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… is from page 97 of the late Stanley Lebergott’s indispensable 1984 volume, The Americans: An Economic Record [2]; specifically, it’s from a discussion of late-18th and early- and mid-19th century America, in a chapter entitled “Transportation”:
Three alternatives faced the developing nation then as they face others today. First, the nation could do without transport advance. Unthinkable. Second, the investment could be made by the government, which would tax its own people or borrow from Europeans. Third, the investment could be made by private individuals.
Each investment route was tried, depending on the period and the transport method, but unquestionably the primary source was private investment.