The Beginnings of the Texas Railroad System. 53 
have been able to learn, no other company is doing any work under its charter 
* * * 
“The Buffalo Bayou, Brazos & Colorado Railroad Company will undoubtedly 
complete its road as far as Richmond during the present year. The Galveston 
& Red River Railroad Company, and the Galveston, Houston & Henderson Rail- 
road Company expect to complete twenty-five miles of their respective roads 
by the 30th of January, 1856, so as to secure the bonuses of sixteen sections to 
the mile. 
“These companies will then have to continue their roads at the rate of 
twenty-five miles a year or lose the benefit of the bonus of sixteen sections. If 
they fail to do this, the Harrisburg Company and the Henderson Company may 
still have the benefit of the bonus of eight sections, but the latter to secure 
even this, will have to construct an additional fifteen miles on or before the 
1st of March, 1857, to save its charter. 
“The Houston Company has already lost the benefit of the bonus of eight 
sections by failing to complete ten miles of its road within the time prescribed 
by its charter. It is possible that some of the other companies may be able to 
avail themselves of the sixteen section bonus, as only those which terminate on 
the Gulf coast, the Bays thereof, or on Buffalo Bayou, are subject to the pro- 
visions which require the construction of twenty-five miles on or before the 
30th of January, 1856, though it is believed that few, if any of them, will ever 
build road enough to save their charters. It is not generally supposed that 
either of the three companies named Avill be able to construct their roads at 
the rate of twenty-five miles a year after the 30th of January next, so as to 
secure the sixteen section bonus unless they are assisted by a liberal loan of 
money from the State. We cannot therefore expect that much progress will be 
made for many years to come in the construction of railroads in this State by 
private corporations beyond the completion of these tracks already graded, un- 
less such a loan shall be authorized, or that provision of the act- which re- 
quires these companies to construct twenty-five miles a year is repealed, for it 
is generally conceded that they will not at present yield a sufficient profit to 
induce individuals to invest capital in them without the advantage derived 
from the land bonus. 5 ’ 
“Message to the Fifth Legislature, Journal of the House of Representatives 
of the State of Texas, Austin, 1853, Part II, pp. 22-25. 
“Report of the Committee on Internal Improvements, House Journal, Fifth 
Legislature, p. 186. 
21 The details of this plan will be gleaned from the following excerpts from 
Governor Pease’s Message: 
“The present is a favorable time to revise our legislation in regard to rail- 
roads generally. * * * 
“What our citizens need is a general system of internal improvements by 
railroad, river improvements and canals that will extend its benefits to every 
section of the State as nearly as practicable, and give them a cheap transporta- 
tion of their products to market'. This I believe can be obtained within the next 
fifteen years by a judicious use of our public domain, aided by a moderate in- 
ternal improvement tax, which will never be onerous to our citizens, and for 
which will be repaid ten fold in the increased value that such a system will 
give to their property, and the reduced rate at which they will be furnished 
transportation of their productions and their supplies. 
“Our unappropriated public domain is estimated at about 100,000,000 acres. 
Suppose that one-half of it was valueless or unsuitable for cultivation, which 
is a large estimate, this will leave us 50,000,000 acres, which at seventy-five 
cents an acre is worth $37,500,000. This every one must admit is a small es- 
timate of its value, and under a judicious system of sales, to be effected gradu- 
ally as the wealth and population of the State is increased by the proposed im- 
provements, it would undoubtedly sell for twice or three times that amount 
within fifteen years. Let us suppose that it would cost six cents an acre, which 
is a large price, for the gradual survey of these lands as it might be deemed ad- 
visable to bring them into market, the cost of surveying the whole hundred mil- 
lions would be $6,000,000. This would leave $31,500,000 as their net proceeds 
to be applied to works of internal improvement. As this amount could be real- 
ized from them only by gradual sales through a course of years, in order to com- 
mence the system immediately, it would be necessary to anticipate their proceeds 
by the use of the credit of the State, to sustain which an internal improvement 
