Litchfield enquirer., 1872-01-25
FREIGHT TARIFFS ON RAlLRoADs. v Libersl s Pe!lSyt tt,e c5ECsy 5rTss 1usiI- 1RuusI-
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views Of a LiscKfIeid county Buss-
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 To THE EDrroR OF THE CoURANT EThe Connecticut Western railroad runs through Q section of country hitherto unfortunate in it's business facilities The Housa- tonic railroad occupies one of the prlnca- pal valleys between the Connecticut and the Hudson. the Naugatuck railroad tne other. The ridgy nature of the country has made the idea of east and west r0ads seem preposterous, and the rallraods re- ferred to, occupying each it's little k1ng- dom, have levied under the name of freight tariffs extortionate and remorseless tolls. Let me illustrate A Hartford manutact- urer ships his wares east, west and soutn suppose in equal anounts-15Uo tons per year. His freight would cost nm Ve- " nearly as follows :- o 500 tons to Boston, at $4 $z,UOO 500 tons to N. Y. (averagel at s $l ,0OO 500 tons to Albany, at % 7 $2,0OO
 Total of yearly freight bills $6,OOO
 A Winsted manufacturer on the Naug- atuck railroad, doing the same business, would becompelled to pay
 500 tons to Boston, at $9.5O $4, 75O 500 tons to New York, at 6.5O $3,250 500 tons to Albany, at $8.5O $4,25O
 Total of yearly freight bills $12,25O
 A freight business of 1,5OO tons year is not heavy business, yet the cost of it, when looked at from Winsted as 8 stand point, is comparatively large. Yet Hart ford, even, is not blessed with remarkably cheap freights The result is precisely what might be expected (we blush to own it, but it is true)-that the population of Winsted-the thriftiest village on the line of this long road, and from which all l hope so much-has increased less than four per cent. per annum during its twen- ty years of Naugatuck railroad facilities. 1 What is true of Winsted is true all through. l The entire manufacturing business of Norfolk isn't half that of single saw-mill at Dutch Point These communities have been depopulated and impoverished by railroad extortions. I have above illus trated the Naugatuck railroad, and be- lieve that in it's charges upon local freights the Housatonic road is even worse. It has seemed as if it had been the policy and interest of these two roads to prevent growth and thrift and prosperity, so that the very desolateness of the region might forbid any attempt, either from within or without, to build new lines that might compete with them.
 The general feeling of oppression and indignation (before which strong men go down, nowadays) arising from this state 1 of affairs finally organized, and built, the Connecticut Western railroad. The feel ing was general, and every town from. the l New York line to Hartford contributed Hartford contributed-not as Q charity, but with an eye to business ; some now, but more by and by. But unless. the new railroad gives us cheaper freights, and so stimulates and awakens business along it's route how shall we realize our hopes What will be the good of it, either to it. self, to Winsted or to Hartford. Can it depend upon present manufacturing ? it is exceedingly small. On increasing pro- ductions of the soil these are decreasing year by year. On its iron mines? mines are sometimes exhausted, and in any case the legislation of the country for the. fu- ture, let us trust, is not to be solely for 1 the ''iron men," On the transportation of coal? the entire coal tonnage of the road west of Collinsville is not 5000 tons a year. There are no factories of any &C., count run by steam on the entire route, and there are few if any more water-pow- CTS in operation than twenty years ago. The man who, at the present cost of coal, swelled by high freights, should start a factory by steam in Winsted, would be as much discredited by the local fnanciers as if he kept pack of fox hounds, an op- era house and Q seraglio he simply could not afford it. There must be growth, an immense growth, along the line of the Connecticut Western, before the road will pay from local business. Growth does not exist here, and will not, unless fostered by cheaper, much cheaper, freights. And freights are what the towns, in making their subscription were promised, and what by and by they will have.
 1 It is understood that the officers of the Connecticut Western railroad are about issuing freight tariff It Is Q fortunate time for it. The road iss new; the enter prising season of the year is just at hand. A liberal tariff would thrill this whole sec tion with enthusiasm, business-wise. The man who adventures into business now is not only the victim of his own distrust. but of his neighbors'. Let the new tariff overturn this. The managers of the road should make the best possible terms with all connecting roads, and give the public the benefit. The road would eventually reap it's reward. The mercantile motto. ''sman profits and large sales'' is good the world over.
 | An impression has gained upon the community that the president of the Con- necticut Western railroad, being vice. president of the Housatonic and Q heavy stockholder in the Naugatuck, is believ- CT in those methods which are to day cursing Litchfield county with steri1ity. sterility in every possible application and sense of the word. Time will.determine and if the management of this road go wrong, time will set it right. T. M.