ROUTE NEAR THE THIRTY-SECOND PARALLEL. 103 
business, to be found only at the two extremities, with but little way business, the capital required 
must be idle an average time equal to half that required for construction, which latter will not 
probably be less than 10 years, and the interest during that time would add from twenty- 
five to thirty millions to the capital. If, in consideration of the great national benefits which the 
construction of the road would confer, the government of the United States could lend its aid to 
the road so as to relieve it from the payment of interest upon the cost of the road during the time 
of its construction, it would scem probable from the foregoing that it might be built by private 
means. Without this much aid from the government, the road will probably never be built. 
A donation of land, such as has been generally proposed, will be of little comparative value. 
I regret that there is not time to enter a little more into these discussions. 
The following extract from the annual report of the railroad corporations in the State of Mas- 
sachusetts for 1852, giving the length, cost, yearly earnings, expense of working, &c., of the 
roads in that State, may be found interesting. 
Following it is an extract from the annual report of the State engineer and surveyor on the 
railroads of the State of New York, showing the length, cost, &c., of the roads in that State. I 
have made these extracts as brief as possible. It will be seen that the estimated cost of the 
route of the 32d parallel, after every consideration of the unusual circumstances that will produce 
an increased cost, is about the same per mile as the roads in these States: 
Extract from an abstract of “Annual Reports of the Railroad Corporations in the State of Massachu- 
setts,”” showing totals of the leading statistics of all the roads. 
Caeledl oo) dee) ee i aed es ee . $56,236,600 00 
GaipitalGoaidinkresce er ee eet rates ot Ns Se SRI ett PRO ELISE 46,539,220 34 
COR. coc etmeC Eb OOo Re ERIE See tine to ii See Hier te ep eine et aee amen mma Naa eeE , 60,019,051 774 
ILGOGI ose ees Seok eEgs atiae SOSHEEA Sic Bice eta er er ser haere Sore nas 1,280.29 miles. 
Menethivotdoublevtrack) = err 2 eke aor sce ooo cqrine: acre sees eo cere chee 270.33“ 
LGEGINP CF NATNC NES CSI erate eRe Sree Se pew Pee inten ne ea mete tere 103.68 « 
Speed on passenger trains adopted per hour . 2-2. ....-- << --2-ccec nee ; 23.63 « 
Baecdotirciezht irams adopted per hours (0..'. 222... be let see eect zrgisy 
ID@ITONES) G nacre os CCR See eCl TOR Tet eae anaes Came ae eee $7,713,208 35 
BS PeEnSelO MmW OKI Caretta ieyale eit teyet Salelsisisra\ctas seetcieio yaa crsien saree oee ee 4,541,468 314 
INGE GIES Gags ota cen ese GEse eo Oe SEE ESCs Ona ace eeaE a perae 3,211,197 75 
DDG ys a a ET A SI BIT Te Aes UE Ve ee ae eee 2,483,545 94 
TD yet of Bsc ee ees a ta ol ln 98 be Te ot Le a a ee 16,009,095 77 
SHUTTER CE a SI ee ae oe 1,112,072 95 
Extract from the “Annual Report of the State Engineer and Surveyor on the railroads of the State of 
New York—February, 1854.” 
The length of all the railroads in operation in the State is............---.. 2,432 miles. 
Peron otmotnalroads laid 1S ADOME Aint 2 -cpajo% aca = ace ala lone mati ain cea ain 2,497 & 
The length of double track in addition to the above is ..........---------- 664 « 
The number of locomotives in use is .....--------- Bt EN oe SESE eee : 586 
Gipetaeeber of passenper cars in:use 18... --- 2-9. ae nse ese asec n-e §34 
The number of baggage and freight cars in use is ..........----.-------- 6,895 
The number of miles run by passenger trains is about.......---------.+-- 6,594,963 
Themumbememudlesrun by freipht trains is...-..--.-.------0-<-20+---5 4,227,807 
‘Lotaltnumbectermnnlestrimease <2 5- 28. oo ot cack. ence awtacewe'ceacce 10,822,770 
The whole number of miles travelled by the passengers is about.......---- 531,572,298 
