chapter two hundred and twenty-six, of the acts of the year eighteen
hundred and fifty-four, is hereby authorized to be made, to the amount of two hundred thousand dollars, deliverable as follows, namely:
Whenever all the capital stock of the Southern Vermont Railroad, excepting not exceeding twenty shares, of one hundred dollars each, and one hundred thousand dollars of its mortgage bonds, with coupons attached, the whole amount being one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, payable in twenty years from the date of issue, with six per cent. interest, payable semi-annually at the Bank of Commerce, in the city of New York, and the aforesaid lease of said company to the Troy and Boston Railroad Company, together with the rent reserved therein of twelve thousand dollars per annum, payable semi-annually, shall have been transferred to the treasurer of the Commonwealth, for the future security of the Commonwealth for its whole loan of credit to the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company, in such manner as the attorney-general shall prescribe, and to the satisfaction of the governor and council, the state treasurer shall deliver one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars of said scrip to the treasurer of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company; and when the remaining portion of said bonds, with the coupons attached, shall be in like manner delivered to the state treasurer, he shall deliver to the treasurer of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company the balance of said scrip, amounting to seventy-five thousand dollars: _provided_, that if any holders of said bonds, not exceeding ten thousand dollars in all, shall refuse to surrender the same at par, the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company shall not be required to purchase the same, but the state treasurer shall withhold an equal amount of state scrip at par in lieu thereof.
The semi-annual payments of the coupons, with the balance of the income from the lease of the Southern Vermont Railroad, shall be collected by or paid to the state treasurer, who shall therefrom pay the interest on the two hundred thousand dollars of five per cent. scrip herein authorized to be issued, and shall pay the balance to the commissioners of the sinking fund of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad loan, to be by them from time to time invested as is now by law required.
The Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company shall, as soon as may be after the passage of this act, procure from the legislature of the slate of Vermont the requisite authority for purchasing, holding and mortgaging to the Commonwealth the franchise, railroad and property of the Southern Vermont Railroad Company, according to the provisions of this act; and in case such authority shall not be granted, and any want of security by reason thereof accrue to the Commonwealth, the governor and council shall withhold from the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company portions of scrip constituting the last deliveries to be made on the completion of the tunnel, to such amount, not exceeding two hundred thousand dollars, as may be required for further security.
SECT. 9. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith, are hereby repealed: _provided_, _however_, that such repeal shall not, and nothing contained in this act shall, have effect or be construed in anyway to release or impair any security which the Commonwealth now has or may hereafter have by force of the bond and mortgage now held by the Commonwealth on the franchise, railroad and property of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company.
_Approved April 4, 1860._
[1862.--Chapter 156.]
AN ACT providing for the more speedy completion of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad and Hoosac Tunnel.
_Be it enacted, &c., as follows:_
SECT. 1. The governor, with the advice of the council, is hereby authorized and directed to appoint three able, impartial and skilful commissioners to investigate the subject of finishing the Troy and Greenfield Railroad, and of tunneling the Hoosac Mountain, whose duty it shall be to report to the governor and council what, in their judgment, will be the most economical, practical and advantageous method of completing said road and tunnel, the estimated cost of fitting the same for use, the time within which the tunnel can be completed, and what contracts can be effected, and with what parties, for completing said tunnel and road, and the probable cost of the same, the probable pecuniary value of the road and tunnel when completed, the sources and amount of traffic and income, and all other facts in their opinion useful to assist the governor and council in determining the best method of securing a continuous railroad communication between Troy and Greenfield.
SECT. 2. The Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company is hereby authorized to surrender to the slate, the property now mortgaged; but the right of redemption shall not be barred until ten years have elapsed after said road and tunnel are completed and the same open for use. The said commissioners shall immediately, in the name of the Commonwealth, take complete possession under the mortgages to the Commonwealth, given by the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company, of all property, rights and interests intended to be conveyed by said mortgages, or either of them, and then shall, without unnecessary delay, cause the said railroad to be completed and put into running order, and supplied with suitable depots, turn-tables and other usual and necessary appliances for the reception of freight and passenger cars, from the eastern terminus of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad to the Hoosac Tunnel.
