News clippings compiled by Art Clowes
Revised To: December 2, 2002
Fredericton, N.B. – The Loyalist, Page 4 – Saturday, January 31, 1852 – RAILWAYS IN NEW BRUNSWICK – Attempts have been made for some years past to secure the construction of a Railway, or Railway’s through this Province, public attention have been attracted to a variety of plans and lines, and public opinion appears at length to have settled down upon the general understanding that every effort shall be made to secure railway communication with Canada and with the United States. Believing this to be no longer, a debatable question, we take it as our starting point, and proceed to a consideration of the several routes, and the several plans for raising the money.
The first line attempted in this Province was the St. Andrews and Quebec Railroad. This Company was chartered in 1847, with a capital of £750,000, divided into 30,000 shares of £25 each. A facility bill was next passed, giving the Company all the ungranted lands within five miles on either side of the road, estimated at not less than 200,000 acres, and guaranteeing five per cent. interest on £100,000 of the capital for ten years. The next session the said guarantee was extended to six per cent. on the said amount for 25 years. Even then the Company found it impossible to get their stock taken up in the English market, and at a subsequent session a bill was introduced and passed authorizing the Company to divide the shares into “Class A,” and “Class B,” the former to consist of four thousand shares (£100,000) to be reserved for the English market, and to have the exclusive right to any facilities granted by the Legislature! The said four thousand shares were partially disposed of, and the road commenced; other stockholders, however, did not pay up, and at the last session of the Legislature a bill was passed by which the Province agreed to take stock in the line – or rather in that part of it lying between St. Andrews and Woodstock – to the amount of £60,000 currency. The 80 miles to Woodstock is now supposed to be under contract. The estimated expense of these 80 miles is £240,000, of which Class A, takes £100,000, and the Province £60,000, leaving £80,000 for other shareholders. Such is the history of this line! Such is the miserable failure of our first attempt to get railways constructed by private individuals! For although the first section (80 miles) of the line will be built, only £100,000 British capital is introduced, for which the Province guarantees six per cent. interest for 25 years, and gives as a premium lands worth at least fifty thousand pounds, and after all has to subscribe for one-fourth of the stock! Here the Province gives away £50,000 worth of public property, and incurs a liability of £9,600 a year! How much better for the Province to have hired the £240,000 at three and half per cent. and built the road! Then our liability would have been but £8,400 per annum, our lands would not have been given away, and we should own the road! Let our Legislators weigh this matter well, and learn wisdom from experience.
The next attempt at a trunk line was the road from Halifax to Quebec. This line was partially surveyed, at the expense of the Colonies, and the Engineers selected a track solely for its superiority in a military point of view, overlooking every other interest – except it were to sacrifice New Brunswick to the shrine of Halifax. Influenced by a laudable desire for railways, our Legislature pledged the faith of the Province in favour of this undertaking to the amount of £20,000 per annum for twenty years, guaranteed the stations and right of way through private property, and gave all the ungranted lands within ten miles on either side, amounting to 1,650,000 acres! This and similar grants on the part of Canada and Nova Scotia, neither induced the British Government to commence operations, or even recommend to Parliament a grant in favour of the line; nor did it tempt the cupidity of speculators. The Ministry represented that the line was of an extraordinary length, and reiterated their opinion that it would not pay; while capitalists were nil!
The Halifax and Quebec Trunk Line being considered a hopeless affair, early in the spring of 1850 public attention was directed to a Trunk Line from Halifax to the United States, the Americans agreeing to meet us at the boundary. With this view a Convention was held at Portland on the 31st of July, 1850, and for some time after little else was spoken of. The Local Government of Nova Scotia approved of the scheme, and in the Autumn the Honourable Joseph Howe, Provincial Secretary of that Province, was dispatched to England to seek aid from the British Government. That Mr. Howe acquitted himself well in calling the attention of the Ministry and the people to the growing importance of these Colonies, no one will deny. An impression was at length made upon Ministers, who were induced to promise that they would propose a plan of Colonial Railways to Parliament, and recommend the guarantee of the necessary loan at three and half per cent; but their plan was not for a railway from Halifax to the American frontier, but the trunk line from Halifax to Quebec! In order to secure this guarantee, the Colonies were first to comply with certain conditions, which we shall quote as we proceed; those conditions were set forth in a letter addressed to Mr. Howe by Mr. Hawes, then Under Secretary for the Colonies, dated March 10th, 1851.
Ten days after the date of Mr. Hawes’ letter, (March 20th) the House of Assembly of this Province, ignorant of what Mr. Howe had done, passed a Bill authorizing the Government to take shares in the European and North American Railway to the amount of £250,000 sterling; and on the following day they passed a Bill authorizing the Government to take shares in the St. Andrews and Woodstock Railway to the amount of £50,000 sterling. The first of these Bills was passed by a majority of 35 to 5, and the other by a majority of 27 to 12.
On the 1st of April Mr. Hawes’ letter was communicated to the House of Assembly, and it became known that Mr. Howe had agreed to the conditions on the part of Nova Scotia. On the 4th of that month a series of Resolutions, introduced by Mr. Gray, were discussed, and on the following day the second Resolution, which embraces the main principles, was carried by a majority of thirty-one to six! The said resolution, after announcing that the House would adhere to all former pledges given in aid of the Halifax and Quebec Trunk Railway, thus states the sentiments and motives of the House:-
“They desire distinctly to state that the refusal by Her Majesty’s Government, as conveyed in the several Despatches of the Right Honourable Earl Grey, bearing date the fifth of April, 1849, and the nineteenth of June, 1850, to undertake that great National work under the pledges made towards the same by Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, induced the people of this Province to turn their attention to the accomplishment of undertakings, which it would be in their power to carry out, and which, from their prospect of more immediate remuneration, would hold out greater inducements to capitalists to embark therein; and that in accordance with the almost unanimous wishes of the people of this Province, as expressed by overwhelming majorities in both Houses of the Legislature, the public credit has been pledged to the sum of Three hundred thousand pounds Sterling, for the building of the European and North American Railway, and the Saint Andrews and Quebec Railway within this Province; and the House cannot adopt the plan suggested in the correspondence between the Honourable Mr. Howe and the Right Honourable Earl Grey, accompanying His Excellency’s Message; and is not prepared to pledge the public credit or the future resources of the Province, further than is set forth in the Address before mentioned, towards building the Great Trunk Line from Halifax to Quebec.”
There is every reason to believe that at the period when the House of Assembly expressed themselves, almost unanimously, as above, they spoke the sentiments of the people. It was generally admitted that the Provincial resources were pledged to an amount that rather exceeded than fell short of the line of prudence, and that the conditions specified in Mr. Hawes’ letter were such as no colony should comply with. Since that period, however, public opinion seems to have changed to a certain extent, and the question is agitated afresh. The causes which led to this result are, first, an eager desire to clutch British gold, in utter recklessness of the consequences; second, the exceeding low rate of interest demanded; third, the very great doubts now existing whether the funds for the European and North American Railway can be procured from private sources; fourth, the Convention held by the three Colonial Governments at Toronto; fifth, the tour of Mr. Howe through the Provinces, and his assertions; and sixth, the passing of Bills by the Legislatures of Canada and Nova Scotia for the construction of the Halifax and Quebec Trunk Railway. These causes it is the imperative duty of our Representatives to examine, calmly and dispassionately, with a view to the interests of their constituents and the general prosperity of the Province. Before we proceed, to discuss their several merits; however, we must solicit attention to the conditions exacted in Mr. Hawes’ letter.
The first condition is that the three Provinces must be agreed, and provision be made for the construction of the road through from Halifax to Quebec, before the British Government will make any advance, or give any guarantee.
The second condition stipulates that the road shall be carried all the way through British territory, but the particulars route is left an open question: although it is stated that “Any deviation from the line recommended by Major Robinson and Captain Henderson must be subject to the approval of Her Majesty’s Government.” It is also stated that “Her Majesty’s Government will by no means object to its forming a part of the plan which may be determined upon, that it should include a provision for establishing a communication between the projected Railway and the Railways of the United States.”
The third condition is couched in these words: “It will further be required that the several Provincial Legislatures should pass laws making the loans which they are to raise a first charge upon the Provincial Revenue, after any existing debts and payments on account of the Civil List settled on Her Majesty by laws now in force, and also that permanent taxes shall be imposed (or taxes to continue in force till the debt shall be extinguished) sufficient to provide for the payment of the interest and sinking fund of the loans proposed to be raised, after discharging the above prior claims.”
We have written the last quotation in italics, because it demands particular attention. Here it is distinctly stated that the British Government will exact the pledge of all our revenues except the Civil List and sums payable by law, not only to make good the interest on the loan, but for the sinking fund also. The ordinary expenses of our Government amounts to about £65,000 per annum. This includes the Civil List, the sums paid under existing laws to public officers, public institutions, grammar schools, common schools, &c. These are the sums excepted, and the Home Government expects that the pledge, as in Nova Scotia, shall form a first charge after them. Our revenue averages about £105,000 annually, leaving, after the ordinary expenses, about £40,000 per annum for roads, bridges, and other purposes; but in the £65,000 are included many annual grants, among which are the expenses of the Legislature, which are not payable by law, and therefore would not be excepted by a Bill similar to the Act passed in Nova Scotia, although they come within the list of “ordinary expenses.” The Civil List, and the sums payable by law, which would take precedence of the interest on the loan, amount to about £45,000 per annum, so that the pledge required from us amounts to about £40,000 per annum. and if the whole should be absorbed, we should have to make up about £20,000 per annum by direct taxation for our ordinary expenses, and cut off all grants for roads, bridges, and other things usually supported, or aided, by the Legislature. But we must remember that this is looking at the matter on the darkest side; it is viewing it in the worst possible light; it is supposing that the railways will afford no dividends, and that our revenue will not increase in consequence of railways; the first supposition improbable, and the second absurd. To pass a Bill, then, similar to that passed by the Legislature of Nova Scotia, will not, we apprehend, lead to any serious financial embarrassment, provided that we select the most economical, and at the same time the best paying route.
