The Building of the Brock Road

Introduction

The “History of Guelph 1827-1927” by Leo Albert Johnson, a superbly researched and written book, includes a fascinating study of the development of the Brock Road, which, with sincere gratitude extended to the Guelph Historical Society, is presented here. This book is well worthy of designation as a classic study and the happy news is that it is available, in its entirety, on the internet at the very popular “local histories” website, a joint venture of the universities, Calgary and Laval. As a reading experience, the hard copy book far surpasses any internet edition, and if you should wish to purchase this wonderful book or other publications on the history of Guelph, worthy of addition to a personal library, please visit the website of the Guelph Historical Society.

Roads and Toll Gates

Guelph’s transformation from a backwoods village of some seven hundred residents in 1843 to a bustling commercial and industrial town fifteen years later was the result of good fortune and a concerted effort by the people of Guelph to make their town the centre of commerce in Wellington District.

Economic development was greatly aided between 1843 and 1856 by the settlement of the area north of Guelph. As Table XIII illustrates, population grew rapidly, and not only did the old townships-Erin, Puslinch and Guelph-double and triple their population but six new townships received their first settlers.

At the same time there was a rapid increase in agricultural production, particularly in the longer settled townships. Table XIV shows that acreage under cultivation increased by fifty percent between 1841 and 1843 and an additional fifty percent between 1843 and 1847.

Large-scale immigration after 1847 brought about the opening of new areas, and for the first time, provided a significant number of labourers. Thus cleared acreage virtually doubled between 1847 and 1851, and Table XV indicates that livestock production followed an almost identical pattern during the decade.

Table XVI points out both the strength and weakness of agricultural development in 1851. On the one hand, the rapid expansion of population, acreage under cultivation and livestock, meant that at last Guelph’s commercial stability was assured. On the other hand, in spite of the establishment of a livestock fair and sale in 1828, farmers had not as yet oriented themselves to cash crop production.

Although the farmer was perfectly willing to trade produce for a wide variety of services and goods in the village, this trade was much more characterized by the variety of services than by its volume. Businessmen with money, therefore, found that no single enterprise could absorb all their capital but that it was necessary to enter a wide variety of businesses in order to put their money to work. Thus William Allan was owner-manager of a grist mill, a distillery and a carding mill, in addition to being a building contractor. Despite this, he had no distinct advantage over his competitors who had much less capital but concentrated their energies on a single enterprise.

Nevertheless, in spite of these problems, Guelph could point to some considerable achievements. The successful struggle to divide Gore District and to make Guelph the capital of Wellington District had brought about a spurt of immediate growth. Table XVII shows that in just three years the population of Guelph doubled and other aspects of economic life kept pace. By 1846, however, this growth had begun to taper off.

Table XIII Wellington County, Population by Township, 1840-1851^(1.)
Municipality	1840	1851
Erin	1256	3590
Puslinch	1617	3862
Guelph & Guelph Township	2290	2879
		1860
Nichol & Pilkington	1002	2450
		1990
Garafraxa	284	2083
Eramosa	863	2350
Peel	---	2435
Maryborough	---	994
Minto & Arthur & Luther	---	1803
	---
	---
Amaranth	---	500
Total	7312	26796

Table XIV Wellington County, Acres under cultivation, 1840-1851^(2.)
Municipality	1840	1843	1847	1851
Erin	5175	6925	9830	19950
Puslinch	5704	*11489	16805	25850
Guelph	8959	11925	14737	18456
Nichol	3266	4819	7168	10666
Garafraxa	617	1054	1973	5749
Eramosa	4734	6405	9334	16241
Peel	----	---	---	6993
Maryborough	----	---	---	1693
Minto	----	---	---	4611
Arthur	---	---	---
Luther	---	---	---
Amaranth	---	292	522	1718
Pilkington	---	---	---	7154
Total	28455	42909	60369	119081
* estimated

In deliberations concerning the factors which contributed to its economic weakness, Guelph turned again and again to the problem of transportation. As matters stood, roads were impassable much of the year and with shipment by road and water expensive and difficult, it was not worth the farmers’ effort to expand cash crop production beyond what was necessary for an exchange for local services.

A long editorial in the Guelph Advertiser of March, 1847, pointed out the severe hardships created for the inland businessmen and farmers:

The ice-bound condition of the harbours of our Great Lakes, and of the River St. Lawrence during the winter season, renders our situation for five or six months of the year completely isolated, and we are completely cut off from commercial communication with the ocean and with Europe. The consequence of it is that our farmers suffer severely in the diminished price for their grain, to which they are obliged to submit during one half of the year; the season too when many of them are compelled to sell; and when prices rule high at New York, Boston, London and Liverpool. The Canada merchant who buys during the season must deduct from the New York prices five or six months’ interest for his money, during which time he must store the grain till the opening of the navigation. When he buys in the beginning of the winter, he does so with a trembling consciousness of the extremely hazardous character of the speculation. . . At this moment, wheat which sells for more than a dollar and a half a bushel in New York market, will scarcely fetch a dollar a bushel in Toronto. This deduction from the price of the grain which our farmers have to submit to, arises, in great measure, from our want of means of communication.... ^(4.)

Not only did farmers in the interior townships bear the burden of the general difficulties caused by poor transportation, they also suffered from the particular difficulties of the inadequate roads of Wellington District. For example, one pioneer family, the Tuckers of Bosworth, reported that when they moved to the area in the 1840’s:

The townships of Peel, Luther, and Maryborough were solid bush. Their journey thence included boat from Toronto to Hamilton, the Brock Road from there to Guelph, and through unbroken bush from Elora to Bosworth. Brock Road itself was but a mud highway, and when the team hauling the Tucker belongings stuck on a hillside, neighbours had to be called on to assist in pushing the wagon to the top. A wagon was used as far as Elora, but after that a jumper was all that could be hauled through the bush.... At the beginnings of the life on the bush farm, it cost a dollar a barrel to have flour hauled from Elora to Bosworth.^(6.)

Table XV Wellington County, Milk Cows by Township, 1840-1851^(3.)
Municipality	1840	1843	1847	1851
Erin	553	637	839	1445
Puslinch	641	*802	1029	1444
Guelph	860	951	1098	1155
Nichol	364	440	518	670
Garafraxa	82	147	249	593
Eramosa	424	539	700	1066
Peel	---	---	---	697
Maryborough	---	---	---	198
Minto	---	---	---	464
Arthur	---	---	---
Luther	---	---	---
Amaranth	---	60	60	156
Pilkington	---	---	---	515
Total	2924	3552	4493	8403
*estimated

Table XVI Wellington County, Agricultural Development in 1851^(5.)
Municipality	Farms 20 acres and up	Estimated acres cultivated	Acres cultivated per farm	Acres wheat per farm	Bushels wheat per farm	Bushels per acre
Erin	490	19350	39.5	9.1	127.6	14.0
Puslinch	496	25690	51.8	11.5	183.4	15.9
Guelph	343	18176	53.0	10.9	215.6	19.7
Nichol	221	10626	48.1	9.7	156.4	16.1
Garafraxa	332	5529	16.7	6.7	82.8	12.4
Eramosa	319	15761	49.4	10.3	204.9	19.9
Peel	398	6813	17.1	5.7	61.3	10.7
Maryborough	167	1693	4.1	3.8	32.4	8.5
Minto	328	4511	13.8	3.7	32.1	8.6
Arthur
Luther
Amaranth	85	1708	20.1	4.5	76.1	16.8
Pilkington	255	7034	27.6	7.6	125.4	15.8
Total	3434	116891
Average			34.0	8.2	126.3	15.4

The lack of good transportation facilities in Canada was aggravated by the fact that the main source of provincial funds came from tariffs on imports, and, with trade so severely hampered, there was little money to spend on the importation of goods. What money there was in the provincial treasury was quarrelled over endlessly by the elected representatives, eager to get as much as possible for their own constituency. The inevitable result of such a situation was that major undertakings were virtually impossible and the small amount of funds forthcoming were spent in patching up roads that had deteriorated almost to the point of uselessness.

