settlements of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are upon the immediate borders of navigable tide-water. The narrow belt of arable land to which the population of Canada is confined is traversed for its entire length by the lakes and the St. Lawrence river. The various watercourses described will continue to be the principal channels and routes of commerce, even after the construction of railroads parallel with them. The roads in progress and contemplated in the provinces, therefore, are, with one or two exceptions, being constructed chiefly with a view to passenger traffic. They are fortunate, however, in the fact that their lines correspond to routes over which already passes a large travel, and which the roads themselves must immensely increase.

Of the roads under consideration, the most important, in some respects, is the St. Lawrence and Atlantic, extending from Montreal to the boundary line of the United States, a distance of about 130 miles, when it connects with the Atlantic and St. Lawrence railroad, extending to Portland. This work was briefly described in the notice of the roads in the State of Maine. The original object in its construction, as far as the Canadas were concerned, was to open a winter outlet for the trade of Montreal, and in this manner to add to the business of the Canadian canals, by which unbroken navigation from the upper lakes is secured to the city. These works have, to a certain extent, failed to realize their highest usefulness, or to justify public expectation, for want of an avenue to the Atlantic coast, other than through the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The navigation of the St. Lawrence being closed for a considerable portion of the year, the late receipts of produce have to be held till spring, before they can be sent to a market. The losses arising from this delay, embracing the charges for warehousing, interest, insurance, &c., and the decline in the price of the staple, which is often ruinous to the holder, have tended to turn this trade into other channels, to restrict the business of this route, and to increase that of its great rival, the Erie canal. To remedy this evil, by securing an uninterrupted communication at all times with navigable tide-water, is one great object of this proposed road. There can be no doubt that this, or a work similar in character and objects, is necessary to secure all the results anticipated from the canals.

The St. Lawrence and Atlantic road is in operation to Sherbrooke, a distance of 91 miles from Montreal, and is in a state of such forwardness that no doubt is entertained of its completion by July next.

The Quebec and Richmond railroad is a work designed to place the city of Quebec in the same relation that Montreal sustains to the St. Lawrence and Atlantic railroad; and at the same time with the latter, to unite these cities by a continuous railroad line. From the isolated position of Quebec in the winter season, this road will prove a great benefit to her commerce, as well as a great convenience to the travelling and business community. Its entire line is under contract, to be completed early in 1854.

Another proposed work attracting great interest in Canada, is the line extending from Montreal to Hamilton, following the immediate bank of the St. Lawrence, and of Lake Ontario. This road would run parallel with the great route of commerce in the Canadas, is required by the wants of travel, and in the winter season would be the channel

of a large trade. It must at all seasons of the year command a lucrative traffic from the numerous cities and villages through which it would pass. This work has now come to be considered indispensable to the interests of Canada, and is to receive such aid from the government as will secure its speedy construction. It is to be placed under contract without delay.

The Great Western railroad, traversing the peninsula of Canada, is one of the most important works in the provinces. It extends from Niag ara Falls, by way of Hamilton, to Windsor, opposite Detroit, a distance of two hundred and twenty-eight miles. It traverses a country, the fertility and productiveness of which is not exceeded by any portion of Canada or the United States. Its chief public attractions, however, are the relations it bears to railroads in the United States. It will be seen by the accompanying map, that for the railroads of New England and central New York, it cuts off the long circuit by way of the southern shore of Lake Erie, between the East and the West. On this account, the road has received important aid from parties in the United States, interested in having it opened. Ample means are provided for this work, and it is expected that it will be completed by the first of January, 1854.

The Buffalo and Brantford railroad was projected for the purpose of securing to Buffalo the trade of the country traversed by the great Western, and with the additional object of placing that city en route of the great line of travel between the eastern and western States. Buffalo is the largest town within reach of, and affords, probably, the best market for, the Canadian peninsula, with which it will be conveniently connected by the above road. This city, too, is a necessary point in the route of nearly every person visiting any portion of the country bordering Lake Erie, and it is highly important that egress should be had from it in every direction. The road is in progress, and will be completed simultaneously with the great Western.

The chartered line of this road extends to Goderich, on Lake Huron, to which it will probably be extended soon after reaching Brantford. The Toronto and Lake Huron road connects Lake Ontario with Lake Huron by the shortest practicable line between the two, and will form for persons going to Lake Superior or Lake Michigan, by way of Mackinaw, a much shorter line than by way of Detroit. In this respect it bids fair to occupy an important relation to a leading route of travel and commerce. It traverses, too, a very fertile district, alone capable of supplying a lucrative traffic. A portion of this line is opened for business, and the unfinished part will be soon completed.

A road is also under contract from Toronto to Guelph; but as this is a work of local importance, a particular description of it is not required.

The roads connecting Montreal with those of New York and Vermont are sufficiently noticed with the works of those States.

