The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-12-17
A BANQUET TO Mr.. GARRETT.
Gathering of Distinguished Men on
Staten Island to Welcome the B. 80.
The Policy of that Corporation Outlined by
Its Observation-Disclosures by Geo. VIM.
Curtis, s. L. WOOdfOrd and Others.

| Dec 16.-The banquet to President Garrett and
the executives of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad,
| given at the Pavilion here tonight. was one of
| the most extensive as to preparation and attend
| ance ever known in New York At just o'clock
Mr.. Erastus Wiman gave the signal to commence
service and two hundred and ffty-three gentle
men sat down to dinner. The guests comprised
representatives of the leading CONNER
| cial, banking, legal and railroad circles
| OF New York, Brooklyn, Philadelphia
| and Baltimore. Mr.. Erastus Wiman, the
| promoter and head of Staten Island Rapid Tran
| it Company. presided. with Mr.. Robert Garrett.
president of the Baltimore s. Ohio, on his right,
and Governor Henry Lloyd. OF Maryland, on his
left Of the many distinguished gentlemen
present were George William Curtis Attorney
general Cassidy of Pennsylvania; ex-Lieutenant
Governor Stuart l.. Woodford, of New York;
Mayors Hodges of Baltimore, Smith of Phila-
delphia and acting Mayor Sanger, of New York,
president of the Board of Aldermen; Hon. S. @.
Keasley, of New Jersey; S. V. White,
the noted Wall-street operator; ex-senator
herman, of New York; ex-senator Henry G.
~ MS, of West Virginia; Judge Benedict
United States Circuit Court; ex- Governor Trask,
VIM M. Singery, of the Philadelphia Record;
Geo. VIM AbeN of the Baltimore Sun; Austin
Corbin, M. E. Ingalls, president Cincinnati, In
dianapolis, St Louis & Chicago railroad; Law
renee Jerome, Senator Sabin Minnesota.
The speaking commenced shortly after 8
o'clock, and just preceding il number Of ele-
gantly dressed ladies came into the banquet
hall. and were seated i'll favorable positions
Among them were Mrs. Robert Garrett, Mrs G..
P. Lowry, Mrs. Erastus Wiman, Miss Armour,
Mrs. Henry Sedley, Mrs S. f. RAwson and other
we'll known ladies of Staten Island. New York
and Brooklyn. Mr.. Wiman prefaced his remarks
with letters from Mayor Low of Brooklyn Hon.
Perry Belmont of New York, and Andrew
Carnegie. An address of welcome was deiv-
cred by MIR. Wiman, who spoke at length of the
national Importance of the entrance of tho Bal
timore q Ohio railroad into New York, and OF
the benefits that would result from it. He
followed by George William Curtis, who proposed
the toast: Mr.. Robert Garrett, president, and
the executive of the Baltimore and Ohio Rail-
road Company"
Peering in maps and ports and piers and roads:
Merchant of Venice.
In his response Mr.. Garrett said:
1.-THE subject of the adoption of Staten Island
as the terminus at New York of the Baltimore
& Ohio railroad has been a matter of careful
thought and study for months with the vice
presidents, general counsel and the engineers of
that company It is tonight the privilege of
the executives and board of directors, after
careful investigation, to indorse the programme
so carefully prepared by the officials referred to.
Within few days one of the most distinguished
men of the country has declared the realization
of Mr.. Wiman's plans and projects had come to
him like revelation. Indeed, the Staten Island
scheme, many have chosen to call it, is a reve-
lation, and to none has it come with more posi-
tive force than to many of you whom see seated
before me. You New York gentlemen have been
SO long accustomed to looking to your right and
| then to your left that I fear you have been if
you will pardon me, somewhat woefully neglect
full of that which lay directly front. You
zlo
TEEN with the busy industries which gather
about railroad termini. Once your gaze accus-
toned to turn to the side and then to the
other you have all these years paid no attention
whatever to the real gateway of the metropolis
of the country, directly in front of your
way, at your very feet lay a natural
depot for railroad purposes, with territory suf
cient to afford terminal facilities of practically
| unlimited extent to be had almost for the mere
| asking.
| Staten Island was the home of the founder of
| the great Vanderbilt system of roads, and here
he began the life of varied business activity that
| led to the establishment of his colossal for
| tune which passing from him to son born
this island, was by that son doubled in all it's
enormous proportions. The selection of the
Staten Island route by the Baltimore & Ohio
railroad Is tribute to the judgment
of the late William Fl. Vanderbilt who origin
| ally proposed this island and this very route
to the ex-president of the Reading railroad, the
Hon. Franklin D. Gowan, and urged upon that
| gentleman that he should take steps to secure
that which has passed into the possession of the
| company l represent The Baltimore g. Ohio
railroad intends to come to New York by the
| Staten Island route. 1t comes to the metropolis
with no letters, no claims to bind 1t, and it is
| solicitous to become power by helping you,
| and thus best help itself.
Before commenting, however, on the general
| commercial relations Of the Baltimore q Ohio
company, or on the specific advantages we be-
| lieve we have now secured, l wish, in response
to the sentiment you have proposed, to say a
| word in behalf of the policy which the Baltimore
& Ohio has adopted for its employees, the
| adoption of which policy, believe, will
add greatly to our efficiency in serving the pub
| lie The time has come in America when CAPT
| tai, if it expects to be taken care of by labor
| must in turn provide the means for thoroughly
taking care of labor. The earnest efforts of the
| Baltimore 81 Ohio railroad management to SO
| provide for its subordinates and employees gen
| orally as would bring about the most prosperous
| condition of affairs with them have been most
| heartily seconded by those most interested. The
| relief association, to which the company gave SO
| freely at its organization, and the management
| of which has ever been directly in the hands of
| those who come in daily contact with
| members, has proven of the most
| benefcent and at the same time advantageous
sources of labor protection. Its results are as
apparent and as convincing to capital as they
| are to labor itself By its provisions every en-
ploye has within sight aid, both material and
medical, if i'll, and is assured of his family hav-
| ing the means of comfortable subsistence in
| the event of his meeting the fate common to us
| all. More than this. When old age comes on,
aud with it physical weakness ncapacity for
| continuing daily toll, the man who has exhausted
| his energies in the service of the company knows
that his declining years will be marked by an in
come in the form of a pension, greatly assisting
| in continuing comfortable living. And again,
his children are the first upon the list for EN-
| ployment in the company's service. and during
apprenticeship they are given in night schools a
thoroughly practical, and to them
most valuable, education without cost
we believe that we to-day have more completely
and more satisfactorily solved the problem of
| the relations of labor to capital than any other
corporation in America. This being the fact,
the Baltimore & Ohio railroad is all the stronger
in its organization, and in its management TO
| serve the public at large"
| Mr.. Garrett followed by ex Mayor Latrobe
| of Baltimore, and then in turn came the follow