The Sun.
London, England, 1854-11-23 00:00:00

TIM GRAND TRUNK RAILWAY COM-
. PANY OF CANADA.

Evidence of Sir Cusack Roney, before the Railway
Committee of the Leuislative Assembly, at Quebec, on
the 3‘l November, 1854.

,
1. Have you a copy of the amalgamation agreement
of the Grand Trunk Railway Company ?—I have.
2. D.ics it contain the contracts with the English and
Canadian contractors for the several sections of the
railroad ?—lt does.

3. How many sections are there referred to in the
agreement that have reference to contracts ? Describe
them 9—There are four sections, one from Quebec
to Trois Pistoles, one from Montreal to Toronto, one
from Belleville to Teterboro', and one from Toronto to
Sarnia, and there is also the Victoria Bridge included
in the agreement.
4. Beginning with the Montreal and Toronto, what
is the length and the contract price ?—The length of the
Montreal and Toronto section is 345 miles, and the total
cost is 3,000,000/. (All answers that I shall give to the
committee to-day referring to figures and accounts are
in sterling.)
5. How nuich is the provincial guarantee on this sec-
tion ?- The provincial guarantee on this section is
1,035,0001.
6. Will you state what the contracts provide as to the
character of the works 9—What are the bridges to be
constructed of, the stations and other buildings ?—They
provide that the line and all its appurtenances shall be
equal to any first-class English railway, and superior to
any now known or used on this continent. The bridges
are to he of masonry or brick work, with iron tubes
across the spans. All these tubes are on the principle
of the well-known Britannia► Bridge across the Menai
Straits in Wales. The stations and all other buildings,
such as engineer repairing shops, &c., are to be of brick
or stone covered with slate or metal.

7. Do the contracts include a supply of engines, freight
and passenger cars, snow ploughs, work-shops, &c. ?
They do. There is a specification which gives in detail
the number of engines, cars, both passenger and freight,
as well as gravel cars, snow ploughs, repairing shops,
water houses, wood-sheds, in short every article required.
fur efficiently working the railway.
8. Are the contractors bound to pay the entire interest
on the capital stock as well as debentures of all kinds
until the delivery of the railway to the company ?—Yes",
they are so bound.
9. What is the contract price for the Belleville and
Peterboro' line, and what are its length, and the cha-
racter of the works ? Is this work commenced, and
when is it to be finished ?—lt is fifty miles in length,
and the cost is to be 400,0001. The works on this sec-
tion, and indeed I may say upon every other section of
the Grand Trunk line, are Ito be of the character de-
scribed in my answers having reference to the works of
the Montreal and Toronto section. The line between
Belleville and Peterborough is not yet commenced ; it
is one of the portions we propose to postpone for the
present, that is, until the money and labour markets are
in a more favourable condition for carrying on great
undertakings in Canada.

10. What is the contract price for the Victoria
bridge ?-- One million font- hundred thousand pounds,
with a power to the engineer in-chief of the company t;
certify for the payment of another 100,0001. if; at the
completion of the work, he is satisfied that that addi-
tional sum should be paid to Messrs. Peto and Co.
11. What will be the amount expended on the Vic-
toria bridge at the end of the present year, and at what
rate are the works to proceed each year,—describe what
has been done this year, and what is likely to be the
progress next year ?—There wilij be about 200,0001.
expended on the Bridge this year, and it is intended to
expend from 200,0001. to 250,000/. each year during its
construction. All the preliminary arrangements for
carrying out the works have been organised ; and of
actual work done, what we call pier No. 1, that is the
pier next to the northern abutment, is finished. The
pier No. 2 is progressing v cry satisfactorily, and if the
weather continue open it may be nearly finished this
season. The northern abutment will be brought about
as high as the winter level of the St. Lawrence.
The amount of masonry in this abutment
may be judged by the fact that it is 242
long, 90 feet wide, and about 34 feet above the bed
of the river. The solid stone embankment of 1,200 feet
long, leading from the north shore of the St. Lawrence
to the north abutment, is in active progress, and will be
carried on during the winter. With reference to next
year's works, I beg to state that they will, in addition
to being carried ou from the norLh shore, be advanced
from the south shore, so that under favourable circum-
stances, by this time twelve months, both the abutments,
the solid banks leading to them, and seven or eight
piers may be finished. Some progress has already been
made in preparing the tubes, and this work will be car-
ried on energetically during the winter, and a couple of
them will be put in their places next summer. With
reference to the inquiry of an honourable member (Mr.
Merritt), I am unable to say whether the space between
the under surface of the bridge and the summer level of
the St. Lawrence is in conformity with the first act. I
only know that there will be an interval of GO feet be-
tween the one and the other.

