"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."
By the second section the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company was
authorized to surrender to the State the property mortgaged.
By the third section the commissioners were authorized to audit and
allow all just claims for labor, service, materials and land damages
incurred between April 6, 1860 and July 12, 1861, in carrying on the
work, and to procure the release and discharge of all attachments and
liens upon said materials. $175,000 was appropriated to pay the
claimants under the approval of the governor and council.
By the fourth section the commissioners were authorized to use or run
that portion of the road east of the mountain or lease the same to the
"Vermont and Massachusetts," the "Fitchburg," the "Troy and Boston
Railway Company," or either of them, until the completion of the tunnel.
By the fifth section the commissioners were authorized to continue the
work on the Hoosac Tunnel, and by contract or otherwise, to expedite its
completion.
On the 18th of August 1862, is recorded on the records of the
corporation the following votes:--
1. "The directors of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company hereby
instruct the president to transfer to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
under the several mortgages held by said Commonwealth, all the property
of said corporation.
2. "_Voted_ to call a meeting of the stockholders to see if they would
ratify the above vote.
3. "_Voted_, That the treasurer be directed to make no further delivery
of the stock or bonds to the contractors without the written order of
all the finance committee."
At the commencement of the session of the legislature in January, 1863,
his Excellency Governor Andrew, after stating the general provisions of
the Act of April, 1862, and the appointment of the commissioners under
it, "each of whom was carefully selected as being, in the words of the
Act, at once 'able, impartial and skilful,'" and after alluding to the
labors of the commissioners, and the reports of the distinguished
engineers appointed to "assist them, closes his remarks upon the
enterprise in the following words:--
"The report of the commissioners to the governor and council is not yet
made, but it is understood to be in rapid preparation. I am unable,
therefore, to communicate to the legislature at the beginning of its
present session so fully as I have hoped on the subject of this
important and interesting enterprise of establishing a new avenue for
our trade with the West, piercing the Green Mountain range, and opening
up to greater activity the economical resources of our Northern tier of
towns. I trust that the conclusions and reasoning of the commissioners
when published will settle conflicting opinions in the minds of the
people, and, if favorable to the active pursuit of the enterprise, that
its prosecution will enjoy an unanimous support. The work can be
pursued, relieved from all factitious embarrassments, and contracts can
be made by those in the sole interest of the Commonwealth, superintended
by citizens of the highest experience and capacity."
In communicating the report of the commissioners to the legislature on
the 12th of March, 1863, after analyzing and commenting upon its
statements and reasonings, the governor concludes his address in these
words: "I congratulate thee general court and the people upon the rescue
of the Commonwealth, and especially of this great experimental
enterprise, from a position inconsistent with economical, safe, or even
possible success in piercing its mountain barrier.
"I earnestly and respectfully invite your most candid and thoughtful
consideration, not only of the specific facts and figures which
elucidate or express the details of information bearing most immediately
upon the work contemplated, but I also venture to commend to your
deliberate judgment the arguments and reasonings drawn from liberal and
enlightened views of public policy and of public economy, which finally
lift this subject above all merely local interests or antagonisms into
the sphere of statesmanship. And having attentively watched the progress
of the report of the commissioners, and the documents by which it is
accompanied through the press, I am prepared to give my own assent to
the opinion with the expression of which the commissioners conclude
their discussion:--
"'By the time the tunnel can be completed, the public interest requiring
it will have grown large enough to pay for the outlay. The impulse given
to business by the new facility, would soon fill up the new line, and
make up the temporary loss felt by any other.
"'Considering the large sum which the Commonwealth has already invested
in this work, which must be sunk if it is not completed; the reasonable
protection from loss which is offered by the other companies interested
in the line; the more intimate relations it may promote between
Massachusetts and the West; and the benefits which such a facility
promises to the city and State, we are of opinion that the work should
be undertaken by the Commonwealth, and completed as early as it can be
with due regard to economy.'"
The surrender of the road by the directors to the Commonwealth, was
followed by the following vote, passed January 7, 1863:--
_Voted_, That Mr. Stevenson, formerly State Engineer of the Troy and
Greenfield Railroad, be requested to return an estimate of the payments
and credits to which Haupt & Co. were entitled, under their contract, at
the time of the suspension of the work, and that the amount allowed by
such estimate be passed to the credit of H. Haupt & Co.; also, that the
stock and bonds to which they are entitled be issued without further
order, when legal impediments are removed.