New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1854-02-15

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proper Court stands ready to vscae 10 Does not 'h'
naked fact of resorting to legislation in the premises
involve a confession that the charter had moi been
/ legally forfeited
But we care nothing about the Charter; suppose
there had never been any-what then Certain per
sons have built Railroad on line Of very great I'M
por;ance to tie travelling public. For 6fy years the
great tide Of Western emigration snd travel has pa'sed
over that route without suspecDg tsat the State Of
Pennsy vsna evirced any special grace msgnanmty
in allowing il TO do SO long each traveller paid
for what he had and molested nobody lie never imag
med that special gratitude due to PennsySanii
for not compelling him to make circuit through ana
da or Pittsburgh nor to risk his neck in Jumping down
athiryfeet precpice cObtrved expressly to drive him
around by some other route.
Well in process Of time Railroads were DE Used
and came into general They are to the lOng
travel Of TO-DAY what common rOids were to that Of
City years sgo To say that people shall not travel in
particular direction On Railroad, if any choose to
rick tie expense Of building there is nearly equva
lent to saying that they shall not travel there at all
Now, kOr oome 10 Be necessary to resort to a doubt
full charter in order to obtain permission 70 construct
Railroad the route in question Gov Bgler is
mum tbs point; yet can need to be told that
capitalists who build Railroads do not proceed on such
charters when they can obtain good ones. The unde
niable truth is that tie Government Of Pennsylvania has
ied 10 OJspo and prereH harl east and eeSi By Raj
road across the northern ncck Of that STATE uhch includes
Erie By r'nsing TO charter company 70 construct such
Road. But for this mean, narrow minded. en7ous, de-
tostable "Pennsylyania policy there would have been
10 occasion for resortDg to the Franklin Companys
Charter any pretex for the outcy that ad charter
was perverted The Ohio Railroad men have attended at
Harrisburg through Session after Session Of the Penn
sylvania Legislature, coaxiug begging, praying for
privilege which of vital importance to them; but
" Pennsylvania policy" turned deaf ear to their re-
quests. Once, indeed, Pennsylvania wanted charter
for her Pittsburgh Road westward into Ohio SO she
granted a charter for Lake Shore Railroad and OBJ
tanned what she wanted of Ohio hen she repealed the
Lake Shore CAGrr! Finally the Ohoans were obliged
to strike bargain with the Franklin Canal Company
and make their connection eastward best they could
And no serious, determined opposition was made to
this until anotasr Road TO wit the Erie and North
East changed its gauge so as to conform with those on
either SIDE of it. and thus aroused the yirsuous indg
nation Of the Erie rioters and Harbor Greek bridge.
burners
Well there is the Road, the right of way paid for,
tie track graded, the rails laid and the bed graveel
all in order trains running and the travelling public
greatly accommodated. Here is a property worth
several hundred thousand dollars and of course not
without owners Somebody paid for those materials,
that land that labor; and whoever did it owns the
property has right control its and receive the
resulting pTofs Is that somebody the State Of Penn
sylyana Has she paid one penny of that heavy
cost II not on what principle Of equity does she
seize the proceeds There are three known ways Of
acquiring property: l. Producing it, or by skill aud
industry giving it value; 3 Buying it of those who
aid produce it and paying them for il; g. Stealing it,
Has Peuns!l 'ania invented another! Tear the Char
ter into many tatters and you do not thereby
take tie property from those who are its rightful
owners If you convert it to public use you are
bound TO pay them for it,
But the Governor tells that he has made arrange
rents for running the Road whereby
"1he business has been fully resumed on the snirelne
from Cleveland t. Buffalo and will hereafter in my opn-
ion be transacted in manner more advantageous aud
agreeable to the traveller and transporter than at any
former period"
We meet this impuden. assertion with facts which
10 nan can gainssy: There was an unbroken line Of
communication by Railroad from Cleveland to Buffalo
at the hour when the rOtOus scoundrs who have just
carted Gov Bigler in triumph as hailfellow about
their borough Of Erie tore up the track in Erie and at
Hsrbor Greek making break of eight miles to be
traversed thenceorh by wagons for nearly two months
at the most inclement of the year That break
was maintained in defiance of the express mandate of
the u S. District Court-maintaned by violent and
eontemptuous resistance to paramount legal process
BY the mob whose votes Gov Bgler is drtily fishing
for And now instead of that perfect unbroken gauge
from Buffalo to Cleveland and far West of her
which Erie and her frateTnzers destroyed we have
complete break at Erie compelling all passengers and
baggage to be transhpped there and the Cattle,
Sheep. Swine and Merchandise which steadily seek
their dettnaton that route must all be unloaded
and reloaded at that point at heavy expense and loss
Of time-as wantOnly and basely imposed as if New
Hampshire should enforce break Of gauge at Ports
mouth and compel all the products OF Maine seeking
Boston TO be transhipped there.
We paced over that route on Saturday evening last
The track through Pennsylva was watched and
guarded SIS though through region peoped with
enemies Of the human the train was run slowly
AID cautiously under Pennsylvania superintendent
and on Pennsylvania account mind you y aud one
consequence Of this was failure to connect with the
II o'clock night train at Buffalo, whereby many pas
seneers were detained ct that point till the next
eve1iDg So much for a very small taste of Penn
sylvana policy whereby the of trade is to be
permanently altered and great cities built up! And
this Gov. Bigler assures US, il arrangement en-
tirely agreeable to the travelling public - Would
lie ike to take the vote Of that public upon IL
The last Legislature of Pennsylvania expressly re-
sesleS the Gauge Law which previously forbade a
uniform gauge through Erie County and the Erie and