, because — «hey say — I have mixed up politics with the description
and advocacy of my " Perpetual Sleigh Road," apserting what, from a little
past experience, I am afraid will be too true, " that I am sure to make
enemies of both parties, and that, as a consequence, my invention will be
viewed through jaundiced spectacles, and almost to a certainty con-
demned, simply because its author refuses to be a party man." My
answer is — j.'-x. i'hat I felt it my duty as a man to warn my fellow-
citizens of the exceedingly dangerous position in which they have been
placed by past policy ; 2nd. That my invention is altogether independent
of political favor, and has all the world before it ; 3rd. That the same
instincts that make me an inventor made me a politician, and one who
generally speaks what he believes, caring very little indeed whether it
squares with that evanescent thing called Public Opinion or not.
(.'ft ■ -- .
ifi'll ■» ■ ^ I .
*^* - < VI Ui ' »5 f«f .{ .^ ' I
If. ' » . . ' ' ,
"V^f.' f ' ' )
- ( t' > I • , '
, » 'f it'*'
^ ,
' • I
"■•H^ ' ,<i
. i<
•■ » I
" ah
'■ '"1 ,».'
n'
'«" V
I i'-i'
1
<■ 1
>
;
1
*
r: 1
u ; ! -
- I
* .»•
'5 *'
Ml *
H
'■<-*;.
>s J
, «
^s^t
( * *""
THE QUESTION OF THE HOUR
18,
^m the ^mmt §Mw^ ^ptm it Mv^mM
BY A. "NEW STYLE OF TRANSIT." AS MUCH SUPEluOR TO
THE RAILWAY AS TH^ RAILWAY WAS TO THE
STAGECOACH? IF NOT, WHY?
TO THE
HONOURABLE ALEXANDER MACKENZIE,
PREMIER OF THE DOMINION OF CANADA.
Honourable Sih, —
Seeing you have declared it to be your settled policy to begin at
once and tinish as soon as possible — consistent wii,h the best interests of
the Dominion — a line of railway through Canadian territory to the Pacific
Ocean, I take the liberty of reminding you that there are a great many very
important questions to be asked and answered, not only to the thorough
satisfaction of your common sense, but also of your '''■nscience, before
you can feel justified in throwing upon the shoulders of our young com-
m^unity such a tremendous burden as is implied in the construction of
a work like the proposed " Pacific Railway."
And, in my opinion, the responsibility is enormously increased by
the fact that no one at all acquainted with the construction and opera-
tion of railways can bej ^e, that even if the said road was built and in
operation, that it could I ,? maintained and operated without large annual
subsidies from the revenues of the Dominion — say from five to six mil-
lions of dollars per annum. It is also impossible to believe that such a
road could carry farm produce, mineralo, or other heavy freight, at such
charges as would enable produceis of the North- West or Pacific Pro-
vinces to send their goods to Eastern markets — their only possible
outlet.
Permit me, then, to state a few of the questions which seem to leap
into existence the very moment we try to fix our attention on this most
momentous subject ; questions which, in my opinion, have not as yet
received the attention \7hich their importance to the welfare of the
country demands.
In the first place, do you feel perfectly satisfied that a railway of
a thoroughly useful and piuctical kind can be built through Canadian
territory to the Pacific? 2nd. Could it be built for such a sum of
money as four millions of hard vrorking but comparatively poor people
can spare from the more pressing claims of every day existence 1 3rd.
Supposing the road built, would there be any probability of its earning
sufficient during the next ten or fifteen yeax'S to pay interest on the
tremendous outlay necessary to build it, or even of its being able to pay
the necessary maintenance and operating expenses ? 4th. Most import-
ant of all, is it possible for a railroad, however built and operated, to
supply the wants or develop the resoui'ces of such an immense stretch
of country as that lying between Ontario and the Pacific ? Would not
the charges fcr freight and passage be such as to exclude the farmer of
Manitoba and the miuer of British Columbia, not to mention pkces
much nearer hand, from all the benefits of our markets 1
By what magic would it be possible to make the charges other than
such as will — nay must — prevent us receiving the produce ot their
fields, forests, mines and rivers, and them from taking our manufactured
goods in return 1
In short, unless the speed is very much higher, and the charges
immeasurably lower than the lowest charges now made for railway car-
riage in any part of the world, would there be any chance of its being
used as an emigrant road 1
Would there be any probability of our filling up the North West
with people, whose strong arms and willing hearts would develop the
vast resour^.o8 of thi- distant portion of our young Dominion, or
wonld there be the least nope, by means of such a road, of our main-
taining b» tween the Provinces that social, political, and commercial
intercourse, that oneness of thought, feeling, anu interest, which is abso-
lutely necessary in every well-governed country. If tLen it is true, and
I hold it to be incontrovertable— 1st, that it is physically
impossible to build a railroad between Ontario and Fort Garry, on
the only route where it could be of service to the Dominion, viz., along
the north shores of Lake Superior. 2nd. That even if the milroad was
built, the charge for passage between the points named would be nearly
if not quite as high as that charged for crossing the Atlantic ocean. 3rd>
8
^
That it is impossible to carry ordinary farm produce, minerals, and other
heavy freight by railway for more than 600 miles, at less than from one-
half to two-thirds of their market value f Would it not be wise to weigh
well the following queries :
Is'y. Is the " Kailway System" the absolutely best system 0/ transit
which it is possible for the genius of man to devise ? Is the railroad so
perfect in all Hs parts, so thoroughly adapted to all the equirements of
man and n^'.cure ; so perfectly applicable to the condition and circum-
stance of every country, small or great, densely peopled or sparaely
settled, that it cannot be improved upon ? Do you really and truly
believe that the present railroad system is the complete and perfected
outcome of those great, godlike faculties which man possesses for the
subjugation of Nature ; in stiort, that it is the finality of man's invention
in the way of locomotion 1 2nd. If you do not believe the railroad to
be perfect as a means of transport — and no man in his senses, no engi-
neer in the world does so — ia it not your plain and obvious duty,
befoi'e incurring the fearful amount of debt necessary to build one to
the Pacific, before spending, directly or indirectly, an amount of money
which actually baffles all ordinary comprehension to realize, and which
would build a good, substantial and commodious dwelling-house for
every fourth family in the Dominion, to make certain ihat there is
absolutely no cliance of the railway system being superseded by an
entirely different system of transit, as much superior to the railway as
the railway was to the stage-coach of fifty years ago. 3rd. If there is
any chance, e'" n the smallest, of such an invention being made, is it not
your duty to look for it, and to encourage by every means in your
power those who are trying to make the discovery ; to give a fair, full
and impartial consideration to any system of transit which has for its
end to supersede the present plan by one more efficient, cheaper to
build, to operate and maintain t ITay, more ; is it not obviously to the
great advantage of the country that you put to an ej:baustive trial any
system of transit whiclj, with fair show of feasibility and probability,
is maintained to be capable of cari-ying 7nore passengers and freight with
infinitely more comfort, safety and speed than any railroad in exist-
ance ; while it can be built, maintained and operated (suiamer and
winter equally) for less than one-fourth the amount necessary for t.
railway, rather than to run the risk of building the present railroad,
and then find, before it is half finished, that for all practical purposes it
has become useless, being sunerseded by a new system, infinitely S'lpe-
Ill
rior in every respect to the old 1 However, before discussing the pos-
aibility or probability of superseding the railway by a new and supe-
rior system of transit, it will in my opinion be for the best interests of
all concerned to take a pretty close view — 1st, of the difficulties of
building and operating a railroad between Ontario and the Pacific
Ocean ; 2nd, at cbe coat of such a road, and the chances of its ever
earning sufficient to pay interest on the outlay, or even of its paying
operating and maintenance expenses ; 3rd, the probable effect of a
railroad in peopliiig the North- West and the Pacific Provinces ; and
what chance the people who did settle in the said provinces would have
of becoming a contented and prosperous population, such as would add
to the strength and material well-being of the Dominion.
Having done so, we will then take a general view of the " Railway
System " as a " mechanical contrivance," and having ascertained its capa-
bilities and defects — inherent, local and accidental — we will be in a
position to juige whether or not it is possible to improve upon it as a
" System of Transport ;" also to say if we have done so in the plan
about to be proposed as a substitute for and great improvement upon
it. In the first place, then, can a railroad of a thoroughly useful and
practical description be built through Canadian territory to the
" Pacific Ocean ?" It is hardly necessary for me to point out that this
is a query which can be answered intelligently and aiithoritatively only
by engineers, who have fixed upon and made a complete survey of the
route ; and as that has not yet been accomplished, there must neces-
sarily be a good deal of guess-work in any estimate or opinion we may
form. There is one point, however, on which all are agreed, viz., that
no railroad can be carried by the North Shore of Lake Superior ; con-
sequently we must go back — no one knows how far — and build our
road for many hundred miles through an inhospitable and barren wil-
derness, that never can be settled : a circumstance of itself sufficient to
condemn to eternal poverty any road, even if otherwise capable of
yielding a profit. British Columbia is described as a sea of mountains.
" The whole Province consists of a scries of mountain ranges, rising, it
may be, to no great height, but none thei less formidable obstacles on
that account to the construction of a cheap railway. The country
between the Upper Ottawa and Lake Winnipeg is well nigh an un-
known land ; but this much we do know, that the snow falls deep and
lies Umg in the basin of the Hudsons Bay. In the winter season, in a
country without inhabitants, in which the ground freezes to a depth of
10 to 14 feet where there is ground to freeze, in which the thermometer
sinks to 40" below zero, it is not easy to understand how passengers
will be made comfortable, how water-tanks are to be kept open, or how
employees are to be saved from perishing on account of the necessary
exposure to the cold." As an evidence of this danger, it may be stated
that at " Herman station, on the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, men
were frozen to death going from the depot to the water-tanks on the
13th January, 1873." Indeed no one can look at the map and not be
impressed with the idea that the cost of construction of the Canada
Pacific must be enormously enhanced from the position of the road.
Sir Hugh Allan, than whom no man ought to have a better idea of the
difficulties of making such a road, seeing he was president of the com-
pany that professed itself willing to undertake the job, expresses him-
self as follows : — "The road would meet with great difficulties west of
the Rocky Mountains owiog to the canons and mountain ranges ; and
it was a question whether any really practicable route had been found by
which the road could, be carried to the Pacific Ocean. They had no idea
of the difficulties presented by those mountains, which, rising to the height
of 9,000 or 10,000 feet, have directly at their baoss enormous gulfs,
through which ran swift and deep rivers. Therefore it was a matter of
very great difficulty to find a proper route. Still, it must be found, and
they must not give it up if they could not find it at once, but must
look for it until they did find it. He had not the slightest doubt but
that they would find it. The country north and east of Lake Superior
also presented considerable difficulties, and they would have to mak" the
road west of it first and leavf that section to tlie last."
1 think, after that quotation, it is needless for me to say any mora
in regard to the practicability of building the " Canada Pacific Rail-
road," fr.rther than to intimate that the explorations since made
and the experience gained only goes the more f'lUy to confirm the
opinion that, although it may not be physically impossible to build the
said road — and what engineering project is physically impossible ? — it is
financially impracticable for a country of less than four millions of
people — that in truth it would be an act of sheer insanity in Canada to
undertake such a job at the present time.
The second query, as to cost, may best be answered by Mr. Flem-
ing. Indeed it is altogether imposiiible for ordinary minds to grasp the
magnitude, the immensity of the undertaking in any other way than
that in which he puts it in his official report.
6
l.ii
Mr. Fleming, Chief Engineer to the "Dominion Government,"
remarks as follows : —
'* That a just conception may be formed of the real magnitude of
the project undur discussion, and the means necessary to its attainment,
attention may for a moment be drawn to a few leading details. The
construction of 2,000 miles of railway, measured by the average stan-
dard of similar works existing in this country, implies the performance
of labourers' work >suflScient to give employment to 10,000 men for five
or six years, — it involves the delivery of 5,000,000 cross-ties or sleepers,
and over 200,000 tens of iron rails for the ** permanent way," — it com-
prises the erectioiL of 60,000 poles hung with 1,000 tons of wire for the
telegraph, — it necessitates the creation of motive power equivalent to
over 50,000 horses, which power would be concentrated in four hundred
locomotives, — it involves tLe production of from 5,000 to 6,000 cars of
all kinds, which, coupled wiih the locomotives, would make a single
train over 30 miles in length ; i^nd, lastly, it implies a gross expenditure
in construction and equipment of not less than $100,000,000.
" It will likewise serve as a salutary check on hasty conclusions,
to weigh beforehand the cost of operaimg a truly gigantic establishment
of the kind, after its perfect completion. A few figures derived from
actual results will show that the first construction of a railwt.y through
the interior of British North America is even a less formidable under-
taking than that of keeping it afterwardd open, in the present condition
of the country. For operating the line successfully, the fuel alone
required in each year, and estimated as wood, would considerably
exceed 200,000 cords ; for keeping the road in repair, a regiment of
2,000 trackmen would constantly be employed in small gangs through-
out its entire length ; for the same purpose there would be on an
average annually required 600,000 new cross-ties, as well as 30,000
tons of new or re-rolled iron rails. The annual repairs of rolling stock
would not cost less than one million dollars. Over 5,000 employees of
all kinds would be constantly unJer pay, and as these men would
usually represent each a family, there would not be far short of 20,000 souls
subsisting by the operation of the road. The aggregate amount of
wages in each year after the road was in operation would swell out to
nearly $2,000,000, while the gross expenditure for operating and main-
taining works would annually exceed $8,000,000.
" Again, if to this last sum be added the interest of first cost, it
becomes evident that until the gross earnings of the railway in each
year come up to the enormous sum of $14,000,000, it could uot pay
interest on the capital invested."
It may be well to note in regard vj this estimate, gigantic as it is,
that it covers only 2,000 miles of railway, while it is well known that
the •* Canada Pacific Railway " could not be less than 2,500 — and more
probably 2,700 — you must, therefore, of necessity add, say 40 millions,
making in all, according to Mr. Fleming, 140 millions, as the probable
cost of the whole line. Another thing to be noted is, that the estimate
is calculated on the most moderate scale in every pai-ticular, and for a
road which is expected to do but a very moderate business. For ex-
ample, we have one locomotive for every five miles of road, and two and
a half to three cars of all kinds per mile, now in the United States the
average locomotive power is one engine for every three miles, in Eng-
land it is 0"93 parts of an engine per mile, and of cars in the United
States it is over six per mile, and in England considerably over 28 cars
of all kinds per mile, or twelve times the number calculated for the Canada
Pacific. Again the cost is calculated at $50,000 per mile, while the com-
pany that proposed to build the road founded their calculations
on a probable cost of $8u,000, and tried to make their arrangements in
the London money market at that figure, showing that they were well
acquainted wit^ the facts — which no professional engineer ever doubted,
viz,, that such a road could not be made for a less figure, if it could be
completed for that sum. But as it is now nearly two years since both
esiimates weie made, great changes have taken place in the " iron mar-
ket," in fact, since that time all kinds of railroad iron has nearly or
quite doubled in price, consequently we must add at least 16 millions
for the advance in iron, making Mr. Fleming's calculation 156 millions,
and the late Pacific Railway company's at least $216,000,000, an
amount of money which is altogether incomprehensible to any ordinary
intelligence, indeed the great danger and difficulty in dealing with such
sums is, that they produce very little, if any, impression upon the mind
unless it is bewilderment. Yet it is absolutely essential that we should
realize as clearly as possible the immensity of the obligation we are re-
quested to undertake ; I will, therefore^ put It in this way r It is con-
&ideiubly more than double the paid-up capital, deposits, coin, securities, and
circulation of all the banks in the Dominion of Canada for the year 1867.
And if that is uot enough to make you '' stop and think,'' I will add that,
which no man who is acquainted with or has studied the cubject wiU
deny, viz , that it will cost at the very lowest calculation six millions a
8
ill
year over all possible income to keep such a road in operation, which
sum capitalized would make at least 80 millions more or in round num-
bers say $300,000,000, and if any sane man in this Dominion will tell
me that he believes that the three-anda-half or four millions of
people inhabiting this country can afford to spend that amount in
buildinpt a railroad through a wilderness two or three thousand
miles in advance of settlements, a road which would require to
be rebuilt three or four times over, before it could possibly be re
quired by the population which it is supposed will ultimately
inhabit the country lying between Ontario and the Pacific Ocean, all I
have to say to him is, that he and I differ in opinion, and that I consider
it would be a veritable waste of time to argue the matter with him.
Indeed it has always been a puzzle to me how any government composed
of sane, intelligent men, practical politicians, statesmen, who ought to
have been and surely were perfectly acquainted with the material re
sources and capabilities of the country which they governed, could think
of pledging the faith and honor of the nation to undertake such a work,
or even entertain the notion of laying the people under such tremendous
liabilities, for such an object, until at least every intelligent man in the
Dominion had had an opportunity of studying the subject in all its
bearings, and coming to a deliberate conclusion as to whether it was
really worth his while to allow himself to be taxed the amount necessary
CO carry out the project ; or rather, if he could afford to do so without
inflicting an injustice upon himself, his family, and the interests of the
entire Dominion 1 And the action of the late Government I can explain
only by remembering that rulers are but men, swayed by and governed
according to the prevailing ideas of their time, and not over anxious to
sit down and count the cost and consequences, especially if the conse-
quences are a good way off — so long as their present action is likely to
add coherence and strength to the force that keeps them in power.
So much then as to the probabifc cost of the " Canada Pacific Rail-
way." The next questions which foi'Ci themselves upon our attention
are, would the road, if built, earti enough to pay interest on the original
outlay ; or even to pay operating and maintenance expenses 1 Would it
fill up the country with people, and render communication with the
Pacific cheap, comfortable ar.d expeditious, and thereby create a " throu-gh
trade with India, China, Japan, dtc, dec, these are the questions
which must be answered, and, according to the verdict of reason and ex-
perience, should be the fate of the ** Canada Pacific Eailway."
9
As I have already asserted more thaii once, that the Canada Pacific
Railway could by no possibility earn even its operating expenses, it
would be a waste of time to go on, proving that it could not earn inter-
est on the capital necessary to build it. Indeed, I have tl '^ greatest
difficulty in proving that it will earn anything at all — in all my calcul-
ations I have supposed it to earn between five and six millions per an-
num — we have no basis to go upon, no data on which to found our
figures ; this being the first time in the history of railway construc-
tion, so far as 1 am awaro, that it has been seriously proposed to build
a railroad nearly three thousand miles kmg 5 ■^'n nowhere to connect with
nothing, or what is pretty much the same thi ■ :, through one wilderness
to connect with another.
I am aware that it is the fashion to point to the Union and Cen-
tral Pacific Railway as a case in point, and an example of .what can be
achieved by pushing roads out into the unpeopled regions of the Con-
tinent. For my part I can see no similarity between the position and
prospects of the Union and Central Pacific Railway and the Canada
Pacific Railway.
Suppose, for example, that the Union and Central Pacific had
turned out a complete failure, it would have entailed a liability of little
more than two dollars per head of the population of the United States.
Suppose the same to happen in the case of the Canada Pacific, and the
loss would be at least fifty dollars per head, or two hundred and fifty
dollars for evc^ry family in the Dominion. Is there any similarity in the
risks run by the two p^r^oples 1
Again, the Unio:i and Central Pacific Railway Company had some-
thing really reasonable on which to found a probability — if not a cer-
tainty — of success. They knew that the western end of their line
would terminate in California — a name to conjure with — one of the
richest and most productive countries in the world, having a population
of over a million of the most enterprising and go-aheadative people on
the Continent ; they were awai'e also that they would get the entire
trade, export and import, of that unique settlement " Utah," with its
hard working and productive hive ; they knew, further, that there were
numei*ou8 growing settlements along both slopes of the Rocky Moun-
tains, while the Mountains themselves were alive with hardy miners,
whose iron sinews yearly wrung from mother earth, millions of that
glittering dust for hich all men sigh, the many scheme and the few
labor ; that marvellous metal whose sheen casts a glamour, alike
10
lip,
over the rudo untutored sons of the Prairie, and the most refined intelli-
gence of the city, arousing in both those desii-es, which stamps frailty
on the brow of man. Oh rare product of nature's alchemy, which can
subdue even the Pet creation of the Almighty — heaven-bom genius —
and bring it into fellowship with the sordid and grovelling miser, who
bows in lowl}' adoration at the shrine of the golden calf ! for thee the
poet waves his wreaths of fancy's gayest flowers, and the painter makes
the coarse dull canvass eloquent with beauty ; for thee the sculptor shapes
and fashions the lifeless marble into forms lovely as the outward seeming
of en angel, while the orator chants thy matchless charms in words as
sweet and sonorous as the sound of a silver bell. But a truce dear
fancy, sweet as are thy tones, and oft as I have communed with thee on
other themes and at other times, the majority of meu would say you
had no place here, so good-bye for the present, while I return to hard
dry facts.
The Union and Central Pacific Railway Compaaies could also point
to the immense trade which their country did with all parts of China,
India, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, &c., &c., a trade amounting to
hundreds of millions, and ask if it was not reasonable to suppose it
would find its way over their road, rather than go round by Europe and
back by the Atlantic 1 Again, they had a native population in the East of
over thirty-eight millions — a population cf the most restless and enter-
prising desci'iption — thousands and hundreds of thousands of whom were
perpetually on the move from East to West, and from North to South,
and only waiting the opportunity of a Railroad to scatter themselves
over the Golden States and Territoiiea — California, Utah, Arizona,
Colorado, Wyoming;, Nevada, New Mexico, <kc., <fec. They could also
calculate upon getting a good share of the immense volume of foreign
immigration (500,000) which annually lands upon their shores.
Moreover, their road would connect the great cities of the Atlantic sea-
board with the towns and cities of the Pacific ; the people at both ends
being famed for tLelr love of novelty, sightseeing, and consequently of
travel ; it was therefore only reasonable to calculate that thousands and
tens of thousands would make the journey yearly between Califonua
and the East, and vice versa, simply for change of scene, — in a word, in
my opinion, the Union and Central Pacific Railway Company had the
most reasonable prospects of success before starting, which any company
could possibly ask.
The position of the Canada Pacific Railway is just the reverse of all
11
this ; in the first place, the road will be nearly — if not quite — a third
I "nger, and will for a good part of the way pass through a more difficult
and unpromising country. 2nd, our population is only one-tenth of the
United States ; otir Railway will begin in a country of less than four
millions, and end in a comparatively unknown Province of less than
20,000, running its whole length — except for the few scattered settlers of
of Manitoba — through an unpeopled and in great part inhospitable wilder-
ness. 3rd, we have no direct trade with the East, while our indirect export
and import Asiatic trade does not amount to three millions of dollars. 4th,
our nativ" popr'ition could by no possibility send out more than 20,000
people per annum — tJiey ought to send none — to develop the resources
of the North-Weat and Pacific Provinces, for it is absurd to suppose that
the thousands who annually find their way to the great cities and man-
ufacturing towns of the United States, will ever take to farming ; you
will find by looking into the matter that, generally speaking, a certain
number in every million will seek trade in place of agriculture, even
when the advantages and profits are all infavour of the latter occupation.
5th. Our foreign immigi-ation has only averaged about 23,000 per
annum for the last 10 years, for whom we have been lately paying about $15
per head — a number more than balanced by the emigration to the United
States. In fact we have been, and are now, expending large sums of money,
and making great exertions to increase the population of the older Pro-
vinces, and yet the cry is still *' they do not come." I have seen it
asserted time and again on the very best authority, and I firmly believe
it to be a fact, that Ontario and Quebec alone could absorb from 80,000
to 100,000 emigrants annually for many years to come, without in any
way overstocking the labour market. It must, therefore, be quite
apparent to you that if, within the next ten or fifteen years, we succeed
in settling some 200,000 or 300,000 people in the North- West and
Pacific Provinces, we will have accomplished it at the expense and to
the permanent injury of Ontario and Quebec. In attempting to people
the " Great North- West" with our present resources — by means of an
enormously expensive railway — we are simply imitating the example of
the man who left his private means in three per cent, consols, and bor-
rowed money at ten per cent, to carry on business, only that in our
caae the interest will be the veritable " sJient per ahent."
Let us take for granted that the " Canada Pacific Railway, if built,
would be equally successful (in proportion) with the Union and Central
Pacific Road ; in that case what would be the probable earnings 1
12
The gross earnings of the Union and Central Pacific Road amounts
to about $17,000,000 per annum — 65 per cent, being for local and 36
for through freight. Now, you will please note that the Union
Pacific Railway has thoroughly established its connections, and carries
the entire trans continental traffic existing at the present time ; yet its
whole income from that source does not much exceed $7,000,000 ; and
not one-half of the freight producing that amount was ever rocked on
the placid bosom of the wide Pacific ; and as it would be absurd to sup-
pose that the Californians will send their native produce to Vancouver's
Island {800 miles by sea) to take the Canada Pacific Railway in pre-
ference ^,0 their own Union and Central Pacific Railway, it must be
evident that we can share only in the trans-Pacific trade ot that railway
— about three millions of dollars per annum. Now, how much of that
sura could we count upon getting for the Canada Pacific Railway 1
Could we reasomably reckon on getting one- third? Hardly ; for in the
first place nine-tenths of all the Eastern products carried by that route
are intended for American consumption, and will be left here and there
along the entire line. Moreover, i/ any railways are built, there will
be at least three American ones in operation by the time ours is com-
plete. For the sake of argiiment, however, we will suppose that we get
one full Jtal/of the entire traffic ; that would give us in round numbers
$1,5'J0.000 per annum. We will also sui)i)ose that our mei'chants will
import direct, and bring all the Asiatic produce consumed in the
Dominion by the same route. In that case — calculated on the Ameri-
can standard — we would receive $30,000. Add the pi'esent British
Columbia and Manitoba traffic, or rather quadruple the present traffic
of the said Provinces, and we might got in all, say (at an extravagant
estimate) $2,000,000. As to the other local traffic, Mr. Mill (in " The
Canadian Monthly") calculates it in this way : — " The population that
is to create a local traffic has yet to be found and carried into those
northern regions ; the coil, the metalic ores, and the lumbering districts
from which freights are to be drawn havo to be discovered, and may be
found at points not accessible from the railway," &,c., &o. Grant, how-
ever, that we will get another million from sources at present unknown
— calculating on the American standard it would require a popu-
lation of 750,000 people in the North- West and British Columbia to
give that amount in traffic to the railway — we will have in all three
millions of dollars as the utmost supposable income of the " Canada
Pacific Railway," for at least ten years after its completion. Very
18
likely your answer to my calculations will lie, that we do not intend to
depend u[)on the present " trans-oontinental trade," or the amount of
Asiatic produce we consume. You will probably tell mo that the
" Canada Pacific Railway" is designed to carry the immense volume of
trade now passing between England, Europe and Asia, and vice versa —
an amount of traHc beside which the freight of the " Union and Central
Pacific Railway" is a mere bagatelle. Now, notwithstanding the general
acceptance of that idea, notwithstanding the fact that both political
parties, and all our principal newspapers, have been for years past ear-
nestly educating the public to look upon the Canada Pacific Railway as
a settled matter, only waiting the favourable moment to be carried out,
and that immediately thereafter we would become the great carriers of the
world ; I ask you in all seriousness if it is reasonable to hope or believe
that we will get the " Asiatic trade" for our railway 1 1 say it is not a
reasonable expectation. The idea can have originated only in the mind
of one totally ignorant of the real capacity of the " railway system,"
and, like the great majority of similar errors, it has passed into general
currency from being adopted and nursed by men whose literary and
political ability is very far in advance of their mechanical and mathe-
matical skill.
You are, no doubt, aware that the Union an^^ Central Pacific
Railway had the same hope, and held out the same expectations to their
shareholders ; were their hopes realized ] or have their expectations
been fulfilled 1 If not, why ] Is it because the Union and Central
Pacific Railway is an American road, passing over American soil,
that English trafiio is refused to that route 1 Certainly not. Com-
merce, like death, levels all distinctions, and respects not national
vanity ; all prejudices give way to the superior attractions of dollars
and cents. The Union and Central Pacific Railway failed to get
the immense traffic passing between England and the East simply
1»ecause it could not carry it as cheaply as by the old method of steam
and sailing ships; and also because all kinds of goods are injured more
or less ; many would be nearly destroyed by 2,000 miles of railwaj
carriage.
Let us look for a moment at a few of the great staple commoditieR,
those which form seven-tenths of all the traffic between England and
the Asiatic continent: "Hardware," "Cloths," "Cotton," "Wool,"
" SUk," " Jute," " Indigo," and, above all, " Tea." Now, how many of
the articles mentioned, or any others you can recollect, could pay freight
-: ;^^ '•■■•
acroBb tlie Pacific ; unloading and loading on the cars in British
Columbia, then railway freight across the Continent ; unloading and
loading again on board ship, and then freiofht across the Atlantic to
England t Nut on£ ! Just look at the figures, (putting out of sight the
probable injury to goods in transit.) Across the Pacific (7,000 miles) at
$20 per ton (a low figure), ^20 ; unloading, Ac, ^1 ; railway journey
(at the lowest rate charged by any railway in the world), $40 ; unload-
ing, &c., in Montreal, |1 ; by stoamer to England, $10 ; in all $72 per
ton. Now, take any sum you like from the sea freight, if in your
opinion I liave made it too high, and deduct the remainder from the
price of one ton of goods, and then put it to your own common sense, if
it is not absurd to expect to carry the traffic of India, China, Japan,
(fcc, by means of a railway nearly 3,000 miles long ? But as ii is a
common expression that " one can prove anything by figures," I will
give you one quotation from the New York Tribune's report of the
Tea Market for 1872 :—
" It has been found that Tea can be brought to New York, and even
to St. Louis, at less cost by way of the Suez Canal than by way of San
Francisco and the Pacific Railway. This has caused a falling off com-
pared with 1871 of about 3,000,000 pounds in the quantity imported
by the latter route"
And surely it is self-evident that if the Union Pacific Railway
cannot carry Eastern produce intended for consumption in Am-
erica, nor transport such a high priced commodity as tea, that we
could never pay the additional charges across the Atlantic ; and carry
such bulky goods as wool, cotton, jute, &c., &c., especially as our road
will be nearly a third longer. Now, if all this is true, and there can
be no possible doubt of it, where in the name of wonder is our through
freight — of which we hear so much — going to come from, or of what is it
going to be composed ? As to the passenger traffic between England
and the countries named, nineteen-twentieths of it consists of
soldiers coming from or going to India, «fec., and I will not insult your
common sense by suggesting that the British Government would send
them by our railway, when she could forward them for a fraction of the
cost in her own troop-ships through the Suea Canal.
In making the above statements, I am perfectly acquainted with
all the superior advantages claimed for the Canadian route over its
American rival. I know well that it is customary to believe that the
Canadian route will be by far the more direct ; that it will be hundreds
16
of miles shorter than the Union Pacific ; that the grades, curves, Ac^
will be far more favorably. I am also aware that there are boundleM
resources of wood, coal, lini Hilver, gold, and other precious commodi-
tias in the Pacific Province ; while all along the route can be found an
abundance of the finest lands on the face of the globe — land siifficient to
give subsistence to a hundred milliona of people, and leave a surplus
that could supply food for every hungry stomach in Europe for ages to
come. And, notwithstanding all that, 1 am, after the most careful
consideration, forced to declare that the Canada Pacific Railway (if
built) would not earn one-half its operating and maintenance
expenses ; indeed, I lay it down as a fact, fearless of contradic-
tion by those whose knowledge of the subject gives (hem a right to
dispute, that it is ph/sicallf/ impossible, with any conceivable through
traffic, to make a railroad 3,000 miles long pay its own expenses.
The questions which next claim our attention are — What effect
would the Pacific Railway have in peopling the Great North-West and
Pacific Provinces i and what chance would the people who did settle in
those Provinces have of becoming a contented and prosperous commu-
nity, such as would add tc the strength and material well-being of the
Dominion 1
In the first place, I would remark that the railway system is, after
all, only a " mechanical contrivance," built upon certain well understood
scientific principles, and depending lor its successful operation — parti-
cularly in North America — on many ciroumstanees over which we have
only partial control ; such, for instance, as our frosts and snows in
winter, and our freshets in spring. Consequently it may be culled a
rude and imperfect machine, consisting of two parts— the Locomotive
and the Rails; and it is surely hardly worth \. hile to waste time in
proving that which must be self-evident to any one who gives the
matter a moment's serious consideration, viz., that being but a rude and
imperfect machine, it must be capable of yielding only a
certain and definite amount of service for a given outlay of money, the
amount of work performed, in proportion to the outlay, differing of
course according to the time, place and country in which the road is
located.
