ALS signed “A. W. Thompson,” one page both sides, 7.75 x 10, November 24, 1863. Written from New York, a letter to A. D. Russell, in part: "In answer to your inquiry, I would suggest the following to guard against repeal because of the near session of Congress 1st. To sustain the proposed contract. It is clearly within the power of the Sec'y of War to provide the most expeditious and cheapest modes of transportation & to do this he may contract in advance & give a consideration for the rapid construction of the work needed. If he contracts then in the manner we wish, he can report it to Congress as an accomplished fact. If this is altogether declined & he is immovable on that discussion, than urge that the same form of contract be made, but conditioned upon the approval of Congress. The Secretary in that case reporting it as a necessity & asking the earliest approval possible in order to secure the prompt contraction of the road. If he declines to make a contract in any form, then get him to recommend the construction of the road promptly, and to say that as it forms the stem of the great Pacific road from Washington to the immediate Western connections, it should receive the same aid that has been provided by the Congress for the Pacific road, that is, the issue of the bonds by the government, and the grant of sections of land, to the same amount and extent, as govern in the act incorporating the Pacific Railway & upon the same terms. If he declines to do this, then get him to report the necessity of the road, and to ask Congress, to guarantee the bonds of the Metropolitan RR Co. to the amount of six million dollars." In fine condition. A. W. Thompson served as Vice President of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and Abraham D. Russell was a municipal judge in New York City and a stock holder in the Lackawanna Steel Company. The Pacific Railway Act, which was signed into law by Abraham Lincoln on July 1, 1862, provided federal subsidies including government bonds and vast land grants to facilitate the construction of the transcontinental railroad, both of which are incentives Thompson mentions to Russell.