SECT. 3. Said commissioners shall audit and allow all just claims for labor, service, materials, land-damages incurred after April sixth, eighteen hundred and sixty, and before July twelfth, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, in carrying on the work of constructing the Troy and Greenfield Railroad and Hoosac Tunnel, and may procure the release of all attachments and discharge all liens on said materials. The accounts thus audited shall be transmitted to the governor, and, if approved by the governor and council, the governor is hereby directed to draw his warrant upon the treasurer in favor of the claimants, for the amounts thus allowed, to an amount not exceeding one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars.
SECT. 4. Said commissioners are hereby authorized, with consent of the governor and council, to use or run that portion of said road east of the Hoosac Mountain, or lease the same to the "Vermont and Massachusetts," the "Fitchburg," the "Troy and Boston Railroad Company," or either of them, until the completion of the said tunnel.
SECT. 5. Said commissioners shall have authority, with the approval of the governor and council, to continue the work on the Hoosac Tunnel, and by contract or otherwise, to expedite the completion of said tunnel.
SECT. 6. All the net earnings and income derived from said railroad, including the tunnel, shall be held by the Commonwealth in trust: first, for the payment and reimbursement of the interest on all loans, advancements and disbursements of the Commonwealth, on account of said railroad or tunnel: second, for the payment and reimbursement to all parties having a legal right thereto.
SECT. 7. The governor is hereby authorized to draw his warrant on the treasurer of the Commonwealth, for such sums as may be required from time to time by the commissioners for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this act, and the amount of the same is hereby appropriated therefore; and the treasurer of the Commonwealth is hereby authorized to issue scrip, or certificates of debts, in the name and in behalf of the Commonwealth, to an extent sufficient to secure the required funds, which scrip shall bear such rate of interest, as is allowed at the time on state scrip issued for other purposes, and shall be redeemable at the end of thirty years from the date thereof; and he shall sell or otherwise use the same at his discretion, to procure the sum necessary to meet the payments in this act provided: provided, that all expenditures and advances made under and by virtue of this act, shall be on account, and form part of the two millions of dollars, authorized to be loaned in state scrip to the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company by chapter two hundred and twenty-six of the acts of eighteen hundred and fifty-four; and said expenditures and advances, together with all sums hitherto advanced to said company, excepting the sums advanced on account of the "Southern Vermont Railroad," shall not exceed in amount the said two millions of dollars. Such changes may be made in the location and grades of the road, as may be necessary to improve the same; and no lease shall be made of the portion of the road east of the tunnel for a term exceeding six years; nor shall such portion be constructed without the approval of the governor and council.
SECT. 8. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith, are hereby repealed.
SECT. 9. This act shall take effect upon its passage.
_Approved April 28, 1862._
[1863.--Chapter 214.]
AN ACT in addition to "an Act providing for the more speedy completion of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad and Hoosac Tunnel."
_Be it enacted, &c., as follows:_
SECT. 1. The commissioners appointed under the one hundred and fifty-sixth chapter of the acts of eighteen hundred and sixty-two, are hereby authorized, subject to the advice and approval of the governor and council, to construct, complete and equip the Troy and Greenfield Railroad and Hoosac Tunnel; and to make such alterations in the line of said road as may be deemed necessary to render it suitable and proper for part of a thorough line from Troy to Boston; also such alterations in the location and dimensions of said tunnel as will render it suitable and proper for use, in accordance with the spirit and intent of the two hundred and twenty-sixth chapter of the acts of eighteen hundred and fifty-four.