Mr. Howe committed one great error in England. He asserted on the part of Nova Scotia, (and, no doubt, gave the Minister to understand that Canada and New Brunswick would also assent) to the terms submitted in Mr. Hawes’ letter, including the clause which provides for the immediate reduction of the debt by a sinking fund, and the clause which insists upon the imposition of direct taxes should the revenues of a colony (after paying the Civil List and other sums payable by law) prove insufficient for the payment of the interest and the said sinking fund. What Mr. Howe can think of himself for making such a pledge it is difficult to say, or what could have been his object. Certainly nothing could be gained by deceiving the Colonial Minister! and yet Mr. Howe must have known that his countrymen, and fellow-colonists, would never consent to pay direct taxes in support of any railroad – that no Colonial Government would ever dare propose such a measure – that such taxes if imposed could only be collected at the point of the bayonet! Supposing the Colonial Legislatures should pass bills in accordance with the required terms, they could only be actuated by avarice, and would grasp British gold with the certainty of consequences to be avoided and abhorred. They would receive the money at the moment they meditated repudiation! We have no right to suppose that Great Britain will not insist upon carrying out to the very letter the terms upon which the loan may be granted, and for our Legislature to make pledges they know cannot be fulfilled would, in all probability, entail upon posterity discord, and civil war, and end either in the rending of the empire or in the slavery of the colonists. If Mr. Howe, to his anxiety to secure the loan, suffered his judgement to be warped, – which we can scarcely believe possible – his eyes must have been opened before meeting the Legislature of his country, for the two obnoxious clauses is omitted in the bill. Nothing whatever is said about direct taxes, or increasing the revenue should it prove insufficient, while the clause respecting the sinking fund is quite at variance with the conditions set forth in Mr. Hawes’ letter. The Bill passed by the Legislature of Nova Scotia empowers the Government to negotiate a loan, to enter into arrangements with New Brunswick and Canada for each to make a third of the road, and to select the route through Nova Scotia. It pledges all the revenues of the Province in security for the interest on the loan, with the exception of the Civil List and existing debts, and provides that the profile of the road, after paying the interest of three and half per cent, and the sums charged for conveying Her Majesty’s troops and the British mails, shall form a sinking fund for the liquidation of the capital; but no such fund to be formed until the line is in operation and paying more than the interest! We have nothing to complain of in the Bill, it is prudent enough; but what will the British Ministers think of it? Will they recommend the loan upon conditions so different from those agreed upon between Mr. Hawes and Mr. Howe? We confess we have strong doubts, and fear the discrepancy will occasion delay. We think Nova Scotia has done all that a Colony can prudently do, but the imprudence lies at Mr. Howe’s door, who promised what it was impossible to fulfil. When that gentleman visited this Province last summer, he asserted that money could be procured for the construction of the European and North American Railway from the point of junction to the American Boundary, upon the same terms as the loan for the Halifax and Quebec Trunk; and he also asserted that the terms laid down in Mr. Hawes’ letter would be modified. The first of these assertions is, it appears, based upon a paragraph in Mr. Hawes’ letter, (already quoted), which, is ambiguous, but can be scarcely so construed. The second assertion may go for what it is worth, since Mr. Howe admitted in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly, when questioned, that he had held no correspondence with the Colonial Office on the subject since the date of Mr. Hawes’ letter!
Improved means of communication with the Sister Colonies – especially with Canada – is an object worthy the ambition of our Statesmen and Legislators; and as we are unable to construct railways without procuring loans, it is a great object to procure the requisite capital at a low rate of interest. We consider it extremely doubtful whether capital can be procured to build the European and North American Railway from private sources, and unless we procure the capital from the British Government, or by their guarantee the probability is that we shall remain a long time without anything more than a local railroad. But even if the European and North American line were constructed, we should still be without a railway to Canada, which is most desirable. These considerations have, no doubt, produced their effect upon public opinion since the last session, and have influenced the Toronto Convention, and the Legislatures of Canada and Nova Scotia. They should be properly weighed by our representatives, and if in their opinion they form sufficient ground for reversing the decision the House came to on the 5th of April last, – and we think they do – let them act accordingly. Probably the Government will introduce a bill similar to the Act passed by the Nova Scotia Legislature, with the exception of the clause respecting the route. Although, as we have already stated, there may be a misunderstanding with the British Ministry, and delay, that is not our fault, and the utmost our Legislature can do is to make such efforts to obtain the loan as are within our means.
It has been suggested that the selection of the route should be left to the Commissioners, an equal number from each colony; and this, for aught we know to the contrary, may be the plan our Government will suggest. Selecting a route where there are several is a burden too onerous for any Government to covet, nor do we think it proper for the responsibility to rest upon their shoulders, – it should be decided by the Representatives of the people. New Brunswick is peculiarly situated. Nova Scotia has but one route – the road must cross the Cumberland isthmus. Canada, although deeply interested in securing direct railway communication with the Ports of Saint John and St. Andrews, has no choice for 100 miles of her part of the road immediately below Quebec – it must follow the St. Lawrence. Then, since our Commissioners can have very little to say with regard to the route through Canada, and nothing to say about the route through Nova Scotia, why should their commissioners interfere with the route through New Brunswick – especially the Nova Scotia Commissioners, are who deeply interested in favour of the route that would involve us beyond our means, and at the same time deprive us of a fair participation in the benefits likely to accrue! Let us be cautious. We consider it the bounden duty of our Legislators to dictate the route to Government, either by resolution, or by naming the intermediate places in the bill, leaving it to the Government and their Engineers to select the best route from place to place. This, certainly, is what the people expect of them at this crisis. We now come to a consideration of the different routes.
The length of the North-eastern Line, surveyed by Major Robinson and Captain Henderson, is 635 miles. It is proposed that each Province shall construct one-third. This would give to each nearly 212 miles, which a £5,000 sterling per mile, (Mr. Howe’s estimate) will cost each Province £1,060,000.* This line enters New Brunswick at Bay Verte, passes by Shediac, and runs through the northern section of the Province 234 miles to Campbell-town. That part of the European and North American Line lying between Shediac and Calais, being 188 miles in length, it is proposed to build at the expense of this Province alone. According to this scheme New Brunswick has to construct four hundred miles of railway, at a cost of two millions sterling, the interest of which would be, at three and a half per cent, seventy thousand pounds sterling per annum! Moreover, these lines when completed would leave the St. Andrews and Quebec Line with one hundred and seventy two miles yet to build, viz: from Woodstock to River de Loup!
Let us see if we cannot find shorter and less expensive routes for our two Great Trunk Lines. If we can, surely Canada and Nova Scotia cannot object, since the extra costs of the more expensive lines must fall on ourselves. From Halifax to Shediac, via Bay Verte; the distance is 150 miles; there is, however, no necessity for the line to enter this Province so far north; it might cross the boundary near Sackville and proceed directly to the Bend of Petitcodiac; thence a route would be found to Quebec through Saint John, Woodstock and Madawaska, opening up some of the best lands in the Province traversing the most populous districts, and securing the trade of the valley of the St. John, and shorter than the north-eastern route! This Line would give Canada two good winter ports in this Province, within reasonable distance, it would complete the St. Andrews and Quebec line, and would nearly complete the European and North American line to the boundary of the State of Maine. The distances are as follows:–
Halifax to the Bend of Petitcodiac, 156 miles
The Bend to Saint John, 92 miles
Saint John to Woodstock, via the Douglas Valley, 98 miles
Woodstock to the Grand Falls, 67 miles
Grand Falls to River de Loup, 105 miles
River de Loup to Quebec, 108 miles
Total distance, 626 miles
A great part of this route has been surveyed and actually measured, and the distance of the other sections have been ascertained as nearly as possible. It is presumed that the road west of Saint John, on emerging from Douglas Valley, will proceed straight to Howard’s Settlement (over a level country), about 20 miles below Woodstock, where it will intersect the St. Andrews and Quebec line. It will cross the south branch of the Oromocto near Hartt’s mills, and cross the great road leading from Fredericton to St. Andrews at the Harvey Settlement. Above Woodstock it would follow the route surveyed by Lieutenant Yule in 1836, until it approached the Arestook (Aroostook); this part of the line is level, and is several miles shorter than by the banks of the St. John.
From Harvey Settlement the European and North American Line could branch off, crossing the St. Croix (the boundary) about twenty-two miles distant, at the foot of the great chain of lakes on that river, and pointing direct to Lincoln on the River Penobscot. The distance from Saint John to Bangor via Calais is 192 miles; by this route it would be as follows:–
Saint John to Harvey Settlement, 56 miles
Harvey to boundary, 22 miles
Boundary to Lincoln, 54 miles
Lincoln to Bangor, 48 miles
Total, 180 miles
It is thus evident that should the Southern Route be adopted as the Trunk Line from Halifax to Quebec, the distance will be shorter than the other, and this Province will have to build 209 miles, her share of the said trunk, and 22 miles to the American frontier, making altogether 231 miles instead of 400, and her railway system would then be complete. Saint John would then have communication with Quebec, distance by rail 378 miles, instead of 592 miles! St. Andrews would have a railroad open to Quebec, distance 360 miles, instead of having 172 miles yet to build! and the road from Saint John to Bangor would be 12 miles shorter than by Calais, and carried over a level country instead of a country much broken! This calculation does not take into account the twenty miles of the St. Andrews and Woodstock line which might be used as a part of the Great Trunk, and which would reduce the distance to be constructed by the Province to 211 miles, the loan for which at £5,000 sterling per mile, would be £1,055,000 instead of two millions, and the annual interest £36,925, instead of £70,000!
We now come to a most important consideration. What Railway liabilities have the Province already incurred? The Province stands pledged to take stock in the European and North American Railway to the amount of £300,000 currency; also stock in the St. Andrews and Woodstock railway to the amount of £60,000 currency. The interest on these sums, at six per cent. (for upon our guarantee we cannot procure money on more reasonable terms) is £21,600 per annum. Then we guarantee £20,000 per annum on the North-eastern railway, should it go on, and £6,000 per annum on the St. Andrews and Woodstock railway. Then we offer the right of way and stations on the Halifax Trunk, which may possibly cost us another £100,000, the interest on which would be £6,000. All these sums for which we are liable, involve an interest of no less than fifty-three thousand six hundred pounds, and after all we should not own a foot of the northern road, but a fourth of the St. Andrews road, and a little more than a fourth of the other! With the result of the St. Andrews and Woodstock line before us, added to these facts, will any one say that it is not better for the Province to build the lines and own them, instead of building them for others! But as though these bargains were not foolish enough, we have given away 2,225,000 acres of our most valuable lands, worth at least £556,500, as inducements!
