258 The State df Maine, with which the trade of your road is more intimately‘ connected, possesses unlim- ited advantages for manufacturing which are -now about to be brought into extensive use. 1-ler large rivers and numerous harbors, give greatvalue to her navigation -and fisheries, and fa- eilitate those valuable branches of her trade, lum- bering and ship building, in which she exceeds any other State in the Union. v ’ Theluniber which she annually produces amounts to 650 millions of feet, and the tonnage of the ves- sels which she annually puts afloat amounts to 28 per cent. of the whole tonnage of vessels built by all the States in the Union, and exceeds that of N. ‘ In the amount of tonnage of , York by 21,000 tons. her shipping she is the third State in the Union. - It is ascertained from undoubted authority that the State of Maine now draws annually from the cities of Boston, New York and other places, 500,- 000 barrels of flour, over 1,000,000 bushels of 1n- dian corn and 75,000 barrels of pork. The State of —Maine is largely engaged in the West India and South America trade, supplying those markets with her lumber, fish, etc.- VVestern produce arriving at tide water through this channel would give employment to a large amount of shipping, and by adding breadstuiiis to her other exports, would render this trade still more valuable, and probably open other and more exten- sive markets for these products. . . It would also enable traders to import West In- dia products on more favorable terms, as the north- em and western markets for these articles would be extenced by this new channel of trade, and vessels would probably have full freights in both directions. These products delivered at Portland Harbor, would find their way to the west over your road,and through the St. Lawrence, at probably less expense than by any other communication through New England. The soil and productions of the Provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are similar to thoseoi the State of Maine,’ and they import their so plies of breadstufls from the United States. I ' t is stated in the able Report of the Commission- er of the Halifax Railway, that New ,Brunswick annually pays to the United States upwards of£200,- 000 for provisions and other articles-—-—that Nova Scotia does very nearly thesame thing—~that flour is imported from New Orleans—and wheat grown in the Mississippi valleyis-shipped at St Louis for New Brunswick,.and ground into flour at the mills of St.‘Jonn. . ' A Looking at the favorable position of your road, connecting the Atlantic with the western waters by the shortest practicable route, and extending down into the heart of the country requiring their bread- stufi’Is, there does not appear to be any doubt that a very large portion of the supplies of the State of Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and parts of Vermont and New Hampshire, will be transported over your road, and its branches, by which it will be delivered almost at the doors of the consumers. . A . _ The St. Lawrence river, with its ship canals, and the great lakes, open an inland navigation‘, wliich, for its extent, capacity and economy of transporta- tion, is not surpassed byany in the world. . The total distance through the St. Lawrence and the lakes to Chicago, from Montreal, is 1330 miles, and in this distance there are but 66 mics of canal navigation. If we include the navigation of Lake Superior, and Strait St. Mary’s which require but about one mile of Canal to perfect the navigation, and which will soon be completed, we have a total extent, in- cluding the distance laterally to Chicago, of 1726 miles, having only 67 miles of canal navigation. The Welland canal is destined for vessels of 400 tons, and the St. Lawrence ‘canals for vessels of much larger tonnage, These improvements‘ are completed, and were first brought into use last year. ’ The channel of trade, ‘ therefore, is not yet fully known or appreciated, ant‘. there has not yet been time to realise the benefits which will resultfrorn ex- perience and improvements in the manner of con- ducting the business of transportation and the el- fects of competition in lowering rates.‘ The amount of up trade has an important hear- ing on the cost of down freight; and this being, largely increased by the completion of your road will doubtless still further reduce the rates of trans- portation. The following table exhibits the leading features of the routelfrotn Cleveland to Boston via the Erie canal and Western railroad and the St. Lawrence route, from the same point via the Portland railway to Portland. - ' " i,._'. l .5 3, > 1': .§ _ is 2,, (Q U} . ‘L4 __ .9.“ '6 .5? :3: . la: 3 ; § U3 3 l . ‘ri W , —g.§DU5ti'7-"E-ard‘Wi‘E-g at 1 7:2 0% E».:_=v.;v-El ROUTES. £4; 8, g)0E.q rag t as: 3 snares A-4 an 5 rt! 53 E U 0 O O 4.‘: ‘D [13 U as -2 E‘ “5 *4 as 3 :5” §° ci id .§ ,4 .1 2: ,2 E-4 To Boston, via Erie i i canal and Western . 1 ' ‘railroad ...... .. noel 363! -so 2 20083 14 To Portland, via St. I ' y ' Lawrence river & | ; l Portland railway..( 534 66; 400 1 275,50 8;- Difference. 334’ 297l 320 1 75 33‘ 5;, The following statement exhibits the cost of trans“ porting flour per barrel, on these routes: ERIE CANAL ROUTE. From Cleveland to Bufialo . . .. . .12 cents. “ Buiialo to Albany.. .. .. .. .."/0 “ “ Albany to Boston . . . . . . . . ..30 “ TotaltoBoston.... ....11‘2ccnts. If carried thence to Portland . . . . ..10 cents. Totalto Portland.... ..l22cents. S’l‘- LAWRENCE ROUTE. From Cleveland to Montreal. . . . ‘. 40 cents. “ , Montreal to Portland. . . . ..,.54 “ Total to Portland. . . .i . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85 cents. If-carried thence to Boston. . . . .. . . 