SECT. 2. The governor is hereby authorized to draw his warrant on the treasurer of the Commonwealth for such sums as may be required from time to time by said commissioners for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this act, and the act or acts to which this is in addition; and there is accordingly hereby appropriated for the purpose of constructing and completing said tunnel and railroad and equipping the the same, and paying interest upon such scrip, as has been or may be issued during the progress of the work, the unexpended balance of the two millions of dollars authorized by chapter two hundred and twenty-six of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and fifty-four, and referred to in chapter one hundred and fifty-six of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and sixty-two. And the treasurer of the Commonwealth is hereby authorized, upon the warrant of the governor drawn as aforesaid, to issue scrip or certificates of debt to the amount of said appropriation, which shall be expressed in such currency and shall bear such rate of interest as the governor and council may direct, and shall be redeemable at the end of thirty years from the date thereof: and said treasurer shall sell or otherwise dispose of the same as he may deem proper, subject to the approval of the governor and council.
SECT. 3. Said commissioners', and their successors in office, shall be removable by the governor, with the advice of the council, and in case of any vacancy occasioned by death; resignation or removal, such vacancy shall be filled by appointment of the governor, with the advice of the council; and said commissioners shall, once in three months, and oftener if required, present to the governor and council an account of all contracts entered into by them as such commissioners, and of all payments and charges by them made, by virtue of their commission, with their vouchers therefore, which vouchers and accounts shall be examined, and if found correct, and in good faith, shall be allowed by the governor and council; but no lease of any part of said railroad, nor any contract amounting to more than ten thousand dollars shall be made by said commissioners without the of the governor and council.
SECT. 4. Said commissioners in altering the location of the line of said road shall have the same power as railroad corporations have in making locations under existing laws, and may take, by purchase or otherwise, such lands, or easements therein, as may be needed for any purposes connected with the construction of said tunnel, and all titles or easements so taken shall vest in the Commonwealth; and all parties aggrieved by any action of said commissioners, under this section, may have their damages assessed in the manner provided by law for the assessment of damages against railroad corporations; and all damages so assessed shall be paid from the treasury of the Commonwealth to the party entitled thereto, upon the warrant of the governor, drawn pursuant to the provisions of this act.
SECT. 5. Said commissioners, subject to the approval of the governor and council, shall have the power to use a part of the money appropriated by this act, not exceeding fifty thousand dollars, to extinguish any liens or claims, or rights of redemption which any person or corporation may have, in order to perfect the title of the Commonwealth to said railroad and tunnel.
SECT. 6. The contract executed by the Troy and Boston Railroad Company, on the eighteenth day of February, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, by the Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad Company on the twentieth day of said February, and by the Fitchburg Railroad Company on the twenty-third day of said month, printed on pages eighty-eight to ninety-four, inclusive, of the report of said commissioners made on the twenty-eighth day of February, aforesaid, and referred to in the message of the governor, dated the twelfth day of March, in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-three, is hereby approved, ratified and confirmed.
SECT. 7. The compensation or said commissioners shall be fixed by the governor, with the advice of the council; but the compensation of the chairman of said commissioners shall in no event exceed the sum of five thousand dollars per annum, nor shall the entire compensation of all of said commissioners exceed the sum of seven thousand dollars per annum.
_Approved April 29, 1868._
[C.]
_Statement of J. W. Brooks, Esq., Chairman of the Commissioners, made to the Committee during the session of the Legislature, 1866._
The first Act for loaning the credit of the State to the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company, dated April 5, 1854, provides, besides other conditions, that when seven miles of the road in one or two sections is completed, and 1,000 feet of the tunnel, in one or more sections, sufficient for one or more tracks is completed, then $100,000 of scrip shall be delivered to the company.
The size of the tunnel required by this Act is not definitely stated, nor what proportion of the $100,000 of scrip is loaned on account of the tunnel.
