Litchfield enquirer., 1840-07-30
BY REQUEST l
From the NeIO York Courier, July IS.


 Rail Road Communication rrith Albany The recent movements on the part of the good people of Boston and Albany, to complete the line of Rail Road between those two cities, and thereby secure to Abn- my an uninterrupted communication with the seaboard at all seasons of the year, and to Boston large and important branch of our trade with the Great West, has, as our read CTS are aware, aroused our citizens to the importance of an early Rail Road commu- nication between this city and Aibanr
 Under deep conviction of the necessity of prompt action in regard to this great mea- sure, the President and Directors ofthe Hou- sSdtonic RGn Road COmpang and the authori- ties of Bridgeport, rendered to our Corpora tion an invitation to examine their road as far as completed, and the line of the road un- finished, and the advantages thus offered of securing in very short period the much dc sired winter communication with Albany A Committee of the Corporation was accord ingly appointed to accompany the Commit tee from Bridgeport to that city on Tuesday last; and similar invitation having been extended to the Board Of Trade, ana inc Chamber of Commerce, and several gentle .>'ien connected with the Press in thi- ~:.., |, parry of about forty left L..,,,,, on Tnesanv mornin. at 6 o'clock in r. @ e.o,i,oa, M 5 E';g Geld' and arsi'e~ at Bridgeport at II A. M Ihey w. e there received by the authorities ana .hhabitants of that flourishing city, with every demonstration of respect, and an hos pitality as unbounded as ever was exhibited in the most favored portion of our hospitabe country. After sumptuous entertainment at STERLING s hotel, the evening was devoted to drive through this singular picturesque city, and visit to several distinguished pla- ccs in the neighborhood.
 On TnnS1au ponrnIDc %bo oovo mittces and guests from this city, accompa- ned by the President and Directors of the Rail Road Company, and the authorities and many ofthe citizens of Bridgeport, took their departure on the Rail Road at o'clock i; and in little over two hours we landed at NeD-MiJord, the present termination of the Road. Here the authorities and citizens of Bridgeport took their leave of the party from this city; who proceeded in carriages along the line of the Road to Canaan Falls, where they lodged on Wednesday evening. On the Corporation, the editor of the Commercial Adrertis,,es. and several of our citizens, cross- over to ShG"on, with view of following down the line ,>f the projected Rail Road from Albany to this city while the commit tee appointed for that P,rpose, which we ac- companied, continued on the line of the Housatonic and Berkshire Isil Roads to West Stockbridge, whence we passed by the Rail Road to Hudson and took passage in the evening boat from Albany
 We will now briefly give the result of our observations; and we think we incur no ha- gard in expressing the opinion, that the intel ligen, Committees of the Corporation and Board of Trade, in their respective reports, will sustain us in our positions.
 In the first place, the great question under consideration should never be lost sight of and that is-in what mode can we best avert from us the threatened loss of trade from the probable completion at an early day, of the Great Western Rail Road from Boston to AL .bany? It is well known, that in consequence of the public spirit exhibited in relation to this work by the respective Corporations of Boston and Albany, there no longer exists a doubt but 1t will be in successful onera,inn by the first of December, l94l; and it is equally certain; that the immense quantities of produce from Western New York and the jr.: r." West, which is every winter embargoed on the line of our Canal, and which finds its way to this city the following spring, will, on the completion of that road, be forward cd to Boston as the most convenient market. Writing as we are, to commercial commu- nifty, it is needless to say, that although this city is the natural market for all produce of the North and West, yet much of it must and tOttb SO tO DoStOHs II tudL It3dTkSL Cull Dc reached at period of the year when New York is inaccessible. Nor need we inform our readers, that unnatural as is such q course of trade, if it should once become es- abolished, whole life time. would be requir- ed to divert it to it's original and natural channel. Business connections once formed are, cc we all know, very generally, trans mitted from :-ther 10 son, or from one firm to another, unless <; eat inducements are of tcrcd to change them. It becomes our duty, therefore, 10 adopt measures which will pre- vent our Western trade being carried to Boston even for single winter; and We do not hesitate to say, that our only mode of ac- complaining this great and leading object, is through the medium of the Housatonic Rail Road and Long Island Sound from Bridge port to this city.
 We are desirous that our true position should be understood. We are the friends -the staunch and unflinching friends-of an extension of the Harlcm Rail Road to AL bany, by private and corporate subscriptions if they can be obtained; if not, as State work. But if every dollar necessary to con- struct this great work were now actually in the hands of the Company, we should still adhere to the opinion, that the only possible mode of prerenting much of our ,oesern trade be- 1ng dtrerted into an unnatural channel, IS the immediate completion of the Housatonic Ral Road from Bridgeport to the north line of Con- aecticut, and the Berkshire Rail Road (2O miles in length,) thence 10 West Stockbridge- through achich latter place the RGl Road from Albany to Boston ,oiU necessarily pass.
 The Ho~satonic Riuer passes through one of the most isolated vallies in New Eng land and at the same time. one which is m hy fha s,,a