10 cents. ‘ Total to.Boston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..95 cents. From this it appears that adopting the average ratesoftransportation on the Erie Canal of the low- est month in each year, fora number of years, which is 7 cents per barrel less than the average of 1847, and the lowest summer rates on the Western rail- road, the cost of delivering flour at Boston is 112 cts. per barrel, and ifforwarded to the State of Maine, an addition of10 cents, making a total of 122 cents per barrel. By the St. Lawrence route the cost of delivering abarrel of flour,allowtng the charge on the Port- land railroad to be 44 cents per barrel, and taking the actual rate at which it has been carried from Cleveland tcrMontrea1 (4-0 cents,) we have a total charge of 85 cents, making a difference in favor. of the route trim Montreal and Portland road, to the Seaboard, of 2"/' cents per barrel. .. . Ifhowever, we make the charge on the Portland road, without reference to the diflerence in grades, the same in proportion to its length,’ as is charged on the -Western railroad, the cost will be reduced to about 41 cents, or a total from Cleveland to Port- land of-81 cents per barrel in favor of the St. Law- rence route. , K B - Making Boston the terminus of both routes, there is still a‘difle‘rence of 17 cents per barrel in favor of the St. Lawrence route via Portland to Boston. The difference in time required to perform a pas- sage from Cleveland to the Seaboard is 5%; days in favor of the St. Lawrence and Portland route. The greater extent of canal navigation, and _an additional transhiprneni, add not only to the time required, but materially increase the cost of trans- ortation on the Erie Canal route over that of the t. Lawrence. * Taking one of the heaviest laden boats per day which arrived at West Troy from Black Rock, the average for the year 1848 was 71 1-2 tons. Canal Cotnmissioner’s Report, January, 1849. AMERICAN RAILROAD JOURNAL. The former has§363 miles of canal navigation, while the latter has only 66 miles, and most vessels navigating the St. Lawrence pass down the river in- stead of the canals, so that in the downward passage there are but about36 miles ofcanal navigation. The Erie Canal is navigated by vessels of small tonnage, drawn by horses at the rate of2; miles per hour, while the Welland and St. Lawrence Canals are navigated by steam vessels which pass through the lakes and the river to Montreal, without break- ing bulk, in half the time, and with about four times the number of tons in each cargo. The vessels on the former route can carry from 700 to 800 barrels of flour, but those of the latter carry 3000 barrels. These disadvantages of the Erie Canal route can- not be overcome by the enlargement of the canal or other improvements. The Ogdensburgh and Lake Champlain route to Boston may be said to cotne into competition with your road, and, that its tendency will be to divert the western trade from the St. Lawrence above Mon- treal. . It remains to be considered whether. you. will be ‘able to compete successfully with this line. . The distance to the Seaboard by this route to Bos- ton and the distance tie the St. Lawrence and your road to the Seaboardat Portland, are very nearly the same. By that route, the transportation will be for the whole distance 397 miles by railways, which are to be operated by six and perhaps seven difierent cor- porations, each having a separate organization and management. The freight is landed on the west side of the city ofBoston, much ofwhich must beytrucked across the town for shipment or storage at an expense for flour of 4 cents per barrel. By the Montreal route, the vessels which bring cargoes from the upper lakes will continue downthe river, descending the rapids or passing through the canals, at their option at Montreal, a distance or about 120 miles, where cargoes will be transhipped and transported on a superior railway of 275 miles in length, directly to vessels in the harbor oil Port- land. ‘ As it regards the time of reaching the Seaboard by these routes, therewill probably be but a trifling dtfierence. If a bridge is not constructed across the outlet of Lake Champlain, for the Ogdensburgh line, there would be another transhipinent, or so much delayas to occasion an additional disadvan- tage. . = With reference to the cost of transportation, there appears to be little doubt as to the superior economy of the Montreal route. T » Vessels arriving at Ogdensburgh with full car- trifling expense, descend the St. Lawrence to Mon- treal; and as the facilities for obtaining return car- goes from that place will be far greater than at Og- densburgh, forwarders will probably find it greatly to their advantage for their vessels to go through bur h. Bgut the amount of upfreight will have a tenden- cy, as belore stated, tomodify the prices of down freight, and the superior advantages of Montreal in this respect will hold outstrong inducements to con- tinue down the river to that point, at perhaps less proportional charges than Ogdensburgh. . ’ The cost of transporting flour. from Monti-‘cal ‘on the St. Lawrence and Atlanticrailroad to Portland, has been placed at 45 cents trer barrel. V « If we make the same proportional charges on the Ogdensburgh line, the costof transporting flour from that place to Boston will be 65 cents per barrel. If it can be donefor less than this sum on that line, it -certainly can be reduced, at leastp_roportion- ally on your road, where the facilities and capacity of transportation are greater and the first cost of the road much less. If we assume the low charges on the Western railroad, and apply it irrespective of, any supposed advantages of grades and first cost of constrttction to these lines, the charge on the Og- densburg line will then be 59 cents per barrel. Portland line 4] cents per barrel. Diflereticc 18 cents per barrel in favor of the Port- ! land line. _ ii Mr. Morton then goes into elaborate extracts as to the probable business of the road, and sums up the same as follows; -_ goes, may, in a few hours more, and with but very_ the former place rather than to discharge at Ogdens- .