Yet, self-evident as this fact must be to any thinking mind, it is,
nevertheless, con'iinually lost sight of, or set at naught by railway pro-
moters and the public — the common idea seeming to be that the iron
horse has annihilated space as the telegraph has time ; and consequently
16
that a hundred miles more or less can make but very little difference to
a railway company, except in building the road. Aid, strange as it
may seem, this absurd and rediculous error is by no means confined to
the ignorant and thoughtless, as you may easily prove by a perusal of
the speeches delivered by any raib ay promoter you may happen to
think of. Take as a recent example the one delivered by Sir Hugh
Allan at the banquet given to him in Montreal at the time he was
going to England on his Canada Pacific mission.
7.n that speech Sir Hugh recounts the wonderful resources of the
Pacific Provinces and the North-West ; their iron and coal, their gold
and silver, their boundless forests, inexhaustible fisheries, &c. ; and
without a smile upon his face, or, I firmly believe, a doubt in his heart,
he talks of enriching the city of Montreal and the other Provinces of
the Dominion by importing the said products of the forest, mine and
sea by means of his proposed Pacific Railway, which was to be only
2,700 miles long, and run its whole length through an unpeopled wilder-
nes8. In a word, the railway is looked upon as being practically
unlimited in its capacity — that is, that it can be made to carry farm
produce, minerals and general merchandise, no matter the distance
between the consumer and producer ; and that if it does not do so, it
must be because of the dishonesty and bad management of officers and
aervancs, or the inordinate greed of the Directors and Shareholders.
Now, in opposition or contradistinction to that general and absurd
idea, I hold that the " Railway system " is not only a rude and imperfect
machine, but also that it is a machine of very limited and definite ca-
pacity.
For example, in building a steamship it is merely a matter of cost and
requirement whether you will make it 100, 1,000, or even 10,000 horse-
power.
Not so with the locomotive engine. Practically speaking, you are at
the outside limit of your power, when you get to the 35 or 40 ton loco-
motive of the present day. There ai-e good and sufficient reasons for this
limitation of power in the locomotive, which I will endeavour to explain,
as the explanation will enable you to comprehend the reason why rail-
roads, under certain conditions, must prove failures — absolutf^ and com-
plete failures. The first and principal reason is taat the hauling power
of the locomotive depends v/pon and is limited by the friction- -or ad-
hesion, as it is sometimes called — between the driving-wheels and the
rails, hence the power of the engine to haul a load will depend (other
17
things being equal,) upon the weight canied on the driving-wheels and
the condition of the rails. Thus a 35-tou engine will have, say 17 tons
resting on the drivers ; and as the coefficient of friction between the
•driving-wheels and the rails may be taken, under the most fa vo .'able cir-
cumstances, at one-fourth, or say 600 pounds per ton of the whole weight,
we get a little over 10,000 pounds as the effective hauling power of an
engine of that weight ; in short, the outside tractive power of the
heaviest locomotives does not exceed 12,000 or 13>000 pounds. Now,
to increase this tractive power, we must enormously increase the
weight on the driving wheels of the locomotive ; but the important
question comes in here — What would be the effect of the increased
weight on the permanent way 1 The answer of experience is, that '.ny
•considerable increase in the weight of the engines would destroy the
permanent way so quickly that the track repairers and rail-layers would
hardly have left one part of the line Jinished before they would be
wanted back again to relay it. Indeed it is the universal opinion among
railway engineers that any increase in the weight of our engines as at
present constructed, would be altogether too destructive to the track to
be seriously thought of. To load each pair of wheels even as heavily as
now is considered very bad practice among the most intelligent loco-
motive builders.
" The blows dealt by passing wheels upon the rail joints, and the
bending or breaking strain brought at any instant upon the joint in the rail,
where the wheel presses, depends upon the weight which the wheel
carries, as well as upon the speed at which it moves; consequently, to
diminish the track repairs (that which is by far the most greedy of all
maintenance accounts), the weight borne per wheel by the present loco-
motive mus'i. be lessened at least one-half, so that it may agree more nearly i
with the load borne per wheel by the cars ;" and how this is to be done,
without at the same time diminishing the power of the locomotive, is the
^' great problem " among railway engineers.
Now serious — nay, radical — as is this defect in the railway system (I
mean the limited 2)ower of the locomotive), it seems to be very little •
thought of — if it is taken into account at all — yet your own common
sense will show you, that it is of the very first importance that it should
be always before the eye of a railway promoter ; it would save him from ?
many hasty conclusions (as to what a railroad could or could not do), .
conclusions which have led, and will continue to lead, to most disastrous
results.
I repeat, then, that the railway and loconiotive are, after all, but a
mechanical contrivance of very limited and definite capacity — that is, the
engine is limited, practically speaking, to a weight of 35 tons or there-
abouts, and is capable of hauling (on such a road as the Canada Pacific
ia likely to be) a gross load of 200 or 230 tons, or 80 to 100 tons net
freight, at say 20 to 25 miles au hour.
The next thing to be ascertained is, at what cost could the engine haul
18
the said 80 tons of freight between Manitoba and Montreal, or vice verses
— taking the distance at 1,200 miles?
This is ref/lly an all-important point to settle, for it must be apparent
that the producer can afford to pay only a certain proportion of hi&
produce to have the surplus carried to market, and unless a railroad can
carry it for that proportion, that is, at such a tariff as will leave the
far'iier, &c., &o., a fair remuneration for his toil, a surplus sufficient to
furnish himself and his family with all the necessaries, and a few of the
comforts of life. Such a railway can be of no service to him, and he can
have no inducement to follow in its track, no matter how rich and fertile
the land may be.
And, that being admitted, proves conclusi^oly (unless we accept the
idea that the locomotive engine is really unlimited in power) that there
must be a point beyond which it is absolutely impossible to operate a
" freight railway " at a profit, either to the forwarder or the owners of
the road ; and if we can but find out definitely where the point of limi-
tation is, it will henceforth beco'ae an easy matter — a mere matter of
calculation in short — to say whether such and such a railroad should be
built or not ; it will also become a comparatively simple matter, to esti
mate the probable effect of any particular road in peopling the section of
country thro\igh which it runs.
The question then is, at what cost could the Canada Pacific Railway (if
built) carry a ton of freight between Manitoba and Montreal, and vice
versa ? Now, simple — as at first sight, this queption may seem to the
majority of men, it is, nevertheless, one of the most difficult and impor-
tant problems which you can present to the statist or engineer — a problem,
the attempted solution ot which, in other cases, by ignorant (though
honest) bunglers, and interested and selfish speculators, has cost the
trusting and credulous public hundreds — nay, thousands — of millions,
and brought ruin and misery to thousands of previously happy and
prosperous homes ; indeed, the railway tariff, especially in regard to
produce, is by far ihe most important and widely discussed subject of the
present day, at least on the American continent.
I have studied the subject for years ; 1 have read scores of letters,
speeches, and orations on the subject ; perused numerous pamphlets, and
listened to innumerable debates, &c., &c., and after all, the only conclu-
sion I could arrive at was, that what No. 1 affirmed. No 2 contradicted,
and what No. .3 declared to be indisputably true. No. 4 held to be sheer
nonsense, &c.
I have perused elaborate statements — written by men of great gen-
eral intelligence — showing in the most conclusive manner — as they
believed — that such and such a railway could carry freight at, say, 3 to
4 mills per ton per mile ; and then found, after considerable trouble,
and oft-*imes expense, that the same railroad was carrying every ton of
freight the country yielded, charging an average of 2^ to 3 cents per ton
per mile, and after all, could barely pay two per -^ent. on the capital
19
nee versct
invested. We have also heard the most tremendous outcry made about
the enormous profits made by certain westera railroads (United States),
and the immense dividends paid on stock said to be watered to more
than half its full value — and a few months after we have seen the same
stocks (with the water most effectually squeezed out of them), go a begging
at one-haif, and in some cases, one-third their former value ; and I have
noted particularly that the very men who talked the loudest about the
enormous profita made, and the low rates at which freight could be
carried, if railroads were only honestly conducted, were veiy careful to
avoid becoming possessed of such valuable property, even when offered
dirt cheap. It may have been that their pure and ' potless consciences
recoiled from the thought of injuring the poor farmers of the West, &c.,
or being made partiet o a " legalised robbery " — by receiving large
dividends, gained by extortionate freights, though I am reluctantly com-
pelled to declare that theii general character would never have led one ; ;
to credit them with such generous and patriotic motives.
In short, my deliberate conviction is, that it is next to impossible to
predict with any degree of certainty, what will be the earnings, and, con-
sequently, charges of a railway running through a new country — that is '
if the railway is managed on commercial principles — it is at all events ;
certain, that not one road in a dozen, either in Europe, America, Asia or
Africa, ever fulfilled the honest expectations of those who projected and
built them.
To begin with, very few indeed, have a correct idea of the railway
system, what it is, and consequently what it can and cannot do.
The natural result is that it is credited with infinitely more than its real
ability ; half the working charges are overlooked, or greatly under esti-
mated, while the traffic is over estimated ; peculiarities of time, place,
and circumstances, are unheeded or forgotten, (fee, &c.. You will find an
example of the way in which railway projectors generally estimate traffic
and expense, «fec., «fec., in appendex No. 1. But though it is thus difficult to
estimate the probable income of such a road as the Canada Pacific, it is
by no means so difficult to give a pretty correct guess at the outlay,
hox example, the 60,000 miles of railroad in the United States costs on
an average, $5,300 per mile per annum to operate and maintain it ; and
you will please note that with the exception, perhaps, of Belgium, the United
States railways are the most clieaply operated of any railroads in the tcorld.k
Now, if you multiply the length of our road by 5,300, you have got
an answer; but as there can be no doubt that the average of the United
States is too law for a railraad like the Canada Pacific, passing as it does,
through a wilderness, and having an average of three to five feet of snow
on the level throughout its whole hmjth during the winters, it would be
only prudent to ailow 20 per cent, for overcoming any such obstacles —
the cost per mile in that case would be over $6,300 per mile, from this
sum you may deduct 30 per cent for the difference in the values between
the United States and Canada, making the oost per mile per annum,
iiii:
■lii
about $4,400, or suppose we take the even $4,000 per mile per annum
(certainly an under estimate) ; in that case we would require a yearly
revenue of not less than $10,800,000, and as we have shown that the
utmost supposable income of the Canada Pacific Kailway will not
amount to three millions, it is quite plain that ihe road (if built),
could never be managed as a commercial speculation, for in that case the
tariff would require to be 20c. per ton per mile for every ton of goods
passing over it, which is equivalent to saying the road would be closed.
We are, therefore, shut up to the conviction that the Government must
not only build the road, but that they will also require to operate and
maintain it, at a tremendous sacrifice to the general public of the Domin-
ion ; consequently, in making our calculation as to the probable expense
of moving a ton of freight between Montreal and Manitoba, and vice
versa, we take for granted that the Dominion Government will supply
funds sufficient to enable the managers of the road to regulate their tariffs,
on the same principle and according to the rules governing such roads as
the New York Central, Grand Trunk, Great Western, Erie, &c., &c.
Estimating, 1st, by the local tariffs of the Grand Trunk, Great
Western, &c., viz : 4^0. per ton per mile ; the cost per ton would be
$54.00 2nd. Tried by the tariff of the narrow-guage railroads — which
cost to build only some $9,000 per mile, plus the bonuses — the amount
would be $36 or 3c. per ton per mile, or suppose we estimate the pi'obable
charges by the English tariffs, for example : that of the London and
North Western, a road which carried 15,000,000 tons of freight last year,
and despatches daily (every twenty-four hours,) no fewer than 626 ruer-
chandise trains over all parts of the line ; the earnings for goods traffic
on that road averaged 6s. 3d. sterling per train milt?, or an average all
round of l^d. or 3c. par ton per mile. Judging then by the standard of
this great English road, we are brought back to the $36 charged by the
Canada narrow-guage roads, as the lowest sum at which a ton of freight
could be carried between Montreal and Manitoba, and m'ce versa, for it
must be distinctly understood that we are taking the lowest English
charges, the average charges in England being about 4^c. per ton per
mile ; in France the charges is 3^ to 4c. ; in the United States, 3 and
6-lOths, &c.
Now, I would like to ask, just by way of parenthesis, if you know
of any kind of produce which the farmers of the Northwest could r>*ise,
that would bear such charges for transport to market? or, if you are
acquainted with any kind of manufactured goods, required by the people
of the Northwest, whicti we could send them at the same mtes ] I hold
that there are no products natural to, or likely to be produced in the
Northwest ; nor, as a rule, are there any manufactured goods required
in the said Province, which could bear such chai-ges for transport.
I fancy that no man with an intelligent knowledge of the subject
will be inclined to doubt the assertion, that the successful cultivator of
our great " prairies " must for many years to come confine himself to
21
sr annum
) a yearly
that the
will not
if built),
,i case the
1 of goods
1)6 closed,
lent must
erate and
le Domin-
e expense
I and vice
ill supply
pir tariffs,
h roads as
3., &c.
ik, Great
would be
Is — which
a amount
3 probable
ndon and
i last year,
626 «t«r-
ods traffic
verage all
andard of
;ed by the
of freight
■sa, for it
English
ton per
es, 3 and
:ou know
uld r>»ise,
you are
he people
I hold
ed in the
required
ort.
subject
tivator of
mself to
raising cerealc, wheat, oats, com, &c., &c., or become a patriarch of
flocks and herds ; in this latcer case he would have but a very limited
mark'-', for his products, the principal of which — his wool — would come
into direct competition with the produce of more favoured Southern
lands, such as California, Cape of Gk)od Hope, Australia, &c,, (countries
producing already more wool than is really required), against which it
is perfectly safe to say he could not hold his own, indeed it is quite
certain that he could not, for it has been tried more than once on a
most extensive scalfl, only to end in failure. We may, therefore, take
it as a settled matter that the farmer of the Northwest will confine him-
self to grain crops ; and in that case his export market will be Mon-
treal; there, his wheat, as an average, may command say $1.20 to $1.30
per bush«l ; com — the great staple of the west — would be worth 60c to
65c p°r bushel ; oats, 34c to 39c, &c. Now take the distance between
Manitoba and Montreal at 1,200 miles — the shortest known route — and
the rates of freight three cents per ton per mile, or $36 a ton — divide
the ton by the bushel and keep to yourself the secret of the profits
made or likely to be made by farming in the Northwest. If, then, as
the above calculation clearly proves, it is impossible to carry farm pro-
duce, minerals, and other heavy freight, for a distance of twelve or thir-
teen hundred miles except at a loss, it must be self-evident that the rail-
way is no longer of use or benefit, and consequently ought not to be built.
Indeed, I hold that at a space of 800 miles — or under the most favour-
able circumstances — at 1,000 miles, you will find the utmost limit to
which it is possible to carry a paying railrocd, and that immediately be-
yond that, there is a line on which the intelligent locomotive engineer
and railway projector may read the following warning, written by the
well-known gent's, " Calm Calculation," " Much Abused Common
Sense," and " Dear bought Experience." " A.11 beyond this line is loss,
debt, and difficulty," not only to the Railway Company but also to
every man and woman who through ignorant or selfish misrepresentation
may be induced to settle in this section of country ; and such will con-
tinue to be the case until in the course of time by the growth of popu-
lation and development of resources the place may become self-sustainitiy,
but in no case can such a settlement be of use or benefit, material, poli-
tical, or otherwise to the country which has planted it.
It ^las just been suggested to me, " that although my calculations
may be all right, still, as they are based upon a local or 3c tariff ^hey
are not ap{)licable to the case under discussion ;" " that the calculation
ought to be made on a through tariff," &c., and as this, doubtless, is a
very general opinion, and the subject itself one of the most important
which it is possible for Canadians to discuss at the present moment ; you
will pardon my seeming prolixity if I try to find out what force there is
in it. In the first place a good deal will depend on the manner in which
you view the road. I have gone on the supposition tliat the " Canada
Pacific Railway " will be managed and its tariffs regulated on the same
22
*■' #
principles as the othei' great railway corporations of the continent ; that
it is to be operated on ordinary commercial principles, and to be made
pay as much as it possibly can, say for the first ten years after comple*
tion — between three and four millinns annually, or 35 per cent of its
operating expenses — but if I am in error, and the road is to be looked
upon rather as a benevolent enterprise, got up at the expense of the entire
Dominion for the sole use and benefit of the Northwest and Pacific Pro-
vinces of course, I have nothing to say further than, VVhy charge any-
thing at all ? Why not make it absolutely free % It would be much
better in every sense to do so than to mix up businebs with charity ;
but as I cannot suppose any set of men capable of perpetrating such a
piece of absurdity as I have supposed, we will believe that all intend to
look upon the " Canada Pacific " as a " commercial speculation," &c.
Having then got upon firm ground we can argue the matter
of " chrough rates," and in the first place I would say that
whoever says that through I'ates should bo applied in the case
of the Canada Pacific assumes — although he may not know it.
1st. That the Canada Pacific will be a paying concern^ and that its
managers will be able to regulate their tariffs so as to suit the wants ot
particular districts 1 2Hd. That 3c. per ton per mile is an exorbitant
charge for railway carriage for the distance named. 3rd. That through
or way rates are mere arbitrary regulations depending on the vnll of the
managers ; now as every one of the assumptions are erroneous, the con-
clusions drawn from them must be so also. I hold, in the first place,
that through freights are an entirely exceptional arrangement, growing
out of exceptional circumstances, and existing only between the city of
Chicago and the seaboard ; and they are Only practicable between the
points named, because the city of Chicago is the grand centre or focus,
into which is poured the grain grown on the 44,000,000 acres of land
cultivated in the West, over one thousand million bushels — an amount
which keeps her elevators continually full, so that a locomotive can back
in and take on its full load at a Chicago elevator and make the run to
New York, Boston or Montreal, without change or break. A few
moments refiection will show you how it is that certain railways can
afford to take traflSc at through rates, and how a large load at
very low rates, may be mo.e profitable than a small load at high
rates, par example : We, the public, insist, or the company thinks
it is its interest, to run a certain number of trains per day at a
given speed per hoar, from end to end of their lines, so that the
public may take a ride when and as far as their business or pleasure
may i-equire, ccr.seqaently, the company must keep a certain number of
engines, passenger and other cars, and the men to operate them ; more-
over, they must keep the track in good repaii-, &c., to do which requires
a very large outlay of money, and you will please mark particularly,
that by far the largest portion of this outlay, may be described as outlay
of a fixed or permanent character, and is independent of the amount of
23
1 : niore-
huainesa done; thus, the engine has five passenger coaches behind it,
each coa )h is intended for fie accommodation of fifty passengers, and the
train once started, must go right on to its destination, whether it is fuU
or empty, the experise will be precisely the same, whether it carries fifty
or 250 passengers. Consequently, it is plain, that it would pay the com-
pany much bettei' to carry the 250 or full compliments of passengers for
3c. per mile, than the 50 at 10c. per mile ; all that is needed, therefore,
to insure "through rates" is to guarantee the railway a large traffic;
and what holds good in the case of passenger traffic, is still more power-
•'ul when applied to freight, because passengers load and unload them-
selves, whereas freight requires to be handled at an expense of not less
than 50c. per ton on an average. If, as before explained, the road is to be
managed on commercial principles, we must divide the fixed cJiarges by
the nv.mber of engines and cars on the road, and each engine and car
must earn its proportion of the whole sum. There are only two
ways in which they can do so — 1st, by being operated up to their full
limit of useful work at low rates 1.69c. per ton per mile, as in the case of
the six great competing routes of the western states, or 2nd, by just taking
what freight is offered at high rates, as in the case of nin«ty-nine out of
every hundred of the railways in existence. So much then for the argument
that I should have estimated the probable cost of moving freight between
Manitoba and Montreal, at through rates. As to the second argu-
ment that 3c. per ton per mile would be too much, I would answer first
that the lowest charge in Great Britain is about 4c. per ton per mile ;*
in France, 3^ to 4 ; in the United States — which I repeat manages her
* There are about 16,U00 miles of railways in Great Britain, which cost on an
average £36,000 sterling per mile, or for the whole about £570,000,000 sterling, of
this amount 240,000,000 is share capital, 180,000,000 preference and gaaranteed,
150,000,000 loans and debentures. The dififerent roads carried in all during the
year 423,000,000 passengers, besides season ticket holders ; of freight they carried
106,000,000 tons of coal and other minerals, 73,000,000 tons of general merchan-
dise ; the locomotives travelled 190,000,000 miies, and earned 5s. 4d. sterling per
mile for every mile run. or in all £23,300,000 for passengers, and £29,000,000 for
freight ; about 50 per cent, of earnings going for operating expenses and the other
for profits, giving on an average about 4J per cent per annum. Over £50,000,000
sterling of the railway capital of Great Britain has never paid one cent of profit.
N. B. — Any one who is fond of figures might exercise his skill very profitably in
trying to find out the the true cause why railways in this country have been such
complete failures. He might begin, for example, by showing the number of miles
of railway per million of the population in this country and in Great Britain ;
2nd, the tons of freight and number of passengers carried per mile in each coun-
try, and the amount of money earned respectively; 3rd, the amount of railway
business done per individual in the two nations ; 4th, the difference in the cost
per train mile in Canada and in England, and the reason for the difference ; 5th, the
average extra locomotive power required in Gauade per 1,000 tons in comparison
with England or Scotland, Ac, the cost of the same, also the expense of removing
snow, &o., the loss caused by reduced speed, loss of time &c., during the five winter
months, &o., &o. He will find, 1st, that we have as near as may be double the
number of miles per 1,000 of our population ; 2nd, that for every mile of road in
£lngland they carry 30,000 passengers per annum, io Canada the number is be-
24
roads cheaper than any other country — it is (including throtigh freights
on nearly one thousand million bushels of grair), 3 6-lOth, and if any one
believes that we could manage a railway between British Columbia and
Ontario for a less figure, " I envy him his faith," as Mr. Cartwrlght re-
marked of another subject. 1. In the next place I would point to
the Grand Trunk, originally built as a first-class road, running
through a remarkably easy railway country, and doing as large business
as it can accomodate. In short, running through a well peopled and
prosperous country, and counting the through traffic, doing a business
equal to the export, import and local traffic of the whole 4,000,000
of the Dominion, viz : carrying over 2,000,000 of passengers and 1,800,-
000 tons of goods per annum, yet the road — though charging consider-
ably more than 3c per ton per mile for local traffic — has never paid one
cent on the cost of construction. Nay, more, it has not been able even
to maintain its permanent way, or even supply adequate rolling-stock
from its earnings.* 2. The Northern Railway has paid interest on
barely one-half the cost of construction. Indeed, the only Railway in
Canada that has paid decent dividends is the Great Western, and
its dividends have been very fluctuating and uncertain, as may be seen by
the last report, which puts them at 2^ per cent, per annum for the last year.
3. The Directors of narrow guage Roads, at their last meeting, declared
that all their calculations and expectatio7is had been falsified ; and that
they were not only not able to pay interest on the share capital, but
that they had no hope of doing so ; while one of their prominent men —
Mr. Worts— afterwards declared in the St. Lawrence Hall, that the
$15,000 he had invested in one of the roads was not worth 15c, yet the
tween 1,400 and 1,500. In Great Britain the freight carried la about 16,000 tons
per mile, in the Dominion about 1,000 tons per mile, &c. Taking all these points
mto consideration, he will, I am convinced, be very chary in expressing surprise
that Mr. Brydges, for instance, found it impossible to make the Grand Trunk a
paying road. I think the astonishment will be — as it has long been with me— that
the said gentlemen could keep the road in operation at all under the circumstances..
* I am well aware that it is customary to account for the none paying con-
dition of the Grand Trunk, by referring to the waste and extravagance of those who-
built it ; but that idea is manifestly absurd, for so long as a road cannot pay
operating expenses, it can make very little difference whether the original road-bed
cost $10 or $100,000 — except in so far as it increases the first loss. Others, again
— for instance the Olohe — mnintains that the road is a failure because it attends too
much to through traffic, and neglects to cultivate the local or way freight. That
argument will have force when the writer sits down and shows first how much
extra local freight the Grand Trunk would get by acting according to his instruc-
tions. 2. By showing how much money each engire and car earns per twenty-four
hours in carrying local freights, and comparing it with the amounts earned in car-
rying at through rates. The real cause of failure in the Grand Trunk is that the
local traffic is too small in proportion to the length of the line, just as the Grey and
Bruce Bailway is a commercial failure because its manager calculated the freight
rates in proportion to the cost of the road, in place of in proportion to the length of
the road, and cost of operating. For a road the length of the Grey and Bruce, the
fare ought to have been 4 to 4^ cents per ton per mile.
.'5
narrow guage roads were got up with special economy, and cost their
shareholders less than |9,000 per mile ; they run through one of the
best settled and most productive parts of the Province, and charge 3p
per ton per mile. 4. It is well known to all who take an interest in
such matters, that neither the Grand Trunk nor Great Western could
be kept in operation if they depended entirely on Canadian traffic.
Lastly. No Railway can now be built in Canada, or even the United
States, as a mercantile speculation, they must be very largely endowed
by Government or local bonuses, &c., which, to me, is irrefragable proof
that the Railway system cannot be operated in the Dominion, (and in
very few parts of the continent,) so as to pay current expenses, and if
you want still further proof of my position, you, sir, can find it in
abundance in the records of your own office.
For the sake of argument, however, let us suppose that by the ex-
ercise of extraordinary forethought and financial wisdom, that by a com-
bination of the highest order of commercial and engineering skill, it will
be possible to build the Canada Pacific Railway so economically that it
will be practicable to carry the produce of the few thousand farmers,
&c., scattered along its route at the lowest through freights now charged
by the great competing roads running through the Western States, viz.^
1^ to 2c per ton per mile — and it is universally admitted by the most
skillful Railway managers, that it is quite impossible to carry freight at
a less charge. Now, even in that case, what chance would the settlers
of Manitoba and the Saskatchewan have of becoming prosperous or
wealthy men] Why, it is only necessary to place the figures beside the
rates paid by the older Provinces, say from 8 to 10 per cent., to see how
utterly hopeless must be the case of the man who depends upon a rail-
way 1,200 to 1.400 miles long to carry his produce to market. Indeed,
both reason and experience join in proclaiming with a voice which
cannot be misunderstood, that either the Railway must carry all manner
of produce at one-third the present (lowest) rates ; the farmer must find
a local market for all his surplus, or, failing that, the lands of the Red
River and Saskatchewan Valley, &c., must and should remain an untilied
wildemes'^ for generations to come ; a land wherein the wolf may bi'ing
forth her young, and the bufialo roam in comfort undisturbed, save by the
whoop of the red man, or the crack of the hunter's rifle — the Canada
Pacific Railway to the contra notwithstanding.
Hitherto, however, we have been dealing in supposition, cal-
culations, &c., we have been endeavouring to show, from the nature of
the case, what must be the condition of farmers growing crops 1,200 or
1,500 miles from the place where they are to be consumed. Let us now
come to facts, to figures, to the everyday expeiience of the producers
who have to send their products long distances by railway ; and what do
we find to be their state and circumstances ] Just what from a fair,
honest and intelligent calculation of the capacity of the Railway system we
would have expected, viz., a state of comparitive poverty, cursed with a
26
/plethora of food, and denied almost everything else in the shape of com-
forts and luxuries, such as are absolutely necessary in our present
state of so3iety, for the maintenance of decency and respectability.
We see the States of Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Wisconsin, Iowa, and
Minnesota, <&c., in a condition of most excited agitation in regard to
railway tariffs on cereals between the west and the seaboard, the entire
west is in a state of ferment ; I'epresentatives are harassed with depu-
tations of farmers, the Legislatures are flooded with bills and petitions,
the newspapers teem with articles ; and the public halls are kept vocal
•with speeches on the subject of " Railway Extortion," " Legalized
Robbery." Conventions of farmers are held in every town and city of
the west, they combine in lodges called granges ; which associations are
now numbered by the hundred thousand, and their members by the
million all in defense of their rights and intei'ests against, and in denun-
ciation of the (fancied) encroachments of what is called the railway
despotism. Freight rates are so high, and crops are so abundant that
in many pai'ts of the Northwest they are actually burning thbir produce
for fuel as they cannot ship it at any price. To sum up in a few words,
it is declared on the authority of +he head of the " National Granges"
that three-fourths of the farms in Illinois and other parts of the West
and Northwest, are mortgaged ; and the farmers otherwise over head
and ears in debt ; a state of affairs which is truly alarming and gives
good cause for the " Grangers " agitation of the railway question ; it
also calls for the immediate and serious attention of every man calling
himself a statesman ; a remedy must be found anc*. that soon or the
vaunted prosperty of the great West will become a thing of the past and
the free, intelligent and hardy tillers of the soil sink (in fact they are
now sinking) down into mere helots, " white slaves, " toiling night and
day for coarse food and scanty shelter ; thus becoming hewers of wood
and drawers of water to the other and more prosperous membei*s of the
community, in place of being as they have been hitherto the most pros-
perous and independent members of society. The American farmer
living not more than one hundred miles from Chicago has to pay ihree-
fourths of his grain cro[> to have the remaining one-fourth carried to
market ; so that it often i)ays them better to burn it for fuel than to ex-
change it for wood or send it to eastern mai'kets. Yet he pays but l^c
per ton per mib and the distance to New York is less than 900 miles,
or 300 miles less than fi-om Manitoba to Toronto or Montreal.
"That this is a very unpleasant commentary on our means of
transportation" says the Scientific American, "cannot be denied; the
cost of food here in the east is notoriously high, yet such are the rates
of freight that it is a better j>aying operation to burn the food for fuel
than send it to eastern markets for sale ; nothing can more forcibly pro-
claim the necessity of some cheaper and more expeditious method of
transit than canal or railway carriage."
The Chicago Tribune says : — " What is needed is a cheaper freight
27
and
miles,
of
«a8t of Chicago — than in the opinion of our best railway managers it
will ever be possible for any number of railways to the seaboard to give,"
and this cheaper means of transit must bo found or the prosperity of
the West and Northwest will gradual / cease, till war in Europe or some
other unusual circumstance creates a great demand at unusually high
prices ; indeed, if the present over production goes on for the next five
or ten years the farms and the farm produce of the West will be almost
worthless ; notwithstanding that we have over 10,000 laihm of railway
in the West for which we have [)aid three hundred millions of dollars
and the gross profits on which does not give 4 per cent to the shai*e-
holders." The same paper in a recent article again refers to the cost of
transportation from the West to Eastern markets, it saya : " Corn is
offered delivered at the railway stations 100 and 150 miles from Chicago
at 15c per bushel ; oats, 8c to 9c ; wheat, at proportionately low rates
as compared with what it brings in tlie Liverj)ool market, and from this
is still to be deducted the cost of moving the grain from the farmers crib
to the railway stations, assuming, says the Trilnme, the distance from
the farm to the railway station to be on an average fifteen miles, it will
cost the farmer the value of time and labour of one man and a two horse
team an entire day to deliver a thirty bushel load »>♦' corn at the station;
at 15c per bushel the entire proceeds of the corn, le use of his team
and labourer for the day will be $4.50, not equal to the price he has to
pay for one set of shoes for his horses, it will not pay the tax on two
pairs of blankets, nor on ten dollars worth of any woollen goods he re-
quires for his family."
That is how farming pays in the amazingly fertile lands of the
Western States where the soil is said to be so rich as to require little
else but the sowing and the reaping and that too within a hundred miles
of the city of Chicago — one of the greatest grain mai'kets in the world
— how then will it pay in lands so distant from the Atlantic sea ports as
our Northwest ?