The Act of April 4, 1860, defines the size the tunnel to be 14 feet wide and 18 feet high. If this means excavation and not completed tunnel, then the room required for the ballast and drainage would reduce the height to about 16 feet above the rails; a size absurdly small enough to be regarded as certainly not above the minimum intended by the Act. The same Act provides that $30 per foot shall be allowed on account of heading, and $20 on account of the enlargement, making $50 per foot for the completed tunnel; $50,000 of the first advance may therefore be considered as on account of the first 1,000 feet of completed tunnel, and the remainder, say $50,000, on account of the road which had been then completed west of the tunnel.
The second delivery of scrip was on account of the tunnel, and under the provisions of the' Act of 1859, which provides that $50,000 may be advanced upon the completion of 1,000 feet of heading. The heading was done and $49,777.78 delivered October 4, 1859.
The third delivery of scrip was under the provisions of the same Act, and was on account of grading three miles of road, in detached pieces, near Greenfield. For this, $50,222.22 was delivered January 3, 1860.
The fourth delivery was under the same Act, and for completing the second 1,000 feet of tunnel, for which $30,222.22, was delivered March 1, 1860.
An Act changing the terms of the loan was passed April 4, 1860. Section 2 divides the scrip remaining undelivered, as follows: "No further deliveries of scrip shall be made to said company upon the conditions authorized in former Acts, but the undelivered portions of the loan of two millions of dollars authorized by chapter two hundred and twenty-six of the Acts of eighteen hundred and fifty-four, amounting to one million seven hundred and seventy thousand dollars, shall be divided and apportioned between the railroad and tunnel, and for the construction of each, respectively: 'six hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the completion of the unfinished portion of railroad extending from the eastern terminus of said road near Greenfield, to within half a mile of the eastern end of Hoosac Tunnel."
Section 3 contains the following provisions: "The governor and council shall annually appoint a state engineer for the purpose of examining and determining monthly the amount and value of the work done, and materials delivered on the railroad and tunnel of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company, who shall receive an annual salary of one thousand dollars, payable quarterly. The state engineer shall forthwith fix permanent marks in each end of the Hoosac Tunnel, marking the progress of the work up to February twenty-fourth, eighteen hundred and sixty, from which to determine the progress subsequently made. He shall also determine by suitable notes, marks or observations, the amount and value of all grading, bridging, masonry, or other work done, or iron, or other materials delivered on the road east of the Hoosac Tunnel, prior to December twenty-second, eighteen hundred and fifty-nine, and fix data from which to determine the value of any work, or materials delivered subsequent to the date last named. He shall monthly, immediately after the first day of each month, estimate the proportion which' the work done upon the road, since the preceding estimate, bears to the whole of the work required to be done in the graduation, masonry, bridging, and superstructure of said railroad east of the Hoosac Tunnel; and also the work done in the excavation of said tunnel, which he shall certify separately to the governor, together with the amount of state scrip to which the company is entitled under the provisions of this Act. Such monthly estimates shall be based upon a width of road-bed at grade of fifteen feet, on embankments, seventeen and a half feet in side cuts, and twenty feet in through cuts; in the heading of the tunnel upon dimensions fourteen feet wide and six feet high in the middle, and in the finished excavation of the tunnel of fourteen feet wide and eighteen feet high in the middle.
"The deliveries of scrip shall be at the rate of fifty dollars for each lineal foot of tunnel, divided between heading and full-sized tunnel, in the proportion of thirty dollars for each lineal foot of heading and twenty dollars per lineal foot for the remaining excavation; and of six hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the whole of the graduation, masonry, bridging, and superstructure of the unfinished portion of the road east of the tunnel.
"The Scrip shall be delivered on the road in the proportion which the value of the work done and the materials delivered each month bears to the estimated cost of the whole work and materials required on the portion of road aforesaid.
"No expenditures shall be required merely for the purposes of ornament, but the work shall be substantially performed, and the rails shall weigh not less than fifty-six pounds to the lineal yard; for any defective materials or work, a proportionate amount of scrip shall be withheld.
