West-Jersey pioneer., 1867-11-01
Railroad Meeting in Bridgeton.

VIZ Aun VI VcIoueI last We gave a
report Of the proceedings Of Railroad
meeting, held in this city on the Satur-
day previous. Several interesting speech
es were make on that occasion. and as
there continues to be an increased interest
manifested in the projected road, we give
this week the speeches in full. The en-
terprise is in the hands Of men who will
make itgo if there is any go in it, and we
would urge upon our readers who are in
terested in this matter, the Importance OF
taking hold and doing all they can. to-
wards the completion of this road, which
will add immensely to the wealth of this
section Of the state.
When there are SO many to be bene.
fitted by road of this kind, enhancing
the value of their property, and affording
new and cheap facilities for travel and
transportation of produce and merchan.
disc, it is not reasonable that all the work
should be left for few energetic men to
accomplish.
If our citizens and the farmers and
property owners of this section will do
their duty in subscribing for stock, the
road will be completed in short time. =
Some of the citizens of Smyrna, Del,
have already aroused to the importance Of
having the road continued from Vine
land to Stoe Creek, opposite Bombay
Hook, distance of about % miles. and
thence connect with the Smyrna and
Delaware Bay road, and complete the
link Of a short, cheap route between the
North and the South. At public meet
ing in Smyrna, week or two since, D.J.
Cummings, Esq, made some interesting
statements concerning the enterprise,
showing conclusively the vast importan ce
it, and giving an amount of facts and
figures sufficient to convince the most
skeptical 'ta at'ai
Below We give the speeches made at
the Railroad Meeting in Bridgeton, on
the 2Sth of September last. @
Mr.. LANDIs said d a4 s
We have appeared before you to-day, at the
invitation of some of the citizens of Brdpeton
and vicinity, and though we are not very strong
in numbers, have been very much encourag ged
upon that point by just hearing the remark of
a gentleman present, that the first meeting of
the West Jersey Railroad Co. was held in this
place, and that there we're only some fiye or
six persons then present. As far as our pur-
poses are concerned, the number here will do
as we'll as If we had thousand In starting
our company. we have not proceeded upon the
strength merely of any popular impulse but
have endeavored by simple appeal to the good
sense of the people themselves, to interest them
in the project, and to induce them to aid us in
making 1t success We were determined from
the start to succeed in our undertaking. let our
progress be rapid or slow. At the first m eet-
ing held 10 Vineland, we determined that we
would build the railroad. rapidly if possible !;
but II not, we would stick to it, even if it had
to De built by inches. When you come to con-
slider the advantages of a Railway to a country,
these advantages are placed beyond the shadow
of doubt. The benefit of such improvements
have become an axiom and in no case is it bet
ter illustrated than in our own experience. |
remember very we'll that when the West Jer-
sey snd the Millville and Glassboro' roads were
first finished there was perfect dearth of en-
terprise and industry in the vicinity of Vine
I,Qn hat h1
two and three and four dollars an acre, which
is now worth, fifty and hundred dollars, and
even more There is population now in the
section of country through which these rail-
roads run, of probably from fifteen to twenty
thousand people more than then existed The
property in the vicinity of Millville and around
Vineland was considered 80 poor as to be
scarcely worth improving, because there were
no means of developing it and sending the pro-
duce to market. And so remarkable is the
change that took place on the completion of he
Millville and Glassboro' Road, that am mod
crate in my calculation when say that upon
the Vlneland tract alone, there have been from
six to eight million dollars spent in the way of
making improvements which ore now adding to
the taxable value of property and the wealth of
the entire State. The population of Vineland
numbers now some ten thousand, population
which would never have been there had it not
been for the completion of the Mllyille and
Glassboro' road. When that road was built il
was considered that there was scarcely pros
pect of its paying. In fact it was debated
whether the cars should be run by horse or
steam power and it was argued that the road
could not pay simply because the travel was
all covered by two lines of stages between Mill
vile and Philadelphia. At the present time,
the trade of the Vineland station alone amounts
to q hundred thousand dollars year When
you travel in these cars you will see that the
cars are SO full that there is scarcely standing
room, and that the Company has been barely
enabled to keep up with the development of
trade and business since the completion of the
road. 1t may be, gentlemen, that this great in.
crease is owing. partially, to the fact of Vine
land being founded there. but Milvlle Fisler-
vile, and the whole region of country around
has increased in like proportion, and am un
der the impression that when you come to con
slider the taxable value of property when the
West Jersey road was first built, and compare
it with the present, you will find it now
amounts to three times as much as it did q
year before the road was finished.
In fact, the only reason why this section of
New Jersey has not become the garden of the
Uulteu DtAteSs Is because IL mas NOT had Rail-
way facilities Owing to a combination of cir
cumstances, there were but few men to start
such improvements until they became neces-
sity by the progress of the age and the ncrea Sc
of the popualtion. The soil of this section OF
the State is not to be surpassed in any portion
of the United States for the production Of those
very articles that we desire to produce. Our
own citizens understand the advantages of th cir
own country the least. The reason may. in
part be, because they are accustomed to hear
others abuse our 'ssands" and depreciate the
value Of our property, when, if you come to
statistics you will find that in the production
of grain and wheat and grass and such like, we
surpass even those states which regard US with
such scornful eyes. merely mention these
things to show you that we have basis for
future progress. You will scarcely find a dis
trict of country all over the continent that will
compare in productiveness with Cumberland
County. You may 60 West from Cleveland to
Council Bluffs, and you will not see better
crops than you will find here. A man ought to
travel west to appreciate this country He
ought to 90 to the El Dorado, the golden region
of agriculture as it is fondly termed and he