Chapter V: Part 5

"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.