MEMORIAL
OF THE
PANAMA RAIL-ROAD COMPANY
TO THE
CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES,
10th December, 1849.
eWtw- ork:
VAN NORDEN & AMERMAN, PRINTERS,
No. 60 WILLIAM-STREET.
1850.








MEMORIAL.
To the Honourable the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America, in Congress assembled:
The Memorial of THE PANAMA RAIL-ROAD COMPANY
respectfully represents:
That the government of the United States, impressed with
the importance of securing adequate means of communication between the Atlantic and Pacific portions of the
continent, has recently adopted an enlightened system of
legislation for encouraging the building of ocean steamers.
To this end, the Navy and the Post-Office departments,
under the authority of special laws for the purpose, have
entered into suitable contracts, for transporting the public
mails in those vessels,-some of them running on theAtlantic
Ocean, from New-York to C hagres, and others on the Pacific,
from Panama to San Francisco. Fostered by these wise and
liberal measures, this important branch of our commercial
navy is rapidly increasing, and a corresponding development has been experienced in the trade and intercourse
between these widely separated portions of our common
country.
The great chain of oceanic communication established by
these lines, extending from New-York to San Francisco, and
thence to Oregon, is more than six thousand miles in length,
and it is interrupted only by the narrow neck of land, about
forty miles wide, which separates the two seas at the Isthmus of Panama. Viewed in its future commercial and political aspect, this point is exceeded by none on the American continent in value or importance. For tile last three
hundred years it has attracted the attention of the civilized
world, and yet, under the peculiarities of Spanish dominion,




4
it has remained during all that period, nearly in the unim'proved condition in which it was found by its early discoverers.
Although embracing but a narrow strip of territory, easily
occupied and improved,and lying in the direct path of communication between Europe and Asia, it is not known or believed that any road for wheel carriages was ever constructed across it; and at the present moment, no better communication exists, than the precarious navigation by canoes on
the Chagres river, for a portion of the distance, and a difficult mule path for the residue, pursuing the beds of
mountain streams, and rendered nearly impassable during
nearly six months in the year, by the heavy and incessant
rains to which that latitude is subject. Upon the Pacific
coast, a population of about twenty thousand inhabitantsthe remnant of a former and larger city-is collected on the
Bay of Panama ~ but, fiom that point to the Atlantic, the
intervening country, with the exception of a few small
hamlets, is all but uninhabited.
It is through this hitherto lifeless and forbidding region,
obstructed by dense and tangled masses of tropical vegetation, that the whole public and private correspondence of
the Union, between its Atlantic and Pacific portions, recently sprung up, as if by magic, and already numbering
from twenty to thirty thousand letters in a single steamer,
is now transported. The necessity for its prompt, safe, and
regular transmission is palpable, and yet it may be affirmed without exaggeration, that no mail service in the
world of equal importance and extent, is subjected to
more vexatious and injurious irregularities.  The mails
which are carried by the ocean steamers are uniformly
delivered at the Isthmus with punctuality and despatch;
but on arriving there, they come into competition with
throngs of emigrants, pressing forward and engrossing all
the means of transportation which the country affords. By
means of these and other causes, the mails are unavoidably
exposed to such delay and detention, that they have re



5
peatedly failed to reach the coast on the days appointed
for the sailing of the steamers. It would be needless to
expatiate on the injury inflicted by these irregularities
on the commercial community, nor on the wide-spread
disappointment of those more numerous classes-of all
ages and conditions, and in every portion of the country —
interested in friends or relatives in our far distant Pacific
possessions, and dependent on the public mail for their only
means of intercourse.
Within the present century, and since the liberation of
the central portions of the American continent from Spanish
authority, numerous projects have been proposed,, from
time to time, for opening a practicable commercial communication between the two oceans, under the patronage not
only of the Central American and the Mexican, but also of
the French, the Dutch and the Belgian authorities.
As late as the year 1843, a careful instrumental survey
for a canal across the Isthmus of Panama, suggested originally by the illustrious HIUMBOLDT, and ably seconded by
our accomplished minister, the late HENRY WHEATON, was
prosecuted by a body of eminent French engineers, under
the authority of M. GUIZOT, then Minister of the Foreign
Affairs of France. The survey was followed by a perspicuous and able report; but it led to no further public action. Soon afterwards, a grant for a rail-road was obtained
by a company, consisting mostly of French subjects, from
the government of New-Grenada, within whose sovereignty
the Isthmus is situated; but that company, failing to comply with the preliminary conditions of the grant, it was
subsequently revoked and annulled by New-Grenada.
Other projects and propositions for canal and rail-way
communications across more northerly, but broader portions of the continent, at Nicaragua and at Tehuantepec,
have occasionally received more or less attention, and particularly the proposed canal through the Territory and Lake
of Nicaragua-the actual construction of which was undertaken in the year 1846, by Prince Louis NAPOLEON, now