At the local level, the situation was even more hopeless. The primary source of road improvement was the statutory labour which every adult male was required to perform each year. This varied according to the amount of assessment on each person’s property and was fixed by statute. In 1837, the rates of statute labour shown in Table XVIII were in effect.

Of course, the wealthier inhabitants hired someone to do this work for them. Although statute labour did contribute significantly towards the development of local roads, residents objected strongly to working away from their neighbourhood when their own roads were still inadequate.

Table XVII Town of Guelph: Growth from 1843 to 1847^(7.)
	1843	1846	1847
Population	700	1357	1480
Houses	234	342	374
Grist Mills (13 runs of stones)	3	4	4
Saw Mills	1	2	2
Distilleries	4	4	4
Churches with spires	3	3	3
Plain chapels	2	3	4
Stores (general assortment of goods)	14	19	22
Bakers	3	4	4
Saddlers and harness makers	2	3	3
Coachmakers	1	1	1
Wheelwrights	4	5	6
Blacksmiths	6	6	7
Tinware factory	1	1	1
Butchers	3	5	6
Lawyers	2	4	4
Surgeons	4	4	4
Druggists	1	2	2
Taverns	9	7	9
Coopers	2	4	4
Tanneries	2	4	4
Weekly newspapers	---	1	2
Daily Royal Mail (4 horse coach)	---	1	1
Daily covered stages	---	3	2
Livery Stables	---	1	1
Reading room	---	1	1
Book Club	---	1	1
Brick yards	1	2	2
Stone masons	15	18	21
Bricklayers and plaisterers (sic)	7	11	13
Watch makers	1	2	1
Gun smith	---	1	1
Iron foundry	---	1	1
Boot and shoemakers	11	19	25
Confectioners	1	1	2
Carpenters and builders	20	31	37
Breweries	3	3	2
Painters and glaziers	2	3	3
Private classical school	---	1	1
Dist. Grammar D.	1	1	1
Common schools	2	5	5
Bank agencies	---	2	2
Mutual Fire Insurance Co.	---	1	1
Hook and Ladder Company	---	1	1
Printers and booksellers	---	2	3
Well sinkers and pump makers	---	2	2
Cabinet makers	4	4	11
Chair makers	4	6
Nurserymen and gardeners	2	1	1
Tailors	8	11	13
Dressmakers	7	9	9
Milliner	---	---	1
Hair dresser	---	1	2
Auctioneers	---	2	2
Ironmongers	---	1	1
Carding machine etc.	---	1	1
Cricket club	---	1	1
Circulating library	---	1	1

Table XVIII Statute Labour
Value of Assessment in £	Days of Labour Required
Up to 25	2
25 to 50	3
50 to 75	4
75 to 100	5
100 to 150	6
150 to 200	7
200 to 250	8
250 to 300	9
300 to 350	10
350 to 400	11
400 to 500 *	12
* With each increase of £100 in assessment above £500 requiring an additional day’s labour. ^(8.)

The main difficulty in building trunk roads was the incapacity of the district councils to raise large sums of money from taxation. With a limitation of two pence per pound on the statutory assessment, money was not available for large-scale development. With so little cash crop production, higher taxation would have created extreme hardship for the subsistence farmer. Thus there was strong opposition to laws that would open the door to more direct taxation.

In general, what money the district councils had available for road and bridge building was seldom used to undertake such works directly. Rather, these funds were used to encourage local initiative on the part of the inhabitants most directly affected by the public work. To have a bridge built those most interested in the project would get up a petition asking for money for the materials required. Upon the receipt of petitions from all parts of the district, the councillors, at the Quarter Session, negotiated amongst themselves for a division of the money available. If the area’s district councillor had managed to have funds allocated to the projected bridge, a by-law would be passed. In most cases, the labour necessary was supplied by the local residents as part of their statutory labour. After the bridge was completed to the satisfaction of the district surveyor, he reported to the district council and the money was paid out to the supplier of the materials. This was cumbersome and inefficient, although it did reduce the outlay of that scarcest of all commodities-cash.

In spite of these difficulties, Guelph had attempted to have the Dundas Road improved to the point of usefulness. Acton Burrows describes one such attempt and its failure in 1838-1839:

During 1838, a movement was commenced for improving the road between Guelph and Dundas, much inconvenience being felt in consequence of the difficulties in travelling between the two points.... Several meetings were held to consider the matter but nothing definite was done until 1839, when a public meeting was called, Mr. Henry Strange being in the chair, and Mr. Thos. Saunders acting as secretary. It was then proposed that a survey should be made, for a road direct to Dundas, instead of going round by way of Waterloo. Subscription lists were opened to defray the expense of the survey, which was entrusted to Mr. R.W. Kerr, of Flamborough West. The estimated cost was £31,159. 17s.7d. or £1285. 16s.8d. per mile.... Soon after this had been done, Mr. Henry Strange, who had been the prime mover in the matter suddenly died, and no further action was taken for some time. ^(9.)

In the face of Guelph’s failure to improve the Guelph and Dundas road, the success of the merchants and businessmen along the Dundas and Waterloo road in persuading the government to take it over as a public work, was particularly galling. In 1838, Absalom Shade and James Crooks, the local elected members to the Legislative Assembly (both of whom were mill owners with property along the Dundas and Waterloo road) had managed to have a substantial sum of money voted for its improvement. The road was made a government work and the major businessmen along the route were named trustees, responsible for its management and the collection of tolls from its users.^(10.)

By 1846, so successful had the road’s trustees been in the improvement of the road with money received from the collection of tolls and from further government grants, that the Guelph Advertiser could report, somewhat enviously, that:

The formation of a mile and a half of new macadamized road, through the swamp between Galt and Dundas, is now proceeding rapidly, under the contractor, Mr. Merigold. When this is completed, little more than three miles of this dismal portion of horse-murdering road will remain to be completed. The trustees deserve every praise for their exertions. They have saved the whole of the sum necessary to complete this improvement out of their income from the tolls besides keeping the road in complete repair; and having on hand a large quantity of broken stone. Mr. Merigold’s contract for the work is £998.^(11.)

As long as the Guelph and Dundas Road was in a poor state, improvements to the Dundas and Waterloo road south of Galt helped to reduce the cost of goods in Guelph. Improvements north of Galt, however, gave the Berlin and Waterloo merchants and millers a distinct advantage over those of Guelph when competing for the trade of the northern townships. Nor were Berlin’s merchants blind to that fact. For example, in 1838 a group of businessmen from Berlin and Preston incorporated the Waterloo Bridge Company to build a first class bridge over the Grand River, thus removing the last major barrier to traffic between those villages.^(12.) With a capital of £750, it not only improved transportation but by charging tolls, made a profit for its owners as well.

Not only was Guelph falling behind Galt and Berlin in its competitive position in the 1840’s, but a second threat began to develop for control of its market area, this time to the east of the village. In 1840, as a first step toward developing a road system into Esquesing and Garafraxa, the leading merchants in Bronte incorporated themselves as a harbour company and undertook to raise £5,000 for the improvement of harbour facilities.^(13.) Although considerable improvements were made to Bronte harbour, scarcity of money prevented any rapid improvement of the Bronte road.

In 1846, however, Guelph’s businessmen faced a much more serious threat from the same direction. The Chisholm interests and their associates in Oakville undertook to open a major traffic link between Oakville and Owen Sound which would cut directly through Guelph’s developing market area. The project, as envisioned by the Oakville interests, sought to combine a privately owned toll road from Oakville to Fergus, with a government subsidized road running north from that point to Owen Sound. Capitalized at £20,000, the Trafalgar, Esquesing and Erin Road Company provided a formidable threat. ^(14.)

