, 1870-05-17
The Grand Trunk Bridge Mt Ruf-
:. fnlos


: at the last half -yearly meeting Of tho Grant
! Trunk Railway Company, Mr. Potter made tht
| following statements with reference to tht
! proposed bridge at Buffalo:
The present cost Of working the through
traffic from Fort Erie to Buffalo, including the
maintenance and repairs OF the ferry-boat, and
including the tolls which VIC psy to the New
York Central at buffalo for the use OF con.
siderable portion OF their line, is not less than
416, 900 q year. Sixteen Thousand pounds 4
year would build q bridge and all its approaches
in the most solid and substantial Way, and
therefore, il We could devise form Of securi-
which ~. w,n enable 1s to CO. appropriate to that
to be able, without any difficulty, to raise The
money for that bridge, and to secure tho com
pletion Of it before tho ond Of 1871. But
owing, gentlemen, to the accident Of GONE
letters being delayed which I wrote to
M AT Bridges to OF at an important 70 shasse
calling his attention to important matters Of
detail in tho scheme which was to be sent
orer.-these letters were in the SamariA, and
they were delayed SIX weeks, 80 that I am not
in. q position today to present to ron 4
scheme for tho formal and legal raiaing Of
gentlemen in this room 1emember if
teen or eighteen years ago the construction OF
the suspension bridge across the Niagntn
niycr by the Great Western Of Canada,
and the effect OF that upon the traffic
Of that line. The through traffic of tho
much larger than was the through. traffic of
tho Great Western Of Canada fifteen yoars
ago; tho volume OF Western traffic to the East
is three OF four times what 1t was fifteen OF
sixteen years ago, when tho bridge ncross tho
;Niagasa brought upon tho Grent Western Of
Canada m immediate accession OF traffic to
the extent OF &C ,O00 sterling per week and
should indeed be disappointed If, with a larger
volume Of traffic to attract, md greater
amount OF business, at least the sana result
should not follow to the Grand Trunk upon the
opening of the r., bfidge from Fort Eric
the, money may. be, to 8 certain ex
tent, modified by. circumstances unknown to
me in London, and am, therefore, only nble
to give you an outlineo OF it to oday; but am
bound to say there is one point upon which VIC
slould 10 rather glad to elicit some oppression
Tor making the bridge are now vested in two
companies, one OF them Canadian and the
other American. These two companies are
practically in our hands, our ofdcors are the
directors Of these companies, they are entirely
in our hands. and tho powers tor making the
to year. The idea is this, that by decd those
two companies shall transfer IN perpetuity tho
bridge, its tolls, lis rights, and its approaches
to the Grand Trunk upon payment Of certain
annual sum, that sum being the amount OF
cost OF the present working Of an insufficient
means Of transit To give notion OF the ex-
tremo inef1iciency Of the present service, the
very day left New York, On the 2lth No1em-
ber last. received a telegram from the agent
of the Grand Trunk at Fort Eric, stating that
tho ferry boat tad been driven By the storm ten
miles down the river. and could not be back
for three days. and there we're 100 head Of cat
tic eating their beads Of, ut our expense, at our
side Of tho river. That will give you notion
OF the delays to which business is subjected
by such means OF transport rs ferry. II all
these deeds are n perfect order, and
II legally, and in perPetuity tho bridge
and its powers OF lowing tolls from the
foot passengers and carts, and from otherrail-
wsy companies-large powers, MI como to us
ii these deeds arc perfect, We shall be able,
without difficulty, to present such scheme to
tho Grand Trunk will induce you and tho pub
lie to subscribe the money. t Is very import |
tant that the bridge Hhou1d belong to tho |
Grand Trunk, and the Grand Trunk alone, |
OtAe1 railway companies, OF course. will have |
poWt- to run through trs{ic over it upon |
paying to1ls-for instance, there is the Great |
Western Of CanadA. At the meeting yaster-
day their Chatrnnn spoke Of making thesouth-
ern line; but II that is made, the traffic viii |
run over ifty miles Of our buffalo branch. |
and orer this bridge, paying us tolls. OF |
Grand Trunk, il wo arc going to compete for |
traffic, to have control Of tie bridge, and it is |
m immense advantage to Us TINT it should be- 1
long solely to us. I cannot too strongly in |
FIST upon this point, that, If we have tho means
sufficient to make it, and il tho documents arc !
al IL order, the soonervo can mako hebtidge
the better"