The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1867-03-12

had been encouraged BY lowe rates q
transportation Eeg udgbbofhooa
can Tell y me business ulieh might
have BAD. bat ~ ths ezhorb.tant rates
under which 40 nev business can start
The consequence Is car waterpriuieges
are unemployed. tie ts.nbey r3is upon
our hills and tie ureesoi The sailey
are uudeyoloped Equally dsscourag.
iug 10 every business which depends
upon the patronage q The travelling
public. has been TEE Inconvenience aud
delay oocasioued lly theseareity Of trains
and the uncertainty q connection. The
business q SUMMER boarding, which u
late years has become a source II con-
siderable income to Vermont, has IN our
locality contended with the disadvantage
Of depending upon the worst railroad
ID the State. Ifsuch was our condition
when in the hands If the Troy a Bos-
ton company, we can imagine what our
condition viii be when our line becomes
the least important branch Of coIpor-
alton with a network Of roads When
we think Of the rates we have paid while
the read was partly supported by
through passengers and freight, it is not
pleasant to contemplate the time when
our line viii be run by foreign corpo-
ration solely for its local business.
If sale TO the Rensselaer, & Saratoga
company would place us IN a condition
SO much worse thar ever before, con
nection with the Harlem road would
place US in a condition as much better.
Our road would then form the central
link Of line over which would pass the
business Of two great cities and large
sections on either side. Without the
necessity Of changing cars or waiting
for connections, we should be fifty miles
nearer New York. As place Of sum
mer residence for the people of New
York, our section would then be the
most desirable part Of the State. A new
channel would be opened for our busi-
ness. Our freight could then strike the
river at Hudson, point in many re-
spects more desirable than Troy. Hud
son is below the low water, which is of
ten source Of delay and expense. At
Hudson the river opens much earlier
and closes much later in the year But
probably with the whne, our business
men would be saved the expense Of un-
loading and loadingeithera Troy or Hud
son: for railroad which completes with
river transportation always stands rea-
dyto contract with business men to carry
their freight through the year at rate
not higher than the average between the
low rates of water transportation in the
summer and the high rates of railroad
transportation in the winter, when the
river is closed and the road without
competition. Nearly all our merchants
have in past years bought almost their
entire stock Of goods in New York, find
ing that they could freight them from
that point and do better than to buy in
Troy If that was the case under the
past system Of connections, the advant-
age OF going to New York viii be still
greater when we have a direct line to
that city. But with the new line we
shall have the choice of going either to
Troy, Hudson or New York. As soon
as the Harlem connection is a certain
ty, the Troy 4 Boston trains will be at
the State line ready TO take any bust
ness they can get. II we carry out the
Harlem project we shall have two roads;
If we do not, we are not certain of one
road in fact are almost certain to have
no road.
Thus different will be the results of the
two projects. If we make the Harlem
connection, we come into the enjoyment
Of facilities such as we have never known;
if we pass into the hands of the Rensel-
laer 4 Saratoga company, our last state
viii be worse than the first And it will
be not the least aggrayating Grcum-
stance connecting with our misfortune
that we are compelled, after having
caught glimpse of the promised land,
to fall back to die in the greedy clutches
of New York corporation.
! If such are the comparative results OF
the two plans, we certainly can better
afford to pay something for one,
than to get the other for nothing But
the truth is, if We do not pay our pro-
portion for the benefits Of the Harlem
connection, we at once commence to
pay out the same sum for no adj
vantage at all. The amount paid by
the people Of this valley for the trans
I portation Of passengers and freight,
above the ordinary charges, during the
time Of the Troy a Boston lease, would
more than build our proportion Of the
road. Now the amount we are asked
to contribute towards the building Of
I the Harlem extension, we are certain
some time to pay. II we DO not pay it
to aid in building the Harlem connec-
/ ton, We must pay il in exhorbitant rates
/ to the Rensselaer, a Saratoga company
+ The only question is whether we shall
voluntarily pay it for a great public
work Of our own, Or pay It on compul-