Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1863-12-01
Essex County Railroad Bill

Essex IOulIy hhAll oau NAAA
We had purposed TO publish an article Se'''ns
forth at some length the facts in relation 10 INC
snnle,tion of the people Of Essex County, to 'he
Legislature, for charter Of a railroad ooInecung
Island Pond and St. Johnsbury, by The way o.
the valley Of Moose river, bot we have been com
rsned ID defer il from time TO time, and can on!
briefly alude to it now.
A condensed aud just statement OF the cp'F
can be made in very little space.-The people
ofEssex County, by their senator and representa-
.ves expressing The desires of the entire p0Pu''-
ton of the County, have for the last three SESSIONS
orlhe Legislature made application Tor gram
Of railroad connecting sltn tha Ofano lfunN
railwayAt Island Pond,--or near Ihere--apu wiz"
the Passumpsic roadat St. bloomsbury flain' LUIS
road would pass ao0g The valley Of the Moose
river, thence through Granby and Ferdinand 'ol
the line of the Grand Trunk road 1t passes
through heavily timbered country south Of
Island Pond besides furnishing much better
marketfor the vast amount of lumber on the me
Of the Grand IrmN, in the northern part OF Essex
Comfy, than Portland, where that lumber now
goes. Il was estimated that the increased value
Of the timber in Essex County if this road were
huilt would be more than a million and hall Of
doIars.- more than enough to build and STOCK
the road. It is also apparent that the road would
furnishahe people of Essex County direct com
municatfen, with the rest of the State much need
ed and Which could be obtained in no other way,
as will be seen by glance at the map OF north
eastern Vermont.
The opposition tc the road was from several
sources, though only the Passumpsc road appear
ed befbre the committee. All the railroads in the
State,-unless we except the Vermont Valley
so far as they were represented at all about the
Legislature, were hostile to the application
Thoughts vi the execution OF the Psssump they
oil protested 10 be Indifferent spectators. The
Passumlslc road, now running TO Newport anc
graded to Derby line, the northern terminus o
its chartered limits, fought the people Of ESSEX
County at every step Of their application. 1h'
reason they gave for this opposition was, that
the proposed road were built it would di
mipish the revenues of the Passumpsic rood
aud The 18th OF the State was pledge
to give the Passumpsic road the monopol
Of the carrying of ffeghts and passengers i
eaf' IN Vermcnt, whether the people OF Esse
County were accommodated or not The answe
that was made to this rather startling assumpto
on the part Of the Passumpsic corporation wa
that The iaith Of the State was not thus pledged
but on the contrary, that tie State had express
reserved 10 itself the right to connect the Gran
Trunk and Passumpsc roads whenever it chose
do 50 by branch railroad, and had, in fact,
severalinstances granted charters to thai eaec
1t was also shown in proof that the net earning
of the Connecticut & Passumpsic road for tn
past car, were four and one half per cent on tn
cost OF the entire road to Derby line, and tbt
large quantities Of its stock and bonds were bel
BY specuutors who had bought it up at less tina
nifty cents on u dolIar the road thus paying
these spectators eight or ten per cent on the
Investment.
BIT it would take too much space to 20 mo
at length ioto the facts Of the case. 1t
enough to say that the merit, Of the applicable
have been so clearly shown that the House b
passed the bill for three successive years
large mejorities this year by vote of near
three 10 one. rheSenate has each year kill
the bill, and has done so because the railroa
in the State are cunning enough to secure, 10 a
vance, at least one branch Of the General Assei
bly, which can be relied on in pinch to do WI
the railroads want doDe and it has been fou
more convenient to manage the Senate, in d
particular, than the House, for some years pa
ThePassumpsc ROAD has not influence enough
accomplish this work alone, but the Vernon q
tral-or perhaps 1t should more properly
called the Vermont and Canada-has perfect
some pretty machinery by which it is potent
legislation whenever It chooses to be so and
has chosen for the last three years 10 deea,
Essex County Railroad bh hoping thereby
advance its purpose Of defeating any North
direct connections Nth Montreal by the ieay Of
Passiimpsic and Connecticut rivers.
How long this kind of legislation will contr
Of'course no 0te Gin predict, because II is
easy 10 ascertain ID advance how long the pee
win suffer the paid agents, salared attorneys
travelling dead heads Of powerful corporation
manage conventions and nominations The I
pie Of Essex county, however, will perseyere
their application, and will undoubtedly ultima
triumph for by and by the opposition to it
the part Of the railroad will become so appar
ly selfish, mercenagqg greedy and corrupt,
legislators cannot be found who can ipnoran
orsiH Knowingly, persist in doing a glazing
Justice 70 The whole Of Essex county at the
ding OF se managers Of gigantic and infuer
railroad corporations
taN .-----++ -+.s 49, -r----r-+----
JUDGE TANEy AND Mr.. CaAsE.--rhe =,
started by the Cincinnati ENQUIRE, that C
Jpsllcr fancy ls about to resign his seat upon
Supreme Bench, and that Nh Chase intended
resign his place in the Cabinet to succeed Ju
fancy, Is entirely without foundation. Ju
fancy will never voluntarily relnQuish bis
upon the berch, and until be dies bis place
not be vacant. Until such an event occurs
,heChef Justice is il toerabs health it il