LOWER PROVINCES.

European and North American railroad.-Under this title is embraced the proposed road extending from Bangor, Maine, and Halifax, Nova

Scotia, a distance of about five hundred miles. The principal object to be effected by its construction is to constitute it a part of the great line of travel between America and Europe. The distance from New York to Halifax is equal to one-third of the entire distance from the former to Liverpool; and as the proposed road pursues the same general direction with the route of the steamers, some of which touch regularly at Halifax, it is believed that this portion of the route to Europe would be made by railway. It was upon this assumption that the above project was proposed. As far as the provinces are concerned, it has met with great favor, as it is believed it will develop the abundant resources known to exist within them, and secure those social advantages which are intimately connected with the progress of comparatively isolated districts, in population, commerce, and wealth. The New Brunswick portion of the above road is already under contract to a company of eminent English contractors, and the work in progress. Measures are also in progress to the same end as far as the Nova Scotia division is concerned. The greater part of its line through both provinces traverses a region much more fertile and productive than any considerable portion of our eastern States, from which it is believed a large and profitable business will be secured both to the road and to the cities of Halifax and St. John.

A project for a railroad from Halifax to Quebec, skirting the shores of the gulf and river St. Lawrence, has recently attracted much attention throughout the provinces, as well as in England, but this project may now be regarded as abandoned. A portion of the northern end of this line may be constructed down the St. Lawrence for a distance of about one hundred miles below Quebec. It is also proposed to extend a branch from the European and North American railroad along the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Bathurst. A road is also in progress from St. Andrews to Woodstock, on the river St. John; but as its importance is mainly local, a particular description is not required.

ECONOMICAL VIEW OF THE RAILROADS OF THE UNITED STATES.

The first step toward a correct idea of our railroads, as far as their uses, objects, costs, and results are concerned, is a thorough understanding of the social and industrial character of our people, the geographical and topographical features of the country, the uniformity in the pursuits of the great mass of our people, and the great distance that separates the consuming from the producing regions.

Assuming the occupied area of that portion of our territory east of the Rocky mountains to be 1,100,000 square miles, at least 1,050,000 are devoted to agriculture, while not more than 50,000 are occupied by the manufacturing and commercial classes. These compose a narrow belt of territory lying upon the seacoast, extending from Baltimore to the eastern part of Maine, and are more widely separated from the great producing regions than any other settled portion of the country. The great peculiarity that distinguishes our own from older countries is, that we have no interior markets. The greater part of our territory has not been long enough settled for the development of a variety of industrial pursuits, which constitute them. So entirely are our people

devoted to agriculture, and so uniformly distributed are they over the whole country, that some of our largest States, Tennessee and Indiana for instance, had no towns in 1850 containing a population of over 10,000.

This homogeneousness in the pursuits of the great mass of our people, and the wide space that separates the producing and consuming classes, as they are popularly termed, necessarily implies the exportation of the surplus products of cach. The western farmer has no home demand for the wheat he raises, as the surplus of all his neighbors is the same in kind. The aggregate surplus of the district in which he resides has to be exported to find a consumer; and the producer for a similar reason is obliged to import all the various articles that enter into consumption which his own industry does not immediately supply; and farther, as the markets for our agricultural products lie either upon the extreme verge of the country, or in Europe, the greater part of our domestic commerce involves a through movement of nearly all the articles of which it is composed.

In older countries this necessity of distant movement, as will be the case in this, in time, is obviated by the existence of a great variety of occupations in the same district, which supply directly to each class nearly all the leading articles that enter into consumption.

It is well known that upon the ordinary highways, the economical limit to transportation is confined within a comparatively few miles, depending of course upon the kind of freight and character of the roads. Upon the average of such ways, the cost of transportation is not far from 15 cents per ton per mile, which may be considered as a sufficiently correct estimate for the whole country. Estimating at the same time the value of wheat at $1 50 per bushel, and corn at 75 cents, and that 33 bushels of each are equal to a ton, the value of the former would be equal to its cost of transportation for 330 miles, and the latter, 165 miles. At these respective distances from market, neither of the above articles would have any commercial value, with only a common earth road as an avenue to market.

But we find that we can move property upon railroads at the rate of 1.5 cent per ton per mile, or for one-tenth the cost upon the ordinary road. These works therefore extend the economic limit of the cost of transportation of the above articles to 3,300 and 1,650 miles respectively. At the limit of the economical movement of these articles upon the common highway, by the use of railroads, wheat would be worth $44 50, and corn $22 27 per ton, which sums respectively would represent the actual increase of value created by the interposition of such

a work.

The following table will show the amount saved per ton, by transportation by railroad over the ordinary highways of the country:

Statement showing the value of a ton of wheat, and one of corn, at given points from market, as affected by cost of transportation by railroad, and over the ordinary road.