After what we have here shown there can be no question about the routes. With respect to passing a Bill similar to that passed by the Legislature of Nova Scotia, we have strong doubts whether the terms will be satisfactory to the British Ministry; but as we can do nothing without the co-operation of the Sister Colonies we may as well follow suit; we shall then, at all events, be in a situation to negotiate. We would most strenuously recommend the cancelling of all pledges and grants of land in aid of railways, with the exception of these made in favour of the St. Andrews and Quebec Company, which, unfortunately, cannot be cancelled. We sincerely trust, however, that the House will authorize the Government to offer to take the St. Andrews Line out of the Company’s hands at cost. If they should decline the offer, the Southern Trunk Line from Halifax to Quebec should be made without reference to the said Company, who would thus be compelled to sell, or to build a rival line, or rest contented with their western termini at Woodstock. Should the Company comply with the requisition, Government would have to construct 231 miles, estimated at £5,000 sterling per mile, requiring a capital of £1,155,000, and an annual interest of £37,625 sterling, equal to a capital of £1,386,000, and an interest of £45,150 currency. To this add the construction of the St. Andrews line from St. Andrews to Harvey Settlement, 45 miles, at £3,000 currency per mile (the estimate), making altogether £235,000. The Province would then stand pledged to the amount of £1,521,000, the interest of which at 3½ per cent. would be £49,875. This would be £3,725 less than our present engagements, the public lands would be retained, and the Province would own the three railroads!
* The Nova Scotian Loan is limited to £1,000,000, being £60,000 less than their estimate!
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Grand Falls, The Cataract Weekly – May 6, 1852 – The Carleton having been lengthened, supplied with a new boiler, and otherwise improved, is now on the route between Fredericton and the Grand Falls. We understand she will principally run, while the water is up, between Woodstock and the Grand Falls. She is commanded by Captain Moses Akerly.
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Grand Falls, The Cataract Weekly – May 6, 1852 – The Reindeer has also commenced here regular trips and others are expected shortly to follow. James R. Tupper, Esquire, has again been awarded the contract for carrying mail between Fredericton and the Grand Falls. The Tupper stage coaches have done so for several years now.
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Woodstock, The Sentinel, Page 351 – May 6, 1852 – Fredericton Reporter, April 30, 1852 – Who told the New Brunswicker that the “Forest Queen” was the first boat at Fredericton this season! Read this!
We had the first arrival for the season yesterday afternoon, in the appearance of the Carleton, Captain M. Akerly, and strangely enough from Woodstock, a route which some years ago was deemed impracticable. Today the Forest Queen, Captain Hatheway, arrived from Saint John, and the navigation may now be considered open for the season.
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Woodstock, The Sentinel, Page 351 – May 6, 1852 – TELEGRAPH – We have been requested to state that a Telegraph Office has been established at Tobique, and is now in good working order, with a Woodstocker, William H. English, as operator.
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Woodstock, The Sentinel, Page 351 – May 6, 1852 – We learn that Messrs. Hatheway & Small have purchased the Saint John for £3,500. Mr. Hatheway is now part owner of every Boat on the River except those owned in Woodstock. Wonder if he’ll buy them.
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Woodstock, The Sentinel, Page 351 – May 6, 1852 – ALL ABOUT STEAMBOATS – A splendid new steamer, the property of George Connell, Esquire, was launched at his place a few days ago, to the great delight of a large number of spectators. !
She is called the “John Waring,” out of compliment to her engineer, and is the first steamer ever built in the County of Carleton. The “John Waring,” is 150 feet keel, 23 feet beam, 45 feet over all amidships; and draws, wood and water aboard, about 22 inches. She has two splendid high pressure engines of 60 horsepower each, built and set up by Messrs. Hinkley & Egery of Bangor. Her after cabins are finished and furnished in a style that cannot fail to please the most fastidious. she has also a forward cabin for the accommodation of those who wish to travel at little or no expense. Of her sailing qualities we will say nothing until she has had a trial with some of the quick ones on the lower route; but we think all who see her will say that she is a credit to the place – to her enterprising proprietor, who has spared neither pains nor expense to make her in every sense of the word, the leading boat on the river – to her builder, George Dow, Esquire, of Sunbury, who has earned for himself the reputation of being indeed a master workman – to the contractor for the joiner work, Mr. George Wilson, who has performed his part with neatness and dispatch – to her engineer, Mr. Waring – to our fellow townsman, William Kerrigan, whose taste and execution in painting is here displayed to great advantage – and in short to all who were concerned in building or ornamenting her. This is the first boat we believe ever built in the Province that was ready to run at the appointed time – the opening of the navigation. She was launched with her all on board, and although the fires were not on when she struck the water, but a short time elapsed before she was seen steaming her way back to the landing.
The “John Waring,” is commanded by Captain Charles H. Segee, who is too well known on the river to need an introduction in this place. The Fredericton Reporter speaks in praise of this boat from hearsay. We hope he won’t be disappointed when he sees her. He says:–
“We learn that in addition to the effective service of Steamers to be placed on the River by Messrs. Hatheway and Small during the ensuing season, the fine boat in course of construction by Mr. George Connell of Woodstock, will take her place, on the opening of the River. Her name is to be the “John Waring,” out of compliment to her clever Engineer; and she is to be placed under the command of one of the most justly popular navigators of the St. John, Captain Charles H. Segee. The John Waring is represented by those who have seen her, as a very superior vessel.”
The “Carleton” having been lengthened, supplied with a new boiler, and otherwise improved, is now on the route between Fredericton and the Grand Falls. We understand she will principally run, while the water is up, between Woodstock and the Grand Falls. She is commanded by Captain Moses Akerley.
The “Reindeer” has also commenced her regular trips and others are expected shortly to follow.
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Grand Falls, The Cataract Weekly – May 28, 1852 – The steamer J. D. Pierce made her appearance on Thursday evening. She will continue to run between Fredericton, Woodstock and the Grand Falls.
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Woodstock, The Sentinel, Page 2 (382) – May 29, 1852 – The little Steamer J. D. Pierce mentioned in our last, made her appearance here on Thursday evening. She is from the Kennebec, and is propelled by a wheel in the stern. We understand she is owned by Messrs. Glazier and Bodfish, and is intended to run between Fredericton, Woodstock and the Grand Falls.
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Woodstock, The Sentinel, Page 3 (383) – May 29, 1852 – THE STEAMBOAT COLLISION – Saint John Times – In our last issue we merely mentioned that the steamer Transit had run into the Anna Augusta, and that several persons were injured. – As the occurrence took place but a very short time before going to press, we could learn but little of the particulars. The occurrences took place near Harding’s Point, on the River, just before day-light. Both boats were going at full speed, the Transit on her way up the river and the Anna Augusta on her way down. The Transit struck the other with tremendous force across the starboard bow, doing but slight injury to the former boat, while the deck of the Anna Augusta was cut away as far as the paddle wheel, which was smashed, and the boiler being forced from its place exploded, throwing boiling water in all directions. all was confusion. The smoke made everything worse – creating darkness and a difficultly of knowing the true state of matters. The following account of those who sustained injuries we extract from the Freeman:–
It is said that nine or ten in all were scalded – five of them seriously. Cochran, a fireman was dreadfully scalded; and it is thought inhaled the steam. He died about noon yesterday. Casey, also a fireman, is fearfully scalded, and it is said, will scarcely recover. another of the crew named Nyles is scalded on the head, back and legs, and is in a precarious state. Bryson, a passenger, had gone down a few minutes before to light his pipe and he is also severely scalded, the jet of boiling water having struck him. Harkins, one of the crew, had both hands dreadfully scalded, and a boy named Campbell, steward’s assistant, has both feet injured. A butcher named Murray, is also much injured. He was near the boiler at the time, and a Mr. Hamilton, from Shefield, who slept in the saloon on the upper deck has one foot scalded.
The Transit took the sufferers and some of the passengers to Indian Town, and all possible assistance was rendered by medical gentlemen who proceeded over. It is said there were 30 passengers on board, only one of whom was a female.
It is rumoured that another of the sufferers is dead, although we cannot vouch for the truth of the statement.
An inquest was held on Saturday, and several persons sworn. We abstain from publishing any of the evidence, as it is not customary to do so until all the witness have been sworn, and the jury have come to a decision. It will take two or three days.
The Anna Augusta was brought down to Indian Town on Friday, from which place she was towed to the long wharf at Portland yesterday.
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July-December 1852
Revised To: July 30, 2005
Saint John, The Telegraph-Journal, Reader, Page 5 – Saturday, July 26, 2003 – July 30, 1852 – New Brunswick’s first railway engine is started up at St. Andrews, along the first section of the St. Andrews and Quebec Railway.
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Fredericton, NB, The Reporter, Page 2 – Friday, September 24, 1852 – THE RAILWAY NEGOTIATION – Newbrunswicker – On Saturday last, William Jackson, Esquire, MP the great Railway contractor, arrived in this City. He was met here by the members of the Executive Council, and several conferences have since been held for the purpose of receiving the terms for the construction of the European and North American Railway. The result of these meetings has not yet transpired, but we believe the arrangements have not been fully completed, and it is not likely that the contract will be entered into until the meeting of the Legislature. Whatever agreement may be made with Mr. Jackson, one thing is certain, the people of this Province will have to bear a large proportion of the expense of the construction of the line, and as a million of pounds or more will be involved in the transaction, the contract should be made with caution, prudence, and after due deliberation. A great responsibility will attach itself to the Government in this negotiation; and as we are anxious that the Railway should be successfully carried into operation, we think a candid and impartial decision is necessary to attain this object.
