The Sun.
London, England, 1866-12-17 00:00:00

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

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THE WESTERN AND WORCESTER RAILROADS
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The a annual v
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railroads by the state has commenced again, :ner
Josiah Quincy addressed the Government of the
Boston Board of Trade at great length in favour
of the plan on Monday afternoon. Ile recited the
standard complaints against these roads, their failure
to increase their capacity to correspond with the
increasing business offered; showed how it was for
the interest of the stock-holders to do a moderate
business at high rates, rather than a business seve-
ral times as great at smaller rates ; illustrated how
Boston had lost, and New York gained the custom
of the West, as a man on arriving at Albany can
go to the latter city for s`.?, while it would cost $6
to go to Boston, or he can go to Boston via New
York for only $7, but usually stops at New York ;
argued that the management of the Western rail-
road only adds evidence to the fact that the railways
at present hold a power which should be committed
only to the state, which must be responsible to
the whole people, for whose use and benefit it holds
the means of intercommunication ; and answered
the question, Can the fares and freights on the
Western railroad be reduced ? affirmatively, by re-
citing, with much minuteness, the results of experi-
ments made with cheap fares and freights in Eng-
land, where competition has sometimes put prices
dawn very low, but witTa so great an increase of
custom resulting as to make a very trifling reduc-
tion in the net profits. We have not space to follow
Mr. Quincy through these examples, but merely give
their application to the Western railroad, which is
quite startling to all our present ideas of railroad
travel and traffic :
"Let us assume for the moment that the averacre
prices per train in England are applicable in this
country (and it is for those opposed to the pro-
ject to show how they differ) and see what
the result would be on the road between .Albany
and Boston. This road, in round numbers,
is 200 miles in length. It has, with a little
assistance at the summit, the power of carrying
a train with 200 tons of freight or passengers.
The average cost of running a train in England is
63 cents a mile, or $126 for the route; or add for
additional power 50 miles at the summit $31.50,
making together $159.50. If they carry 200 tonsat
the present price of $7, they would receive $1,400
for the trip. Or if they carried all the passengers
they were able at $6, they would receive six
thousand. They have the power to do this ; the
additional cost would be only the interest on the
wear of cars and carriages. Or let us view it In
another light, the effect of the reduction of fares on
eividends. The Edinburgh and Glasgow line and
the Caledonian connect these two cities, which con-
tain with their vicinity six hundred thousand inha-
bitants. During their contest their fares were re-
duced to one-eighth of their ordinary charges, they
carrying at the rate per hundred miles first class
for 2s. 3d. (or 51 cents), second, ls. 9d. (or 42
cents), third for ls. 2d. (or 28 tents), or on au
average for each passenger 41 cents. And the loss
on dividends amounted in the Edinburgh and Glas-
gow to one per cent. per annum, and in the Cale-
donian it was calculated at something less than one-
half per cent.
" Now let the Albany road reduce their fares,
not to one-eighth but to one-sixth of their pre-
sent rate—t.e., one dollar from Albany, fifty cents
from Springfield, and twenty-five from Worces-
ter. With a similar increase of business, as in
England, the difference to the shareholders would
consist in receiving nine instead of ten per cent. per
annum on their investment, a loss of about a hun-
dred thousand dollars to the two roads and a gain
of millions to the community."
Imagine, who can, the period to have arrived
when the people of Springfield can go to Boston or
Albany for 50 cents, or the entire distance between
those two cities for $1! This time certainly never
will arrive so long as the Western and Worcester
roads are managed by and for the stockholders, as
now, and' gr. Quincy frankly admits that the pre-
sidents of these roads would not be justified in try-
ing experiments, or in sacrificing one per cent. on
the dividends of their shareholders. But he argues
from the facts he presents that the state should
purchase the roads, as it has the right and power
to do, and run them for the interest of the people
of the commonwealth; and his plan, as far as
the purchase by the state is concerned, will
have many advocates. The project of leasing
the roads to Boson is another thing entirely, how-
ever, and one that is not likely to prove so popular.
If the State is to delegate its powers after once get-
ting possession of the roads, why_not to Worcester
or Springfield as well as Boston ? That city might
fairly hope to share any advantages that would
inure from the purchase by the State, but it is ask-
ing a little too much that she should grasp them all.
Mr. Quincy's plan is worth giving in full, however,
that the people of the State may know what it is
proposed to do :—The State has reserved the right
of purchasing both these roads by paying the par
value of their shares, together with 10 per cent. on
the Worcester and 7 per cent. on the Western Rail-
road from the time of payment, dclucting any divi-
dends that may hare been received. By statements
appended to the report the State could purchase the
Western Railroad
For ••• ••• •••
And the Worcester for

... $7,371,817
... 7,938,455

Or both for 615,855,272
The income of the Western rail-
road last year was
Worcester ieroad

$1,216,653
537,057

A 6iERII

CA.

THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE.

