bribe, or per centage whatever; and that I have not received, do not expect to receive, and have not been promised any fee, reward or profit for my services, other than my regular salary. I have however procured, at various times, conveyance for destitute emigrants gratuitously, by almost every mode of conveyance departing from our city; but as this was not a consideration, nor the result of a previous understanding expressed or implied-and was not for my benefit, it can scarcely be classed under the head of bribery.

(No. 55.)

Testimony of Samuel Collis.

[Referred to in the preceding testimony.]

Albany County ss.

Samuel Collis, being duly sworn, says, that he is a native of England; that he came to and arrived in the city of New York on the 10th of September instant; that on Thursday last, the 6th instant, this deponent applied to G. Andrews of New York, for the passage of himself and his family, consisting of his wife and six children, from New York to Toronto; that said Andrews charged said deponent six pounds for said passage; and that this deponent paid said G. Andrews six sovereigns, for which said Andrews promised and agreed to forward this deponent and his family to Toronto, and gave this deponent in return a passage ticket, of which the annexed is a correct copy; that deponent and his family left New York on Thursday evening last, by the steamer New Jersey, and arrived in the city of Albanp on Friday-morning, the 17th inst.; that soon after deponent's arrival in Albany and in company with Mr. David Nelligan, this deponent went to the office of H. D. Smethurst, the person to whom the said passage ticket was addressed by the said Andrews, and the said Nelligan on behalf of this deponent, presented said ticket to said Smethurst and asked for a passage ticket to Toronto for this deponent and his family; that said Smethurst refused to give such ticket, unless he was first paid $13, the amount endorsed as due on the passage ticket received from said Andrews, and also unless this deponent should pay said Smethurst the freight on this deponent's baggage. SAMUEL COLLIS.

Subscribed and sworn before me, Sept. 18, 1847.

D. WRIGHT, Recorder, &c.

PASSAGE TICKET.

New York, Sept. 16, 1847.

No. 125. Due $13,00.

Received of Mr. Collis, $19.36 for the passage of five persons, making five full passengers to Toronto.

To H. D. Smethurst, 122 Pier, Albany.

G. ANDREWS, N. Y.

(A copy.)

[Endorsed] "Due $13.00."

(A.)

Letter from Robert S, Noyes to D. Nelligan.

MR. NELLIGAN, ALBANY

New-York, Oct. 5, 1847.

Dear Sir-I understand that you are humanely exerting yourself to throw some light before the committees of the House and Senate, as to the manner in which the emigrant passenger business has been, and is now being done, in this city and other places-Troy, Albany, Buffalo, etc.; and having myself been engaged in this business this season, sufficiently at least to learn how it is done, and I take the liberty of addressing you, to ascertain if the frauds practiced here upon railroad emigrants are as properly represented as those by the canal, the former far exceed the latter; and as the directors of the different lines of railroad from Albany to Buffalo are directly interested in the frauds practiced upon the immigrants, there is no tribunal so proper to enquire into their matters, as a committee from the throne from which they obtained their monopolizing power to plunder and rob!

The railroads have made an exclusive contract in this city with two men, Wolf & Rieschmuller, Germans, by which they (the railroad,) furnish them with railroad tickets for emigrant passengers, to

the entire exclusion of every other house or person, at $1 less than is charged at their railroad depot in Albany, and in the same proportion to intermediate places, thereby making the railroad office of these two men in this city the only channel through which the poor emigrant can be transported by railroad; and I am credibly informed that the contract is renewed by the railroad for another season at even reduced prices from this year, to these two men; but that the immigrants are not to be benefitted by it, because these men are at liberty to charge the poor strangers what they please, and there is nobody to interfere with them, because these men have a monopoly of the railroad tickets, directly from the directors of the company.

The prices from this city, by this office, are not limited to Buffalo, but they take especial pains to book them as far as they want to travel, making large profits off from them on each and every additional route. I subjoin a list of the prices asked and obtained without a penny's variation for the poor immigrant's fare, together with the cost on each passenger:

4.00 66 4.50 9.00

above prices to the railroad

In addition to the payment of the monopoly agents, the emigrants had to pay freight on their luggage from New-York to Albany, and cartage from steamboat to railroad depot, and then cartage at Buffalo from railroad to steamboat, and then freight on their luggage across the lakes, collected by one of these same contracting agents, located at Buffalo, to rob and plunder; and the prices which I have charged in the cost, includes luggage fees! It is estimated that these men have made upwards of $40,000 since last May to this time out of the poor strangers that are seeking a home in the far west of this most beautiful continent! They have booked by railroad upwards of 15,000, most of which were travelling west of Buffalo. That you may judge of the correctmess of my estimates of cost, I send you a bill for the transportation of 771* passengers, which I consigned to John F. Wolf & Co., Buffalo, for the purpose of ascertaining what prices they actually paid from Buffalo, including all baggage; and as they must have charged me something extra for trouble of shipping, &c., 'tis * See pages 116 and 117.

fair to presume that they paid less on their own! Is it not strange that the legislature of this mighty state should pass a law allowing the railroad to carry luggage free of tolls, thereby robbing the canal, and not have the benefits extended to the travelling public? I sincerely hope you will lay this railroad curse open to the committees; and while all eyes are directed to the canal frauds, do not let the head monster of all frauds escape. You can rely implicitly upon all I have herein written, to be correct and true in every particular.

Yours, truly,

ROB'T L. NOYES,

155 Cedar-street.

ས.

P. S.-I transport Wolf & Rieschmuller's canal passengers at 50 cents from Albany to Buffalo each, that being canal paying prices.

(No. 56.)

IN COMMITTEE.

Assembly Chamber, Albany, Nov. 18th, 1847.

Present, Mr. M'NAMARA,

Mr. UPHAM,

Mr. RUTHERford.

Testimony of George R. Barker.

George R. Barker, being sworn, says: resides in Albany, is ticket master of the Albany and Schenectady Railroad. The railroad from Albany to Buffalo have made an arrangement with Isaac Newton, of New York, for conveying emigrant passengers from Albany to Buffalo; the uniform price is $5 each passenger, and from this price there is never any variation, under any circumstances. The roads allow Mr. Newton, a commission of 20 per cent. on all passengers sent by him over the road. He has the exclusive privilege of forwarding that class of persons over the road, from the city of New York. Newton has employed Wolf and Rieschmuller, of New York to book Emigrant passengers, and pays them a commission of 12 and

a half per cent. on the gross amount of their business; does not know that Newton has any connexion with W. and R., in their forwarding business from Buffalo west, or any of their business except the emigrant business on the railroads from Albany to Buffalo, and, on steamboat from New York to Albany.

It was the practice, occasionally, before we were authorized to carry freight on the railroads, for the railroads to charge for an extra passenger, when they had a large quantity of luggage, more than the ordinary baggage of emigrant passengers; some of them would not have any luggage, while others would have four or five hundred pounds; in such cases we let them pass without extra charge, their luggage averaged about one hundred and fifty pounds to each passenger, take the season through. Since the 1st of November, when the roads began to carry freight, the emigrants are allowed one hundred pounds to each person, and for all extra luggage they are charged $1,25 for one hundred pounds, which increases their passage 62 1-2 cents to each person.

This arrangement with Newton terminates with this season; it has been in existence two or three years. Before this arrangement was made, the railroads hired John T. Clark, to superintend booking passengers in New York.

I have never know W. & R., to take more than $5,50 from New York to Buffalo; their tickets all pass through my hands, and have never heard any one complain of paying more than that sum, but they may have paid more.