A great work of this description, if judiciously and economically carried out, will add to the wealth and develop the resources of this fine Province; but if expensively and lavishly managed, it will plunge the people into debt and difficulty, and prove a square of taxation, and consequent discontent, for a long series of years. Prudent management is the great thing to be sought. We therefore trust that calmness and circumspection will mark the conduct of our Government, and that no unnatural excitement will cause them to commit the Country to a scheme that they do not honestly believe will be productive of listing good. We are strongly impressed with the opinion that if wisely managed, this Province can afford to construct the Railway now in contemplation; and we also believe that Mr. Jackson is able to perform his share of the contract. In the absence of any direct information on this subject, we can only throw out these hints for public consideration, the necessity of which forced themselves upon our attention while reading some statements in the Canada papers relative to Mr. Jackson’s visit to that Province. The people and Government of the sister Colony refused to contract with Mr. Jackson on account of the unreasonableness of his charges. In the Quebec Morning Chronicle of the 16th instant, the reason why the negotiation to construct the Montreal and Kingston Railroad failed, are thus set forth in a letter from Mr. Holton, chairman of the Company, to the Parliamentary Railway Committee:–
“It is due to the Company with which I am connected, that I should briefly advert to a fallacy which has obtained some currency, and which has been recently shown to prevail even in high quarters, where an enlightened appreciation of facts and the logical conclusions that flow from them, might have been reasonably looked for. It is argued that because the Montreal and Kingston Railway company do not consider the employment of Mr. Jackson, on his own terms, essential to the construction of our great line of railroads, they are therefore opposed to the introduction of English capital into the country. Nothing could be more unfounded – nothing more unjust. It is admitted on all hands that it is not only desirable, but absolutely necessary, that English or Foreign capital should be obtained for the construction for the construction of all our great public works. The question is merely one of instrumentalities. Is the instrumentality of Mr. Jackson and his associates so essential for procuring loans of English capital, that they should be paid from 30 to 50 per cent over the cash value of their work, merely for the facilities they are supposed to possess as money brokers? Or is it pretended that a little know of railway jobbers hold the key of the great money market of the world? We, on the contrary, maintain, that it would be disparaging to the resources and credit of our country, and still more so to the talents and energy of our business men, if the Government and Legislature should act upon the assumption that the services of Messrs Jackson and Company, not money-brokers, but simply, railway contractors, are indispensable to the successful negotiation of the securities, with the proceeds of which our railroads are mainly to be constructed.”
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Fredericton, NB, The Reporter, Page 2 – Friday, September 24, 1852 – THE EUROPEAN AND NORTH AMERICAN RAILWAY – Since we wrote the following a dispatch has been received here, stating a rumour in Saint John, to the effect that the government had agreed to the terms of Mr. Jackson; but as we know our neighbours in Saint John are far more clever at raising reports than at making Railroads, we confess ourselves thus far to be among the unbelievers. The Saint John papers are all full of Mr. Jackson, and an address which he received – somewhere in the vicinity of the Riviere du Loup; but they forbear to allude to the current opinion on the great Lion, as given by the press in Canada. This we shall endeavour to attend to next week.
The Saint John papers are, as might be expected, out in full blast against Mr. Wilkinson’s communication. The Freeman calls it a “funny scheme” but does not pretend to show where the “fun” consists. The Courier is more diffuse, but certainly not more correct than the Freeman. It says:–
“We cannot permit it to be said that ‘the tide which taken at the flood had led to fortunate was suffered to pass, and we are left astrand,’ at the very time when, thanks to the good offices of Mr. Archibald, and the good sense of our Government, the European and North American Railway is about to be provided for on the very route and on the precise terms contemplated at the Portland Convention.”
Surely our contemporary is dreaming. “The route and precise terms contemplated at the Portland Convention” are not “about to be provided for” by the present scheme, which only extends from Saint John to Shediac, and which as it neither extends to Halifax nor Portland, is consequently nothing more than the mere revival of the Shediac Railway in all its naked deformity – the mere central fraction of the Line contemplated at the Portland Convention. Beyond this, the Portland Convention never contemplated the borrowing of any money whatever, much less at the rack-rate offered by Mr. Jackson, whose tenders have already been properly dealt with in Canada.” The Courier proceeds:–
“We are surprised, therefore, that two of the Delegates of that Convention should now, when the enterprise which they assisted to bring to birth, and which having passed through so stormy a boyhood, is about to be realized, lend themselves to distract the minds of their countrymen from a great good, which seems to be within reach, and to hunt up a new project, which is in itself too ridiculous to attempt to argue about.”
Who are “the gentlemen” alluded to in the above paragraph are, the Courier does not inform us. Had it done so, we should certainly tender them our thanks:– for certain it is, that for such fragment as that now alluded to was ever advocate at the Portland Convention. It is a project solely originating in Saint John, and the other county-and-a-half through which ir is proposed to pass the Railroad.
Again:–
“These gentlemen propose the construction of a Railway from Bangor through Fredericton to Miramichi. This, we think, is not quite original. It was, if we recollect rightly, submitted, or at least talked of, by the Honourable Chas. Fisher, at the Convention, but, of course, was laughed down.”
This paragraph would indicate something like general correctness, especially as Mr. Chubb, the senior proprietor of the Courier, was present at the Portland Convention, and must of course be supposed to be familiar with what transpired at the time. The statement is however totally incorrect; and Mr. Fisher, whose name is alluded to, authorize us to say so. He never opened his lips in the support or even mention of the line alluded to, nor in the advocacy of an other! The plan proposed is therefore, on the part of Mr. Wilkson, wholly original.
Once more:–
“Will any one seriously attempt to say that a Railway with a terminus at Miramichi, to be shut up for six months of the year by ice, is a thing possible?”
Has such a thing as a “summer Railway” ever before been heard of? Or could a Railway be kept up, with all its expensive machinery and locomotives, not to speak of the lines of steamers between Galway and Miramichi, by the possible profits from six months’ travel?”
The old, and sometimes not unapt method of answering one question by asking another, naturally suggests itself here. If the making of a terminus at Miramichi could only produce a “Summer Railway” what would be gained by a terminus at Shediac? Already the plan of running Packets for six months in the year from Galway to Quebec, and the other six months from Galway to Portland in Maine, has been mooted in Canada; could it then be possible that a terminus being fixed for one-half the year in Miramichi, and then other half in Saint John, which could easily be done by a Branch, would be looked upon by the latter unfavourably? Apart from all this, the winter business is a mere trifle, compared with that of the summer. This we can prove most satisfactory from the Courier of the 26th August, which gives the imports as follows:–
Total sterling value of imports into the port of Saint John, during the quarter ending the 5th of August, amounted to £333,587 of this amount £199,590 was the value of goods from the United Kingdom, and £98,987 from the United States. The total value of imports for the half year ending at the same date was £381,119 sterling. It will therefore be seen that for three winter months the amount of imports was £48,532, or at a mean rate of £15,177 per months, whilst for the summer months the mean rate was £100,862 or nearly 7 to 1. The contact for the new Canadian Line of Packets, states that fourteen fortnightly trips shall be made to the summer terminus of Montreal; and five monthly trips to the winter terminus of Portland. When then should prevent a similar arrangement between Miramichi and Saint John?
But we had almost forgotten that to be a funnel not a terminus, has long been a favourite project in Saint John, and that the transportation of fish – which we sincerely believe the proprietors would still bring home in their own vessels – has been regarded of more consequence than the opening and settlement of the Province!
And here we once more caution the Executive – and in the most friendly manner – from tampering with the general interests of the Province, however the people of Saint John or Westmorland may desire it. In respect to the interior or central interests of the country, the members of the government are at this moment most delicately situated. The Honourable Surveyor General is a member for Saint John, and the Honourable Provincial Secretary will doubtless shortly be a representative for the same place:– the Honourable Attorney General is the representative of Northumberland, where it is said he may, if he choose, be returned at the next election; so that of all the interests of all the interior, Colonel Hayward is the sole ostensible guardian. In this apparent defenceless state of the inland districts, as regards Executive representation, the people are naturally jealous, and any attempt to build up a few individuals at the expense of the great masses of the people, would be met the most determined opposition. On one side stands the government – of which we will retain a good opinion until forced to adopt the contrary – and they are suppose to promote the well-understood interests of the people. On the other side of we have Mr. Jackson, most anxious of course to promote his own. The Province is the field of action; and its downfall or prosperity doubtless hangs suspended upon the issue.
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Fredericton, NB, The Reporter, Page 2 – Friday, September 24, 1852 – MR. JACKSON & THE E&NAR – “Mr. Jackson’s offer, as stated by the Montreal Herald, is £8,740 per mile; or a modest advance of about 50 per cent on his capital!
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Fredericton, NB, The Reporter, Page 2 – Friday, October 1, 1852 – RAILWAYS – By an article from the Newbrunswicker which we re-published in this paper, it will be seen that the Government has agreed with Mr. Jackson, to build the Line from Shediac to Saint John, for the sum of £6,500 sterling, or £7,800 currency, per mile.
This arrangement is of course subject to the approval of the Legislature; and in the anxiety of the Executive, (most of whom are so desirous at this particular crisis) to conciliate the good people of Saint John, they will of course stake their existence as a government on its fulfilment.
It would puzzle the head of a wise man to reduce ti any thing like order the chaotic jumble of chimers now afloat in this Province in relation to Railroads. The same faction in Saint John which a few years ago brought forth a misshapen monster which they called Liberalism, and which they wanted to foist on the Province without references to its illegitimacy, have now kindly taken the management of the country into their hands, and declared in the fullness of their hearts that every thing must go to destruction unless the Oysters of Shediac, the Huckle-berries of King’s County, and the Birch-brooms of Loch Lomond are borne to the great mart of Saint John on the iron shoulders of a Railroad!
We are not at all surprised that persons who are about to engage in such a magnificent undertaking, should not have, in the general bewilderment, a thought to bestow upon some trifling circumstances which may follow. Above all, the humiliating idea is not to be contemplated that the very person who are now so engaged in their flight to the Bend, may hereafter find that it would have been a greater advantage to have a Railway terminus in their own City; and that in order to have it, they must shape their course to Canada. To be sure, it appears something odd, that persons who were so ardently in love with a Road to Canada, so long as a hope remained for obtaining money at three per cent, should all at once, on being introduced to the six per cent market, under the auspices of Mr. Jackson, bend their way for Shediac; but the great popularity of the latter project, at once stops all enquiry as respects either costs or courses – the great fifteen in Saint John, have declared for the oysters, and a fig for Canada!
Nor are we suppose for a moment, that our good friends in Saint John can be astray in their confident estimates of the general popularity of the Shediac Railway. All this and more, they know far better than we do up the country, who might be supposed under ordinary circumstances to know something of our own interests; and when a few ignorant persons who yet have an inclination to ask questions and raise doubts, declare that they have a right to be consulted either by their Representatives or at the polls, the “knowing ones” consider such impertinence too contemptible for notice. “The Government,” say they, “ is all right, the House of Assembly is all right, and the people are all right too.” This is the declaration of the penny papers, and what they say must be true, especially as they have with the most admirable research discovered in direct opposition to their former instincts, that the government is not after all, composed of such reckless, dishonest and wicked set of fellows as they were a few months ago. They are now the very men to tax the people to an unparalleled extent, aye, and the very men afterwards to expend it most judiciously. What an admirable transformation! What glorious consistency! A Railway depot at the Breakwater will more than compensate for all the past, present, and future delinquencies of a “reckless,” “selfish,” “dishonest,” and “do-nothing” Government!