What products could the farmers of Manitoba — not to mention
British Columbia — raise that would bear railway charges from fourteen
to eighteen hundred miles 1 Echo answers. What 1
If it is a fact (and alas it is an ower true tale), that the farmers of
the West and Northwestex-n States of the Union — although possessed of
the most fertile lands on the continent — find it a hai'd and constant
struggle to keep theii heads above water (although living in a rude and
most inexpensive way, denying themselves nearly all the luxuries and
many even of the comforts and conveniences of life); owing to the enor-
mous pi'oportion of their produce exacted by the railroads for carrying
the remainder to market 1 What means are you going to adopt to
make the condition of the settler more tolerable in the Canadian North-
west ? or rather by what magic are you going to make his position equal
to that of his American cousin — misemble as that is — seeing that he will
be hundreds of miles further from the Atlantic seaboard than his
neighbour ?
28
B
If his position is to be anything better than a constant and hopeless
Btmgglo with |K)verty and debt, yon must eitlier find for him a home
market — which is ii(iix)ssible — or yon must build and maintain at tre-
mendons sacrifice to the general public — a railroad for his accommoda-
tion ; and you must not only make and maintain the road, but you must
also carry his produce at less than one-third of the lowest charges now
made for similar services, or it will be impossible for him to compete in
an alrea<ly overstocked market owing to his greater distance from that
market. Now, in either case you will be simply paying him a bounty
for going into a particular branch of industry, which is already sadly
overdone ; and on what grounds, social, moral, political, or commercial,
you will be able to justify your conduct to the peoj)le I am altogether at
a loss to imagine. If cereals were a commodity of limited production^
and attended with peculiar danger and difliculties in their gi'owth, there
might be some shadow of justification, but as it is, the idea is simply
ridiculous and to jmt it in force as is proposed, would be to commit an
act of grave injustice against every other bi-anch of business in the country,
and every other class of the people. In fact all manner of farm produce has
fallen so low tlu'oughout the entire west and Northv est that the Agri-
cultural journals are gravely recommending the larmers to form a
" Union " like the mechanics, and by joint action reduce the production
of all kinds of grain crops, by nearly one luilf the present amount, argu-
ing with good show of reason that they will get just as much for the
short cro[) as for the large, while they will save the labour.
Indeed, they show very conclusively that the farmers away back
from the Atlantic seaboard are the worst paid and hardest worked men
in the entire coiumunity. The Cowitry Gentknian for December, 1872,
makes the following remarks on the subject : — " Another mistake is a
constant change of location. What a man makes by the cheapness and
fertility of the western lands, he more than loses in tlie want of the
eastern markets. In this connection I believe that the homestead and
cheap railroad lands are a cfu'se to the country, because they encourage
men with no capital to leave a section where their labour is needed and
well remunerated, and settle upon these lands, and being driven hard by
th: . r nece.ssities, they toil night auJ day, exhausting the virgin soil,
'■?i.:t 'y increasing the crops of the country, but decreasing prices, being
"Wirse paid than they were in working for wages in the East, and injuring
the whole firming fraternity, while they benefit only the middlemen,
railroads, eight hour mechanics, &c. The latter class may oppose such
advice ; but if it is true that the labourer is worthy of his hire, the
farmers are greatly underpaid, while the other class receive more than
their due."
The truth of these remarks are fully sustained by the following
quotation : — " A newspaper of Iowa city gives rather a discouraging ac-
count of what the farmers are doing, or rather not doing in those
" diggins." Here is the price current : A pair of winter boots costs two
29
foods of potatoes ; a night's lodgings, one load of oats ; tbo wife wears
five acres of wheat ; the children each ten acres of corn ; the price of an .
overcoat is a good four year old steer ; a Sunday suit, twenty fat hogs ;
the farm, too, wears a mortgage that is worse tfiiin hurdpan to the soil ;
and the annual tax rots the roof faster than the rain."
Or, as one more example of the utter inability of a railway or railways
to assist the farmers of the far West, take the following from the Scien-
tific American : —
" I wish to correct an error in your article ** Burning corn as fuel."
You say the wood land is sadly depleted, and convey the impi-ession that
that is one reason why wo are burning our corn. Now, you are v istaken,
the sole reason we burn it is that we have millions of bushels that we
can neither sell, nor feed to stock. We have wood, we have coal, we
Lave land as fertile as any east or west, and we can raise any amount of
grain. What we need is a market ; it takes about five bushels to pay
for sending one bushel to where it can be used. The railroads promised
to help uj? if we would help them ; but they have been an injury so far, ,
and they will be so in future, unless controlled in some other way.
Treraont County, Iowa, March, 1873. H. D. O.
Or take the following, as another example of the extreme dearth and
excessive cost of the commodit), the production of which we — a ** Free
Trade" ])eople — are about to encourage by an expenditure of some two
or three hundred millions of dollars : —
" A car load of corn was shipped a few weeks since to Philadelphia
from the interior of Iowa, via the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad and
its connections, and consigned to Messrs, Stauffer & Seyfert, commission
merchants. The freight charges, commissions, and other expenses
amounted to f 2.33. 70, and the receipts $223.70, leaving a deficit of i^lO
to the shipper, in addition to the value of the corn at the point of ship-
ment !"
Verily, logic is inexorable ; for example, it is in the highest degree
wrong — nay, absuri — to encourage manufactures by means of protection
— in Ontario and Quebec— although it is well known that excellency in
manufactures and commerce is the only road by which nations have
hitherto risen in the scale of being, or become famous in art, literature,
science, or philosophy. Why is it wrong to protect manufactures ?
Because a certain bundle of assertions, dignified with the name of science,
says that " nations, like individuals, should buy in the cheapest market ;"
yet it is meritorious in us to spend an amount of money which, I repeat,
is absolutely beyond our grasp to comprehend, for the sole i)urpose of
increasing the production — or manufacture, if you will — of cereals, an
article which is already produced in over-abundance, and can be bought
and sold at the present time for considerably less money than we could
possibly manufacture it for in our North-west or Pacific Provinces.
But, then, it is not done as protection to agriculture. Oh ! no, it is done
for the purpose of developing our resources in the North-we.«'t, &c. I
III
80
m
ill
trust, sir, you see the difference in the cases ; for my own part, I am
sorry to confess I am a little hazy about the exact distinction.
Seriously speaking, sir, I am aware that you and the gentlemen who
now act with you, were opposed to our undertaking the enormous obli-
gations with which we are at present loaded ; or, at least, you were
opposed to the terms, time, dtc, of the obligation, and, consequently, J.
acquit you so far. What I am inclined to quarrel with you fur is the
— to me — monstrous and unreasonable assumption, or doctrine which
you preach, viz., that your Government is bound to cany out the engage-
ments made by your predecessoi-s in regard to the North-west, &c., even
though the credit and resources of this country should be permanently
injured, if not ruined, in the eflfort. Now, sir, I, as a citizen of this
country, one whose interests are bound up in its welfare, beg to protest
in the most emphatic manner against any such doctrine ; it is bvit the
old axiom of absolutism — " The King can do no wrong " — in different
words, then it was absolute obedience to a man, now to an idea, m both
cases it is equally eroneous. You will forgive my freedom of speech, if
I charge you that your sole duty as Premier of this great Dominion, is
to rule the country according to your otw. ideas of right and justice, and
for the welfare of the entire people, irrespective of political effect.
I come now to the main object of this communication, viz., to show
the possibility of superseding the railway by an entirely new style of
transit, " which will be as great an improvement on the railway as the
ra.lway was on the stage coach, and the canal of fifty years ago — a sys-
tem of traTxsit which will do for the American continent and people ;'*
that which the railway system did for the smaller nations of Europe,
viz, satisfy the great immediate want — cheap, safe and expeditious trans-
portation.
This may, at first sight, seem a somewhat startling affirmation, and
very likely your first feeling will be that of incredulity ; the incredulity
will lessen, however, as you reflect that we are living in an age of continual
progress — of rapid advancement to the higher and the better in every
department of life. It is, therefore, hardly reasonable to suppose that
the mechanical and inventive genitis of the world — the genius which has
made all other progress pohsible and easy — is going to come to a dead
halt on this particular subject. We are perfectly safe in saying that
every invention " has its day ;" every advance — however mighty and
far-reaching it may be in its influence on the world — is but one rung
higher on that ladder whose top is hidden in the clouds of the future,
far beyond the reach of this and many ages yet to come. You may
depend upon it that when the inventors of our young Dominion come to
thoroughly realize the magnitude — the immensity of our resources, our
coal and iron, our gold and silver, our marble and other building stones,
our magnificent forests and inexhausu'ole fisheries scattered over
thousands of miles, and the titter impossibility of making those riches
praciically available by m;.*n8 of the railway — they will make the most
31
strenuous exertions to develop and bring together our various elements
of vealth and power, so that each may enjoy the riches of all, and that
all may share in the blessings of each.
It is utterly incredible that an educated, intelligent and enter-
prising people, possessing a land of almost illimitable extent and the
most varied resources, with hundreds, nay thousands, of miles separating
their principal cities and provinces, are going to remain much longer con-
tented with the snail pace of our present railways— creeping along at
a rate of twenty miles an hour (a large portion of the year not so quick),
when even in the " oJd land " — the dear old mother of mighty nations
— whose extent and dimensions are but as a hand's breadth in comparison
with ours, they fly at a pace of fifty, sixty, or even seventy miles an hour.
The day for miracles is not yet passed ; fait \ can still remove moun-
tains, either spiritual or material in spite of the cowardly counsels of
" doubting Thomases." *
" The eye is never satisfied with se<^ing, nor tlit ear with heaiing,"
the mind is forever longing after something new, something difierent
and better than the present ; and of all the desires of the heart at the pre-
sent time — at least on this continent — I am not far wrong in placing
among the most ardent, the wish for swifter, cheaper, and safer means of
locomotion.
ITrom the earliest times of which we have any record man seems to
have cherished with peculiar pleasure, the hope that he would yet triumph
over the laws of nature, and be able to transport himself over the earth,
as swiftly as the eagle speeds through the air ; it is a hope we find em-
bodied in a thousand forms, as instance the "wishing cap" of the geni —
also the broomstick on which the witches of our great gi'andmothers
were supposed to ride through space swift as the lightning's flash ; it is a
hope which has formed the theme of the poets song and the seers pre-
diction, and although it has been partially fulfilled in the velocity of the
I'ail car and the locomotive we still call for greater expedition, and we
shall not be disappointed ; for our all-wise and beneficent Creator has
so ordered it, that the genius of the few is ever able to satisfy the reason-
able requirements of the many. It is only necessary to feel the want,
to have the mind awakened and fully convinced of the necessity of re-
ceiving the new truth, and the revelation will surely come ; for the
• " Faith is and ever has been the mainsjin'Tig of man's power, in all his
efforts, whether dealing with the natural laws of the universe, or the glorious truths
of inspuation as revealed in the Book which tells of man's immortality — his splen-
did hereafter in the mansions of his father ; without faith man is helpless as the
new born babe and hopeless as the nameless orphan, thrown upon the tender mer-
cies of a cold and heartless world. Let who will cavel and sneer (in this sneering
age) I assert it as a fact, capable of a boundless proof, that faith — intelligent and
sincere — in one form or other is the foundation on which has been reared, nearly
all that is great and worthy in the past history of the world, and that just in pro-
portion to the active, intelligent faith in the man or nation will be their success in
rising nearer and neaier to the glorious perfections of their father, God.
• I!
82
^aggregate of human power is almost aa limitless as the desires and
necessities of man.
No /, sir, taking all things into consideration, I have no hesitation
in expressing the opinion that your Government will not be justified in
building our great national highway to the Pacific on the present railway
■system until it has been proved conclusively and irrefragible that it is
the absolutely best system of transit which it is possible for the genius of
man to utvise ; and that can only be done by giving a fair, full und im-
partial consideration to the system I am about to propose, and also by
putting it to a thorough and practical test. The question being now
raised, it is quite evident that you cannot escape the grave responsibility
of deciding either that the railway system is perfect, and the finality of
man's invention in the matter of transport — which would be an absurd as-
sumption — or you must try the new plan, or prove it a./ailure by showing
that it is opposed to the well known laws of mecJianical philosophy.
Let us look at this very important question then a little more
closely than is the general habit of people when dealing with anything
new and untried, and see if we can decide '''^finitely whether or not we
are justified in looking upon the rail''/'»v- >» '9 ne 2>lus ultra of man's
mechanical genius in the matter of lanu trtiusit.
In the first place, what is there about the railway system which
could "/arrant any ordinarily intelligent man in thinking that it could
not be superseded ? It is but t,ie creation of a man, a man to who — with
all due difference to the opinion of Mr. Smiles — was no superior
mechanical genius ; consequently, like eveiy other work of the human
intelligence, it partakes of its inventors imperfections, and is therefore
liable to be superseded by something better.
1 do not say this for the purpose or by way of disparagirg Mr.
Stephenson's work — far be it from me to try and diminish by one iota
the credit justly due to the memory of the founder of our railway sys-
tem — we are only too ready to forgot our best benefactors, and need no
inducement to stimulate our ingratitude. Mr. Stephenson gave to the
world — or rather hejbrced it to accept one of the rvuiidf^st mechanical
c*. mbinations ever devised by man — a mechanicu: ? . :t ivanoe which
has saved it countless millions of money, and advi u- • f rther on the
path of progress than otherwise it would ever have rei'->- <= . . It is there-
foi*e impossible for us to bestow too much honor on his rueu.ory, so also
is it beyond the power of the nost malignant critic to diminisa his
credit.
My sole object in any remarks that I may make on the defects of
the railway system is to get you tc- realize the possibility of a change.
My aim is to brush away the cobwebs which " use and want," natural
, prejudices, and the halo that a most wonderful and long continued suc-
cess has warped about your reason. In a word, ^ want to get you to
think, consequently to doubt and debate, if I only o-jcceed in getting you
to use your own brains, my point is gained ; foi > u will soon see for
88
yourself that there are many great and glaring defects in the ra*'way
system as a means of transit, — particularly for a country like North
Amei'ica, where the distances are counted by thousands of miles, and
the climate is of the most variable and extreme description — and the infer-
ence is plain that wherever thore are defects, there must be room for im-
provement. The London Engineer, and other able authorities, declare in
the most emphatic manner, that the present lailway machinery is inons
trously disproportioned to the useful effects produced, nine times out of
ten in which it is set in motion, a statement which admits of easy proof.
For example, an ordinary passenger train on the Londoii and North-
western Railroad (English) will be composed of engine and tender,
weighing forty-two tons, five passenger coaches, each sixteen tons —
eighty — or, in all, one hundred and twenty-two tons, number of passen-
gers (average) fifty-five, now, take the passengers to weigh fourteen to
the ton, and you have in all four tons ; or, in other words, to accomo-
date fifty-five passengers, weighing four tons, you have a train of one
hundred and twenty-two tons, or thirty tons of dead weight to every one
ton paying toeight. If any one can call that less than monstrously dis-
proportioned, I would like to see him. Yet that is the proportion every
day in the year, on one of the best managed and most important railways
in England — a road which carried over 12,000,000 passengers during the
last six months, and dispatches daily no fewer than 320 trains. Even
on the less substantial roads, and with the longer cars of iLi^ country,
the proportion of dead weight is as much as 2,000 or 3,000 pounds per
individual, or fourteen to one, the proportion of nonpaying to paying
load in the case of mineral and general freight is but little Letter, being
in England as much as 7 to 1, and in this counti.y about 5 to 1 ; and
this one defect of the railway system ought of itself to be sufiicicnt to
show to any thoughtful and observant mind that such a system is any-
thing bi't perfect in its opei'ation, and must ultimately be superseded by
the growing intelligence of man. Let me now state a few of the other
defects inherent in, and in^eperable from the railway system as a means
of transport — especially on this continent of magnificent distances — so
that you may be in a position to understand the radical difference
between, and the respective merits of, the railroad and the system of
transit which I propose as a substitute for it. Tlie first, and in my
opinion the greatest, defect of the railway system is the limited power of
the locomotive, and the practical impossibility of increasing that power
beyond the present standard. This is e defect of the greatest magni-
tude, and, lil e all other evils, either moral or physical, it gives rise to a
host of othera.
In the first place, it necessitates the rpils to be laid perfectly, or as
near a dead level as possible, as a rise of even one foot in one hundred
deprives the engine of full half its power (Mr. Stephenson calculates the
loss at two-thirds), and the engine continues to lose power with every
inch of rise in the road-bed, until it is brought to a stand-still, at a com-
11
III
l| iiP:
I
84
paratively gentle incline ; as a matter of trial, it has been found that an
engine that would take a load of 420 tons at sixteen miles an hour on
a deau level, would not take more than 136 tons up an incline of one
foot in a hundred ; to take a load up an incline of only thirty feet to the
mile, you require to use three times the steam, and consequently fuel,
•which would be necessary on a level.
I repeat that the necessity for a level road-bed, is an evil of the
gi-eatest magnitude, as it consumes nearly three- fourths of all the money,
and i.^out the same amount of the time now spent in making railroads
in all parts of the world. In the second place, the locomotive must be
made of great weight, because its power to pull a train depends upon the
adhesion (or friction) of the driving wheels to the rails ; and as a matter
of course, the fric*;ion between the drivei-s and the rails muat depend
upon and be in proportion to the weight on the wheels, so that other
things being equal, an engine of 150 horsepower, weighing 35 tons, will
do more work <"han one of 300 horse power, if it weighs only 30 tons.
For years past, the locomotive engine lins appeared to me somewhat
like a giant without legs, or with the legs ot only an ordinary mortal.
You may b-vve the great powerful body, capable of putting forth almost
any amount of strength, but from want of power in the limbs to give
eflfect to the action of the body, he is reduced to the level of an ordinary
jack. There are ail the inconveniences of the giant ; he requires the
room, the food, and attendance of one, yet he cannot do the work, the
fault being in the lin-bs, consequently you cannot hlxime him ; you might
just as sensibly ask, or expect an elephant to pull down a house while he
is swimming in the water, as expoct a locomotive engine to develop, be-
yond a certain and very limited amount of power, while it is set to work
by means of smooth driving wheels acting on smooth iron or steel rails,
it is, of course, capable of displaying great power (according to its weight),
while acting in the usiial way, just as the elephant could pu'l more while
swimming in the water than a donkey could while hauling on land ; but
neither the ele[)bant nor the engine would be getting fair play, neither
of them having a proper resisting medium on which to act, consequently
they could not get a proper foothold.
I am well iware that our present locomotives lose comparfitively
little power, as their boilei"s, cylinders, &c., are made so as to work up
only to their weight or traction. What I wish to bring out is that the
locomotive — from the fact of its being con lined to the weight carried on
the drivers for traction — is kept down within ■•'cry iinrrow limits ; as
there can be no doubt whatever, that but for that circumstance, we
could have an engine of one thousand horse-power which would not
weigh more than our j)resent one hundred and fifty horse-power loco-
motives. Moreover we could g.'aduate the power of our engines accord-
ing to the load to be carried, and not as now have to send a machine
capable of haiiling 200 or 300 tons to take a load of 40 or 50 tons.
Archimedes said, " that he could move the world if he had a lever
36
up
the
on
; as
we
not
loco-
3ord-
hine
long enough and a fulcrum on which to rest." You perceive that t>iere
are two prerequisites to his performance. 1st. The lever. ?iid. The
fulcrum on which it is to act, but suppose for a moment that after
he had got his lever he had found upon trial that his fulcrum was capable
of resisting only a mere fraction of the power necessary to move the
world ; or which he could put forth by means of his lever — in that case
he would be in a position precisely analagous to that of the modern
"■ locomotive engineer."
His lever is his engine, and he knows that there is practically no
limit to the strength it could be made to exercise ; but alas, his fulcrum .
is but a veiy poor aifair, it soon begins to yield and so he is compelled .
to make his lever to accommodate itself to the weakness of the fulcrum,
or road-bed. As it is exceedingly important that you should thoroughly
understand what I mean — in regard to the engine being limited in
power — I will, at the risk of being thought tedious give you another
illustration. Suppose, for instance, that you wanted to take a load of
wheat over the ice in winter by means of a sleigh, would you not take
care, before starting, to see that your horse's shoes had been calked, and
why 1 Because, without them, he would have no proper foothold on the
ice ; he would slip and slide and lose more than half his power. And
what would you think of a man who, in place of having his horse
properly roughened, should reason thus : " The horse must wear iron
shoes, as a natural result he must slip on the ice ; if he slips, it is evident
he must lose half his power ; consequently we must use two horses while
traveling on the ice for every one necessary on land V Why, you would ;
very probably say the man was a fool ; and that he was, by his stupidity,
adding materially to the price of the produce, or substracting from his
own profits, according to the demand for his wheat.
In the railway system, however, e go a step further than merely
neglecting to calk the horses' shoes, for while putting the load on runners
we actually put the horse, or locomotive, on runners also, thus '
totally ignoring the plain, obvious fact, that for the very reason that a
smooth iron or steel rail forms the best possible road on which to move
lieavy loads, it must, of necessity, be the worst possible road on which to ;
develop the power of the engine, seeing that the load to be moved and ■
the power to do the hauling, require conditions the very reverse of each -
other in the I'oad — the one the absence of friction and the other the
presence of that condition or force.
It does seem par^sing strange that, during all these years, railway
engineers have never got the length of providing one road for the engine
and another for the traffic ; and the omission, I believe, can only be
accounted for in this way, viz : Before the introduction of railways —
but while they wei'e being agitated — it was contended by the many that
it was iinpos.sible for an eugine to haul itself along a perfectly smooth
rail, much less pull a load after it. (Hence we find among the early
attempts at railway looomotion rack rails and cogged driving wheels,
ri
1:1
86
Ac.) So that when it was proved by Trevethick, and after him by
Stephenson, that an engine with smooth wheels could not only haul itself
along a smooth iron railway, but could also pull a load after it, it soema
to have been taken for granted that the problem of locomotion was
solved and the railway system pei'fected. It then became the practice
among engineers, acting upon the advice of their master (Stephenson), to
keep* down the grades as low as possible, and increase the weight of the
engine, rather than to try and find a more effective mode of working
them. And the immense success of the first railways, the wonder and
admiration they created, the benefits they conferred upon the country,
and their great and manifest superiority over all previous modes of
transit, all combined together to orystalize, as it were, everything con-
nected with there construction and operation into facts, hard as ada-
mant and irresistable as prejudice. So that i':. would have seemed some-
thing like sacrilege. Certainly it would have been accounted tremendous
presumption in any one to have attempted to alter or supersede the
existing railway practice as taught by its founder, Mr. Stephenson.
Hence the evils arising from this want of power in the engine, and the
great injury wrought to the permanent way, &c., by its excessive weight
and ugly motion, though long known and deeply deplored by the thinking
few, have, at last, come to be looked upon as incurable and a necessary
portion of the Railway system ; and so we have settled down calmly and
contentedly into the new groove cut for us by the master hand (Stephen-
son), happy in the thought that we have got perfection, at least- as com-
pared with our fathers. And now that Great Britain has spent nearly
six hundred millions sterling — tuj United States considerably mon —
(other nations in proportion) — on their railways, that is sheer nonsense
to talk of a change, except, perhaps, in the matter of gauge, though even
that was fought against with the most persistent determination by many
of our most eminent authorities, thus practically proving that which we
are ever willing to deny — viz., our beliet in the oft quoted aphorism,
" Whatever is, is Right ;" and I would just like to remark (incidentally,
of course,) in regard to the said quotation, that, so far as the practical
opinions and beliefs of 999 out of every 1,000 of the world's inhabitants
are concerned, a more profoundly correct saying was never promulgated
either by poet or philosopher — notwithstanding all that may be said to
the contrary.
But to return to our subject, viz., " the want of power in the engine
while acting on the rails." There were many causes at work — such as
the cheapness of labour, fuel, iron, &c., &c., — also the short distances
between towns and cities — which caused this evil to be but lightly felt
on the majority of British railways (they ai-e beginning to feel the want
now, though, as proved by their having to drive coupled engines with all
their "fast heavy trains.") But we having copied — with almost si-ivish
fidelity — her railway system and pvaotice — though with conditions and
necessities as different as can well he imagined — find, what are compara-
87
tively insignificant evils to her, immense obstacles to us ; this is shown
by the fact, that although the English merchant may have to pay —on
account of the defects under discussion — from 4c to 4^0 per ton per mile
for his goods in place of 2c, which otherwise would be sufficient — yet,
from the fact that he seldom requires to freight more than forty ov fifty
miles, he finds the additional 2c but a very trifling impost after all, so
small, in fact, as to be hardly worth noticin<». But when you take the
case of the Canadian merchant freighting from Montreal to Toronto at
4^0 per ton per mile, in place of 2;Jc, you can easily see how differently
the evil works in the different countries ; to the English merchant it
makes a difference of only 80c or 90c on each ton of goods ; to the Cana-
dian merchant it is seven or eight dollars ; in the majority of cases, the
diflference in freight charges would make a large profit on the goods car-
ried ;* consequently, in a country of such immense distances as Canada,
or the United States, it becomes a matter of vital importance to avoid
even the smallest defects, as the defects get exaggerated according to the
length of the line, until at last they become insurmountable obstacles.
Another defect of the railway system is caused by the fact that in practice
it is financially if not mechanically impossible to make, or if made to
maintain, a perfectly level road-bed. The grades on our new I'ailways ai'e
such as would make Mr. Stephenson, was he alive to see them, hold up
his hands in astonishment.
The very best of railways are never really in plain, seldom in Uncf
often loose at the joints, and so long as they are made after the present
fashion, they must continue to be defective. So long as railroads are
made by fastening rails to ties or sleepei's, placed directly on the surface
of the ground, they must remain subject to many causes of desti-uction,
let the road-bed be ever so well laid and deeply ballasted. The first heavy
rain-storm that comes will wash away some of the sand or ballast from
under the ends or middle of the ties, and they become depressed in parts ;
or a severe frost comes after a heavy rain and expands the ground, and
the sleepers are thrown up out of their proper line, the result being that
the road is rendered uneven throughout its whole course. Now, when-
ever an engine and cars pass over such a road, the wheels rise and fall
* To the farmer living in the North-western States, &c. , the difference is a matter
of vital importance, and represents the difference between prosperity and poverty.
" Five cents per bushel on corn, &c., more or less, (according to the Chicago Trifcwne)
between the farm and the sea-board, will make the difference between a good round
profit, or the complete loss of the years of labor ; or, in other words, it will take
about thirty millions of dollars from the cash value of their products for the year,
and five hundred millions from the cash value of their farms."
" It seems strange, no doubt, to those who do not know that a charge of one-
twentieth of a mill per 100 lbs., in the charge for transportation per mile, may take
hundreds of millions from the value of farms. It can neither be comprehended nor
intelligently directed without a full understanding of the conditions under which
agriculture exists in the North-western States, and of the power which the railway
has exerted, and still wields for the development or destruction of that great indus-
try." (From Railroads and the Farms, in the Atlantic Monthly for Nov., 1873.)
88
with the very inequality of the road-bed, and the cars acquire that abom-
inable thumping, bumping, and rocking from side to side and from end
to end, motion which we have all experienced on the best of roads. And
this lateral and vertical niction of the cars is not only exceedingly wwcow-
fortable but decidedly injurious both to passengers and freight, while it
ruins the road-bed and rolling stock ; indeed it renders the keeping of a
good, firm, and level permanent way an almost impossible task, as may
easily be seen by the following : " A locomotive engine running over a bad
or uneven road-bed. at a speed of 25 miles an hour, will strike every
ineqtMlity with a blow equal to that of a twelve ton Iiamraer, or sixty per
cent, more than the normal weight on the engine. The driving wheels
have been known to leap a distance oi fifteen inches over a depression, and
come down on the following projection with an almost inconceivable
force." And not only the driving wheels, but every wheel of every car
in the train, acts on such a road just like so many trip hammers set to
work to break up the track in the shortest possible time. (See foot-note.)
One consequence of this is, that the engineer in building a railroad,
has got to calculate the strength of his road, not only to sustain the
weight or pressure of the loads it is to carry, which if the roadbed was
perfectly firm and strong — and the cars had only proper, that is sliding
motion — is all he would require to provide for ; but he must make
ample allowance for the terrible destruction wrought by the vibration of
the cars and engine, and the higher the speed the greater the intensity
of the blow struck by the wheels ; hence the reason why on poor roads
with limited traffic the trains must go at a slow pace, a circumstance
which tells against us in Canada very severely indeed, condemning us to
creep along at a rate of 18 to 20 miles an hour, when, from the great
distances between our principal towns and cities, and the great length of
the Dominion, we ought to fly with the si)eed of the wind — when it is
blowing a hurricane, — and our inability to do so is to my mind, another
fact proving that the railway system is not alike applicable to Canada
* A Much-needed Improvement. — To the Editor of the Globe. — Sib, — The pre-
sent is decidedly an age of progress. We have now only to feel a want or recognise
an inconvenience till some one sets himself at work to provide a remedy. Won't
some genius, then, contrive to build a freight car that will carry its load of ten tons
lightly, elastically, and not like so much lead to go thumping and pounding over the
rails, crushing them to pieces, bieaking the trucks, straining every bolt and timber,
and too often seriously damaging the freight. Certainly something of this kind is
feasible.
It is the freight trains that wear out our railroads. Every loaded car is a ten-
ton trip hammer to break the rails, strain the spikes, shiver the wheels, and in many
cases injure if not destroy the freight. Frail and brittle materials can hardly be
packed so as to prevent them being broken ; others are compressed, such as sugars,
much to their injury ; tea becomes pulverized, so that it is found almost impracti-
cable to bring it over the Pacific road from San Francisco. With cattle and swine
we are told that at every rough place, over which the car thumps, the poor animals
groan and flinch and become foot-sore, and full of pains and fever, disease and
death. Mebchant.
BBOn
89 :"■•:; ::-l'.:.'"
and England, nor capable of yielding equal advantages to countries so
diverse in circumstances, climate and finance. *
I can fancy you now saying to yourself, " If tlie fault lies in the
permanent way or roadbed, can 've not so increase its strength and sol-
idity, as to put ourselves on a footing of equality with England and
other European countries, and so travel at a correspondingly high speed 1"
The answer is no, our climate is against us, our heavy and continuous
snows and frosts in winter, our thaws and freshets in spring, &c., places
us at a disadvantage which no money expenditure we can ever affori
will counterbalance.
In England, before the railway had been ten years in existence, it
was seen, to use the words of the " English mechunic," that if we could
only make a really permanent roadbed, one which by any ordinary
amount of expenditure, would keep in place and in line with the rail
joints, firm and solid, we would thereby double the life of the rails and
rolling stock. Consequenlly we find that for the last 30 years the most
intelligent and thoughtful railway engineers have concentrated their
entire abilities on the task of forming a really good and durable per-
manent way. They have tried all kinds of experiments, using every
description of support — stone, ii'on, wood, &c., and have sunk untold
millions in ballast, &c., and yet after all, the verdict pronounced by the
" London engineer," is that " the present permanent way is about the
most unpermanent thing upon earth, it is never in plain, seldom in line,
generally loose at the joints, always causing a fearful expenditure of
power without any good results."
'- During all those years it has of course, been taken for granted that
the railroad having become an established fact, carried out in practice in
almost eveiy country of the world, at a tremendous expenditure of time
and money, that therefore it was bound to statid to all time. — Nine hun-
dred and ninty-nine out of every thousand of the world's inhabitants felt
just as certain that the system of carrying goods in panniers on horse-
back, the stage-coach, but above all the canal, was sure to last forever,
■without change or modiBcation. — Indeed, so strong was, and is the
feeling of the perfection and permanency of everything connected with
the railway, that the proposition merely to contract the distance usually
left between the rails, was battled against by the great majority of rail-
way m^en with a determination and eloquence of argument that was
simply ludicrous. It was declared unhesitatingly and emphatically by
the most eminent railway authorities in Canada and elsewhere, that the
idea was impracticable in either a mechanical or economical sense, so that
* It is supposed to have been this excessive motion of the cars which caused the
fearful accident near Wigan, England, last week, an accident by which twelve lives
were lost and many injured. ludeed, there can be little doubt bat many of the
unexplained mishaps, by which hundreds of lives are sacrificed every year, are the
product of the same cause. If by any means the wheels are prevented from falling
back on the rails in their right position, (and the smallest tlung will do it), the
whole train rushes to destruction total and complete.
