31 might accrue. Mr. Johnson (Md.) argued that as no limitation had been put upon rates of charge, these might be made so high as to be exorbitant and yield enormous profits. The objection of Mr. Allen put the whole matter concisely: "I desire to say that I shall oppose any form of proposition, come from what quarter it may, which has for its object to confer on a select body of men a monopoly of the transit of commerce of the two hemispheres across the isthmus of Panama."'32 And Mr. Cameron (Pa.) was utterly opposed to connecting the treasury with individual interests; he thought Congress ought to endeavor to "induce competition" instead of conferring exclusive privileges. Finally Mr. Benton himself, who was the staunch supporter of the bill, said he felt the argument against monopolies-all monopolies-as strongly as any one, arguing, however, that the extraordinary character of the work justified this grant on the ground of expediency.33 After long debate, Mr. Douglas (Ill.) introduced an amendment as a substitute for the bill. He proposed to reduce the grant to $250,000 a year as originally suggested by the committee, and to make the contract binding upon the government for ten years only. His substitute further proposed certain restrictions on the charges to be made on American traffic.34 Clearly Mr. Johnson's objections and this amendment evince a tendency to regulate the rates to be charged upon the proposed railway. This fact is of interest in connection with the point made in the chapters on "The Railway and Government" and "The Mail Service and Aid to Railways," that aid granted to railways tended to cause regulation of those railways. The debate was continued on Mr. Douglas' substitute,35 and considerable opposition to the Panama route as compared with the Tehuantepec and Nicaraguan routes was developed, its unhealthfulness and proximity to English fortifications being alleged. The end of the matter was that the bill was laid on 1 Ibid., p. 50. 22 Ibid., p. 59. 33 Ibid., p. 49. 34 Ibid., p. 382. the table and nothing done to aid Messrs. Aspinwall, Stephens and Chauncey at this session of Congress.36 At the following session another memorial was presented, stating the heavy expenditures undergone, explaining the defeat of the preceding bill, and attempting to dispel a prevailing "impression" that a ship canal would best serve the commercial interests of the United States and of the world. The memorialists had been incorporated by the state of New York under the legal name of "The Panama Railroad Company" with a capital stock fixed at $5,000,000. They prayed for an immediate, definite engagement that the road when completed should be employed, "as necessarily it must be," in the public service, at a fair rate-the national importance of the work and the risk undergone in its execution being considered.37 Without pursuing the course of the Panama Company beyond the limits of of our period, it will be sufficient to observe here that in 1855 the railroad was at length constructed and without direct government aid. P. A. HARGOUS' PETITIONS FOR A RAILWAY AT TEHUANTEPEC 39 Less than two months after the Pacific Mail Company's first petition for a Panama railway, one was presented in the Senate with reference to a railway across the isthmus of Tehuantepec.38 The Mexican government had turned over to P. A. Hargous and others the privileges formerly extended to Don Jose de Garay,3 securing to them for fifty years the exclusive right to open communication across the isthmus, and exempting them from imposts or forced loans and their passengers from transit taxes. The route from the mouth of the Coatzacoalcos was 135 miles on a straight line, 30 miles of which were to lie on the navigable waters of that river. By this route the distance from the mouth of the Mississippi to San Francisco would be 3,294 miles, whereas to go by Panama would make a journey of 5,000 miles. The Ibid., p. 626. At this session a bill to make compensation for the transportation of troops and supplies for a limited time, over the isthmus of Panama, etc. was also reported in the House (H. J., 1848-49, p. 257) but nothing came of it. 37 Sen. Misc., 1849-50, I, No. 30. 18 Sen. Misc., 1848-49, Feb. 6, 1849, I, No. 50. 