vated to the fine bluff by a canal and basin, or the road be extended through the swamp, which is there a rice field in cultivation. Before it enters the ocean, the Altamaha divides itself into four branches; on the southern branch, which from examination and information we found to be the deepest and best for navigating boats, the rail-road will end. As to the cost of this work, we have only such data as will enable us to approximate a reasonable estimate. We have addressed the agent of the Charleston rail-road for accurate information from experience; but not having received an answer, we deem it our duty not to delay our report, as these matters are within the reach of every member of your body; and the distance is so small as not to make the cost a matter of very great moment. We understand that the first estimate of the Charleston rail-road was $5,000 per mile, and that the actual cost has been found to fall short of the estimate. As the location of the route for the Brunswick rail-road is so favorable, and as the foundation will soon be completed by the public hands, we should think it would be a safe calculation to set down the utmost cost at $5,000 per mile, including labor already bestowed by the hands, or that it could not exceed from $50,000 to $70,000, including the cost of all the labor, materials, engine, cars, and warehouses. We think this a high limit for the cost, but that it would be a trifling sum compared with the immense advantages that would result to the State from the completion of the work, even should the State assume the entire expense; but this will not be necessary, as individuals have already subscribed for stock. The distance from the Altamaha to Brunswick, and vice versa, may be performed with ease by the engine and loaded cars in one hour. By a proper construction of the ends of the route, a boat load of cotton might be soon placed into the cars, and be taken to Brunswick in one trip, while other cars might be ready to return immediately with freight of merchandise for the boat. In this way but little delay would be occasioned. We consider this process much cheaper and more expeditious than loading a boat by drays from one of our warehouses at any distance from the boat landing. As by the charter not more than twenty five per cent. can be demanded for any one year upon the amount of capital invested, should the project succeed, the cost of transportation would not probably exceed from 12 to 25 cents per bale upon cotton, and so in proportion for goods; for we believe that all the cotton-growing country in reach of the Oconee, Ocmulgee, and Altamaha would go to Brunswick. We are therefore of opinion, that the great advantages to be derived from this work, by the extensive region of fertile territory, and the dense, industrious, and growing population that trade, and will be induced to trade, upon these rivers, render it advisable for the State to give prompt and efficient aid in completing this rail-road, so as to connect Brunswick with the interior of the State. Perhaps the letter of our duty is discharged in giving these facts, and the opinions founded upon them. Bnt we feel, in common with our fellowcitizens, so strongly the great importance of building upon our sea-coast a commercial town, for the sale and exportation of our products, and the importation of those supplies of merchandise yearly consumed among us, and now essential to our prosperity and comfort, that we believe a more extensive view of this important subject to fall within the range of our official functions. Indeed, we should consider our commission but half accomplished, did we fail, at this momentous crisis of our commercial relations, to spread before your body those powerful considerations that form the very basis of the opinions we have already submitted. Our State is second to but one or two of her sister States, in her internal wealth and resources. Possessing almost every variety of soil and climate from the mountains to the sea-coast, with corresponding varieties of mineral, vegetable and agricultural wealth, she may vie in these respects with the most favored States of the most highly-favored nation upon earth. All that our people have to do, to place us by the side of Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York in internal improvements, is to arouse from our torpor, and direct our energies aright. Your commissioners can say, upon the solemn appeal they have made, in submitting this report, that they do not believe that there is in the United States so small a work of internal improvement as the contemplated rail-road, fraught with consequences so important and so beneficial to the same extent of country and the same amount of active and industrious population. The first and most important inquiry for the people of Georgia is, have we within our own State an outlet for our immensely valuable productions, and an inlet for the foreign necessaries and luxuries of life, that may be made to vie with the large seaports in other States? that may enable us to command the highest prices for the former, and obtain the latter at the cheapest rate to the planter and the farmer? Your commissioners do not hesitate to answer this question for the people of Georgia in the affirmative. In the town of Brunswick, properly connected with the interior, we could have a commercial emporium that might rival any on the Atlantic coast, south of Baltimore. The only obstacle now existing to the connexion of this noble port with the heart of Georgia, and with the great wealth and the densest population of the State, is the narrow strip of land, of little over eleven miles, between Turtle river and the Altamaha; and this obstacle, we have already stated, can, in our opinion, be overcome by the trifling sum of from $50,000 to $70,000. But suppose it should cost $100,000, the expenditure is but a trifle in comparison with the immense advantages it would yield, not only to the treasury of