Litchfield enquirer., 1875-06-24
Town Subscriptions to Railroads.

The debate in the House, last week, on
 the proposed constitutional amendment
 forbidding town subscriptions to railroads was one of great interest. Mir. Harrison,
 of Guilford, made very strong argument
 in favor of the amendment and pressed the l following facts with much force:
 There have been issued by railroads in
 this country thousand millions in bonds,
 six hundred millions of which are now in
 default. In Connecticut, none of the rail
 roads built by town subscriptions earn
 enough to pay the interest on thelr first mortgage bonds except the Conn. Valley. Thirty three towns in this state owe five
 millions of railroad debts, and Mir. Harri- son claims that it is only large places like Hartford, New Haven, and Bridgeport that have derived any benefit from them. The tax lists of small towns are never in- creased by such subscriptions.
 Mir. Stevens, of Hartford, replied to Mr. Harrison that the towns on the Conn.
 Western had certainly been greatly bene- fitted already, and that there were other towns which deserved the same chance for development these towns had had.
 Mir. Lockwood, of Bridgeport, opposed the principle of town aid to private cor porations. He said that. although Bridge port had benefited largely in the long run by its aid to railroads, it's growth had been paralyzed for years by the heavy burdens resulting therefrom. ''Let the farmers in this house consider. You now own your farms in fee simple, but defeat this amendment and you own your farms subject to the will of the majority of the town in which you live. (Applause.) A railroad is speculation-nothing more, nothing less. Towns are easily controlled by the fever heat of town meetings. Some eloquent gentleman goes in and makes a speech, and raising both hands, like Col onel Sellers. says There's millions in it. millions in it ? Qaughter) and the project goes through"
 Mir. Wilson, of Newtown, opposed the amendment. He maintained that it was a device of existing monopolies to kill Parallel and other competing roads. He instanced towns along the line of the Naugatuck road, and showed by compari son the increase of grand lists after rail- road facilities were furnished. He would like to see the representative of any town, that is heavily bonded, who would to day consent that the railroad should be taken away if the debt could be extinguished.
 On final vote the amendment failed of the requisite two thirds majority. In re- viewing the facts adduced upon this pro- position we cannot but admit that as mat ters now stand both sides make a strong showing. There are no doHbt towns on the Air Line railroad which have paid vast ly more for their railroad facilities than they can by any possibility be worth to them, - at least for years On years. There are also railroads, that. like the Housatonic, seem to bring no growth to the towns on their lines. On the other hand, roads like the Conn. Western and the Naugatuck have been of inestimable benefit to the communities through which they pass. It must be conceded by those who favor town aid, that railroad facilities do not seem in every case to stimulate town growth. To many towns on the lines of many railroads the convenience is all the advantage offered by the roads. The chance of growth is dependent largely upon the introduction of manufactures, and the introduction of manufactures seems by no means sure to follow upon the building even of a New England rail- road. As partial compensation, howev- CT, for the tardiness of manufacturing growth in the extreme west of Connecticut, we have manifest gain from the annual influx of city residents seeking the retire ment, the purer and cooler air, and the pleasing scenery of our hills and lakes.
 Nor must we forget in this era of finan- cial depression that development IS a mat ter of time, often of very long time. Like the western emigrant. we have prepared our ground and planted our crop at great expense. and are now struggling for a bare subsistence till 1t natures. Many towns will enjoy their harvests soon; many have years to wait; some, per haps, may see generations go by before they are repaid for an outlay that we can- not but consider on the whole wise as we'll as generous.