The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1867-10-01

AS to the charge so freely bruited that the |
whole matter of digging through the Hill on
Congress st. is a mele piece of jobbery pushed |
through for private profit, and the advantage |
it is to be to private individuals, it NAV be
once for all offset with the emphatic deeiara-
ton that the enterprise win not benefit and
is not intended to benefit private individuals
without full gain to the city; and with single |
illustration in point hall dismiss 1t from
further consideration. The Messrs Curtis,
shipbulders, have it will be remembered, in
spite of the disadvantages resulting from the
comparative inaccessibility Of their yard, build
ed vessels for two or three successive years,
their total constructions having been four
steamers and five sailing craft together with
repairs to many vessels of all sizes. During
the first year, the city expended 500 upon the
northwest side OF Congress st. That year the
Messrs. Curtis paid $500, into the city treas
ury in taxes! Yet that very same year the
additional expenses entailed upon them by the
want OF proper access to their yard were not
less than $500! Can the city of Portland ex-
pect men to do business within her borders up
ON such terms ss these? Is this mere private
speculation and private profit, with the re-
turns to the city, from property which before
had paid no taxes at all, two-hundred per cent
over all OUTLAWS of the city! 7l
1t is urged, the cut on Congress street in
wolves the necessity of the haying off of the
whole surface of the Hill on the northeast
slope, to depth proportionally equal to that
Of the cut itself To begin with, this is not the
fact The land on either side of the cut can be
sioped off laterally, in six or eight rods, to a
declivity so gradual as in no respect to impair
the valne of the property or its availability
But grant that the surface of the Hill be re-
guired in the course OF time to be removed
Every cubic yard of the material is wanted,
will be taken away without dollars expense
to the owners, will be paid for; its removal
will leave the land more valuable than before,
will drain The swamp on the southeast of Con-
gress street, and will, also, if the dirt is used
for the purpose add many acres to the pierage,
wharfage, and storage room of the city, and
with clear profit to all concerned.
But why not go down the Hill on a ramp?
For the same reason that we did not go up the
Hill this side, on ramp For the same rea-
son that railroads are driven through noun
tains rather than around them, and through
the notches and passes of mountain chains
rather than by circutous detours around their
extended bastions-to save time and distance.
When route is to be travelled by thousands
of feet for indefinite periods of time, the civil
ization of to-day demands that the route be
short, easy and cheap if possible, but short, di-
rect, at all hazards. This at least within limits
of reason. Secondly, the material that ramp
yvnu1d M 50 over 10 ahova ctatod oil ,,aadad
for improvement below 1t can be got from the
Hill more cheaply and expeditiously than from
any other point, and is an incumbrance and
obstruction where it is, i. e., will prove to be
such when suitable passageways require to be
constructed.
Now what is most extraordinary in all this
matter is, that certain holders of land upon
the Hill are opposed to opening a direct and
suitably graded roadway to the shore, such as
has been proposed and already commenced.
Do they not perceive that without such a road
way the shore property must remain, as it al
ways has been, comparatively valueless, and
that their own property will continue to SYM
pathize in the deprecated valuation Can they
not understand why the agents and local fac
tors of the Grand Trunk Railway oppose
vi OOHSTeSS SCTecE, from TIE
clear perception that only on the northeast
front, where no ice obstructs in winter and
no bridges at any season, and where adequate
depth of water can be found at all stages
of tide, can the freight-station of any great
railroad destined to compete with the Grand
Trunk, be located so as to make COM
petition ON equal terms possible Surely it is
strange that these property-holders can look
upon this plan Of a roadway as a scheme to
compel them to sell their dirt, when it really
enables and helps them to turn that dirt into
money, and by the improvements resulting
from its use to augment the value of their land
MANIFOLD. We ask these parties to reconsider
the grounds of their objections, feeling assured
that with their really liberal dispositions and
views, they will, upon such reconsideration, no
longer obstruct needed public improvement,
and continue to do detfiment to their own pri-
waite interests. WARD SIX.