Reader! in the plain sober sense, we have often spoken of the wretched policy which has prompted the faction already alluded to in Saint John, to cut themselves off from the only hope which they can ever hope of elevating their City through the medium of Railroads, to the high position for which nature intended it. We have said that the only Line which can ever give an independent terminus to Saint John, is a Line to Canada; and we have stated that while the people in Saint John were resting in their apathy, in this particular, or foolishly looking towards Shediac, the day must come when they would feel heartily sorry for their infatuation. Our last prediction is even now accomplished, nor do we feel the slightest hesitation in asserting that there is not an individual of ordinary capacity in Saint John, who does not at this moment see in the St. Andrews and Woodstock Railway, the most withering, yet applicable rebuke which can proceed even from such a powerful monitor.
With respect to Shediac, we have often spoken of it in such a way as might possibly indicate an opinion of its insignificance; but if ever we have been understood in this way, we beg leave to correct the error. We believe there is not a spot in the British Colonies where such a short line would be productive of such beneficial consequences as those which would arise from the construction of a Railroad from Shediac to the Bend. Such a line, by uniting the Bay Chaleur with the Bay of Fundy, and thus connecting the great commercial, but distant stations of Quebec and Saint John, would be second only in importance to a Railway to Canada by the valley of the St. John; while the cost would be entirely within the means of the Province. In the advantages which would thus arise either for the furtherance of Trade with Canada, or the more speedy transmission of the produce of the Northern fisheries, a great part of Nova Scotia – that contiguous to the Bay of Fundy – would also largely participate; while Saint John, which has always been the principal mart for the trade on either side of the Bay, would feel an increased impetus from the new and vast opening thus afforded. With a Railway uniting the great commercial stations on the River St. John with Canada, and another crossing from shore to shore over the Isthmus at the Bend, New Brunswick would soon become one of the finest countries in the world – the great connecting link in the chain of British America; but failing in this, the only hope of the Province is in the line proposed by Mr. Wilkinson.
We are not insensible to the fact that on this question; as a member of the Press, we stand in a small, but we trust respectable minority in this Province; but were we to assume feelings which we do not entertain, or fail to express those sentiments in the belief of which we are thoroughly conscientious, we should be unworthy of the support which we receive from the public, nor should we be able to preserve that self-respect which we are at all hazards determined to preserve inviolable.
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Fredericton, NB, The Reporter, Page 2 – Friday, October 1, 1852 – NOTICE – It will be seen by the official notice that a special session of the Legislature will be called for the 21st October. The object of course is to get the necessary legislative authority for the construction of the Railway.
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Fredericton, NB, The Reporter, Page 2 – Friday, October 1, 1852 – {From the New Brunswicker} – We have this morning the most sincere and heartfelt satisfaction in announcing that the railway negotiations, which have during the last week been pending between Mr. Jackson, MP and the Executive of the Province, were last evening brought to a happy termination. The substance of the agreement entered into, we are enabled to state, is as follow:–
The European and North American company abandons all claim to the ungranted lands heretofore secured to them under the Land Facility Act of 1851, which Act is to be repealed.
Mr. Jackson is to receive from the company for building the road from Shediac to Saint John, £9,500 sterling per mile, of which the Province risks £4,200 sterling per mile, by subscription for stock, amounting to £250,000 in the whole, being the sum provided for by the Money Facility Act of 1851; and loans to the company the sum £1,800 sterling per mile in addition, such loan bearing 6 per cent interest in favour of the Province, secured by a first mortgage on the whole road, rolling stock, station, &c., and to be advanced under proper restrictions as the work progresses.
The contract embraces the entire road from Shediac and the Nova Scotia boundary, via Saint John, to the State of Maine – the rate per mile of the portion from Saint John to the State of Maine being left open to future determination, the positive route not having been yet surveyed or located.
The road, rolling stock, bridges, stations, and other equipment to be of the very first description, such as an English road, and of the character termed “a permanent road,” and capable of being travelled over at the greatest speed.
The agreement as made between Mr. Chandler and Mr, Jackson in England to be adhered to in all other respects, and to be extended to, and embrace branches to Miramichi and Fredericton; the whole agreement to be subject to the approval of the Legislature. Such alterations to be made in the Act of Incorporation of the European and North American Railway Company as will carry out the above arrangements and protect the interests of the Province.
We are happy to learn that Nova Scotia respond to these views, and it will depend upon the Legislature of New Brunswick at an early day to settle the question, and determine whether the great achievement, that these Provinces have so long desired, of bringing into closer union the whole of the vast Continent of America with the Mother Country and Europe, uniting the millions of the one with the millions of the other, developing the resources of the Colonies, binding them with stronger ties to each other and their parent land, and perfecting that system of rapid communication which has been so long dwelt upon, shall now be happily and definitively realized.
Canada has put forth her strength, and her railways will extend from Detroit to Riviere du Loup. New Brunswick will connect the United States, and perfect her railway lines to the shores of the St. Lawrence and the Miramichi, leaving only a small portion of the Great Trunk to be completed, to which the Imperial Government will no longer refuse it aid. And we are authorised to state that Nova Scotia has pledged herself, that no effort on her part shall be wanting to complete, simultaneously, her portion of the great work, so essentially necessary to the success of the whole undertaking.
We have reason to believe that the Lieutenant Governor and Council have given the most careful and anxious consideration to the details of the agreement for this Railway, which have been settled with much care and deliberation. The terms finally agreed upon are very considerably less, and much more favourable to the Province, than those at first contemplated; and we trust, when published in full, they will be found acceptable to the people of this Province, and meet with the decided approbation of the Legislature.
It is not at all unlikely that a Special Session of the Legislature will be summoned to ratify the Contract when completed; and it is quite probable this meeting will not take place much later than the 20th of October.
The late hour at which the final agreement was made last evening, prevents our saying more this morning; but we sincerely congratulate our friends and the public on the bright prospect now opening before us, and the prosperous days that will hereafter dawn upon New Brunswick. Henceforward our march is – Onward!!
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Grand Falls, The Cataract Weekly – October 2, 1852 – The water in the St. John River is now very low. Some steamers cannot even run to Fredericton, though last week the J. D. Pierce with 180 passengers arrived at Woodstock and went on to Grand Falls.
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Fredericton, NB, The Reporter, Page 2 – Friday, October 22, 1852 – THE RAILROAD – The question is again and again propounded “What effect will the making of the European and North American Railroad have upon the future Trade and Commerce of Fredericton? To this enquiry we wish it were in our power, to give a satisfactory answer. We have examined the probable results in all their bearings – we have tried to anticipate that sort of reflected prosperity which must in part be shared by the extremities wherever the great organ is in good order:– and we have ever endeavoured to cheer ourselves with the possible benefits which might be conferred on us by the erection of a Branch Line, but the truth to say, we can view the question in no light to warrant us in arriving at a favourable conclusion.
If the anticipated Line were to give us that great inter-colonial intercourse to which we have hitherto been strangers – if it were to establish some source of Trade, which we do not at this moment enjoy – or in passing through the country if it were to open up new and valuable and extensive tracts of land for settlement, in either of these cases we should feel disposed to cast aside every particle of local feeling and offer ourselves up a victim at the shrine of public interest or general policy; but we are not do sanguine on this subject as to suppose that the line now in contemplation will accomplish either one or the other of the objects which we have enumerated, much less to work the extraordinary miracle which the people of Saint John anticipate on behalf of the whole Province.
We know that this opinion we differ widely from many persons whose strong judgement and honesty of principle deserve the highest consideration. With several such we have lately conversed, and we are free to acknowledge that while we could not heartily agree with their plan as regards the route, they yet removed by a course of quiet reasoning, some of the worse fears we entertained in relation to the extent of its damaging effects upon the Province. On the other hand we find our sentimental and very language quoted generally by the Provincial Press, out of Saint John; and in all candour we ask ourselves, and we ask our readers, is it not really a subject which has two sides? And instead of carrying their point by acclamation, and putting down their opponents with unfair innuendos on one side, and gross and vulgar abuse on the other, should not the press of Saint John take up the point in its statistical bearings, and show, or at least endeavour to show by argument, the real advantages which would result to this Province through the running of Rail Cars from Halifax to Calais?
It is not enough for us to be even fully convinced that the proposed Railway will not destroy the Province, in consequence of the greater part of the stock being easily disposed of in England. The avowed object of Mr. Jackson and his coadjutors is to make money out of the Provinces, and on this view of the question all will allow that where the provincial funds are so largely expended, they should be applied to that object best calculates to give a sure and immediate return. Here then lies our great objection. We do not believe that the line proposed will either increase our Trade, concentrate our Colonial interests, or settle our wilderness lands. It may create a greater range of travelling between Halifax and the United States – although we believe it would ever have a powerful rivalry in the line of ocean steamers. Thousands may be driven along annually between the two points which we have mentioned; and should they consent to be out-run by the steamers, they may even stop a night in Saint John, but we question much whether for every thousand thus preferring the cars to the steamers, the Revenues of this Province would receive an accession of five pounds currency – certainly not enough to compensate the City of Saint John for the terminus which it would have insured in connection with a line to Canada.
We started with the question so often asked, what would be the effect of the Bay Shore Line on the interests of Fredericton? Let us now say a few words in reference to the only phase of the question which would warrant a moment’s hesitation in giving an unfavourable answer – we allude to the Branch line which has been spoken of, and which some here denounce as clap-trap, but which we believe from the character of all concerned, to be conceived in perfect sincerity. Of such Branch Line, viewing it with all its accompanying circumstances, we are compelled in all candour to have an indifferent opinion. In the first place, the hundred and two miles spoken of, from the Trunk to Miramichi, in one direction, and to Fredericton in another, would lay a heavy additional burden upon the Province; and one which could never be removed, provided those respective lines were to stop at respective places referred to. What in the name of common sense would be the trade of Fredericton with a line below cutting off the produce of the adjoining counties in that direction, and another above, depriving it of all the benefit which it has hitherto enjoyed, and faithfully transferred to Saint John, from the upper districts on the river? The idea is too preposterous to entertain for a moment. The only Railway which can ever afford an advantage here, is one from Saint John to Woodstock, taking Fredericton on its way. A part from within half-a-dozen miles of this city, would, from our peculiar circumstances, only prove a serious injury. Let the people of Saint John only imagines a Railroad passing from Hampton to Poverty Hall, thence to Kingston, and thence onward to Canada on the eastside of the River, and even then their isolated condition would be a thousand times preferable to that of Fredericton, with a Branch ending at the Province Building! It were perfect mockery to talk of constructing a line from Saint John, merely to end at Fredericton; unless it were indeed, to convey our useless furniture and vacant houses, with all our vested rights to be sold at public auction for the benefit of some new station on the way to Calais. All, and more than all the advantages of a Branch under such circumstances, we may enjoy already through the river. Let then, our position be fairly understood at the approaching meeting of the Legislature; and speaking commercially, as Saint John has ever received into its lap all that we have produced, let the powerful Executive as well as Legislative influence of that city be so exerted as to do us that justice which we have a right to demand at their hands, and which they have an interest in conceding.
