The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-04-12

l There has not been eVlaenCe rom peO-
 pie of the several localities to show that
 franchises are needed, or should be given to construct, in the public high
 ways, or anywhere else, railroads from l NorWalk to Westport from Westport to Greens Farms, from Greens Farms
 to Southport, from Stratford to Mill ford, from Milford to Woodmont, from
 Thomastown to Watrtown, from Ham
 den to Southington, through the town
 of Cheshire, from Middletown to Crom- we'll, from Middletown to Meriden, from
 M.ddletown to Middledeld or Durham, l from Suffleld to Windsor Locks, from Windsor Locks to Windsor from En- field to East Windsor, Windsor Locks
 and South Windsor.
 | Not a witness has been produced to complain that the Consolidated road does not furnish between all of these various towns and stations adequate | facilities for the transportation of pass | engers or freight. I am aware that it
 is claimed by counsel for some of these 1 proposed roads that because sundry statistics have been produced showing
 large increase of travel in some cases
 where a parallel electric road has been | CODSlTu lIGIblOlG pdIdllGl GleClIltS anywhere will show a large increase
 of travel, and therefore 8 public need may be inferred by this committee, in the absence of all other evidence The statistics they have produced, however, were taken from localities where there
 was a legitimate demand for a growing suburban travel between places having | in the aggregate a large population. | By the same line of argument it might with equal force be urged that because | the statistics show a large passenger
 business over the steam railroad from l New Haven to Greenwich new steam railroad is needed and should be char tered from Barkhamsted to Killing l worth.
 Counsel for the electric parallels say their roads cannot be constructed and
 operated successfully over the highways
 for a distance as great as from ten to fifteen or twenty miles, and that they would not produce any profit, nor could
 they be used to public advantage for such distances; and they say they only want these roads for local demands and travel--purely for local passenger traf- fic If we take them at their word and consider the population and local condi- tion in the territory they now seek to connect we find there is no local travel and there cannot be. There is no popu- lation or business in these localities
 to make any local travel You could make no more local travel between some of these points they seek to con
 meet than you could between so many
 cemeteries.
 Let me call your attention to the rail-
 road maps in the report of the railroad
 commissioners and to time tables of the
 Consolidated road which we will lay in.
 I will hand you statement I have ob-
 tained from the comptroller of the Con-
 solidated railroad of the number of pas sengers purchasing tickets or paying
 cash fares between quite number of
 the stations have mentioned. During
 the six months ending December 31,
 1894, an examination of these figures
 and of the time tables will show that
 during these six months, between
 Thompsonville and Enfield Bridge,
 Thompsonville and Warehouse Point,
 Thompsonville and Windsor Locks En-
 field Bridge and Warehouse Point, En-
 field Bridge and Windsor Locks. and
 w dItHOlSG I Olul anu w lHuSOT 1OCkS,
 there were carried both ways 13540 pas sengers. Allowing 15O days upon which
 trains ran during the six months this makes the total number of passengers both ways, between all these stations, ninety a day; and as there were fifteen trains running daily between those sta tions it means just an average of six passengers to a train Nearly all of the travel over this line, however, was between Thompsonville and Windsor Locks, and if those passengers are ex- cluded you will find that there were only twenty-three passengers day be- tween the other points, or one and one half passengers to a train.
 Between Windsor Locks and Suffield l there were carried during the same | time, with six trains each way, forty | passengers a day, or less than four to | train. Between Woodmont and Mil | ford twenty-two trains were run daily; | 1 ,332 passengers were carried in six | making nine a day. or less than | half person to a train. Between Nor | walk and Westport twenty-five trains | ran daily, and they carried an average | of 156 a day or about six to a train. | Between Westport and Greens Farms | there were twenty-two trains daily, and | the passengers carried average six each | day, or about one-fourth of person to a train. Between Greens Farms and | there were twenty-two trains daily, and an average of thirteen per sons day, or less than two-thrds of person to a train. Between Southport and Westport there were tWenty-hree trains daily, and an average of nine persons a day, or about three-sevenths of a person to train. Between Strat- ford and Milford there were twenty three trains daily, and an average of thirty persons a day, or one and one fourth persons for each train. From to Watertown there were eight trains daily, about two-thirds of 8 person a day, or one-twelfth of person to each train.
 I have no doubt that an examination of the figures between the other sta tions affected by the proposed charters would show as small a proportion upon the average as between these which have selected as fair average statistics between several of the towns and sta tions where it is urged, without any evidence to sustain the claim that there s public demand for the construction