\
\\
4a
we owe the Toronto, Grey and Bruce, and the Nipissing narrow guage
railways solely to the boundless energy, pluck and foresight of Mr.
Laidlaw, (a man whose value to a young co\intry like Canada is ab-
solutely priceless), and the few congenial spirits whom he was able to
inoculate with his own enthusiasm, and they have, as usual, shown the
lUter worthlessness of the opiniona pronounced by '^practical msn," by
making the narrow gunge r. success. Now, under such circumstances, it
is hardly to be wondered at that the idea of superseding the railway
itsjlf by a something better, a something more in accordance with the
progressive spirit of the age, and the necessities of different countries,
should never once have entered the minds of our practical railway
engineers, indeed it would have been very wonderful if it had done so,
as it is very seldom that men make original im[)rovements or inventions
in their own particular business or profession.
Notwithstanding that I have already expended more time in my
necessarily discursive description of a few of the more prominent defects
inherent in and inseparable from the railway as a means of transit than
I at first intended, I will, for the purpose of impressing them the more
firmly upon your mind, recapitulate them in a few lines, adding one or two
more which tell against the railway, particularly in Canada and the North
and the North-western States of America. 1st then, there is the finan-
cial , if not physical impossibility of making, or if made, maintaining a good
solid permanent way except at an extravagantly high figure, such as only
countries having large traffic to carry for short distances, such for ex-
ample as England, can afford to pay. 2nd defect, having to make the
road-bed as near a dead level as possible, so as to compensate for want of
tractive power in tjie engine, a defect which absorbs nearly three-
quarters of the money spent on railways. 3i'd. The tremendous blunder
of making the engine depend for tractive power on the same plain as that
upon which the load is hauled, seeing that the load and the engine re-
quire conditions the very reverse of each other in the roadbed, the load
the least possible friction, the engine a large amount, of that condition or
force. That such a palpable and obvious blunder has been allowed to
exist all these years without seeming even to have excited any particular
comment, appears to me to ai'gue either extreme poverty of invention,
or inconceivable thoughtlessness and want of originality in our railway
engineera. 4th defect, is the excessive weight of the engine and cars
in proportion to the loiuls carried. 5th. The great amount of lateral
and vertical motion always present in a running train, ruinous not only
to a roadbed and rolling stock, but exceedingly disagreeable and injuri-
ous to the passengers and freight, «kc. 6th. The danger to life and limb
from the cars leaving the track — trains being thrown from the rails by
the simplest accident, such as the breaking of an axle, a small piece
coming off the flange of the driving wheel, a broken rail, the spreading of
the rails, an obstruction on the track, &c., ckc. ; in short, the hun-
dred and one accidents which have and must continue to occur, while
41
there is no power to hold the engine and cars to the roadbed, but the
conehuf of the wheels and the small flange now in use.* 7th. The
long time and large capital it takes to complete even a short line of rail-
way. 8th. The liability of the traffic on our railways being stopped
or greatly impeded for i\.t least three months out of the twelve
by snow.
As a matter of fact, the greatest objection of all to the railway as a
means of transport in Canada and the United States, arises fron. the
inability of the locomotive to contend with the fearful snow drifts that
occur in all parts of the covintry during the winter months ; the loss,
* " There w an old fiuicy that soldiering is the most dangeroaH busiueds in which
man can engage, but take it all in all, war is not so deadly as railway traveUin};,
The entire number of soldiers killed in the two years' war ii; tho Crimea was 2,555.
Our railways, as a regular thing, do nearlr as much kilUng per annum. Not a
very complimentary thing this to live genius of the age. The railway machinery,
so to speak, is worked at such a high pT+ch as to ha* ^ got beyond any ordinary
means of control ; in its vastner.3 and complication it has outstripped human in-
telligence. Already the public are so much alarmed that many, to our own know-
ledge, will not risk themselves on board a train. What a bitter satire on the
vaunted improvements of modern times." — Chambers Journal for J.pril, 1874.
And that the public luive good cause for their alarm is proved by tho lists of
accidents which appeur every day, though as a matter of fact, the public have been
systematically deceived by the railway companies on this heac, find it is only now
that the truth is coming out, for example the Lancashire and Yorkshire Company,
returned for 1873 — 39 killed, 73 injured ; tho real numbers were found to have
been 54 killed, and no fewer than 1,367 ii.jured, or for the whole country 1,110
killed, and 27,030 injured ; in the half-year ending April, there were 500 killed and
14,000 injured on the railways in Great Britain, while only 3,640 were injured, and
162 killed in all the factories and other workshops of the Kingdom. In the United
States so numerous and aggravated have the accidents become of late, that it has
been proposed in the New York State Legislature to make the companies responsible
for the value of every life lost on the railways of that State. During the month of
December there were no fewer than 103 accidents of all kinds on tho railroads of the
United States, kiliing 37 and seriously injuring 114 ; in November the killed were
37, injured 114 ; October, 29 killed, 102 injured, and so on throughout the year, or
for the ten months 489 accidents, killing and maiming upwards of 1,000 persons,
not to mention the immense amount of property destroyed. In Canada, if the pro-
portion is not quite so large, any one who remembers the Shannonville dis-
aster on the Grand Trunk, and the Komoka tragedy on tho Great Western, will be
satisfied that they are at least enough to induce all caution. Now the query arises
what can be the cause of this fearful increase in the accidents, particularly in
Gre.^t Britain ? Just this, the business of all the principal roads has been doubled
within fourteen years, the consequence is that they require to dispatch a train
every ten or fifteen minutes, freight and passenger, just as they come. Now only
fancy, an interval of ten minutes between two heavy express trains, running 38 or
40 miles an hour, — is it any wonder there are accidents ; is it not a miracle rather,
that there are so few. But you say why not build more roads, and so be able to
regulate the business. The why is very plain, railroads don't pay, not even when
actually doing twice as much business as they were designed to carry — the fools
and speculators that build the present roads (in Canada as well as Great Britain),
being cleaned out ; the men who have the money take warning by their fate, and
refuse to bum their fingers for other people's benefit, and so the kiUing and destruc-
tion will continue until we get more sensible roads, or the Governments are willing
to pay the piper.
' .:,■...-/■; -12 •;■;■,,•.'•
inconvenience, and expense to the proprietors of the roads, as well as the
public, from this ca\ise, is a something altogether incredible to any one
who has not looked into the subject for himself.
For example, since the 13th of December, 1872, to the middle of
March, 1873, the railways of the Lower Province (including the Inter-
colonial — a road specially built at a cost of millions to avoid the incon-
venience of the snow, as far as it is possible to do so) have not been able
to count on regularity of movement for two days together, the track having
been snowed up as long as eight and ten days at a time, as late as the first of
March, so that the Lower Province Members of Parliament ware delayed
for days on their way to Ottawa. Moreover, what traffic was moved
was carried at greatly increased cost to the Companies and the Govern-
ment. As for the Grand Trunk (the Railway of Canada), the London
(English) Standard says : " The traffic returns for the week ending the
28th December, show a decrease of £12,960 ($64,800)." The cablegram
adds, " that in consequence of the severe frost and heavy snow, the
freight traffic is nearly suspended ; in Montreal, since the 2l8t ult., the
thermometer has stood 19 above zero, and often 20 degrees below that
point." ^
Again, " the traffic receipts on the Grand Trunk Railway, for the
week ending 18th January, amounted to £30,130, and for the corres-
ponding week of last year £35,795, showing a decrease of £5,695. The
aggregate receipts, since the 1st of J lary to date, amounted to £76,-
493, against £102,520 for the corres ng period last year, showing a
decrease of £26,027 " — or, say $130,v.^o. Now, when you add to the
above $195,000, the amount paid for cleaning the track, extra engines
required to move what traffic was carried, &c., &c., (recollect that
it only covers a space of one month, while the loss must have gone on for
nearly three,) you can form some idea of the immense difficulty created
by the snow. Indeed, it is no exaggei'dtion to say that the snows and
frosts reduce the effective power of a railroad in Canada fully 30 per
cent.* Mr. Brydges, Manager of the Grand Trunk, stated some time
Ago in a s[)eech he delivered in Montreal, that it was quite impossible in
the months of January and February for railroads in Canada to be
operated with anythinng like regularity or speed ; and that it would
•continue so until our climate changed. At the beginning of January,
orders are always given to conductors to run with the greatest caution
during the winter, and to make no attempt in extremely cold weather to
run on time.t Such is railway locomotion in Canada, and I ask any
* N. B. — We are comparing winter rdth winter, to show the effect ol an
unuitial amount of snow. If we were to compare the winter with the summer
months, the contrast would, of course, be infinitely greater. For instance, it i?
reported that the Grand Trunk took no less than $250,000 in one week this spring.
f From the wording of the above extract, many persons might believe that
Mr. Brydges wished us to understand that the irregularity of speed, &c., &o., was
the result of extra caution ; but such is not really the case. It would be physically
impossible for any man to keep ticae on the Grand Trunk Railway during the
43
sane man it' I am not correct in saying " that the railway is not adapted
to a country like this, nor capable of yielding the service required of it ;
and that if we intend to maintain proper and continuous communication
wivn our fellow-subjects of Manitoba and the Pacific coast, we must de-
vise and put in operation a system of transit very different from the rail-
road." In fact, the man who would dispatch a train, or risk himself on
board of one on a journey from British Columbia to Ontario in the
depth of winter (unless there were regular settlements every thirty or
forty miles along the route, from which assistance could be had in
case of need), must either be a madman or a fool.
Since writing the above, T have seen the report of an interview be-
tween Mr. Potter, President of the Grand Trunk, and the correspondent
of the Toronto Ghbe, in which Mr. Potter says ; *' The fact of the matter
is, our working expenses are enormous, cne long winters and the severity
of the climate is so great, that it would have been money in our pockets if
we had closed the line during the winter months of this last season of 1872-3,
the cold has been so intense, the weather so unfavorable, and the damage
done to our rolling stock during the last six weeks so great, that it will
cost us thirty thousand pounds for repairs." Further on he declares
that the local or Canadian traffic of the Grand Trunk would n;>t, and
never did, pay working expenses, " and that even the Great Western (the
only paying r l in Canada) could not possibly pay working expenses
from local traffic," which is, to me, conclusive, irrefragable jrr 00/ th&t the
railway system 0/ transit cannot be worked with a profit in Canada at the
present time. ,, .
'['(■-■ii'.i: ■
Having thus explained a few of the defects inherent in and insepar-
able from the railway as a system of locomotion, especially in Canada or
the United States, I will now give a sketch of the system which I believe
is destined to supersede it, merely prefacing my description by the state-
ment that no invention of this (or, in fact, any other) kind is perfect at
its inception or first trial ; there are a hundred matters ot detail, modifi-
cation, and organization, which can^ only be perfected after trials and
experiments.
The first necessity in an invention like this is to make certain that
your orighial idea — the foundation on which you intend to build — is
scientifically correct, that it is in perfect harmony with the well-established
laws ofmec/tanics. The second is, simple and abiding faith in its utility,
and your own power to make the idea blossom out into a reality, an every
winter, unless he used double the locowotive power he was in the habit of employing
in the summer ; and the reason is very obvious : the engine depends for traction
on the friction produced between the drivers and the rails. Now, a slight fall of
snow, a thin film of ice, or even a heavy dew on the rails, will diminish the friction
or traction from 60 to 80 per cent.; hence you will perceive there is just one out of
three things to be done in winter : either the locomotive must start with one-third
the ordinary summer load, or starting with a full load, say from Toronto, leave a
Sortion of it as it goes along, acording to the state of the rails ; or do, as is now
one, viz., keep the ordinary load and lower the speed as the friction decreases.
*% [^
44
day fact, and I can assure you tliat there are very few mecluinical impca-
dbilities when takeii in that way. Take as an example of what I mean,
the invention of the " Bessemer process for making steel," — one of the
most important inventions of modern times. Mr. Bessemer says, " Many
experiments were made in different iron works, according to my plan as
explained in my patent, but they all turned out failures, so that thegi'eat
expectations at the beginning gave place to incredulity ; ever^/ one avowed
t/ie thing would not work ; 1 myself found practical difliculties. Instead,
however, of answering the many objections of the newspapers, J tried
experiments, and found out the cause of failure, and succeeded perfectly
in making steel by my method, and now brought my invention in its
new and perfected form before the public ; but unbelief had only inci'eased.
' Ah, that is the thing,' they said, ' which made such a noise three years
ago, and turned out a failure.' They considered my discovery as a meteor
which had flown through the metallurgical sky, and left only sparks be-
hind. Nobody wanted to hear any more about my invention, and I had
endless difficulty to convince a single iron maker of the advantages of
my plan."
Just the usual history of all important inventions. First, it is an
idea, a suggestion of the fancy ; then comes faith in the truth and utility
of the suggestions, and lastly, reason and experience gets to work, aud
through many failures (it may be) works out the idea into Sifact, the
fancy into a reality, the world — even the most intelligent portion of it —
persistently refusing to believe (although, as in this case of Bessemer's,
with all the necessary data before them, on which to form a correct
judgment), until compelled to yield by the stern logic of accomplished
fact ; consequently, you must expect to find many apparent diff7culties to
the carrying out of my proposed " system of transit," and to have many
objections suggested to you by others — although, for my nart, I Jiave
never vet found an engineer or mechanic who could or xoould state an
intelligible objection to my plan ; in fact, it has been quite the contrary,
and so unanimous has been the commendation of the idea, that I have
been sometimes tempted to think they were hardly sincere.
However, in dealing with objections when tliey do come, I beg of
you to recollect that the first and yrmin point to be uficided is, is the idea,
the principle of \i%Q\{ feasible, is it in accordance with the laws o^mecftanics
— not so much whetbar it is carried out in the most complete and perfect
form, and to enable you to judge of its feasibility, and whether it is in
accord with the well-established principles of mechanical philosophy, we
■will first look at the idea upon which the raihoay is found'r^d and built
up. M?, R. Stephenson (son of the originator of the railway system)
says : " The general principle of railways may be regarded as the adaptation
of mechanical contrivance for the diminution of friction in the ordinary
appliances of locomotion, and consequent reduction in time and space,
proportioned to the degree of perfection attained in the means employed."
Hence you will perceive that the whole question of superiority in
45
different methods of transit, or rather (in different kinds of roads) resolves
itself into !-he diminution of friction. Foi* example, a horse or an engine
will draw 3^ times as much on a macadamized road as on gravel or
dirt, 4^ times as much on a hard pavement, and 18 times as much on an
ii'on rail — the advantage of the rail over all other methods of transit
hitherto proposed is therefore very apparent. In the case of railways,
however, and any method of transit proposed as a substitute for them,
the power of the engines used, and the cost of building and maintaining
the road-bed, also the weight of the engine and cars in proportion to
the load carried, must be taken into account.
GOUDIE'S PERPETUAL SLEIGH ROAD.
The roadway which I propose as a vast improvement on the railway
will best b3 described by the drawings to be found in the front of the
book. Figure "! is an elevation ot the road and cars (showing it as an
elevated road), a a are posts or uprights of wood or iron, 18 inches,
more or less, in diameter, sunk in the ground beyond the reach of frost,
&c., and leaving 2 feet, more or less, above the level of the ground.
h h are longitudinal timbers laid upon and bolted to the u))rights a a.
c c c are sti?el wheels or rollers (coned or cylinderical),* moveing freely in
journals resting upon and fixed to the longitudinal timbers b b.f The steel
rollers c c c are fitted into boxes (not shown in the drawing) which keeps
the greater portion of them contiiiually covered with solid or other
lubricant. The beai'ings on which the rollers c c c revolve may have a
cushion of uibber or other (>la.stic material between them and the lonsi-
* It will be obvious to any oue who gives the subject a moment's consider-
ation, thnt the wheels or rollers c c may be made of a great variety of forms— spheres,
spheroids, cones, cylinders, &c., &c., and except for the bearings, of different
materials. By preference, however, I would make them double cones and hollow,
so as to contain their own lubricant, the material to be hard steel or chilled iron for
the bearings and face, and hard wood fo/ the body. The great advantage to bo
gained by the double cone is that it forms a V shaped groove, in which the tube
runner of the sleigh can slide along with the least ])ossible friction ; it would
also forn. a perfect guide from whi( !i the runners could not escape. We tlms avoid
the necessity for, and the very consi lerable loss of, power which would be occasion-
ed by the use of outside ^aide-whef 1, plying on the .'.cngitudinal beamn (although,
as a matter of precaution, I would have s ich wheels on every sleigh and engine),
'^he advantt.ge gained by making composite rollers — wood and iron — is, of conrse-
to Canada particularly — of great importance as a saving of expense (no roller needs
more than two or three pounds of steel) .
t In building a " Sleigh road" for verj heavy traffic, such for instance as the
cai'riage of canal boats, barges, &c. &c., in place of fixing the rollers so %n to turn
on their axes in the longitudinal timbers 6 6, 1 form thom in pointed groups and
leave them free to roll round a solia centre, or in grooves, made for the purpose in
the said timbers b b, thereby redvioing friction io a minimum ; ia ordinary cases,
however, the gain would not be worth the extra cost.
46
tudiual timbers b b, to which they are bolted, so as to absorb any
vibration that may be caused by the cars or engine, also for the purpose
of rendering the road noiseless, d d ia the centre road on which the
driving-wheels of the locomotive run; it is about 18 inches, more or less,
below the level of the rollers c c c, so as to allow the bottoms of the
sleighs to hang down between the timbers b b, thereby preventing the
possibility of the sleighs leaving the track by accident.
Fig. 2 shows a plan of the road laid upon the surface of the
ground in the same manner as an ordinary railroad, a a ai-e the cross-
ties or sleepers ; b b are the longitudinal timbers laid parallel to each
other and bolted firmly to the ties, c c are the steel or other rollers.
The rollers c c rest upon and revolve between double timbers as shown
in the drawing ; they are also supplied with lubricant from a box not
shown, and rest when necessary upon springs or cushons. Fg. 5 is a
section of the runner on which the car is placed ; a a are India rub-
ber or metal spritijs placed between the bottom of the car and the run-
ner, to absorb whatever vibration (if any) may be created by the train
while in motion ; b b are' the binding bolts ; c is an oil can and broom
which sweeps the track clear of any obstruction and oil« the rollers
c c c if necessary, N. B. — The broom «fec., is only wanted when the
track is left uncovered which need never be done, as one jf the great
advantages of this system of locomotion is, that the track with its
rollers c c may be kept completely covered over and protected from
snow, dust, water, &c., and even from sight almost as thoroughly as
though they were locked up in a box, and that in the simplest manner
— though simple as it appears I had been studying the subject for
months before the idea occurred to me — for example, you first lay your
track (with the rollers all fixed) imder the surface of the ground,
and then cover each side-piece with its rollers, with a sepai'ate arch (or
other structure) which projects over and above the rollers in such a way
as to leave a clear spp 'e of two or three inches between the covering and
the rollers ; all that is then necessary is to curve the standards which
connects the runner with the car, to the shape or form left betvreen the
cover and the rollers, vide the drawing figure 8. The runners of both
engine and sleighs are hollow, to enable us to keep up a circulation of
cold vater (or other fluid) and thereby prevent heating on long journeys.
Figure G is a section of the driving wheel of the engine; it is about 18
'inches more or less broad, and 6 feet more or less in diameter, covered
with India rubber or other elastic material of a suitable thickness.
The roadbed consists essentially ot a series of steel or other rollers
placed upon proper supports, such as upriglit pillars^ longitudinal
timbers, or fastened to steel rope by means of wooden or other blocks,
&c., &c.. the rollers are placed in parallel rows, with 4 feet more
or less, between each roller, and 5 feet more or less, between the
rows ; each roller revolves freely on its axes in a box or other recep-
tacle which keeps it covered with lubricant, thereby enabling the runner
■I
.,-?^
I
Perpetual Sleig
Pig /.
Jm()2.
*^
Vjv, G.
czzz:n
/'^
RlC
/ \
M.Gua.-v!i.ift.B-.),!lKin»Sn
iOmiKvS
ruAL Sleigh Road
•>
' 6s-.
^.xa..
n_ __B El,._^.:=^.
^-JUL-i
22c:
znzn
3^ i i.
::nr_zzHz:z:
TT
:^;
E=S=dZfe
:s:
us:
XT
ECkHSHHHHrCZb
iss:
I^
"V-
^rszn:
5^tR^^-'=p^^^^^^^^
»^'
v,r..J:
-u=-
3.
<.
Fi<;7.
illall
Pm i
" Ai.V» "
Kio 4-
:tl
For Discrtption
3sE Page ^5.
I:
._,
i.qa^
^4-1 A
"IB
i Tig 5.
\
-JlMhifali |),]^iQ^!lKin» S'W.H,!^^*., _
, ^.>l
I *';;
L4
■
. ^
$ •
i
r
■'■ "■■■■ ■ v-," - ^' *"
> •■.'.•'.
*
"'•■■■-Hi'!?
".V
' ■'-" *•
""%
n
•
■ '
■■ f ■ '*
■■!■.■■ ."■'■.
I «
■f
• y'
-.1, ' 'j, ■ " ■ ' ' "■•,- ' ■:;■■,
> ■ -y •■ ■ ■
t ■ ■ \ ■ : .^
4?
\
■ " ■"','■
....■■.:'4.,
**
»■ "
'-.. --'.^j^--.;, '.»..
■■■.■•', --'\ ■ ''^ ■■ .
"
J
V
\
%
;%• ■■- V ^^... ^ , , .V,..
' ' '■ . ■> -■■
-._■■■'', ^,
-
1
-
a "=1
t .. _ . .^. . -.,.,, - .'rr •'- ...^- .~ -.._-. ^, ■ .
*^
-•-
8
'
s .
'S^
"^ I
~^- \
r
of the sleigh to pass over it with the least posftible friction ; or the
rollers are made hollow as before explained, and consequently contain their
own lubricant, which would require to be renewed once or twice a year,
the centre space between the row is levelled to make a smooth even sur-
face on which the driving wheels of the locomotive may work. In case
of an elevated road or one intended for great speed a plank road {d dva.
the drawing) is built in the centre upon cross ties bolted to the uprights
a a as before explained — or better still, it may be made to rest upon in-
dependent supports, thereby preventing all jar or shock to the road
carrying the traffic.
Now for th« motive power which will pull us along ; it will consist
of a locomotive engine, so modified in its arrangement as to have the
driving wheels in the centre of the track, and under the body of the
machine ; it will also be supplied with runners the same as the sleighs,
the runnel's resting upon t^e rollera c c c for the purpose of balancing it.
The runners of the engint "re made changeable, so as to throw more or
less of the engine's weight on the drivers, according to the burden they
have to pull. As I have shown, the driving wheels are of the elastic
type, such as are now used for traction engines on the common roads.*
" Although I huve so far referred to only one method of working this kind of
roadway, viz., by a locomotive engine supplied with elastic drivers operating on the
earth, or on an artificial track composed of asphaltum, concrete, wood, &c., Ac, it
must not be supposed that I am confined solely to that style of supplying power ;
on the contrary, I can conceive of no less than ten different ways in which I could
apply the steam engine to work such a roadway — or a railway. Hence the reason
I have expressed so much astonishment at the want of thought or ingenuity in our
railway engineers, who still operate our railroads as their originator did — no matter
the country, place, or circumstances — amid the arctic snows of Canada, or the
tropic heats of India, along the level prairie, or up the steep mountain side, the
same locomotive must toil. If it is a level, all the oetter, we can take a good load,
or go at a good speed ; if an incUne, then we must just do the contrary ; but to talk
of fitting the engine to the ground it has to travel over, why, that is rank railway
heresay : the thing has never been done, and hence it cannot be done, &c. And you
need not be in too big a hurry to condemn or laugh at such logic, for I could take
a het that you, my dear reader, have either thought or spoken in pretty much the
same style before now.
I can, however, only give the bare outline of threee or four styles of operating
the road which might be adopted . 1. The centre track might be made in the form of a
groove, say 6 inches deep and 12 inches wide, and the driving wheel being covered
with rubber or other elastic material, would be kept in the groove by the engine's
weight, or made to work tight ; in that case we could have almost any power of
engine, independent of its weight. 2. The track could be formed by a solid beam
of wood, say 8 bj 12 inches, and the driving wheels supplied with a flexible double
flange, which would grip the beam in pretty much the same way as we catch with
our fingers. 3. We could form the centre track with cross-ties, so that it would look
something like a ladder, and the soft elastic face of the driving wheels would be
forced in between the rmigs, and so give a tremendous hold. This style would also
be independent of the tceU/ht of the engine — a matter of the greatest significance —
and HO on ; at the same time, neither of these methods are necessary, as the friction
produced between the elastic drivers and the roadway — either wood or earth — would
be as much as wc could possibly use up, while it has the great advantage of being
simple and inexpensive.
48
The break power may consist of a certain number of flat iron shoes,
faced with thick .^ndia rubber, or other elastic material, the said shoes to
be pressed to the earth or the centre plank road, by means of screws,
levers, «fec. ; or it may consist of iron sheers y«cec^ with rubber, to catch
the longitudinal timbers b b ; that, however, is a matter of detail, which
will have to be settled by trial.
The object of this system of locomotion, as you have, no doubt,
already perceived, is to substitute a sliding or sleigh motion for the cir-
cular or wheel motion now in use. So that a ride in a car, on this plan,
will more resemble a sail on a perfectly smooth sea, or a sleigh ride over
well packed snow, than the jolting, thumping, swaying motion of our
present railway cars.
To get a thoroughly correct idea of this system in operation, you
must imagine yourself on board the " Bella," an ice-boat which last year
flew over the frozen bosom of the Hudson River, with a fair wind, at
the rate of nine miles in seven minutes, thus beating the expi'ess train,
against which she was running, by nearly two to one. Indeed, the ice-boat
has the credit of suggesting this system ot transit, which I jiropose to intro-
duce, as it was while watching with intense admiration, some ten years ago,
the swift and graceful motions of the ice-boats, as they went sweeping over
the glassy surface of Lake Ontario, that the idea first sprung up in my
mind, that if it were only possible to form a " permanent way " as smooth,
level and firm as the frozen lake, we would have per/ectio7i, or as near it as
man could ask in a roa(hoay. The system i have now explained is the
outcome of my cogitations on the subject, and it is almost needless for
me to say that it is simply a mechanical substitute for the frozen river
and the ice-boat, though unlike most other imitations, it will be found
very much superior to the original, inasmuch as the artificial roadway has
a motion as well as the sleigh or boat, while the ice is stationary, and only
the boat moves \ furthermore, the runners of the ice-boat cut deep into
the surface which supports it, and thereby creates a great deal of unne-
cessary friction, while the runners of the sleigh scarce touch the surface
of the wheels or I'ollers c c (which form the road), skimming over their
greasy faces with such celerity as to leave, " like the baseless fabric of a
vision, not a ^ trace' behind." ; ■'■■:■ .• i ' ,•
And if it is a fact (and no one can deny it) that an ice-boat under
sail has carried four men at the rate of 85 miles an hour, while the
runners were cutting so deep into the ice as to almost blind them with
the showers of broken ice, what speed may be expected from a sleigh
running over revolving steel rollers, kept continually covered with oil,
so that the runner of the car can barely kiss their circumference, the
sleigh being, of course, propelled by a powerful steam engine, with, in
many instances, the sail in addition 1 So far, I have only referred to
the steam engine as the moving force on the new road ; at the same
time, I wish it to be distinctly understood that for long journeys (say
across continent), and where cheap freight is (as it must always be) a
49
nder
the
with
jleigh
oil,
e, the
th, in
ed to
same
(aay
be) a
matter of vital importance to producers and the ])ublic, that wind power
should be used, wherever practicable ; with the railway it is simply im-
possible, but with the " sleigh road " it will be found entirely practicable,
profitable, and ea^ ; so small is the force necessary to move, say, 200
tons, on the sleigh road, that for at least one hundred days every year
there will be found sufficient wind on the route to the Pacific, to drive a
200 ton load at 40 miles an hour. A good sailor can always make the
ice-boat go nearly double — some maintain at three times the speed of the
wind. (N. B.) I wish no man to take ray word for it, he can easily
calculate the friction for himself, and then ascertain the general force of
the wind in that country, and form his own conclusions on the subject ;
for myself, I can only say that I have expressed no hasty surmise, but
what I believe to be a truth. - ■
The simplicity and great advantages of such a system of locomotion
as I have described, must be apparent, I should think, to any one who
takes the trouble to comprehend the principle on which it is based. In
the first place, there must be great saving in building the road as com-
pared with a railway, a saving of not less than seventy per cent. This
saving is made principally because of the absence (comparatively speak
ing) of grading, grubbing, and ballastiny, also ditching, draining, &c., &c.,
the posts or uprights which support the rollers c c being made longer
or shorter, according to the inequality of the road. 2nd, there will
be a saving of at least seventy per cent, iu the amount of iron used, which,
according to the present price of iron, cannot be less than $7,000 per
mile. 3rd, owing to the absence of lateral and vertical motion, and using
cars only about one-third the present weight, no expensive bridging will
be necessary ; common trellis work, or rather in chains, formed by joining
the blocks of timber necessary to suppoit the rollers c c by strong steel
rope, we will have a structure amply sufficient in all cases — even for the
widest streams — more particularly as the driving wheels of the engine will
be lifted from the road in passing bridges or other hollows, so that the
train will slide over sweetly and smoothly by its previously
acquired momentum,* thus avoiding all possibility of vibration
or concussion. "And it will doubtless be admitted as a general
principle, both as regards heavy loads and high speeds, that
it is the coucussive action of train transit, that sets up, maintains and
magnifies, disentegration, dislocation, and wear and tear, that this action
is at a maximum wherever the rigidity of the permanent way is the
greatest and that it is minimised by elasticity." — En'^llsh Mechanic.
4th. There will be perfect safety to life and limb — as the cars cannot
leave the track by accident — a circumstance of the very first importance
as it is from this cause that nearly all the terrible railway accidents,
occur ; as instance the fearful destruction on the Great Northern (Eng-,
* The engine is fitted with an automatic apparatus which, the instant the
driving wlieel is eased from the road, shuts off steam and applies a powerful break,
thus checking its speed until it again touches ground, when the break is removed
and the steam let on.
4
60
land), and at Shannon ville, on the Grand Trunk, etc., etc. 5th. The
plejisant sliding motion of cars, will allow of the passengers sleeping,
reading or writing undisturbed by the dreadful thumping and swinging
motion now experienced on the railways, while the absence of the terrible
noise now endured will permit conversation to be carried on with comfort
and convenience, 6 th. The great speed that may be attained with per-
fect safety — as much as eighty to ninety miles an hour — is undoubtedly
one of its very greatest advantages, particularly to a country like Canada,
which now stretches from ocean to ocean. 7th. The gi'oatly diminished
wt'ight of cars and engines, owing to the absence of platforms, wheels,
<kc., &c., will cause a very considerable saving in the cost of rolling or
rather sliding stock as compared with railways — nearly one half ; but in
altering — which must necessarily be done — the present railways to the
new system we could utilize all or nearly all the present carriages by
simply lifting them oflf their platforms and putting them on runners —
they would, of course, be much heavier than those specially constructed
for the new road — but might for a time be made available rather than
incur the expense of entirely new coaches. 8th. The fact of the road
being elevated three or more feet above ground will give it gi-eat advan-
tages, in overcoming all manner of obstructions, such as snow, water,
Ac, an advantage which can be thoroughly appreciated by any one who
has had occasion to travel during the winter moiiths in Canada, the
West, or North "Western States of America. Another very great
advantage of this mode of construction is, that in passing through
towns and villages. &c., or over highways, public crossings, <fec.,
the posts or uprights, {a a) can be carried up so high and placed so far
apart froi ' each other, that the train could go thundering along over the
heads of everything with perfect safety. Or the uprights (« a) could be
brought so near the level of the road, the longitudinal timbei-s or bracing
(h b) being dispensed with ; the wheels (c c c) being placed directly on
the tops of the posts (a a) that all manner of traffic could pass in and
out between them
of bridges, gates,
reasons, the " Sleigh Road" must supersede all other's for city and street
traffic.
