Contract for the Passage of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. 407 ART. X.-INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. TEHUANTEPEC RAIL-ROAD.-NEW-ORLEANS AND WESTERN-ROAD.-MEMPHIS AND HOLLY SPRINGS ROAD.-SOUTH CAROLINA RAIL-ROAD.-MACON AND WESTERN-ROAD.-PHILADELPHIA RAIL-ROADS TO THE WEST.-SOUTHERN RAIL-ROADS.-RUSK'S RAIL-ROAD BILL.TEXAS RAIL-ROADS, ETC. THE Mexican government, persisting in their denial of the validity of the Garay grant,upon which we had so much to say in our January number, have by a formal contract conceded the passage of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec to Mr. Sloo and others. We have seen a summary of the provisions of the new grant, and regard it of sufficient importance to be copied at length. ART. 1. Provides that the communication is to be by water as far as the Guatzacualco river is navigable. 2. A plank-road to be commenced from the head of navigation, within one year, and completed in three years. A rail-road to be commenced at the end of three years, and to be completed in the course of the four following years. 4. Company shall make docks, etc., at the ports of the termini, which are to be designated by the government of Mexico. 5. Government grants the lands necessary for plank-road and rail-road, and for buildings, etc.; owners of private property taken to be indemnified according to law. 6. The company may use public lands en route gratis, and also that of private individuals with indemnity, etc. 8. The company to have exclusive right of transit for passengers, freights, etc., at rates to be approved by government. Government to levy any contribution on the property, etc., of the enterprise, at any time, but it reserves the right to impose a duty not exceeding 12 cents per passenger and package transported by the company's route. 9. The company may import free of duty, all materials, etc., for the road, with the sanction of government; also such provisions, etc., for workmen as cannot be procured on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. 10. The company subjects to rules established by government; no sales of goods, etc., to be made on the route. 11. The government will open two ports at the termini of the road, it being understood that Ventosa shall be used only for the reception of passengers and merchandise by the company. other port is Vera Cruz. The 13. Government protection is assured to the company and its employés during the twenty years of its existence. 14. Guarantees payment by the company of $300,000 in silver at once, and $50,000 in monthly instalments until $600,000 is paid. 15. The company is to carry the Mexican mails without charge, and all goods for the Mexican government at one-fourth of the regular rates; all Mexican troops, officers and government agents to pass free. All moneys, ores and other products of the country to be transported at one-fourth less than the regular rates. 16. For fifty years the government is to receive 20 per cent. of the profits of the road. All privileges stated, are guaranteed during the twenty years to the company; but at the end of that time the road is to be turned over to the government, guaranteeing the delivery at the end of that time, by a deposit of 10 per cent. of the profits for the last ten years of the contract. 17. The company to build light-houses, etc., at designated points; and will ap propriate 2 per cent. of the net profits of this road to that object. 18. Inspectors to be appointed by both parties to overlook their interests along the road. 19. The company is to construct no forts, introduce no armed troops, shall not admit on the road any more persons than necessary to do their necessary work. The company to assist in preventing smuggling. 20. Foreigners employed by the company to have only the same rights as Mexican citizens. All questions to be decided by Mexican tribunals. 21. Transit free to all nations; but 25 per cent. to be added to the charge for transporting merchandise of other nations who have no treaty with Mexico. 22. Offices for the sale of bonds are to be opened in the City of Mexico and London, and for the first six months one third part of the shares are to be kept at the disposal of Mexican citizens. 23. Foreign mails may be carried over the road by the company; but always sealed, and passing through under proper inspection. 24. No sales of shares to be sold for lands appropriated for Indians, etc. Natchitoches. St. Mary.. 25. All the articles of the convocation of July, 1852, not conflicting with those City of New-Orleans.. stated above, are to be binding on the company. NAVIGATION ARTICLES.-1. The ex clusive privilege of navigating the Guatzacoalcos, is guaranteed; but Mexican vessels have a right of navigation for the supply of the inhabitants along the bank of the river. 2. Government exempts from tonnageduty all the company's vessels. 3. The company is to supply a line of steamers under the Mexican flag, to transport merchandise from Vera Cruz to the Guatzacoalcos. 