President of France. In the interesting and statesman-like
pamphlet in relation to that canal, published by that eminent personage, the cost is estimated at four millions of
pounds sterling-about twenty millions of dollars-and the
length at two hundred and seventy-eight miles-but since
its publication, no efficient steps have been taken to commence the work, or even to verify the estimates by a more
careful survey.
Explorations were also made several years ago, under
the authority of Mexico, for a canal route across the Isthmus
of Tehuantepec, which is about 200 miles in breadth,
and they have been since followed by some examination
of that locality, in reference to a rail-road; but your memorialists have no authentic information as to its results.
It was under these circumstances, that Messrs. WILLIAM HENRY ASPINWALL, JOHN LLOYD STEPHENS, and
HENRY CHAUNCEY, citizens of New-York, being engaged in
the navigation and general commerce of the Pacific,
and perceiving that no adequate action was to be expected from the nations and communities most interested,
applied to the government of New-Grenada, and in the year
1848, obtained a grant of the right to construct and maintain, for forty-nine years, a rail-road across the Isthmus of
Panama; but, in making the contract, that government
thought it- necessary to exact from the grantees a cash
deposit of 600,000 francs, (about $120,000,) as a security
for their duly proceeding with the work.
It was indeed an onerous and singular requirement to be
imposed upon individuals, who, in a foreign territory, and
at great expense and hazard, were willing to enter upon an
undertaking, from which the governments of the civilized
world had so long shrunk back; but, relying on adequate
co-operation on the part of the public, and suitable encouragement from their own government, they accepted the grant, even with this burthen, and duly deposited the 600,000 francs, in cash, to the credit of the
government of New-Grenada. Whatever may be thought




7
of the pecuniary prudence of that step, it may at leat be
claimed, that it reflected no discredit on the national
character, for vigorous enterprise and enlightened public
spirit.
Immediately after perfecting this contract, Messrs. Aspinwall, Stephens and Chauncey proceeded, at their own expense, to organize and despatch to the Isthmus a large and
experienced body of American engineers, under the direction of Colonel GEORGE W. HUGHES, a distinguished
officer of the Topographical Engineers of the United States;
and, for his valuable services and well directed science on
that occasion, seconded by the skill of his able assistants,
the enterprise will remain under lasting obligations.
The survey was conducted with the vigour, accuracy
and careful observation, which might be expected from
such a corps, and a duplicate copy of the report, with
the accompanying maps and profiles, is now deposited in
the Topographical Bureau at Washington, for the more
convenient inspection and scrutiny of the Government and
Congress of the United States.
The cost of the survey, which employed upwards of
eighty individuals, exceeded 80,000 dollars; but its results
are most valuable and important in defining precisely
the character and extent of the physical difficulties the
work will be obliged to encounter.
Among the most leading and decisive of its results, are
the following:
1. That safe, capacious and salubrious harbours, both on
the Atlantic and the Pacific, exist at each terminus of the
rail-road, accessible at all seasons by vessels of the largest
class.
2. That the total length of the rail-road,-from Limon or
Navy Bay, a healthful locality on the Atlantic, (six miles distant from Chagres,) to the bay of Panama on the Pacific,will be butforty-six miles, reducing to two hours, the time of
transit between the two oceans.
3. That the division between the head of navigation




8
of the Chagres River at Gorgona, aad the Pacific, is
but twenty miles in length; and that provisional arrangements may be made for using portions of this division, as they may be successively finished; and also, for
employing the Chagres River, with some improvements,
until the completion of the whole line, from the Atlantic to
the Pacific.
4. That between Gorgona and the Pacific, the chain of
the Cordilleras intervenes, but so much broken and depressed, that by means of a moderate tunnel through the principal elevation, and some other minor excavations, the summit between the two oceans can be reduced to 275 feet, and
grades obtained for the road not exceeding 50 feet to the mile.
5. It is further shown, that by adopting a more circuitous route around these intervening ridges, submitting,
however, to a great increase in the curvatures of the line,
and to grades as steep as 100 feet to the mile, a large reduction of the expense of construction might be effected, but
that the efficiency of the road, as a mode of speedy transit,
and especially for bulky commodities and heavy munitions
of war, would be seriously diminished.
6. That it will conduce to the convenience of our commercial and naval marine on the Pacific, and correspondingly augment the business of the road, to improve, by
extensive piers, docks and basins, the present means of
landing passengers and cargoes at the port of Panama, in
which the tide rises to the height of about twenty-two feet.
7. That the total cost of the road, built in the best manner, with the necessary machinery, piers and depots for commercial purposes, will amount to five millions of dollars.
It was never supposed by Messrs. Aspinwall, Stephens
and Chauncey, that they would be able, by their own unaided resources, wholly to accomplish this great national
undertaking. On the contrary, they perceived at an early
date, that their personal efforts and expenditures must be
confined mainly to the expediting its preliminary steps;
and that after accomplishing the survey, it would be neces



