LUUA F MM INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE. TOWANDA: jtjisrs&aD fflorninn, 3nnc 3, 1858. „ AL£ OF THE STATE CANALS. 3 TO THETPEOPLE OF THE 0 SENATORIAL I)IST. Fnxow CITIZENS Ry your suffrages in ,V All of 1850, the undersigned was chosen -. present you in the high and honorable of a member of the Pennsylvania i.i'ite Ever distrusting my ability to serve 1 '■ : n that capacity equal to your expectations desires. I nevertheless accepted the place generosity conferred upon me with a determination to discharge iny duties yhfillv on all occasions ; meeting every im • riaut question fairly and openly by giving iran affirmative or negative vote, as my j t ';p.;ent dictated after a faithful examina- j of the question. If in thus endeavoring to ; what 1 conceive to be right, 1 have failed •' defend your rights, or to protect your in- | • when in jeopardy ;orif in any respect, n.jve been unfaithful to the great interest of j ■ i nmonwealth, then indeed should you I me to a strict accountability for such : ' *ion from official duty. But before, ■::ient is pronounced upon my official acts, j Haira the right to a fair hearing before an j impartial, and intelligent constituency. During the time I have been a member of: • e legislature many important acts have d and become the laws of the State, ef ;:g the vital interest and welfare of the I'.mmonvvealth ; and whether right or wrong, .i far as I am informed, iny course has met i approbation of my constituents save in a | Je instance, to wit : in the passage of the 1 ex during the Inst session authorizing the sale •' the State Canals to the Sunbnry and Erie j Ihilnnul Company. To what extent my views i r-re known upon this question 1 have no j ms of knowing, but one thing is certain, \ v were well known to many of our best aud t influential citizens, and from none of them j 1 I hear one word of opposition to this inca- i re. From the first I yielded it the approval ' •' mv judgment, not, it is true, to all its de- . > !* as it passed, but to its main features : and ( am firmly convinced in my own judgment that •be whole people will, on reflection, approve] sale. I have mentioned the fact that 1 ■ .ny of my constituents knew and approved ! : ray course : it is not done, however, to ' • .! i myself from the responsibility of my own J for them 1 alone am responsible to my ; <t a ut>, and seek not to shirk it for oth- 1 ■ to luar. No voice of remonstrance or op- J -' i ever reached me during the pending j the measure from either of the two counties ' r'.dag the bulk of my district. You may j ■ refore imagine my surprise ou my return to I ] a few of my political friends uniting with Rats," who feed upon the public expendi ■ - along our line of canals, in denouncing •visiire of such great importance to the , of the State. It was not to be expect : tho-e who fattened upon the plunder public treasury, and absorb into their n; kcts one dollar out of every three ex ile] on our public work*, would approve of that destroyed their vocation and -• il up the public treasure against their iSHntions, but that the honest tax payers v the Commonwealth should complain when plnndcrera are driven off, would indeed lie 'runge. 1 have no fear that they will do so - >n the matter shall be fully and fairly un itfstood. Lis warfare is gotten up by designing men manufacture public opinion to help the polit -i i rgunizatioii that lias held the control of ■'public works uninterruptedly for the last ■venty years, and using them all that time to tain their party, and to reward partizan fa- Ate.*, making servility to party a qualificn it ' i for place upon them, instead of fidelity the Slate. Against this kind of warfare ■ respectfully protest. It is alleged that the legislature took the! •••<■ by surprise in the passage of this mea- 1 that they were not elected with a view | 0 tispose of the State Canals. This allega-j i must sound somewhat strange to intelli men who know that soiuc ton years or siuce the people of this State decided by c- in favor of selling all the public im tnents : and in obedience to the will of people so expressed, some three or four mve passed by as many different Legisla 's and have been approved by your Go "tor*, authorizing a sale of the Main Line m I'hiladelphia to Pittsburg, and yet it was I until last year, when it was finally . >i'tl of to the Pennsylvania Railroad "'''any in accordance with the wishes of the . " under the provisions of a law pused in Aer of 1857, and in addition to this, the ' the Alain Line was defended by the en - I'f -s.s of the party with which 1 have acted, '/Tglnmt the Stato, and by