The Portland daily press., 1872-06-10
The Flanking Of Boston.

The following extract from the Boston Ad-
vertiser shows that Boston begins to understand
the importance of the completion of the Port
land aud Ogdensburg Railroad upon the inter
ests of that city. Win the people of Portland
be more slow to appreciate the vast Importance
of this enterprise than their Boston neighbors?
Not long since we gave some information in
regard to the efforts being put forth by New
York to take the trade of northern Vermont and
Canada out of the hands of Boston, by the con-
struetl0n of a line OF railway from New York to-
Rutland. This line will be $50 miles long and
under one management, and although the dis
tance is greater from Rutland to New York
than tits from Rutland to Boston, the gentle
men engaged in the enterprise are confident
that they can take the trade from our mer-
chants from the fact that the lines from Bos-
ton to northern Vermont are under different
management. No argument is needed to show
that long lines of railway under one manage
ment can do business at less expense than
short lines; it is a well-established fact The
line will be opened for traffic this fall and then
the butterOf st. Adams, the lumber of the OF
tawa valley will go to New York, and by and
by, when the Canada Central road is complet-
ed to Georgian Bay, the grain trade of the West
is to come downthe Ottawa valley to Montreal,
to Essex junction, and then, giving Boston the
go-by, will seek an outlet at New York -
While the railway managers and merchants
of New York are executing this flank move
ment on Boston, our neighbors of Portland
are pushing on their enterprise to grasp the
trade of northern Vermont and Canada and
to secure the grain trade of the West Before
the construction of the railroads leading north
from Boston, the trade of northern New
Hampshire, and of Vermont east of the Green
Mountains was almost wholly in the hands of
Portland and the merchants of that city seem
to be determined to regain it. The Portland
and Ogdensburg line is already completed to
Conway; the Vermont division is nearly all
graded the New Hampshire division is to be
pushed to, completion, and surveys are being
made for the extension Of the line from Og-
densgburg to Swanton in Vermont. That this
line will be completed at an early day from
Portland to Swanton cannot be doubted 1t
will be under one management, and although
its grades going west will be higher than on
the line running through Lowell and Concord,
the grades going east will be quite as favorable
as on the lines of the Merrimack valley. d.
Cheap transportation is the great question of
the future. 1t is the question which is to de-
termine the growth Of cities and the progress of
country highways, towns and villages were on
the hills now they are in the valleys. Many
OF the once promising towns and villages of
New England are dilapidated and decayed
places now, because the railroad has passed by
them through a valley or ravine. The good
harbor, the short line (. of railway, the low
grades, the one management, are elements of
the question: Portland has line from the At
lantic to the West, shorter than that from Bos-
ton; she has good barbor; her line of railway
will be under one management, the grades in
one direction will be as favorable as those on
the lines leading from Boston. That she will
be able to take fair share of the trade of
Northern Vermont, New Hampshire and Cana
da, canIiot be doubted. A'eAd n42'.A3 si1r9L -et