"The governor and council shall have a general supervision of the work, and for that purpose shall visit and inspect the same at least once in each year, and as much oftener as they may deem expedient; and they shall have power to correct abuses, remedy defects, and enforce requirements, by withholding scrip or imposing new requirements in such manner as the interest of the Commonwealth shall in their judgment require."
Under the provisions of this Act scrip to the amount of $455,034.70 has been delivered on account of the railroad and $40,131.95 on account of the tunnel.
State scrip was delivered in sterling up to and including the delivery of March 7, 1861, and afterwards in dollar bonds. In this statement the sterling is changed into dollars, to show it all in one currency, and the pound sterling is reckoned, as by the State treasurer when the deliveries were made, at $4.44-44/100.
The certificates for amounts due on account of the railroad or tunnel were for irregular sums, and the scrip delivered was in round amounts; the fractional difference sometimes in excess and sometimes below the amount of the certificates is divided between the tunnel and railroad in proportion to the amount due on account of each.
Stated and divided as above, the scrip which has been delivered on account of the railroad and tunnel, is as follows:--
========================================================================= | | On account | On account of| Date. | On account | of road west| road of east | Total. | of Tunnel. | of Tunnel.| of Tunnel. | ------------------+------------+-------------+--------------+------------ 1858, October, 6, | $50,000 00 | $50,000 00 | - | $100,000 00 1859, October 4, | 49,777 78 | - | - | 49,777 78 1860, January 3, | - | - | $50,222 22 | 50,222 22 1860, March 1, | 80,222 22 | - | - | 80,222 22 1860, October 8, | 15,829 79 | - | 64,170 21 | 80,000 00 1860, Dec. 12, | 5,580 37 | - | 112,197 40 | 117,777 77 1861, January 5, | 2,781 99 | - | 30,601 34 | 38,883 83 1861, February 18,| 2,545 83 | - | 23,281 95 | 25,777 78 1861, March 7, | 2,052 82 | - | 19,724 95 | 21,777 77 1861, May 8, | 5,061 65 | - | 80,438 35 | 85,500 00 1861, June 27, | 2,831 89 | - | 84,668 11 | 37,500 00 1861, July 12, | 3,497 61 | - | 90,002 39 | 93,500 00 +------------+-------------+--------------+------------ |$170,131 95 | $50,000 00 | $505,256 92 | $125,388 87 =========================================================================
The amount of State scrip which according to statutes, had been earned by the progress made towards constructing the tunnel before the surrender of the property to the State, may be stated as follows:--
Strictly considered, no portion of the tunnel at the East End was cut to the required size of 14 feet wide and 18 feet high, much of it was less than 12 feet wide, and some of it only about 13 feet high. At the entrance the excavation was so nearly sufficient that only a small amount more was required to bring it to full size, and had all the rest been well done, a not very exacting inspector might have passed 25 feet of this as completed. The remaining 2,964 feet of penetration at this end could form no ground whatever for a claim as completed work.
At the West Shaft the heading had been driven in both directions 56-1/2 feet.
At the West End the total penetration had been 543 feet. Of this distance 26 feet had been arched with stone--40 feet is in rock, standing without support, and 477 feet is temporarily supported with timbers. Under the assumption that the 40 feet left unsupported is safe enough to be left permanently 80, then 66 feet was completed at this end, giving at all points a total penetration of 3,588-1/2 feet, of which, 91 feet was completed.
It is clear that the payment of $50,000, under the Act of April 5, 1854, for 1,000 feet of completed tunnel, was not earned.
Under the Act of 1859, scrip to the amount of $50,000 was to be delivered upon the completion of 1,000 feet of heading, and though the prior conditions of this Act had not been complied with, this amount may fairly be considered as having been earned.
The next payment of $30,222.22 for the completion of the second 1,000 feet of tunnel was clearly not earned.
All subsequent payments were made under the Act of April 4, 1860, providing for the payment of $30 per foot for heading and $20 per foot for the enlargement.
