REPLY
TO
ill tlic ^iwiugiidd lUituMioiii,
AND OTHER PAPERS,
IN
OPPOSITION TO A CHANGE
IN THE
TUNNEL LOAN ACT.
BOSTON:
PRINTED BY ALFRED MÜDGE AND SON,
Savings Bank Building, 34 School Street*
1 8 5 9.
R E P» L Y
TO ARTICLES IN THE SPRINGFIELD REPUBLICAN, AND OTHER
PAPERS, IN OPPOSITION TO A CHANGE
IN THE TUNNEL LOAN ACT.
For some time past the newspapers have been filled with
communications in reference' to the Hoosac Tunnel, appa¬
rently written with a view to manufacture a public opinion
ill opposition to a change in the loan act, which the writer
denounces as a swindle.
No attempt has been made, by the friends of the tunnel
enterprise, to reply to these communications, for several rea¬
sons. In the first place no bill had been reported by the
Committee, and the discussion was therefore premature; in
fact, the writer of the articles has been engaged in a quixotic
encounter against a creation of his own imagination, for no
bill such as he opposes, iias been, or will be, brought before
the legislature. Nearly all his arguments fall of themselves;
for they are founded upon erroneous premises. Another
reasoti why the communications have not been noticed, arose
from the belief that the motives and the antecedents of the
opposition were too well known to permit any anxiety,
through fear that the members of the legislature would not
have sufficient intelligence to discriminate between the true
and the false. It is evident, however, that outside of the
Legislature some impression has been made upon the public
mind, and, through respect to public opinion, a very brief
review of the arguments of the opposition will be given.
We will commence with the Springfield Republican, in
which most of the articles make their first appearance before
they are " published by request," in other papers, and dis¬
tributed in slips amongst the members.
3
The first objection is that the Slate, in the present Loan
Act, requires the Company to expend two dollars for every
dollar given hy the State.
This assertion is utterly unfounded. The Loan Act most
clearly requires the Company to raise ^600,000 and no more,
which is just 30 per cent., not one hundred per cent, of the
State Loan. Before the payment of any instalment by the
State, 30 per cent, of the amount of scrip applied for must be
raised from other sources. The assumption that the road
will cost $50,000 or $40,000 per mile is gratuitous. But even
if the cost should be as represented, the figures certainly
tend greatly to mislead, when they confound expenditure
with security. An hundred thousand dollars of bank bills
committed to the flames might be called an expenditure of
capital, but what security would it aiford ? 3'he security
consists in the intrinsic and productive value derived from
the expenditure; if a portion of the road without the Tunnel
would be worthless, its construction could afford no real
security, and this was the almost unanimous decision of the
Legislature of 1857.
The present Bill differs from that of 1857, in making com¬
pulsory the construction of the most important and expensive
portion of the road between Greenfield and Shelburne Falls
before 6,000 feet of the Tunnel shall be finished, and reserves
enough from the $2,000,000 to insure the completion of the
balance of the road ; the arching of the tunnel and the
removal of projecting points, so as to leave a clear area of
eighteen feet high by fourteen feet wide. Nearly all the
objections that have been urged against the bill are thus, in a
very summary manner, disposed of. It will require a gentleman
whose antecedents are unexceptionable to convince the Leg¬
islature that such a change is "a swindle upon the treasury."
The loan is not " more liberal than was ever given to any
other work of internal improvement." The Western Railroad,
with no serious natural obstacles to encounter, received
$4,1)00,000, of loan, and .$1,100,000 stock of which $3,000,-
OCO were paid when less than $600,000 were raised from
other sources. The Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company,
with a Hoosac Tunnel to build, had raised about tlie same
amount before the first dollar was received from the State.
The Republican says there are three better and cheaper
ways of the State's doing its duty. 1st. To adhere to the
present act. 2d. To cancel the present act and pay three-
4
fourths of the cost of the work hereafter. 3d. To take the
Tunnel and road as a State work.
