The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1872-03-19
Competition for Western Trade.


SEBAGo LAKE, March Is, lS72.sss
Now, Mr.. Editor, l ask you in sincerity and
good faith if you don't really think that the
following extract from the New York Shipping
List, is good text, or lays a foundation for
some remarks in favor of the Ogdensburg
Railroad? 1t says:
The theory of New York commercial suprem-
acy, with the metropolis at the mouth of the
Hudson and Buffalo at the western terminus
of the Erie Canal, received its first shock when
the Grand Trunk Railway began to carry bulk
wheat to Portland to ship on the Allan line OF
steamers.
True, the Grand Trunk did give the first
shock to that favorite New York theory, but
the Ogdensburg railway when completed, will
give second shock more severe than the first
This will follow as natural consequence. 1t
can't be otherwise, and the New Workers and
Bostonians know it just as well as we do. And
it shows us too, most conclusively, that neither
the ''Great Metropolis, nor the Hub" does not
hold monopoly of the Western trade by any
proscriptive right, and never can so long as our
lakes, rivers, mountains and the Atlantic ocean
remain in their present position. That great
gorge in the White Mountains was not made
without an object, for He who holds "earth's
central fires" in the hollow of His hand, knew
from the, beginning that not only Vermont
teams, but also locomotives would pass through
it in due time. 1t wasnever intended that any of
earth children should not have free access to
the great highway of nations. Some may feel
inclined to smile at such doctrines, but we can
assure such that there was more design in the
formation of this globe than they dream of in
their philosophy. But let that pass. g FS'4t /.
That the iron-horse will some day pass through
this Notch on his course to the West there can
not be shadow of doubt. Mydear fellow, have
you ever passed up the valley of the Saco,
through this mighty gorge, down to the Connec-
ticut river along the banks of the LamOille,
across Lake Champlain, over the railway to Og-
densburg, stood on the bank of the st. Law
renee and seen the immense amount of the pro-
ducts of the West there waiting to find the best
way to the Atlantic coast? If SO, you have
seen enough to satisfy any rational mind that
the Portland & Ogdensburg Railroad will give
severe shock to that New York theory which
has been so pleasantly fostered in years past. 1t
is well known to all the mercantile classes that
trade will follow those channels of cOmmunica-
ton which furnish the greatest facilities for
rapid transportation at the cheapest rate. All
are in hurry to become rich, and therefore
such channels will always be sought first reg i
Your city has already deep interest in this
railway-one that she cannot afford to throw
away--and her future growth and prosperity
depend, in some good degree on its completion.
If she now refuses to put her shoulder to the
wheel and push this great enterprise along, her
growth must necessarily be slow if she does not
remain altogether stationary. There is intact
really but one side to this question so far as the
material interests of Portland are concerned
Enough has been said about your harbor, about
the location of the city, and your unequalled
facilities for the transshipment of merchandise.
Everybody knows-if they know anything
about them-that they are the best on the At
1nnt in rharx ,1atf tho 1Ia
and unimproved? aA41 Has 7ltsv5l
Let your citizens remember that the same
power that made your beautiful bay and har-
Dor divided the mountains to open an avenue to
them And let it also be borne in mind that
the Ogdensburg road will not be subjected to
the task of creating the business for itself. That
has already been done and only waits to be di-
verified into this new channel. ,rss 5,.t L =
The Erie Canal was once the only great chan
mel for western trade, but recently Boston, Bal
timore and Philadelphia have diverted this
trade-all which is the legitimate result OF rail-
road communications to the West, and these
cities are reaping rich harvest from it. And
shall Portland fold her hands when she has the
best harbor, the best facilities for transship-
ment of goods, and is nearest the great markets
of Europe and the trading points of the West?
The journal that has furnished my text says
The time was when he who ventured to ques-
ton the perpetuity of the Western trade to New
York was laughed at as visionary, but events
have changed all that" And there were men
who laughed at those who favored the Grand
I Trunk as Missionaries, but "events have changed
all that" and he who laughed out of one
corner of his mouth them now laughs out of the
other. And SO will it be with those who laugh
at the friends of the Ogdensburg as Missionaries
after it shall have been finished. 90, but the
taxes!' say some. "We can't bear the strain y
know the strain will be somewhat hard, but
the time will come when you will be glad you
bore the burden of the interest and the next
generation will willingly pay the loan, if by
It. But the road viii nav. and we have ey ey
reason to believe it win pay. The more it is re-
volved in unprejudiced minds the brighter it
looks. l can't for the life of me see how any
man of common intelligence and candid mind
can conscientiously sneer at this enterprise and
write about "clothes poles and flounders!"
What an argument! Candid, intelligent men
who love their great country and its progress
civilization don't throw ridcule on and sheer at
enterprises that have all these objects in view