The original plans for the Division of Transportation in the Department of Economics and Sociology of the Carnegie Institution of Washington and the work of collaboration were initiated by Professor William Z. Ripley. The work was therefore well begun. Early in 1905, the late Colonel Carroll D. Wright and Professor Ripley persuaded me to assume charge of the work. I expected then to be able personally to write these or similar contributions to the History of Transportation in the United States. A succession of events made this undertaking increasingly difficult, and I was finally compelled to content myself with exercising the functions of director and editor. Special studies were prosecuted by different collaborators in different parts of the United States, of which the following were used in the preparation of the present volume: 1. BISHOP, A. L. The State Works of Pennsylvania. (Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1907.) 2. HANEY, L. M. Congressional History of Railways in the United States to 1850, vol. 1. (University of Wisconsin, Bulletin No. 211. Economics and Political Science Series, vol. III, No. 2, 1908.) 3. Cleveland, F. A., and F. W. POWELL. Railroad Promotion and Capitalization in the United States. (Longmans Green & Company, 1909.) 4. PHILLIPS, U. B. A History of Transportation in the Eastern Cotton Belt to 1860. (Columbia University Press, The Macmillan Company, 1908.) 5. JONES, C. L. The Economic History of the Anthracite-Tidewater Canals. (University of Pennsylvania, Series in Political Economy and Public Law, No. 22, 1908.) 6. Gephart, W. F. Transportation and Industrial Development in the Middle West. (Columbia University Studies in History, Economics and Public Law, xxxIV, No. 1, 1909.) 7. LUETSCHER, G. D. 8. BROWNSON, H. G. Canals East of the Alleghany Mountains. (Manuscript.) 9. WAY, R. B. Internal Improvements, 1817-1840. (Manuscript.) 11. THOMPSON, G. G.: (1) Trade Routes and Means of Communication before 1820. (Manuscript.) (3) Early Projects for Internal Improvements. (Manuscript.) (4) The Cost of Transportation. (Manuscript.) Railroads in the United States, 18401850. (Manuscript.) (5) Internal Improvements in the Southern States. (Manuscript.) (6) Internal Improvements in the Middle Atlantic States. (Manuscript.) (7) Internal Improvements in Pennsylvania. (Manuscript.) (8) Manuscript notes, from many sources, including a large number of topics. 12. Ferrar, KaTHLEEN. Manuscript Notes. In addition to the studies listed above, the following, published and unpublished, have been prepared up to the present time: BUCK, SOLON G. History of “the Granger Movement." 1913. DOTEN, CARROLL G. Recent Railway Accidents in the United States. 1905. POTTS, C. S. Railroad Transportation in Texas. 1909. WELD, L. D. H. Private Freight Cars and American Railways. 1908. WAY R. B. History of Navigation on the Lower Mississippi. DAGGETT, STUART. Railroad Reorganization. 1908. V Several additional studies have been in progress, some of which are substantially completed, but not yet published. They are the following: History of Transportation on the Great Lakes. TUNELL, G. G. Canadian Railways in their Relation to the United States. YOUNG, F. G. Development of Transportation in the Pacific Northwest. All of these special studies may well stand by themselves as independent contributions. All of them contribute material and interpretative views which I believe will be of assistance to every student in this general field. After most of the completed studies listed above had been finished the accumulated material was placed in the hands of Miss Caroline E. MacGill, at that time of the University of Wisconsin, for elaboration into book form. Besides finished monographs, there were placed at her disposal various indexes, collections of notes, and partially completed manuscripts. It has been her function to weave these together and to fill in through her own studies whatever was necessary to give the volume continuity. In doing this work it has been impracticable in all cases for her to give specific and individual credit in the text to each of the authors of the various books and monographs utilized. This volume must be viewed as a contribution rather than as a completed study. It seemed much better to utilize as far as possible all of the material which the various collaborators had brought together than to restrict the volume to only such material as would be required in producing a thoroughly systematic, unified, and closely knit book. The work as it now stands has obvious defects, which I trust will not detract seriously from its usefulness to students of transportation. The conditions under which the entire work was done, together with limitations arising out of the condition of the appropriations, made it practically impossible to produce a work different from that which is here presented. This is not stated in an attitude of apology, but rather of explanation. I am indebted to the Department of Historical Research of the Carnegie Institution for permission to use some of the maps prepared for its atlas of economic history by Professor R. H. Whitbeck, of the University of Wisconsin. The difficulty of correctly mapping the early railroads is very great. Many of the contemporary maps are notoriously inaccurate, and it is often impossible to get conclusive evidence that a road was really in operation in a given year and not merely in process of construction or projected. A careful comparison between the text and the railroad map of 1840 has been made, and it is satisfactory to find that the two agree in most particulars. In two cases regarding which the evidence is conflicting, the fact is indicated in a footnote. Dr. Max O. Lorenz, associate statistician of the Interstate Commerce Commission, Dr. John Cummings, Bureau of the Census, and E. W. Hines, Esq., a member of the Louisville bar, and formerly an attorney of the Interstate Commerce Commission, have read carefully the entire manuscript, and many suggestions and improvements are due to their painstaking work. Because of the public position I have occupied during the years this volume has been in preparation, it is proper to say that this work has been done solely in the interest of the production of the present history, without remuneration; nor have I any financial interest, direct or indirect, in the sale of the book. Naturally I can not assume responsibility for the opinions and interpretative views of the various collaborators. BALTHASAR HENRY MEYER. |