Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1885-02-05
me lhird s-,Toet nr.dge RilI.


ne Shrsr'uliy pttat 10 day n uommupi.
'sgou frem BE. TOwi stod, in defense
y iis Third Street Bird. bill, and in
reply 70 0AzErrE's article upon that
~ rovns-nd opens br referring 10
tas may Inaccuracies (sot to say mig
y, tseStaticnt). =" Of tbis article. ItisA
little siHt niay, con eistinR as II did chiefly
o. utb' cript Of the mir ties OF the levy
cpuii snd report of the speeches made
Al Tie ieIest Of this bill in the Senate O.
1883, that many inaecufAciea'' should
have cfeps In, and the only lair coDs.ruc-
lion # Mr. TUwnseBd's letter is that the
testimony even Of the levy court records
is not TO be relied on in this matter.
Does he ask for more corroborAtive evi
d,ncsf Very well we shall sndeAvor to
furnish IL.
Let as, however, fret take mp another
phase Of the subject. Mr.. Townsend
writes There was very large petition
In favor Of the bridge sent TO Dover in
1857, Land at the same time 1t was strongly
opposed by all the large establishments
on the ChristiAna front above the bridge,
such sc Pusey, Jones & Co., the Harlan &
Hollinssworth Company, J. Morton Poole
and others"
MIR. Townsend would have stated the
case more fairly had he said that the
. petition for and the remonstrance against
the building OF the bridge were each
signed by about one thousand persons.
"The opponents Of the bridge" he
continues, did not fight 1t on account o,
the cost 1t would be to the county, but
that, as they commended, 1t would impede
navigation and thus injurs business
above the bridge, and further that 1t was
mot needed at the time"
We propose TO show that Mr.. Townsend
is guilty Of some inaccuracies" here.
The opponents of the bridge did fight 1t
on the question Of cost 10 the county,
and the Legislat~ . refused to pass npon
the bill until that question Of cost had
been eliminated, az clearly appears from
the act Of Assembly authorizing the
construction Of the bridge, (chspter JAG,
volume XIII, Delaware Laws, already
given. They fought the bridge also on the
scoIe Of location aid for aeversl other
reasons besides those given by Mr..
Townsend. AS the simplest mode OF
proving this We quote flcm the text q
the remopstranoe I.Bslf, as iollows:
The undersigned, property holdere ard tax
payers, beg most respectfully but earnestly to
demonstrate against the granting Of the
prayer OF the aforementioned petitioners Ii g
those who wanted the brldgel and do reGiest
that their petition be dismissed, for me
reasons hereinafter stated
That the location Of the prop3ssd ur.5gs I.
such that the citizens u the scaaly sgllc
derive but little advantage from II tas
present one being more accessible
And further That the capacity a "a
present existing bridge ever TIE Ck--.til-..
river, at the foot Of Market street IL ne e4ty
Of Wilmington. il equal u the .Aec nt,.iis.
ton OF three times the prestAt tIaTeI a.e1 Il.
Which now ls % great 4 not greater khan 5.
any former period
And further That, to our i.aoE edge. 10
accident has occurred 70, Or I'll lie pTezeut
bridge, that has IN any VS.. injured ~ cte
attempting to cross over it neHher I've
passengers sustained any loss from detention
willie 1t was undergoing repairs.
And further That tAe Lnbbc ccnd does
not require the construction Of t4e prc posed
bridge and in no way can it be promoted
thereby.
And further That there exist On the
ohristiana river front, in the city Ct VII
mington, commercial, msnutactuIiug and
snlpplng interests representing a capital Oh
nearly three millions OF d1i!arf, the suc ses.
full operation OF which depends eulii ely upon
the free and unobstructed navigation y. taid
river, many or said interests being Of a Char
acter that the existence OF u bridge ~ any
point below the present one would almost de,
atrny than: and. owing to TIE lgho.e com
merce Of the city being above the pr6p5sed
site, the bridge would be most inefficient FOR
travel, from the fact that the draw would
necessarily be open large portion Of the
time IN order to pass the shipping and, il
the time should arrive when the nece sites OF
the citizens should call for tine construction
Of bridge, it should be located above the
the river.
And lastly: That by tine construction Of the
proposed bridge We feel that q large addition
will be made to our already heavy taxes from
winch no one will receive any benefit except
ing few individuals who are interested in
landed estates on the southerly side of the
Christiana river near the site Of the bridge
before referred to.
This remonstrsnoe spesks for iseeli
Snd, we think, sets that part of the mat.
ter straight.
Further on, Mr.. Townsend Gays: al
have no doubt that their opposition was
the cause of the Legislature making ii a
condition that the bridge should be built
by private subscription.
Here Mr.. Townsend himself admits the
whole gist Of this matter that there
was 4 Condition" that this bridge
"should be built by private subscrip
tion." This was the reason why the bill
became law. 1t had previously been
defeated in the Senate ard the only way
the men who were to be especially bspe.
flied by it-those "intersssed in landed
Estates on the southsrly side Of the Chris
iians"-succeeded in getting their bill re-
vived and Put through at the very close
OF the session OF 1867 was by asserting
to this Condition.
The Third and Eleventh arrest
bridge bills excited great desl
Of attention in that session and
both hung BY the eyslids a
long time before being acted upon. The
former bill was iptgadDosl n the Honae
on February 1851, ard this vas enough
Of itself to draw out from tbs late ssmuel
Townsend one Of his characteristic letters,
in which he said:
Soon after the late election it YVES r1mored
that the city OF Wilmington had two schemes
to present to the Legislature one 10 bridge
the Wilmington creek the other 10 bridge th6
Brandywine creek. The rumor further said
that the Democratic member from vii
mington was favorable to these schemes and.
Tor that reason, Republicans IL Wilmington
concerned in lot 5pecuations voted for this
Democratic candidate and elected him for
It IS well-knORl fact that ell lie other can.
didates on the Democratic ticket were
defeated, although az conpetth. ..u popular
with the Democratic party d the elecleI
member from Wilmington NOV y0T nh
know well that We, year Democratic
brethren Of New Castle cnui.Tv
have met you in State couv. atoms
acquiesced in your State candidates., did
worked hard, spent Cur money freely, ANNA
thized with you IL all matters calculated "a
make the Democratic party of Dgayeee
united in opposition 10 the black Repnbnc4p
negro equality schemes Of that tyraunictl. self
styled majority, Congress AID, elti ouVh
giving in this hundred an average III farIty
Of 800 votes 10 our candidates for the fcgis
lAturb and lew court We are ranrraft 4, i l.,