USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > The memorial history of Boston : including Suffolk County, Massachusetts. 1630-1880, Vol. IV > Part 15
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Commonwealth those benefits which are now derived by other States ?
" It may be said, with sufficient plausibility, that if an unabatable evil does exist, let it be converted to the best possible purposes. All constructive crimes, including such as come within the antiquated systems of sumptuary jurisprudence, are not deemed by the people as immoral, per se; and it is an axiom in ethics as well as legislation, that doubtful or imaginary offences should not hastily be made penal. . . .
"The Commissioners would be the last among their fellow-citizens to sanction immorality, or impair the omnipotence of justice ; but with deference offer such remarks as may tend to the development of truth, the confirmation of what shall be found salutary, and the rejection of that which is supererogatory in our generally most excellent code of laws.
"Should a lottery be resorted to as one of the means of raising funds, it can be affirmed with confidence that twenty thousand dollars may be thus annually obtained, and probably a much greater sum." - Report, pp. 177, 178.
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THE CANAL AND RAILROAD ENTERPRISE OF BOSTON.
read accounts of what was then going on in England, and bethought him- self how he could turn it to use in the work he had in hand here. That work was the building of the monument; and long after its completion he thus told his own story : -
" I had, previous to [the laying of the corner-stone ] purchased a stone-quarry (the funds being furnished by Dr. John C. Warren) for the express purpose of procuring the granite for constructing this monument. This quarry was in Quincy, nearly four
GRIDLEY BRYANT.1
miles from water-carriage. This suggested to me the idea of a railroad (the Man- chester and Liverpool Railroad being in contemplation at that time, but was not begun until the spring following) ; accordingly, in the fall of eighteen hundred and twenty- five I consulted Thomas H. Perkins, William Sullivan, Amos Lawrence, Isaac P. Davis, and David Moody, all of Boston, in reference to it. These gentlemen thought the project visionary and chimerical ; but, being anxious to aid the Bunker-Hill Monu- ment, consented that I might see what could be done. I awaited the meeting of our Legislature in the winter of 1825-26, and after every delay and obstruction
1 [This cut follows a likeness owned by his Works of the Civil and Military Engineers of America, which contains another likeness of him taken at a later age, was printed separately in Boston in 1871 .- ED.]
son, G. J. F. Bryant, Esq., and painted when his father was about forty-five years old. The memoir of Gridley Bryant in Stuart's Lives and
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THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
that could be thrown in the way, I finally obtained a charter, although there was great opposition in the House. The questions were asked, 'What do we know about railroads? Who ever heard of such a thing? Is it right to take people's land for a project that no one knows anything about? We have corporations enough al- ready.' Such and similar objections were made, and various restrictions were im- posed ; but it finally passed by a small majority only. Unfavorable as the charter was, it was admitted that it was obtained by my exertions ; but it was owing to the munificence and public spirit of Colonel T. H. Perkins that we were indebted for the
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS.1
whole enterprise. None of the first-named gentlemen ever paid any assessments, and the whole stock finally fell into the hands of Colonel Perkins. . . . I surveyed several routes from the quarry purchased (called the Bunker-Hill Quarry) to the nearest tide-water ; and finally the present location was decided upon. I commenced the work on the first day of April, 1826, and on the seventh day of October following the first train of cars passed over the whole length of the road."
1 [An engraving of a portrait of Colonel Per- kins by Gambadella is prefixed to T. G. Cary's Life of Thomas H. Perkins, 1856. It was painted about 1837, when the Colonel was seventy-seven years old. The above cut follows a photograph of it furnished by Colonel Henry Lee. The origi- nal belongs to Colonel Perkins's eldest daughter,
Mrs. Samuel Cabot of Brookline. Mason, Stu- art, p. 239, records portraits of Colonel T. H. Perkins by that artist, owned by Mrs. T. G. Cary and by Mrs. Wm. H. Gardiner. Both of these show an earlier age; as does a fine full- length by Sully, owned by the Boston Athenæum. -ED.]