sary to call for such co-operation and aid from the govern-i
ment of the United States and the public at large, as they
might properly and legitimately ask.
Accordingly, at the last session of Congress; they presented their memorial, a copy of which is hereto subjoined, forcibly setting forth the general advantages, military and commercial, social and political, to result to the
United States, from the speedy accomplishment of the railroad across the Isthmus. The views there presented, of the
progress of our territorial possessions on the Pacific, and the
consequent duty devolved upon the government of removing
the barriers which retard our access to this newly acquired portion of our empire, can hardly fail to arrest the
attention of Congress-while the picture it exhibits, of the
hardy and enterprising American emigrant, " climbing the
rugged steeps of the Rocky Mountains,".or, buffetiing
the wintry storms of Cape Horn," has been more than
realized during the present season, by the thousands
and tens of thousands of our countrymen who have sought
their way by those dreary routes, to this far distant but
rapidly expanding portion of the Union.
On the reception of that memorial in the Senate of the
United States, it was referred to the appropriate committee, who, after fill examination of its merits, reported a
bill appropriating $250,000 annually for ten years, as a
just compensation for transporting the public mails, troops
and munitions of war, to commence from the time of completing the road; but owing to the shortness of the session, the comparatively imperfect acquaintance at the time,
with the details of the subject, and especially the want of
the exact information furnished by the survey, which did not
reach this country until after the adjournment of Congress,
no final action took place on the bill.
In April last, the Legislature of the State of New-York,
on the application of Messrs. Aspinwall, Stephens and
Chauncey, incorporated them and their associates as a
2




10
body corporate, by the legal name of " The Panama RailRoad Company," empowering them to construct the
proposed rail-road, and for that purpose to receive subscriptions for five millions of dollars, at which sum their
capital was fixed.
The intelligence of the large and brilliant discoveries of
metallic riches in California, reached this portion of the
United States soon after the passage of this act of incorporation; and it was confidently expected, that with the
additional stimulus which must thereby be imparted to
emigration, the advantages of the proposed rail-road would
be so obvious, as to induce our capitalists to furnish,
without hesitation, the amount necessary to secure the
speedy completion of the work.
Under these apparently favourable auspices, the books
were publicly opened in June last, with the amount of
subscription limited to a single million of dollars, but so
little were their fellow citizens then assured of the
profit of the undertaking, or so much did they fear its
hazards and difficulties, that of this million less than one
half was subscribed by the public at large; and Messrs.
Aspinwall, Stephens and Chauncey, and their immediate
associates, were obliged themselves to take the residue, to
enable the company to be legally organized.
Since that time, 20 per cent on the million subscribed,.
being $200,000, has been duly paid in to the company, and,
it has gone into regular operation under its Board of thirteen Directors, consisting of THOMAS W. LUDLOW, President, JOHN L. STEPHENS, Vice President, and WILLIAM H.
ASPINWALL, HENRY CHAUNCEY, CORNELIUS W. LAWRENCE, SAMUEL B. RUGGLES, SAMUEL S. HOWLAND,
GOUVERNEUR KEMBLE, EDWIN BARTLETT, JAMES BROWN,
JOSEPH B. VARNUM, and DAVID THOMPSON.
Mr. HORATIO ALLEN, originally one of the Directors, was
appointed and yet remains the consulting engineer of the
company, at the city of New-York.