We propose to examine these positions :
If the Company possessed ample pecuniary resources, there
would be no necessity for a change in the act ; defective as it
is conceded to be, they could work along with it. But the
Company are not rich ; they are largely in debt ; their ability
to prosecute the work rapidly hereafter, depends upon the abil¬
ity to meet present obligations, at least in part. The State,
which gave the Western Railroad Company millions before they
had done the work which was to form the security, has pursued
an opposite course with the Troy and Greenfield Railroad
Company, and required work to be done costing half a million
of dollars, including company and engineering expenses before
the first dollar was loaned to them. Now as the Corporation
is poor, just as the Western Railroad formerly was, they cannot
at this time procure the means to commence at Greenfield, and
finish the number of miles required by the present act, and
even if they could, no part of the road would be of any use
until Shelburne Falls was reached, which would probably be
beyond the means of the Company, as the act now stands,
if they should commence at the Greenfield end. If the work
proceed at all, the Company will be driven to build the Charle-
mont portion of the road, where eight miles can be constructed
very cheaply, sufficient for a full compliance with the conditions
of the present act, in letter and in spirit both. For if the work
should be carried through, it will make no difference where
it was commenced, and if it should be suspended after eight
miles had been built, from want of means to carry it further,
the expenditure would be equally valueless wherever made.
It will doubtless be conceded that, if the work is carried
through, either under the present act, or a substitute, the final
results, so far as the State stands affected, will not materially
differ. The point of comparison should be, how would the
State stand affected in case of a suspension or abandonment?
Under the present act, it is easy to perceive, that it might be
compulsory upon the parties concerned in the work to stop
after reaching the third instalment. In changing the act, it
is understood that the committee have labored so to frame it
that it will always be possible and to their interest, at any point
to proceed further, taking into consideration the fact that the
nearer the work approaches completion, the less will be the
difficulty in procuring additional capital from other sources.
5
The most serious objection to the present act is, that it
requires large expenditures which absorb capital, and which,
in case of suspension of the work, would be useless, and on
the other hand, at a future period, when capital would flow
in readily from other sources, provides a large excess beyond
any possible requirements, that must lie idle in the treasury.
What is desired, is a bill that will apportion the payments to
the expenditures, and require the expenditures to be made
where they will be available for some useful results.
The objection to the second plan is, that it affords no pres¬
ent relief, and not much encouragement for the future. It
would be much better for the company looking only at pecu'^
niary results, to go on for two instalments more under the
present act, and then call upon the next Legislature for relief.
The third proposition, to carry on the tunnel as a State
work, is so contrary to the "spirit of the Loan Act," and to
the wise and prudent policy of Massachusetts, that it does
not seem to merit consideration.
The next article before us is also from the Springfield Re¬
publican. It comments on the so-called finished work, and
apparently reflects upon the action of the Governor and
Council in the issue of the bonds before the conditions of a
certain contract had been complied with.
This matter is disposed of by the statement that the Gover¬
nor and Council were guided by the terms of the act, not by
any contract made by the Company. But the writer has
widely missed the mark in assuming that a copy of a contract
which the Treasurer of the Company, W. T. Davis, Esq.,
certifies was surreptitiously obtained in 1857, and which was
recently published in the Courier, is the contract under which
the work was finished. That contract was annulled and
cancelled, and a principal reason for it was the fact that a
member of the Legislature of 1857, who had used his official
position to procure an order for the exhibition of a private
contract, not connected with the subject before the Legisla¬
ture, and who is understood to have retained a missing copy
after he ceased to be a member, would probably carry his
hostility so far as to publish the same in the newsnapers, an
opinion which, as the sequel proves, was well founded. Fur¬
ther comment on this act is unnecessary, and the publication
in the Courier will pass without a more extended notice. It
was not the contract under which the work was executed.