many of the op o:i press, and the sale of the balance advo -1 'everywhere in the last Gubernatorial can- I! there was any one question upon D our people were united, it was upon an f [t *, absolute, and complete separation of ! Mate from all participation or connec whh anything like public works ; and permit me to remark, that any jrerson \ justified or defended the law for the sale -Main Line, ought not to make writ fares f -ale to the Sunbury aud Erie Rail '( eiupany, for I frankly confess 1 gave 1 hill my support with more reluctance, an y measure I have ever yet supported. ,]i" ' '! n iit of the almost universal expression " p ople in favor of a sale, there is no 'I I ''- upon which State ownership of pub i-at) I*, justified, except when absolute 7 o| t the part of the people render it -:!>le for individual or associated er.ter '' accomplish great public improvements 1 by the growing business of the conn ■' '!• i' -at: !• at'aincd in THE BRADFORD REPORTER. no other way ; or when a combination of cir cumstances such as existed when our own and neighboring States commenced their system of internal improvements. There can be no other reason why a great State like our owu should make herself a common carrier, entering into competition with individuals (her own citizens) in the ordinary business transactions of life. A government travels outside of her legitimate duty when she embarks in any such enterprise. The people everywhere throughout the State have long demanded a sale of the public works. They have, as I have already shown frequently expressed their wishes upon this question in terms not to be misunderstood, and all parties have yielded assent to the pop ular sentiment. No political organization has ever dared to brave the people ou an issue of this kind. Designing men and faithless politi cians may attempt under the garb of friendship for the dear people to excite a prejudice against men who aided to carry out their wishes and consummate this great measure of reform, by raising unimportant questions about the terms of sale, or the yet more trifling opposition based upon petty quibbles, or unmeaning tech nicalities ; but the time for such political shuf fling has passed with the people of this por tion of the Commonwealth. I deeply regret that any one has been misled by the represen tations contained in official reports prepared for the purpose of defeating a sale, and in which the real expenditures and receipts on our Ca nals were carefully concealed. I do not doubt the wisdom of the policy which founded our system of public improve ments. These improvements have made our State rich beyond measure. Untold mil lions have been added to the assessed val ue of the taxable property in all portions of the State where these channels of trade have been opened. They have made the sturdy forest yield up her possession of the soil with more rapidity to the strong arm of the pioneer farmer ; and happy homes of independent freemen can now lie found, where but a few years since the wild beast of the forest held uninterrupted and undisturbed possession.— The genial influence of civilization has spread over the laud wherever these improvements have extended, in rich profusion School house ami Churches dot your vallies and hill sides more thickly, ami many and vast ure the advantages we derive from them, and while we enjoy all these benefits from their erection aud maiutainance as now occupied and man aged we shall continue to enjoy them more fully after, than before the sale, and at the same time dry up a thousand avenues of fraud and peculation upon our treasury. It is complained in the most general terms that we have sold the canals to an irresponsi ble and insolvent company, and the most vague and unfair allegations have been made that the Sunbnry and Erie Railroad Company is insolvent, and that a sale to that Company will involve the loss of the purchase money. 1 admit that this is a grave question, and if gentlemen would confine themselves to the proper and legitimate source of inquiry, in stead of dealing in general and reckless char ges of insolvency against the Company, they would, if impartial, long since have come to a different conclusion. Ido not speak unadvis edly when I assert that the Sunbnry and Erie Railroad Company is solvent. The Company have a mortgage of one million of dollars upon her 40 miles of finished road, and of the bonds authorized to be created upon this mortgage the Company hold unissued over $400,000. — Her floating debt is small, such merely as is absolutely necessary in carrying on the busi ness of the road, and prosecuting their