11'Under the provisions of the act of incorporation, Messrs.
Aspinwall, Stephens and Chauncey, have duly transferred
to the Company, your memorialists, the grant from the government of New-Grenada, receiving in return full indemnity
for the 600,000 francs deposited by them to the credit of
that government; and also for the expenses of the survey, amounting to about $SO,Q0. In this manner your
memorialists have disposed of about two hundred thousand
dollars of their million subscribed, and have left remaining
eight hundred thousand dollars, for the construction of
the work, and subject to be called in as it shall be
required for that purpose.
This sum will not do much towards completing the road as
a great national highway and thoroughfare, but it will do
something, at least, towards expediting its progress, and
avoiding needless delays, while the subjectmay be under discussion; and it will serve to remedy, to some extent, the embarrassments now suffered in the passage across the more difficult parts of the Isthmus. Your merorialists, relying on
the liberality of their government, and the future progress of
enlightened public opinion, accordingly resolved upon proceeding, without delay, to expend this sum of eight hundred
thousand dollars, in constructing those portions of the road
between the Chagres river and the Pacific, likely to require the
longest time for their completion-and in such improvements
in the Chagres river as may enable passengers arriving on the
Atlantic to pass immediately up to Gorgona, and thereby
avoid any detention at the unhealthy locality near its mouth.
For this purpose, contracts have been actually entered into
for constructing the road between Gorgona and the Pacific,
-and the contractors, persons of approved experience in the
construction of works in that climate, are now on their
way to the Isthmus, with all necessary implements, prepared to commence the work at the close of the rainy
season, during the present month of December.    A
further pledge of the good faith and energy with which it
may be conducted, is furnished in the fact that Mr. JOHN




12
L. STEPHENS, the Vice-President of the Company, has also
gone to the Isthmus, personally to direct the operations
of the company on the spot.
It is hoped and expected by your memorialists, that from
the expenditure of this sum of $800,000, they may derive
a remunerating return; but they feel bound to state, that the
great public and national object of the undertaking, the providing an avenue of safe, cheap and rapid transit, at all
seasons, for persons and property of all descriptions, and
especially the cargoes of vessels, the munitions of war,
and other bulky materials, must necessarily be postponed
nntil further funds can be obtained.
It would be fortunate for the enterprise, if the mischiefs
occasioned by the want of adequate present funds,
could be limited to the delay which it causes; but, in
another mode, it leads to consequences permanently
injurious both to the work and to the public.  The
route of the road, as traced by their eminent engineers,
reduces the grades of acclivity to fifty feet to the mile, and
attains the shortest practicable line; but it requires a
large outlay in the cost of excavation. Were the present
funds of the Company adequate to the purpose, this route
would be altogether the most desirable; but, with the
scanty means now at their disposal, they are unable to
adopt it, and are driven to the necessity of selecting a line
more circuitous and less secure, and of submitting to a large
increase of acclivity; thereby materially lessening the
efficiency arid usefulness of their work, as an avenue of
trade and travel.
With adequate means, the whole road, built on the best
line, and in the most solid manner, might readily be completed, and put in active operatipn, within two years from the
first of May next; but, by the provisions of the grant from
New-Grenada, your memorialists are allowed eight years
for the purpose; and, however reluctantly they may admit
the fact, they feel constrained to declare that, without some
seasonable aid or co-operation from the government of the




13
United States, it will not be possible for them to secure
subscriptions for the five millions required for completing
their work, in such a manner and within such time as the
public good requires.
It is under these circumstances, that your memorialists
respectfully beg leave to submit their case to the wisdom
and liberality of Congress, and to ask its attentive consideration of the question, WVhether the public, national interests and necessities of the United States do not require
the completion of this road in the best manner, and in the
shortest practicable time? Can it be wise to postpone the enjoyment of the numerous and varied benefits, political, social
and commercial, to be derived from its accomplishment?
Those benefits are neither prospective nor contingent. The
due administration of the mail service, plainly demands it.
The economy in the transportation of military and naval
stores to our stations in the Pacific, and in the movement
of troops, and the crews of our public vessels, will be immense and immediate, —while the saving in time, health
and money to our countrymen, of all ages and sexes, now
passing by thousands across the Isthmus, must be felt and
acknowledged at once.
It is not the wish or intention of your memorialists to ask
for the aid or interposition of the government, except upon
grounds and in a mode that shall be free from doubt or
constitutional scruple in any quarter. They, therefore, refrain from expatiating on the beneficial influence of such a
channel of communication, in promoting the general welfare of the United States-in facilitating trade and intercourse between the States and Territories,-and in
strengthening the bonds of national union. Still less need
they advert to the just and enduring renown, which the opening of such an avenue of universal commerce-the successful execution of a work, so long desired by both hemispheres,-would reflect upon the enlightened government, whose well timed and patriotic liberality should expedite and encourage an achievement so conspicuous
in the history of modern civilization.




