Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1869-01-07

There are 10 phs steal difficulties in the way
net easily oveIcome, so that the vast tide of
travel from the Northeast to the South might
pass by locomotive power near TO and arouad
Ralumore, IS well as other great cities on the
route. The danger Of local obstruction in .
great eify o. h' TO be avoided, especially when
acipai experience shows it to be constantly i'm.
minent. =
A President of the United States. to the last
ing dteGroce OF TIE nstiGp, was compelled, by
an organized plot of assassir alton, to sstesl
| through Baltimore at night Ia disguise Sol
! diers duly summoned 10 the defense of the capt.
tai were murdered in the streets of Baltimore.
For weeks the railroads in and nesr Baltimore
/ Were the possession of armed force in
hostility TO the United States, and the rolling
stock and property of the only railroad 10
\ Washington Were in the use of the public enc
| my. AT the same time their use was denied 10
| the q oyernment of the United States. Re-
Gently an armed mob in the streets of Balti.
| more took possession of a train of cars and IN.
| suited passengers for political opinions. None
OF these ou'rages could have occurred If there
| were free competing railroad lines through and
| around Baltimore.
But the chief Inconvenience ofthe preseutsys-
TEN falls upon the transit TO ard from the West.
| A passenger 10 the West has u o choice of route
| in that direction. He must go eastwardly thirty
miles toward Baltimore, and II be wishes then
! - 20 West b. must change cars and take sucn
! seats a are unoccupied from B,l'imJre. lfhe
| CHOOSES some other route To tue W-st, h. must
| pursue BIS journey eastwarJly 10 Baltimore,
| ana then commence a new Journey. Tue lt-
more and Ohio railroad Will not connect yi:h
the only ROAD from Baltimore TO the North. Ii
VIII not trans Ter baggage or sell tickets over or
| TO that route. The time tables are are arranged
70 create deIay in Baltimore: rougl omnibus
or carriage ride across the city mile, with a
scramble for baggage at either nd OF the transit,
are unreasonable, inConvo aieut, and oxpensiye,
| but they must he endured. The tracks of tue
two Iosds aCt ually meet and cor meet but the
| transfer IL not made At the point OF cOnIec-
| ton. and there can be reason for this
except the hostility of rival comprehensive
| desire to force the western travel over the
main line of the Baltimore and OHIO rail-.
road, and the fact that passel gers are utterly
helpless TO correct the evil. Tens of thou
sands of passengers have passed through this
experience; many ladies and sick persons
have suffered severely. In cold and heat. by
day and by light, this antIquated system Of
transfer goes OIL. 1t is estlmated that the delay
and expense OF this transit through Il fillmore
has already exceeded the cost of nav line
| from Baltimore to Washington. II this iucou.
venience could fall upon the citizens of Mary
land it would not have been endured, for they
could correct it; but all the passengers COM
PEELED TO undergo tb is transit travelling be-
yond the limits of Maryland, and thus have no
remedy unless Congress can give them one 1t
has beer complained of here and everywhere
but the on y reply ~ that it IS Lot the policy of
the Baltimore and Ohio railroad TO ma ke this
connection. Recently, II is SAID, efforts have
been made 10 recon Gle the petty rivalries and
Ieaiouses of these roads but 1t is not done, and
Will not be done until competition compeis
them 10 regard the convenience and com fort of
their passengers. Even when the transit IS
MADE Al Baltimore the passenger is further
from his place of destination than when he
started from " hington, aud yet this is the
only MODE by which a ciiZ.n can travel be.
between Washington and the Northwest except
by the main line OF the Baltimore and Ohio
railroad, which does not and cannot make mis-
connections.