6
The next article is from -the Boston Courier. It recites
the conditions of the present act, and remarks that it was
not tiie intention of the Legislature that the Hoosac Tunnel
should be constructed solely upon the credit of the State,
and that each and every stockholder should contribute of his
means, etc. We answer, that the Hoosac Tunnel was esti¬
mated to cost less than $2,001),000, and the State loaned
$2,000,000 to build it, knowing that this amount exceeded
the estimated cost ; furthermore, the stockholders have
contributed considerably more than was required by the
act.
The writer next proceeds to show that, from the seventh to
the fourteenth instalment, the present Loan Act gives the
Company $550,000 more than they can expend upon the work.
There could not be a stronger condemnation of the act than
this very fact ; it withholds aid when it is needed, and gives
it when not required.
The writer also makes a mistake in estimating a tunnel of
small area at the same cost per cubic yard as one of greater
dimensions, whereas it is much more. The cost of enlarge¬
ment after an opening is made is very small.
As to the " contractor confining his operations to the head¬
ing, and pocketing $23,000 for each 1000 feet," this is impos¬
sible under the proposed bill, and, even if it were, the con¬
tractor would be required to excavate more than half the
tunnel before his capital would be returned and the first dollar
of profit realized.
The charge of log-rolling and lobbying, in the last part of
the article, is simply untrue and unworthy of notice ; the
lobbying appears to have been confined exclusively to the
opposition.
Next appears a communication in the Traveller, in which
the same fallacy is exhibited of estimating security to the
State by the amount of expenditure required of the company,
irrespective of any value derived from the expenditure.
In this article the writer declares the company to be bank¬
rupt, and that a decision of the supreme court released stock¬
holders from liability. This is an assertion false in fact and
calculated to do great mischief to the Company. The decis¬
ion of the court in the case referred to was, that the calls
had not been properly made ; the Company are now making
new calls, and can collect every dollar from solvent sub¬
scribers by process of law if there should be any hesitation
7
to pay when called upon ; but the receipts from this source
are not immediately available to meet pecuniary engagements
and prosecute the work.
A communication in the Post appears to be designed to
convey the impression that the contractors Were credited by the
Company with an instalment of a given number of shares of
capital stock in consideration of work to be done. The con¬
tractors were neither credited with instalments for work to be
done, or even for work actually done, but their instalments
were paid in cash. The comments on the contract are out
of place, having reference to the old contract of 1856, a copy
of which was purloined, and which was soon after cancelled.
We have thus endeavored very briefly to review all the
articles that have appeared in opposition to the change in the
Tunnel Loan Act. From the similarity of the arguments,
they seem to have a common origin ; they contain glaring
errors in facts, and nearly all confound expenditure with
security. A large portion of the space is occupied in com¬
ments upon a contract which was long since cancelled, and
in objections to a supposed bill which never had and never
will have any existence, except in the imagination of the
writer. The bill before the Committee, it is understood, has
been prepared with great care, has been examined section by
section, discussed, altered and amended, again and again, and
protects the interest of the State much more fully than the
present act. It deflnes the size of the Tunnel and of the
heading, makes provision for arching, for the connections
with other roads, and for the opening of a continuous railroad
between Troy and Boston, for which the present act affords
no guarantee. It requires the construction of the road to be
commenced at Greenfield, instead of leaving the place of
beginning optional with contractors,—reduces the payment
for each lÜOü feet of tunnel, from $67,000, which the present
ict allows, to $50,000, and finally reserves $300,000 instead
of $200,000 until after the completion of the work. The
proposed bill is unquestionably far more to the interest of the
State than the old one.
It is really impossible to perceive any good reason for
opposition to such a bill; many have doubted and some may
still doubt the expediency and practicability of the enterprise,
but tiiese questions are not now before the Legislature ; the
State stands committed by the act of 1854. It has entered
into a contract, and if the conditions can be changed to the
8
benefit of all parties, mistakes in the original bill corrected,
and omissions supplied, who will not say, let it be done?
