The Portland daily press., 1875-03-22
The Maine Central Fight.

There are no important Developments in
the preparations for the contest at Water
vile this week. Both parties are apparently
in earnest. The Eastern Railroad interest
is very quiet and non-committal. 1t is ru-
mored that the Eastern managers will have
ticket with the following names: Ex-Gov.
Coburn of Skowhegan, Arthur Sewall Of
Bath, R. B. Dunn of Waterville, f. W. Hill
of Exeter, N. M. Whitmore of Gardiner,
Lysander Strickland of Bangor, with one
more name from Maine as the law requires,
and the balance as follows: President Wool
dredge, and Messrs. Jones, Cook, Cummings
and another from the Eastern board of di-
rectors and Mr.. Ward of Boston. Gov. Co.
burns name will be used to strengthen the
ticket, but it is well known that he has no
sympathy with the party who desire to re-
open railroad hostilities by making the Maine
Central feeder of the Eastern to the advan-
tage of the latter and the city of Boston, and
the disadvantage of every Maine interest.
Further than that he has no confidence in
part of the men who make up the Maine por-
ton of the above ticket, and it may be conf
IDENTIFY predicted that he will not serve on a
board thus constituted. Doubtless he still
remembers the sudden ''change of mind'' in
connection with the leasing of the Belfast &
Moosehead Railroad in 1869 and the $4,000
charged off in some mysterious account in
the old Maine Central, but which had some
thing to do with the aforementioned change
of mind !; and as he looks at the names follow
ing his on that ticket, he discovers those of
two gentlemen who put that little sum
where sit would do the most good" Gov.
Coburn isn't the kind of man to serve on
board where the other sort, the mysterious,
diplomatic, $25, 1000 sort, have more votes and
influence than he has.
Tt is given out that if the Eastern party
succeeds, the directors meetings will be held
in Boston, the Maine officers discharged as
far as possible, and all the business of the
done in that city. In other words the head
quarters of the Maine Central will be in Bos.
ton. The fact that no Portland or Augusta
man who has been prominently identified
with either the old Portland & Kennebec,
Maine Central or consolidated line, is to be
put upon the new board, not only goes to
confirm conclusion that the above is the
policy determined upon, but too plainly indi-
Gates that the same discrimination is to be
made against Portland interests in particu-
lar with reference to the rest of the state.
The line OF policy which it is asserted that
the Eastern managers intend to pursue at
Waterville provokes universally hostile criti-
cism, not only among business men in this
city, but all along the line of the Maine Cen
trail; and if these gentlemen imagine that
theygcau, with impunity, break up the pres
ent satisfactory arrangements between the
Maine Central and Boston roads, and bring
back the era of feuds, annoyances and deten-
tions, they will have ample occasion to learn
their mistake and repent their folly before
year has passed. They will fId Legislature
at Augusta next winter, which hundred
thousand dollars worth of the most skillful
lobbyists cannot manipulate, and whose first
business will be to enact law which will re-
move the burdens and put an end to the
abuses of Eastern Railroad assumption in
Maina