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THE CANAL AND RAILROAD ENTERPRISE OF BOSTON.
Bryant might also have added that this event, brought about by him, gave the death-blow to the great Massachusetts Canal project, backed as it was by surveys and estimates and the reports of commissioners, and the recommendations of the executive itself. A railroad party had, in fact, already come into existence as opposed to the canal party ; and the op- posing forces in the Legislature so held each other in equilibrium that it seemed for a time as if nothing at all would be done. Governor Lincoln, in his ·message at the opening of the June session of the Legislature, had called attention to this fact; and, himself a warm advocate of canals, en- deavored to point out that, in urging their construction, no "exclusive char- acter of improvement [was] contemplated." The advocates of railroads were in a majority in the House, while the Senate was conservative. A petition had been presented by Colonel Perkins and others praying that surveys might be made for a railway from Boston to the Hudson; and on motion of Dr. Abner Phelps, one of the representatives from Boston, a joint committee to sit during the recess, and " consider the practicability and ex- pediency of constructing " such a railway, was ordered on the part of the House. The order, however, was non-concurred in by the Senate, and had finally to be so amended as to provide for a select committee of the House alone. It was composed of Dr. Abner Phelps, George W. Adams, of Bos- ton, - a son of President J. Q. Adams, - and Emory Washburn, of Wor- cester, afterward Governor. This was the first concerted action looking to the construction of a commercial railway through the State. That it was now taken was also unquestionably due to Bryant's success in obtain- ing his charter for the smaller enterprise, which, having a distinct object in view both practical and patriotic, had not aroused conservative appre- hensions.1
At the time, Bryant's work excited an almost unequalled interest throughout the country, and it is still mentioned in every school history of the United States as the commencement of an epoch. It was in fact a pioneer American undertaking, the originator of which had closely studied that English railway literature which was then coming into exist- ence. Although Stephenson had already, in a rude way, introduced loco- motive steam-power on the Stockton & Darlington road, Bryant made no attempt at anything of that sort. Indeed, had he done so he would have
1 How completely uninformed the public mind then was on the subject of railways is, however, well illustrated by the following in- cident. Dr. Phelps was an enthusiast, and, like most enthusiasts, probably somewhat wearisome to others. It so happened that about the time his special committee was appointed John Adams died. A number of members of the Legislature went out to attend his funeral at Quincy ; and, after it was over, they returned to Boston by way of Milton, in order to look at Gridley Bry- ant's railway, then in process of construction. Dr. Phelps was of the party ; as also was Mr.
Webster. The two had some conversation on the new project, which resulted in the latter finally remarking : " Well, it is certainly a sub- ject for very grave consideration whether roads for general travel cannot be made as you pro- pose." A less profound or more non-committal response in reply to a man possessed with a hob- by could not easily have been framed. Yet Dr. Phelps, who apparently had been made some- what sensitive by ridicule, derived from it, as he afterward stated in a letter giving an account of these events, "great encouragement and satis- faction."
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THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
ruined his enterprise. His views were confined to horse power, and he built an improved tramway rather than a modern railroad. The really memorable thing about it was his ingenuity in devising the appliances nec- essary to its successful operation. These were very remarkable, including as they did the switch, the portable derrick, the turn-table, and the movable truck for the eight-wheel railroad-car. All these contrivances subsequently passed into general use; and the movable truck having, six years later, - in 1834, - been patented by other parties, became the subject of a litigation which occupied the courts for five years, and cost, it is said, some $250,000. The claim of Bryant as its inventor was sustained. He had, however, no legal right to any royalty on its use, nor did he ever receive anything from it. He died quite poor in 1867. .
