FIRST RAILWAY CONTRACT. 75 



House of Assembly proposed the construction of a 

 road from St. John's, the capital, to Hall's Bay, the 

 centre of the mining region, with branches to Har- 

 bour Grace and Brigus, the total length of which 

 would be about 340 miles. Such a line would open 

 up for settlement the large areas of good lands and 

 valuable timber districts already referred to in the 

 valleys of the Gambo, Terra Nova, Gander and Ex- 

 ploits, and connect the mining region with the capi- 

 tal. A joint committee of both houses of the Legis- 

 lature was appointed to consider the proposition. 

 Their report concluded by recommending the passage 

 of an act authorizing a loan of the amount required 

 to construct the line, within the limits of one million 

 pounds sterling, and in sums not exceeding half a 

 million of dollars in any one year. This report was 

 adopted by the Legislature by an overwhelming ma- 

 jority. Railway commissioners were appointed and 

 engineers were employed, and during the summer 

 and autumn of 1880 a preliminary survey of the 

 southern portion of the proposed line was made, and 



this led to the 



t 



FIRST RAILWAY CONTRACT IN THE COLONY. 



When the Legislature met in 1881 the tender of an 

 American syndicate for building the road was 