work, making the whole debt of ti>e company less than one million of dollars ; their bonds to-day are worth more in the market than the 5 per cent, bonds of the Commonwealth. Last year the 40 miles of completed road from Sunbnry to Williamsport paid more than the interest at 5 jx r cent, upon two million of dollars ; the nett earnings of the road being near sllO,- 000. Tlfus yon see that the Company is solvent, and is not in that bankrupt and worthless con dition that interested and reckless opposition have represented her to be ; the evidence in regard to her solvency is within the reach of every man who may desire to know its condi tion. Again it is alleged that the company will Ire unable to complete their road with the proceeds of the bonds they are authorized to issue under the provisions of the law making the sale. Tae Company have 228 miles of road to finish ; there has been a re-survev of some parts of the unfinished portion of the road, and the cost of structure greatly lessen ed ; twelve thousand feet of tunnelling has been avoided, second class masonry has been adopted in the new plan, and single track bridges have been agreed upon, and the cost j of completing a single track estimated at s•'>, 500,000, by reliable and competent engineers. A large portion of the grading is done from 1 Williamsport to Farrandsville, 33 miles, and the iron paid for and delivered to lay the track with ; thus enabling the company to put sev enty-three miles of their road in operation dur ing the present season, in connection with what is already done, the outside cost of which from Williamsport to Farrandsville will be less than four hundred thousand dollars. From Farrands-. ville to the mouth of Sinemahouing, so much of the grading has been done that it is confi dently asserted that $350,000 will complete ; it, and thus the Company for $750,000, will i have over one hundred miles of their road completed, from Sunbnry to tlie mouth of . Sinemahouing ; and $500,000, with the libc j ral local aud county subscriptions in tbenorth western counties through which it passes, will complete the road from Erie to Warren. Tak ing then the 108 miles from Sunbnry to the mouth of the Sinemahoning, and the 04 miles from the harbor of Erie to Warren, and you have completed 172 miles of the road for sl, 250,000, leaving only 00 miles to build, and | $ 4,250,000 of tbc estimate to finish it with, and $1,500,000 of the $7,000,000 of bonds besides. I have also reliable information that i they have made other arrangements by which I a otbei million is at ihefr cotiiflrcniU It tdß PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY AT TOWANDA, BRADFORD COUNTY, PA., BY E. O'MEARA GOODRICH. " REGARDLESS OF DENUNCIATION FROM ANY QUARTER." therefore be seen that this company is solvent and are able to complete their road with the means placed in their hands. But it is objected that we did not so frame the law as to sell the canals to the highest bidder ; to this objection the history of the law passed to sell the Main Line is a sufficient answer, besides the Legislature desired to aid the completion of this road : not by giving her bounty or loaning her credit as she had done in almost all other portions of the Com monwealth, this they did not ask ; but by a wise and liberal policy on the part of the State ; and there is a provision in the bill that obviates this objection, by providing that the company shall pay over to the State sev enty-five per centum of any excess the Com pany may realize above the price named in the act ; besides had the canals been put up at an auction sale fo the highest bidder, it would have led to combination among capi talists and companies for their purchase at a lower price than the one named in the bill ; or the valuable and paying portions would have been sold and the worthless and unpay ing parts remained in the hands of the State, thereby continuing the expense of the Canal board and other officers. I know of no bet- i tor rule to govern business transactions than ( this : when you have anything to sell aud a fair offer is made you, to accept it. Had other parties than the Sunbnry and Erie Rail road Company desired to purchase, why did they not come forward and make their offers, if any was willing to pay more ? none was vi nlc, and therefore the Legislature were of necessity compelled to sell on the terms offer ed. or postpone the sale until other parties should offer to buy. The importance of the completion of the I Sunbury and Erie Railroad to the State, in a financial point of view, is Very clearly set forth j by tbe following extract from the report of the Committee