The Granite Railway, including its branches, was four miles in length, and cost $50,000. It began at the quarry end with an inclined plane, by
THE GRANITE RAILWAY.1
means of which eighty-four feet vertical fall was here accomplished in three hundred and fifteen feet of gradual descent. The road then dropped gently down to tide-water level by grades of sixty-six, thirteen, and twenty-six feet to the mile. As the traffic was all in the direction of these grades, single horses could of course move with ease just as heavy loads as the structure would bear; the only difficulties being to retard the loaded cars going down, and to draw the unloaded cars back. The road was constructed of stone sleepers, or ties, eight feet apart, upon which were laid longitudi- nal wooden rails, protected by strap-iron plates three inches wide and one fourth of an inch thick. The wooden rails were subsequently replaced by stone. This railway was operated, always by horse-power, for about forty years. At last, it having then been for a time in disuse, its franchise was purchased by the Old Colony Railroad Company ; the ancient structure was completely demolished, and a modern railroad was built on the right of way. This was formally opened for traffic on Oct. 9, 1871 ;- forty-five years and two days after the original opening in 1826. There is a certain historical fitness in the fact that, through the incorporation of the Granite
1 [This is a fac-simile of a contemporary cut of stone. See Snow's Geography of Boston, 1830, showing the method of transporting large blocks
p. 159 .- ED.]
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THE CANAL AND RAILROAD ENTERPRISE OF BOSTON.
Railway into the Old Colony, the line which connects Plymouth with Boston has become the original railroad line in America.
With the appointment of the Phelps committee the railroad question in Massachusetts passed into its first, or educational, stage. This lasted four years, and until the granting of the charters for the Providence and Lowell roads in 1830. It was a tedious intermediate period. The necessity for do- ing something was becoming more and more apparent. The impulse given to New York by the rapid development of traffic through the Erie Canal had already drawn all the interests and connections of the western part of the State in that direction; and the central counties, following the course of the Connecticut, were rapidly following. So far as the commercial situa- tion was concerned, the future of Boston must indeed at this time have seemed almost hopeless. Meanwhile, the sentiment of the State moved very slowly. On all questions touching property, especially property in land, the Legislature of Massachusetts has always been a singularly conser- vative body. It is so still; but during the years of the railroad discussion it was infinitely more so than now. It was in fact then a regular squirarchy. The large manufacturing towns of the interior were just coming into life, and had not yet begun to exercise much political influence. The State as a whole was still agricultural and commercial. The representatives of the commercial towns were, however, few in number, and opposed to them were the country gentry, - a colonial type which has since almost disap- peared, but which in 1826 yet continued to be the traditional power in the General Courts. As regularly as the sessions were held, the same represen- tative men of this class appeared, and the part taken by them in the con- duct of business was an active one. They were the leaders of the landed interest; and the landed interest was the dominant interest. These men had many stirling qualities, but for mental receptiveness they were not re- markable. Moving them was a slow process. The schemes, also, that were advanced during this period were all based on the precedent of the Erie Canal. That was a Government project, carried through on the public credit ; private enterprise had little to do with it. It was a monument to Governor De Witt Clinton and to the Legislatures influenced by him. Accordingly, all the canals and railroads now recommended by commit- tees, and commissions, and boards of public works looked to State aid for encouragement; and the Legislature did not evince the slightest disposition to extend any such aid. The country representatives listened to the exhor- tations of Dr. Phelps, even though backed by the recommendations of Gov- ernor Lincoln, with stolid indifference. As the result proved, also, it was well that they did so. Their instinctive unreasoning conservatism, though exasperating to the last degree then, as many times before and since, did the State good service. Private enterprise had constructed the Middlesex Canal and the Granite Railway. The brilliant success of the Erie Canal had for the moment led the more active minds of the community away from these safe precedents, and it required an experience drawn from actual
VOL. IV .- 16.
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THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
results in another quarter to bring people back to them. That experience for Boston was to be furnished by the merchants and manufacturers of Liverpool and Manchester in September, 1830. Meanwhile, during the interval, and before they made up their minds to help themselves, the lead- ers of public opinion in Boston employed their time and exercised their patience in trying to enlighten a succession of country members.