the State, but to the great body of the people. The next question is, how is the importance of opening the port of Brunswick to be demonstrated? The answer is ready, and the various considerations connected with it of the most momentous importance to the prosperity and independence of the State. But look at the But look at the map of your State, and it will be seen, by a single glance of the eye, that our noble rivers the Oconee, the Ocmulgee, and the Altamaha, penetrate the very heart of the State, from the ocean to the mountains. On these rivers and their tributaries, and within the range of their trade and influence, will be seen nearly half the number of our counties, containing the richest soil, and yielding the most extensive supplies of cotton, corn, sugar, flour, rice, stock and lumber to be found in any equal extent of the southern States; containing the largest and most growing population, with a rich and new country every day gaining in resources. The trade that goes down these rivers would be derived from an extent of country nearly three hundred miles in length, and from fifty to one hundred miles in breadth. To all these people and this extensive district the benefits of Brunswick would be brought, should it be fostered as it might be. That we have the facilities for the immediate creation of such a market, yet that we have not such a market, must be matter of the deepest regret and most humbling reflec tion to your honorable body and to our people at large. That the immense product of our soil yearly descending our rivers, and transported in wagons, should pass by the wharves of Darien and Savannah to go to Charleston, in another State, at a heavy expense, and our supplies returned by the same circuitous and expensive route, must be humbling to the State pride and the patriotism of every true-hearted Georgian; while, in the opinion of your commissioners, the amount of wealth that would be retained at home, would, in one year, compensate us for the whole expense of setting this road in operation, and opening the port of Brunswick to the interior. Georgia, at this moment, presents the spectacle of a robust man, rich in the vital fluid, submitting to have the veins of both arms opened, and bleeding to death; while, by the exertion of his own strength and energy, he might save himself from destruction. Savannah, we fear, is prostrated by the completion of the Charleston rail-road to Augusta. Our produce already goes by her wharves, because the farmer and the merchant can get better bargains in a foreign market. All the produce on that noble river, which goes to Augusta, is eventually destined to Charleston. On the other side of our State, the rich country along the Chattahoochee is draining its products into Florida. While we are thus losing the advantages of our trade on both sides of the State, the body of the State is perishing, or finding a scanty subsistence abroad, for the want of that commercial nourishment at home which the resources of the State and the capital of wealthy individuals in it are amply sufficient to supply. Under this state of things, for the want of our manly and vigorous exertion, we shall soon become, like North Carolina, tributary to cúr sister States. Our system of internal improvement has been radically defective. Instead of directing our operations to one important point on the sea-coast, we have been working from village to village, and carrying our improvements across the State; thus giving facilities to the passage of our produce into other markets. By some central operation, we should approximate the ship to the plough, and bring the mountains to the ocean. We have the means of avoiding this suicidal policy, by a very trifling improvement. The navigation of the three rivers already mentioned is open to the heart of the State, to Hawkinsville, Milledgeville, and Macon; and these towns draw the trade from near the mountains. Connect the navigation of these rivers with Brunswick, where the ship can at all seasons approach, and the merchant and planter of the interior can find a good market for sale and purchase, and our failing commerce would, in a great measure, revive and begin to flourish. It is by such means that South Carolina has fostered Charleston, till, having absorbed the commerce of her whole State, she is now draining Georgia of hers. Let us learn a lesson from her example. From seventy to eighty thousand bales of cotton annually descend the Altamaha, besides other productions. These will increase as our fertile lands are opened, and our population becomes more numerous; and our cotton, corn, wheat, lumber, bacon, and stock of various kinds, will seek the best and nearest market on our coast, if such a one is to be found. In return for these products, very extensive supplies are, and will continue to be, brought up these rivers. The greater part of these products are now sent to Charleston and New York, and our goods purchased in the same markets. The advantages of all these transactions might, in the opinion of the commissioners, be saved to Georgia, by a seaport of our own; and we are confident that Brunswick holds out the strongest inducements for such a saving of our resources. Our capital might be kept at home; our merchants might annually save large amounts of freight, commissions, ex change, insurance, storage, travelling expenses, and time-a very important item in the account current of every man of business. The merchants being enabled to save this expenditure, could afford to give better prices for produce, and sell their goods at cheaper rates, and on more accommodating terms; while the farmer and planter would be the great gainers in the end. It would keep wealth at home, diffuse its comforts more generally, and increase the revenues of our treasury. The merchant could obtain supplies of articles just when there is a demand for them, and know when he could calculate on receiving them. He could bring his goods into