The significance of this road project to Guelph’s future was not lost on Guelph’s business community.^(15.) In order to stave off ruin, Guelph attempted to fight fire with fire. If transportation systems created the threat, then the answer must come from the creation of a Guelph-based system capable of ensuring its dominant position. The problem, of course, was money. The first solution sought, because it was based upon British shareholders’ money, was the promotion of a railroad from Toronto through the Guelph area to Lake Huron.

In 1836, a group of Toronto businessmen had chartered the Toronto and Lake Huron Railroad Company^(16.) , which proposed to build a railway from Toronto to some point on the navigable waters of Lake Huron within the Home District. Its proposed capital of £500,000 was, of course, far beyond the resources of Upper Canada, even when the government promised to lend the company £100,000. Thus the project collapsed quickly when the depression of 1837-1838 began to be felt. Even more fanciful was the Huron and Ontario Railroad Company chartered in the same year. Capitalized for £350,000, that company proposed to build a railroad from “Wellington Square, Burlington Bay or Dundas” to Goderich.^(17.) Needless to say, it collapsed before the Lieutenant-Governor’s signature was dry on its charter. For the next few years, the whole idea that railways might be profitable enterprises in Canada became so improbable that these and several other projects were allowed to lapse.

Although the Toronto and Lake Huron project caused a good deal of interest and support in Guelph, a number of local businessmen were beginning to realize that whether or not the railway was built, good roads were still going to be necessary to bring the produce to market. What was needed, they decided, was a first class stone (macadamized) or plank road running from Dundas, through Guelph to Owen Sound. Faced with the fact that the Provincial Government consistently refused to build such a road, the only alternative was to form a joint stock company and build it themselves. It was an undertaking of major proportions, but should Oakville’s road to Fergus be built first, they were faced with almost certain ruin. Having reached that conclusion, in October 1846, they announced their decision. The Guelph Advertiser carried this advertisement:

Notice: An Application will be made to the Provincial Parliament at its next session, to incorporate a joint Stock Company for the purpose of improving the direct Road leading from the Town of Guelph to the Macadamized Road in the Township of West Flamborough by planking or Macadamizing the same. Dated, this 4th day of October, 1846. G.S. Tiffany, Benjamin Thurtell, Wm. Notman, William Armstrong, Jas. B. Ewart, James Hodgert, R. Juson, George J. Grange, W. Leslie, Wm. Clarke, James Wright, T. Sandilands, Al. Dingwall Fordyce.^(18.)

A similar notice a few weeks later announced that an application would be made to incorporate a second joint stock road company from Guelph to Arthur.^(19.)

In July, 1847, the Provincial Government finally passed the bills incorporating the two road companies. The incorporators named in the acts represented the most important businessmen in the area. For the Guelph and Dundas road they were James B. Morden, Walter Colcleugh, John Weir, William Miller, William McKindlay, George S. Tiffany, William Notman, James Bell Ewart, Richard Juson, James Leslie, James Wright, Benjamin Thurtell, James Hodgert, George John Grange, William Clarke, Thomas Sandilands, Alexander D. Fordyce and Adam J. Fergusson.^(20.)

For the Guelph and Arthur road the incorporators were: George J. Grange, Adam J. Fergusson, Benjamin Bobington, Daniel MacNab, Alexander D. Fordyce, William Hewat, William Clarke, Thomas Sandilands, James Hodgert, William Mutch, Thomas Webster, Alexander Drysdale, John Watt, George Jardine, Gilbert Hunter, Samuel Broadfoot, George C. Hamilton, Alex. Harvey and John McNaught.^(21.)

In addition to having received the charters for the two road companies, Guelph received a second piece of good news in August, 1847. The Provincial Government, under pressure from James Webster, the local member of the assembly, had voted its first significant subsidy to the Guelph road system-the sum of £500 for the Guelph and Dundas road and an additional £1,500 for the Owen Sound road. The Guelph Herald, its spirits buoyed up by this news, waxed eloquent about Guelph’s future prospects:

It is alike due to Mr. Webster, and the constituency which he so ably represents, to state that the people of the Wellington District are indebted to his exertions for the improvement of the Owen’s Sound Road, the establishment of a weekly mail on that route, and also for £500 to be applied to the improvement of the Brock Road, and the incorporation of a Company for macadamizing the said road .... With the Brock Road once finished, and the Owen’s Sound Road in a tolerable condition, we need entertain no fears for the future prosperity of Guelph.^(22.)

In spite of the optimism displayed by the Guelph Herald’s editor, the promoters of the road company found that potential investors in the company’s stock were most reluctant to risk their savings in such an untried project. Although all the local businessmen vocally supported the project and unanimously proclaimed its necessity, after nearly a month of intensive salesmanship only about £2,000 worth of shares had been subscribed in Guelph.^(23.) When the sales campaign was extended to Dundas and Hamilton, it met with a stony refusal by investors. As a private enterprise, the Guelph and Dundas Road Company was a failure.

Under these conditions, the challenge to Guelph by the Trafalgar, Esquesing and Erin Road Company took on crisis proportions. However the leading public figures in Guelph and Dundas, the merchants and millers, held virtually all of the local public offices, being magistrates, public officials and district councillors simultaneously. As such, they not only controlled most of the private capital in the area, but the public purse as well. Having decided that the Guelph and Dundas Road Company represented too great a risk for their private investment, they now turned to the district treasuries for the solution to their problems.

The technique of transforming the Guelph and Dundas Road project from a private enterprise to a public work was simple; it was only necessary to persuade the two district councils involved, Wellington and Gore, to buy all the shares. However, the political problems presented were considerably more difficult. The farmers in townships like Erin, Eramosa, Nichol or Garafraxa were not concerned as to whether the improved road into their area ran ultimately to Oakville or Dundas. In either case they would benefit.

In October, the Guelph Advertiser printed a series of anonymous letters signed “Aliquis” (a favourite device of editors to put forth controversial opinions) outlining the advantages of road-building on a large scale cash basis rather than relying on statute labour supplemented by an occasional government or district council grant. The first major advantage of the cash approach, they argued, was that not only could good roads be created immediately but, by charging tolls, it would be possible to have the users pay, and the actual cost to the farmer would be greatly reduced.^(24.)

The second part of “Aliquis” proposal was even more controversial, because it required the subsistence farmers to move towards a cash-crop economy and required all farmers to pay a cash tax for roads rather than performing statute labour, a duty which was generally done during periods when farm tasks were minimal. The argument for increased money taxation was rather complex: higher cash taxes would allow the district councils to borrow more money. With this enhanced borrowing power, local roads could be improved immediately rather than awaiting the slow progress from statute labour.^(25.)

But how would the farmers benefit from the removal of their option of a right to perform their statute labour themselves? “Aliquis”, for the sake of analysis, divided them into two classes:

Farmers who have considerable clearances, or are in easy circumstances, are quite aware that their presence at home is worth more than 2s.6d. per diem (the wages of a common labourer) that they are often called out to the roads at inconvenient seasons, and that their wagons and implements are generally more exposed to injury there than elsewhere.... There is, however, another, and perhaps more numerous section of this class, to whom money is of more value than what we are in the habit of considering its equivalent-time; and to whom the idea of paying an additional dollar of tax would be anything but agreeable. Well, in addition to the benefit this body would derive in common with others from the improvement of our common thoroughfares, I would anticipate that it would be also the recipient of the funds disbursed. The work to be periodically accomplished being offered to public competition, in moderately small portions, such persons having a part of their labour to dispose of, would find a ready market by uniting in small parties to take up the contracts, to be implemented in their respective neighbourhoods, and thus, if considering themselves aggrieved by a money rate, they would have an opportunity of reconverting their money into labour, and replenishing their exchequer by contract. ^(26.)

Where the poorer farmers were to get the specialized equipment and capital to undertake successfully such contracting, “Aliquis” did not say.