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Fredericton, NB, The Reporter, Page 2 – Friday, October 29, 1852 – HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY – After some ordinary business had been transacted on Monday, the House went in Committee on the important business of the session. This consisted of two Bills, the first being designed to repeal the old Incorporation Bill of the European and North American Company, and to make other provisions in lieu thereof, and the other, the main Bill, which regulates the courses and adjusts the more important preliminaries.
At one o’clock the Honourable Attorney-General rose to explain the policy of the Government, and in a very able and ingenious speech, which lasted about an hour and a-half, succeeded in making a powerful impression on his audience, although, as the result will show, he had not much difficulty to contend with. He said that for several years past, the country had been deeply agitated on the subject of Railroads, the result of which had been that several Bills had been passed, to facilitate the erection of Railroads in different parts of the Province. He when went on to show that notwithstanding the facilities thus given, nothing had yet been done in this way, with the exception of the work performed on the line from St. Andrews to Woodstock. Last year the House had legislated in the hope that the British Government would advance capital for the construction of a great line which would connect the whole of these Provinces; but it was legislating on a problem, as there had been no direct pledge given on the subject, and the Home Government afterwards declined to carry it out, on the ground that the line proposed was not adapted for military purposes. All this was now matter of history, but the result of the refusal was, that the Honourable Mr. Chandler, then in England, thought it necessary for the welfare of the Province, to apply on the subject to private capitalists, with whom he had made the contact which now would be submitted for their approval. This agreement, it would be seen, had been made by him with individuals of the highest character and standing; and involved, beside the Main Trunk Line of the European and North American Railway, several branches connected there with. One of these would connect the important interests of the North and South; and in addition to the Gulf Fishery Trade, would give Saint John a vast agricultural trade, which would be useful to all concerned. On the return of the Honourable Mr. Chandler, this agreement was submitted to, and discussed by the Executive; and it was by them debated whether they should at once assume the responsibility of carrying it into effect, or call the Legislature at an early period, and submit it to the decision of the representative of the people. The latter plan was however approved of, and fortunately for the undertaking, Mr. Jackson himself, having crossed the Atlantic for the purpose, had an opportunity of seeing the vast capabilities of the Province, which determined him at once to proceed with the contract, provided it were, as stipulated, sanctioned by the Legislature.
The line already explored – that from the Nova Scotia Line to Saint John – was the first which Mr. Jackson proposed to build; after which he was bound to proceed to Miramichi, the rate of the latter construction being based upon that of the Trunk line.
This, so far as the Government is concerned, was the state of the question at the present time; but in order to proceed with it, it became necessary to make certain alterations in the old Facility Bills, in order ti render them effective for present purposes. In the Bill of last year, it was impossible to know how far the Province would be involved; but in the present Bill the whole amount was anticipated, and accordingly prepared for.
In the first place the Province was to take stock to the value of £250,000 on Provincial debentures; and supposing the whole line completed from the Nova Scotia Line to Saint John, and also the Branches to Miramichi and Fredericton, the whole risk of the Provincial debentures and loan, would be only £3,000 per mile; and so far as the loan was concerned, the Province has an admirable security on the stock and property of the Railroad.
Here the Honourable Attorney-General enlarged upon the general advantages of Railroads in the United States, as well known both their and in the Provinces; – he spoke of the local benefits which Saint John would enjoy in the new communication with the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Halifax, and the Unites States; and also of the advantage of having a line to Fredericton, (as he supposed) by the Douglas valley. He likewise read statistical memorandums showing that the Railway lines in the United States cost upon an average from £7,000 to £12,000 per mile; and contrasted that sum, in conjunction with their denser population, with our population and the sum agreed upon with Mr. Jackson.
The whole train of argument thus briefly described, he concluded with a general statement, showing the vast benefits derived by all branches of trade, commerce and industry, from Railways in the United States, and the great probability that the same results would follow their introduction in New Brunswick.
It is necessary to relate the observations which followed, as made by several honourable members, who seemed to differ only in trifling matters of detail. At five o’clock in the evening the first Bill was passed, leaving the other for discussion on the following date (Tuesday.)
On Monday, however, while the debate was in progress, it appears the members from the North, and several others from the interior of the Province, apprehending that their particular interests were not specially insured, either by the wording of the agreement with Mr. Jackson, or in the Bills, held what is called a caucus, and came to the conclusion to require the more particular adoption of their respective lines by the Government. These alterations in the letter, if not the spirit of the Bills, accordingly became the subjects of several discussions during the course of Tuesday.
About ten o’clock on the above day the honourable Attorney-General introduced his second Bill, without any circumlocution; stating as he did so that the subject had already had a thorough discussion, and therefore was well understood in all its bearings. The reason, he said, why the simultaneous construction of the lines had not been made imperative, that it would quite overburden the contractor, to have so many in progress at the same time.
Mr. Hatheway enquired how that would accord with the 6th section of the Bill. The people of York required, and justly so, that their line should be particularized with that to Miramichi.
Honourable Attorney-General said that if the line to Fredericton had not been duly particularised, the omission was solely the result of a mistake in drawing the agreement; but the Bills contained all that was required, and the contractor would be bound to them as they passed the Legislature.
Honourable Mr. Grey stated that the language of the Bills was as plain and unequivocal on this subject, as the English language could make it.
Mr. Needham observed that there was not a single word in the agreement to render it imperative on Mr. Jackson or any one else to make a single inch of a line to Fredericton. This he would maintain on his reputation as a man of sense and a Lawyer. But while the agreement was totally silent on the subject, it was nevertheless fully comprehended in the Bill, and by that Bill Mr. Jackson would have to abide, or else forfeit his contract. The same might be said of the line from Shediac to Miramichi, as the line from the former point to the Bend was the sole one directly specified.
Mr. Johnson affirmed that the House had no dealings with Mr. Jackson; the only party they had to deal with was the Company. In a point of stock there was no provision made for any line but that to the Nova Scotia frontier, and Mr. Jackson was not obliged to build any line but that which was thus provided for. But while there could be no doubt that Mr. Jackson was free to decline making a road to the American frontier, it was equally certain that after the people of Saint John had got a road to their own City, self-interest would compel them to continue it to the westward, and hence the Branch line to Fredericton was certain, as a necessary consequence. He wondered why any one who had voted for the old facility Bill would oppose this, as in addition to the Trunk line there contemplate, this gives the Branches.
Honourable Mr. Hayward assured the honourable member for York (Mr. Hatheway) that the intention of the Government, had been to make the Branch to Fredericton; otherwise, he as one, would never have consented to the general arrangement.
Mr. Taylor would support the Bill from his perfect conviction that the Government intended to construct a line to Fredericton. It was perfectly absurd to imagine that they would push on a line to the American frontier, and not provide for a branch to Fredericton.
Mr. Hatheway would not impugn the motives of the Government, but in opposing this bill he had the will and interests of his constituents to attend to. It was beyond the limits of the case to compare the old facility Bill with the present one. Every one knew that the amount laid down for the construction of that Road was £4 or £5,000 per mile, which this, with its adjuncts, would amount to double that sum. With respect to the sincerity of the Government, as he had already observed he would say nothing: but he felt bound to ask the question, where would the members from the North, and those from York be now, if they had depended on this agreement and the Bills, and not held the caucus meeting of yesterday? Had he wished to bring the strongest possible arguments against the present arrangement, he could not, not desire better than those last year furnished by the Honourable Mr. Chandler the great Earl Derby of New Brunswick, and now the prime mover of what he then condemned. Even the President of the Company had assured him (Mr. Hatheway) that the different roads would not be commenced simultaneously, and even were the line built to Calais, it would at this moment hold their seats on the avowed condition that they would do their utmost to remove the Seat of Government, would sustain the construction of a Branch to Fredericton. Then apart from the high rate at which we are to pay Mr. Jackson, we also give him our lands – “No” by a member “It is the Company who furnish the lands.” The Company? He would like to know where is the Company, and whether there is such a tangible and responsible thing in existence. What he knew was, that the Government had it in contemplation to build 357 miles of Railway at a cost to the country of £60,000 annually, and this he thought far beyond the means of the Province.
Honourable Attorney-General denied that the Government had been coerced by the caucus alluded to, for previous to the holding of that meeting they had reconstructed the Bills, and included the Branches. The measure now in progress had been introduced in perfect good faith by the Government, and with special reference to the benefit of the whole Province.
Mr. Hatheway would ask what guarantee the Province had for a single mile, except for the portion from Shediac to the Bend.
Honourable Attorney-General explained. The reason why Mr. Jackson’s name did not appear as contractor for the whole, was, in order to give others an opportunity of taking up a contract, if declined by Mr. Jackson.