14
Aware of the differences of opinion that have agitated our?public councils on points like these, they rest their application upon the more narrow ground of economy to the
public treasury-the necessity of the work for the
direct, immediate use of the government, in the plain
discharge of its unquestioned duties-and its vital importance in providing for the public defence-enabling
the national authorities, in any emergency endangering our
valuable but distant possessions on the Pacific, promptly
to strengthen and reinforce the naval and military arm of
the country, instead of awaiting the long and boisterous voyage around Cape Horn, or the still more toilsome and wasting march of many weary months, across
the Rocky Mountains.
In thus drawing the attention of Congress to the Panama
Rail-Road, it is not intended to detract, in any manner,
from the merits of any other projects which may be submitted to its consideration, for establishing or facilitating
other modes of communication, by land or by water, with
our territories on the Pacific.
Your memorialists ask no exclusive, unjust or invidious
preference. They seek only to claim for their particular
work the advantagesI. Of superior cheapness and facility, both in its construction and subsequent use. The want of surveys of
other routes, renders it impossible to prove the whole extent of this superiority; but its length is known to be less
than one fourth of the shortest line on any other route, and
its cost may be confidently claimed to be in the same proportion.
II. That it possesses the clearly ascertained certainty of
convenient, salubrious and accessible ports on each ocean.
III. That it is in the most advanced condition, politically
physically, and financially in the circumstances1. That the right of way through the territory it traverses has been definitely granted by the government of New-Grenada, to which it belongs, and




15
is now free from all contest, doubt or dispute,which government also stands ready, through
its enlightened Minister in this country, to afford,
if necessary, any further or future facilities.
2. That a reliable instrumental survey, by engineers of
known skill and integrity, has been completed.
3. That a considerable portion of the line is now
actually under contract, and that the residue is
ready, the moment that adequate funds shall be
secured.
4. That one million of dollars of the requisite capital has been actually subscribed, under'the charge
of a responsible company of American citizens,
adequately organized.
lV. But, in addition to these peculiar advantages,
there is another, still more distinguishing and preeminent. In view of the importance of the communication across this particular Isthmus, the government of the
United States, departing widely from its foreign policy
towards all other nations, in the year 1848, deliberately
entered into a treaty with the government of New-Grenada,
having all the features and responsibilities of an alliance,
offensive and defensive-by which the United States, in
order to secure the right of way for the persons and property of their citizens, at rates of toll no higher than those
to be levied on the citizens of New-Grenada, expressly guarantee, "positively and effcaciously, to New-Grenada," not only
" the perfect neutrality of the before mentioned Isthmus," but
also, "in the same manner, the rights of sovereignty and property
which New-Grenada has and possesses over the said territory."
It is this novel and very important feature in our diplomatic
relations, which imparts to the rail-road across the Isthmus
of Panama, its most peculiar claim to the consideration of
our Government. By force of that treaty, the whole military and naval power of the United States is liable to be
called upon at any time, and at all times, to defend, not
only the neutrality of the Isthmus, and the tranquil enjoys




16
ment of the' ight of way over the territory, but also, the
very sovereignty of New-Grenada itself, both in peace and
in war, whether menaced by foreign invasion or domestic
insurrection.
The mere statement of such a treaty and its evident consequences, conclusively shows the national importance our government must have attached to the right of way across this
particular Isthmus. It would be strange indeed, if, after
acquiring it at the expense of public obligations so grave
and peculiar, they should now abandon it as unworthy
of their care or attention, and thus leave the United
States exposed to all the burthens and responsibilities of
the treaty, without realizing any equivalent national advantage.
Your memorialists are aware that an impression prevails
somewhat extensively, that the commercial and navigating
interests of the world, and especially of this country, would
be best promoted by a ship canal of such dimensions, either
at Panama, Nicaragua or Tehuantepec, as to allow the passage from ocean to ocean of sea going vessels, and to be kept
open and free for the commerce of all nations. That such
a channel of inter-communication would be a great acquisition to the commerce of the globe, and to the American
continent in particular, no one can deny; and if any capitalist or association of capitalists, or any nation or combination of nations, shall be found ready and willing to execute
the work, the effort ought to receive all suitable encouragement. But the Panama Rail-Road will not retard, nor conflict with any such project, but, on the contrary, may serve
as a very useful auxiliary in facilitating its execution.
Much time must necessarily be expended in the preliminary
examinations of a work, so costly and stupendous, not to
mention the delays that possibly may be experienced in collecting the necessary capital; and long before the surveys
of the canal could be completed, the rail-road could be
finished and in active operation, ready to transport th6'