The form of roadway, however, which I would specially recom-
mend for street traffic, would be sunk flush with the crown of the street,
leaving only two small grooves visible on the surface, the longitudinal
beams carrying the rollers (c c) taking the form of a leanto or inverted V,
with the apex cut off, so as to leave a space for the runners of the
sleigh to pass through. With such a form of roadway there could be no
possible obstruction to ordinary street traffic, as all vehicles have, or
ought to have, tyres much wider than the space necessaiy for the sleigh
runner, consequently they could neither catch upon nor sink into the
grooves.*
• The only question which will arise is, as to the said grooves getting filled up.
my part I consider such a thing as very unlikely. 1st. The longitudinal beams
with perfect freedom, thereby saving the cost
or crossing.^, &c. In fact for this among many other
61
The
acmg
y on
and
Now it must be apparent to you that such a road would cost hut a
mere fraction of the amount usually spent on railways — even of the
slimest description. The cost per mile of " Goudies Sleigh Road" would
be — for a general traffic road, that is one capable of accommodating a
traffic as heavy as that carried by any railway on the continent — at pre-
sent prices about $6,000 — that is provided you had to buy all your timber
at regular market values, but as the majority of new roads in Canada
run through magnificent forests your lumber would cost only the expense
of cutting it. Consequently you can reduce the above estimate by over
$1,000 per mile.
The coat per mile for the permanent way in round numbers may be
stated thus : —
2,700 posts, 15 inches in diameter by fi feet, at 30c each ... $810
1,550 cross ties, 12 inches by 6 and G feet long at 20c 270
21,120feetof lumber (beams) 12 by 6 1,600 ',
4,280 do do do 342
For lumber $3,022 ;
.3,520 steel rollers (weighing with their supports) 4 lbs at 10c
per lb 1,408 ;,
Bolts, spikes and other sundries 200
Building the road 500
•') Unforseen sundries ]00
T "Wire rope for strengthening the timbers (6 h) and forming • '
bridges* 400
,,; Wire for Telegraph (small copper wire) 150
Total $5,780
to which the rollers (c c) are attached are at least 15 inches deep, and there will
be a space below that for drainage, so that in all there will be a space at least 20
inches in depth, and 8 inches in width, below the rollers, into which dust, stones,
water, Ac, can fall (as a matter of course nothing could remain on the rollers,
or if it did it would be cleaned off by the first sleigh that passed), and I will leave
it to your own common sense to say how long it would take to fill up such a chasm
with dust, or how often it would require to be cleaned out. Again, each sleigh
will have a small flexible broom in front of the runner to clear out any obstruction
that may have found its way into the grooves, or the sloighs may be furnished with
small wheels — having flexible paddles — which work in front of the runners, casting
out everything that may have found its way in ; in short there are a hundred de-
vices which could be adopted to keep the space clean. But what about the snows
of winter say you ? My only fear is that the average depth of snow is not sufficient
to pack the space between the beams (6 h), and keep the rollers thoroughly
covered ; if it is, I will be pleased, for it will save the wear of the rollers, also the
lubricant, while offering very little more resistance to the sleigh than the rollers
would. Indeed, my first idea of the sleigh-road was a series of troughs or boxes,
laid in parallel rows the same as the rails, and kept filled with solid ice ; the boxes
were protected from the snow the same manner as proposed for the sleigh-road,
and the ice was kept smooth by flooding when necessary, and such a road would
be of incalculable value in winter.
* By resting our longitudinal timbers (6 h) on first-class steel rope — which I
contend should be done — we could dispense with three-fourths of the upright posts;
it would also add immensely to the strength of the road and enable ns to cross the
fearful chasms to be met with on all parts of the proposed Pacific Railroad
route, and to bridge which in the usual way, would add enormously to the cost of
bnilding a railway.
V
■ -■■K:
62
Or in all very little more than half the amoiuit now spent for rails
alone ; yet I hold that I have allowed considerably more than the real
value of the articlcH named, and more than would be recjiiircd ; the only
item that may Wiem Hmall to many is the anjoimt for teh'gmph, but it
must be rememlKred that o great advantage of my system of road build-
ing is, that the telegraph wires can be laid inside the longitudinal beams,
(completely out of harms way), not only saving considerable expense in
building but also avoiding the continual break-downs which occur from
the wind, snow, etc., etc., and enabling us to use small copi)er wire
(which would not cost $50 per mile), and yet more than doubles the effi-
ciency of the service.
Now just contrast for one moment the above with the estimate
which has been accepted as the most favourable ottered for the construc-
tion of the road bed or permanent way of the " Kingston and Pembroke
Railway " — a barely second-cluss road at that — viz.. S22,000 i)er mile ;
or, with the amount spent or to be spent on the Intercolonial Railway,
viz., $48,000 per mile. A sum beside which my estimate looks utterly in-
significant, yet I hold that it will be found sutticient in all ordinary
cases, but, for the sake of argument, suppose we double it, and allow an
extra $1,000 per mile for bridges, «fec., the amount will still be little
over $10,000 per mile as the costunderthe most unfavorable circumstances.
Let us now contrast the working capabilities of the two systems,
and their cost for maintainance and operation.
For example, the Grand Trunk, which cost over $80,000 per mile,
is taxed to its utmost capacity in carrying 1,800,000 passengers and
1,400,000 tons of freight per annum, or say 6,000 passengers and 5,500
tons of freight per day of 24 hours, the locomotive being capable of
taking a load of 180 to 220 tons gross, or 80 tons net, on
grades of one in a hundred, or take the estimated amount of
work which the narrow-guage railroads (costing some $16,000
per mile) are capable of performing, viz., 400 tons of freight
and 800 passengers per day of 12 hours, the 17 ton engine taking
a gross load of 135 tons (or net 85 tons) up grades of one in a hundred
at 20 miles an hour. Now, we will suppose for the sake of argument,
that the amount of friction on the "sleigh road " will be quite equal to
that on the railway, (although we know that it is according to the laws
of friction less than one-half), and that consequently it will take as much
power to haul a ton on the one road as on the other. That being the
case, the relative working capacity of the two systems must be decided
by the tractive power of the engine, the amount of dead weight carried,
and the speed which could be kept up as a rule, without injury to tho
permanent way. The locomotive depends for its tractive power on the
adJiesion of the driving ivheels to the rails, and the adhesion is in pro-
portion to the weight carried on the drivers — which must of course, be
in proportion to the size of the cylinders, &c., &c. — thus a 35 ton engine
will have say 1 7 tons on the drivers, and 600 lbs. per ton of that amount
23
63
may be taken as the 7neasure of the adliesion to the rails, thus giving an
effective tractive or haulhig power of a little over 10,000 lbs. The
locomotive to be used on the " sleigh road " as already explained, is fur-
nished with elastic ti/rcs (that is tho driving wheels are covered with
very thick India rubber or other elastic material), and travel on the earth,
on a wood, asphaltum, or artificial stone roadway made for it. Conse-
quently, you can see at a glance, that as the tractive power of a loco-
motive depends upon the friction between the driving vheels and the
road on which it travels ; the " sleigh engine " must have much the
greater power, as there must be infinitely more yWciiow between a rubber
tyre acting on the earth, plank, or other mentioned roads, than between
a smooth steel tyre turning on a smooth steel rail. It fortunately hap-
pens, however, that we are not left to conjecture as to the difference, as
Messrs. J. k T. Dale, of Kirkcaldy, Scotland, who are extensively en-
gaged in the manufacture of road locomotives with elastic tyres (such as
those proposed), have, after a series of exhausting trials, determined the
exact amount of traction given by each engine from 4 horse-power up
to 25 do., and we find that a 13 ton locomotive furnished with elastic
tyres, gives a tractive force of 16,700 lbs., when acting on the ground —
and we know, as a matter of fact, that it would give about the same
acting on wood, «fec. — but as in the " sleigk system of transit," the loco-
motive is balanced on runners, having the driving wheels directly under
the centre of the engine, its tvhole weight can be thrown on the driver
when necessary, (in the ordinary locomotive little more than half the
weight can be put on the drivers), thereby greatly increasing its tractive
power, so that if a 13 ton engine balanced on wheels in the ordinary
maaner gives 16,700 lbs. traction, the same tveiyht of engine would, on
the new system, give in round numbera say 20,000 lbs. ; hence you see
an engine weighing only 13 tons, actingo n the new system gives nearly
double the traction of a 35 ton locomotive acting on the railway.
1 wish you to inark this fact very particularly, as it is really the
foundation on which a considerable portion of the *' new system's "
superiority rests. For example, I have shown that one great defect of
the railway is the limited power of the engine, and the practical impos-
sibility of increashig that power beyond the present limit. As for every
additional horse power, we would require to add one-third of a ton to
the weight of the engine — a weight of engine which, carried much fur-
ther, would destroy the strongest road ever built, in two or three years.
Let us now contrast the two engines and their powers on their re-
spective roads. 1st. The railway locomotive of the first class weighs>
with tender, 42 tons, and is capable of hauling a gross load of say — at
the outside — 230 tons, at 25 miles an hour, on a road with a ruling
gradient of one in a hundred — a more favourable grade than is likely to
rule the Canada Pacific Railway.
The sleigh locomotive of the first claps will weigh, with tender, say
23 to 25 tons (having 22-inch cylinders, and working steam at high
■>
54
pressure, so .-s to use up the higher traction of the drivers), and be
capable of hauling a gross load of 1,000 tons, at 35 to 40 miles an hour,
on a level sleigh road.
And you aro aware that the great advantage of the sleigh road is,
chat it can be laid level just as easily and, in the majority of cases, more
cheaply than with a grade ; or the same engine wilJ take a gross load of
800 tons up a grade of one in forty at the same speed, viz , 35 to 40
miles an hour.
Indeed, this style of engine luuj great advantages ovei the railway
locomotive in ascending tirades and working sliarp curves, as may
easily be seen from the fact, that the force of tractioii on a I'ailroad must
be increased three-fold to ascend an incline of one in a- hundred, while on
a common macadam road, it will not require to be increased one-third ;
that is, the railway locomotive will lose tivo-thirds of its power in
ascending an incline, which the sleigh engine will mount with a loss of
less than 30 per cent. This will be more easily apprehended by recol-
lecting that the fi'iction of iron on iron (or the whf^els on the rails), is
stated by M. Morion at •14 ; iron on wood, -62 ; soft rubber on wood
may be stated at '99. The limiting angle of resistance of iron on iron
is 7"58 ; of iron on wood 31"48; of soft rubber on wood, '90 ; while the
rigid wheel base of the sleigh locomotive is not one-half that of the rail-
way engine, consequently it can round curves of one-half the radius.*
The evil effects ai-ising from the fearful amount of dead iveight car-
ried on all railways may be very clearly seen by again returning to the
case of the Grand Tr'nik.
We have shown that the Grand Trunk was taxed to its utmost
capj^city (in the year 1872) to move 1,800,000 passengei's an ' 1,400,000
Ions of freight. Now, let us see what was the real — the gro;, s — weight
stnt over that line to accommodate that amount of traffic. In the case of
the passengei's it must have been about two and a half million tons, and
for the freight, not h ss than eight millions. In other words, to accom-
modate the 6,000 passengers, (weighing about 400 tons,) carried daily,
there passed over the line a gross weight of not less than 9,000 tons of
cars ; while 30,000 tons of carriages were required to move 5,500 tons
of freight. " ' , '
Or cuppose we state it in this way :
"'() form a train capable of accommodating, say 150 passengei-s, on
railroads, you will require (in Canada or United States) 3 carriages, each
weighing 20 tons, a bair'-::ige car, 14 tons, locomotive and tender, 42
tons, in all IIG ; or at tli<' late of 13 tons dead weight to one ton paying
weight, provided that the cars are full ; but as the rule is that they are
seldom more than two-thirds full, the proportion is nearer 25 tons dead
*'We are able to double the power of the engines while docreaBing there weight
by adiHnr; a portion of the weight we save in wheels, ite., to the boiler and
machtii-ry, and working steam at a much higher pressun; than is usual on a rail-
way — twid, perhaps, by using compound engines.
65
on
weight to one ton paying weight, and that, too, without making any allow
ancef or sleeping and Pullman palace cars, &,c.; or ifyou wishtodispatch 50
ons of merchandise, you will require a train of at least 250 tons. Now, let
us contrast the weights of trains of a similar description on the sleigh road.
The passenger train on the " sleigh road " would consist of three
cars, each weighing five tons ; one baggage car, three tons ; engine and
tender, t'.velve tons ; in all thii-ty tons, or a little over three tons dead
weight to one paying — we are alloMung extra weight for all the cars, while
the twelve ton engine is powerful enough to take eight cars in place of
*hree at sixty to seventy miles an hour, or four cars at any speed which
may be desired up to the working speed of the machinery.
Freight trains on the " sleigh road " will be made up of seventy-five
parts paying weight to twenty-five parts dead weight ; in othei* words,
the freight car will weigh about five tons, and transport fifteen tons of
goods, so that a seventy -five horse power locomotive will be able to cany
two hundred tons of fr ight on the " sleigh road " at forty miles an hour,
for every sixty tons which the one hundred andffty horse power locomo-
tive now carries on the railroad at twenty miles an hour ; consequently,
if the friction on the " roller road " was double (while it is less than one-
half) — nay, even if it was/owr times the amount of that between the rails
and wheels of the railroad and the locomotive, the advantage would still
be with the " sleigh roads " — immensely in favor of it in every particular
— further, this ivimense reduction of dead weight in proportion to paying
weight, would render the " sleigh road " by far the cheapest, even if it
cost three times the price of the railway to build it, in place of coating, as
it does, less than one-half of the cheapest railways in operation. Now,
sir, I need hardly tell you that I am fully conscious how startling my
assertions must seem to the majority of my reader's. I am also well
aware that very few man are, by nature, close reasoners on new subjects ;
we are all more or less unAvilling to bestow either time or attention on
any subject or idea which seems to run counter to the whole teaching of
our age. It is so much easier to say '' Pshaw ! nonsense ; do you mean
to tell me that if what you say is true, that wc would not have found it
out long ago ] You may tell that to the Horse Marines," kc, &c. It
is so much easier, I say, to act thus, than to sit down and give a fair,
full, and minute consideration to the subject in debate, that ninety-nine
out of every hundred, even of the men from whom we would expect better,
generally do it. I will, therefore, even at the risk of being thought tedious,
prove my assertions. 1st, even if it takes/ottr times the power to pull a
given load on the " sleigh road" that would be i*equired on a railway, the
advantage would still be in favor of the " sleigh road," and I pi-ove it
thus : for every ton of goods carried OJi the i-ailway, you on an average
carry seven tons of can'iage; according to the London Times, &c., for
every passenger carried you require two tons of wood, iron, tfec, in the
form of carriages ; and according to the Massachusetts Railway Conimis-
mission, the proportion of dead weight in the United States is as high as
56
" what
great
thirty to one. On the " sleigh road," for every ton of goods carried you
have 500 lbs. dead weight, and for every passenger you would have less
than one-fifth of a ton ; consequently, as twenty-eight is to one in the case
of freight, and as eight is to one in the case of passengers, would be the
advantage of the sleigh road over the railway. ^'
But you may answer me, " that may be all true, provided you can carry
passengers and goods with the weights mentioned, but so far, you have
merely taken it for granted." "Well, my answer is,
man has done, man may do again," and we find that our
grandfathers built stage coaches weighing barely 16 cwt. (or minus the
wheels, barely 9 cwt.), in which they bowled along the most abominable
country roads at the rate of 8 and even 10 miles an hour, with two tons
of passengers and nearly as much baggage. 2nd. An ordinary well-made
'' country wagon " weighs 800 lbs. (minus the wheels 500) and yet jogs
along over roads on which the wheels rise and fall often as much as 3
and 4 inches — with loads of 3,000 and 4,000 lbs. 3rd. Take a second-
class passenger car on the nari'ow-guage railway, capable of seating 30
pei'sons, and you will find the weight 4 tons 17 cwt., take away the
wheels and axles, also the platform to which they are attached, (weigh-
ing about 2^ tons) and you will find the remainder 2 tons and 12 cwt.,
&c. Now add to all this the fact that each of the vehicles named are
subjected to the most destructive of all motions, " perpetual concussion,"
— indeed their progress is just a series of jumps — and must be m.ade of
great comparative strength to resist the continual vibration to which
they are subjected. On the contrary, pi-ogressby "sleigh motion" is asimple
sliding along the surface without shock or jar of any kind whatever,
taking all which into consideration, I think you will admit that I have
allowed ample weight for ray cars, &c. Indeed I have not the least doubt
but that I could greatly reduce the t'^eights, with perfect safety to goods
and passengers. 1 further assert "that the sleigh roads could alFord to
carry passengers and freight at less than one-third the amounts charged
by rail even if they cost double the amount to build them ;" — this is
brought about by a number of advantages. 1st. Because the immense
reduction in dead weight. 2nd. By the superior power of the engines
and consequent reduction in engineers, firemen, roadmen, &c., needed to
operate the road, in proportion to the traflic carried ; for example, a
" sleigh locomotive " weighing say 23 tons — 300 horse power nominal —
could take a heavier load than any two ordinary railway locomotives,
while the whole additional expenses would be the coals burned. 3rd.
The road is practically unlimited in capacity, the engine — from the enor-
mous traction or friction produced between its elastic drivers and the
road prepared for them — may be made of any desired strength so as to
pull any conceivable load. Again, the railway is absolutely useless in a
hilly country (the best laid I'ailway operated by the most Doweiful loco-
motives would not have an advantage of 20 per cent over the common
horse road on a grade of one in ten, if it was possible to operate it at
16^
all on such a grade, but it is not possible, as the limiting angle of re-
sistance is 7.58.) The sleigh locomotive that is provided with elastic
drivers on the contrary could, and as a matter oifact one of 6 horse-
power has ascended an incline of one in twelve, with a six ton load with
the most perfect ease. But let us return for a short time to a further
consideration of this most important defect of the railway system,
and try to find out what are the consequences of having to carry
the enormous amount of dead weight which I have already shown is car-
ried on all railways either for passenger or freight traffic ; in the first
place you wear down your road bed and rolling stock — in the case of
passenger ti'affic — ten times as quickly as you would, if you did not re-
quire to carry it ; with minenil and other freight seven times, or at the
rery lowest calculation six times as quickly ; in other words you require
to renew — in the case of roads doing a heavy traffic every three years —
in the case of roads doiiig a moderate, traffic every five years, while outside
life of a rail — even on the most insignificant of roads is not over ten or
twelve years. Consequently every mile of roadway has got to be rebuilt
on an average every five or six years, in place of once in 25 or 30 years.
In the second place, you use from seven to eight times as much fuel, oil,
and other sundries, and maintain a stafi" of four to five men for every
one who would otherwise be required ; and lastly you can do less than
one-fourth the business which might otherwise be accomplished. In
short as seven parts out of ten of the labour expended on the maintenance
and operation of railways is labour ahsolutdy wasted, you require to
charge $10 for service which otherwise might be rendered for $4 ; and
that one fact ought, of itself, to convince any thoughtful mind, that the
railway system is certainly a very imperfect and expensive mode of trans-
portation and cannot be destined to live forever.
The other element which as I before remarked plays a very impor-
tant part in the economy of I'ailroads is speed ; need I say that a rail-
road that maintains a speed of forty miles an hour for passengers, and
thirty for freight can do dotible the work of one which maintrins — like
the Grand Trunk — only half that speed. Consequently, if we can main-
tain that speed on the " sleigh road" without causing extra expense for
permanent way, etc., we have by that single advantage, double the
effective power of any railroad in existence, for the expense for mainten-
ance and I'epair of ♦ ae permanent way, rolling stock, etc., of a railroad,
is in an ever iucrer.sing ratio in proportion to the speed ; th-iS if you can
mainttiin your permanent way, etc., for say $1,000 per mile, while going
at twenty miles an hour, it will cost you at least $2,000 if you keep up
a speed of thirty miles an hour, and so on in something like that propor-
tion ; hence it is that with poor roads we must have low speeds ; as I
have before explained it is the immense vibration or lateral and vertical
motion of the cars and engine that renders the maintenance of good speed
impossible, for the higher the speed the stronger the blow struck with
the wheels, and the quicker the rr .td goes to ruin. Now with the "sleigh
58
road" we get rid of the vibration of the cars> and as there are no points
or wfieels with which to strike the road, the difierence in velocity of the
" sleighs" liave no prejudicial effect on the road-bed or permanent way.
On the contra, the higher the velocity of the cars or sleighs the less the
effect on the road, as may be demonstrated in skating ; for example,
you have no donbt noticed that a man could — if going at a very high
rate of speed — skate over a piece of icp which would not bear the weight
of a child if standing still, (the reason is easily explained in a philoso-
phical manner, but too long for insertion here) * enough for us to know
that the higher the speed the less the damage to the road-bed and rolling
stock, etc., a fact of the very highest significance and one which would of
itself justify the substitution of the sleigh or sliding motion for the cir-
cular or wheel motion, if it had no other recommendation whatever. Of
course I am perfectly aware that a theoreticaUi/ perfect railway, that is, one
absolutely straight in plain and level in section, etc.. woiild not be liable to
some of the objections I have urged, but it unfoi-tunately happens that
perfect railways do not exist in practice, and consequently we cannot
take them into consideration.
And here allow me, most respectfully, to remind you that I haAe
made no use of the " Inventors' License " to exaggerate the defects of the
railway, or enhance the merits of the system 1 propose as a substitute for
it, as I am fully convinced that no good end is to be gaitied by so doing.
I have aimed to state only facts, and facts whicli could be easily veritied
by any one at all acquainted witli railway matters ; I therefore beg your
very serious consideration of the subject, for on it, to a very great ex-
tent, depends the prosperity and development of our young and prosperous
*J. H. P. says : It is generally believed that a railroad bridge is less liable to
give way wheu the passing train moves slowly than when under fuu speed. Is this
correct? Boys sliding or skating over thin ice rightly judge their safety to depend
in a great measure upon the celerity of their movement. Grant that a bndge has
one weak place, one place weaker than any other of the same bridge ; and that a
train has one car or combination of cars heavier than any other car or combination
of cars of the same train ; and further, that there is one point (center of gravity) in
that heavy car or combination of cars where the strain or gravity is greater than at
any other point. Now, as it is the last straw that breaks the camel's back, so by
parity of reasoning it is that point of greatest strain or gravity that causes the
bridge to give waj' at the weakest place. Again, grant that a bridge never falls to
pieces all at once, but that in the order of time one part — pin, brace or beam —
breaks first, then another part, then another, till the final smash, each break occu-
pying, succeeding, and being succeeded by an appreciable moment of time ; and
further, the more rapidly the train moves, the more evenly the greatest strain will
be distributed over the bridge und the less time it will have to act upon the weak
point ; and it follows, other considerations being out of the question : That the
more rapidly the train passes over the bridge, the less liable will be the bridge to
fall. Is this correct ? A. This theory would be correct, if a train passed over the
track as a hoy glides over the ice on skates. But the train, on account of inequalities
in the track and uneven speed, is constantly striking blows as it moves along ; and
the faster it moves, the more rapid and violent are the bloivs. — From the Editorial
Corresjpondence in the Scientific American.
59
Jh .
country. In fact, unless we can adopt ami carry out some such system
for ccr^tracting the immense distances separating the different parts of our
widely extended Dominion, it will be found to have been anything but
wise policy on our part to have made the sacrifices we have made (and
will have to continue making) to extend the limits of our country from
the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.
What does it profit us of Ontario to know that at the eastern
extremity of our Dominion, there ai'e boundless resources of coal, iron,
wood, stone, lime, ifec, «kc., while from the difficulty and expense of get-
ting at them, we are compelled to pay eight dollars a cord for v/Ood, and
import our coal from u foreign country ] Practically speaking, the said
resources might as well be in Timbuctoo, or under the jurisdiction of the
Emperor of China.
What use is there in telling the habitant of Quebec that in British
Columbia he can find gold fields rivaling the richet t mines of California
or Aiistralia — (one mine at the extremity of the Cariboo Road having
yielded 328, 215, and 256 ounces of gold in three weeks, respectively ;
another at the William Creek, yielding in two weeks 448 ounce^i, and the
Ballarat 167 ounces in a fortnight) — when he knows that it would take him
years of hard labor and close economy to earn enough to pay his fares to our
western " el doi'ado," and that even if he was there, he would find that the
absence of i)roper means of transport had so enhanced the price of all the
necessaries of life, that his glittering gains would slide through his
fingers as swiftly — to use a Yankee expression — as " greased lightning !"
It is the old story, "be ye warmed and filled, notwithstanding ye give
not the things needful for the body." To the great bulk of the people,
our wonderful resources are about as real and henefi'dal as the great dia-
mond fields of Arizona, and yield about as solid satisfaction as I used to
extract out of the information which my dear mother used to impart to
me so often in the days of ray childhood, viz., that there Avere lots of gold
waiting for me in the bank, and that I would get it just as soon as I had
discovered the key that would open the vaults. So witli our great unde-
veloped riches, they are like the gold in the bank. There cannot be a
doubt but that they are there, but " helas, helas," we have not got the
key to open the doors, and so, pi'actically speaking, they might as well
not he there, so far as nincteen-twentieths of the inhabitants of the
Dominion are concerned.
In fact it looks very like a " huge joke " the idea of our having
undertaking
the
enormous obligations
paid the money we have and
which we are in honor bound to carry out in some shape merely to
acquire the political headship of Manitoba and British Columbia.
When we consider the thousands of miles of unpeopled and in many
parts inhospitable wilderness which separates us and them, rendering
anything like a true union of feeling or interests absolutely impossible.
As for commercial and industrial intercourse that cannot possibly exist
under such circumstances. But you may tell me that alii that will be
changed as a matter of course, and that a real and i)ractical union will
be efl'ected as soon as our great Pacific Railway is built, that in it the
people will have found the key wherewith to unlock the hidden riches of
our young but lusty land. Now that is just the point I cannot see ;
indeed I maintain an a plain matter of fact, that even if that railway
was built and in operation to-onorroio we would be a long way indeed
from anything like a practical union, either in the social, political or
commercial sense of that term.
However strange it may seem, it is nevertheless true, that we would
be in a worse position, relatively speaking, so far as ' le means of inter-
communication and our facilities for transit are concern (^d (and it is only
constant, harmonious, social, political, and commercial intercourse that
can fuse the different races and tongues of our Dominion into a people)
than our fathers in Great Britain were befoic the shriek of the first
locomotive had aroused the sleeping echoes of field and forest. Ponder
well tliMtfact, they with but very short distances to travel, not tens for
our hundreds, could yet jog along at the rattling pace of ten miles an
hour in the stage coach, with all its excitements, its adventures, its
exhilerating novelty of scenery, we mured in a box, every bone racked,
choked with dust, bewildered with noise, unable to hold social commun-
nion with our neighbor, read, write, or sleep with any comfort, and with
hundreds, nay thousands of miles to travel, can only crawl along at
twenty miles an hour and many times not even that. The difference in
speed certainly seems hardly worth the immense outlay we are asked to
make for it ; the time surely is full ripe for a change. Again, why is it
that whenever it is pi'oposed to gather up the disjecta membra, which
forms that mighty whole — the " British Empire "— and weld them into
a compact and solid body, with but one brain to think, to plan, to orig-
inate, one heart to feel, one voice to speak the right and denounce the
wrong, and with one strong right arm powerful enough to uphold the
interests of humanity in every region of the world, or strike to the dust
who'ere might dare dispute our sway 1 How is it, I say, that when
men who can see further and feel stronger than their fellows — men who
can feel a wave of power thrill through every fibre of theii' being by the
ideas conjured up with the words Patriotism and Home, make such a pro-
posal, that they are met with derision by the great men who hold
the reins of power in England — none " smiling louder " than some
Canadian statesmen ^^ falsely so-called"
Principally because of the imynense distance which separates the
parts from each other, and all from centre. They declare and try to
prove that the law of " national cohesion " does not act at such tremen-
dous distances, and consequently that it is absurd to fly in the face of
nature by trying to make it do so.
If they are right, what becomes of the Canadian Dominion ] Why
it must of necessity fall to pieces, for there cannot be a doubt of the
fact that a man could leave any seaport of Britain by steamship, in
61
pro-
hold
which he would have a comfortable bed, well furnished table, plenty of
room for exercise and amusement, etc., and be in any port of Ontario or
Quebec in nearly as short a time — in winter much sooner — than the
man who leaving Nova Scotia by railway car (in which he would have a
wretched makeshift of a bed, no meals, " no nothink," in short but
misery, noise, confusion and weariness indescribable,) would reach
Victoria, British Columbia, and not only would the passenger leaving
Great Britain do the voyage in nearly as short a time and with infinitely
more comfort, but he would do it for less money, if by cabin for about
two-thirds, or by steerage a little more than one-third — judging by the
tariff of the " Union & Central Pacific Railway. "
Now such being the case, and you know well that it is so, proves
conclusively that even if the Canada Pacific was built and joined to the
Intercolonial, one portion of the Dominion would be practically fui-ther
separated from the other than Great Britain is from the American con-
tinent, and vice versa.
What then, is to be done, if we wish to maintain the integrity of our
young Dominion 1 If we are determined to rule a Dominion stretching
from the Atlantic to the Pacific 1 a Dominion which may in the year
1973 number 40 millions of jjeople, all speaking our tongue, governed
by our laws, and formed on the model which we are ci'eating, at this
moment. We must, first of all, build a highway across the continent,
by which, we will be able to carry freight at one-fourth the sum now
charged by rail and with at least three times the speed now maintained.
We must be able to travel from one point of the Dominion to the other,
at a speed of at least 60 to 70 miles an hour. * (If it was not for fear of
frightening you, I would here record my prophecy that the ordiimry ex-
press speed on our great highway, will be at least 80 to 100 miles an
hour, and at charges of less than half a cent per mile.) I will do more
than make the propliecy, for I hereby offer to make the road if you are
prepared to grant my terms.
For the sum of $30,000,000 and thirty million acres of land, I will
build a " Perpetual Sleigh Koad " from any point in the Province of
Ontario to any point on the Pacific coast, which road will be capable of
accommodating more freight and passengers than is now carried by any
railroad in Canada, or than could be carried by any railroad which
would be built on the same route to the Pacific. I will build it on any
route chosen by the Government of Canada ; commence at any tiuie agreed
upon, and guarantee to have the road finished, thoroughly equipped and
in operation in one-half the time which it would take to build and put
in operation a railway, (a board of competent engineers mutually chosen
to be the judges of the time). I will further guarantee to maintain
in good condition the said road, and operate it regularly summer and
winter ; maintaining a minimum speed of thirty miles an hour for
freight and forty to fifty miles an hour for i)assengers, at 50 per cent
less than the lowest possible railway (ordinary broad gauge as proposed
est
for the Canada Pacific) charges. I will bind myself to dispatch at least
three trains, capable of carrying 2,000 passengers and 3,000 tons of
goods each way per twenty-four hours, at a minimum speed of forty
miles an hour, or as many more trains as may be required to give the
fullest accommodation to all freight or passengers offering.
Or I will agree to hand over the said road luUy equiped and stocked
into the hands oif the Government, on receiving an additional twenty-five
millions of dollars and a small royalty to be afterwards agreed upon.
The terms of payment to be at the rate of $15,000 per mile for each ten
miles of road as it is completed, until the $30,000,000 shall have been
paid. Fifteen million acres of the land grant to bo paid in the same
■way ; the other fifteen millions being allowed to remain in the hands of
the Government for five years after the completion of the road, as se-
curity for its operation according to agreement.
The Government shall be allowed absolute freedom in dealing with
its alternate blocks of land until there is a jtopulation of at least one
hundred thousand people settled on the lands of the road or in its im-
mediate neighborhood — after that, Government lands will be sold at an
upset price of not less than $2 per acre.
