The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1865-01-20
Portland and tho Grand Trunk.

EdllIOado @ho NeAACh kuOUCI4 nCoto " -S~OAASI
ton, to make his journey. upon the back ola
donkey. This animal was the only one OF its
kind, we have been accustomed to suppose,
ever gifted with the power Of speech, but we
confess to mistake in this regard, for pray
comes to us from down Exchange street, dis-
tiuct aud articulate, saying; -
SIS the Press in favor of making Boston the
terminus of the Grand Trunk Railroad ?" sszz
No honest person, from 0ortky motives,
having brain superior to the donkey, would
ever ask such question in the face of what
the Press has said upon this subject. The
position Of the Press 10 relation to the ques-
ton OF railroad gauge has been distinctly and
unequivocably defined, and it has, according
to its best ability, defended the wisdom and
justice of the State law bearing upon this sub
ject; simply objectiug that the law is not as
extensively operative as it should be. And
here we may as well give. a bit of history.
The law referred to was approved March Il,
1880. It's entitled San act to promote safety
Of travel on Railroads. and reads as follows:
Be It enacted &c.--No railroad company in
S~AS 0sobS, dttCA no AOdQ oudll Uo III Op6TdjIOu,
shall change the width of its tracks between
the rails, 50 as to increase or diminish the dis
lance between the same, or shall lay down an
extra or third rail for the working of its road
by means OF mixed gauge, without the *
press authority Of the legislature first had and
ootained; = prouided howeuer, this act
shall not apply to roads east Of Portland.
This act was suggested, drafted and intro
duced, we are informed, bya member from
this city. and its object was so obvious and its
provisions SO wise and just, that it met with
no opposition. The proUiso, however, was no
part of the bili as originally introduced. That
was by member on the Kennebec, largely
interested In roads connected directly with
the Boston, aud was designed by him to pro-.
tect Boston interests. This we state with
gceat confidence, for we do so .onthe authori-
~ Of the gentleman himself who proposed the
proviso. - Ea 49, k2 90
Now we insist that this previsO alone is all
thar makes the law appear either weak or un-
just. It's eminently right and proper that
the guage OF a railroad once established, like
the location, should be fixed thing, to be
changed only by the consent of the power
which at first created it; and we go farther
still, and insist that, as every State should de-
termine what particular policy it will adopt in
relation to railroad lines, it is eminently pro-
per that the legislature should establish the
gauge ofevery road chartered by it.
The proviso to the act in question renders
the title exceedingly infelicitcus. Thc safety
OF travel on railroads is unquestionably as i'm
portant east of Portland as west OF it, while
the proviso implies that this safety is simply
of local importance. But we know how titles
to acts are adopted The act is probably pre-
pared before title is thought of, and then
that which first suggests itselfto the author
of the bill, provided its appropriateness is
not very marked, is quite likely to be
prehxed to it. Had the proviso been a part OF
the original draft, it is doubtful if sach q title
would have been given to the act. We should,
as we have suggested heretofore, be glad TO
see the proyiso in question stricken out OF the
Law, and the title amended so as to make 1t
distinctly express the real object of the law
law wisely and judiciously framed to give
stability to our railroad policy, aud Ito hold
the protection of private adverse interests
interests Of individuals, corporations and mu-
inequalities under the control OF the Legisla-
tive, instead of leaving them all to. be .tri6ed
with BY board Of half dozen. railroad di-
rectors, not one of them, perhaps, resident Of
of the State.
The present effort to secure repeal of the
law Of 1860 comes from these who have set
their hearts upon the construction of the Eu-
ropean and North American Railway. They
don't seem to be content with what the State
hasso munidcently done for them, and it has
done what last year we were assured would Sc
cure Its early construction, but they seem
willingto pay any price to- accomplish that
pet scheme ;--a schemes we fear, which is en-
tered into by certain active gentlemen more
with an eye to personal advantage than to
state benefit. To our mind it always seemed
humiliating to goto the Massachusetts legis-
lature for aid to construct a hundred miles of
road. when both the State of Maine and the
General Government were enlisted in the
enterprise, II the whole thing falls through
1t will be because Of the over doing OF
those who claim to be its champion spirits.
While we defend our state law, and on no
account aOouLd repeal 1t: while we hold that
Portland SHOULD be projected in the great en-
terprise which her energy and capital and
credit pushed through in the face of obloquy
and shameful opposition, we are not of those
who feel Called upon to proclaim our city's in
trinsic weakness by pleading that any action
OF Boston can ruin her, or take from her those
great, signal advantages which nature has
given her. A broad guage to Boston might
seriously conflict with some of our interests;
at any rate we would not endanger these inter-
ests BY any such arrangement. Bat no guage
or change of gauge can desi roy the value and
advantages Of Portland harbor, or wipe out
the hundred miles OF advantage which Port
iand has over Boston in relation both to Liv-
erpool and Montreal 1t might affect steam
Dost interests between the two cities, but this
10 not Clear, for it is notorious fact that no
railroad can live by carrying freight from here
" Dos s AZ prices which return princely div
ldends to our steamboat corporations Orr
steamboats, can take freight to Bosto, =, half
. dollar a ton less than any road can do it.
Freight from Boston for Saco and Biddeso,d
often comes to this city by the boats, and then
Is transhipped to the cars and sent to those
places by rail, because it is cheaper than to
forward from Boston all the way by rail-
These are facts which Boston may as well I'M
derstand; and understanding them, perhaps
her zeal for third rail would slightly cool
of. 4 ir t efa7 ~ dE
Possibly with broad gauge to Boston
car load of -four would sometimes pass by us
without breaking bulk, and thus affect the
business of the boats, but this is by no means
certain. Portland has become as fixed as her
rocky foundations, and she will not "wiu." Nor
does her success hinge upon any gauge, but
upon her natural advantages, her excellent
harbor, her relations to the State, her relations