The Portland daily press., 1872-02-08
Passage Of the Maine Central Railroad
d Bill in the Senate.
UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER.

The debate in the Senate on Tuesday, pend
ing the passage of the Maine Central loan bill
by vote of two to one, ought to convince the
most skeptical that the ascendency gained by
the great corporation over the Legislature is
complete. The friends of the road refuse to
have the smallest obstacle placed in its path;
they will not even allow it to be annoyed by an
order of inquiry, as the readers of the House
proceedings have observed; they will not have
its absolute sovereignty hampered by single
condition or the shadow of limitation AT the
beginning of the Senate debate of Tuesday Mr.
May of Kennebec offered the following amend.
ment which, to the mere natural man, seems
rather reasonable: 81
Add after the word bonds, provided that
nothing in this act shall be construed in any
way as legalizing the leasing of the several
roads now being operated under the name and
style OF the Maine Central Railroad Company,
nor affecting in any way any suits now pending
in court, or allowing authorizing the said
bonds to be convertible into stock of the same
company.
The meaning of this will be the more apparent
five remember that the loan bill is in the follow
ing terms: T
The Maine Central Railroad Company is
hereby authorized to issue its bonds for the pur-
pose of providing means for putting said road
and its equipments, and the roads noao leased
to and operated by it, in efficient condition, and
for the payment of the bonded debts and liabil-
tiles of said company and of the corporations
hereinafter named that unite in the mortgage.
And said Maine Central Railroad Company, and
such of the following corporations rhose roads
are noto leased to and operated by it as shall de-
eide to do So viz: the Portland and Kennebec
Railroad Company, the Somerset and Kennebec
Railroad Company, the Leeds and Pennington
Railroad Company, and the Androscoggin
Railroad Company, are hereby authorized to
unite in mortgage of their railroads, franch-
ises and other property to secure the payment
of said bonds.
Mr.. May, who afterwards failed to vote
against the bill, mildly advocated his amend
ment-roaring so gently as to show that he
dwelt directly in the shadow of the throne. Mr.
Mcclellan, the Democratic Senator from Waldo
opposed the amendment There was no wrong
in the bill,-why amend it. AT this point, Mr..
Foster left the chair to make an elaborate
speech in favor of the bill and against amend
ing it. Mr.. Morris of this city opposed the
bill as follows:
With no,feeling of hostility to the Maine
Central Railroad, it is with deep regret that
feel called upon to oppose a measure which
they regard as of such vital Importance; and
yet do feel that l should be false to myself,
to the position occupy and to the best inter-
ests of our State, if L did not under the cir
cumstances existing at the present time op-
pose the contamination of this gigantic scheme
The legality of the consolidation which these
roads have virtually effected, / shall not at
tempt to discuss, nor am 1 disposed to call
them to an account at this time for the very
Objectionable manner in which this has been
accomplished; it is sufficient for my present
purpose to take the subject just as find it,
just as it presents itself to us to-day. My OBJ
ject is to secure safety for the future rather
than to punish for the past. y
Five roads have virtually consolidated; it is
avery prevalent feeling on the part of the peo-
pie that this has been done without the sane
ton of law while the managers of these roads,
embracing some of the highest business and
legal talent in the country, confidently claim
that it is in strict conformity to law We must
bear i'm mind that the action we are asked to
take in this matter is side issue; it is simply
the endorsement, the consummation, the plac-
ing the cap stone of the greatest monopoly
that it is possible to form In our State; it is
presented to us as a simple matter of conven-
fence to certain parties, but it is nevertheless
consolidation, pure and unadulterated. In the |
discussion of this question 1 shall briefly touch |
upon three simple points: First, that this ques-
ton is not properly before US. The corpora
ton now known as the Maine Central Railroad |
has no right to appear here as petitioners in |
such a case as this, nor have we any right to
entertain a petition of this character coming
from them, and if either from courtesy or Gus.
tom, such petition was received and referred,
the action of the committee should have been
q prompt and decided leave to withdraw: and |
the reason which l assign for this statement
is, that the corporations which are said to have |
been consolidated, and are now known as the
Maine Central Railroad, have never been able
to substantate their legal existence as such a |
corporation They first asked permission from |
the legislature to CONSOLIDATED failing in this they
proceeded to do so without such authority. Ac- |
ton has been brought in the name of the State
by Its legal officers to test this question; if we
ADOPT TINS report we forestall the action of the
courts. We take this matter from them, and
we grant 70 these corporations all that they
have ever asked in their widest dreams of
power.
My second point is the danger which win at
tend such action. The first presentation of a
subject of this kind excites feeling of alarm
but as the matter is discussed and men become
familiar with it, this in measure passes away.
and yet the danger not only continues to exist
as at first but is all the greater from this very
feeling OF security. We may regard the doings
of some of the railroad magnates of the present
day as simply ridiculous; we have heard SO
much of Tom Scott, Jim Fisk, Gould and 9TH
ers that it may seem to us like the repetition
of a stale joke, but these men are by no means
to be regarded as fictltious characters, or per-
sons of no influence. They reality, a
mighty power, and have done more to democrat
ize society at large and courts and legislatures
IN particular, than any other influence ever ex-
erted in our country, if we except that exerted
by human slavery. But it may be asked, are
we TO compare the managers of this corpora
tlon with such men as l have named? / can
only answer on general principles, that the love
OF power IS very strong, and the Transforming
lnnuence which it exerts is wonderful Histo-
ry and our own experience and observation,
Ieaches US mat what we call human nature is
much the same in all ages and in every cline
and we can hardly expect that it would be
greatly modified by the changes incident to n
few degrees of latitude. The action of the
show us the Importance of carefully
watching against the encroachments of such n
power; they seem to have closed their ewes to
the well known and very general sentiment of
the people of this State, upon this subject, to