The most revolutionary aspect of these proposals, and one which would be heard more and more frequently over the next decade, was that, contrary to general belief, debts, particularly public debts, were good things. If public works had a future as well as a present public value, “Aliquis” argued, why should present users be the ones to pay for them. If the residents of Wellington District borrowed money to build high quality public roads, on ten, fifteen or twenty-year debentures, present users would escape the high capital cost such works entailed.^(27.)

The doctrine that one should spend money now and leave it for future generations to pay the cost was novel indeed in a farming community. Nevertheless, whenever proposals for major public works came up, both the Herald and the Advertiser would hereafter invariably justify these expenditures on the grounds that future users should pay.

Finally, whenever strenuous objections were raised to such proposals, the promoters of the road would retreat to proclaiming that the question of debt and who should pay was purely speculative. The roads would surely not only pay for themselves, but produce a large profit for the taxpayers. In the face of such vehement assurances by the area’s civic leaders, objections soon melted away and public enthusiasm for the projected road was reported from all quarters.

In October, 1847, the first formal step towards the conversion of the Guelph and Dundas road from private enterprise to a public work was taken when a series of meetings was arranged between the members of the Gore and the Wellington District Councils. The Guelph Advertiser of October fifteenth carried this note:

The Warden read a letter from John O. Hatt, Esq., expressing his regret at not being able to attend this sitting of the [Wellington District] Council; and inviting them to send a deputation to the Gore District Council at its sitting next month, to confer respecting the improvement of the Brock Road.^(28.)

The Council agreed that such a delegation should be sent.

Businessmen in Hamilton and Dundas were as anxious as those in Guelph to keep the trade of Wellington District flowing through their towns. One local paper, the Dundas Warder, made these arguments in favour of the Gore District Council making a major investment in the road:

The people of this town are largely interested in its completion. Dundas is the natural depot for the reception of the products of this fine country, stretching from Flamboro’ to Owen Sound.... Nor are the inhabitants of this portion of the Gore District one atom less interested. It is to be hoped, therefore, that the ensuing session of the District Council will not be permitted to close without something being done to amend the ways of the Brock road.... ^(29.)

The November meeting of the joint councils was successful when the Gore District Council agreed to purchase £9,000 worth of shares, enough to construct the road from the Dundas and Waterloo road to the Wellington District boundary line. ^(30.) As soon as the delegation from Guelph reported that the Gore District Council had agreed to purchase £9,000 worth of shares, a special meeting of the Wellington District Council was called for December 15, 1847, to discuss the road proposal. By then, however, the result was a foregone conclusion. With very little debate, the Council agreed to issue debentures to the amount of £9,000 in order to purchase their share of the road stock. Guelph’s future, everyone agreed, was now assured. Having made the decision, the Wellington District Council moved with despatch. Within days, this advertisement appeared:

£9,000 Wanted The Council of the Wellington District having passed a By-Law for the construction of the Brock Road, in conjunction with the Gore District Council, which By-Law authorizes the Warden of this District to borrow the sum of £9,000, bearing interest at 6 per cent, payable half yearly, in Debentures of £5, £10, £15, £20, and £25, each, on the credit of the District and, the Tolls arising from the said Road, Persons having funds at their command, and being anxious to facilitate so desirable an object, can apply (if by letter post paid) to James Wright, Warden. ^(31.) Guelph, Dec. 16, 1847.

The Wellington District bonds found a ready market locally and the entire £9,000 issue was taken up by Guelph residents as follows: Alexander Drysdale, £2,000; Thomas Sandilands, £3,980; George J. Grange, £600; Frederick Marcon, £1,680; Ann Stevenson, £40; J. Foster, £300; and Mrs. Lamprey, £400.^(32.) What was lacking in Guelph, it is clear, was not capital but risk capital, and leading merchants and millers clearly preferred to put their money into their own enterprises rather than into an untried venture such as a road company. On the other hand, those persons who purchased the bonds were not businessmen but investors who were looking for a safe and assured income from the interest they would receive. The district bonds provided such an opportunity.

In addition to the merchants and millers of Guelph and Dundas, a second group of investors anxiously awaited the completion of the Guelph and Dundas road. These were the land speculators whose holdings would be enhanced by local urban growth. Thus as soon as it became clear that the road would be built, plans for new sub-divisions in Fergus, Elora and Guelph were rushed to completion and advertisements were placed in newspapers throughout the province, explaining why potential investors should immediately rush to Guelph, Elora and Fergus to benefit from the coming boom.

In Guelph, the largest of these developments was on the east side of the Speed River bounded by Eramosa Road, Metcalfe Street, and Budd Street. This huge area was the first significant extension of Guelph since 1827, and Map 6 shows the location as drawn by Donald McDonald in October, 1847. In July, 1848, this advertisement (which would run unchanged for years) appeared in the local newspapers:

300 TOWN LOTS FOR SALE IN GUELPH At a moderate upset price, and liberal credit or liberal discount on the purchase money down. The Subscriber offers: THREE HUNDRED TOWN LOTS for sale, as shown by a new plan of the Totem of Guelph, in the possession of Francis Kerr, Esq., who will state terms, point out the Lots on the ground and procure letters of occupation of Title deeds for parties purchasing. John McDonald ^(^33.)

The second major development in Guelph was that of George S. Tiffany, a leading Hamilton businessman and one of the main promoters of the Guelph and Dundas road. In April, 1848, this advertisement appeared:

40 Town Lots for Sale in Guelph The Subscriber offers for Sale, Forty Town Lots, fronting on Woolwich and Strange Streets, in the survey lately made by F. Kerr, Esq., for him. The contemplated improvement of Woolwich Street will much enhance the value of these Lots, and render them among the most desirable for private residences in Town. The terms are five years for the principal, interest payable half yearly.... Geo. S. Tiffany. ^(34.)

Meanwhile, the promoters of the Guelph and Dundas road were able to proceed with officially organizing the company. On January 3, 1848, the nominal shareholders (including the wardens of Wellington and Gore Districts) met at the British Hotel in Guelph to elect a board of directors to manage the road’s affairs. At the meeting, George S. Tiffany, Samuel Clarke, William Millar and John O. Hatt, all of Hamilton or Dundas, and James Wright, Adam J. Fergusson and Dr. William Clarke of Guelph, were elected directors.^(35.) At a subsequent meeting, George S. Tiffany was elected president. ^(36.)

On April 21st, 1848, the Guelph Advertiser reported the following progress:

We have heard from good authority, that at the meeting of the Directors, held here last week, the necessary steps were taken for laying off the whole road as soon as possible in sections, ready for tenders, and that there is a satisfactory prospect of the work being proceeded with at once; and we have to state, on like authority, that it was also resolved that the money on debentures advanced on the part of this District, shall be expended from Guelph to Freel’s Inn, and the surplus (if any) below Freel’s. ^(37.)

Tenders for construction were called in June, and on July 13th, 1848, the Guelph Advertiser announced joyously that:

.... we are able to announce the letting out of the contract for gravelling or macadamizing the road last week....

On Friday last, the arrangement was finally entered into by the Directors and a Mr. Cook, formerly a contractor on the Welland Canal. From seven to eight miles of the distance is to be macadamized at the rate of £1,230 per mile, and the remainder gravelled at £420 per mile. There is to be a bridge at each end of the road, of wood or stone, which have yet to be contracted for. We may expect to see some 200 men busily employed on the line next week, and the culverts are to be placed and the road graded during the present year, and the whole to be completed by September, 1849. It is anticipated that the whole of the road, including the toll-gates, etc., will not cost more than £20,000.^(28.)

