Evening star., 1909-05-26
PROPERTY OF SWITZERLAND
CONFEDERATION ACQUIRES THE
ST. GoTHARD RAILWAY.
History Of the Enterprise, Which
Was Founded in 1S71-Terms
Of Purchase.

Special Cablegram to The Star.
GENEVA May 26.-The last of the
principal Swiss lines, the st. Gothard rail-
way. have become the property of the
Swiss confederation. The scheme OF
piercing the st. Gothard was drawn ur
in 1851. The construction Of the Bren-
ner and Mont Gents lines on the east and
west frontiers Of Switzerland forced the
Swiss government, under the penalty OF
serious economic loss. to build a railway
across the Alps. 1t was at this time
tha, the projects of boring the st. Goth
ard, the Simplon. and the Splugen re-
ceived serious attention.
In 1863 the Gothard Union, which rep
resented fifteen cantons and the Central
and Northeast Railway companies. was
formed and fought its way to success
Germany and Italy. which were both po-
litically and economically interested In be-
ing directly connected by an interna-
tional line passing through a neutral
state. were won over. and in September
Of. the same year a meeting was held
at Berne,. at which Prussia. WurtteEn-
berg, Baden, Italy and Switzerland were
represented. to consider the scheme.
Founded in Year 1871.
An agreement was arrived at. and in
1871 the st. Gothard Company was
founded. It's capital consisted Of state
subventions amounting to $17,OoOoOO. sub
scriptions of shareholders amounting to
SO. e00, 900. and loan Of $13, GOO, ,OOO-a to-
tai Of $37. 10000.
A Swiss engineer. NJ. Louis Favre. was
intrusted with the construction of the st.
Gothard tunnel, which he undertook to
complete within eight years at a cost OF
$4,000. 900. October 1. 1872. the first mine
In the rocks was exploded at Goschenen,
hiYt the great nntainS nroSenfod m2nV
unanticipated difficulties.
In 1877 the capital had to be increased
by $4,000. 600. of which S.. 10000 was sup
piled by Germany. Italy and Switzerland
as q supplementary subvention. On this
occasion the Swiss government adopted
the compromise. proposed by NJ. Week
Remnold. which assured the Simplon and
the eastern Alpine lines public subsidies.
Engineer Dies Of Apoplexy.
The engineer. NJ. Favre. never saw the
completion of his great work; he died in
the tunnel In July. 1879. from a stroke of
apoplexy. The tunnel was pierced Febru-
ary q. l6o0s and the first train passed
through 1t from Goschenen to Aiorolo
January 1. 1880. and three months later
the new Alpine highway was opened to the
world. All the interested countries bene-
railway. and since 1883 the dividends
have never fallen below 6 per cent. Ac-
cording to the agreement Of 1879 the
Swiss government reserved the right OF
buying the st. Gothard within thirty
years, and the price arranged was twenty
Ave times the amount Of the net profits
Of the line during the last ten years OF
working. The st. Gothard Company at
first demanded $4s. 10000. but eventually
accepted $42 50O,O 600. The confederation
takes over the debt Of the company
$23.41SOO0. with 31s per cent interest, and
pays 81 .20O, GOO for expenses Of the issue
Of the company's loans.
The minor points have still to be set
tied between the government and the st.
Gothard Company. but no difficulties are
predicted.
All the railways Of Switzerland. with
few small exceptions, are now in the
hands Of the state.