of Ways and Means of the House of Representatives, to which was re ferred the bill for the sale of the canals ; the ; facts set forth by this Committee derive force and consequence from the fact of their inti-, mate knowledge and careful consideration of j the whole question, besides, eight of the nine members composing that committee signed the ; report ; a significant and unusual unanimity in so large a committee, ou so important a measure. The committee say : "The undeveloped and neglected wealth of more than fourteen thousand square miles of our territory, awaits in the silence almost of an Arabian desert, a highway to the markets I of the world. Between the Pennsylvania ! R lilroad and the New York State line, taking j Ridgway as the centre, there is an area at , least equal to 120 miles square, within which ! not one mile of railroad has been laid ; and a very large proportion of this immense region ! is underlaid with butuminous coal and iron ore, ; its surface covered with vast forests of valuable j timber, and the soil when cleared, susceptible ! of a high degree of cultivation. " Here then is presented an area of 9,21(1, 000 acres comprising about one third of the entire State, and abounding in wealth beyond computation, to be improved and developed by the Sunbury and Erie R lilfoad and its tribu-1 tarics. " By the last report of the Revenue Cora-j missiouers, the assessed value of all the real estate in the Commonwealth, taxable for state , purposes is $488,275,000. "About $30,000,000 of that amount is charged to the 9,210,000 of acres above men tioned, of which the average assessed "value is about three dollars and thirty three one hundredths per acre. " The section of eonntry in the State of New York, through which the New Y'ork and Erie railroad passes, may be referred to as an il lustration of the effect of such improvements on the value of adjacent lands. Refore that road was constructed the price of wild lands in the Southern pari of that State did not ex ceed three dollars per acre. On its completion and almost immediately after the first train of cars had passed over it, the minimum price at which the same lands were sold, for a wide range on either side of the road, was ten dol lars per acre : and they continue to increase in value, as the country fills up with new set tlers. In various parts of our own Stato the prices of mineral aud timber lands have been increased, through similar ageucies, in a much greater ratio. " Instance the coal lands of Schuylkill, Car bon, Northumberland and Luzerne counties, and the timber, and coal lands Clinton county which five years ago were sold for one dollar, and within the past year have been sold for ten dollars and upwards per acre, in anticipa tion of the construction of the Sunbury and Erie railroad. It may fairly be assumed, that within a few years after that road shall have been finished to the harbor of Erie, thcMiiiueral lands which now average in the State assess ment but three dollars and thirty-three hun drcths per acre, will average at least ten times that sum. Allowing one-third only of the 9, 210,000 acres above mentioned, to consist of mineral lands, tbe result will be that 3,072,- 000 will be worth on an average $33 per acre or $111,370,000 The remaining 6.114,000, increasing iu no greater ratio than the New York lands, will he worth ten dot lars jrer acre, or $61,440,000 172,8204)00 Peduct the present u-tnesscd \alue. as above stated, 1W.000.000 And the net gain in the assessed value will be 112,820.000 Which, at the present rate of tnxn tion, for State purposes, would give an increased annual revenue to the Commonwealth of $357,000 " This is by no means an improbable or ex travagant estimate. It covers an extent or countrv larger than the State of Massachusetts and of infinitely greater intrinsic value, and which at present is so sparsely populated that it is entitled to three representatives only in the National Congress, while Massachusetts has a representation of eleven members in that body. As soon ns the contemplated improve ment brings it into communication with the trade of the lakes and the Atlantic coast i,- extraordinary resources, mineral aud agricul tural, will attract an enterprising and indus trious population, and mills, furnaces, manufac tories and thriving towns aud villages will be scattered over its whole extent." The importance of this improvement does not end with the increased valuation of prop erty along the line of the road itself, or in proximity to it ; nor will its beneficial influ ences be circumscribed by the boundary lines of the several comities through