The official sod-turning on the “Brock” road (the title “Guelph and Dundas” now generally was dropped by the local newspapers), which was set for July 21st, 1848, gave local businessmen and public officials the opportunity to indulge themselves in the fulsome public oratory so dear to the civic booster’s heart. The Guelph Advertiser printed this description of the event:

More than 200 persons assembled on the occasion, and we are informed that the procession was more than one fifth of a mile long, presenting a very animated appearance, with several banners fluttering in the breeze. After proceeding in this order along the Brock Road for four or five miles, they were met by the President of the Company, the Warden of the Gore District, Mr. Williamson of Stoney Creek, the contractor, the Gore District Surveyor, and John Wetenhall, Esq., M.P.P. On returning, the procession halted at Hamilton’s Tavern, when the President, G.S. Tiffany, Esq., proceeded to a convenient place on the road, accompanied by the Directors, Committee, etc., and preceded by two persons carrying a pick and spade; when, after a short address on the importance of the undertaking, and the satisfaction he felt at the interest evinced by the inhabitants of the neighbourhood, he commenced the important ceremony by the use of both tools, and after a few words more, the company returned to their conveyances, and proceeded towards Guelph.^(39.)

The sod-turning was followed by a gala public dinner at Thorp’s Hotel, where speeches and merriment lasted well into the night.

The actual construction of the road, which required the best part of two years, was noteworthy for only one event---after the completion of the bridge near Kerr’s mills in Flamborough Township, the workmen took the night off to celebrate the event. While the festivities were progressing, the stone bridge fell, delaying the opening of that part of the road until 1850.^(40.)

In contrast to the relatively smooth progress of construction, the financial aspects of the road continued to create difficulties: first, the contractor ran into financial trouble; and second, £20,000 proved to be insufficient to complete the road. In the fall of 1848, Cook found himself short of cash, as money which he had expected from work on the Welland Canal failed to materialize. To get out of the difficulty Cook decided to pay the workmen in small denomination debentures of five shillings, which he hoped would be treated as cash by the local storekeepers. On his request, Wellington District issued these debentures, which were then put in circulation by the workmen. ^(41.)

The problem with this form of payment was that local storekeepers and banks had little interest in tying up their money in debentures and severely discounted them. After a sharp exchange between the Guelph and Hamilton newspapers, the notes were apparently withdrawn from circulation. ^(42.)

The second problem, the shortage of funds to complete the road, was more serious.

When Benjamin Thurtell assumed office as the Warden of Waterloo County in January, 1851, he discovered that not only had the entire £20,000 authorized capital of the Road Company been spent, but it was in debt, and the road was still incomplete. On March 18th, 1851, he called a special meeting of the County Council to deal with the situation.

What was required, Thurtell believed, was an amendment to the Act incorporating the Guelph and Dundas Road Company which would allow the Company to increase its capital by £2,000 and would also turn the road over to the County Councils so that closer supervision could be exercised over future expenditure.

The Councils agreed, and in August, 1851, the Counties of Wentworth, Gore and Waterloo took over direct management of the road. ^(43.) With the increase in capital of £2,900, the road was rapidly completed and toll houses erected at three points along the route. In place of the old Board of Directors, eight Commissioners were appointed by the County Councils to manage the road.

Once the toll booths were in operation, however, a conflict arose in establishing the rate of tolls on the road. ^(44.) The Waterloo County Council (which included present-day Wellington and Grey Counties) was concerned that no advantage be given to the millers and merchants of Galt and Berlin. In December, 1850, the Council passed a motion:

That this Council recommend, that the Directors of the Guelph and Dundas Road Company should cause the tolls to be collected at the several gates, to be as near as may be in proportion to the tolls collected upon the Galt and Dundas road, but not to exceed a reasonable rate. ^(45.)

Based on this, whenever the Commissioners of the Dundas and Waterloo road raised or lowered their tolls, the Commissioners of the Guelph and Dundas road were quick to follow suit.

The problem of setting a rate of toll for the Guelph and Dundas road was complicated by an additional factor. It was desirable to collect tolls on a flat rate basis, whenever possible, in order to reduce debate and bad feelings between toll gate keepers and teamsters. Thus, at first, a rate of four pence per gate was set for teams and wagons. Unfortunately, such a flat rate encouraged overloading and soon caused severe damage to the road. In consequence the road Commissioners imposed a higher toll on heavy wagons in order to encourage lighter loads. Twelve barrels of flour were declared a ‘load”, and teamsters were charged an additional penny per barrel over twelve up to fifteen. Over fifteen barrels, an additional charge of two pence per barrel was made. The millers and flour dealers of both Guelph and Dundas were furious. ^(46.)

Shortly thereafter a delegation of millers from Guelph presented a petition to the Wellington County Council requesting that the tolls of flour be reduced:

The petition of the undersigned Millers of the Town of Guelph humbly sheweth, That your petitioners view the making of good roads as one of the surest signs of the progress of the country, and hail the completion of the Road from Guelph to Dundas as one of the greatest improvements that has been effected in favour of this Town and County.

That it was anticipated the opening of the Road would place Guelph in a more favourable position than hitherto; would insure in the place a good market for agricultural produce, and especially for wheat; and induce more local manufacturers by the facilities presented for the same being conveyed more readily to the seaboard.

That your petitioners have done their utmost to meet these reasonable expectations in regard to a Wheat Market, and an increase in the manufacture of Flour, but find their efforts partially counteracted, and a tax imposed upon Milling and Wheat buying, by the additional tolls imposed upon flour-and flour alone-in passing over the aforesaid Road....

Your petitioners therefore pray that. . .you may please... relieve your petitioners and others from the burden now imposed upon them.

And your petitioners will ever pray, etc....

27th Jan., 1851.

David Allan,

J.C. Presant,

Smith, Lynd & Co. ^(47.)

The millers were successful in their petition. Two weighing machines were placed upon the road so that tolls could be collected according to weight. But, rather than penalize overloaded wagons, the rate of tolls was set up in such a way that heavy loads paid a much lower toll per 100 lbs. than did light loads. Thus a wagon driven empty or carrying a load up to 1,000 lbs. would pay four pence per gate, while wagons loaded with 3,500 lbs. might pay as little as six pence. ^(48.)

From a fiscal standpoint, the new scale of tolls was a disaster. They never produced enough revenue to cover repairs, interest and to repay the debentures. For example, in June, 1851, the concessions to collect tolls on the Guelph and Dundas road were auctioned off for a year for a total of £1,079. The successful bids were: Gate 1, next to Dundas, Thomas Dickson, £397; Gate 2, middle gate, Thomas Ingram, £302; and Gate 3, near Guelph, William Clinton, £380. (49.) On the other hand, interest on the £22,000 debt amounted to £1,320, and repairs, commissioners’ fees and improvements, cost a total of £443. 1 s. 3d. in the 1851 calendar year. ^(50.) Thus total operating loss of 1851, making no provision for repayment of the debt, amounted to approximately £680. Indeed, in order to cover losses of the road as well as to retire a small part of the debentures, the Waterloo County Council was required to transfer £667. 12s. 2d. from county funds to the road ^(51.) and Wentworth and Halton were required to contribute an equal amount.

In 1852, the County Councillors, unhappy at the mounting losses of the Guelph and Dundas road, forced that road’s commissioners to increase the tolls substantially. With the only bridge in Town across the Speed River owned by the Guelph and Dundas Road Company, the townspeople had no choice but to pay the tolls or go miles out of their way to reach Dundas.

To counteract these charges, a public meeting was called by the Town Reeve where the following resolutions were passed:

3.	That this Meeting is of the opinion that the Council of the Town of Guelph will be justified in taxing the Municipality the Sum of £150 for the purpose of erecting two bridges over the River Speed, such being imperatively required by the recent increase in tolls on the Guelph and Dundas Road.
4.	That the following gentlemen be a committee to assist the council in procuring subscriptions, and otherwise forwarding the object of the foregoing resolution, with power to add to their number, Messrs. Fred’k George, Peter Gow, I. J. Tracy, James Armstrong, Wm. Stevenson, David Allan & John Sauvey. ^(52.)

The purpose of the bridges, of course, was to break the road company’s monopoly by opening the way for teamsters to use the township concession roads whenever weather allowed.