17
materials required for constructing the canal or provisioning
the labourers.
If those surveys should result in showing such a canal to
be reasonably feasible, with adequate ports at each extremity, and a sufficient supply of water on the summit,
every  enlightened American will cheerfully applaud
the public spirit of those who may assume the task of its
construction. But even then, your memoriatists must continue to believe, and do respectfully contend, that their
own short, easily managed, and comparatively cheap communication of only 46 miles long, requiring but two hours
from ocean to ocean, must at all times afford, if not the exclusive, at least a very useful and reliable mode' of transit
for passengers, the public mails, troops, munitions of wai,
and every description of property requiring expeditious
movement.
Whatever prospective advantages, therefore, may be
sought fr6m the completion of a canal, those of the railroad are instant and undeniable. From the moment of its
completion, it will open a cheap and comfortable route
for the  great and constantly increasing multitudes
passing  between  our Atlantic  and  Pacific pos'sessions-at once imparting order and regularity to the
mail system-certainty and despatch to our expanding
commerce-and greatly increased efficiency to our means
of national defencei —while, in its future operation, it will
steadily and largely contribute to the building up that
grand division of our political and maritime power on thd
Pacific coast, which, looking directly out upon the continent and islands of Asia, is destined, at no distant day, t6
exert a potent, if not commanding authority over the trade
and navigation of that great quarter of the globe: and in
thus fostering and accelerating the growth of populous and
powerful communities in that remote and hitherto unpeopled portion of the republic, it will actively and materially assist in developing the only resource, by which the
immense works of over-land commnnication required for
8"




18
connecting the Mississippi Valley with the Great Western
Ocean, can ever be adequately supported.
If such be the advantages ofthe Panama Rail-Road, the
expediency of expediting its completion by any mode which'
may most effectually accomplish the purpose without calling for the adoption of any novel or doubtful policy, or the
exercise of any questionable constitutional powers, cannot
but be obvious to the Congress of the United States. As to
the character of the aid they require, your memorialists beg
leave to remove at once all scruple or misapprehension.
They neither ask nor desire any appropriation from the
public treasury towards the cost of their work, nor do they
solicit from the government any subscription to their stock,.
or participation in any way in the burthen or hazard of their
undertaking. They feel entirely confident that the services
they will be enabled to render to the United States, especially if their road shall be constructed on the best
line, and in the most permanent manner, will become
immediately and indispensably necessary; and were
they now able to impress their own convictions upon
the mind of the public at large, they would experience neither difficulty nor delay in securing the funds
required for proceeding with the whole work without delay. But the subject is yet comparatively new. The
enterprise requires a large expenditure, under a foreign
jurisdiction, in a territory hitherto but little frequented,
where the means of obtaining labour are not generally
known; and it is therefore not surprising that its pecuniary results should be regarded by many as problematical.
To impart the confidence that is wanting, the distinct
co-operation of the government is therefore required, not
in any advance of money, but in a present definite and
settled engagement that the road, when completed, shall
be employed, as necessarily it must be, in the public service;
and in now determining upon a. fair and equitable rate of




19
compensation for that service, having no more than a just
regard to the national importance of the work, and the
burthen and risk encountered in its execution.
Your memorialists feel entirely confident that such an
engagement would so far dispel the existing doubts as to
the pecuniary results of their enterprise, as to enable
them to obtain subscriptions for the residue of the five
millions of dollars required for completing the work, and
to put it, with all its appendages, in speedy and vigorous
operation.
It is not the purpose or the object of your memorialists,
to ask from the government any loan or advance, in anticipation of any services they are to render. They will
seek no compensation, until it shall have been earned. On
the contrary, they will, on their part, commence their services without payment, and will defer all claim for compensation, until a large portion of their work shall be completed. The fact is now but too notorious, that the mail
service on the Isthmus, for want of common roads, and the
means of transportation customary in more populous regions, is exposed to great disorders. Your memorialists, in
collecting on the Isthmus the large force of labourers and
animals needed for their work, will have the means at
once of lessening, if not entirely remedying those disorders.
And in this view, they now distinctly propose and offer,
that if Congress, at its present session, shall pass a bill
securing such a just and satisfactory rate of compensation
for the necessary services they may hereafter render to the
government, as shall enable them to obtain subscriptions for
the residue of their capital of five millions of dollars,they will, within sixty days after its passage, organize
on the Isthmus, a force adequate to the prompt and
regular transportation of the mails from ocean to ocean,
and will perform that service gratuitously, until they shall
have finished their rail-road from the Chagres River to the
Pacific.
In thus submitting the merits and the necessities of