which ii passes. Its branches will extend to the north and the south penetrating the rich coal fields and iron ore beds of all that portion of the Stale, by lateral roads, some of which are al ready constructed ; while oue of its arms will leach down the valley of the Allegheny river, and reaching Pittsburg, the Iron City of the west by equated distance, by a shorter and better route than by the Pennsylvania Central Road from the Metropolis of your State. Thus will the IRON HORSE, while gathering the local trade of the country, reach the commerce of the great South-west, and make it pay tribute to northern interest and northern enterprise ; and from natural advantages the position of the road is unrivaled. In the west it forms a di rect link in the chain of roads which traverses the \yhole width of the States of Ohio, Michi gan, ludiiniaaml lllinios, to St. LouD, an 1 forms a continuous route, giving us in the fu ture t he control of the trade and travel over an unbroken gauge on a Hue twelve hundred miles in length. Ju the east besides the connection with Philadelphia by the way of Cattawissa and Reading, it forms a connection with the Northern Central Road to Baltimore and also two other routes to Philadelphia byway of the Pennsylvania Central and the Lebanon Valley road, and with New York city by the Lehigh Valley and New Jersey Central lload. Resides all these valuable connections, in its westward march this Road has not reached the great point of accumulating wealth, the Lakes. The commerce of the Lakes will be tapped by this road at the harbor of Erie,and is a very important matter of consideration in connec tion with this subject. The history of its rapid growth is one of the most astounding events in the history of the commercial world. Writers disagree as to the amount this trade ; but all agree as to its rapid increase. A writer in Hunt's Magazine gives the whole amount for the year 18 41 at $65,825,000, and for the year 1856, the same writer puts it at $123,- 487,000. De Row in his work on the statis tics of tiie United States gives it for the year 1851 at $283,187,000. Andrews in his report for the same year published by authority of the U. S. Senate gives it at $326,593,000. Hunts Magazine for January 1857 states that during the la.-,t 15 years it has increased from sixty-live millions to $608,000,000. This vast amount of commerce upon our lakes, as exhibited en the best authority, is greater than ail our commerce on the Atlantic Ocean, and with the rapid growth and settle ment of tlie rich and fertile west, this com merce, vast as it now is, must continue to in crease greatly for years to eoiue. Much the largest portion of this trade is seeking an out let ou the Atlantic sea-board, and greatly to the injury of our owu Commonwealth it finds its way to market over the rail-ways and Ca nals passing through other States, in conse quence of the illiberal and restrictive policy of our own. It should be our pride as it is our interest to draw as much of this trade ns possible within and through our own bor ders. We have the best natural harbor on the lakes, with a line therefrom shorter and more favorably located than any rail road in any other State to the Atlantic seaboard. For these reasons 1 was in favor of selling the Ca nais to the Sunbnry A Erie Railroad Compa ny ; others I would introduce were it not for extending this communication to an unreason able length. Having conclusively established the import ance to the State of completing the Sunbury A Erie Road as well as its solvency, I propose to examine the value of the Canals sold. Tak ing the statement of partizan officials biased and unfair as many of them are j since the Ca nals sold have been iu operation, their average yearly income has been $123,924,00. In this calculation many important items for many years are entirely excluded, among which are the ex penses of the Canal Commissioner-, lock keep ers, weigh-masters, claims paid, and damages sustained by transporters, printing,patent-right, and other innumerable incidental expenditures. Claims seldom if ever find their way into the Canal reports, as they are mostly paid by laws niakiug specific appropriations for their pay ment. It would be a low estimate to put them down at $25,000, per annum, deducting this amount from the above figure and it will bring the revenue of your Canals at less than SIOO,OOO, annually. It may be said that they have been paying better for the last few years; if this be true, what guarantee have we that they will continue to do so ; rival works are growing up around all of them. The Delaware Division cannot be sold