Within this week, this advertisement appeared in the Guelph papers:

NOTICE

To parties willing to give gratuitous labour in erecting the New Bridges

THE TOWN COUNCIL, in conjunction with the Committee appointed by the General Meeting of the Inhabitants, having decided that the site of the lower of the two Bridges about to be erected on the Speed, shall be at the point where Wellington Street abuts on the River-all persons willing to give gratuitous labour in the constructing of said Bridge, or of the road leading thereto, are requested to assemble at 7 o’clock on Monday morning [June 28, 1852], at the junction of Wellington and Gordon Streets, where Overseers will attend to direct the operations.

James Hough

Town Clerk. ^(53.)

Guelph, June 22nd, 1852.

In addition to the pressure exerted upon the Guelph and Dundas road Commissioners by Guelph’s bridge building program, newspapers in both Guelph and Dundas undertook a vigorous campaign against the Commissioners involved. Not only was their integrity attacked, for example, the Guelph Herald claimed that Benjamin Thurtell of Guelph Township was in collusion with Jacob Hespeler to divert Guelph’s grain trade to the latter’s mill, ^(54.) but they also found fault with their economic theories as well. Higher tariffs would reduce revenue, not increase it, the papers argued. ^(55.)

These theories were taken up by local businessmen who incorporated them into their campaign to force a reduction in the toll rate. At a public rally on June 28, 1852, held at Freel’s tavern, the following motion was passed:

Resolved: That the tariff of tolls established at the last meeting of the Board of Directors, is not only an unjust tax upon those who travel the said road, unprecedented upon any road in the Province, but also calculated to drive the travel off said road, and thereby decrease instead of increase the revenue of said road, and materially injure the trade of those in business on the line of the said road and the towns of Guelph and Dundas. ^(56.)

In the face of these concerted attacks, the Guelph and Dundas road Commissioners decided to beat a strategic retreat. On the day following the public meeting at Freel’s tavern, the road Commissioners met in an emergency session to deal with the issue. The new toll rates established demonstrate the effectiveness of the flour dealers’ campaign. Not only were the new tolls rescinded, but they were reduced well below the level established the previous year-a level which had been in effect when the large losses of 1851 had been incurred. (See Table XIX).

The road Commissioners, however, in order to shift responsibility from themselves in making such a controversial decision made these changes conditional upon the lessees of the toll gates accepting the new toll rates while continuing to pay to the road commission the full rate of their lease.

Table XIX Rates of Toll per Gate for Wagons Drawn by Two Horses on the Guelph and Dundas Road ^(57.)
Load	April 1, 1851.		June 29, 1852.		Percent decrease
1,000 lbs. 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000	Os. 0s. 1s. 1s. 2s.	5d. 7.5d. 0d. 6d. 0d.	Os. 0s. 0s. 1s. 1s.	4d. 7d. 9d. 0d. 3d.	20 7 25 33 38

By this means the gatekeepers were made responsible for the decision as to whether or not the new lower tolls would be implemented and they would bear the losses if any were created by the change. The Commissioners justified their actions on the grounds that they and the gatekeepers were bound by the terms of the leases, but that if the gatekeepers voluntarily decided to reduce the tolls during the life of the lease, they should be allowed to do so. ^(58.)

Under such pressure from the road Commissioners and the press, two of the gatekeepers, Thomas Ingram and William Clinton (gates one and two) agreed to reduce their tolls to the June 29th rate, but William Card, the lessee of gate three, near Guelph, absolutely refused to accept any revision.

Urged on by the local press, public meetings were held, resolutions passed and delegations appointed, all aimed at forcing Card to change his mind. A delegation, consisting of three Town Councillors, W.S. Knowles, George Sunley and Dr. Henry Orton, and four businessmen David Allan, W.J. Brown, John Pipe and Fred George, met William Card at Freel’s tavern, and the following exchange was reported:

Mr. Card, the lessee of the Guelph Gate, met the deputation at Freel’s; and had some conversation relative to the reduction of the tariff of tolls upon which he became lessee. Our readers will recollect that he leased the gate at a rent of £500. He now states, that according to the rates he has collected during the first month, usually the month of least travel, he will make £950 in total, or £450 profit, under his present tariff; and he refuses to adopt a lower tariff, without an amount of compensation such as can not be given. ^(59.)

When it is remembered that William Card’s expected profit of £450 would buy, clear, and stock two large farms, it is not surprising that he clung so stubbornly to his contract.

After reviewing the failure of the Guelph delegation, the Advertiser commented that:

The people of Guelph have therefore no alternative but to vigorously push forward the construction of the new bridges and roads into Puslinch, or to stand by and see their milling and wheat buying business ruined and their general commerce seriously injured. The contracts for the bridges have been already let out; the bridge at the foot of Wellington street, and the approaches to it will be completed by the 1st of October, and the line of road thence into Puslinch will be put in good order in the interim; so that loads of any weight may be sent by that road out of Guelph, and the millers and wheat buyers by that means be able still to give about two cents per bushel above New Hope prices. . . . ^(60.)

In the meantime, Card’s opponents had decided upon a second avenue of attack. They now undertook to test the legality of the higher tolls in the local courts. The Guelph Advertiser gives this outline of the test case, and its outcome:

MAGISTRATES’ COURT, GUELPH

Present,-B. Thurtell, Esq., Chairman, and A. A. Baker. David Martin, Teamster, appeared to a summons at the suit of Wm. Card, Keeper of the Toll Gate near Guelph, in the Brock Road, for refusing to pay toll. The Prosecutor [Card] stated, that on the 2nd of July, the defendant came to the Toll Gate with a loaded wagon, weighing 60 cwt., the rate of toll which amounted to 3s.2.5d. A demand for this sum was made; but the defendant refused to pay more than 1s. 3d. [the revised toll of June 29th]. Prosecutor objected to receive that sum, and defendant passed on with his team.

The Defendant said that sometimes Mr. Card had demanded 4s. 9d. cy, sometimes 6s. 3d. and other sums. Defendant offered him 1s. 3d. each time and believed that that sum was as much as he had any right to pay. ^(61.)

The complexity of the case arose from the fact that Benjamin Thurtell, the Chairman, was one of the road Commissioners who had set the toll, while Alfred A. Baker, the second Magistrate, was Clerk of the Division Court and a political and social associate of Dr. William Clarke, Guelph’s leading mill owner. Upon hearing the case, Thurtell voted to convict Martin while Baker argued that under the General Road Act, the Guelph and Dundas road tolls were illegal. Thus deadlocked, the case was adjourned to be heard by a full panel of local Magistrates. ^(62.)

On July 17th, the Martin case came before the Guelph Magistrates’ Court again. This time it was heard by Benjamin Thurtell, David Allan (operator of Allan’s Mill, owned by his father, -William Allan), Dr. William Clarke, and two close associates of Allan and Clarke, John Harland and John McCrea.

This time Thurtell again voted to convict Martin, but Allan, Clarke, Harland and McCrea voted to acquit. ^(63.) Not surprisingly, given the composition of the Bench, A. J. Fergusson, M.P.P. and County Solicitor, advised William Card to appeal to a higher court. Card agreed and continued to collect the higher tolls.

Not all of the delegations which visited Card, however, were as polite as that official town group which had met him at Freel’s tavern. Five days after that meeting and two weeks after Martin’s acquittal, Card received a second visit. The Guelph Advertiser describes the event:

THE BROCK ROAD TOLLS

Outrage at the Guelph Gate

On Tuesday night last [August 3, 1852] a serious outrage was committed at the Toll Gate, near Guelph, the particulars of which we have learned from the lessee of the Gate. About midnight, the gate-keeper heard several persons advancing towards the house, and almost immediately afterwards a large stone was thrown at the bedroom window breaking the glass, and part of the sash; and passing near the head of Mrs. Card, who had just entered the room.