4. All Mexican mails are to be car ried free of charge to all points at which the vessels of the company touch, and all goods belonging to the Mexican government at one-fourth part of the regular charge. All troops, agents of the government, etc., are to be free of transit; metals, products, etc., at 25 per cent. less than the regular rates. 5. Steamers on Pacific are to use the port of Acapulco as a depot for coal, and as soon as possible, they are to use the coal mined in the State of Guerero. From the Report of President Overton of the New-Orleans and Western Rail road Company we glean the following statistics: $759,835 00 75,000 00 33,400 00 103,775 00 115,625 00 250,000 00 156,600 00 1,500,000 00 $2,994,235 00 M. B. Hewson, whose report upon the Holly Springs location of the Memphis and Charleston Rail-road we lately noticed, uses the following language upon the practicability and utility of that route: "It may be safely assumed, therearising from the Holly Springs location fore, that the increase of way trade to be perfectly safe in the matter, let will reach $60,000-in order, however, this increase be taken at $30,000. Now, the through business estimated by its friends for the Memphis and Charleston road, would certainly pay the running expenses of the road, and here then, arising from the Holly Springs location, is at the very lowest calculation a net profit equivalent to $500,000 at 6 per the whole estimated capital. Assuming cent. or to very nearly one per cent. on then the additional capital required for the La Grange route, at the sum of $125,000, the additional business on the lent to an additional capital of half a other route bringing an income equivamillion,-the Holly Springs route will yield to the stockholders 114 per cent. the La Grange. On the basis then of per annum, over and above the yield of the profitableness of the La Grange route, I beg leave to report to your Excellency, that the Holly Springs location of the Memphis and Charleston rail-road decidedly "profitable." is $136,420 00 Contributions for preliminary expenses 3,941 88 Office expenses, salaries and contin $6,063 89 16,100 00 216 35 14,179 06 None of the interests involved in this $140,361 88 road will at all suffer by the Holly Springs location. Collierville, by being made the point of turn-out for the Somerville branch from the main trunk, will, in all probability, become a point of importance, commensurate with the business of that branch. The Somerville branch, by the withdrawal of the rivalry of the main stem on the La Grange location, will in virtue of the undivided trade of Hardeman and McNairy, become an excellent stock; and 9.258 04 14,110 80 2.056 50 2.171 81 79.205 43 $140,361 88 The following are the amounts of sub- while this accession of business will Statement of the South Carolina Rail-road Company. 409 The earnings have been as follows on Passengers. Mail. Freight. Total. 10,755,57.. 79,50.. 68,827,56.. 57,992,49 Showing a decrease in passenger earnings of 10% per cent. and an increase of freight earnings of 72 per cent., with an aggregate increase of 274 per cent. over the business of 1851. This on the whole is a satisfactory result, save all risks as to this short branch being abandoned for want of business this road: to sustain it, the town of Somerville will become an important agency point 1852... 91,938,72 13,272,77-.164,374,26. 269,585,75 for the Memphis merchants. Moscow, 1851...102,694,29.13,352,27.. 95,546,70..211.593,26 in virtue of its position at a bend in the main course of the Somerville branch will, by absorbing the business of the southern part of Fayette and Hardeman, and of the northern part of Marshall and Tippah, become the only distributing point for one of the richest planting districts along the whole length of the road. Nor will La Grange suffer though the decrease in the passenger This earnings is to be regretted, and was not by the Holly Springs location. town is situated on a hill above Wolf fully anticipated. river, and inaccessible to a road running north and south. In the event of the Memphis and Charleston Road being located by way of La Grange, the Mississippi Central Rail-road, (an extension of the New-Orleans and Jackson road,) being pushed into Tennessee under its charter in that state, till it connect with the Mobile and Ohio Railroad at Jackson, in Madison county, will intersect the Memphis and Charleston Rail-road, some two miles east of La Grange, and as a consequence building up at the crossing the exchange point of that district, will bring utter ruin on La Grange. The superior advantages of the Holly Springs route to Memphis, are too plain to require com ment. The following statement of the South Gross receipts of the road. $1,126,195 42 165,958 48 $233,671 21 In the increase of the freight earnings, the expectations of the board have been fully realized; and a confident belief is entertained, that the increase will be continued. The "Commercial List," published in Philadelphia, in discussing the capacities of that city to compete with all others, including New-York, for the trade of the great West, uses the following language: On the first of the present month the last link of rail-road connection between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh was completed. This vast enterprise, involving an expenditure, actual and prospective, of full fifteen millions of dollars, begun by merchants of this city in the face of every discouragement, passive and active, has so far been achieved, that during the light of a summer day we can pass from the eastern to the western metropolis of Pennsylvania. The Quaker, so long quietly plodding, and shunning collisions, has boldly stepped into the arena of modern trade, and thrown down the iron gauntlet. In the generous strife, he calls upon his western friends to stand by him, and show fair play; and he will fear neither Yankee nor Knickerbocker, even with Europe at their back. What are the grounds of this confidence? Let a few figures This shows an increase in the gross The following gentlemen have been elected officers of the Macon and Western Rail-road, Georgia: The present line of rail-road from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh is 358 miles, which includes the portage over the mountains. Starting with this distance President, Isaac Scott; directors, An- as a basis, let us see what are at this drew Low, Edward Padelford, J. C. Levy, moment the relative distances from Charles Moran, Drake Mills, Adam Norrie, Ker Boyce, F. C. Matthiesson, N. C. Munroe, J. B. Ross, Jas. Thweatt, C. J. McDonald. points on the southern lake shores and on the Ohio, to points on the sea-board. Other things being equal, the shortest of these routes will command the trade travel. Other things being equal-that Cincinnati to Philadelphia will be less is, with equal markets for purchase and sale, and equal cheapness, expedition, certainty and comfort in transit. Considering first the lake business, the present point of departure from the Northwest for New-York and Philadelphia and places south of the latter, is Cleveland, the routes and distances being as follows: Cleveland to Dunkirk.. 145 miles 469 Add even the distance from Philadelphia to New-York, through New-Jersey And we have the distance less by.... 497 117 96 21 miles from Cleveland to New-York through Philadelphia by the Ohio and Pennsylvania route, than from Cleveland to New-York by the lake shore and New York and Erie routes. than from Cincinnati to New-York, not only by 145 miles already shown, (taking Galion as the common point of departure,) but also by the difference between the length of the base line from Xenia to Pittsburgh and the two sides of the triangle, just indicated, Galion being its apex. Without extending these exhibitions of figures, it is apparent from the railroad connections actually made between 614 miles. the lake country and New-York and Philadelphia respectively, that the distances are very greatly in favor of the latter; and necessarily still more so between Philadelphia and all points farther south. It is useless therefore to multiply figures in proof of this fact. We recog nise it as beyond dispute, that this city is even now nearer to the whole West than any of her rivals. Before the close of another year, this advantage will be vastly enhanced. Then the Pennsylva nia Central Rail-road will be perfect in its entire length, dispensing with the portage road and all the incidental delays and troubles of its inclined planes. TWELVE HOURS, (instead of eighteen as now,) will then, and must then, suffice for the transit of passengers from the Delaware to the Ohio. What other hold, besides this grand work, has Philadelphia upon the commerce of the West? What is her own ability to give it business by the maintenance and extension of that commerce? Keeping still in view the lake connections, when the Ohio and Pennsylvania shall be completed to its junction with the Cleveland and Cincinnati Rail-road, seventy-five miles southwest of the former city-a new point of departure will be established for the travel thence eastward. Galion will be that point, only four miles south of the junction, and the routes will be as follows: 693 miles. 547 146 The following statement comprises a list of the different rail-roads by which Norfolk, as the terminus of the Seaboard and Roanoke Rail-road will be connected with the Southern and South-western sections of the United States, forming continuous lines from Norfolk to Mobile and New-Orleans, and to Memphis, Tenn. 1. The Wilmington and Manchester Rail-road, 162 miles, running from Wilmington, N. C., to Manchester, S. C., uniting with the South Carolina Railroad, leading to Augusta, Ga., and to Charleston, S. C. Galion and New-York city are in the same latitude and if, as thus appears, the distance between these two points is greater by one hundred and forty-five miles, than between the former and Philadelphia, how much more favorable must be the connections between Philadelphia and the whole Ohio and Mississippi Valley! Taking Cincinnati, for instance, as a starting point, Xenia is This road is rapidly progressing to the point on the Cleveland and Cincin- completion. When completed, there will nati road at which the projected Pitts- be a continuous line of railway from burgh connection with the Ohio Central Norfolk, to Va., to Montgomery, Ala., a Rail-road will strike. Now the latter is distance of 868 miles. The steamboat the base of a triangle, of which the road line, from Wilmington to Charleston, from Xenia to Galion, and the road from will soon be dispensed with, and a large Galion to Pittsburgh, are respectively increase of travel over this line may be the sides. The route therefore from relied upon, as the time and distance to Senator Rusk's Bill for a Pacific Rail-road. New-Orleans will be essentially diminished. 