The same in convenience occurs in the trans
portation of supplies to Washington. Its citi-
zens depend mainly on the West tor many es-
sentIal articles. These can only be transported
by one route, and therefore from many If not
all the cities Of the West aud Northwest the
cost of trans portatIon is greater to Washington
than TO New lork, Philadelphia or Baltimore
while Washington is nearer the comm on source
of supply than either of these cities. This want
of competition IN transportation is an essential
el'men I OF the high cost Of living in Washing
ton. and contributes to the demand so often
m ade and granted OF increased salaries
The cost of travel and transportation 10
Washington is greater than the same dis
lance ON other roads. The charge Is Sl.5O
tor forty miles, or nearly four cents a mile
This is greater per mile than the charge on the
RAIN lns-a far more expensive road; but the
main line competes with rival lines, while the
Washington branch does not. The tax levied
by Maryland on the Baltimore and Ohio rail-
road is mainly LEVIED upon the branch. 1t is
about S250,Ot0 per annum for thirty miles. or
Sc,OU mils-a higher tax than the average
gross receipts OF the railroads of the United
States A similar tax levied on the three
thousand four hundred miles OF railroad in
Ohio would yield 27,n0O,OO0, or several times
the aggrt gate revenue of that state. The slate
ments already given show that mileage Of
two cents, or eighty cents between Baltimore
and Washington, would on the present travel
yield handsome profit, while 10 would largely
increase The travel and traffic on the ROAD: bnt
this can scarcely lie hoped for when nearly
half OF The net receipts must be PAID to the State
OF Mary land as taxes.
The rates for transportation are also much
higher than Oh other railroads, and these rates
are superadded TO the reasonable through rates
OF he Baltimore and Ohio raIir DAD.
The Senator proceeded TO quote from the
statements made in a report recently adopted
by public meeting of citizens OF WASHINGTON,
regard TO charges for freight. and said
the statements here made, if accurate, demand
Al once repeal of the several acts authori zing
the Baltimore and Ohio railroad to enter the
District of Columbia. Their right TO do so is
based upon the act approved March =, 1851.
This act limits them 'sto the same rights, COM
pensation, De efts, and imm unities as are pre-
scribed in their said charter Since the pass.
age OF this act their charter has been repeated
ly altered by the Legislature of Maryland and
the rates of charges greatly enlarged but these
changes cannot increase the ra;es in the Dis.
trict OF Columbia without the consent OF Con-
gress. And yet, wi,heut such consent, the in
creased rates allowed by Maryland have been
extended To Washington.
Full charges for freight were exaced from
the United States without abatement during
the var, while all other roads did lower their
rates TO the Cover ment, and on United States
troops the charges was one dollar TO one dollar
and ten cents.
At the very time the United Staes was de-
Tending Maryla from invasion by the rebels
she charged the United States a tax OF thirty
cents on each soldier Who travelled over this
road 10 her protection. The amount thus COL
lected from the Unitsd States far exceeded the
entire cost of building and running a new road
to Baltimore.
Ii Is thus apparent that the railroad transit to
Washington is neither direct, conve uient, mol
cheap, and that from the nature of the existing
monopoly no remedy can be- expected from the
State of Maryland. That State commands
every avenue Of approach to Washington. 1t
coded TO the United States this District as q ma.
tional capital. Tais fact at common law i'm
plies reasonable right of way over her
naming territory to the coded territory. This
Is not granted. She obstructs free communica-
ton between the capital and the great body of
the people. The inevitable tendency Of this
policy is to unsettle the continuance OF the
capital at this place. 1t is now far from the
center of population, but It's fine location the
Potomac, central bet ween the North and Sou III,
the historical associations connecting il with
General Washington, and the great expendi.
ture incurred for pubic buildings, will secure
the permanence OF this location if direct, con.
to 1t from all parts Of tie country. One chief
reason urged tor this Location was its easy ac-
cess to the West by the old route OF the Poto.
mac and Monongahela and Ohio rivers. This
Is the great national route to tie West-the
route Of t,e Indian trails-of the pioneers of
Ohio and Kentucky, of Washington as q sur
yeyor and soldier, and apparent ON the map
the nearest and easiest connection between the
waters OF the Atlantic and the waters Of the
Upper Mississippi basin.
II Is the route designated by MIR. Calhoun in
his report as Secretary OF War in 1894 as the