The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1880-02-20
THE FREIGHT QUESTION
An An swer to Headlight.

Mr.. EDIToR:-My attention was called this
morning for the first time % an article in the
Portland PRESS of the 18th signed Head
light"
The business men of Portland having their
daily duty to perform, have no time or inclina-
ton to engage in newspaper controversy, have
no regularly employed legal talent to write
ter articles for them without pay, and do
not f1atter themselves that they can cope with
the patronage which the moneyed influence of
wealthy corporations can command against
them when men or corporations appeal to the
public press in controversy their cause general
ly is weak one, and when they state that
which their opponents do not claim it is proper
that the other side should be heard through
the same channel, and Cautionary Signal can
answer in a business way. Headlight has to
go to a Boston paper for his starting point, an
article stigmatizing meeting of over one
hundred business firms of Portland as sort of
indignation meeting. Cautionary Signal does
not propose to answer the Boston Herald
article which calls itself our friend when it is
endeavoring to sustain cannibal corporations.
Headlight commences by styling the present
movement an unjustifable attack of GER
tain party to bulldoze the corporations to give
him lower rate than his neighbors. The
movement is the exact opposite of this 1t is
that all shall share alike, and it is only those
few firms whom Headlight" pats on the back
and calls good fellows because they will
not join in a common movement for the benefit
of their own city, that are open to this criti-
cism. Headlight through his ignorance of
business, goes out of his way to cast a slur up
on the grocery business, when he states how
business is done on Commercial street. The
absurdity is too ridiculous for reply. Head
light complains of a combination of business
men against combination of powerful cor
porations Do corporations have an exclusive
right to combine? The Merchants Association
which Headlight sneers at as SO weak, and yet
so mighty and dangerous, is combination of
nearly all the business firms of Portland to act
| as a unit and inquire into the Determinations
| against the interests Of Portland viii Oh have
been asserted for years. but never took any
| form for remedy. Is there any thing wrong
| in this? Every citizen of Portland is interes-
ted, real estate owners, professional men,
| mechanics, laborers aud all are interested. All
| We ask is justice. 1t is not the business OF
| UuSiuess ueu W o"u anu run rallrOauS, caca
and all branches of business have their own
| spheres, and no one is independent from an
other. One may discriminate against another
for time but such discrimination cannot last
always. We believe that the powerful cor
porations who can in their combined strength
wrong us, will deal justly by us from principle
| when the case is presented to them. Ii they
will not we propose then to go the public. We
ha not presented claim, or asked for any
thing yet which has not been acknowledged as
right. We do not intend to. When We do it
will be time enough for those powerful COR