The Portland daily press., 1872-07-09
Hon. f. 0. ]. Smith i'm favor of Ogdens-
hurU

Leastways, it seems so if his remarks on
Saturday night have been correctly reported.
His extravaganza in relation to the snow
heaps in the Notch is a stroke of rare humor.
Having heard objections of the most ridicu-
lous character, one after another as the old
one has been exploded, he has thought to put
their authors to shame by setting up one SO
absurd that he knew everybody would see the
point. He knew that the Vermont farmers
for more than fifty years were in the habit of
coming through the Notch to Portland in the
winter, finding smaller distractions from.
snow in the Notch than in many other places.
and that this fact was well understood in
Portland.
He says in effect that Boston is seeking to
make province of Maine, that her railroads
mean to make tunnel of Portland, &c.
Now, suppose for the arguments sake, that
all this is true, that the Eastern Road is the
determined enemy of Portland; that it means
to take the traffic of all Maine through or
around Portland to Boston; that it has deter
mined to wage an exterminating war against
the Portland steamers; that it means to stop
the trade of Vermont, &C., from coming to
Portland by continuing its Conway line
through the mountains to unite with the
Vermont section of the line and take the
business which, if Portland should build the
road would flow to our city; conccde to
the enemies of Ogdensburg that the Grand
Trunk will take -four from the West to Bos-
ton as cheap as it will to Portland, and that
it discriminates against Portland in this way
nay, concede everything that Mr.. Smith
suggests or states or implies, and what then?
Why this-that the argument is oyerwhelm-
ing and irresistible in favor of the Ogdensburg
road-because here is at least one road which
Portland owns and controls, one road which
will be managed and run by her own people
for their own benefit-One road that will not
make tunnel of Portland-One road that
will not attempt to ''dry up' the Portland
boats-One road that will not take freight to
Boston at the same price that it will to Port
land-one road that will not give St. John
freight the priority to Portland freight-0ne
road that will not compel our corn and -four
merchants to bite their fingers for months
while their trade passes off to Boston, because
there is no road which will bring goods to
them in the winter.
Mr.. Smith knows this as well any man, andhe
does not put our merchants down as stark
idiots by really surprising that they will de-
feat the only road that necessarily must be
conducted for their benefit and acccommoda-
tion.' He does not believe the Portland
steamers will join hands with their old I'M
dying enemy for the sake of enabling that
enemy to break up their own line and send
their boats to other routes.
The Ogdensburg road if owned by Portland
will bring freight to Portland for the same
price that it will to Conway, and Boston must
pay the additional freight from Conway to Bos-
ton. So on the other hand. if Boston builds
through the mountains, Portland will be COM
PEELED to pay the same freight that Boston
pays and the additional freight from Conway
to Portland. Give us one road managed for
the accommodation of Portland, and all the
others must in self defence adopt the same
policy.