their work to the consideration of Congress, your
memorialists cannot but claim that their position is
somewhat unusual.   They are struggling single handed with an undertaking, which has long occupied
the attention of the governments and statesmen of the civilized world-an enterprise which powerful nations only
ought to be called upon to accomplish, and to whom it
might more fittingly be committed.  They cannot but
think, that such an effort might well entitle them to expect
from their own government the most ample and liberal
measures of protection and support, and manifestations in
every mode, of its entire and cordial approbation.
They feel that they are striving to render a great and
signal service to their country-to execute a work which
may stand as a lasting monument of the enterprise of the
present generation-called for (luring three centuries of the
past, and destined to endure through future ages. In an
undertaking thus arduous and important, they surely ask but
little in the way of governmental aid or sympathy; for they
solicit neither national expenditure, nor the use of the nation,
al credit, nor the exertion, in any mode, of the national
power; but merely propose that the national authorities
shall now determine upon a just and equitable price, to be
paid hereafter, for necessary public services, when they
shall have been fairly rendered. They cannot believe that
a request so moderate will be deemed inopportune or
unreasonable, nor that their appeal in behalf of the
work can be wholly disregarded by an intelligent and
patriotic American Congress, mindful of the national renown, and capable of comprehending and wisely fostering the wide-spread, varied and expanding interests of our
favoured country.
By order of the Directors of the Panama Rail-Road
Company, at the city of New-York, this 10th day of December, 1849.
THOMAS W. LUDLOW, President.




APPENDIX.
Memorial of Messrs. Aspinowal Stephens 4f Chauncey, presented at
the last session of Congress.
To the Honourable the Senate and House of Representatives:
The Memorial of Wmi. H. Aspinwall, John L. Stephens, Henry
Chauncey, and their associates, respectfully represents:
That the acquisition of California and the settlement of our boundary line in Oregon have opened a new era in the history of this
country. Of the value of these new territories they do not propose
to speak, further than to say, that the mildness of the climate,
the richness of the soil, the great promise of mineral wealth, and,
above all, the long line of coast, with the magnificent harbors on
the Pacific, seem to be sufficiently appreciated by all classes of
our people. At this moment hundreds of young men, full of enterprise, from our Eastern States, are buffeting the storms of Cape
Horn, while in the coming spring the hardy pioneers of the West,will be moving by thousands over the desolate prairies, or climbing
the rugged steeps of the Rocky Mountains, to build up for us new
States on the Pacific. Already it is felt as a hardship by those
who go out from amongst us, that, once settled in California and
Oregon, they are, to a great extent, cut off from all the dearest relations of life, and that there are no means of returning, or of personal intercourse with friends at home, except by the stormiest
passage ever known at sea, or the most toilsome journey ever made
by land.
In view of this condition of things, and to hold out some encouragement to emigrants that they might not be virtually expatriated when upon our own soil, and with a further view of
facilitating our communications with our military and naval stations.on the Pacific, Congress, at its session before the last, established
a line of monthly mail steamers from New-York to Chagres, on
the Atlantic side of the Isthmus of Panama, and from Panama on
the Pacific side, to California and Oregon. This will no doubt
answer sufficiently the great purpose of facilitating correspondence by mail with those territories; but it cannot answer, to any
extent, the immediate and pressing want of a thoroughfare for
travel, which women and children can pass over, nor can it answer
at all the constant and sometimes pressing occasions for the
transportation of men, munitions of war, and naval stores for our
n;ilitary and naval stations on the Pacific; all of which, however




22
great the emergency, and at whatever sacrifice of time and money,
must go by the long and hazardous voyage around Cape Horn,
or by the wild paths across the Rocky Mountains, for half the
year covered with snows, and entirely impracticable.
The Isthmus ot Panama is about 50 miles in breadth, less than
any other part of the continent of America, and from the falling
off of the great range of Cordilleras, running from the Rocky
Mountains to the Andes, it has always been considered as the region in which, if any, an easy communication would be effected,
either by canal or road, between the two seas. The route over
it is probably worse now than in the early days of Spanish dominion, when the gold of Peru passed over it to freight with almost
fabulous wealth the argosies of Spain. No wheel carriage has
ever attempted to cross it. The present mode of doing so is by
canoe, up the Chagres river, set, for a great part of the distance,
by poles against the current, and requiring 28 to 30 hours to
Cruces. Thence to Panama there is a mule road, difficult at all
times for women and children, particularly with the effects of a
moving or emigrating party, and during the rainy season almost
impassable.
The Pacific Mail Company, charged with the transportation of
the mail from Panama to California, and to Oregon, comprising
your memorialists, immediately upon assuming the obligations of
their contract, saw the necessity for their own interest of improving
the road across the Isthmus, and after consultation with several
gentlemen in high position at Washington, took upon themselves
the burden and expense of fitting out an expedition for the purpose of an examination and survey. One of their associates, to
whom the execution of this work was entrusted, passed the last
winter on the Isthmus, attended by two engineers of high standing, who, besides making general observations upon the face of
the country, commenced a regular survey of high water mark on
the Pacific, and carried it across the Cordilleras down to the first
stream that enters into the Atlantic, when the further prosecution
of the work was broken up by the setting in of the rainy season,
and the party returned to New-York.
The scheme of this company, in incurring the expense of this
expedition, contemplated, as your memorialists understand, some
action on the part of the Government in the way of its aiding in
the construction of at least a wagon or a plank road; but the result satisfied them that, from the broken character of the country
and the deluges of the rainy season, this would be a work of far
greater magnitude than they had expected, and in the mean time
a new aspect has been given to this matter by the important
action of the Government itself.
A treaty has been negotiated with the Government of NewGrenada, by which the United States have undertaken, in consideration of a free and uninterrupted right of way over the
Isthmus of Panama, by afy road or roads then existing or there