Mr. Card then went to the door, but on trying to open it found it held firmly by some person on the outside. Immediately afterwards, he heard some person breaking the weighing apparatus of the weighing machine; afterwards followed a parting salute with a volley of stones at the bedroom window and at the glass portion of the door. The parties then went off. It is almost unnecessary to add that a very considerable amount of damage was done. ^(64.)

Although the Advertiser rejected such methods of persuasion, it did little to ease Card’s nerves when it warned that such conduct, if repeated, “may lead to a grievous amount of suffering, and, perhaps, loss of life.” ^(65.)

Finally, Card had clearly had enough. The weigh scales broken beyond repair, the gate house severely damaged and his family, no doubt, in a state of terror, he abandoned his lease and no more tolls appear to have been collected at the Guelph gate that year. ^(66.)

Henceforth, under the lower rate of tolls, the Guelph and Dundas road would continue to lose money. In 1854, Wellington County’s share of the losses was £477. 10s. and by 1856 these losses amounted to £168. 15s. 11 d. on the current account, and £1,451. 10s. on the debenture account as the road debentures began to fall due. ^(67.) Guelph’s interests had clearly triumphed.

In contrast to the anxiety felt by Guelph’s businessmen to complete the Guelph and Dundas road, the building of the County’s northern road network was carried out at a much slower and more cautious pace. On August 10th 1848, the Guelph Advertiser put the matter in perspective:

Our prosperity depends entirely upon the means of communication with the lands to the north and north-west of us. The improvement of the Brock Road was a step absolutely necessary to prevent our retrogression, and the gravelling of the roads hence to Fergus on the one hand, and Elora on the other, will give a fresh impetus to this place, and mutually benefit those villages and Guelph. ^(68.)

The Guelph and Arthur and the Guelph and Elora roads, therefore, were initially left in private hands. For some reason, the Guelph and Elora Road Company’s charter which had been applied for in 1847, failed to be passed at that time, an oversight which caused considerable consternation. The Guelph Advertiser gives this explanation:

Now that the Act of Incorporation for the formation of a road hence to Arthur, has come in to operation, and a considerable quantity of the Stock already taken up, there is one clause in the Act which required the immediate consideration of all interested in the road, and which may eventually affect the welfare of the town itself. Notice was duly given that at the late Session of Parliament two Acts would be applied for, one to incorporate a Company for the formation of a road hence to Arthur, and another from Guelph to Elora; and as both would require to go over the same ground for a distance of four and a half miles, to avoid strife it was thought advisable that there should be a clause authorizing the District Council to take this portion of the road into their own hands any time within three years, by which means the roads to the rising and competing villages would branch different ways from Card’s Corner. Unfortunately, the Elora bill was neglected, and the other was so altered as to allow the company to take up the road from the limits of the town of Guelph unless the Council take immediate action in the matter. . . . We are inclined to think that it would serve the interests of the Council to exercise the privilege still left them by the Act, and to do so at the coming Session. ^(69.)

From Guelph’s point of view, if tolls on the Guelph to Card’s Corners section of the road were set too high, Elora’s trade might go to Berlin.

To forestall such an event, a petition was quickly circulated requesting that the District Council take over the section of road from Guelph to Card’s Corners. ^(70.) This proposal was strongly opposed by the company’s stockholders and the editor of the Guelph Herald. It was their contention that the whole purpose of the petition was to delay the Guelph and Arthur project. ^(71.)

On December 6th, 1847, the initial shareholders’ meeting of the Guelph and Arthur Road Company was held. At it, A. D. Fordyce was elected president and A. J. Fergusson, William Clarke, Mr. Hogg, Thomas Webster, Samuel Broadfoot and John Watt were named directors. It was decided at the meeting not to make any call upon the shareholders until the District Council had made a decision as to whether or not it would build the road from Guelph to Card’s Corners. ^(72.)

On February 4th, 1848, the District Council met to consider the issue. Leading the discussion were William Clarke of Guelph, James Cowan of Waterloo, A.D. Ferrier and Charles Allan of Nichol and John Frost of Sydenham. Frost was the strongest opponent of the road. It was his belief that the debenture debt of £9,000 incurred for the Guelph and Dundas Road Company was as much as the District could bear. The gravelling of the four miles to Card’s Corners would require another £2,000 and he doubted that the money could be raised.

As the Guelph Herald reported, Dr. William Clarke was quick to supply the answer:

Dr. Clarke said, this was only a part of a great District undertaking, which was to connect the waters of Lake Huron with those of Lake Ontario, and he felt satisfied that the Road would amply repay both the interest and principal of the money expended in constructing it. The Act gave the Council the power of constructing the road, and if the Council did not assume it now it would remain forever in the hands of a private Company. . . . Dr. Clarke would have no hesitation in securing the Council in the undertaking to the amount of £500. . .then stated that himself and Messrs. Grange, Powell and Fergusson were willing to become security for £1,200, and he thought there would be no difficulty in getting the remaining £800 taken up. ^(73.)

A by-law was then passed by which the District took over the road and appointed a Commission to supervise its management.

Little more was done during the next twelve months, but in October, 1848, tenders totalling £1,903. 8s. 8d. were let for the road’s construction. In addition, the contract to build a toll house on the north corner of the Scotch plebe was let for £124. 10s. At the same time, the Commissioners began collecting tolls. ^(74.) The Guelph Advertiser in August, 1849, reported:

It is.... with pleasure we lay before our readers the following statement respecting the four miles of road opened last Fall, leading from Guelph northward:

Guelph and Arthur Road
Tolls received from the commencement, 23rd October, 1848, to 10^th July, 1849, being 38 weeks, averaging per week, £3. 16s. Od. Suppose the same for the 12 months Interest on cost of Road per annum Expenses of same, about	£120. £75.	£149. 8s. 9d. £197. 12s. Od. £195. Os. Od.
		£2. 12s. Od.

It should be borne in mind, that the thousands of barrels of flour, oatmeal, etc., which generally pass through Guelph during the Winter and Spring from Fergus and Elora have this year been sent northward to supply the deficiency caused by the failure of the crops in that direction, otherwise the receipts would have been much larger. ^(75.)

Unfortunately, these calculations proved to be much too optimistic. In 1859, the treasurer of Wellington County summarized the total income and expenditure of the road since its commencement in 1848. According to the treasurer, a total of £4,116 had been paid out while £2,883 had been received from tolls. ^(76.) In spite of constant promises by the urban leaders that these roads would not only repay their builders but would make a handsome profit as well, the opposing goal---to retain the market area and to increase the volume of trade---prevented tolls being set high enough for profitable operation on the publicly owned roads.

If the publicly owned roads, occupying the most travelled sections, could not make a profit, the privately owned road companies were even less successful. The Guelph and Arthur Road Company provides a case in point. ^(77.)

The primary reason for the failure of this road was not lack of traffic but the conflicting interests of many of its directors and large shareholders. In the County Council debate about the likelihood that the Company might raise its tolls to a very high level if no controls were kept upon it, George Jackson, the reeve of Bentinck Township, pointed out that the Directors had every reason to keep the tolls as low as possible. ^(78.)

One Guelph shareholder, William Day, at the 1850 annual meeting denounced the management of the road and declared that he now recognized that the enterprise had been “damned in the beginning.” ^(79.) He said that while the directors, being the largest shippers, might be satisfied with the road’s operation, “nine-tenths of the stockholders think differently”. ^(80.)

With the largest part of the road to Fergus and Arthur remaining unimproved, residents and businessmen along its route were anxious to have the Road Company complete the work undertaken in the charter. With the Road Company holding a legal monopoly on the road, including all the improvements which had been previously made by the district and the statute labour expended in the past, local residents refused to spend local tax money or statute labour on it when such improvements would inevitably result in the imposition of tolls. On the other hand, with continued losses on the improved section, the company was in no mood to sink further capital into a losing proposition. Finally, the Township Council of Nichol took matters into its own hands. It agreed to lend £10,000 to the Road Company on security of the works so that the road could be completed through the township. In turn, in order to get a better price for its debentures, the Township requested the County Council to issue £10,000 in county debentures and, with the proceeds, purchase the township bonds. ^(81.) On the basis of this loan, work on the road was completed to Fergus. Unfortunately, the road never came close to paying the maintenance, interest and principal of its loans.