to-day for as much by one million of dollars as it could three years since. The Lower North Branch has a com coiupeting railroad running along by its side, with a level or desccudinggrade with favorable curves to a connection with the Cataivissa A Williamsport road at Rupert, and will lie completed to Northumberland at no distant day, making a connection with the Sunburv A Erie, aud the Northern Central, which will be completed to Sunbury bv the first of July next, forming a continuous rail-rood to the mties of Philadelphia and Baltimore, coming in direct conflict and competition with the entire length of your finished Canals from Pittston south ward. The Wist Branch Canal I.as long been acknowledged to be worthless, mil it also has a I competing rail-road for the trade of that valley. It will be seen that the State has no guarantee whatever that they will pay any better iu the future than they have in the past. I have not a doubt that the people will realize more for them under the law of last scs-ion authorizing the sale than tlwv would at any future day had the sale been postponed until a later period. The Legislature has been grant ing charters for building rail-roads alt over tJiP I*.°. yv;^V '>*] * ■n? * * "* r *l^ effect the State Canals, and why ? Becuuse public opiuiou and the business interest of cer tain localities demanded it,and nouc lias been so bold as to denounce this polity, fatal as it has proved to the business and revenue of our Ca nals. These roads are now and will continue to depreciate the value of the Canals, until they would have become worthless under the control and management of .State agents. — No denunciation for all this, but when by ibis system of indiscriminate granting of charters the fate of your public works arc scaled, and the legislature prompted by an honorable de sire to obtain something for them before it was too late, disposed of theui, then it is that no denuueiationis too base, no vulgarism oo mean with which to clothe the language of complaint against those who had the independence to to stand up in defence of the over-burthened tax payers of the Commonwealth. The histo ry of State management of public works has not only proved a failure iu Pennsylvania, but is premonitory of failure in some of our neigh boring States. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal is said to be hopelessly bankrupt ; its tolls last year were $58,248,99 less than iu 1856, while its current expenses were $130,- 787,77 greater than in 1856. It is undoubt edly true that a series of unavoidable misfor tunes has done much to make an unfavorable exhibit, but its whole history has been one of loss and trouble. The New York Canals also m ike a very un favorable exhibit, so great has been tbe falling off in the receipts that a proposition was in troduced into their Legislature last winter to impose an odious tonnage tax upon the com merce of their rail-roads to make up the defi cit, and the question of a sale of their Canals is being agitated in that State for the s une reasons that our own State has disposed of her Canals. The tolls on the. Canals of that State have gone down from $3,204,718 in 1553, to $2,031,967, in 1857 aud have increased o i competing rail-roads iu the same time from $4,376,044 in 1853, to $8,873,823, in Thus we find the Canal tolls in the short space of five years have sunk $1,172,751, while the rail-road tolls have increased iu fo ir years $4,- 497,779, and in 1853 the, rail-road receipts only exceeded the receipts from the Canals $1,171,326. Iu 1857 it was $6,125,611, aud for the first time iu twelve ye ;r faifc 1 to pay the interest ou the funded debt by $350,000. This shows the X. Y. Cauuls t > be constantly growing worse & steadily depreciating in value. The Auditor of that slate gives in his last report some facts calculated to impress the close ob server of things still more unfavorably with Canals. He informs us that since ISSI the number of barrels of flour carried over the Ca nals has diminished from 3,343,472 in tin* year to 350,000 in 1357, and the tolls have of course fallen off in the same proportion. While these figures make a very disastrous show for the New York and Maryland Canals, similar statements of the trade upon tne Virginia and Ohio Canals might be made. It will not do to say that nnusual depression has caused all this falling oft'of the trade upon canals; other channels of trade have been op m ed in many eases, and cheapened in others, all managed by the shrewdest and best business men in the country, who having a direct and personal interest in the good management of them, give them their