23
after to be made, to guaranty to the public the neutrality of the
Isthmus and the authority of New Grenada over it; so that if the
Isthmus should be invaded by any foreign power, the United
States are bound to protect it with their army and navy. This
treaty, so new in its character and so important in the obligations
it assumes, was ratified by the Senate, as your memorialists understand, without a dissenting voice, and your memorialists regard
it as a manifest indication on the part of our Government, of the
great national importance of a flee and uninterrupted passage at
all times and forever across the Isthmus of Panama, as the closing
act of that policy which established the mail route to California
and Oregon by way of that Isthmus, and as devolving upon the
Government the necessity of lending its countenance towards the
improvement of the road across it, without which, they respectfully represent, the heavy obligations of the treaty will be attended
with no equivalent advantage, and the right of way thus wisely
secured can never be fully enjoyed.
Impressed with the importance of this matter, as involving the
prosperity of California and Oregon, and the welfare of all who
are in any way connected with our citizens in those territories,
and regarding it as vitally affecting the best interests of our Government in a political and pecuniary point of view, and having
under their control the maps, drawing, and other information procured by the Pacific mail company, your memorialists have
secured to themselves an exclusive grant or privilege of ninetynine years from the republic of New Grenada for constructing a
rail-road across the Isthmus of Panama, and they come before your
honourable body to ask the co-operation and aid necessary for
carrying out this great American work. They beg leave to say
that its speedy completion, by private enterprise alone, without
the countenance of Government, cannot be expected. Privilege
after privilege, similar to that which they now hold, has been
granted to others, and all have failed. It does not promise any
immediate or cerain returns, and for complete and early success
it requires some engagement for employment and compensation
by this Government, as an inducement to capitalists to unite with
your memorialists in furnishing the necessary means.
Your memorialists believe that events have been rolling on towards a consummation of this long-talked-of work, and that the
appointed time has now arrived; that the acquisition of California
by the United States, and the establishment of an organized Government in our territory of Oregon, have fixed the period and the
hands by which it is to be accomplished; that it has become the
destiny of this country, for its own interests, for the benefit of its
own people, and for the good of the world, alone, promptly, and:
without delay, to achieve an enterprise which for more than three
centuries has under some aspect been contemplated and proposed'
by the great powers of Europe. It is under a strong sense that
they but speak the feelings of the great mass of our people that




24
they have ventured to embark in the great enterprise before them,
and to aim' at becoming instruments in carrying out a work which,
from the time when Nunez'Balboa from the heights of Darien
first saw the great South Sea, has occupied the minds of all civilized people, which must reflect honor upon American enterprise,
and which, by bringing into close relations the most distant parts
of our republic, must add to and' enlarge the sphere of human
happiness.
Your memorialists hope that these and other considerations of
the like nature may have all proper influence upon your honorable body; bdt they ask your co-operation on none of these
grounds; they ask it only on the ground, first, of economy and
pecuniary saving to the Government, in the transportation of men,
munitions of War, and naval stores to our military and naval stations in California and Oregon; and, second, on the higher and
more impoitant political ground of being able, on an emergency,
and when occasion requires, to send reinforcements in less than
thirty days, instead of six months, as required to send them
around Cape Horn or across the Rocky Mountains. They ask no
advance of money towards the construction of the road, and no
compensation until services are performed; but they respectfully
pray your honorable bodies to empower and direct the Secretary
of the Navy to enter'into a contract with your memorialists for the
transportation on said road, for a period of twenty years, of navy
and army supplies; including troops, munitions of war, provisions, naval stores, the mails of the United States, and its public
agents, at a sum not exceeding the amount now specified by law
to be paid for the transportation of the mails alone from NewYork to Liverpool; provided that your memorialists shall within
one year commence, and within three years complete, the construction of a railroad across the Isthmus of Panama, connecting the
waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
W. H. ASPINWALL,
JOHN L. STEPHENS,
HENRY CHAUNCEY.