The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1867-04-02

to connect with the trains of
other roads. This arrangement for d.
verting the through business from the
bennington & Rutland Railroad, was
carried into effect during the period Of the
lease of the road to the Troy 4 Boston
Company, and that said company, in case
it should ever again connect with the
Bennington & Rutland road, is under an
obligation by its contract to continue it
for about nine years longer.
In the meantime two Of the citizens of
this State, John Gregory Smith and John
B. Page, had become lessees of the Ben
nington g. Rutland road, TO commence at
the expiration Of the before mentioned
lease TO the Troy & Boston Company
and had made preparations for operating
it, by sending engines and cas- to the
State line TO connect with those OF the
Troy Il Boston Company. No such con
nection was however made, and although
the lessecs are DESTROYS of making such
connection, and have applied to the man
ayers of the Troy & Boston Company for
tina; purpose, they utterly refuse to agree
upon any terms of connection, or TO run
their cars to the State line; and since
the said 16 h of January last there has
consequently been no railroad outlet to the
South and West, there being n break of
about five miles between the State line
and Hoosick Junction, from which latter
place cars are running d lily to Troy,
distance Of twenty. six miles This inter
mediate five miles of road is stated to
have been, since the 10th of January
last, permanently leased TO the Rensselaer,
e Saratoga Railroad Company, thu'
placing all the avenues flom Rutland to
the South AMI West under the perfect
control Of that corporation.
The manufacturing interest that have
grown up on the lin. of the Bennington
Il Ruteand Railroad are very extensive
and important, probably more 50 than
any other section of the State of equal
population, embracing those Of cotton and
wooden in their various branches of pa
per; of iron by blast and cupola furnaces
of ochre for paints of machinery for cot
ton, wooden and paper mills; tanneries
establishments for making chisclS carpen
ters' squares, chars, bedsteads, doors,
sash, and many other articles Of both
wood and metals. The railroad transpor-
tation required to furnish supplies and to
send to market the product Of these cstab-
lislments must be very great. That por-
ton of the State is also very rich in mar
BILE and timber, many ihousan Is Of tons Of
each b, ing annually sent away by railroad.
If these business operations, and others
connected with them, are to be perma
ncnlly shut off srom railroad communica
tons with the outer world, as they are at
present, it is easy to say that all must
seriously [sutfer, and that very many of
them, which can only prosper by cheap
and speedy tr ,nsporlation, must be utterly
ruined.
This appearing to be the situation of
affairs in that portion of the State, and
believing that every Considerable portion
of the State, when suffering or in danger,
is entitled to the sympathy and protection
Of the residue, and that the whole State,
and particularly the whole Western part
of it, is deeply interested in having Il free
and untrammelcd outlet for freight and
travel to the Sonth and West from Rut.
land and feeling that any remedy for
The evil complained Of, in order TO be eff
fectual, must be prompt and speedy, |
have felt it my duty to cal you looether
on this OCCASION that you may take into
consideration the whole ma ter, and adopt
such measur il relation thereto rs you
shall deem right and proper.
1t is understood that the excuse tor
breaking the railroad connection before
mentioned, is founded on coMplunt OF
the Troy & Boston Company against :he
proprietors mot the lessees) of the Ben
nngton & Rutland Railroad, and that
the officers of the company publicly de-
clare that as long as the road is owned
by the present proprietors no connections
shalt be made with it. Whether this
complaint is well or ill founded, does not
seem worth our while to enquire, for
whatever may be its character, 1t is diff
calt to conceive how it can form any JUS
t;fi alton for inhicting indiscriminate, and
perhaps irreparabIe, injury on an innocent
public.
1t is understood that the Rensselaer, &
Saratoga Company, cwnlng the two rival
roads from Rutland, desire TO purchase
the Bennington & Rutland Railroad
Such purchase would give them ii mono
poly of all the business and Travelled pass
ing through that place to AMI from the
South and West, and enable them to i'm.
pose such terms upon 1t rs they might
choo,e. 1t is alleged that the present
soppaee of the road is prompted and sus-
tanel by Il desire to iorcc IA sale Of it to
that company. Whether it would be for
the interest OF the State to have all the
avenues of business and trevcl in the
hands of one corporation, and that "A for
eign one, may well he questioned. Since
the before mentioned contract in February,
1868, by which the Bennington & Rut.
land road ceased to be rival road to the
Rensselaer, & Saratoga road, it appears
that the charges tor freight on that road
between Rutland and Troy have been
largely increased-the increase on som
portion Of i; exceeding ninety per ceet.-
thus imposing an additional burden upon
all the business of the State, which passe,