personal attention. One moment's reflection must satisfy any man ho,\v much more efficient must be the management under such circumstances, than with political State corporations where the works become a part of partizan machinery: where officers are selected not for their fitness, but as the reward of partizan fidelity ; and purchased by activity rather than earned by merits, and in order to distribute the favors to as many of the faithful as possible, rotation in office lie- j comes necessary and good a* well as bad NN U fall under th<* arbitrary rule of partizan tyranny. ; Thus the certainty of removal, and the proba ble short tenure of place takes away much of ] the inducement to fidelby, and pleads for 1 promptness in plundering, which ?ocm* to have ! been heretofore as good, if not a better recom mendation for ro appointment than honesty.- | Strong and influential parti/, ins clamorous for , place have been the means of creating new j and unnecessary officers, thereby giving un- ] steadiness to the Canal department, and ren- . deritig system in their management impossible. How is it to be expected that in the absence ' of anything like system or integrity, prosper!- ' ty or profit is to accrue to the Commonwealth ? Although these serious and important draw backs have always operated against our ca nal s \ stem, continually producing their corrupt and demoralizing influences upon the people, ' and would of themselves be sufficient cause for disposing of them at any price that could be obtained, and I repeat we had no off-r except the one made by the Sunbury k Erie It til road Company ; the trade from the Wyoming Coal fields that has parsed down the canals and cleared at Reach Haven, has been increas- j 1 ing until iu 185(1, it ran up to 510,631 tons, i In 1857 it dropped down to 405,827 tons, showing a falling off of 105 804 tons iu a . single year. Here again do we see the effects upon the canal trade consequent upon the com pietion of competing railroads. The Northern , Central Railroad reached the Likens Valley j Coal fields in 1850,. and was completed to Treverton iu 1857, am' will make a complete connection with the Sunbury and Erie road by the first of July next. This road has car ried a large quantity < f coal to the same mar kets where the Wyoming coal has been sold heretofore, and being .Oinc fifty to sixty miles nearer uiaikel has an advantage iu its compe tition for the Southern trade, seriously as 1 have shown, effecting the tonnage upon the canals. There is, however, a more forcible illuslratio i 1 of the effect of rail-road competition as against the Delaware Division ; upon this canal there has been no increase of coal shipments since 7 852, and for the lust three years has been decreasing. In U55 it was 755,265 tons, in 1556 it was 698,315 tcnis, and in 18 >7 it was ! 530,91 I tons. While during the same time the entire ecal tonnage from the Lehigh coat region was in 1855, 1,275,051 tons, in 1300, i fi'K t .11< ' f' "f Tvi - ! 18 °"0 VOL.. XVIII. —NO. 30. tons. It will be observed here that the en tire yield of this region in 1857, was 43,499 tons greater than in 1855, and yet it will he seen that the coal tonnage on the Delaware Division was 221,353 tons !e-s than in J boo. 1 know it is asserted over and over again, that rail-roads cannot carry coal or other heavy tonnage as < heap as it can be transported upon canals. If this tie trite, how are we to account for the sternly decrease in tonnage upon the Canals, and the rapid increase of freights upon the railroads ? The ennuis in onr own State have no competition except railroads, and a larger quantity of coal is going to market every year, and the coal tonnage npon jour canals steadily and surely growing less, and inerea-ing uj on railroads. The conclusion is irresistable, a d can be proved by mathematic al demons'ra'ion ; that railroads with favora ble curves and grades can carry coal or other freights as cheap, if not cheaper, than any canal that cannot carry more than a seven ty ton boat. It would have been unwise on the part of our legislature to shut their eyes to the nuked fact, that the business upon our canals, not from transitory, but permanent ennses is di minishing. New routes are continually being opened, and some of thorn shorter than the ca nals ; new and improved machinery and strict economy in management, all aiding to eheu pen coal to the consumer, must and will con tinue to operate against t.hc old and in favor of new modes of transportation. I have shown that the average yearly nett revenues of the canals sold, from their opening up to the pres ent time, by the one sided