The Portland daily press., 1870-02-04
important Public improvements.

TO the Editors Of The Press:
Amou. the great improvements OF which
Portland is capable, the extension of CONNER
cial street around the city on level with the
wharves has been by all intelligent men es-
teemed the greatest of all, for by means of a
broad street around the city, every wharf,
dock, store house and piling place. becomes
available in connection with railroads for bust
ness purposes. In this way or by this means
railroad companies can get rid of the vast ex-
pense and great Inconvenience of large freight
houses.
Nothing in the way of improvement can add
so much to the value of railroads terminating
in Portland, as facility of access to all the
wharves and storehouses in use by private
parties and corporators, in the transaction OF
business. That portion of Commercial street
between the depot of the Grand -runK railway
at the east, and the depot OF ihe l. o. L
railroad at the West is now inaue use y. "
sucb an extant nv the railroad companies as to
add most materially to their railroad facilities:
II ia 5iffscult to see how the large business OF
tho Grand Trunk road could be carried on
without the aid OF C9mmerciai street. ana IL
Goods in Portland are SO superior to those of
Other cities as to begin to tell in our favor.
we could not help noticing at Montreal in
October last the annoyances, loss of time, and
expense of drayage in loading their steamers
with produce Tor Europe coming by rail con-
pared with what is witnessed in hauling the
same kind of produce at Portland, and the
same experience at Boston and New York is
calling LOT facilities for handling produce in
both cities similar to what now exist to some
extent in Portland.
What the neces sites of business demand at
every shipping port is, access by rail to pri
vate storehouses and private docks, rather
than great public storehOuses in the hands oil
corporations or the government
Sagacous exporters OF produce, and all par
ties interested in the export trade in the West
ern cities, Oswego, Buffalo, Chicago, Milwau-
kie, &C., desire their own stOrehouses on tide,
along which sea-going vessels and ocean steam
ers can load and in which storehouses they
can deposit merchandise as received, so that
flour, " heat or other articles designed for ship
ment can lay in store cheaply till wanted for
export or for home consumption condition
of things impossible to reach at New York or
Boston without great outlay expense; where
as Portland has unoccupied harbor to-day
sufficient to carry ON the export tIade of the
whole country in breadstutfs and provisions
and we could easily attract to our harbor addi-
tional amounts of produce for export withou.
any increase of railroad facilities, if we would
by marginal street around the city on the
level of the wharves, stimulate private enter
prise into the construction of docks, wharves
and warehouses.
On the completion of line of railway from
Osweoo to Portland, we could double at once
our imports and exports of breadstuffs, and
the city of Chicago offers to place on the
through line from Chicago to Portland suff-
Gent quantity of produce annually to pay $15,-
600, 900 in freight.
New York is at present the outlet OF the
produce trade of Chicago, but the market OF
Chicago is only temporarily at New York; her
real markets are New England and Europe
Last year Chicago exported $1,000, 600 bushels
of grain, and it cost "a Ia cents per bushel to
transport and market it at New York city,
three cents per bushel being consumed by ex-
penses in New York alone
What the Western farmer and Chicago mer-
chant want is an uninterrupted line OF rail-
way to the sea, cheap storage at the ocean ter
minus, and small expense in handling such
produce as is designed for export. Chicago
will never rest satisfied till this result is reach
ed. Two-thirds of the grain and -four export
ed from Chicago now go forward by railway,
and if an additional outlet shall be provided
from Chicago to the sea, at Portland, the in
creased expectation annually from Chicago
will take rail in preference to any other route,
so that Dy the construction of the Portland,
Rutland, Oswego & Chicago Railroad, Port
land can add largely to her export trade as
compared with other shipping ports.