market much sooner after he had made his purchase, and of course be sooner able to pay for them, and better able to afford accommodation to his customers. The price of our lands would be increased, and all our productions find a more ready market. Such are the facilities and advantages that might, in the opinion of the commissioners, be afforded to the people of Georgia by opening the port of Brunswick to the interior, by connecting it with the Altamaha. This would, in time, induce further and more extensive improvements. Trade might, in time, be brought from the isthmus of Florida, from Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio; for the northern roads and canals are chained by the ice in winter, and the dangers of navigating the Gulf of Mexico render an eligible and accessible port on the Atlantic far preferable to any on the southern coast of Florida. There is no reason why goods should not be bought as cheap at Brunswick, and produce command as high a price, as at Charleston or New Orleans; the ship can as readily come to Brunswick from Liverpool, Bordeaux, and the East and West Indies, as to New York and Charleston. Why should the freight be higher, or the goods dearer? There would be no delay in running in, and putting out to sea; and no heavy river charges, and no loss of time to increase the price of merchandise sold by the importer and the wholesale dealer. Open the port of Brunswick to the interior, and the enterprise of seamen will soon bring the ships there: bring the ships there, and your cotton, your grain, your sugar, and every other article of home production, will go there; and the merchant of large capital will soon find it to his interest to invest it in Brunswick. The commerce of these rivers, and the trade of the whole interior of Georgia, belong, by nature, to some seaport on our coast: let the most eligible and the best be selected; let no sectional jealousy impede the enterprise. Such a seaport, we think, Brunswick might be made; being decidedly of opinion that it affords advantages for a large commercial city, if not superior, at least equal, in every respect, to any on the southern Atlantic coast of the United States, and decidedly superior to any in Georgia. Georgia has not a moment to lose in redeeming her own commercial character-in saving to her treasury, to her merchants, to the whole agricultural, professional, and mechanical industry of the State, the great blessings to be derived from her ample resources. Patriotism, State pride, pecuniary interest-all demand that the great wealth of one of the finest portions of the world should be so marshalled as to increase our own domestic prosperity and happiness, by cultivating the means which the bountiful hand of indulgent Providence has placed so entirely within our reach and under our control. All which is respectfully submitted by the commissioners. OHN G. POLHILL, HUGH LAWSON, MOSES FORT. GEORGIA, Baldwin county: . From the facts and considerations stated in the foregoing report, together with the information derived from sources the most authentic within their reach, John G. Polhill, Hugh Lawson, and Moses Fort, on oath say, that they are decidedly of the opinion that it is advisable for the State of Georgia. to render immediate aid in opening the port of Brunswick to the interior of the State. JOHN G. POLHILL, MOSES FORT. Sworn, affirmed to, and subscribed before me, this 18th July, 1833. AN ACT to amend and consolidate the acts granting chartered rights and privileges to Wm. B. Davis, Urbanus Dart, and their associates, to establish a company to construct a canal or rail-road, or both, from the Altamaha to Turtle river, in Glynn county, or to Brunswick, passed the 20th of December, 1826, and the 14th of December, 1830. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Georgia in General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That Thomas Butler King, Stephen C. King, and William W. Hazard, and their associates and successors, be, and they are hereby, incorporated with vested powers, rights, and privileges, as a body politic, by the name and style of the "Brunswick Canal and Rail-road Company." SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for the said company to create a stock to the amount of two hundred thousand dollars, (to be increased, if necessary, one-third,) for the purpose of carrying the said canal and rail-road into full effect; that is to say, they are authorized and empowered to cause books of subscription to be opened at such places, and in such manner, as they may deem most conducive to the obtainment of the stock required." SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the capital stock of the said company shall consist of two thousand shares, of one hundred dollars eachbut the number of shares may be increased one-third; and that upon subscribing to the aforesaid stock, the subscribers shall pay the sum of five dollars upon each share. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That all amounts paid in by the stockholders shall be deposited in one of the incorporated banks in the city of Savannah; and before the State, or the officers of the Central Bank of Georgia, shall pay any amount on the stock authorized to be subscribed for by any existing law of this State, or any law which may hereafter be passed, the certificate of the cashier of the bank in which the same shall be deposited shall be produced to them, that the same amount on each share has been paid and deposited in said bank by the individual stockholders, as is demanded of the State or Central Bank. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the individual property of the said company shall stand pledged to the State for the amount which shall be subscribed and paid in by the State, (should the State authorize any subscription;) and that all amounts subscribed and paid in by the State and said stockholders shall be applied to the objects contemplated by this |