The reliance of the friends of the bill has been upon the
self-evident merits of their case. They have employed no
counsel to present it before the Railroad Committee,—no
newspapers to forestall public opinion and manufacture a
public sentiment,—no lobby members to go from house to
house, to prove that the proposed change is not " a swindle,"
and that Springfield, if not the Western Railroad, is at the
bottom of the opposition. The bill rests solely upon its own
intrinsic superiority over the present Act, in every point of
view in which it can be regarded, and must commend itself
to the intelligence and public spirit of members of the
Legislature, who will require more than a mere assertion to
convince them that it is a fraud.
Greenfield, Feb. 4, 1859.
To whom it may concern.
This will certify that the publication, made in the Boston
Courier of January 29th, purporting to be a contract between
the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company and Messrs. H.
Haupt & Co., is not a copy of any contract now subsisting
between said Railroad Company and said Haupt & Co.
WENDELL T. DAVIS,
Clerk of Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company.
9
SYNOPSIS OP THE BILL AS REPORTED.
The conditions of the first instalment to remain as in present Act.
When 2,000 feet of heading, 6 feet high, by 14 feet wide, or if
machinery be employed, 8 feet in diameter, shall be finished,
$50,000 to be paid. For each additional 1,000 feet of heading,
$30,000.
When 2,000 feet of tunnel shall be finished, of dimensions as in
the present Act, $30,000 shall be paid, and $20,000 for each addi¬
tional 1,000 feet.
Before payment is made for the third 1,000 feet of heading, three
miles of road must be graded within four miles of Greenfield end,
for which $50,000 will be paid.
Before payment is made for the fourth 1,000 feet of heading, six
miles of road must be graded within the first seven miles, for which
the payment will be $50,000.
Before payment is made for the fifth 1,000 feet of heading, nine
miles of road must be graded between Greenfield and Shelburne
Falls, for which $50,000 more will be paid.
Before payment is made for the sixth 1,000 feet of heading, the
whole road must be graded between Greenfield and Shelburne Falls,
for which $50,000 more will be paid.
When the rails are laid between Greenfield and Shelburne Falls,
$40,000 more will be advanced, which must be before $1,000,000
have been paid.
When the next two miles, continuously from Shelburne Falls,
shall have been graded, and rails laid, which includes very heavy
rock work, $80,000 more shall be paid.
For each additional mile of road graded, continuously through
either of the towns of Buckland, Charlemont, Rowe or Florida,
and the rails laid, $20,000 more shall be paid.
When the rails are laid all the way from Greenfield to the Hoosac
Tunnel, $100,000 more to be paid.
The whole amount of payments not to exceed $2,000,000, and
$300,000 to be retained until the 'final completion of the railroad
and tunnel, including arching, requiring the tunnel to be not less
than 14 feet wide by 18 feet high, and a continuous line of rails
between Boston and Troy. All other conditions not enumerated, are
to remain as in the present Act.
As compared with the present Act, the conditions of the 1st instal¬
ment remain unchanged.
For the second instalment, the present Act requires three miles of
road to be built, anywhere east of the mountain. The three miles of
road could not be valued as security to the State, at more than
$10,000. Instead of requiring the three miles of road, it is pro¬
posed to keep double its value to the State, or $20,000, in the
10
treasury, paying $80,000 instead of $100,000 for the second instal¬
ment. This arrangement, while it is better for the State than the
present Act, will relieve the Company to some extent, enable them
to meet the most pressing obligations, and place them in a better
position to grade the three miles required for the next instalment.
With the third, fourth, fifth and sixth, thousand feet of tunnel,
the payments will be the same as in the present Act, but the Com¬
pany will be required to commence at Greenfield, and grade the road
to Shelburne Falls, which can be brought immediately into profita¬
ble use, instead of building a portion of road in the middle of the
eastern division, that would be useless, as permitted by the present
Act, and required by the present limited resources of the Corpora¬
tion.