Mr. English spoke at considerable length, but we are unable to give any thing beyond a synopsis. He said he rose with much diffidence, having been absent during the discussion of the question yesterday, and hoped that no observations of his should be taken as personally offensive, as he had a duty to discharge to his constituents which would render plain speaking necessary. He was sorry to find himself compelled to differ from what he saw would be a large majority, but he believed the people were at present Railway mad. They had escaped the measure which they would have last year inflicted on the Province, not by their own wisdom, but by the action of the Home Government in refusing them the money; and here he must say that he never believed the Queen’s Ministers sincere in the wish to furnish that money, he always thought they were only gassing us in a quiet way, in order to get rid of our demands. The whole revenue of this Province might be estimated at £100,000, and the expenditure now anticipated on this single branch of outlay amounted just to £180 interest, for the use of every mile made, besides the working expenses. This outlay might be sanctioned by such large places as Saint John and Fredericton, but would never be sustained by the Farmers throughout the Province, who could expect no equal remuneration for the expenditure. For argument sake he would suppose that the working expenses would be paid by travellers; but still the enormous amount of £180 per mile for the whole route must be paid by taxing the people. Mr. Jackson had made a good bargain with the Province, and the more so as he could obtain money at home for 2½ or three per cent, which would pay him 6 per cent here, while dealing with a company of straw – one in fact which was not in existence. The demand of the York members was a foolish one, for a branch to Fredericton would rather injure than promote its prosperity. This observation he founded on his knowledge of American roads, where the termini were invariably built up, and the adjacent small towns ruined by absorbing their trade in the greater. Already the Province stood pledges for a large amount to the St. Andrews Railroad, and he felt convinced in the event of the present plan succeeding, that the common schools and common roads of the Province, must be left without a farthing to support them.
He thought the clamberers for this road, who had last year advocated an addition to the Lunatic Asylum, should go themselves and get cured of their folly; as he found that, beyond the more expenditure of the money, there was little desire for Railroads in the Province. This he had gathered from significant remarks and hints while lately in Saint John; the inhabitants of which must be perfectly satisfied with the cheapness of their communication with the United States; as they could now get the freight of a barrel of flour from Boston at the low sum of 7½ d. He had no doubt that the whole plan in Saint John centred in the line to Shediac, for they could expect nothing from travellers, so long as they did not give themselves a terminus. He had himself often travelled by Railway, through towns in the United States without leaving 3 d., behind him, or having time to take more than a single cup of coffee. He was not an enemy of Railroads, if made with due regard to the wants of the country, and to prove that he was not, he would be willing to give £1,200 per mile from the Province Funds, wherever the people were willing to supply the reminder from their own.
Mr. Botsford made some severe strictures on the speech of Mr. English, which led to several explanations; among the rest, to a statement from Mr. Hatheway to the effect that the Honourable Mr. Grey confessed he was unable to give at the present moment, the names of the parties comprising the present Railway Company. Mr. Botsford proceeded to state that the Company deserved the greatest commendation for the manner in which they had overcome difficulties under which ordinary men would have yielded, It was not fair, he said, to estimate our present low Revenue as likely to continue after the Province should commence participating in the vast benefits of Railroads; for instead of £100,000 annually, we might expect to have a revenue of three, four, or five times that amount. The object of the great undertaking was not merely to connect two parishes, two Counties, or even two Provinces; the design was much more comprehensive, as it contemplated nothing less than the connection of the old and new Worlds in one common pathway. The facility Bill of last year pledged the Province to a much heavier amount than the present one, and without being so comprehensive: for there was no doubt that under the present arrangement both Fredericton and the North would from their own importance command Branches which the former place would not have afforded. With regard to the injurious tendency imputed by the honourable member from Carleton to Branch Railroads, it was not for a moment to be apprehended; he would as soon believe that the River St. John would injure the broad district through which it flows, as he could that the country would be injured by the construction of Railroads.
Honourable Mr. Hanington spoke briefly. He explained his satisfaction at the proposed plan and he believed such was the desire of the people in its favour, that the Government would have carried it out without the assistance of the two sections of the country alluded to. With respect to the line to Fredericton, it would entail little expense, for instead of the 60 miles alluded to, 16 would in all probability be the whole length of it; as the River flows from Fredericton to Saint John, he did not consider that line of much consequence. On the other hand, the line to Miramichi would be a most important one; as in addition to the advantage of intersecting the whole northern portion of the Province, it would in all probability be continued till its junction with the Line now decided in by the Canadians to Riviere du Loup. The honourable member from Carleton had stated that a Railway would lower the value of property in the vicinity of towns; but if so, if could only do it by increasing that of the distant parts, which would be more than an equivalent. The ultimate failure of the whole plan had been predicted by its opponents. It was said that it would be abandoned by Mr. Jackson, but even if it were, others would be found to carry it on; and the Province would be sure under such circumstances, to own the whole line at the rate of £3,500 per mile. He felt little fear however, that the work would be abandoned by Mr. Jackson; as that gentleman had manifested the greatest good will to the province by laying out his capital here, while he might have disposed of it, at a more remunerative rate on the continent.
Mr. Albert Smith observed that the subject of Railroads – considering the discussion of last year, and the present – must be pretty well exhausted. He had been in the lobby of the House last year when the subject was debated, and he had on his return told the people of Westmorland that he would give no countenance to the scheme of a Railway to Quebec, because it would never prove productive. It was therefore fortunate that the Canadian route had turned out a failure. He professed to be a loyal subject, but if, as stated by an honourable member (Mr. English) annexation must be the inevitable consequence of a railway through this Province to the American frontier, then much as he loved the institutions of his native country, he would nevertheless say “by all means let us have it.” That man who took such means as most to advance the interests of his country, he regarded as the best subject. The line to the United States should therefore receive his warmest support, for it was designed to accomplish no less an achievement than the union of two worlds, and the advancement of commerce and travelling communication throughout the whole. An honourable member (Mr. Hatheway) had given it as his opinion that this measure would produce general bankruptcy throughout the Province; but at the same time he was willing to entail this great evil on the country, provided the line were run upward to Canada; a scheme which he (Mr. Smith) thought would prove utterly useless and unproductive.
Mr. Hatheway would make an observation in answer to the remark that Fredericton had a river which was sufficient for its commercial purposes. The County of Westmorland had a good harbour and an excellent water-communication with Saint John, but yet the people of Westmorland had never invested a farthing in Railway Stock or Steamers. (To be concluded next week).
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Fredericton, NB, The Reporter, Page 2 – Friday, October 29, 1852 – The great Railway Session is ended, and the great Railroad question is decided in the affirmative by a vote of the whole to 7 in the House, and the whole to 2 in the Council.
Whether this important measure shall result in good or in evil, time alone will determine. We have felt it a duty, and a most unpleasant one too, to give it our opposition, not that we are averse to the principle of making Railroads, even in this new country, but because we believed the people of Saint John in designing the construction of a Railroad to the American frontier instead of making it in the direction of Canada, had completely and irrecoverably lost their way both in reference to themselves, the Province, and the whole of these British Colonies; but the die is now cast, and as it is not our wont to prolong an opposition for its own sake, we shall in future endeavour to direct into a quiet acquiescence, rather than agitate the public opinion.
During the course of the debate in the House of Assembly, it pleased us much to find that few allusions were made to the subject of Loyalty. It was right that silence should be maintained on such a tender and delicate subject. Messrs. Johnson and Smith were we believe the only persons who thought it necessary to allude to their Loyalty; but the latter took special care to inform his audience that he did not value his loyalty so high as to put it in comparison with a Railway to the United States.
It is our firm conviction that so far as the Government and likewise the Company are concerned they mean to carry on the work which is now entailed upon us, with perfect good faith to the Province. With Mr. English in one of his speeches we may safely say that which we have often said already, namely that we have more faith in the government than we have in the opposition; nor is our good opinion of the opposition one whit increased by the knowledge that they have taken “one jump more” to join hands with the Government which they affected not long since to abhor and despise for their dishonesty. In the present instance we suppose the Government, whatever might be the secret opinion of its particular members, thought it necessary to yield to the wishes of the people; and the people at present issued their mandates solely from Saint John. In giving his support to the Bill, Mr. Johnson of Miramichi said boldly enough that his hostility to the Government was nor one whit abated, but he had supported this measure solely because it was a good one. It were just as well if he had pursued the same course on former occasions, when his opposition was well known to be so factious that he opposed everything. Mr. Johnson is a clever man, and would not make a bad Attorney or Solicitor General; but we opine that his prospect for either office is now more remote than ever, and that his future opposition will only go for its current value in New Brunswick – the mere scramble for an office which his own action has rendered unattainable.
One reflection more forces itself upon us in connection with this subject. The Honourable Mr. Chandler had all manner of evil and absurdity imputed to him for his apathy in England, in contrast with the efficiency of Mr. Hincks, while in reality he was effecting the very arrangement which now so well suits the persons who then abused him; but Mr. Hincks who was then lauded to the skies, has, at the present moment an overpowering amount of censure to contend with, and that from the party by whom he was then almost deified!
The Debate in the Council will appear in our next.
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Fredericton, NB, The Reporter, Page 2 – Friday, November 5, 1852 – RAILWAY FROM HALIFAX TO WINDSOR – {New Brunswicker} – We have been favoured with information (received by telegraph) that a provisional contract, subject to the approval of the Legislature, has been entered into between the Government of Nova Scotia and Messrs. Sykes & Company, of England, (the contractor for the St. Andrews and Woodstock Railway) for the construction of a Railway from Halifax to Windsor, at £4,500 sterling per mile. We have not learned the character of the road or rolling stock, upon which the price of the Railway altogether depends; but it is stated to be part of the contract, that Messrs. Sykes & Company, are to have a lease of the road for nine years after its construction; the first three years at a rental of 2 per cent on its cost – the second three years at 4 per cent – and the last three years at 6 per cent. The road is to be built as a Government work, and paid for in Provincial debentures, bearing interest at 6 per cent.
It is very likely the contract for this Railway has been taken at a low rate, in consideration of the subsequent lease for a long term, at a small per centage on its cost.
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Fredericton, NB, The Reporter, Page 2 – Friday, November 12, 1852 – WOODSTOCK – Our Woodstock contemporary expresses his regret that we have ceased to agitate the subject of the Railway. We beg leave to remind him that long before the Legislature of this Province ever entertained the idea of a Railroad, we were the steady and constant advocate of the only line which we deemed fitting for the promotion of the great commercial and political interests of the whole of the North American Provinces, Viz: from Saint John to Canada, by the Valley of the St. John river. In this object we have been singly defeated, not by the press of the country, – not one of whose conductors dared to take up the subject and discuss it with us on its merits – but by the assembled Executive and Legislative power and wisdom of the Province. Under such circumstances we consider our further interference useless; although as the Sentinel will perceive, by this day’s issue, we do not mean to restrain our correspondents.
Next to Fredericton, Saint John is the spot of this whole world where we have the greatest number of sincere and esteemed friends; and gladly would we, if within our power have carried a measure which would have given that noble City an independent Terminus, and the Province an Inter-colonial Railway; but even the people of Saint John, or at least the great majority there, judged of the matter in a different light from ours, and as we stated once before, for good or evil they have succeeded. Old Father Time will hereafter furnish all the developments.
