Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-03-26
THE @ AND o. CANAL.
Hearing - TO the Warrington and Woo
sfn Maryland Railroad compaay.

= Hearingsss TO the washington and Wsss-
i srn Maryland Railroad Company.
THS ELL orvrNo THEN PowrR TO TAKE LAND
By coNDEhNATIoN FoB SHOPS, ROUND HousEs,
ETC, ASTAsoxIzKp sY TIE ATTORNEY GENERAL
l. OF MARYLAND.
An important hearing was given by the
House District committee this morning in the
matter OF the effort Of the Warrington and
western Maryland Railroad Company 70 obtain
authority of Congress to cross the
chesapeake and Ohio canal in sntering
Georgetown and to condemn land for its shops,
tracks and round houses. This authority il ex-
tended in the provisions Of House bill 1918,
NOW before the committee. 5r
| Judge Cowan. counsel for the Baltimore and
Ohio railroad. with his assistants, appeared in
| favor of the bill
Gen. Poe, attorney general of the state Of
Maryland, was present to oppose the bill, in
| accordance with iustr tions Of the board Of
public works Of Maryland.
Zen: Poe opened the debate by reading and
submitting to the committee q resolution
works. y WIG
| The resolution is as follows
| a, nesoiveo py the board of public works that
tne attorney general be, and he is hereby, in
snu S' W resist the passage OF the bill now
OF the Washington and Western Mary.
,and railroad Company, in SO far - such
o,n proposes to authorize the construction
o. a a railroad upon tine property Of the Chesa-
lnch .t ana ONO Canal Company and to take
sucn steps as In his judgment shall be neces-
ssry 1no proper to protect the property OF the
canal company from appropriation or conden-
nation Tor such railroad purposes.
resolved further, That the attorney. general
be and he is further instructed to apply by
petition, on behalf of the state, to the
circuit court for Washington county in the
| case therein pending of George L. Brown and
others against the Chesapeake and Ohio
psnau Company and Others, for the
the trustees Of the ondholders Of 1874 of the
canal company to resist the taking or occupa-
uon OF any part OF the property Of the canal
company for said Washington and Western
maryland Railroad Company
Gen. Poe then submitted seyeral amend
ments proposed to the bill to carry out the
instructiohs OF the above resolution, and said
tnat II the amendments should be accepted he
would have nothing further to say.
=, attorney Cowan resisted the amendments.
| ne sald the railroad only wanted to take some
wild land adjacent to the canal. and between
the canal and river. which il OF no value and
| not necessary to the operation Of the canal
In TACT the land was leased by the canal COM
pal! pHmy ISs sd n'nety-nine years for the nominal
| Gen. Poe read to the committee the message
| canal
PRESENT STATUS OF THE CANAL
| Gen. Poe said that by decree Of Judge Al
! vey OF the circuit court the entire canal must
be sold within four years, but the execution
OF the decree is temporarily suspended in order
| 10 allow the trustees OF the bondholders of 1874
TO try the experiment OF restoring the canal to
running order and demonstrating that it can
| be made to earn profit for the bondholders.
| Inc trustees are now operating the canal.
but that decree Of court has not been vacated
and is still hanging over them.
Gen. Poe said that the general belief is that
the decree OF sale will finally be executed.
The question for this committee is whether
Congress will permit the railroad company to
| contscate part Of the canal and prevent
the state of Maryland from selling the canal
from end to end. The state wants the canal to
be kept in a condition which will permit of its
SALE Ii a portion of it near Georgetown is OBJ
structed by this railway company no sale can
| be made.
All that the state asks is that the railway
company be required, before it takes the land,
to go before the circuit court of Washington
| county and obtain leave from Judge Alvey
after a fair hearing before the land il taken.
The state asks Congress not to permit Its
| property, in which SO much of the public
money has been invested, to be taken without
| submitting the matter to the court
Representative Fellows asked what part of
the canal the railway company proposed to
take.
! Gen. Poe replied he could not state in detail,
hut 1t is q fact that portion is proposed to be
| taken.
At this point the committee took recess nm.
til l o'clock.
H. IN FAVOR OF THE BILL.
| Whau no ~ laJ - ~ onl
Attorney Cowan Of the Baltimore and Ohio
railroad Company addressed the committee,
favoring the bill. He pointed out on map the
line of the Metropolitan branch of the Bal
timore and Ohio, and the route a
the Metropolitan Southern road from Linden
station to the Potomac river. The Washington
and Western Maryland Railroad Company il
| organized to build road along the river from
| the Metropolitan Southern road to the Aque-
duct bridge. The Washington and Western
Maryland road is owned by the Baltimore and
Ohio Railway Company, together with the
road built by the Barge and Dock
Georgetown. The original charter Of the
Washington and Western Maryland provides
| a route between the canal and the river. Al
proposed to be amended the route will cross
the canal and follow along the north bank on
| the bluffs. The first suggestion OF this pro-
posed change came from the District Commits
sioners because the original route would affect
| the Chain bridge.
The next suggestion came from the railroad
company in order to practically surmount the
bluffs. Under this change OF route the road
| would run Z, 400 feet less along the line of the
| canal than originally proposed. The
change aud elevation Of the tracks would not
preclude any other company from using the
tracks, as required by the original charter.
| The bill under consideration does two things:
| it lengthens the time tor construction one year
| and proposes a change OF the line which in
fact takes one mile less than the original
charter proposed.
The original charter was favored by every
member of the Maryland delegation in Con-
gress. 1t was granted first to men who were
| respectively president, director and attorney
Of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company
and the Baltimore and Ohio bought the stock
from these canal employees.
The B. and O. having bought the charter
from employees OF the canal who were elected
by the state OF Maryland the railroad company
| is now opposed by the state The state does
| not come to Congress now in her right as q
sovereign, but only as q private individual own.
| ing the canal
Mr.. Gown then explained the early history
Of the canal and its relation to the state. Mary
land is 4 stockholder in the canal and the owner
Of mortgage bonds on the canal.
AGAINST THE STATES JURISDICTION.
Mr.. Cewan said the amendment pro-
posed by the attorney general is a
most astounding proposition. 1t would
be an. astonishing occurrence II Congress,