UF, F 2/23/1863
Tallahassee Florida Feby 23, 1863
 
Hon. D. L. Yulee
Prest Florida R. R. Co.
 
Dear Sir,
   By direction of the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Fund I enclose you a copy of Resolution adopted by said Board on the 18th inst. and to request you to furnish the information called for with regard to the transactions, conditions and management of the Florida Railroad Company.
   These Resolutions were adopted in pursuance of Resolutions adopted by the General Assembly of Florida in its last Session. See pamphlet Laws p. 73.
Respectfully
Hugh A. Corley
Sec pro tem Bd Trustees I. I. Fund
 
   Whereas, the General Assembly of the State of Florida at its last session by a Resolution requiring information to be furnished by the Int. Improvement Board with regard to the Management of certain Railroads, required this Board to obtain from the Railroad Companies whose roads have been constructed, or are in course of construction, on routes indicated in the fourth section of "an Act to provide for and encourage a liberal system of Internal Improvements in the State" a Statement of certain facts set forth in said Resolution. Therefore<
   Resolved, That the Pensacola & Georgia Railroad Company, the Florida, Atlantic & Gulf Central Railroad Company, the Tallahassee Railroad Company, and the Alabama & Florida Railroad Company be and they are hereby requested to furnish to this Board a statement showing:
1. The number of miles of road completed by them on the first day of January 1863.
2. A Statement of the work done on the incompleted part of their road if any part thereof should be uncompleted.
3. The number of acres of land reserved for their roads respectively under the land grant.
4. The number of Bonds endorsed for them respectively by the Trustees of the Internal Improvement 
5. The number of said bonds held by the Company.
6. The number issued, to whom, and on what account.
7. The actual cost per mile of the road.
8. The amount of rolling stock and its cost.
9. The amount in cash paid from the Int. Imp. Fund on the interest account.
10. The amount invested by the Internal Improvement Board in the Bonds of the Road.
11. The amount due by said Company for interest remaining unpaid on the 1st January 1863.
12. The amount of private subscription to the stock of each Company.
13. The amount received by each Company on account of private subscriptions, either in cash or notes, stating the amount of each.
14. The account of County subscriptions and the amount received therefrom, either in cash, bonds or notes, stating the amount of each and the Cty subscribing.
15. And also any other facts relating to the condition or management of the road which may be matters of public interest.
   Resolved, Further, That said Companies are requested to furnish to the Board copies of their Reports from the commencement of work on the roads respectively to the present time.
   The foregoing is a true copy of Resolution adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Int. Improvement Fund on the 18th Febry, 1863.
Attest Hugh A. Corley
           Secty pro tem
 
{The draft answer to the above request is transcribed below. The document has no date or signature on it}
Hugh A. Corley Esq.
Sec'y pro-tem Bd Trustees I. I. Fund
 
Dear Sir,
   I append below as the most distinct form of placing before the Board the information requested in the resolution of the 18th Feby, which you enclosed me, answering under each head of inquiry and for convenience have numbered your inquiries.
Respectfully
{no signature}
1. The number of miles of road completed on 1st of Jan. 1863
Answer: There were 154 miles & a fraction of a mile completed.
2. Answer: There are about 145 miles of road uncompleted, namely between Waldo and Tampa, of this about 44 miles, namely between Waldo & Ocala is mostly graded, only about 90,000 cubic yards remaining to be excavated. The culverts on the first 10 miles are completed, & the cross ties gotten out and distributed. No work has been done beyond Ocala.
   Application was made to the Trustees on the 25th day of February 1861 for the appointment of an engineer to inspect the work on the first sect. of ten miles, as provided in the Internal Improvement Act, but the Trustees having declined to order the inspection upon the alleged ground that another company was claiming the right to construct that part of the line to Tampa, no further progress could be made with our work under the act.
3. Answer: By the Act of Congress a grant was made for the benefit of all the roads of alternate sections of land six miles deep on the line of the road. Under this grant the Company would have been entitled to nearly 600000 acres. In as much as a great part of the land along the line of the road was held under control of the State by virtue of the Swamp land grant and from other causes, the company was only able to obtain under this grant 74,310.05 acres within six miles of the road & for the same reason could only obtain 205,762.38 acres of the residue between the five & fifteen mile limits. But as the State, harmonizing with the wise policy of Congress, and acting upon the same principle, had by its legislation granted from the vacant lands which the Swamp land & Int. Imp. grants placed under the control, the same proportionate aid, the result gave to the Company nearly the same total which they would have received if the general Gov't had not parted with the Control of the Swamp & Int. Impt. lands. The aggregate of lands within fifteen miles of the road which the Company has derived through the State & Federal grants, is 581,036.54 acres, of these lands the Company has succeeded in selling, up to this present date only 37,219.85 acres, realizing therefor the sum of $62,056.22.
4. Answer: The amount of bonds under which the interest has been guaranteed by the I. I. Fund, for the benefit of this Company, is ${no figure entered}
5. Answer: None of the bonds are held by the Company
6. Answer: They were all issued to the Contractors in payment under their Contract.
7. Answer: The Contract price for the road with equipment, was $20,000 per mile. To this is to be added other considerable expenses, chiefly owing to the long time employed in constructing it. This unfortunate protracting of the work was caused by embarrassments for which the Company was not at fault. What the final cost will prove to be per mile, cannot be stated until the accounts with the Contractors have been adjusted which has been thus far prevented by the existing war.
8. Answer: The Company had placed upon the track Nine Locomotives and a large number of cars of various descriptions viz: passenger, baggage, box, stock & flat cars. One of the locomotives was transferred to the Pens. & Geo. r. R. Co. Five other of them to meet a pressing need for increased motive power were lost at Ferna in consequence of its sudden evacuation by the military forces. A large number of cars were also lost there on the same occasion, and, several at Cedar Key when the Company Wharf was burned there by the enemy.
9.
10.
11.
Answer: The information sought under these heads can be supplied with more accuracy from the records of the board than from any other source.
12. Answer: There has been no public subscription to the stock of the Company, except what the Trust Fund has taken under the provisions of the Int. Imp. Act. There have been       shares of stock issued of which the Trust Fund own       shares. The rest are all owned by private stockholders.
13. Answer: No notes have been taken for dividends of stock payment. The whole amount paid on the outstanding stock as appears from the books is $               .
14. Answer: There have been no county subscriptions to the stock of this company.
15. Answer: The road was not completed till March 1861. The war, which commenced in the next month, has prevented its employment as a thoroughfare, & closed  the fountain of business to it. Its design & appropriate function, was to furnish a link between the Atlantic & Mexican Seas, convenient to be used for a part of the large commerce in persons and merchandize which passes between the population occupying their shores. These seas having passed under the control of the enemy, the business of the road is limited to such local employment as the times afford. In this respect its construction has proved to be of great convenience & value to the Eastern part of Florida, and has been indispensable to its military tenure by the facilities it has afforded for the movement of troops & supplies along the base of the peninsula. We cannot expect any development of its destinies until Peace opens again to commerce its rational avenues.

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