12. When is it contem'plated that the line between
Montreal and Toronto, or any of its sections, will be
opened, and when will those between Quebec and St.
Thorias, and between Toronto and Stratford ?—The line
from Montreal to Brockville, about 125 miler, will be
opened in September 1855. The line from Quebec to
St. Thomas, 40 miles on the Trois Pistoles section, will
also be opened in September, 1855. The section from
Brockville to Kingston, about 50 miles, and from
Kingston to Whitby, about 140 miles, in September,
1856. The lino from Whitby to Toronto, about 36
miles, will almost certainly be opened in September of
next year. It is intended to open it, but Ido mot wish
to speak of this length 10 confidently as I do of the
other sections that I have stated will be opened in Sep-
tember of next year. The section from Toronto to
Stratford, 90 miles, will be opened on the Ist of October,
1855.

13. The committee then are to understand that it is
expected that 390 miles of the Grand Trunk Railway,
exclusive of the Montreal and Portland line, will be
opened for traffic by next autumn I—Yes, the Quebec
and Richmond, which will be opened within three weeks,
and the foregoing, will make 390 miles.
14. What is the length of the Toronto and Sarnia
section ? What is the contract price and the character
of the work ? What are the names of the contractors ?
—This section is 172 miles long. The contract price is
1,376,0001. The character of the works, and the supply
of stock, are precisely the same as on the other sections
of the railroad. The contractors are Messrs. Growski
and Co.

15. How much has been expended on the works of the
Toronto and Sarnia section to the present date ?-
576,7581.

16. What is the contract price of the Quebec aid
Richmond section ? What are its length and the cha-
meter of its work, also the amount of provincial guaran-
tee ?—The contract price for the Quebec and Richmond
section is 650,0001., and the provincial guarantee is
250,0001., or at about the rate of 2,5001. a mile, the
length of the line being about 100 miles. The contract
price for this hne is less than far the other sections of
the Grand Trunk. The masonry of the bridges is of the
same character, and the bridges themselves are tubular,
the iron being of the same proportions as in the other
sections of the Grand Trunk, but the station-houses are
to be of wood, and the surface width of the railway is
two feet less than the other sections. It is, I think,
sixteen feet and the others are eighteen. The founda-
tions of all large structures are for a double track.

17. What is the length and cost of the Trois Pistoles
section, and the amount of the Provincial guarantee ?
—The length of the Trois Pistoles line is 153 miles. The
contract price is 1,224,0001; and 459,0001. is the amount
of the provincial guarantee.
18. What is the amount of provincial debentures issued
for all the sections amalgamated with the Grand Trunk
line by the agents of the province in London 1 State
the amounts on the Grand Trunk and on each section
amalgamated ?—Before the amalgamation of the St.
Lawrence and Atlantic Company with the Grand Trunk,
400,0001. of provincial debentures had been issued to
that company. Since the amalgamation, 605,8001. of
provincial debentures had been issued to the Grand
Trunk Company, of which 67,5001. have been given in
right of the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Company,
250,0001. on the Quebec and Richmond, and 288,300/.
in right of the Grand Trunk proper. This last is up to
the latest date of our returns from London, namely, the
31st of 'August last. The sections from Montreal to
Toronto, and from Quebec to Trois Pistoles are the sec-
tions entitled to the provincial guarantee.
19. Are any of the provincial debentures issued di-
rectly to the contractors ?—No, the contractors re-
ceive all their payments from their company in money.
20. Are the company restricted from selling the
de-
bentures of the province below par ?—They are not so
by the company, they are issued by the agents of thed
province to the shareholders of the company at
tpa r'on
their paying for them in full, and they are then
sub-
jected to the control of the holders like any other descrip-
tion
of property.
21. Describe the process by which payments on ac-
count of works aro made by the company ?—The en-
gineer in chief of the company, Mr. Alexander Ross,
receives at the end of each month from his
each and every
different sub-
engineers, accounts of the progress
work. These several statements are e
considered and
arranged in his office, an he submits to each monthly
meeting of the board of directors certificates detailing
under the several heads of expenditure the amounts to
which the contractors are entitled for the previous
month. This process is adopted for each of the sections
which I have named in a previous answer. The certifi-
cates having been considered by the board, resolutions,
authorising the payments of the sums to which the con-
, tractors are entitled, are passed and recorded. Payment '
is, in the following week, made to the contractors under
te authority and superintendence of the Finance Com.
mittee of Directors. This practice is strictly in ac-
cordance with the English practice, and was adopted on
the railway company of which I was secretary for eight
years in England, during which period we expended up-
wards of eight millions sterling on works.
22. Describe the proceedings adopted to entitle the
company to the money paid in London by the share-
holders on account of provincial debentures ?—When we