20 Above, p. 389. climate, moreover, was favorable, materials were abundant, and the native labor force adequate and docile. Hargous merely asked that Congress suspend judgment until the relative merits of the route be fully examined. This memorial no doubt helped in bringing about the defeat of Aspinwall's, in so far as a belief in the superior merits of the Tehuantepec route was ef fective to that end. THE ROCKWELL REPORT: 1849 In 1849 Mr. Rockwell of a select committee on canals and railways between the Atlantic and Pacific submitted a voluminous report on the various routes across the isthmian region of Central America. After discussing the relative merits of canals and railways, the conclusion reached was that "between these two modes of communication there cannot be a doubt but that a railroad is most to be preferred. ''40 THE ACCESSORY TRANSIT COMPANY'S ROUTE Soon after the treaty of 1846 with New Granda had been ratified in 1848, efforts were made to procure similar transit rights over the Nicaraguan route. The American charge d' affairs, Elijah Hise, negotiated a treaty according to which Nicaragua granted to the United States or a company of her citizens the exclusive right to construct a canal, railroad, or turnpike in return for aid in defensive wars. This treaty was not approved of by the United States and Hise was recalled. His successor, E. G. Squier, made a treaty in behalf of Cornelius Vanderbilt and others, under the title of the American Atlantic and Pacific Ship Canal Company, for facilitating transit across the isthmus by means of a canal or railroad. This treaty, again, was not ratified. This Canal Company, through a subsidiary organization known as the Accessory Transit Company, established a communication between Grey Town and 40 Rep. of Com., 1848-49, No. 145, p. 5. 41 In 1849 two memorials came before Congress for aid in constructing turnpike or plank roads across the isthmus. See S. J., 1848-49, p. 228; and Sen. Misc., 1848-49, No. 56. San Juan del Sur by steamboat and stage, and this route was much travelled by emigrants between California and the East, until in 1856 the Nicaraguan government declared the company's concession forfeited for non-compliance with terms.42 The stage route of the Accessory Transit Company appears to have been the only one feasible for wheeled vehicles at the close of our period, poling up the rivers and crossing the divide over mule paths being the usual procedure. As stated, it was not till 1855 that a railway finally spanned the isthmus and joined the oceans by a modern means of transportation. 43 In conclusion, two points which are perhaps not sufficiently emphasized in the preceding should be called attention to. In the first place, any isthmian railway was generally regarded even by adherents as a more or less temporary expedient. It was believed that a railway would fill a great and rather sudden need, and at the same time would stimulate commerce till a ship canal became a necessity. A canal was the ultimate goal. In the second place, the close connection between these isthmian projects and the great movement for a railway to the Pacific which should lie within our own territory is noteworthy. A glance at the map shows that the continent of North America and the Central American region were fairly barred with a series of westward extending railway projects, all having the same goal-the Pacific. Naturally the earliest developments came where there was the least resistance, and that was at the narrow isthmian region. The first Pacific railway was an isthmian railway; but before that particular project was conceived greater plans for a trans-continental railway had been evolved, and in little more than a decade later these plans were carried out. To trace the growth and consummation of this greater, trans-continental branch of the movement for railways to the Pacific is the object of the following chapters. 42 See Rep. of Isth. Can. Com., 1899-1901, pp. 46-49. 43 See below, p. 433. PART II.-TRANS-CONTINENTAL LINES CHAPTER XXI GROWTH AND ORIGIN OF THE PACIFIC RAILWAY IDEA FORCES LEADING UP TO THE IDEA Between 1840 and 1850 the movement of population affected the railway question in a two-fold manner through the remarkable growth of immigration from Europe and of emigration to the Pacific coast. In 1845 the number of immigrants was, in round numbers, 114,000; in 1847 it was nearly 235,000; in 1849 it was over 297,000. This great increase impelled westward emigration, while at the same time it resulted in an urban congestion that caused statesmen to reflect on a railway to the Pacific as a relief measure. About the year 1839 the emigration to Oregon began and missionaries and farmers succeeded the fur-traders. This emigration culminated in the treaty of 1846, by which the United States acquired undisputed possession of the Columbia river territory, but meanwhile there had been talk of war and plans for binding this far off land to ourselves had been numerous. The outbreak of war with Mexico led to the conquest of California and long before the issue was formally decided it was common to count the northern part of Mexico as our own. Later, gold was discovered, and before 1850 over 80,000 emigrants had poured into California. The great problem lay in the necessity for an efficient means of communication. Military expediency and a demand for mail service brought this matter directly home to the govern |