Morning journal and courier., 1889-03-06
THE HEARING CLOSED.

TRE HEARING CLOSED. Attorneys Robinson and Case Con cIude the Arguments in the Housa- tonic Railroads Petition Before the Committee To-Day-COlOnel steven son on the stand Aga1n-His Talk
 With Henry A. BishoP-speakerE
 rvs Resolution.
 HARTFORD. March D. snac;al correspondence of the JOURNAL AND CoUR- - IER-1
 The Housatonlc managers packed the House again to-day with another one of their ! excursion parties to shout and appla9a as citizens hankering and panting for Star buck parallel railroad at the final hearing on the Housatonics petition, when the con cluding arguments were made by Henry U. Robinson and William c. Case. Prevlous 10 the arguments the petitioners opened tnelr case to let ex-Judge DeForest, or btiogePol'' 4:3 introduce a petition of 500 people of Bridge port for parallel road. The phraseology or the petition was similar to the one brought up by ex-Senator Hill from NorWslk and as- sertine the signers' faith in the management of the Housstonic. During the hearing the excursionists applauded all the Hc'usatonle's sneakers, notwithstanding Chairman Gra- ham,s efforts to preserve order. It is an opinion expressed by legislators of influence at the Capitol that such desperate Jingolst1c performances reveal the weakness of the pe- titioners' case.
 his hand from Henry A. Bishop In his ar onment Prof. Baldwin insinuated that the story about Stevenson's attempt to get MT. Bishop into scheme to turn out "Old Man Barnum" from the Housatonie infringement, which story was called to Mr. Stevensons
 s1I- <Inr Sfvono stand. was made up by the Consolidated roads attorney.
 Jndpe Harrison said to the committee that ba had shown this letter to Prof. Baldwin in the hope that he would, of his own volition, correct the imputation, but as he had not he desired to read the letter and produce Henry A. Bishop to prove 1t.
 Prof Baldwin objected to the reading of the letter on the ground that the time for evidence had closed and the arguments had begun.
 poor grace fof them to ooJect on tnls teen nica1 oronnd after having just opened their ease to mt in q petition after he had argued that not A single citizen appeared in favor of the petition circumstances the petition came in and take it for what it was worth.
 The chair ruled that the letter might be read.
 The letter was as follows:
 Hon. Lynde Harrison, New Haven. Dear Sir-In reply to your enquiry or date regard ing reported conversation between Colonel Steven son and myself, would state that it was as near as can remember as followS
 ''H Hou've got plenty of moneys so WnY do you wlsn to remain here as superintendent Why don't you arrange to get rid of BarnnIn' ana ge6 your self in as president Then appoint me vice presi. dent and general manager to run the road TOT you
 This conversation took place during the summer sum Is of 1S86 and it in the fall of that year that the Bostwick and Starbuck party began to Aset control of the Housatonic property xoV 1oVrs tABg, Bfs1op NEW HAVEN March 1, 1889.
 Colonel Stevenson was then called to the stand to again deny that he ever said any ! such thing. The colonel wanted the plat | form and exclaimed: 'EThe letter is unquali- ! fedly false in every particular. l am more | than astonished st it, for, but few days ! ago. had talk with Henry A. Bishop, and 1 he said he didn't know what he had been l drawn into the case for. What l did say to | Henry A. Bishop after I was vice president l of the Housatonic was one day when he told me that his father was not satisfied with the ! way Charles P. Clark managed the Consol1- ! dated, and he thought President Clark had bitten off more than he could chew. i Colonel Stevenson replied:
 "Why do you play second fiddle here as \ purchasing agent then?'
 Then followed another exciting scene in the hearing. Colonel Stevenson raised his hand I to heaven and fairly roared: With my right hand to heaven, and under oath, defy you to put Henry A Bishop on the stand" The \ excursionists applauded.
 Judge Harrison said he desired to put on MT. Bishop. Professor Baldwin objected tc | this and the arguments proceeded. Henry lC. Robinson opened for the objeetors | Parts of his argument were as follows: | I beg to pause right here and ask you what
 the real value of that property is which pays | S497, ,OOO yearly into the treasury of the State ! to pay five-sixteenths of the entire State tax It seems to me to go without saying that th' Consolidated is giving as good service as Ii
 given in the United States-promptly
 safely, and at as low rates as exist any,
 where in the country. But, says Brother
 Baldwin, they carry people cheaper in Bel I gium, the only State in the world where peo l ple are carried as cheaply as does the Consol dated road, and then, perhaps, at third | class.
 Carroll D. Wright, in his national repor of labor statistics says that adult males ge S167 a year as the highest wages paid II
 Belgium, and that's why Belgium only car
 carry passengers cheaper than we do. It il | because laboring men have to live on lift,
 cents day. Our road pays mucf
 over $40O year on an averag
 ture of a spiders web. I have never heard ! of sensible man suggest that the Republi
 can party was controlled by any railroad, ant as for the select mugwumps no one woulc , dare to approach them. We are told tha , this is monopoly, when there has been ol . the statute books for seventeen years a lay which allows any twenty-five people to built ! a road between any two points in Connect s ! cut, and though this law has existed fo ; | seventeen years there never has been an 2 rails laid. You know the history of thes parallel schemes since 1860. They hay 3 come here before with case as much strong I | CT than this as Sampson was stronger thai Goliath, and they have been refused. On l by one they have died until the last, the NeN l York and Connecticut Air Line, wa 8 sold to a construction company, an 3 1 later to Stsrbuck and his associates IT gazed at Brother Baldwin as h l in his statuesque way, said all they wante | was to build branches, to see if there woul } | not be just twinkle in his eye, but no, b | submitted his monumental piece of sophistr l | to you, with the impossibility, which coul !; have only been attained by studious associa . tion with the sphynx. Build branches! D ) branches grow from the roots! A paralle ? road is what they want and what Starbucl , | said he wanted. The key to the situation
 a little resolution before the General Assem- g bly,, which has harmless title, and has no
 yet been considered by your committee. [ IS entitled Resolution de Rockville rail | road" which I will read.
 After reading the resolution which pro , vides that the New England railroad ma buy the entire plant of any railroad, an , part of which it operates, MT. Robinson COT tinued, ''This is the scheme: The New Eng ? land railroad now operates portion of th , | Housatonic, and can, if this bi
 passes, buy the Housatonic, Derby
 etc., and build parallel roaC from New York to Boston, which the i ! would ask you to pay for by purchase C \ some of their peculiarly issued bonds. Ther 4 | is the whole scheme. do not forget, gen = tlemea, that an excursion party of peopl a ! were brought here over the interested roads
 Senator Hill, the gifted orator, was thei
 ! spokesman. His chief argument was that ! blizzard, which occurs once in 8 hundre > \ years, should come, the Consolidated roa e ! would be blocked. Do they expect that i such scene there would be second adver
 of the angel of the Passover to save the rail . I of parallel road from the snow? I had SUI
 posed that the snow fell alike upon the jus