The Express.
London, England, 1859-07-13 00:00:00

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031r2AL WLY4L

The numerous holders of securities of the Illinois
Central Railway Company will read with interest
the following letter from Mr. Cobden :
London, July 6,1869.
Mears Robert Benson and Co., Gresham House.
Dear Sir,—On the occasion of the visit which I lately paid
on my own amount to the United States, many of the share-
holders of the Illinois Central Railroad Company forwarded
me their proxies through your house; I think it only an act
of courtesy to send a fur remarks upon what fell under my
observation, leaving you to deal with this letter as you may
think proper. I shall not go into any details respecting the
statistic*, finances, &c., of the concern which may all be
found secure tely stated in the last anneal report of the di-
rectire, end in the reports of Mr. Fisher, and of Messrs.
Wheeler and Smith. I paid two visits to Illinois, had
free soma to every department of the land office and
the railway, travelled over ovule mile of the line by
daylight, and male several excursion into the interior
among the farmers. The railway appeared to nee to be under
the management of competent and tenetworthy ponces ; but
1 have had no practical experience in railroad matter, and
therefore my judgment could add little weight to what bag
been said by others. I wee told there rolling stock ready
for double the pretext traffic, end Captain McClellan, the
vice-preedent, was looking forward to the result of the pre-
sent hareett, and to the opening of the through line of rail-
road to New Orleans, for • large increase In the earnings
daring the aiming autumn. I have no doubt that in
a few months his expectations will be realised, but
in the meantime it would be omelets to speculate
on the matter. My attention was directed principally
to the land department, which constitutes the peculiar
feature and the chief value of the undertaking. The com-
pany bad a grant of about 2,600,000 eras of lend, bordering
on the railroad, of which nearly one-ball has been sold on
credit to immigrants ; and the most important question for
the shareholders is, "Will this land be paid for P" On Inquiry,
I found that the settlers amounted in number to 10,090,
and that their average perch/wee were about 120 acres each.
Being the first comers, their farms were of course near to
the railroad end the station*. This circumstance, together
with the impronsmante which bad taken place—such as the
breaking up and fencing the hind, and the erection of homes
or other buildings—had certainly added 60 per cent. to their
value. There mimed, therefore, to be no reasonable motive
for quitting the laud. On looking over the correspondence
in the Land Otline, during the put year—which has been
a period of great suffering in Illinois and the
whole north-wet of the United Slates and Canada.
owing to a calamitous Base in the crops in 1858
—I found that the settler', almoet to a men,
expresed anxiety to remain on their land ; and whilst ask-
ing, ate they did in the great majority of cases, for an ens:t-
ake of credit, they promised to fulfil their engagements
after they had gathered in the ensuing harvest. On Inquiring
from those who had had the greatest expellant in selling
lead in Illinois, I found there unanimously of opinion that
the company's land would be paid for. Not so much im-
portance seemed to be attached to the punctual payment of
promissory notes gives for land as to the regnlar discharge
of the intone; whilst the meet essential condition of all was
that the purchasers should be occupyleg and improving the
lend, which, under such circumstances, wan estimated to
double in value in fin years. I may odd, that it is the de-
liberate opinion of the gentlemen at the bead of the Land
Department in Chicago, that not three per cent. of the
company's settlers would throw up and abandon their
pentium The only question then remaining we.,
whether these fanners, who wore generally men of smell
capital, would have It in their power to pay for their farina F
The terms on which they were purchased allowed five years
for payment, In instalments of 20 per cent. I was told that
upon evil so nob as to require no mature fur many years,
and wLere no outlay of capita or labour was necessary for
clearing the forest, or removing any other oternotion from
the tunics it was easy, with ordinary seasons, for the fame
to raise enough produce to pay for his farm in five years.
The greater put of the western lands had, I found, been par.
dared out of the proud of the labour of the immigrants,
who bad generally started with very little capital. The re-
sult of my inquiries was, that I came away Walled both
with the willingness and ability of the company's seniors to
pay for their land. It is note's, for an Englishman to realise,
excepting from the evidence of his senor, the nature and
extent of the prairie soil of Illinois. For hundreds of miles
you p INS over a @lightly undulating surface without teeing a
bill, or rock, or ravine, or an sexed barren or broken ground
to obstruct tbe progress of the plough. Alter examining the
lauded property of the company, I came to the conclusion
that, although the cost of the Behead will, including logs of
interest, exceed the first estimate by 50 per ant., the land
will surpass the value originally put upoo it to a still greater
extent, and will, if judiciously managed, ultimately defray
the whole expense of the railway.—l remain, dear sirs, yours
faithfully, R. Convert.