The total amount according to the several Acts is as follows:--
Under the Act of 1859,-- For 1,000 feet of heading, $50,000 00 Under Act of 1860,-- For balance of heading, say 2,588-1/2 feet, at $30 per foot, 77,655 00 For 91 feet of enlargement, at $20 per foot, 1,820 00 ----------- Total amount earned, $129,475 00
The amount of State scrip which under the statute had been earned by the progress made in constructing the railroad may now be considered.
The first payment of $50,000 under the Act of 1854, should have been for seven miles of completed railroad. The certificate of the engineer, upon which it was paid, gave (see page 82 of House document No. 185 for 1860,) the length of rails laid as upwards of seven miles; nothing in the certificate showed then any part of it was completed road, and upon investigation then made it proved that while most of it was done, a part near the west end of the tunnel "was not ten feet wide," and would cost several thousand dollars to complete it. It is clear that this payment had not then been earned in the manner provided by the statute.
The second payment was on account of the road, under the Act of 1859, for grading three miles of road, "said three miles being all situated within four miles of the point of commencement;" Page 30 of House document No. 185 for 1860 says of this grading, "the continuous line is interrupted by fourteen gaps of cuts and fills;" it is thus made up of fifteen separate pieces, avoiding all but the cheapest part of the work, and costing, as the contractor who did the work certifies, between $8,000 and $9,000. Under, to say the least, a somewhat liberal construction of the Act, $50,000 was said to have been earned by doing this grading.
All further deliveries of scrip have been under the Act of 1860, which provides that the $650,000 to be delivered on account of the road east of the tunnel shall be in proportion to the progress made upon the work. On page 15, (Senate document No. 93 for 1863,) the cost of the work done and materials furnished upon the road east of the tunnel is stated at $463,047 90
Deduct amount first expended, as testified by the contractor, for which the $50,000 was paid, say 8,500 00
Amount expended under the $650,000 appropriation, including the cost of worthless bridging and masonry, $454,547 90
The cost of completing the grading, bridging, masonry and superstructure upon this part of the road, as estimated by Mr. Laurie in 1862, was $370,970 80
Deduct the cost of a small change in the line, and of embankment washed away by the Deerfield River, 5,275 00
Sum required to complete the road upon the old line where the work stopped, $365,695 80
Amount already expended under the $650,000 appropriation, 454,547 90
Amount expended and to be expended at the then prices, $820,243 70
Of which 55 per cent. had been done when the work stopped, in July, 1861. 55-416/1000 per cent. therefore of the $650,000 had been earned, and this amounts to $360,204 00
The total amounts earned and paid compare as follows: Amount paid upon the tunnel, $170,131 95 Amount paid upon the road west of the tunnel, 50,000 00 Amount paid upon the road east of the tunnel, 505,256 92 ---------- $725,388 87
Amount earned upon the tunnel, $129,475 00 Amount earned upon the road west of tunnel, (not fully earned,) 50,000 00 Amount earned upon the road east of tunnel, (temporary work included,) 410,204 00 ---------- 589,679 00 ----------- $135,709 87 Overpayment in reckoning sterling exchange, say 44,000 00 Overpayment when the work stopped, in July, 1861, $179,709 87 ----------- Further payments made upon the same work under the law of 1862, 140,226 95 ----------- Total amount paid more than earned, $319,936 82
If proper deductions had been made from the amount earned on account of the unfinished condition of the seven miles west of the tunnel, on which the first $50,000 was paid, and on account of the worthless masonry and bridging which have been reckoned in at full cost, the overpayments would be shown more correctly to exceed in amount the sum of $350,000.
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
All obvious typographical errors were corrected. Tables containing decimal fractions were standardized to show decimals for all values in the column. Spelling was standardized to the most prevalent form. Punctuation was left as printed.
On page 42 the curve value 3-1/2° was changed to 3° 30' to match the other similar values. The sum of the shares in the table in Appendix A on pages 50-51 should total 4,610 shares but was printed as 0,000. This was assumed to be a typographical error.