Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1888-02-05
ELF Union

THE UNION BRIDGE.
Now that the subscription has carried
by a practically unanimous vote and the
Union bridge is an assured thing, barring
earthquakes and the like, a briethistory OF
the circumstances and the forces that led
up to this happy consummatiOn may not
prove uninterestiDg.
Ii will be remembered that the eele-
brated "R. X o. deal VAS the prime
u of the Union bridge agitation. What
was regarded by Wheeling as little less
than a calamity has thus proven a bless
ing to her. The deal by which the Penn
s~ylvania railroad gained supremacy OF the
b. & O.. in the matter of rates, shut tie
B. & o. out Of New York and dePOsed
ROBERT GARRETT from the presidency
was carried out about the first of last
September. The news came upon US
like a thunder-b bolt. We were already
badly enough of for railroads
but now we were to have the only road that
competed for our trade with the great
Pennsylvania gobbled up By that mOnoPC-
IL, which was thus 10 have US completely
at its mercy. 1t could squeeze MS to death
if it chose and We could not help ourselves.
We stood aghast at the prospect.
Immediately, up rose the REGISTER
and rushed to the front bearing aloft tie
banner of the Union bridge! There was
glory and freedom from railroad monopoly
inscribed on that banner. There was
the promise Of wealth and prosperity
among its folds. The people recognized
it instantly and rallied beneath it.
The Union bridge That was the cry
The Board of Commissioners took it up by
appointing a committee Of investigation
into Wheeling's railroad facilities, Then
there was a long lapse Of official action
and it looked like the matter had
died out altogether. During this time,
however, the REGISTER never ''let up"
1t hammered and pounded and hammered
again at the Union bridge, not only single
handed, but in the face of actual OppOsi-
ton, till it compelled official action once
more, this time Of . definite nature. The
Board of County Commissioners again
came to the front for the Union bridge;
then slowly but surely came Council and
lastly the Chamber of Commerce. 1t was
a hard, long, uphill struggle, but we got
there.
Thus was born the Joint Committee of
Council, the Board of Commissioners and
the Chamber of Commerce. BY this time
the REGISTER had effectually crushed out
all opposition to the Union bridge by dead
weight OF the public sentiment it had ere
ated. Not only was opposition killed hut
the opponents of the scheme were forced
finally, Tor obvious reasons, to rally to its
support. Then the railroad men appeared
upon the scene. The cry of our city for
more railroads had reached their ears once
more, ana they jumped at the profitable
investment held out. From this on all
was comparatively plain sailing, and now
we enter the harbor under the most
suspicious skies.
During its struggle for the Union bridge
the REGISTER was met by all sorts Of obsta-
cles, raised by the opponents OF the enter
prise. 1t was boldly asserted that we did
not need any more railroads, ~ that we
had As many already ~ PittsOurg-ail-
road maps to the e%Ontrary Notwithstanding
and that it was q scheme to burden the
taxpayer. This last appeal was the most
ingenious, and the hardest to down, al
though the REGISTER had demonstrated
time and again that the ultimate effect
of the Union bridge would be to
tighten taxes. Would it not be a
strange thing if the REGISTER supported
a measure that would increase the tax
rate, since the REeIsrER, itself, is one of
the heaviest taxpayers in the county, Our
city and county taxes for the year 1887
were s4a5 "a. We have always labored
under the impression that we Wer paying
quite enough taxes and fully paying our
share towards sustaining the city and cOun-
ty government. We certainly feea this
burden and most certainly do not want 1t
a cent heavier. And we certainly would
not have supported the Union bridge had
we thought that burden would have been
n,.5a heavier thereby. We believe the