In January of 1864, the Directors of the Guelph and Arthur Road Company approached the County Council with an offer to sell the concern. The County committee established to examine the offer made the following recommendation:

While they are aware of the importance of the County owning all the gravel roads in said County, provided they could be obtained at such terms as would not subject the County to any loss, they are of opinion that the said Company asks more for their road than it is worth, and your Committee could not recommend any action to be taken on said offer. From all the information your Committee could obtain, they think that an offer of ten thousand dollars might be made to the Company for the whole road, toll gates and everything with it payable in Debentures at such terms as the County Council may see fit to direct. ^(82.)

This report provided the basis for the eventual purchase. ^(83.)

With improved transportation, settlement within Guelph’s potential market area was greatly accelerated, and cash crop farming encouraged by the easier access to markets and the necessity of farmers to have cash for the new money taxes. Having built the basic road system, Guelph’s commercial role and economic base was considerably strengthened. In 1853, John Smith, the editor of the Guelph Advertiser discussed the significance of these changes, putting into perspective the acquisition of both district town status and the building of the gravel road system:

During the Spring we have repeatedly felt disposed to take a stroll round the town for the purpose of noting its progress and giving the readers of the Advertiser the result of our observations. . . . In commencing our remarks it is only proper to state, that a rural town, depending entirely upon a new country with a scattered and comparatively poor population, cannot be expected to make the same progress, or exhibit the rapid changes so frequently evidenced by manufacturing or commercial places, in a new country. With such, Guelph does not pretend to vie....

The census of 1843 showed a population of 700, and when we first set foot within the place, in the summer of that year, the rustic simplicity of the people in dress and other respects, gave us anything but a favourable impression of its future progress and importance.

Well, it progressed notwithstanding, for in four years its population had doubled, and at the present time it numbers upwards of 2,000 inhabitants.... Guelph has not availed itself of the immense water-power within its limits, to the extent frequently witnessed in other towns, and until of late years its prosperity was more dependent on the incomes of the town and neighbourhood, derived from other sources, and the circumstances of it being the county seat, than on its manufacturing industry or commercial enterprise. Fortunately that spirit is rapidly dying away before the energy and perseverance of her sons. ^(84.)

As Smith rightly concluded, the era of gravel road-building provided the first step towards the development of Guelph as an important commercial centre.

Notes
1.	Figures are taken from “Provincial Secretary's Papers,” op. cit.
2.	Ibid. The figure for Puslinch, 1843, is arrived at by prorating the data for 1840 and 1845.
3.	Ibid.
4.	Guelph and Galt Advertiser, March 12, 1847.
5.	Canada Census, 1852-3, Calculations are my own. The estimate for the acres cultivated is a minimum figure arrived at by deducting ten cultivated acres for each occupied holding, twenty acres and under. The acreage of wheat and bushels of wheat figures are maximums, no amount being deducted for occupied holdings under twenty acres. Because of the small number of holdings of under twenty acres, maximum error is estimated to be less than one percent.
6.	W. L. Smith, The Pioneers of Old Ontario (Toronto, 1923), p. 190.
7.	Donald McDonald, Map of Guelph, October, 1847, Guelph Historical Society Archives.
8.	City of Toronto and Home District Registry, 1837 (Toronto, George Walton, 1837), second section, p. 40.
9.	Acton Burrows, p. 54.
10.	7 William IV, Cap. 79.
11.	Clipping from the Toronto Examiner (undated) in the "Toronto and Lake Huron Railway Papers", M.G. 24, E8, Vol. 11, P.A.C.
12.	1 Victoria, Cap. 32.
13.	3 Victoria, Cap. 33.
14.	9 Victoria (2), Cap. XCVIII. See the description of this road in Hazel B. Mathews, Oakville and the Sixteen (Toronto, 1953), pp. 193-194.
15.	Guelph Herald, October 7, 1847.
16.	6 William IV, Cap. 5.
17.	6 William IV, Cap. 7.
18.	Guelph and Galt Advertiser, January 15, 1847.
19.	Ibid, February 26, 1847.
20.	10-11 Victoria, Cap. 88.
21.	10-11 Victoria, Cap. 91. See also the Guelph and Galt Advertiser, September 3, 1847.
22.	Guelph Herald, September 2, 1847.
23.	Guelph and Galt Advertiser, September 3, 1847.
24.	Guelph and Galt Advertiser, October 22, 1847.
25.	Ibid.
26.	Ibid.
27.	Ibid.
28.	Guelph and Galt Advertiser, October 15, 1847.
29.	Dundas Warder, N.D., quoted in the Guelph and Galt Advertiser, October 29, 1847.
30.	Guelph Herald, November 9, 1847.
31.	Ibid. January 18, 1848.
32.	Calculated from the Waterloo County Accounts in the Guelph Advertiser, March 6, 1851.
33.	Guelph Advertiser, January 31, 1850.
34.	Ibid, January 17, 1850.
35.	Guelph Herald, January 4, 1848.
36.	Ibid, March 7, 1848.
37.	Guelph and Galt Advertiser, April 21, 1848.
38.	Ibid, July 13, 1848.
39.	Ibid, July 27, 1848.
40.	Ibid, July 19, 1849.
41.	See ibid, October 12, 1849; and the Hamilton Spectator, January 24, 1849.
42.	In 1976 a large proportion of the original printing remained in the vault of the Wellington County building, still unissued.
43.	13 and 14 Victoria, Cap. CXXXII.
44.	Guelph Advertiser, September 5, 1850.
45.	Journals of Waterloo County, minutes, December 11, 1850.
46.	Guelph Advertiser, January 23, 1851.
47.	Ibid, January 30, 1851.
48.	Ibid, March 6, 1851.
49.	Ibid, June 12, 1851.
50.	Journals of Waterloo County, 1852, Appendix.
51.	Ibid.
52.	"Minutes", Town of Guelph, June 18, 1852.
53.	Guelph Advertiser, June 24, 1852.
54.	Reported in ibid, June 17, 1852.
55.	Ibid.
56.	Ibid.
57.	Ibid, April 3, 1851, and July 1, 1852.
58.	Ibid, July 1, 1852.
59.	Ibid, July 29, 1852.
60.	Ibid.
61.	Ibid, July 15, 1852.
62.	Ibid.
63.	Ibid, July 22, 1852.
64.	Ibid, August 5, 1852.
65.	Ibid.
66.	The County accounts for 1853 show that only £657. 4s. 8d. were collected in that year. See Journals of Wellington County, Appendix, 1854.
67.	Ibid, 1855 and 1857.
68.	Guelph and Galt Advertiser, August 10, 1848.
69.	Guelph and Galt Advertiser, September 17, 1847.
70.	Ibid, October 8, 1847.
71.	Guelph Herald, November 16, 1847.
72.	Guelph and Galt Advertiser, December 10, 1847.
73.	Guelph Herald, February 8, 1848.
74.	Guelph and Galt Advertiser, October 26, 1848.
75.	Ibid, August 2, 1849.
76.	Journals of Wellington County, Appendix, January 1859.
77.	Guelph and Galt Advertiser, June 8 and December 7, 1848.
78.	Guelph Advertiser, March 28, 1850.
79.	Ibid, May 2, 1850, Minutes of the Guelph and Arthur Road Company.
80.	Ibid.
81.	Journals of Waterloo County, Minutes, January 29, 1851; and Guelph Advertiser, April 10, 1851.
82.	Journal of Wellington County, Appendix 1857, "Report of the Special Committee of the Memorial of the Guelph and Arthur Road Company", January 28, 1864.
83.	Ibid, Appendix, By-law No. 102, December 6, 1864.
84.	Guelph Advertiser, June 30, 1853.

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