The " Perpetup.l Sleigh Road " being an entirely new invention, the
Government shall vote $150,000 to build a test road, the money shall
Vje expended under their supervision and control in building not less than
twenty miles as a single or ten miles as a double road, the Government
to provide right of way and choose the route, position, etc., also to find
the engine and cars, but the whole expenditure not to exceed $150,-
000, in the event of success (of which no sensible man can entertain any
doubt) the $150,000 shall be accounted as part of the thirty millions. •
Or I will undertake to build the Test Road myself, provided the
Government guarmitees me the contract on the terms mentioned, should
I prove the road capable of doing all I 'lave claimed for it, which is,
that the road can be built for one-third the amount usually required for
railways. 2nd. That it is possible to operate the road for less than one-
thii'd, and maintain it in good working order for less than one-third
the usual railway maintenance accounts. 3rd. That it is easy to keep up
three times the average speed of railways in Canada with the most per-
fect safety and comfort. 4th. That the charges for freight and passage
need not be more than one-third the present tariff. 5th. That such a
road will not only be infinitely safer, quicker and cheaper for passen-
gers, etc., but it will also (owing to the absence of lateral and vertical
motion, etc.) be noiseless and consequently infinitely more comfortable.
6th. It may be laid in one-third the time (or even less than that) neces-
sary to lay a tip top railroad and in almost any kind of country. 7th.
There need be no stopage in winter owing to the snow, etc.
8th. The sleigh-road, although laid on the broadest gauge (thus
allowing ample room in the cars), may be made with sharper curves
than is possible even on the narrow gauge railroads, owing to the fact
63
for
7th.
that the rigid wheel base is not so long, having only one pair of driving
wheels under the centre of the engine ; and the sleigh-runnera being
provided with sef/ righting joints (I mean by self-righting joints, joints
that will spring back to their original position on removing the force
which has made them take a curve).
Oth. Owing to the difference in tractive force of the different en-
gines (the engine on the sleigh-road having three times the tractive
power of the locomotive), we could ascend inclines at full speed, and
with ordinary loads, which the locomotive could not possibly mount
under any circumstances, «fec. Indeed, so numerous are the advantages of
this system of transit, that it would seem useless and tedious in me to
name them. No one who studies the subject even for an hour, can fail
to find them for himself, or avoid perceiving their force. Is it neces-
sary for me to point out the great results that must follow the adoption
of such a system of transit as I have described ]
It will, at a stroke, as it were, of the magician's wand, contract
the immense distances which separates one portion of the Dominion from
the other, bringing the Pacific Provinces as 7iear to the seat of Govern-
ment as the city of London or Quebec is now, thereby compressing the
whole into a compact and govei-nable compass, and doing more to con-
solidate and secure the stahility of the Govetnment and institutians oj'our
country than any other agency 2>ossibly cotdd. It will work a complete
and {)erfect revolution in the communications of the country ; such a
great and beneficial change in the means of transit that you will be
filled with astonishment. It will develop the resources and in-
crease the productions of the Dominion to an almost incalculable extent,
rendering eveiy field and valley, mine or forest of Manitoba and the
North-west as valuable and accessible as though that lay but 100 miles
from the city of Toronto or Montreal, thus enabling the imigrant to
farm his land at a projit to himself and the country, and bringing in to
the markets of the Douunion and the world the |)roductions of an
almost illimitable extent of country, which, for productive jiower, is
unrivalled on the continent, and capable of supplying Great Britain, as
well as Canada, with all the necessaries of life for ages to come. It
will reduce the price of food, fuel, &q., fully 30 per cent, to the con-
sumer, while it incieases, through the diminution of freights, the profits
of the producer.*
Let us but complete our sU^igh-road, and send in people (which we
will then be able to do at small cost), and every article of food will be
reduced in price, and housekeeping rendered easy ; once we have com-
pleted the system, substituting the new style for the Intercolonial,
Grand Trunk, &c., and building a new i-oad across Newfoundland, which
* It is said by the Chicafjo Tribune that a reduction of 6c. per cental ou the
freight of corn, &c., would add 25 per cent, to the value of every farm in the west
aud north-west of America. How great must be the difference when, by the
adoptioii of the sleigh-road, the reduction will be 16c. or 18c. per centat.
64
must be done. We will have the coal, the iron, the stone, etc., of
Nova Scotia; the fish, etc., of New Brunswick; the timber of the
Ottawa, the corn of Manitoba, and the gold of British Columbia laid
down in Ontario and Quebec at little more than it takes to produce
them ; while they will have our farm produce and our manufactured
"oods in return at the same rate.*
o
So swift, cheap, safe and comfortable will Ibis mode of communi-
cation be found, that I an) persuaded that J speak only the words of
" truth and soberness" when I declare that thousands of our lellow
citizeii; who now spend their summer holidays in foreign countries, will
be able to take a trip to the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean (still within the
bounds of their own country) for less money (and with infinitely more
comfort) than they now spend to go to Portland, Bosto ,, ikc, &c ;
while our food supply will be greatly increased, diversified and cheap-
ened. Just look, for instance, on the thousands of mackerel, herring,
salmon, white, codfish, &c., which cover these stalls ; they are still
HcintillcUiny with all the glorious colours of the rainbow, so cpiickly
have they been transported from their native waters in Nova Kcotia,
New Brunswick, «&c. Formerly our fresh sea fish came from the
United States jmcked in ice. Or view the pigs, sheep, poultry, &c.,
huddled together in this corner ; every one of them has been fed in our
" Far Nortli West ;" while these mighty oxen, munching so peacefully,
twenty -fi) ours ago, they were browsing in the now far ofi" Valley of the
Saskatchewan. There again are stalls filled to repletion with fruits
and vegetables from the sunny slopes of the Pacific and the West India
Islands. The latter came by steamer to Halifax; thence by " Sleigb
Road" through our own country, and not as now, through the United
States. But not to Canada alone will those now distant countries send
their boundless productions, the fruits of their fertile prairies ; the
millions of Britain will yet rejoice in their prosperity, and eat the
fatlings of their flocks and herds.
Ten years from to-day, if we only do our duty, not a town or city
of the old land but will be able to present to the people markets filled
to overflowing with Canadian produce of every kind, so that the name
of our Dominion will be as a household word. Canadian beef, mutton,
poultry, cheese, and butter will be the common food of the people, or
the fault will be ours, for by building at once our great highway to the
Pacific upon the sleigh system, carrying the other end down to the sea-
* One of the greatest drawbacks to the permanent prosperity of the Provinces
of Quebec and Ontario is the absence of coal ; and how serious it is may easily
be seen by recollecting that the city of Toronto alone pays over $260,000 per
annum to the United States for that article. Moreover, every yeiir will intensify
the evil ; population will increase ; wood will become — indeed it is now — scarce
and dear, until I am persuaded (unless a remedy is found such as will enable us
to use our own distant supplies), the drain of treasure will become an intolerable
burden on our finances.
f;?,-'-
u
will
the
city
illed
le, or
port nearest to Great Britain, we will not only be able to fill up the
Great North- West with people, but we will also be able to carry their
produce at such freights and with such speed as will enable them tu com-
mand a paying market for everything they can raise, either live stock or
cereals Moreover, if we are the first to build, we will command
the whole of the almost illimitable trade of the Western and North-
western States, such as Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri,
&c. , and in that case the business of the road would be enormous,
enabling us to charge the lowest possible freights.
I am well aware that these statements and assertions will be received
very differently by different people. By one class they will be received
with exclamations of surprise ; " How strange no one ever thought of it
before," etc., etc., and it does really seem strange no one ever thought
of it, especially in ('anada, where we are so accustomed to the sleigh or
sliding motion. But the wonder soon dies when we begin to think how
/etv and simple are the ideas or inventions on wliich rests thu glorious
fabric of our modern civilization ; when we begin to realize the fact that
our "ft I^ole progress in the arts of civilized life are based or built upon at
the outside some dozen of original ideas : 1st, the smelting of metals ;
2nd, the making of glass and its kindred, pottery ; 3vd, the art of spin-
ning and weaving ; 4th, the clock or time measure ; 6th, mariner's com-
pass ; 6th, the use of separate types in printing and the
printing press ; 7th, the steam engine ; 8th, the steam-
boat ; 9th, the locomotive and rails ; 10th, the electric
telegraph ; 11th, photography and its kindred arts, etc., etc. Takeaway
the first six, and what would become of our civilization ; nay, deprive
us of even the first three, and our progress as civilized beings would
have received its death blow, never to recover until the lost inventions
were found, yet each of those discoveries or inventions were thought to
be verg simple matters — ideas which might have been hit upon by any
one and of no particular account — that was when they were believed in
ui all.
Another and by far the largest class will meet my assertions with
I'idicule and contempt, asserting, with the utmost assurance, that if there
was really anything in it, that it would have b(3en thought of long ago,
by some great man, etc., etc. In that case I console myself by the
reemembrance that the proposal of Mt Stei)henson was received in the
same way, that even in the British House of Comnions he was called a
maniac because he gave it as his opinion that carh might be moved over
a railway at a speed of ten miles aii hour by means of his locomotive,
while one of the most eminent engineers of the lay was heard to exclaim
that if a locomotive was made to draw withov.t cogs he would undertake
to eat the engine and the vails into the bargain, a vow which it is almost
needless to say he never fulfilled.
Mr. Stephenson's plan was pronounced by the entire scientific and
engineering world of his day, to be the most absurd scheme which it ever
66
entered into the head of a ttuidman to conceive, and that ho himself was
an ignorant boor and a protentiouH charlatan who ought to be put down,
Sec, ttc. The late Earl of Derby also declared in the House ot Lords
*' that he would eat the boiler of the first steamship that ever crossed
the Atlantic," (hut he didn't do it.) Even the great Sir H. Daw,
when asked his opinion about the feasibility of lighting houses with giis
(a subject on which it was natural to suppose he could give a correct
judgement), after mature conndcralion, declared " that you might as
well expect to bring down the rnoon and stick it in a candlestick." And
HO it has been with every invention or improvement ever proposed ;
they are always met with the deadly opposition, not only of the ignorant
and the thoughtless but of the generally intelligent and the professionals,
who seem to think that we have got to the end of all knowledge ; they
look upon it as an insult to their superior attainments, for any one to
suppose that there can be anything with which they are unacquainted,
or any imi)rovement which they are incapable of originating. * They
very gravely inform you that the age of great inventions is now passed,
and that we need look for no more improvements such as will revolu-
tionize the business of the world, forgetting all the while that the very
same argument has been in use ever since man commenced to make dis-
coveries, and has been hurled with all the vehemence of prejudice and
ignorance against every invention, the fruits of which we no>v enjov
with as much sang froid and sense of right, as though we had assisted in
every possible way to bring them into existence instead of having pei*-
secuted their authors to the very verge of madness.
And now, sir, have I said enough to convince you of the wisdom and
propriety of putting " Goudie's Sleigh Road " to the test of experience ;
if not, what is there that I have left unsaid, that you would like me to
explain, please to let me know, and I will try to put it right, for with a
full appreciation of the great responsibility resting upon me, and the
impoi'tant issues depending upon your action, and my success or failure
I am determined to leave no stone unturned to convince you, to get you
to bring your common sense, your reason, to bear on the subject, ani let
them decide the value of my system of locomotion ; the chances are so
many that you will allow " use and wont," "fear of responsibility,"
" prejudice," '• the policy of laisser /aire," or more likely still (and
* " When I was building my first steamboat in New York," remarked Fulton,
'• the project was viewed by the public cither with indifiference or contempt, as a
visionary scheme. My friends, indeed, were civil, but they were shy ; they listened
with patience to my explanations, but with a settled cast of incredulity on their
countenances. As I had occasion to pass daily to and from the building-yard
while my boat was in progress, I have often loitered, unknown, near the idle groups
of strangers gathering in little circles, and heard various inquiries as to the object
of the new vehicle. The language was uniformly that of scorn, or sneer, or ridi-
cule. The loud laugh often rose at my expense, the dry jest, the wise calculations
of losses and expenditures, the dull, but endless repetition of Fulton's folly. Never
did a single encouraging remark, a bright hope, a warm wish, cross my path.
Silence itself vas but politeness veiling its doubts or hiding its reproaches."
67
self was
it down,
3t Lords
* crossed
. Davy,
with gas
I correct
might as
." And
roposed ;
ignorant
e«itio7uda,
ge; they
y one to
^uainted,
* They
w passed,
II revolu-
the very
make dis-
udice and
o>v enjoy
issisted in
iving per-
sdom and
perience ;
ke me to
for with a
and the
r failure,
get you
t, ani let
ies are so
sibility,"
till (and
bd Fulton,
fmpt, as a
ey listened
ky on their
llding-yard
Idle groups
]the object
er, or ridi-
^loulationH
lly. Never
my path.
>s."
yet more unfortunate), the advice of " the eminent practical man," to
be the judge; that lam compelled to continue my argument, to mar-
shall every item of evidence, to bring up every probability of succes, I
must get you to flood the subject with the lifl;ht oiyour own ex|)eriencod
intelligence, so that you may bo able to sift and weigh the value of any
professional opinion you may think of appealing to for a judgment on
the scheme, so that you may not be swayed and influenced by a name
only, as you must otherwise be. I have tried tirst to get you to see the
necessity and admit the probability of superseding the railway by show-
ing you how defective it is in its practical operation, and that it is
absolutely limited — so far as really useful work is concerned — to a dis-
tance of some 800 miles, just one-third the length of our Dominion — and
as a natural consequence it can never form a true bond of union l>e-
tween our scattered Provinces. I have also shown you in a way which
I consider perfectly j)lain and ea.sy to be understood, that neither our
manufacturers, merchants, or mechanics could profit to any appreciable
extent by such distant possessions as Manitoba and British Columbia if
confined to a railway for transit, as the freights added to t!ie price of
manufuctured goods would so enhance their value, that the peo|)le would
buy only such as were absolutely indispensible, or such as they could
not possibly produce at home. Again, it should never be forgotten that
the {)roducer can only pay for the goods he buys by the produce of his
fields, his purchasing power therefore, must be regulated by the price he
gets for his labor, and as I have shown that in by far the largest por-
tion of the country to be traversed by the Canada Pacific Railway he
will receive less than one-third the amount he would receive in Ontario
or Quebec, it follows as a matter of coui-se, that 300,000 farmers scat-
tered over the Northwest, will be b\rely equal to 90,000 settled in the
older Provinces near the seaboard, in the amount of business they could
give to mei'chants, manufacturers and mechanics, and also in the amount
of taxes they will be able to pay — (it must not be imagined that the
extra ferti'ity of the soil will do much to restore the balance, for, as a
matter of fact, the average of Ontario is better than any one of Western
States). Moreover, it must be distinctly understood that the causes at
work now for limiting the business do'io with the older Provinces, will
continue to increase with the age of th.3 settlements, and just in propor-
tion to the increase in population, vill the business done diminish,
that is relatively, for with a small population it is impossible to manu-
facture anything but the commonest and rudest class of goods ; but as
the people increase in numbers, towns and cities will spring up to sup-
ply the wants of the inhabitants. The local manufacturer living in and
consuming the produce of the country, and protected by the enormous
freights, loss of time, &c., <kc., in bringing goods from the older Pro-
vinces, will be able to drive us out of the market just ?,z ic ought to be
getting valuable to us ; indeed, the only commerce between us will con-
sist of that small class of goods usually imported from foreign countries,
68
Buch an tea, coffee, sugar, spices, Ac, <fec. If any one is inclined to
doubt my statements, let him go to the trouble of analizing the internal
commerce of the United States, make due allowance for the different cir-
cumstances of the case, and then draw his own conclusions. Now such be-
ing the case^ allow me to ask you what recompense the merchant, the
manufacturer, the mechanic and laborer is to receive for the sacrifices-
you now require them to make? '''"'o you imagine that it will be a suffi-
cient return to a man who has to .•. '^or ten hours a day for six days in
the week, to provide food, clothing and shelter for his family, to tell him
that f r the $200 he is now asked to pay to the Canada Pacific Rail-
way that he will have the sentimental pleasure of declaring, like St.
Paul of old, " I am a citizen of no mean State V Can you believe for one
moment, that such an idea will be looked upon by any man possessed of
a grain of common sense as satisfaction for his money ? What satisfac-
tion can a man who finds it difficult enough to provide himself with a
new suit of clothes when he badly requires them find, in knowing that
by allowing himself to become responsible for some $200 or $250, be
has assisted in scattering over our grand Northwest some thousands or
hnndreds of thousanls of farmers and other settlers ; who, owing to their
distance from foreign markets, find it a hard and constant strujjgle to
provide themselves with the commonest necessaries of life ; and who,
consequently, can be of no benefit to him either directly or indirectly.
In truth and verity they will owe you and him but small thanks, for
they would have been richer and happier men if they had paid no atten-
tion to your bright })romises, but remained in the okkr Provinces in
place of going to the West, and thus trying to glut an already over-
stocked market with grain, &c., &,c. You may depend iipou it that
the sober afier- thought of the intelligent people of this country will de-
mand more tangable recom})ense for their money ; they want to sefr
the country increase in population and wealth ; they want to see manu-
factures flourish, food oheaj)ened, and fuel laid down in everj' portion of
the country at such figures as the labourer can afford to pay, and be A-Ae
to provide an ample store against the cold of winter ; they also want to
see house accommodation improved, enlarged and cheapened, so that the
humblest labourer in the land, who does his honest best in any depart-
ment of the general workshop of the country, will receive his fair share of
the good things produced, and in spite of all the political economists in
the world, and in defiance of all the systems of free (Tovernments over
devised, (the only object of which seems to be to allow the weak, the
foolish and the criminal to do wlmtsover seemeth good in their own sight
so long as the present and direct fruit of their actions do not obtrude
themselves too o):)enly in the eyes of that — in great pfu-t— incomj)rehen-
sible mass of police regulations called hiw), the people will ultimately
show that it is the duti/ of the Government of a country to see to those
things, Mr. Bob Lowe to the contrary, notwithstanding : they want to
see the different portions of their widely scattered country welded into
one and made a compact whole, and its people haTinonized in their vari-
69
ined to
interna)
•ent cir-
?uch be-
ant, the
acrifices^
) a suffi-
days in
tell him
ic Rail-
ike St.
! for one
sessed of
satisfac-
with a
ng that
;250, be
sands or
to their
uj?gle ta
,nd who,
directly,
nks, for
10 atten-
inces in
over-
it that
will de-
to see
manu-
•tion of
bo a jle
want to
that the
dcpart-
share of
nists in
ts over
ak, the
n sight
obtrude
)i'ehen-
imately
to those
vant to
ed into
Hr vari-
t
ous relationships to each other, so that we may become one people in-
deed and in truth. They want to see the country attain the first place
in the race of civilization and progress, so that their sons will be able to
shout with the sterling ring of exulting triumph in their voice, " I am
a Canadian," for such objects as these they are willing to make all
necessary sacrifices, and/eel pleasure in making them. But will the
building of the Pacific Railway be likely to help forward their ambition?
I think not, nay I am certain it will not, it will (should it unfortunately
ever be built), be an incubus on the financial and commercial heart of
the country; a clog to future exertion for many years to come. But you
may tell me that my arguments would prevent all extension of our
Dominion whatever, and would prohibit the building of railways
more than 600 to 800 miles from any seaport, &c. I am perfectly
willing to admit the truth of the assertion, for I cannot for the life of
me see th *isdom of a man who, having but a limited income, pays
J6150 per annum for a large house, one half of which he cannot occdpy,
when he could get anotlier in every way as comfortable, convenient and
healthy, and quite as large as he required or would require for many years
to come, for S,bO ; no a^ore can I see the wisdom of tis extending our
Dominion to the Pacific if we are to be confined to the old methods of
transit ; indeed, I unhesitatingly affirm that if we have to build an or-
dinary railway, and are confined to its use in our communications with
the Pacific Province, that our confederation with British Columbia was
an act of supreme folly, and that we ought (even at risk of losing the
Province), to insist upon a modification of the terms. I also affirm as a
/act, that farmei-s more than 500 or 000 miles from a good permanent
market, cannot farm at a profit either to themselves or tl)eir country, no
matter how rich and productive the land may be, as iio stufl" they can
raise will bear railway carriage for that distance and leave a fair return
to the labourer.
What more is wanted to show you the folly of building a railway
to the Pacific, that I have not adduced % or what moro is wanted to show
you the wisdom and pro])riety of making trial of the system I have pro-
posed ] What proof is wanted ] What doubts or difficulties have sug-
gested themselves or been suggested by othei's, chat could for one
moment justify you in refusing to try my pl"'v before committing our
country to the gigantic expenditure of time id money implied in com-
mencing the Pacific Railway? I beseech you by the responsibilities of
your high office ; by what yoa owe to the people who have placed you in
power and trust ; by what you owe to yourself in tho present and
your good name in the future, that you give this matter your most seri-
ous consideration. Take a lesson from the blunders committed by the
Government of the " motherland," while dealing with just such subjects.
They, by thoir senseless opposition to the railway syste n when first pro-
posed, saddled the country by means of " parliamentary committees,
&c." with a burden of many millions, causing every one who sends goods
or travels by luil, to pay heavier charges even to this day, than otherwise
70
would have been necessary. Then, again, recollect how they bungled,
what mischief they caused by their opposition to all new inventions in
arms, in ship building, in barrack improvements, &c., &c. The " Iron
Duke '' himself was decidedly opposed to the " Enfield Rifle," as a sub-
stitute for " Old Brown Bess," alleging that the soldiers would waste
their cartridges, &c. Had he succeeded in his opposition, it is univer-
sally admitted by those capable of giving judgment on the subject, that
there would not have been an English soldier left to tell the story of our
terrible disaster in the Crimea ; the Enfield rifle saved our small army
and enabled it to snatch victory from a far more numerous foe. The
same opposition was given to the " Rifled Cannon," of Sir William
Armstrong, &c. ; or think of the ten long weary years ])Oor Snider was
kept hanging between hope and dispair before the War ofiice would adopt
his rifle, only taking it uj* after they had killed him by their miserable
senile vaciliatio7i, and the Austrian war had proved what a breach-loader
could do in +he hands of the Prussians ; so to with Capt. Moncrief s gun
carriage ; he offered it to the War office in 1858, and was refused even
an opportunity of proving its capabilities ; in fact it was condemned as
absurd, yet ten years afterwards they take it up, reward the inventor
handsomely, and declare it to be one of the most im])ortant inventions
of the day — in the interim, however, they have spent £5,000,000 sterling
on fortifications, which they admitted would have been to a great ex-
tent, unnecessary, had they only adopted the invention when _/(>«< offered
to them. Or to come nearer home, some twelve or fourteen years ago I
read an article in the London Lancet, by Sir Ronald Martin, descriptiye
of the horrors our brave soldiers in India ai'e compelled to suffer from
the heat, and the terribly havoc which it caused in their ranks — they
dying at the lite of 10 per cent per annum in some stations. I .was so
impressed with the honor of the tiling that I could not get it out of
my mind. I folt (and I was rigiit in feeling) convinced that the British
Government, particularly these in charge of the War and India offices,
were guilty morally i<nd really guilty of murder, unless they
exJiausted every resource of sci>'nce and iuventian to put a stoj) to
the dreadful destruction of human life — to th;' fearful nnsery continu-
ously endured not only by bi'ave and hardy soldiers, but also by delicate
ladies and little children. You may therefore ipiagine my astonish-
ment on finding that they had never even so much as 7tuide an effort to
assuage this most potent of all the agencies at work for the destruction
of the British soldiers in India.* I immediately set to work and devised
a scheme by which barracks, hospitals, &c.. might be rendered cool, com-
* I have no doubt the gentleman composing the " Army Sanitary Commission,"
will take (ixception to this statement, deciaring that the subject ha<l engaged their
att:!ntion for years before my commuuicatiou reached them, and I do not doubt
that such Liay have been the case, but what I assert is, that so far as any practical
resulu were concerne4, it might just as well never have had th. ir attention. The
Punkah, Tatie, and Thermantidote were in popular use more than a hundred years
ago, and the same were the only contrivances in use up to the time of my last com-
munication — if not to this present moment.
71
fortable and liealthy, that is comparatively speaking, and with all the
enthusiasm of a young inventor, I at once brought my scheme under the
notice of the War office and the Government, — but as a matter of course
with the usual result, — " It would receive due attention, &c ," and so
the matter rested until the year 1864, when I first visited Canada. I
then found that a large number of the officers with the regiments at that
time stationed in Canada, had served in India, and I thought I would
like to hear what they would say about my scheme for cooling barracks,
&c., &c. ; consequently, I prepared a small panij^hlet discriptive of ray
plan, and brought it before them, the result being that it received the
unqttalified commendation of such men as Dr. Muir, C. B., Inspector-
General of Hospitals ; Col. C. E. Ford, Commanding the lloyal En-
gineers in Canada ; Major-General the Hon. J. Lindsay, Major-General
Stisted, Lord Alex. Russell, Col. Dunlop, C. B., Col. Synge, Col. Packen-
hani, and a host of others at that time serving in Canada.
I then renewed my application to the war office ; kicked as I was
by such an array of eminent names, I thought there could be no possible
chance of failure ; but it was all no use, indeed my recommendations
were the reverse of beneficial — had not the ^'sanitary commission already
given their opinion ? How then, dare any officer dispute their wisdom ;
and so the matter stood as befoi'e. In the meantime, however, the idea
having got ventilated, it i.s being worked out in different places, (though
in a A'ery imperfect way), noteably in the case of the United States House
of Re[)resentiitives, etc., also in France and England, until the year
1872, when Dr. Gray, Surgeon to the New York State lunatic Asylum,
hit upon the scheme in ])reoisely the same form as I had ten or twelve
yeai-s before brought under the notice of the British Government, and
he had it carried out in his asylum — one of the largest in the country —
with the most perfect success, so that he has received, and thoroughly
merits, says the Scientific American, "the honor of having the best ven-
tilated asylum in the loorkL Even the hottest day of Summer he can, by
simply turning a stopcock, reduce the temperature of that huge building
to almost any degree of temperature he thinks proper.
And now, in consequence of that and a hundred other successes of
ray plan for cooling and ventilation, " the wise, original and learned
sanitary commission " comes forward and reports that the scheme which
twelve or fourteen years ago they declai'ed to be impracticable, should be
practically tested in India, adding, however, as an evidence of their very
superior knowledge of the subject, " that so far as iXie fan is concerned
that plan is not original.*
* The following notice, cat from the medical column of " Public Opinion," April,
1874, gives a very fair idea of the scheme for cooliug and ventilating barracks, hos-
pitals, etc., in India, which, as long ago as 1860, 1 spent both time and money in
trying to force the government to adopt, but in vain. Now the scheme is being
universally carried out all over the continent of Europe, where it is hardly required,
while India still swelters and pants, tied fast in the bonus of red tape, it being
nobody's duty to apply new ideas. You will also mark that the plan is put forth
as new, and of " German parentage."
72
But you may very reasonably ask me what all this has to do with
the subject ; I answer much every way, it is one of the thousand instan-
ces which go to show that the British Government has made itself a
*' laughiug stock " and a byword among the nations, by its persistent
refusal to " move on " until literally compelled to do so ; it shows also
that they ha^e universally opposed all new inventions or ideas ; and that
they have been as universally wrong in their opinions concerning their
worth a,nd practicability ; it also shows the reason why they have been
thus continually in error, viz., because they hand over every new inven-
tion submitted to them to committees, or " Commissioners of Experts ;"
•'practical men, whose business it is to judge of such things j" "learned
men who know all about it you know," that is the secret.
They are afraid of resi)onsibility ; they don't like to run the risk of
being laughed at (in the event of failure) as the dupes of " hair brained
enthusiasts," and so they hand over their duties io prof essional practical
men — who of all men in the world are the worst possible judges of any-
thing new out of the ordinary course of every day experience. It
is strange that it should be so, but so it is nevertheless, as is shown in
the life of every invention of which we have any record ; every one of
them were opposed tooth and nail by your " experts," "practical men"
and can'ied out in direct dejianrc of their opinions, by men who were
Willing to tritst the good sense and ability of the invevtor, veiy reason-
ably concluding that the creator ought to be the best judge of the utility
of the thing he had created.
And as the "practical" the professional man's opinion is the rock
on which you may very likely strick, and so run the risk of retarding the
carrying out of a great improvement, I have taken this trouble to warn
you of the danger of seeking it. I have taken the trouble to show you
how treacJieroiis and untrustworthy is the refuge, how it has deceived and
misled 99 out of every 100 who have sought its guidance, blasting their
high hopes and natural expectations with cowardly doubts and false
counsel.
Yet it is so natural, and at first sight seems so in accordance with
common sense and reason to expect that a man who has spent his life in
cognate branches of business, or who has studied the science on which a
" Hospital venti' .tion ;" efficiency in ventilation, and uniformity in warming and
cooling, with economy of outlay, and in maintenance, are the great disiderata in all
hospitals, (fee; the best plan of realizing these, as claimed to have been proved
in some of the most important hospitals in Europe, is the "German plan,"
in which fresh air is propelled along an air channel, by the operaiiion of a snitable
fan, into an air chamber containing a warming aparatus, ffhere it is warmed and
moistened, and then it is distributed over the buildings ; an anemometo/ and a
dynemometer placed before the fan indicate at any moment the exact amount of
air supplied to the buildings; the amount in hospitals is 2,200 cubic feet (min.) per
hour per bed, but is capable of being doubled. This quantity of air is furnished
without perceptible draught, and at a temperature of OO^Fah.; in the summer the
air is cooled, and in winter warmed ; the vitiated air (;.scftpeB by fines hav.ag a free
access to the extrenal air."
78
particular operation is based should be able to give a correct opinion
about anything which pretends to be an improvement upon it, that the
temptation to consult them is very great indeed ; to the majority of
men i!; is altogether irresistible. Mark me sir, I don't say this with
any idea of trying to dissuade you from consulting others ; I know it
would be absurd to do so; your position ; the circumstances of the case
(fee, &c., require you to have professional advice ; in place of fearing
criticism I court it, no matter how adverse, and nothing will please me
better than to meet all the practical and professional men in Canada in
your presence, let us argue the matter, and you be judge as to who is
right. There is nothing like conflict of minds for bringing out the truth
in all its various many-sided aspects, and I have no objection to the
fight ; the danger in your case is, that you will allow a name to count
for argument, and sneers and ridicule for proof in absence of the person
most interested, and your genuine jorac^ica/ man is generally strong in
that line, much stronger than in reason and wit, but however it may be,
I am willing to stand the trial ; nothing will please me better than to
have the chance of convincing all, or being myself confounded.
Only think of the hundreds of railroads that are being projected or
cari'ied out in every portion of the country ; not a town or village hardly
but is voting its bonuses of thousands to one line or other. The whole
country is aroused ; a spirit of enterprise and goaheaditiveness is now
abrojid over the land, so that the sleepiest of villages as well as the most
piv^gressive of cities ai-e at one on the point, each vieing with the other
as to which will be the first to send the iron horse snorting along through
field and forest, canning in his triin all the blessings of >in advanced
civilization, and chained though he be uindicaped and weighed down by the
absurd iron bar on whir' he is made 'o travel — and of which he can get no
proper foot hold — he doeb his best a:jd brings improvement in his wake.
I repeat, contemplate 'or one moment the amount of money thau
"vrill be saved to the country by the adoption of the new system of transit
—-and the wonders that money could be made to work is improving and
ehpreloping the physical and intellectual resources of tli Dominion.
Within the next ten years it is safe to say that there will be
^Hot within the Dominion on railways not less than $150,000,000 to
^180,000,000 — if not stopped by this system. Now suppose we save
only half of that sum, we would save two-thirds — or say $80,000,000 —
then we would have the yearly saving of interest on that amount, not
less than .$4,000,000 ; then there will be the saving of working ex-
penses, not less than $6,0(»" 000 per annum, that is a capital sum of
080,000,000. and annual saving of $10,000,000, to which you have to
add the amcmts saved in freights, not less than $6,000,000 more, and
all among population «f some four millions. It does seem almost too
good to be true, y^t the w&tkt>'^ my statements are easily verified by any
-«■• who will take the twmtttkto make the culculatiouB.
Nor does the savings itop even here. We must take the canals
into our account first.
74
You are just about to expend some $10,000,000 to enlarge the Wel-
land, &c., anil when the St. Lawrence and others which must follow in
its wake are taken into the calculation, the whole amount to be spent -
on canals will not fall short of $20,000,000 ; there is also some $7,000,-
000 or $8,000,000 I think, of the Intercolonial Railway money still
unexpended, which together will make say 127,000,000.
