The Portland daily press., 1872-02-26
The Lesson of Massachusetts.
The Uncertainty Of Securing Neac Routes to the
West By uoting Bonds. Past Experience not
quite Satisfactory

The Uncertainty Of Securing Neac Routes to the
Vest by uoting Bonds. Past Experience not
quite Satisfactory.
Boston, Feb. ODD, 1872.
Mr.. EDITOR: Being an old resident of Port
land and identified with it by many associa-
tons, am an interested observer of matters
in your City. / notice the agitation OF the
railroad question, and because l think your
course on that question right and for the gooa
of your citizens, cannot refrain from word
on the absorbing question 1t seems you nave
now a railroad ring that thinks your city should
embark in the enterprise of building a ROAD
through the mountain passes of neIghboring
State in quest of new Western connection
which shall open the fountains of wealth and
prosperity to your beautiful City. First word
of our experience. The railroad Ring has sue
cessfully raided even our Statei The same ar
guments were used-it was a new western con-
nection by the Boston, Hartford & Erie road,
which was to pour into our lap the floods of the
wealth of the great West The Legislature
was approached Bank men, business men,
lobby men, railroad officials and statIstcians
were on hand to prove by figures that would
not lie that the great chance was at hand, and
only little courage and State aid were needed
to grasp the prize. In brief the State aid was
/ granted. At the next session of the Legisla-
ture, the same parties, reinforced with new re-
cruits again knock at the doors of the Treasury
of the State for another installment of aid.
This time they want more State bonds and
also funds to buy flats to erect depot buildings
| and suitable accommodations for the great
business sure to come from this Great
! Western duenue now certain to be opened The
aid was granted and the papers and everybody
else talked up and actually believed in the val
ue of the securities of our Boston, Hartford
and Erie road. Well to be BRIEF the bubble las
| all bubbles are sure to do burst. The road has
gone into chancercy and money by the mil
lions has been lost. We have not yet found the
advantages of this new new connection with the
west But we yearly find the taxes increasing.
I suppose your readers have also heard of our
Hoosac Tunnel enterprise. By digging through
the Hoosac mountain, we were to find a aoestern
connection which surely would make us the
greatest commonwealth In all this country. 1t
was the same old story. A little aid to start,
! just to encourage the scheme and more aid to
save what had been already invested. And so
for the last half dozen years. we have been peg
! cling away in the bowels of the mountain and
appropriation after appropriation has gone af-
ter the previous ones, and still we are yet in the
bowels of the mountain and you can't be tick
eted to the west this way yet unless you are
willing to go part of the way by stage. 1t is
bad enough and foolish enough for State to
| go into such magnificent enterprises in pursuit
of that fabulous western bqsipess-but for a city
already fairly in debt,au which has given $780,,
! 900 of the property of its citizens to the same
enterprise, it seems foolhardy in the extreme.
You need protection from ring which would
commit the destinies of poor city to project
| 40 delusiYe.