Dr. Abner Phelps made a report on behalf of the committee of which he was chairman, in January, 1827. He had gotten together a great many facts, and, arguing from them, proposed the building of what amounted to a magnified Granite Railway. In urging this scheme, as decidedly prefer- able to that of a canal, he yet followed the idea of a canal so closely that provision was made for paths for the drivers on each side of the road. Accordingly, the committee pronounced themselves satisfied " not only of the practicability, but of the expediency, of building a railway from Boston to the Hudson; " and they reported resolves for the appointment of three commissioners and an engineer to make surveys, plans, estimates, etc.
The reception by a portion of the press, at least, of his report and the conclusions embodied in it could scarcely have been satisfactory to Dr. Phelps and his colleagues on the committee. Mr. Joseph T. Buckingham, for instance, then editor of the Boston Courier, did not hesitate to write of it as follows in his paper of June 27, 1827 :-
" Alcibiades, or some other great man of antiquity, it is said, cut off his dog's tail that quidnuncs might not become extinct from want of excitement. Some such notion we doubt not moved one or two of our natural and experimental philosophers to get up the project of a railroad from Boston to Albany, -a project which every one knows, who knows the simplest rule in arithmetic, to be impracticable, but at an expense little less than the market value of the whole territory of Massachusetts ; and which, if practicable, every person of common-sense knows would be as useless as a railroad from Boston to the moon."
The Legislature did not treat the report quite so disrespectfully as Mr. Buckingham had done; but they paid no regard to its recommendations. Before being prorogued, however, they passed an act creating a " Board of Internal Improvements," to consist of three members, who were to employ an engineer and examine routes for canals and railways generally ; and sub- sequently this board was directed to survey a railway route from Boston to the Rhode Island line, and a canal route to the Blackstone. The members of the board were appointed, Willard Phillips, of Salem, being one of them ; but, as the only provision for their compensation, over expenses, was the modest one of four dollars a day, they apparently did not devote their whole energies to the work in hand. They appear to have made but one report, and that only on a local canal.
At its June session the Legislature was again besieged with petitions from Boston on the railway subject. They were now headed by Josiah Quincy, then Mayor of the city. In compliance with these petitions a resolve was
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THE CANAL AND RAILROAD ENTERPRISE OF BOSTON.
passed providing for two commissioners and an engineer, to report plans, surveys, and estimates for a railway on the best practicable route from Bos- ton to the Hudson. This resolve was made effective by an appropriation of $10,000; and something accordingly came of it. The commissioners submitted their report towards the end of January, 1828; and in it, while as practical men, fearful of seeming to favor anything which might give a visionary air to their recommendations, they spoke only of a road to be exclusively operated by animal power, they did discuss the possibility of movable engines. The report also contained the usual estimates of cost and traffic, and accurate instrumental surveys of portions of the projected routes. Of far more value than all this; however, was a reference to what was then going on in England, where a mania for railroad construc- tion had three years before broken out; the commissioners quoted from the famous Quarterly Review article of March, 1825, - that article which, though intelligent and progressive in its whole tone, earned an immortality of ridicule by the unfortunate prophecy that the writer of it would " as soon expect people to suffer themselves to be fired off upon one of Congreve's ricochet rockets, as trust themselves " to be " whirled at the rate of eighteen or twenty miles an hour by means of a high-pressure engine." The article referred, however, to the fact that in a single month associations had been formed in England " for construction of three thousand miles of these iron roads, at an expense of £20,000,000 sterling." Without intending it, therefore, the commissioners here pointed out to those composing the business community of Boston the course they also were to pursue. The time had not yet come however, when, recurring to sound principles, these were to stop trying to educate farmers, and put their hands in their own pockets, and their shoulders to the wheel.
