equently that it is to be
a substitute for the modes of transportation now in use between
that place and Boston, _and cannot deserve patronage from the
supposition that it is to be more extensively useful_...."

The Remonstrants, therefore, respectfully submit: First, that there
be no such exigency as will warrant the granting of the prayer for
a railroad to and from Lowell.

Secondly, that, if that prayer be granted, provision should be made
as a condition for granting it, that the Remonstrants shall be
indemnified for the losses which will be thereby occasioned to
them.

This may seem the wilful blindness of self-interest; but the utterances
of the press and the legislative debates of the period are similar in
tone. In relation to another railroad, the "Boston Transcript" of Sept.
1, 1830, remarks: "It is not astonishing that so much reluctance exists
against plunging into doubtful speculations.... The public itself is
divided as to the practicability of the Rail Road. If they expect the
assistance of capitalists, they must stand ready to guarantee the
_percentum per annum_; without this, all hopes of Rail Roads are
visionary and chimerical." In a report of legislative proceedings
published in the "Boston Courier," of Jan. 25, 1830, Mr. Cogswell, of
Ipswich, remarked: "Railways, Mr. Speaker, may do well enough in old
countries, but will never be the thing for so young a country as this.
When you can make the rivers run back, it will be time enough to make a
railway." Notwithstanding the pathetic remonstrances and strange
vaticinations of the canal proprietors, the Legislature incorporated the
road and refused compensation to the canal. Even while the railroad was
in process of construction, the canal directors do not seem to have
realized the full gravity of the situation. They continued the policy of
replacing wood with stone, and made every effort to perfect the service
in all its details; as late as 1836 the agent recommended improvements.
The amount of tonnage continued to increase--the very sleepers used in
the construction of the railway were boated, it is said, to points
convenient for the workmen.

In 1832 the canal declared a dividend of $22 per share; from 1834 to
1837, inclusive, a yearly dividend of $30.

The disastrous competition of the Lowell Railroad was now beginning to
be felt. In 1835 the Lowell goods conveyed by canal paid tonnage dues of
$11,