Now, I assert without the least shade of hesitation, that by the .
adoption of my system of " Sleigh or Roller Roads," the canals will be '
rendered useless, and all the monpy expended upon them absolutely
thrown away ; this is proved by the fact that the great canals now in
existence can barely hold their own in competition with the slow speed
and high tariffs of the present railway system. For 14 years beginning,
with 1853, the tons of freight delivei-ed by the Erie and Lake Cham-
plain canals have varied l)ut very little indeed ; at no time during that
period was there any regular increase or decrease. In the year 1837
there was more freight delivered by the Erie than in 18GG ; meanwhile
the crops of the ^Vest have increased to an almost illimitable extent,
(all of which increase has been transported by railway), and the propor-
tion going by rail is increasing in an even lai-ger ratio every year, i>rov-
ing conclusively that shipi)ers prefer to give higher rates so as to get
Sjt/ee J, and so avoid the hundred and one accidents by heating, water, &c.,
also the chance of a change in the nmrketa, (which often occur much to
the annoyance of the mei'chant), between despatching the grain iu tho
West and its ari-ival in the East. If any further proof is wanted, it is
found in the fact that on all the Western railways there is a "credit
mobilier " on a small scale, in the shape oi a fast freight line, whose stock
is held by the officers of the road, and who make large profits by des-
patching produce at extra speed for higher rates than the average. But
the most conclusive proof that the days of canal transportation is now
passed and gone — for all but the very heaviest and roughest class of
goods such as coal, timber, stone, ifec. — is found in the fact that it is pro-
posed to dry up the bed of the Erie canal, and lay a freight railway in
place of the water', the proposal having I'eceived the approval of almost
every engineer — and forwarder — in the country. Indeed there cannot
be a doubt that so obvious are the advantages of such a road over the canal,
that the proposal would have been immediately carried out but for the well
fouiuled dread, that once the iron was substituted for the water, and all
pi-ivate opposition i-emoved, the other railway corporations would get
possession of it, and so be able to dictate their own terms to the unfor-
tunate farmers and forwarders of the West ; but the very fact of the
plan having been proposed and so unanimously endorsed by all classes,
shows concluaively that canals, Avith few exceptions, must soon be num-
bered with the things that were ; and if such is their position when
competing with the railway, what would it be if they had to face a sys-
tem infinitely quicker and cheaper.
You may, therefore, add to the capital account $20,000,000 saved
on canals, and $1,000,000 yearly in interest, making in all a capital sum
75
pro-
in
lOSt
mot
lal,
well
all
get
ifor-
the
kses.
Ived
lum
of $100,000,000, and a yearly saving of not less than $18,000,000 to
$20,000,000. Looking at these figures, I ask you if I am unreasonable
in asking you for $150,000 for a. test road f Take the matter in the
worst light you like, and suppose for a moment that the system turns
out a complete and absolute failure, what would be the extent of our
national loss ; it need not exceed, at the outside limit, $10,000 or $20,-
000 — it would not be $5,000, for you could build the road in such a
position that nine-tenths of all the outlay would be for material, which
could be all sold again at a little loss. If it is a success (nay ! if -♦■, does
one-half what I claim for it), the road is worth twenty times what it cost,
and by its general adoption our country gains the amounts I have before
specitied. Are the chances so small that they are not worth the risk ?
Surely not. Why, you have expended three times the amount on many
a paltry colonization road, over which no one has ever travelled. Look
at the amounts you spent on preliminary surveys foi' the Intercolonial
Railway. Nay, contemplate for one moment the amount spent on that
road itself — a road which I believe (and in the expression of my
belief I only echo the sentiments of those well able to judge,) to be
almost useless to the Dominion, more especially in winter — just the time
when such a road is wanted. Indeed, thei'e is no ])ossible doubt that
ten millians of the money spent on that I'ailway has been absolutely
wasted. While you, yourselves, admit that it will be a heavy annual
loss to operate it. Need I remind you of the amounts now being spent
on the survey of the very road under discussion ; or of the million and
a quarter sunk in the Dawson road in the North-west 1 In all such
undertakings there must be an element of uncertainti/, and, consequently
my experimental road in no wise differs from the many others which you
are daily called upon to execute ; or, if it does differ, it is in the immense
incalulahle benefits it is likely to confer upon the entire Dominion. It
is needless, however, to waste more time in enforcing the claims of the
"New System of Transit," it must now fight its OAvn battles in the
world. I have launched the idea upon the great ocean of human
thought, confident that it will take root and bear fruit for the world's
benefit. I have aimed to dispel the absurd illusion that the Railway is
perfect, and the finality of man's invention in the way of locomotion. I
have tried to break the spell which the wonderful success of Stephenson
cast over the minds of our engineers, scaring them back from all
attempts to supersede his work and I feel certainjthat the enchantment is
broken, the spell is dissolved, and you may, therefore, rest assured that,
even if I have not grasped the prize myself, the man is now living and
of full age who will show to the world, that the Railway is, after all,
but the forerunner of a more " perfect system of transportation ;" a sys-
tem as n)nch superior to the railway — particularly as operated in Canada
and the United States — as it was to the stage coach or the canal.
And now allow me, in conclusion to this long and in many respects
imperfect communication, to say with all due defference that I do not come
before you and your Government as a suppliant asking for favors ; but
76
i
rather as one who would confer benefits on his fellow citizens. I oflTer
to rescue them from the chance of financial ruin, or at least from very
43erious embarraseraent and a fearful load of debt, debt contracted for
the least useful of purposes, viz., in building a road on which few could
afford to travel.
As a Canadian, I very naturally offer to Canadians the first chance
of adopting the new system of transit, and in doing so I place within
their hands the means of controling the vast and ever-increasing traffic
of the Great West and North Western States of America. I present
lO them the power by which, if they are wise, they may create a gi*eat
trans-continental trade, and constitute themselves the middle men be-
tween East and West, between xA.sia and Europe. Nature supplied us
with the route, but she left it to us to find the mechanical contrivances
necessary to make the route available. I have supplied the want, and
now offer it for your very serious consideration, and I assure you that
there are no other means at present known by which the Great Cana-
dian North West can be made a really useful because easily accessible
land, than such as I have explained ; and further, that no man who
has thoroughly studied the railway systems of the world, and who has
a clear and comprehensive knowledge of the requirements and possibili-
ties of the great lone land, and the fortunes of those whom we expect
to people it, will ever talk of a railway as the means whereby that
country is to be made the refuge of the poor and struggling of all na-
tions ; a land wherein all who are willing to put their shoulders to
the wheel may hew out for themselves happy and prosperous homes ;
homes into which the grim monsters, hunger, ignorance and crime
need never come.
Again assuring you, Hon. Sir, that my first, last and only wish is,
that you may j udge wisely and act promptly on this most important
subject,
I remain, yours very obediently,
YoRKViLLE, Ont., May 10th, 1874.
D. R. GOUDIE.
APPENDIX.
When in the body of my letter I promised to give a specimen of the way ia
which the probable profits and advantages of any particular railway, are calculated
by their advocates or promoters, I had no idea of being able to hit upon such an
admirable sample, and one in every way so applicable to the case in point, as the-
one copied into this appendix. It appeared originally as an editorial in the Mani-
toba Gazette, and was immediately reprinted in the Toronto Globe, from which
paper I have taken it. I print the article in full, because, in the first plaee it is a
description of the present Government's plan for opening up communications with
our great North-west, and is evidently inspired from headquarters; 2nd, because it
is a good average sample of the way in which our newspapers treat such subjects,
the accuracy of its information and the soundness of its conclusions being fully up
to the mark of dozens of railway edito ials I could quote from the Toronto press ;
8rd, because it shews the way in whicL the few men who control the puolic press of
the Dominion manufacture tbe article popularly denominated " Public Opinion,"
deluding themselves as well as the big, gaping, thoughtless, public with the idea
that such works are desirable and certain to lead to the most beneficial results ;.
4th, I give the article in full, so that every one may judge for himself of the fair-
ness and honesty of the remarks I make upon it :
" THE THUNDEE BAY EOUTE."
{Fro7H the Manitoba Gazette.)
" As the season advances, the attention of the public is again naturally turned
to the subject of routes by which we can move ourselves and our goods the
cheapest to and from this Province. To this end steps have already been taken
to place another line of steamers upon the Red River, in order that — compe-
tition being the life of trade — the present exorbitant passenger and freight tariffs
may be reduced to something fair and reasonable. Still, this can at best be only
a temporary expedient and makeshift, the hopes of the people naturally turning to
the day when merchandise of all descriptions can be brought speedily and expedi-
tiously thi-ougli our own territory, and to this end all eyes are anxiously Inoking
for the efficient utilization of the Thunder Bay Road. The Government scheme,
as at present propounded to us, is assuredly the quickest anJ cheapest, notwith-
standing the great exception that has been raised to it in certain quarters, where,
perhaps, it might have been least expected. We propose, however, to prove our
assertions by a few facts and figures ; but, while doing so, do not let it be im-
agined that we are in favor of the available water communication being the ulti-
viatum for all time to come, but we give the Government credit for being honest
■:vhen it states that the water stretches will be used only to meet present pressing
necessities, and that the construction of the railway will be proceeded with as fast
as circumstances will allow. By going into the scheme a little in detail, we will be
the better able to arrive at an estimate of how and where the Govermnent expects
to effect a saving at the outset; aud though many maintain that canalling, etc., is
only money thrown away and extra expense, if it is the intention to build the
railway also, still, it cannot fail to be observable to any thinking man, not blinded
with prejudice, that the money spent in this manner will not Le capital sunk or
lost, but pay a good dividend on the expenditure. However, it is not our intention
just now to show in what manner it is so. Everybody knows that water has the
advantage over rail in cheapness, and that where speed is not an object, a large
amount of freight wUl always be sent in that manner. It is the intention at pres-
ent to have two railroads on the Thunder Bay route, one of about 40 miles between
78
Lake Superior and Lake Shebandowan, and one of 90 miles between the North-
West Angle and Winnipeg. The former will bo over very rough ground with
di£Eicult grades, and its least average cost inay be set at that of the general cost of
railways in Canada, say 540,000, making its entire probable cost ^1,600,000. In
regard to the line between the Lake of the Woods and Fort Garry, it will pass over
level ground in the highest degree favorable for the construction of a railroad — an
alluvial plain country, where the bridging and grading required will bo unusually
little, yomo low embankments in shallow swamps, with hard bottoms, will, how-
ever, be required, and its total cost per mile may be safely set down at ftSO.OOO,
equal to $2,700,000 for the entire distance of 90 miles. The two railways at either
end of navigation would thus involve an outlay of $4,300,000. Then we have 311
miles of water stretches that require to be improved by locks and dams ; the total
fall in the whole distance, as ascertained by surveys, is about 450 feet, of which
430 feet has to be provided for lockage, the balance being accounted for in the
current of llainy lliver and other parts. The following are some statistics showing
the approximate cost per foot lift of some of the cheaper canals in the United
States, including dams and all expenses conueotedwith the origuial construction.
New Hampshire and Merrimac $1,173
Delaware and Hudson 1,827
Morris Canal (New Jersey) 1,930
Cincinnati and Dayton 2,485
Philadelphia and Reading 4,098
" Therefore, if $2,500 per foot lilt is allowed as the cost for thejwork under con-
templation, it should be an ampie allowance, covering the excavation necessary for
the lock-beds, crib-work approaches, dams, etc., and would make the entire cost of
the lockage at $1,290,000. Allowing for other excavations not included in the
above, about $210,000, we have a total of $1,500,000. This,,with the railway connec-
tions already spoken of, gives the total cost from Lake Superior to Fort Garry at
$5,800,000. Thus we see that the construction of a railway the same distance of
441 miles (it would be probably be much longer) at say $35,000 per mile, would
cost $15,435,000, so that the saving at the lowest estimate may be set down at
$9,635,000.
" Now, we observe by a statement clipped some little time ago from the Moor-
head Star that the number of pounds received at that poiut during 1873 for Mani-
toba was over 14,823,565 lbs., also by a freight bill before us, wo see that the rate
is $2.90 per cwt. from Duluth. Now suppose all that freight came by Thunder
Bay, as undoubtedly it would, if the facilities provided were equal to it, and that
the tariff were only half what it is from Duluth, that is $1.45 per 100 lbs., we
should get a return of $214,941.70, which would he very nearly 5 per cent, on the
money expended. Now, that is the amoun* t'. freight that can be depended upon,
and is surely very good encouragement for the prosecution of the work, for if it is
known that there is traffic to that amount already, it may be relied upon that it
will not decrease, but will double and treble in a very short space of time to keep
tip with the rapidly growing requirements of the country.
" Supposing a scheme of railroad and canal, as above indicated, to be carried
out, the transport of heavy freight, ar.ording to McAlpine's scale, which is gener-
ally adopted, would be nearly as follows from Toronto to Fort Garry :
94 miles railroad, Toronto to Colliugwood, at 12J mills a ton per mile . . $1 18
534 miles of lakes, from Colliugwood to Fort William, at 2 mills a ton per
mile 1 07
40 miles by rail from Fort William to navigable waters of interior section
at 17 mills a ton per mile 68
311 miles lake and river navigation, from terminus of Lake Superior rail-
way to North-west Angle Lake of the Woods, at 4 mills a ton ner
mile 1 25
90 miles rail, North-west Angle to Fort Garry, at 16 mills a ton per mile. 1 35
1069 , . Total cost 95 35
Moor-
Mani-
rate
lunder
\(] that
bs., we
on the
upon,
if it is
that it
;o keep
n
18
1 07
68
1
1
25
35
96 35
79
" Tlie difltance from Toronto to Fort Garry, hy way of Detroit, Chicago, and St.
Paul is 1,572 niilea, and snpposins; the railway communication to bo coniploto, the
OOBt per tijii, rrckoned at I24 mills per mile, would be 919.65. Nothing could show
more clearly the vast Hujioriority of the Cauadiiin line in point of natural advau-
tagea.
" Tt will be very easy for the mercantile man to see from these figures what he
is yearly losing by being compelled to freight through the United States, and the
scheme that will relieve him the quickest from this incubus is the one that demands
his support. If ho has to wait till the wliole railroad is finished, it will be some
years yet before cheap froightH can bo looked for; but if, ou the other hand, the
Government scheme to be carried out, almost immediate reUrf will bo felt, and the
railroad in its entirety will not be hindered a day."
Now, the first point in this article to which I would like to draw your attention
is the paragraph, " Still it cannot fail t" be observable to any thinking man, nol
blinded by prejudice, that tho juouey sjh nt in this manner will not be capital sunk
or lost, but will pay a good dividend on the expenditure ; however," remarks our
worthy and prudont scribe, " it is not our intention just now to show in what man-
ner it is so." You will please mark tho delicacy and tact with which our editor
treats his opponent — provided anyone will have the temerity to put himself in such
an awful position — and the felicity with which ho hits off his prominent charac-
teristics — he must be either " not observant " or " blinded with prejudice." Now
I would suggest, however egotistical it may seem in me to oppose my opinion
against two such papers as the Manitol)a Gaiftte and the Toronto Globe, that one
might very reiisonably doubt the possibility of such a route paying any dividend,
and yet be an observant and thoroughly uni)rejudiced man ; he might for example
possess a more intelligent knowledge of technical subjects, particularly of railways,
their construction and operation ; he might also luive had a greater natural apti-
tude for and given a great deal more time to t he stiuly of the causes which led to the
peopling of the great West and North- West of the Amei'ican continent, and so be
able to form a mo correct opinion as to the numbers who, under existing circum-
stances, would seoK home in the Red River Territory than even the editor of the
Manitoba Gazettt .
For iHV own part, I claim to bo quite as observant and capable of judging the
chances which the Thunder Bay route has of paying a dividend as the editor of
the Manitoba Gazette, and I unhesitatingly assert that such a scheme of communi-
cation as he has described would not pay a dividend on the outlay ; nay more, its
entire earnings — even at his estimate — would not pay 25 per cent, of its current
operating expenses ; find if it was in his power to prove the contrary, it was his
bounden duty to do so — indeed, it was the point — and to attempt to pass it over as
he does, is simply to play Hamlet with the Royal Dane left out.
We will pass over his calculations as to the cost of the route, only remarking
that his tigures are based on the cost of roads built at a time when both labor and
materials were worth little more than 50 per cent, of their present price ; moreover,
the position of the said railroads and canals, and their distance from necessary sup-
plies would add at least thirty per cent, to their cost as compared with those
named in his article, consequently, if you say #50,000 per mile for the railroads
in place of #40,000 — and #5,000 in place of #2,500 per foot lift for the canals, you
will be a great deal nearer the true figures.
The next point claiming our attention is the paragraph in which ho says " the
amount of freight despatched from Moorhead to Manitoba per annum, amounts to
14,823,000 lbs., or say for short 7,000 tons— and pays #2 90 per 100 lbs. from Dnluth.
Now he says, " suppose all that freight came by Thunder Bay, which it would, and
that the tariff was only one-half, or #1.45 per cwt., we should get a return of
8214,941.70, or nearly ^ve per cent, on the 7noney expended.'' Which is certainly,
as he remarks, "yery good encourarfement tor the prosecution of the workn." You
will excuse me though, if I trouble you to observe that we get that neat little sum
of $214,941.70, which " pays nearly five per cent, on tlie outlay," by charging only
(MAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)
/
O
1;^
Q>,
:/.
(/.
1.0
I.I
m
|50
IIM
IM
6
po
IIM
zo
1.8
1.25 1
!.4
!.6
.-^ —
<
6" —
►
%-
>^.
dl
sm.
m.
"f c^
^^
/a
//T#
#
(?^)
Photographic
Sciences
Corporation
^\
^^
:o^
\\
#
^q,^
^^
%
V
%
1>^
33 WEST MAIN STREET
WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580
(716) 872-4503
:s
f
%
\)
80
11.46 per 100 Ibe., or say 929.00 per ton between Thnnder Bay and Fort Garry, and
getting the 130 miles of railway and 400 miles of canal, lake and river navigation
{^erated and maintained by magic, for it must be observable to any thinking man
not blinded by prejudice, that oar admirable prospectus writer does not allow one
single cent for working the road ; indeed, such trivial things as working expenses
are altogether beneath his notice, and after all he requires the whole amount (even
at $29.00 per ton) to pay that five per cent.
In the very next paragraph our author says : " Supposing a scheme of railroad
and canal as above indicated, to be carried ovit, the transport of heavy freight,
according to McAlpine's scale, which is generally adopted, would be as follows from
Toronto to Fort Garry : —
94 miles railroad from Toronto to Collingwood, at 12^ mills per ton per
mile $1.18
534 miles by lake from Collingwood to Fort William, at 2 mills per ton per
mile • 1.07
48 miles by rail from Fort William to the navigable waters of interior sec-
tion at 17 mills per ton per mile 68
311 miles lake and river navigation from terminuB of Lake Superior railway
to north-^est angle of the Lake of the Woods, at 4 luiUs per ton per
" mile 1.26
90 miles raile, north-west angle Lake of the Woods to Fort Garry, at 15
mills per ton per mile 1.36
1096 $6.35
In other words, our author says in the first plate, the Government scheme of
railway and caual communication with the North-west will when completed cost
about $5,600,000. The present traffic certain to lake the said route, amounts to
about 7,000 tons per annum, and will at a tariff of $1.45 per 100 lbs., or $29.00 per
ton between Thunder Bay and Fort Garry, yield a sum of $214,000, or nearly five
per cent, on the outlay (always provided the road is operated and maintained by the
Nymphd of the North-west. Hence, gentlemen, you see it is just as plain as the nose
on your face, that the Government scheme is not only an admirable scheme, but it
is also a paying scheme ; consequently what objection can any " observant man "
urge against it ? In the second place he says, " so soon as the said route of railway,
canal, &c., communication is completed, the tariff for heavy freight between Thunder
Bay and Manitoba will be reduced — according to the universally adopted scale of
the great McAlpine — to $3.10 or thereabout ; consequently it is just as clear as mud
that the Government scheme is an admirabie scheme, and one from which every-
body — particulary the Toronto merchant — is going to derive the greatest possible
benefit, and if you are a genuine patriot you are bound to view it just so !
Now, in the name of outraged common sense, I ask what are we to think of the
man wlo could sit down and deliberately write such arrant, senseless, and ccutra-
dictoiy humbug ? Or what shall we say of the influential paper which gives it the
benefit of its circulation ? Or what weight shall we attach to opinions on that or
similar subjects when emanating from such quarters ? Ist, he proves that the rail-
way and caual will be profitable — paying nearly five per cent. — by charging $29.00
per ton between Thunder Bay and Fort Garry — and getting the road operated
gratis — and in the very next breath he shows that tht principal reason for construct-
ing the road is that freights will be reduced ae low as $3.10 between the same
points, immediately the route is complete. Now, if it required a tariff of $29 per
ton — without making any allowance for operating and maintenance expenses, — to
pay " nearly five per cent, on the original outlay," how will the c&se stand when
you reduce the tariff to three dollars per ton, and pay at least $500,000 per annum
working charges? Or where are you going to get the money which is to " pay a
good dividend on the expenditure?'' It certainly is a great pity that we should be
under the necessity of finding fault with our public teachers ; but what are we to
do, when we find such articles apparently so careful, elaborate, aud satisfactory,
81
and
.•».i
»1.18
1.07
68
1.25
1.35
95.35
of the
Iccutra-
Is it the
jthat or
le rail-
»29.0O
)erated
istruct-
really bo absurd, contradictory, and false — sown broadcast over the Dommion bj
our most important newspapers ? especially when we consider the vast importance
of the subject, and the urgent necessity that exists for informing the people follj
of the enormous burdens which their governors are heaping upon them almost daily.
But. let us return for a few moments to the calculation by which it is shown
that ordinary freight could be carried by the new route between Toronto and Man-
itoba for 95.35 per ton ; our author says that his calculations are based on the
" McAlpine scale, which is universally adopted." Now, who "McAipine" may be I
don't know, nor am I at all anxious to find ont, but one thing I do know, viz., that
no such scale is generally adopted, either in Gd^ada, the United States, England,
or the continent of Europe, as the following extract taken from an editorial on
"Transportation" which appeared m Harper's Monthly for April, 1873, will show
— at least as regards thu United States : — " Statistics derived from traffic reports
show that the average cost per ton per mile by rail is three cents, by canal one
cent, by river three ^uills, by Lake 2^ mills, by sea IJ mills." Moreover, it must
be borne in mind that these figures are derived from roads and companies doing
an immense business, and only covers the bare cost of transport? tion ; but you per-
ceive ail freight sent from Toronto to Fort Garry by the Thunder Bay route, would
require to be handled no less than eight times over and above the first loading, and
the last nnlo&ding — which as a matter of course would make a very serious item in
the cost of transportation by that route — yet our author doos not allow one cent
for any such purpose. It costs not less than $2 per car load, to load grain at the
steam elevators in Chicago, and will cost that amount every time the grain is handled
either in loading or unloading. Now, if it costs forty cents per ton to load and un-
load grain by steam power, how much will it ccdt to load and unload a ton of
ordinary miscellaneous freight such as he refers to ? Will sixty cents he too much
— it could not be done for $1.00 — if not, you must add that amount for every time
the freight is moved — which on the Thunder Bay route between Ontario and Fort
Garry will be five times, making for that item alone — calculated at the low figure
of sixty cents per ton loading and unloading — 93.00, or sixty per cent, of the whole
sum he calculates for moving the freight Trom Toronto to Fort Garry.
Bailwpys, canals, &c., do, and as a matter of fact must regulate their tariffs by
the amount of business done in proportion to the length and difficulty of their
routes, as any one may ascertain for himself after a little inquiry — for examph, by
•tepping down to the Northei'n Railway Stb,tion, he can find out easy enough that
the lowest charge for general freight (such as referred to in the article quoted) will
be three cents per ton per mile between Toronto and Collingwood — in place of IJ
cents ; he may ako learn that the charge by boat between Collingwood and Fon
William averages nearer twenty dollars per tou than cue dollar and seven ceuts aK
given by our author ; and it may be well to state just here, that it costs neither
more nor less to navigate a steamer between the said points to-day, than it will
when tbo Government scheme of canal and railway communication is comf/'ete;
consequently, there are but two ways in which the present tarift can be reduced —
1st, by an immense increase of business, beside which the present trade of Manitoba
(7,000 tons) would be the merest bagatelle ; or 2nd, that the Government of the
dominion make good the difference between the tariff and the real cost of trans-
portation.
Again, he will find that the cost per ton on the forty miles of railway between
Fort William and the interior section, instead cf being put at seventeen mills,
ought — according lo all rules governing railway transportation — be put at six cents
per ton per mile, and so on with every section of the route.
For example, in the United States "inspection of the returns of 88 railroads
at the east, 28 at the west, 1.1 at the south, whose statements for 1872 are com-
plete, shows that those roads which carried freight an average distance of 10 miles
charged an average of nine and one-tenth cents per ton per mile, and yet yielded
only 91,112 net earnings per mile, or less than 2 per cent on the average cost, those
movuig freight an average of 20 miles charged six and eight-tenths cents per mile,
and yielded only 9970 per mUe net earnings, all these are eastern roads running
82
Roads moving freight 40 and over 40
m
fet, ■
3.18, and earn $3,125
2.68 2,162
6.67 1,886
5.96 1,815
throngh old and thickly settled districts,
miles may be arranged thns :
27 Eastern roads moving an' average distance of 75 miles charge
28 Western do. do. 116 do.
11 Southern do. do. 70 do.
61 Eastern do. do. 27 do.
It is conseqnently evident that railroads do, and must continue to charge in pro-
portion to their length, and the amount of business done ; it is also plain that a
high tariff does not always mean a profit to the shareholders, for not one of the
roads I have named can be said to pay, while the majority of them barely pay
operating expenses.
It must not however, be supposed from the remarks that I have mad ' on this
scheme, that I am opposed to it, because I favor an ail rail route ; on the contrary,
I considered that under existing circumstances, the Government plan of rail,
canal, &c., is unquestionably the most serviceable an'' prudent, indeed I consider
it the best in exact proportion to the amount of money saved in first cost and sub-
sequent operation, as compared with an all rail route.
If I believed as our newspaper editors and politicians say they believe, viz :
that the progress of Manitoba and the Northwest is likely to be as rapid and suc-
cessful as that of Indiana, Minnesotta, Iowa, &c. then I would undoubtedly be op-
posed to the mixed route for the very c ! vious reason that the cost of transhipment,
loss of time, and probable injury to the freight in handling, would far more than
counterbalance any gain in first cost or current operating expenses ; but viewing as
I do the construction of either route — before there is the clearest proof or at least
the strongest presumptive evidence — that it will be required and ordinarily produc-
ing within a reasonable time, as outrageous and senseless extravance, I must per-
force favor the road that will be least costly. What I object to, is the nonsensical
humbug, miscalculation and misrepresentation which runs all through the article.
I am opposed to the attempt evidently made to cajole the people of the older pro-
vinces into the belief that they will derive benefit either directly or indirectly from
the contemplated expenditure ; or that such a route of communication could be
made to pay more than the merest fraction of its current operating charges, until
■the population of Manitoba numbers over a million — a time which no thoughtful
Intelligent man who has watched the progress of Manitoba during the last four
years will be inclined to place nearer than 30 or 40 years.
My contention is, that the taxpayers of the country should be told honestly
and frankly, precisely how the case stands in regard to this and all other public
works. How much they will have to pay now, how much per annum and for how
long. It should also he clearly demonstrated — without any rhetorical flouriches
about general progress, natural development, Ac — what henefits they are likely to
reap from this, and the other expenditures necessary for the so-called opening up
of the Northwest? How much it will add to their income? By how much it will
reduce the expenditure? What diminution it will make in their taxes? What in-
crease in their comfortf ? And if it is impossible to show that the said and like ex-
penditures will either increase the general income or diminish the general expendi-
ture ; that they wUl lend strength and stability to the Government, or add to the
oomforts and enjoyments of the laborer? On what grounds can +^e expenditure
Jbe justified ?
I maintain and insist upon it with all the emphasis of conviction that if the
rulers of a country decide to tax, or mortgage the property and labor of its inhabi-
tants to the extent of 150 pr 20(i millions of dollars (or any other sum) for any pur-
pose whatever that they are bound to show that the said inhabitants are certain to
receive a present or future benefit fully commensurate with the sacrifice demanded,
and it is not enough that the Government be able to hold out a hope or show a
chance or probability of gain ; there must be a clear intelligent conviction, such a
conviction or knowledge as would justify or prompt a merchant to take the risk for
his personal profit : and I further assert that when th' sponsible governors of a
fi-ee people, act on a different principle (as they ver^ often do) they violate the
83
plainest dictates of common sense, the first principles of political science, and ren-
der the word statesmanship, synonimus with ignorance, presumption and spoila-
tion.
I repeat, no public work can be honestly and reasonably demanded at the
hands of a Government, unless thop'> demanding and proposing it are prepared to
prove (not guess, hope, or believe) or demonutrate in such way as would satisfy the
reason of a private speculator, if he was in a position to go into it, that the said
undertaking will yield at least five per cent, on the outlay over all operating and
maintenance expenses, &o. Of course, as I have before remarked, it is not abso-
lutely necessary that the work should pay five per cent, in cash directly to the
national exchequer — though as a rule it should dc so — but it is imperative that it
should return that amount either to the nation as a whole, or to a certain section of
it ; nor is it essential that the undertaking pay the full interest from the day it ia
finished — for Governments as a rule can wait — but in that case ihe unpaid interest
must be added to the first cost, and future dividends cover both. Indeed, so clearly
evident is it, that this is the proper test by which to try all public undertakings,
that it must seem like a work of supererogation to insist upon it. Nevertheless, it
is Li fact, that there are not half-a-dozen public works in Canada to which the prin-
ciple could be applied ; nor are there two on the boards now, which tested by it,
would stand any chance of being carried out. For example, I ask any man of
average intelligence if — tried by this common-sense standard, this first principle of
political science — it is possible to make out a case in favour of the enormous
expenditures we are making in the North-west ? in favour of our building the
Canada Pacific Kaiiway, the Pembina branch of ditto, the Trans-continental
Telegraph, or constructing that mechanical and financial monstrosity, the
"Bale Verte Canal," which the Hon. Mr. Scott told the Senate must be built,
because forsooth a majority of the House of Commons had set their hearts upon
having it ? I insist that under existing circumstances, such expenditures are mere
stupid and criminal than throwing the money into the lake, because they will
entail an annual waste of treasure to cover ov ^r the original blunder.
I am, of course, fully aware that in makinj; the above statements, I am running
counter to a very powerful current of public ")pinion, and to the very absurd and
ridiculous ideas which generally prevail in rei^ ard to the railway system, viz. : that
it is a sort of omnipotent genii wnicn creates wealth no matter where it
may be placed; ideas which found "iany influential moath-pieces in Ottawa during
the last session of Parliament. x''or example, it was asserted, and re-asserted,
again and again, in the Sensce particularly, and by men whom one woul 1 naturally
have supposed to know better, that although a railway can neither provide interest
on its first cost, nor p»y even current operating expenses, it may still be very
profitable to the country as a whole, and ought to be kept in operation at the gen-
eral expense. Now, that is simply Protection in its most injurious and aggravated
form, and bears absurdity on its very face. It means that we, the general public,
ai'e to be taxed a large sum of money because certain people chose to remain in a
particular part of the country or to carry on an unremunerative business, for it is
perfectly evident that if their section of country is a good one, and their occupation
remunerative, they can afford, and fihould be compelled to pay for their own trans-
portation; and if the country is bad, and their business not paying, then it is for
their own interest, and most unquestionably for the good of the country, that they
should be forced to leave it.
Let us try, however, and demonstrate more fully the absu-dity of the above pro-
position, viz., "that a non-paying railway can be profitable to the State," by ths
case of Manitoba (though the demonstration will be equally applicable to the Inter-
colonial and other non-paying roads of tLa lower provinces.)