reports of olfi'ials, does not equal the amount by over $75,000, the interest at 5 per cent, on $3,500,000, the price named in the law fur the sale ; nor do 1 believe that if an honest and faithful exhibit could be had yearly, anvthiuglike this amount would bo found to be the true figures. In the report of the Committee of Ways and Means 1 lind the following amount put down as the uett revenues for 1857 : " Put out of view en tirely, the interest on the cost of these works, and the apparent nett income of the year was $07,701 29 only ; at which rate their real value to the State would be $1,335,226." .As they do not give a detailed statemeut for this year, of course I cannot till how they arrive at this conclusion. Prom other detailed state ments, however, which I have had occasion to examine, and which I found in the mniii correct, 1 am inclined to the opinion it is too high. The following exhibit was made by a gen tlcmin of high character, and great intelli gence, whose experience in the management of these work- entitles hi< statemeuts to the ful lest to fid nee, approximating nearer the truth than anything 1 have yet seen, so far as I have been enabled to reach the proper docu ments to investigate them. I therefore iutro dil.'e it here : The t itat receipts fur 15.77 from nil the canals to'< 3to the Suubury ami Erie lUil-iioaU tuiupauy, a put down by the Auditor (ieneral Kxi icuilitur.-- on tne Upper and l.ovver X. liranch for the sjni ? year i- $134,379,54 Susqiuhmuaanti West 11. T'ivi.-i ins. 132,501,911 1 H;le\varc I>ivision, 104,418,12 Collectors en all the diri ai ms, and ii idcntals of their office, damages.pay 81,920,19 of Canal It >ard, State en gineer, etc. Total expenditures, Total receipts over expenditures for 16.7 j4S,4us in There is no way of the amount that should be deducted for the through freight cleared t the upper offices for the 46 miles of the Main Line sold last year ; tint it. will lie a low estimate to call it $15,000. Taking this amount from the balance as exhibited above, ($48,208 19) and it leaves as the nett earnings ot your canals tor 1857, $33,208 19 Tt tnnv be said that if is unjust to charge in this account, the amount expended upon the North Branch division of $134,880 59. Bur if yon add this amount to the nett income, and thereby run up the receipts to $168,094 7K, you still Imve an amount less than the interest upon $3,500,000 at 5 percent, which is $175. 000, with the advantage of a certain instead of an uncertain revenue. Again it mty alleged that when the North Branch Division comes into successful operation cs revenues will be large. Tnis is to a great ex tent a matter of speculation in which nothing but experience will determine ; and while 1 can appreciate tie 1 advantages of this Improve ment to our portion of the State, in giving us the advantages of nu easy communication with the coil fields in the Wyoming valley, extend ing to our farmers and pi icing within their reach the markets of that region, ami opening a line of communication for the out let of our coal northward. I am not among that class of citizens, who have indulged in such extrav agant anticipations in regard to the amount of revenue that would accrue to I lie Common wealth from this D vision of oar public works It is riot nor do 1 believe it will lie in success ful operation for m mi lis to rami- if it is during the season, witln ut freqm tit interruption*, re quiring heavy expenditures for repairs. It hi* not yet been tested, it i- now. nod the expen ses mut be heavy each year for some time to come ; breaks will occur, as is always the case with new Canals. Then what security had the Commouwcahh, that under her corrupt and \ ciio! -y.-tein ot nianaginent the revenues would much exceed the expenditures ? There is nu other item of expenditure from which the Stale is released by the sale. The damages along the lines of the Ciuai. which are estimated to amount to tr m $150,690 to $200.00>, arc all to be paid by the pnrclias ug Company. In addition, however, to what lias been al ready shown, it can be shown by the official reports of the Canal board, that while the working expenses have largely increased for the last few years ; the revenues have very largely decreased. 'Hie revenues for I $55 were $791,903,90 In 1856 they were $785,• 607,H, and in 1K57, $512,01*.29. Thus it will l>e seen that in three years the revenues have diminished $'282,iJ3.">,41, while the work ing expenses have increased in the same tiiuu $68,8.45,18. When official documents and .. .. ,4. v.-'ftr c r *cd 'i-r-i' 1) cm..5 • ,->f
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