Board, who by the contract was made arbiter of all questions that
might arise as to the interpretation of the plans and specifications.
The city had been fortunate in securing for the preparation of plans
the services of Mr. William Barclay Parsons, one of the foremost
engineers of the country. For years as Chief Engineer of the Board he
had studied and developed the various plans and it was he who was to
superintend on behalf of the city the completion of the work.

During the thirty-two years of rapid transit discussion between 1868,
when the New York City Central Underground Company was incorporated,
up to 1900, when the invitations for bids were issued by the city,
every scheme for rapid transit had failed because responsible
capitalists could not be found willing to undertake the task of
building a road. Each year had increased the difficulties attending
such an enterprise and the scheme finally evolved had put all of the
risk upon the capitalists who might attempt to finance the work, and
left none upon the city. Without detracting from the credit due the
public-spirited citizens who had evolved the plan of municipal
ownership, it may be safely asserted that the success of the
undertaking depended almost entirely upon the financial backing of the
contractor. When the bid was accepted by the city no arrangements had
been made for the capital necessary to carry out the contract. After
its acceptance, Mr. McDonald not only found little encouragement in
his efforts to secure the capital, but discovered that the surety
companies were unwilling to furnish the security required of him,
except on terms impossible for him to fulfill.

The crucial point in the whole problem of rapid transit with which the
citizens of New York had struggled for so many years had been reached,
and failure seemed inevitable. The requirements of the Rapid Transit