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Fredericton, NB, The Reporter, Page 2 – Friday, November 12, 1852 – CANADIAN BOUNDARY – {Newbrunswicker} – An official notice appears in the last Royal Gazette, announcing that Major Robinson, RE; Joseph Bouchette, Esquire, of Canada, and Honourable Amos Edwin Botsford of this Province, have ben appointed Commissioners by Her Majesty’s Government, for running and marking the boundary line between this Province and Canada, under the authority of an Act of Parliament in that behalf.
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Fredericton, NB, The Reporter, Page 2 – Friday, November 12, 1852 – THE PROVINCIAL SECRETARY OFF TO ENGLAND – The City was taken quite by surprise on Friday morning, in consequence of an announcement in the British North American, that Mr. Howe had left during the previous night by the America, for Great Britain. A rumour has been current for a few days past, that the Messrs. Sykes & Company, Engineers now engaged upon a survey of the first section of a Trunk Line of Railroad from this City to New Brunswick, and who have lately finished a survey of a line from Windsor to Victoria Beach – have made some very favourable offers for contracting all the Nova Scotian Railways. We have it on reliable authority, that on the day previous to that of the departure of Mr. Howe, he sent for the Honourable J. W. Johnston, and submitted Messrs. Sykes & Company’s offers for his consideration.
The Messrs. Sykes & Company proposed to construct a Trunk Line of Railroad, hence to Amherst, with a branch to Pictou – a line to Windsor, with a double track, hence to the Junction – and from Windsor to Annapolis, in all 325 miles – for £1,300,000, or at a rate of £4,000 sterling per mile – this to include rolling stock, depots, stations and every outlay, all in complete working order – the land for the site only excepted – the whole to be finished equal to English Railroads, and to be subject to, and pass inspection by, the Government Inspector of British Railroads. They offer for this, to accept Provincial Bonds at 6 per cent, redeemable in 20 years, in payment; or they will take one third of the entire stock themselves, and they will lease the Road, if is preferred for 9 years, guaranteeing 3½ per cent of the capital.
Such is the outline of the proposition communicated, as we are assured, and we cannot but express our utter astonishment at the monstrous discrepancy between the estimates of Messrs. Sykes & Company, and those of Mr. Jackson. The latter, for the same style of Road as the Messrs. Sykes propose to construct, require at the rate of
£6,500 sterling per mile.
The Messrs. Sykes & Company but
£4,000 sterling per mile.
Making a difference of
the sum of £2,500 sterling per mile.
Equal to – add ¼ £525 sterling per mile.
£3,125 currency per mile.
on every mile. Either the Messrs. Sykes are counting without their host, or Mr. Jackson has concluded contracts in New Brunswick and Canada which will net for himself a clear million and a half of money. As regards the Messrs. Sykes & Company, we understand they profess to be practical Engineers, make their own surveys and working plans, furnishing testimonials from Earl Fitzwilliam, the Earl of Lincoln, and other noblemen and Capitalists of undoubted credit and standing abroad.
We feel much encouraged, that something tangible and practical will now be speedily realized from these propositions. Our neighbours of New Brunswick and Canada, will hear of Messrs. Sykes & Company’s offers with deep surprise, we doubt not, and it is not unlikely, will receive the news with much incredulity. We are disposed to believe, nay, we have not the slightest doubt, the offers are made; of the capacity of the parties to fulfil them, we, of course know nothing.
From the nature of the interview sought and obtained by Mr. Howe of J. W. Johnston, it is supposed that the former has gone to England on this subject. We think it highly probable. On the other hand some knowing folk suppose that his mission has to do with the seizure and detention of the American Fisherman at Port Hood. This we entirely discredit, because the Admiral on the station, will report the facts direct to the Government himself. It is a curious coincidence but Mr. Jackson also went home by the America. – Recorder of Saturday.
We are credibly informed that the information above given in the Recorder is substantially correct. In fact the Chronicle, Mr. Howe’s own “Organ” admits as much yesterday. His mission is for the purpose of seeing whether Sykes & Company, are men of straw – believing that the offer they have made is the most eligible for Nova Scotia, and that if they be responsible parties, their offer should be accepted. – British North American.
“The Halifax Sun” says the New Brunswicker, “corroborates the accuracy of the article published in the Recorder, (which we noticed in our last), relative to the nature of the terms upon which Messrs. Sykes & Company, propose to construct the contemplated trunk line of Railway through Nova Scotia, and adds:–
“The gentlemen engaged in surveying the line hence towards Pictou, we are informed, report most favourable; so far as the survey has proceeded, the track will run at no considerable distance from the line of the main road. We shall prove to be not very far astray whilst assuring the Country that a bargain will be struck between the Colonial Executive and the firm above referred to, upon terms clearly most advantageous to the Province; and that the great work projected is, at last, in a fair train to a speedy commencement.
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Fredericton, NB, The Reporter, Page 2 – Friday, November 26, 1852 – CANADIAN PARLIAMENT – The Canadian Parliament has passed a series of Resolutions to ask the English Government for aid to build a Railroad from Trois Pistoles in the direction of Miramichi. We are much mistaken if the abandonment of the River St. John line, which was less than a year ago pronounced by the Honourable Mr. Hinks to be the only one which the people of Canada would consent, has not resulted from a series of political movements, for which their authors will at no very distant day suffer the just displeasure of every British Colonist on this side of the Atlantic.
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Fredericton, NB, The Reporter, Page 2 – Friday, November 26, 1852 – NOVA SCOTIA RAILWAY – Contemporary Opinions – The report that Messrs. Sykes & Company, had made an offer to construct the Nova Scotia Railway at £4,000 Sterling, per mile, appears to have electrified some of our New Brunswick contemporises. “It cannot be true,” says the Saint John Freeman; “we do not believe that Messrs. Sykes & company have either made such a proposal, or that if they did make it, they would be able to carry it out.”
The Editor of the Freeman may believe as much or as little as suits his taste, but we happen to know that the ‘proposal’ was ‘made’ and we have not the shadow of a doubt that Sykes & Company, who offer to take one-third of the risk themselves, are able to execute any Railways they undertake.
£4,000 Sterling for a mile of Railway seems a low figure to our friends over the Bay, who have just held a special Session of the Legislature, for the purpose of giving Mr. Jackson £6,500 for the same service, but to us in Nova Scotia, who look before we leap, and are rather better posted up in the cost of Railways than our neighbours, the charge seems fair and reasonable. We believe that our Railways – if all undertaken by the same Company, under one contract, will afford a handsome return for the capital and skill employed in their construction.
But the idea of getting our Railways built for £4,000 Sterling, or 5,000 cy, is not a new one on this side of the border. All through the Railway Debate, in our Assembly, last winter, the chief speakers on the Ministerial side, argued that our Railways would not average more than £5,000 cy. per mile. And we were fortified in that view by contemporary opinions from the sister Province, for it we mistake not, Honourable Mr. Gray, in the Assembly, and Honourable Mr. Chandler, in the Legislative Council – members of the New Brunswick Executive, both urged that the North American and European, and St. John valley Railroads could be built for £5,000 cy. per mile, and the line between St. Andrews and Woodstock, then in course of construction by Sykes & Company, was given in evidence that the Intercolonial Railway might be built for even a less sum.
The Freeman thinks that there must be some important omission, and that the charges for ‘extra’ work will add largely to Messrs. Sykes & Company’s proposition. Here again, our contemporary is in error. Messrs. Sykes & Company, offer to furnish a first class Railway, with all the usual appurtenances, subject to the inspection of the Chief Commissioner of Railways in England, and all they ask the Government to give is the ‘right-of-way.’ But will there be nothing ‘extra’ in New Brunswick? Is £6,500 Sterling per mile, all that our neighbour will be called upon to pay? Wait a wee. £6,500 per mile, is the charge – if iron rails can be purchased in England at six pounds ten shillings Sterling, per ton, but if an increase of price should take place the amount will be added to the Contract price. We quote the exact language of the Agreement, which we copy from a late number of the Miramichi Gleaner:–
“And it is understood and agreed that the agreement and Contract is based on the supposition and assumption that Iron Rails can be purchased in England, free on board, at six pounds ten shillings per ton. And it is hereby agreed that should this not be the case, an increase upon the amount will be added to the Contract price, and any decrease will be deducted therefrom, and with respect to chains and pins a relative deduction or advance shall be made.”
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Fredericton, NB, The Reporter, Page 2 – Friday, November 26, 1852 – ALBERT MINING COMPANY – New Brunswicker – The Act incorporating this Company has received the Royal assent, and is published at length in the last Gazette. The names of the parties incorporated are Edward Allison, Jonathan C. Allison, David Allison, William Cairns, John Cairns, Alexander Wright, Nathaniel Gould and James Dowie, their associates and successors. The capital of the Company is fixed at £20,000, and their right to enter upon private property is limited to a tract of wilderness land of one mile square, described in a mining lease to Peter Duffy and John Duffy.
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Woodstock, Carleton Sentinel, Page 171 – December 4, 1852 – MAIL ARRANGEMENTS – The new Mail arrangements, if we understand them, are certainly novel in their character, but no doubt the very best for the accommodation of the citizens of Saint John and Fredericton that could be adopted. There are no regular hours, except between these two cities, for the arrival and departure of the Mails, but each Post Master will detain the carrier until he has a full load for him, and then he is shipped off – at least so says the report.
We have not received a Fredericton paper this week.
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Woodstock, Carleton Sentinel, Page 171 – December 4, 1852 – SAINT ANDREWS AND QUEBEC RAILROAD – Saint Andrews Standard – The work on the Railroad is carried on with spirit. We understand that wharves are to be erected at Indian Point terminus, and that large and commodious buildings for station houses, etc., will shortly be commenced. We are also happy to learn that the location of the line near Woodstock, under the direction of the chief engineer, A. L. Light, Esquire, will soon be completed. The locomotive runs constantly between Chamcook and town. It is really pleasing to hear the steam whistle giving notice of the approach of the huge “iron horse.”
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Woodstock, Carleton Sentinel, Page 171 – December 4, 1852 – Saint Andrews Standard – Wood sells quickly at 20s. cord, potatoes 2s. 6d. to 2s. 9d., turnips 1s. 3d., hay £2 15 0. Butter by the firkin 1s. per pound.
The market is well supplied with beef, pork, mutton, lamb, and poultry, which realize good prices.
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A. Clowes
– End of File –
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