Suppose we have finished the railroad to Manitoba at an average cost of $50,-
000 per mile; that will give, as the cost of the whole line (1,200 miles), sixty mil-
lions of dollars ; the interest on that sum at six per cent, will amount to 93,600,000
per annum ; taking the operating and maintenance expenses at 95,000 per mile»
the annual outlay will be six millions, which added to interest makes in all ml
84 ■
snnnal oatlay of $9,600,000. Now, let ub suppose that daring the period tho road
is bnildlng, the popnlation of the Northwest wUl increase at the rate of thirty thou-
sand per annum (though we have no reason to calcnlate on one-third of that nnm-
ber), and that the road takes ten years to complete; in that case we will have
800,000 inhabitants ; we will alRo suppose that there will be as large a breadth of
land cultivated in proportion to population as there is in the west and north-western
Btates of the United States, viz., three acres per individual ; and also that the yield
will be the same, namely, fourteen bushels per acre (of wheat) ; in that case the
cultivated land would amount to 900,000 acres, and the yield 12,600,000 bushels
of wheat (the only crop that could be raised with any hope of profit.) Now, let us
suppose that two-thirds of tha'. amount, or say eight million bushels are exported,
the whole quantity would be worth in Montreal or Toronto at $1.20 per bushel,
89,600,000. And now comes the very natural ouery, ho^7 much has it cost to pro-
duce and bring to Toronto this nine million dollars worth of wheat ? What was
the profit of the farmer and of the railway company (or the Dominion) ?
To begin with, the Domimon must have made the tariff of this road about
one-half the lowest sum now ,' charged by any raih-oad in the world, or the grain
eould not have been exported from Manitoba at all, Tve ~LU therefore, suppose the
rate to have been three-fourths of a cent per ton per mile or say 30o. pe. bushel
from Manitoba to Toronto ; that being tha case, it is e\ident that if the wheat
cost) the 90o. per bushel paid to the farmer, the 30o per bushel pi>id to
the railway, it also costs the real expenses of transportation, viz.: the ex-
penses of the railway $9,600,000, less the $2,400,000 paid for carriage, or in all $16,-
800,000, that is, the grain whiah is worth in all $9,600,000 in Toronto, cost to pro-
duce it in the Northwest, and bring it here $16,800,000.*
It must therefore be perfectly plain to any one capable of realizing or resolving
the simplest arithmetical or mechanical problem, "that the total of the whole" is
just this : that (as the Dominion taxes raised in the North-west will never — or at
least not for thirty or forty years — cover Dominion expenditure in Do) we of the
older provinces will be paying eight million dollars per annum to enable 300,000
people in the North-west to add to our exports eight million bushels of wheat,
worth some nine million dollare ; while the farmers for whom we will be making
such senseless and unheard of sacrifices will be compelled to sell their produce
twenty to twenty -five per cent, less — and consequently be that much worse of — than
their brethren of Ontario.
But perhaps you say that is not a fair way of putting the case ; that I allow
nothing for other freight and passengers, &n., which is quite true ; but it
must be remembered that I gave nearly double the export of grain which could
reasonably be expected from 300,000 people. However let us try it in another way,
and the only other way in which it can be tested, viz., by taking the average amount
of money which a given population (like circumstanced) is in the habit of paying
♦When I observed the other day; that our government had actually offered British Co-
lumbia to commence at once, and continue spending 1\ million of dollars per annum in
that Province until the 500 miles of railway promised was comlpeted, I had to rub my eyes
for some time to see that I was not reaUy asleep, and had dreamed it ; e a soon however as
I got my senses about me, I made the following calculations. The population of British
Columbia is about 40,000— Indians and Chinamen included. The proposed expenditure de-
vided by 10,000 (the number of men or families supposed to be in that Province) will give
$150. Ergo we spend at the rate of 1150 per annum for every family in that Provincn to
provide them with railway commxmication ; or suppose the whole 500 miles complete at
1^,000 per mile (a low estimate) it will have cost $20,000,000. Now $20,000,(HX) divided by
10,000 gives $ 2,000 for every family in the said Province ; therefore, every family in British
Columbia will have cost us of the older Provinces $2,000, bat that is not all nor even the
Kalfot it for once .he road is built, it must be operated and maintained at the rate of not
less than $4,000 per mile per annum, or for the 600 miles the neat little sum of $2,000,000,
which added to the interest of first cost $1,200,000, makes in all $3,200,000 per annum, or at
the rate of $3,820 per annum per family to supply railway facilities for 40,000 people, who
under the most ravorable circumstances CKunot supply traffic to a greater extent than
$7 per head, or in all $280,000 per annum. Would it not be far more sensible to pay every
family in the place a $1,000 down and get them to agree to bum the ridiculous, nay
infamovm treaty, which settms to have been drawn up for the special purpose of raining
tma Dominion.
85
for railway hire of eyery description ; taking the oase of Minnesotta, Iowa, <&c.,
where the chargea are more than doable the amount it would be possible to charge
on the " Canada Pacific." We find the average to be between J7 and >8 per head;
now suppose we say for Manitoba and the Northwest $6 per head, how mucL bet-
ter are we than by the first calculation? We are actually 1800,000 worse, which
proves conclusively that I have been liberal to the railway. In short try the calcu-
lation in any way you like, you can get but one result, viz., that we of the older
Provincec will be paying $25 per head per aimum for every man, woman and child
in Manitoba &o. (even granting them to increase at the rate of 30,000 yearly) or at
the rate of $10 per acre per annum for every acre of cultivated land in the Province
to induce farmers to leave Ontario and Quebec where they are doing (( t at least
might do) well and are a source of wealth and power to the Dominion, to go to a
country where their produce will bring from 20 to 25 per cent less than it would
do here! Yet we are a common-sense people, a people who hate protection or
bounties of any kind, and would far sooner soe our country remain a little Province
than have it made a mighty flourishing State by a nominal protection of 20 per
cent on manufactures; yea, verily we are wiso, and our governors have always
been men of genius and ability, dintiiiguished for theii great grasp of common-
place, their powerful passions and vivid fancy, but slightly deficient in that cool,
calculating common-sense so necessary in the ordinary affairs of life. *
In conclusion, I would beg to say that it is absurd to assert as many have
asserted, that because I hold these opinions that therefore, I am opposed to immi-
gration, progress, development, Ac, Ac, for the very contrary is the truth. I am
and have ever been entirely in favor of progress and national development, and
am exceedingly anxious to see our population increased ; indeed no one can be
more desirous of having the vast rescources of this Dominion developed than I am,
and very few, I make bold to say hr.ve a clearer notion of their extent and value.
I have no fear of a bold, original, and eaterprising policy on the part of the
government ; Canada is rich, immensely rich, rich in everything but men, conse-
quently every effort is justifiable, every expense reasonable, up to 530 or 840 per
immigrant, which will add to our population men and women of the right stamp.
Canada could, I am fully persuaded — afford to spend $100,000,000 within the next
ten years, and never feel the pressure, provided it was spent in real development,
in promoting real progress, which means that 20 persons must be added to the
population for every $3,000 spent in public enterprises — all I wt.nt is to make sure
that our progress is real, permanent and beneficial to all, which is more than can
be said for much of the past, in fact our efforts in the Northwest particularly, has
always appeared to me like the economy of a lady friend of mine, who spent $3
in the trimming and making up of a jacket or cape, for which she had no earthly use
rather than see a small piece; of black cloth, not worth a dollar go to the rag bag.
So we, having become the unfortunate possessors of a great country a thousand
miles distant from our own, are cc:apelled to ruin ourselves in trying to colonize it,
although millions and millions of acres within une hundred miles of our principal
*"0h," aaysMr. Sharpsight, "what about the transcontinental traffic of the road?" Tha6
is just the query I woulalike answered myself, so sxippoBo you sit down and try to find out
what it will amount to, and then let me know your opinion; mine is that there will be none
to speak of beoause the chargea would bn too high, there are not 20 million dollaid worth
of goods passing between the'eaat and Europe or Amei-ica that could afFord to take the
railway across the continent. Again, should any non-protection political tphiloaophera
feel lik.> laying the flattering unction to their souls, that time and future increase of wealth
and numbers in the Northwest wJJl put ua on the right aide of the account-book, juat let
him. Make the following calculation : first place our annual loaa, intareat, compound
inf jreat, operating and maintenance expenaea, &o., on one aide, run them up for a period
of aay 20 yeara ; then let him do the aame with the trade and inoreaae of population
(taking any rate of inoreaae that hia own common sense and facta will justify) and let him
strike a balance, and I will riak a nice little bet that we are worae oft at the end of the 20
yeara than at the beginning. Indeed it ia a physical and mechanical certainty that if ever
the Canadian Northweat really becomes a prosperous and populous portion of the Do-
minion, it will only be after the railway has been superoedea by a system of transit infi-
nitely less costly in oonstruotion and operation, and greatly superior in safety, speed aad
power.
86
cities, and within 50 mileH of our principal lines of railway, are as yet antouched
by the plow, and our cultivated lands for lack of labor and capital, yield barely
/laif/ crop*, the average being in Ontario fourteen bushels (of wheat) to the acre,
while in England and Scotland — with very inferior soil and climate — they get from
twenty-six up to forty bushels to the acre.
We have an almost virgin country, a Dominion of unlimited resources,
capable of supporting in affluence 100,000,000 of people ; we are perfectly untram-
meled, absolutely free in every respect, socially, politically and religiously. No
one of the thousand curses which hanj,' around the necks of European peoples
afflict us. We have neither army nor navy to support ; no lauded and governing
aristocracy to provide for such as in Great Britain, Ac, consume the produce of 60
to 70 out of every hundred acres of cultivated laud. We have comparatively few
of that smaller aristocracy who live on the accumulated savings of years or on the
interest of government debts, debts incurred not as with us for works of improve-
ment but for purposes of distruction. We have few paupers or criminals, and if
they are ever allowed to increase, or rather if they arejuot steadily diminished, our
rulers ought to be horsewhipped once a month for the term of their natural lives.
Nor axe we afflicted with that immense army of partially employed and miserably
paid men, &c., who are engaged in the thousand and one trifling and yet absolutely
necessary occupations which are carried on in all old or densely peopled countries,
a class neither pauper nor criminal, though only a shade above the degraded ; in
short we have nothing but blessings ; indesd I hold that if ever a special oppor-
tunity was vouchsafed to any people, to enable them to work out the very highest
form of social existence, that chance is now offered to us. If "ver there was a pcu-
pie who could claim to be the chosen and favored children of the Almighty Father,
surely we may claim that title; for what more "God and nature" could reasonably be
asked to do for Canada, than has been done, I am at a loss to imagine ; our chances,
our opportunities have been almost infinite, and if we had only been blessed with a
government equal to the occasion, we might have stood before the world to-day a
nation of 10,000,000, superior in intelligence, morality, physical comfort and general
culture to anything the world has ever seen.
Our greatest want las beer:, and our fervent prayer should still be for
statesvien. Men capable of rising above party spirit, party tricks and exigec-
cies, and taking their stand upon the firni foundation of honor, honesty
and truth. Men able to realize the strength of our position, the greatness of our
opportunities, and prepared to bring the people up squarely, iface to face with their
great destiny. We must have men of individuality of thought and originality of
conception. Men who can originate as easily as they can adapt, and who can con-
trol and educate the pubhc mind and will ; in a ^/ord we must have as controler
of the governmental machine, the power that springs from internal conviction, the
promptings of native genius, rather than the talent born of much reading, long ex-
perience, native cuteness or low cunning, for statesmen like poets are bom not
^ade. ., fc -
87
T
ADVERTISEMENT.
ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS REWARD.
•liSl.-.Gh
Scientists, Practical Mechanics, Engineers.,
Inventors and Others.
■.."/.(-■ ';--;
)e for
uger-
)nesty
|)f onr
their
ity of
con-
troler
t, the
ex-
not
The above reward will be paid to the person who will, within the next four
months, prove in accordance with the conditions laid down, that
Goudies Perpetual Sleigh Road
Is iiapracticable, and could not be carried out with any hope of superseding the
Builway system, either in speed, power, or economy of maintaiuauce and operation.
forms the body of this
call GodDIK's PEEPBTUAIi
Gentlemen, —
In the letter addressea to our Premier, which
pamphlet, I describe a new system of transit, which I
Sleigh Road, and for which I claim,
Ist. That it is in every way superior to and is destined to supersede the rail-
way as a means of transit, both for passengers and freight.
2ud. I claim that it can be made for less than one-third the average amount
which has been expended on railways, and for less (to keep well within the mark)
than one-third the amount which would be required to build the Canada Pacific
Railway.
3rd. That it could be maintained and operated for about one-third the amount
usually required for the maiutaiiiance and operation of the railway.
4th. That it could accommodate double the business, and keep up double the
speed usually maintained on Canadian railways, or that would be k'^pt up on the
Canada Pacific Railway if built ; that is, for every ton of goods which the ordinary
150 horse power locomotive engine now draws on the railway at twenty miles aa
hour, the 150 horse power locomotive could, on the Sleigh Boad, take two tons a
40 miles an hour.
tith. The Sleigh Road could be built and operated in almost any kind of coun-
try — in h country where the railway would be absolutely useless — and in one-third
to one-fourth of the time necessary for the construction of a first-class railway —
Buah a railway as the Canada Pacific wouJd be.
6th. That the Sleigh Road would be almost absolutely safe (it being impossible
for the cars to leave the track by accident), and free from noise, while the motion
will more resemble the sailing of a ship on a perfect calm ocean, than the thump-
ing and bumping and swaying motion of the railway cars ; it will therefore be in-
finitely more comfortable and healthy, enabling passengers to read, write and con-
verse or sleep with perfect ease and safety.
7th. Such is the superiority of the motion, and the power of the engine — par-
ticularly when working with elastic drivers in double grooves — that if the Sleigh
Road cost ^150,000 per mile, while the railway could be built for 550,OOC, the
Sleigh Road would be by far the cheapest in the end, owing to the smaller cost for
operation and maintainance.
88
8th. Snch are the adTantages arining from the ability to nee engines of un-
limited power, and the great reduotion made in the dead weight, that tranHPorta-
tion by ** sleigh road" would oost less than half that by rail, even grantin)^ the
friction (loss of power) between the runners and the rollers to be double that be-
tween the wheels and the rails.
9th. By sleigh road we could haul loads of 600 and 600 tons, or 8 to 10 times
the amount carried by rail ; while the road could be made to carry canal boats,
barges, Ac, &o. , with six times the present speed and at one-half the present oost.
10th. That the expense of changing any ordinary railway to the " sleigh system's
need not co3t more than 35,000 or $6,000 per mile— added to the price of the old
material — a sum which would bo saved in two years in the operating and mainte-
nance accounts, while the efflciency of the road would be doubled, and the future
expennes reduced fully 50 per cent.
11th. And very important, I claim that the Sleigh Boad could be operated by
wind power for at least one-fourth of the year quite as efficiently as the railway is
now operated by the locomotive, thereby effecting an immense saving ; indeed I
hold that the road could be so managed that nearly all the heavy traffic, such ai
cereals, live stock, &o., between the great West, and the sea board; the coals, iron,
lime, stone, plaster, timber, and heavy manufactures, &o., between Nova Scotia,
New Brunswick, &c., and Ontario and Quebec, could be carried by that means,
thereby reducing the cost in many cases fully 50 per cent to the consumer.
Now, gentlemen, it must be very evident to you that it is exceedingly import-
ant not only to myself, but also, to the country, that my system of Sleigh Boads
should be adopted at once, and so save the immense sums being constantly thrown
away on railways, or it should be proved to be impractioablti and not capable of
superseding the railway as a means of transit. I therefore offer a reward of 9100
to the person, male or female, professional or non-professional, inventor or
mechanic, &c., who will demonstrate in the clearest and most convincing manner
by means of model, drawings, or in any other satisfactory way, that the claims I
have advanced above in favor of my system are not justifiable and cannot be sus-
tained according to the well known laics of viechanics ; that in short the system of
bleigh Boad is impracticable and could not be carried out with any hope of super-
seding the railway either in speed, power or economy of operation.
The offer will remain open for four months from this date, and the conditions
necessary to observe in competing for the prize will be — 1st. That the competitor
must read my pamphlet through thoroughly and understanr^ingly at least three
separate times, with an intervol of two or three days between each reading. 2nd.
He must satisfy himself that he thoroughly comprehends the full scope of my
scheme. 3rd. He must know enough of mechanical philosophy, and be sufficiently
acquainted with the theory and practical details of the railway system — the cost of
construction, operation and maintainance, &c., — to enable him to judge intelli-
gently of the correctness or otherwise of my theory, facts, assertions, <fcc., Ac. 4th.
He will then write out clearly and as concisely as he can, his reasons for believing
me to be in error concerning the Sleigh Boad, its utility, <Sc., and send the paper to
me as soon as possible. If I consider his objections of sufficient importance, I will
answer them within a week or ten days from their receipt ; and should he not hear
from me within tan or twelve days, or should my answer not succeed in removing
his objections, he is then at liberty to notify me through the columns of the
Toronto Globe, Mail, or the Montreal Herald or Gazette, (sending me a private
note at the same time, saying in which paper his note has appeared), that he is
prepared to compete for the prize ; he will also send me at the same time the name
of one or more gentlemen whom he is willing to accept as judges between us ; the
competition will take place before a committee of gentlemen whose professional
reputation as engineers, and personal character as gentlemen, will be a sufficient
guarantee for the impartiality and intelligence of their opinions ; the committee to
consist of not more than six nor fewer than three, and the competitors to have the
appointment of two-thirds the number and myself of one-third. Th? competition
to be by letter, drawings, models, <&c., &c., or in any other way the competitor
inea of un-
ransrorta-
inting the
lie that be-
;o 10 times
mal boats,
esent cost.
;h system' B
of the old
id mainte-
the future
perated by
I railway is
; indeed I
ic, such as
Qoals, iron,
ova Scotia,
lat means,
r.
5ly import-
sigh Roads
itly thrown
capable of
ard of »100
avantor or
Dg manner
16 claims I
inot be Bus-
3 system of
le of super-
conditions
competitor
[east three
ing. 2nd.
lope of my
lufficiently
|the cost of
ge intelli-
&c. 4th.
fr believing
e paper to
Ince, I will
le not hear
removing
IB of the
a private
that he is
the name
kn us ; the
lofessional
sufficient
imittee to
have the
Impetition
lompetitor
80
may think fit, I rosorving the riglit to roply to the demonstration or arguiiiintfl of
any of the competitors. The prize to be puid immediately the judges have pro-
nounced their opinion that it has been earned iiuoording to the conditions stated.
N. B. — Sh(juld any one who would like to compete consider the above condi-
tions or any of them unfair or giving an undue advantage to the inventor of the
Sleigh Road, I will bo happy to relax them as far as 1 ruasonahly can, with t\v
main object of the challenge which is to aroxise public attention and got tht! subjec.
thorontfhly ventilated.
The only conditions I cannot relax are — 1st. That all objections be first sent
to me personally — the reason for that being the impoasibility of noting every /act
in a pymplilet, or providing against evory pDSfiihle objection ; 2nd. That all offers
to compete for the prize must l' made through the public presR, the object of this
13 that the public may know to a certainty if any or how many .ire prepared to
prove me a mistaken enthusiast, and my Sleigh Road an impracticable dream, and
if none are prepared to prove it such, that the public may have a certain guarantee
o/its practicability.
I am aware that there is a very general idea abroad that although the great
inventions of the past were opposed and their authors ridiculed and persecuted,
that the world has learned too much since, and seen too many farmer impossi-
bilities turned into every day facts to repeat the stupid mistake; that, in a word,
the general intelligence is so great and the spirit of toleration so wide spread that
the inventor has no longer anything to fear in bringing forth his projects but may
rest sure that the public is willing to try all things, and hold fast that which is
good, Ac.
Now to try the truth of that idea it is only necessary to ask, what was the pub-
lic, the professional and practical opinion concerning the makir.g of iron ships ; the
reaping machine, steam ploughs, the sewing machine, rifled cannon, breach-load-
ing rifles, or infinitely more important, Bessemer's process for making steel,
Biemen's regenerative gas furnace, or what about the Atlantic telegraph or the
Suez canal ? In each and all the opinion or verdict was just what it would have
been fifty years ago, viz : " It can't be done." In every age and country man is
the same being and with the same strong and persistent belief that whatever is is besi,
the good old way is so good that there can be no better ; so every truth, every im-
provement that is an advance beyond the narrow sphere of eveiy day experience is
doubted, denied and struggled against with all the heat and vehemence of pre-
judiced ignorance, not because it is fahe but because it is new — because it is differ-
ent from the old routine. It is only necessary to bring forward a plan different
from any to which the world has been accustomed ; a scheme without the recom-
mendation of use and wont, a something which seems to reverse as it were the for-
mer order of things, and the shout is instantly raised it can't be done, " you're a
fool, sir," said"Humphry Davy, the great chemist, when a friend whom he mot in
the street told him that before long he would see the city lighted with gas, — " you're
a fool, sir, it can't be done."
Or take my own scheme for " cooling and ventilating barracks, hospitals, Ac,"
in India, twelve or fourteen years ago, it was pronounced utterly impracticable by the
medical and other experts forming the " Army Sanitary Commission." Eight years
ago I was asked by the secretary of the same commission — as a complete crtinhsr —
how I could apply such a system to an Indian barrack where all the windows and
doors were " kept wide open," ; and you will please mark that it never seemed to
strike them that it would be possible to thut the doors and windows, such a thing
would be absurd, the windows and doors always had remained open, consequently
they must remain so ; neither did it occur to them to ask why are they kept open f
and will not this scheme remove the cause ? No, that would have been a new idea,
a "thing they were not capable of, and now the scheme which they were so ready
to denounce twelve years ago as utterly impracticable, is carried out in the United
States, in almost every European hospital, in the great Albert Hall, the Alexandria
Pali>ce, Loudon, and only last week I saw from the English papers that after
eYe^y other system has been tried and failed, my plan has been carried out
00
T
CTAn in the Englinh Home of CommonB itself, bot it hM not yet fonnd ita way to
India for which it was deiiignetl, nor do I get the merits of ita invention.
I Htate these facts, gcntlc^nen, simply to remove an idea which might other-
wine gain lodgement in your minds, viz : that my oCfer is prompted either by oyer
eonfld(>noe, pride or bravado, a<id to show you that it is really the only eourie by
which the plan can be brought prominently and at once before the public, and a
practical issue raised. Neoessa rily, I throw down the gauntlet for it is one of t^^
misfortunes of the inventor that he must always, at least in the first instance, blow
his own trumpet ; he may do it privately by button-holeingthe rich and influontial,
or he may do it by means of printers ink, but one way or other he must of a
necessity assort himnolf, as one vho knows or can do something which the world
needs to learn or get possession i)f , and which only he can impart. I therefore
trust that all will believe that I am actuated only by the motives I have named*
and that you will come forward and, as a charity to the inventor — who has spent
long and anzions years, and a considerable sum of money in bringing his ideas
into their present shape — if not us a service to the public,* win the $100 I have
offered ; I ask no favors, and I h&ve lived long enough in the world to care very
little for the " ha, ha, pshaw," stylo of criticism ; I am myself at all times willing
to hit hard at what I consider wrongs; or absurd, and I consequently respect the
man who does the same, only strike fair, gentlemen, and not too many at a time,
and you will have no cause to fear the flinching of
Yours very respectfully,
D. R.
Address — Box 48, Yorkville, Ont.
July 13th, 1874.
GOUDIE,
Inventor of i^ateut Sleigh Road.
* Oi, If a BtlU stronger motive is required to induce you to give the subject your very
careful conBideration, you may find in the fact that the amount of money which the
Government dolibevately propose to waste in the construction and maintenance of the
worse than useless " Canada Pacific Railway," is amply sufficient to provide for the fol-
lowing objects:— (1) To provide for a protective duty, or pay a bounty of 20 to 25 per cent,
on all kinds of manufacturing and commercial industries which cannot flourish without
help. (2) To subsidize a flrst-class line of steamships to all the principal porta where
Canada could do business. (3) To lend moi.oy to farmers, large manufacturers, aud for
the general development of the natural resources of the country at three and-a-half to
four per cent, interest per annum. (4) To provide an absolutely free and liberal educa-
tion for every child in the Dominion. (5) To grant a dowry of $200 to every child now in
the Dominion (under five years) on reaching th^jir majority. (6) To provide $200 worth of
household furnishings for every couple married after 1878, who have lived ten years in the
country previous to their marriage. |7) It will allow a life pension of £50 per annum to
every man in the Dominion (now under forty years) on attaining his sixty-fifth year. (8)
Forty dollars to every woman (now under thirty-five years) who may be left a widow after
1878, and a decent maintenance and education for every child left an orphan, or other-
wise unprovided for. (9) It would enable the Government to lend every man whose
inconii' is under iJSOO per annum, money enough at four per cent, to provide himself a
comfortiible home, and so reduce rents all over at least forty per cent. In a word, it is
enough, if sensibly used, to place the Dominion in such an advantageous position that
in lesK than ten years her population, wealth, and power would be more tnan doubled,
enabling us to take our true position in the great British Empire, paying cent percent,
with the people of the old land of that national debt which was contracted by our fathers
as much as by theirs, and for uur benefit as much as theirs; also our Army, Navy, and
other charges general to the Empire, thus becoming a living, active member of that great
people, who, in conjunction with our cousins (our brothers rather) across the line, are
destined within the next fifty years to become masttrs of the world, at whose potent word
the armies of Europe will dissolve like the baseless fabric of a vision, and all t^be horrible
panoply of war smk into everlasting oblivion before the benign presenc - of smiling
peace. Vide " Canada as she is and she might be."
BXTBA0T9 FBOtt k COMlNff I^AMPHLET,
'CANADA AS SHE IS AND A& SHE MIGHT BE.
t».
THE CANADA PACIFIC RAILWAY
•• i^oroi«F»n*Mdntt«i'lyttniwMioolttch«*pftrtyiiplfHb«c<m>«;totW«"^^
thul no pabj6ct, btwevw ImportMit. own be diBcoim^a wJth auy ttbROqe of kf^g judged «
iU oirn ii|erit«, fttt^ no mau, however tanck be m«7 d«plon> and atbiM lb« •irme M^pj^
and iojntiottt partiitEnship, oan esoapa ih« impnlation of bait^ aotaatad by party «? i^»»«b
motiYW; it w, thmfora, banUy to U wondefad at that Canada ha^-Oij the P» ific
Rafliiray-bti'oniB ditidadirt<»two g*^4 oimpa-Totlw fndXdbMala.
The Torie*. almo^ to a umd. daaWn that the^wiad* P*ei«a BaUway ahoH be com.
iBeno«»d at -iiice ftod carrM to conplatioo as qnlekly a« ue& tnd materiali can do it ;
«o< bfeoaaw it ip «?*»* and pdHtie to do so, or beoatoseii wfU bu benefloial to tbeDominlou
-for ijot obe in fifty of th^ proftHsiofiai a^ribea #bo,5i^ ao gJihly ahont It has evf r ««».,
irfdered th©.wl/ject.8afl:«iei»tly to have an intelligent ide# of Nvl.at h«i ia writing or talking
abont-btat ^apJy breaiw© Sir John A. Maedonald praJfUs^ tor d« H, and betiuire tli»y
beiievB the otlier party don't intend to implcnacht the proniisr-fso veiy tboaghtleaily
nrndfl— oonBpqtcntly tbey see a ehance to manufactnre * little Of that diiiy, ofiimes
3»o'^?Nw w»dfllii«ono>^r^bleMn«/oall«d Political eapi^
Thi^berala; oh the other ^and, declare their perfect willingueBB to bniJd the road
aa Boon aa the engineer are in^a ptfaition to do bo ; not becanee they beh^re it to be a
wwe and statesmanlike thing ti do, btrt btcanee the late goyernment hna bound the
Dominion by a ti^nty WW^ th^ feel bound to respect (the reql reason being, however,
that the leadfim ai the liberal paity have for many years back been crying o»t for just
Booh atoad, an<1 carefBHycdiicatiutf the public to ejtpetft apd demand if- indeed lliereciin- [
b? <»o doubt thar e preBcnt government and tlndr ^y are wtaponsible ^orethan any f
other for the ore* tion and apwad of thatmiBerabiedelueion, that noaficusicft^ eentiim-ut ^
which called for mid iwdered poaaible our oiir confederatfain witli Britieh dolm.^hlA' 4^ff 1
the acguieition of the Jf0i*||-WeBt, with aU their attendant lOBees, daggers au . ^xpendi- ^
t«lre8-aad now tbeyatir either not wiae enomgh oi trolaif enofi^h to gp back on them-
eekesand frankljr admit that thair forttier;advi>«i«pr of ^e a1to¥fe metetires ttob a grave
ahd most di^troua blander, «isifcpiO]*tto^^
•• I wish St to be difltinotly nnderetood that aU the argnments 1 have urged, at may
urge against tb^ lolly of bnilding a raUwt. > the Padfie; anr attempting to keep ap
communicatiotifl with British Columbia andot - enonnously e3cpen«ive attejupts to coloniae
the North-West— r^ve tJwftuMdves into argumente againstiOae railway syptenx as ameauB
of tranait, a^d R,e of a purely phyBtoal, mechanieal, and flnaheial description.
Bor exanipje : it must be admitted as a/act that no railway Which we could or would
bl^ld (xtweeii Ontario and the Pacific could even, if woriung^ ^ to its full capacity-^
fhi^ presuppose a population of thrtfe maiions— carry passengBlFB between Toronto and
Victoria in less than seven or eight daye, nor for less than fifty or sixty doUars per h$ad ;
nor could it transport freight between Montreal attd Manitoba or vice versa for less than
^ghteeaor twenty doikrs per ton; it is therefore porfeetly apparent that miless^tiber»ffi
^Miib-sntfetent in amoirat to t^ve the road foil em^c^rment at the rates named, that it
muafr reetiH in serions loss to the Dominion."
- ;~ ~._" "~ ~~ Lovrn.] ,
■w^
p#P«ai|M««Mi*^
L-A;rt--^»— — — "
LlilJl * ' ■ ' ! ' -■■■" ' ' , ,^ ' '"I- ' ■ ,' 11 .i'>"^'">
^ft
S',
mite SSV Slh«EJ4rMv lS»,«»,OGe< n^miH^^ ^r?-*^^3
^'s:- .
vjt^''
»«l^f>n(i
SrcS^iJ^tf JSt fl^"t tT^ShlTt > «ulUip*» l**d jOpna the line of IJeCt-Mft
ffiSirii« length ft0ttii»e ^Iteiiite walH)ft*d) r^;«ww^gj^^^
; ItTitL, a« to tH. tlwte ii woiUd t^kd to Af^,^S2^Sj^:^?^i?'^J
loSiilUoi« of pfiopje, iti« t'tti^?««?»«7 *«„'^*5ffl|^3#!.,**ffi^S^I
" .day, iw^'*t«»W
tMNTMitle on the
|<o| {he ro«d
inooi
fowr ttiiiiioiw 01 psopw, iti« only awewwy to ,^
But yon t«ll me it k not co *»«* fJje cotmneMaa m
I HhS Jwk k BSy WBwev ». th« I dOn't Wow m
tfrkfatity'.th*> upending of 0M'tv>mie*h ol th6ci&t,r6 w
1 pAiiVo ^oaT What After «M, does U ws**^. X«*
*^ SS and west rem«n, .h# bmldiilgof "V^J^^^.
otJtv If tfc<J«>v*n»iueBte olfhis anu % Moth CnonW^^T'^
4kiMleaafy<!aryi€dout. l-rcald*} M"!? ^ul^wa *Hr ; • ^A ^
and thry roast ^^^^mamlv^* *o«>rdin|^y; »l t^U^^
trowbiy ^ beyond the pawe5«of doing mfceaef^Je .fMf^T^^S .vS
Snt^fmm n^ opinion , i^ % same iinM> iJ^^^a^fe^/SL*?*^
iSn iut(. BritSb Columbiartofcl^Rg e»r ^ to ««#.4a^ml»^i^ ^:
assist them with nr. «»fi86t4w*-W»»^PWf*^M
^ be time enongU to tlal^ of hvmm • f»tlw^
afS^
fc; I
!•» I
L%'
'.ftll
tie on the I
W3.. ;;_^.,.'.4«