der T.
Galt, then commissioner of the British-American Land Company, succeeded
in floating a large quantity of stock in England--the first of
countless railway appeals to the London market--only to have the
subscriptions {45} withdrawn in 1846 when the Hudson bubble burst. The
Canadian stockholders put up what money they could. The city of
Montreal took L125,000 stock. The British-American Land Company and
the Montreal Seminary each lent L25,000. Country subscribers were
permitted to make payments in pork or eggs for the use of the
construction gang, though one director resigned because not allowed to
turn in his farm. The contractors, Black, Wood and Company, as was
customary in the United States at the time, took a large portion of
their payment in stock. Still, funds were lacking. Internal
difficulties developed; directors did not direct; and in 1849 the
finances were found to be in a hopelessly tangled state. Galt then
took charge as president, with John Young--forwarder and born promoter,
active in all transportation schemes, whether for canal, railway, or
bridge--as vice-president. Under their skilful financing the work went
on, but scarcely forty miles could be opened in 1849. To complete the
road to the border, in the depression which prevailed, seemed utterly
beyond the unaided resources of private capitalists, and the directors
turned to the government for aid.

Meanwhile, Upper Canada lagged in action, {46} although schemes were
many. Omitting merely local projects, the roads most in the public eye
were those leading west and north from Lake Ontario. The Great Western
project had been longest under way, and showed a significant evolution.
In 1834 the legislature of Upper Canada had granted a charter to the
London and Gore Railroad Company. This road was designed to carry the
products of the rich western peninsula to the bordering lakes, and
chiefly to Lake Ontario. The main line was to run in the direction of
Governor Simcoe's great highway, Dundas Street, from Burlington Bay to
London, while power was taken to extend the road to Lake Huron and the
navigable waters of the Thames. Nothing was done under this charter.
When it was renewed by an Act of 1845, the name was changed to the
Great Western, and, more important, the route was altered to extend
from the Niagara river via Hamilton to Windsor and Sarnia. For
meanwhile the New York Central had reached Buffalo, and the Michigan
Central was be