In the Legislature this report of the commissioners took the regular course. It was referred to the proper committee, which, "after mature examination of the facts and statements contained " in it, got so far as to express an opinion that the question of railroad construction had "assumed a new and greater importance." The canal scheme was however now defi- nitely dismissed. The public mind had, therefore, at last gotten away from one portion of the mischievous New York precedent, and it only remained for it to get rid of the other portion of it, -that which had led to the belief that nothing was practicable except through the action of Government. The policy of the State was now fixed in favor of a railroad system. Accordingly, in March, an act was passed creating a Board of Directors of Internal Improvements, to consist of nine persons, who were to serve with- out compensation. The members of this board were chosen by the Legis- lature, and Governor Lincoln was put first upon it; its real moving spirit, however, was Nathan Hale, of Boston. Mr. Hale at that time edited the Daily Advertiser, and his services as a railroad educator during these and the following years were very great. At a later period he became the presi- dent of the company which built the first Boston road opened to traffic, -
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THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
for in those days everything connected with the nascent system had to be improvised; and, just as during the Revolution physicians, farmers, and booksellers were turned into generals, so half a century later editors and merchants served as railroad presidents, while mechanics and schoolmasters became engineers and surveyors.
NATHAN HALE.ª
The new Board of Directors organized at once, and in January of the next year (1829) still another report, and one more elaborate than any which had preceded, was laid before the Legislature. This report and the accompanying surveys furnished the basis on which the locations of the earlier Boston roads were subsequently made. It was the work of Mr. Hale, and is a clear, well-written, business-like document. In it the routes, the traffic, and the financial prospects of the proposed lines were discussed,
1 [This follows a likeness hanging in the President's room of the Boston & Albany Railroad Station. - ED.]
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THE CANAL AND RAILROAD ENTERPRISE OF BOSTON.
and the construction of a double-track railway was recommended, in which Bryant's methods at Quincy were to be closely followed. The rails, the space between which was to be graded for a horse path, were to be of strap-iron, secured on longitudinal blocks of granite five feet apart. The question of motive power was fairly considered, and the future possibili- ties of steam recognized. The famous Rainhill trials near Liverpool were not made until nine months after this report was presented, and accordingly the success of the locomotive engine was not yet established. The con- struction of a railway to be operated by horse power alone was, therefore, still contemplated.
With this report the educational period came to a close. Great progress had already been made in the direction of a reliance on private enterprise, but the Directors of Internal Improvements could only see their way to looking to it for a portion of the means required. They said emphatically that " the assistance of the Government in some manner and to some ex- tent, in aid of individual enterprise and exertion, must be given to the work." Governor Lincoln, also, in his message, recommended a stock sys- tem guaranteed by the State. Most fortunately even these repeated and importunate recommendations failed to overcome the conservatism of the country representatives. They seemed impervious to either argument or entreaty. The Legislature of 1829 adjourned accordingly without taking any definite action on the report.
Before the Legislature of 1830 met, the performances of George Steph- enson's "Rocket" had signalled to the world the advent of a new era. Mr. Hale, as editor, now supplemented his work as a director on the Board of Internal Improvements. He spread before the people of the State, in the columns of the Advertiser, every detail of the Rainhill trials. The result was immediate. All the slow educational work of the six preceding years seemed to bear fruit in a day, - not in the Legislature, but in the market- place. Individual enterprise at last came to the front, and when the Legislature met in January, 1830, petitions for the incorporation of private railroad companies were presented to it.
The struggle, however, was not yet quite over. Legislative conservatism now took a new form. The objections which Bryant had been obliged to overcome in getting the charter for the Granite Railway five years before were repeated again. The science of railroad financiering as since devel- oped was then as little understood as that of railroad construction. The first condition to the building of a road on the basis now proposed was the raising the necessary money. The decision in the great case of the Charles- town bridges, in which the charter for the original bridge had been held not to be exclusive, so that a new bridge had been built parallel to the old one, destroying it as a property, -this decision had been rendered only one year before, and was consequently very fresh in the minds of stock- holders. If members from the country, therefore, were conservative, cap- italists on their side were timid. Hence a tedious legislative contest yet
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THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
ensued. On the one hand, the private enterprise which stood ready to build the roads insisted, before doing so, on having a franchise guaranteeing ex- clusive railroad rights between termini; on the other hand, the Legislature refused to grant any such monopoly. At last, however, in the case of one route, - that between Boston and Lowell, - the exclusive right asked for was conceded for a period of forty years. Accordingly, the charter was in this case accepted, the company speedily organized, and books of subscrip- tion for the first Boston railroad were opened.
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