The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-02-21

The CAMDEN AND AxBo MoNoroLY.-we
,}eeisna II wee that movement 10 being made In
New Jersey to reAst sAA qshxious bill BON
pending before the Senate Of that State for Ne
extension Of the monopoly Of the Camden and
Amboy Railroad and Delaware and Rsritan
Canal Companies The meeting held at New
ark on Saturday was large and enthusiastic:
and the tenor Of the resolutions SO decided, that
the Senate can hardly pass the bill presented by
the railroad agents without exposing themselves
to very unenviable degree Of public odium.
Indeed, without waiting for an open expression
Of opinion from the people Of New Jersey, any
Senator, endowed with ordinary common sense.
might safely have made up his mind that do
cility to Commodore Stockton, in this instance
would be fatal rebellion against the wishes OF
his constituents and absolute contempt of the
interests OF the State A monopoly such as that
exercised by the united companies needs no
acute analysis to expose its danger
For near quarter Of century the Camden
and Amboy Railroad Company have enjoyed q
monopoly OF carrying passengers across the
State of New Jersey. By the terms Of their
cnarter the State bound itself not to permit the
construction of any road for the carriage of
goods and passengers across New Jersey, that
could compete with the Camden and Amboy
line. Most tenaciously has the COMPANY in
sisted on Inc literal fulflment of this privilege
They have prevented the construction Of a road
through the heart of the State to Delaware
Bay, and Of every road which could divert thu
smallest fraction of traffic from their own line.
The only road they have suffered the State to
charter have been feeders for the Camden and
Amboy road. Whenever an application has
been made for road that would not thus serve
their purpose, the united companies took the
field at once with an indignant protest, and
hitherto they have never failed in their efforts
to defeat it. BY pursuing this policy steadily
for period Of some twenty odd years. they
have succeeded in reducing the State Of New
Jersey to the condition in which we now see
her, and in building up for themselves princely
fortunes. They have prevented internal i'm
provements and enlightened agriculture, done
what they could to cripple the splendid resour-
ces with which New Jersey was endowed by
nature, and render her name proverbial for
backwardness, inertia and sluggishness. In
compensation for these injuries, the Camden
and Amboy Railway Company carry passen-
gers eighty EIGHT miles for three dollars being
nearly at the rate Of three-and-a-half cents per
mile, little short Of double the average rate
levied by other Northern railroads. Add to
this that their road is one of the worst managed
in the North, that stoppages at Amboy are now
becoming quite frequent, and that passengers
complain bitterly of the incivility aud mall
treatment they experience at the hands of the
employees
These are the facts on which the Legislature
Of New Jersey is called upon to base its judg-
ment on the application of the united COM
panies. That application is that the monopoly
they now enjoy may be prolonged from the
period of its expiration to the year 1885, In 9TH
er words this leviathan concern demands that
1t be secured in it's despotic sway over New
Jersey for forty-fve years more that for forty.
five years, New Jersey renounce all the benefits
OF progress and advancement, while all her
sister States are progressing and advancing
around her that for forty five years, travellers
between New York aud Philadelphia he taxed
double the rates charged by other railways;
that for forty-fve years, the interests Of the
State and its neighbors be entirely sacrificed
to the aggrandizing propensities of the share.
holders in this avaricious concern. II the State
refuses this bargain, the company offers to sell
out their road at the market price of the stock
That is now selling at something like fifty per
cent premium; and should there be prospect
of the State purchasing, the holders could
readily raise it to near hundred.
So impddent a proposal has seldom been
made to any Legislature. Long experience Of
submission has accustomed our friends in New
Jersey to insult, and taught them weakness. A
few weeks will show whether this Christian
virtue will induce them to submit to the last
offer of the united companies, or whether, for
once, they will prefer the interests of the State
to those Of moneyed monopoly, refuse the
extension of the charter and assume the road at
the expiration Of the present charter at cost
price,
SECRETARY MAReY's SPLENDID LETTER ON
Our FOREIGN PoILcY-WHAT's TO BE DONE p
Our exclusive publication yesterday Of that
most extraordinary, interesting, convincing and
conclusive confidential letter of Secretary
Marcy, on the foreign policy Of the United
States has created much excitement and very
considerable speculation. We narrowly escaped
being arrested and carried off to the Capitol
to answer for the unauthorized publication Of
the Mexican and Copyright treaties but now
we are in hourly expectation Of being called
upon, with writ of habeas corpus, by the
Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate, for trip to
Washington, at the public expense, by the next
Southern train. Very well. If such a requisi-
ton is made upon us we must obey it, and shall
rest our defence for the publication of Marcy's
letter upon the plea that it was too valuable,
too interesting, too spicy, and altogether, from