The following is the full text of President John-
son's Message to Congress :
Fellow-citizens of the Senate and House of Repre-

sentatives,—
After a brief interval the Congress of the United
States resumes its annual legislative labours. An
p.ll-wise and merciful Providence has abated the
pestilence which visited our shores, leaving its ca-
lamitous traces upon some portions of our country.
Peace, order, tranquillity, and civil authority have
been formally declared to exist throughout the
whole of the United States. In all the States civil
authority has superseded the coercion of arms, and
the people, by their voluntary action, are maintain-
ing their governments in full activity and complete
operation. The enforcement of the laws is no longer
"obstructed in any Stateby combinationstoo power-
ful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judi-
cial proceedings ;" and the animosities engendered
by the war are rapidly yielding to the beneficent
influences of our free institutions, and to the kindly
effects of unrestricted social and commercial inter-
course. An entire restoration of fraternal feeling
must be the earnest wish of every patriotic heart ;
and we will have accomplished our grandest na-
tional achievement when, forgetting the sad events
of the past, and remembering only their instructive
lessons, we resume our onward career as a free,
prosperous, and united people.
PROGRESS OF RESTORATION.
In my Message of the 4th of December, 1865,
Congress was informed of the measures which had
been instituted by the Executive with a view to the
gradual restoration of the States in which the in-

surrection occurred to their relations with the

General Government. Provisional governors had
been appointed, Conventions called, Governors
elected, Legislatures assembled, and Senators and
Representatives chosen to the Congress of the United
States. Courts had been opened for the enforce-
ment of laws long in abeyance. The blockade had
been removed, custom-houses re-established, and
the internal revenue laws put in force, in order that
the people might contribute to the national income.
Postal operations had been renewed, and efforts
were being made to restore them to their former
condition of efficiency. The States themselves had
been asked to take part in the high function of
amending the Constitution, and of thus sanctioning
the extinction of African slavery as one of the legi-
timate results of our internecine struggle. Having
progressed thus far, the Executive Department
found that it had accomplished nearly all that was
within the scope of its Constitutional authority.
One thing, however, yet remained to be done before
the work of restoration could be completed, and
that was the admission to Congress of loyal Senators
and Representatives from the States whose people
had rebelled against the lawful authority of the
General Government. This question devolved upon
the respective Houses, which, by the Constitution,
are made the judges of the elections, returns, and
qualifications of their own members ; and its con-
sideration at once engaged the attention of Congress.

In the meantime the Executive Department—no
other plan having been proposed by Congress—con-
tinued its efforts to perfect, as far as was practic-
able, the restoration of the proper relations between
the citizens of the respective States, and
the Federal Government, extending, from time to
time, as the public interests seemed to require, the
judicial, revenue, and postal systems of the coun-
try. With the advice and consent of the Senate,
the necessary officers were appointed, and appro-
priations made by Congress for the payment of their
salaries. The proposition to amend the Federal
Constitution, so as to prevent the existence of
slavery within the United States or any place
subject to their jurisdiction, was ratified by the re-
quisite number of States ; and on the 18th day of
December, 1865, it was officially declared to have
become valid as a part of the Constitution of the
United States. All of the States in which the in-
surrection had existed promptly amended their Con-
stitutions, so as to make them conform to the great
change thus effected in the organic law of the land ;
declared null and void all ordinances and laws of
secession, repudiated all pretended debts and obli-
gations created for the revolutionary purposes of
the insurrection ; and proceeded, in good faith, to
the enactment of measures for the protection and
amelioration of the condition of the coloured race.
Congress, however, yet hesitated to admit any of
these States to representation; and it was not until
towards the close of the eighth month of the session
that an exception was made in favour of Tennessee
by the admission of her senators and representatives.
TILE COURSE OF CONGRESS DEPRECATED.

I deem it a subject of profound regret that Con-
gress has thus far failed to admit to seats loyal sena-
tors and representatives from the other States,
whose inhabitants, with those of Tennessee, had
engaged in the rebellion. Ten States—more than
one-fourth of the whole number—remain without
representation. The seats of fifty members in the
House of Representatives and of twenty members in
the Senate are yet vacant—not by their own con-
sent, not by a failure of election, but by the refusal
of Congress to accept their credentials. Their ad-
mission, it is believed, would have accomplished
much toward the renewal and strengthening of our
relations as one people, and removed serious cause
for discontent on the part of the inhabitants of those
States. It would have accorded with the great
principle enunciated in the Declaration of American
Independence, that no people ought to bear the
burden of taxation, and yet be denied the right of
representation. It would have been in consonance
with the express provisions of the Constitution that
" each State shall have at least one representative,"
and " that no State, without its consent, shall be
deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate." These
provisions were intended to secure to every State,
and to the people of every State, the right of repre-
sentation in each house of Congress ; and so im-
portant was it deemed by the framers of the Con-
stitution that the equality of the States in the
Senate should be preserved, that not even by the
amendment of the Constitution can any State, with-
out its consent, be denied a voice in that branch of
the National Legislature.