The bill also provides for the continuation of the grading grad¬
ually from Shelburne Falls to the mountain, as the work on the
tunnel progresses.
It also divides the payments for each 1,000 feet equitably between
the heading and bottom, and provides for laying rails when the
grading is finished to Shelburne Falls, but not before. The present
Act requires rails to be laid on portions of road that cannot be used
in any manner whatever.
By the present Act, the Greenfield end of the road would probar
bly be last constructed ; by the. proposed substitute, it will be the
first. Upon the completion of C,000 feet of tunnel, there would be
finished, under the present Act, if the Company could find means to
proceed that far, 20 miles of road on the eastern side of the moun¬
tain, but disconnected and useless. With the substitute at the same
stage of progress in the tunnel, Greenfield and Shelburne Falls
would be connected by a railroad for the use of which, the Vermont
and Massachusetts Railroad Company would be willing to guaran¬
tee a fair return above running expenses.
After the completion of the road to Shelburne Falls, the opera¬
tions may be confined to the tunnel, the construction of the road
not being compulsory, until the tunnel is nearly finished, and the
payments on the tunnel, being $50,000 per 1,000 feet instead of
$100,000 for 1,500 feet, or $66,066 per 1,000 feet as the present act
requires.
The whole payments on the tunnel, by these arrangements, will be
reduced to $1,250,000 and $750,000 of the State loan will be
applied to assist in building the road, beginning at the Greenfield
end of the line, thus insuring its completion within a reasonable
time.
11
Comparison of Payments required for each 1,000/ee/ of progress, under the
present Loan Act, and under the proposed substitute.
Feet of
Tunnel.
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
8,000
9,000
10,000
11,000
12,000
13,000
14,000
15,000
16,000
17,000
18,000
19,000
20,000
21,000
22,000
23,000
24,000
24,400
Present Act requires
7 m. road,
anywhere,
MS
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El
Ü 5Ô .
o 'S
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2 1=^3
B
OS «
o
$100,000
100,000
100,000
100,000
100,000
100,000
100,000
66,667
66,667
66,667
66,667
66,667
66,667
66,667
66,667
66,667
66,667
66,667
66,667
66,667
66,667
66,667
66,667
66,667
26,800
Sl,860,139.
Makes no prevision for the four expen¬
sive miles between the Florida line and
funnel.
No provision for arching.
No prescribed dimensions for Tunnel.
No provision for connections to form a
continuous line of rails between Troy and
Boston.
Reserves the last $200,000 until after,
completion of work.
Proposed Act requires
7 miles road, $100,000
No road, 80,000
3 miles graded at Greenfield end, 100,000
3 do. do. do. 100,000
3 do. do. do. 100,000
4 erd'g comp'd to Shelburne Falls, 100,000
50,000
60,000
"S;3 60,000
8á 50,000
60,000
60,000
50,000
50,000
50,000
50,000
50,000
50,000
50,000
50,000
50,000
50,000
50,000
50,000
20,000
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$1,600,000
Additional Payments.
When rails are laid to Shelburne
Falls, $40,000
Grading and Superstructure of 2
miles of very heavy work, next
above Shelburne Falls, 80,000
Grading and Superstructure of
next 13 miles, extending to east
end of Tunnel, 260,000
When rails are laid from Green¬
field to Tunnel, 100,000
$450,000
Leaving still an unappropriated balance
of the $2,000,000, and provides for
The grading and su})erstructure of the
whole road, excepting that made from the
material from the Tunnel itself. It also
Provides for arching the Tunnel.
Prescribes dimensions of Tunnel to be
not less than 18 feet high by 14 feet wide.
Requires connections with other roads to
insure a continuous line between Troy and
Boston.
Reserves $800,000 as security for the
final fulfilment of these contUtions,