2. The North Carolina Railroad runs from Raleigh to Salisbury and Charlotte, in North Carolina, about 150 miles in length. The funds for this road are provided; the state subscribed two million of dollars, and private stockholders the remainder. This line, in connection with the road from Charlotte to Columbia, S. C., will make a continuous line of railway, from Norfolk to Columbia, of 435 miles; and will form a connection, in this direction, also, with Montgomery, in Alabama. A survey has also been ordered by the State of North Carolina, for a road from Salisbury to Knoxville, in Tennessee. 3. The Roanoke Valley Rail-road will run from Ridgeway, N. C., on the Raleigh and Gaston Rail-road, to Clarksville, Virginia, and it is proposed to continue this line to Lynchburgh, Va. This road has recently been chartered, and the work placed under contract. It will form, when completed, a continuous line from Norfolk to Lynchburgh, of about 200 miles. 4. The Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, and the East Tennessee and Virginia Rail-road, will form a continuous one from Lynchburgh, Va., to Knoxville in Tennessee, a distance of 350 miles. This line is going forward rapidly, both in Virginia and Tennessee; it passes through a country of great mineral and agricultural resources, and will be a work of much magnitude and importance. The means are provided for its construction. 411 will form a continuous line of railway from Norfolk to Memphis, a thousand miles in extent; the importance of this connection need not be suggested. It is sufficient to trace these lines upon the map, and leave the subject to make its own impression. The aggregate of the lines above described, now in operation or actively in progress, amounts to more than two thousand miles of railway; all of which will, in a greater or less degree, add to the business of Norfolk, via the Seaboard and Roanoke Rail-road. A connection between New-York and Norfolk by means of the proposed airline road would tap an immense traffic, and besides being the most direct, would be the most expeditious line that could be built. It is apparent that it could not prove otherwise than profitable to those engaged in its construction, and the enterprise appears to have every element to insure success. Through the courtesy of Senator Rusk, of Texas, we are enabled to present a copy of his bill for a rail-road to the Pacific Ocean, which was so much discussed at the last session of Congress, but which lies over for future consideration and action. Senator Rusk has bestowed great labor upon this subject. A bill to provide for the construction of a rail-road and telegraphic line from the val ley of the Mississippi to the Pacific ocean. It shall be the duty of the President of the United States to cause to be constructed, so soon as it may be practicable after the passage of this act, a railroad and telegraphic line connecting the valley of the Mississippi with the Pacific ocean at such points as he may designate, and upon the terms and conditions hereinafter prescribed. And it shall be the duty of the said President to select 5. The Hiwassee or the East Tennessee and Georgia Rail-road, runs from Knoxville to Dalton, Georgia, 115 miles in length. This road is in operation. From Dalton to Chattanooga, a part of the State road of Georgia, is also already the general route for the said rail-road in operation 40 miles. 6. The Nashville and Chattanooga Rail-road, 150 miles, runs from Nashville, Tenn., to Chattanooga. This road is also rapidly going forward to completion, at a cost of about two and one-half millions of dollars. 7. The Memphis Rail-road will run from a point on this last-named road to Memphis, Tenn., on the Mississippi river, through Huntsville, Tenn., 280 miles, and will probably be finished by the time the other connecting lines are completed. The five last described lines and line, designating the mountain passes between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through which they shall be constructed, but leaving the intermediate portions to be located by the individuals or companies that shall be employed to construct the said road and line; subject, however, to his approval. The said selection shall be made at as early a day as may be practicable, consistently with the judicious choice of the site of said road, and such other preliminary arrangements as shall insure the speedy prosecution and permanent con |