The Monmouth inquirer., 1897-07-29
GiyinG AWAY Valuable RiQhts.

Giving Away Valuable Rights.
The people of Monmouth County
and especially along the sea shore are
awakening to the fact that they are
giving away valuable franchises to
inter-urban railroad companies I'M
der the guise of street railways. No
wonder that individuals with proper
ty facing the roads are opposed to the
wholesale surrender of the highways
without compensation either to them
selves or the communities in which
hhey reside. Already grasping
monopoly has been given some OF
our public highways under the
guise of a street railway and joined
Asbnry Park and Long Branch. Why
they should be given this valuable
franchise any more than a steam rail-
road il is hard to understand. In the
first place we believe that street
railway ceases to be one when IL
traverses long distances from one
town Il, another and in the second its
place is surely off of the public high
wav and over ground purchased eX-
cIusively by it for its purposes the
same as am individual would have to
purchase a piece of property Tor
speculation or gain. A manin business
would be orsidered a fool who would
rive away a valuable good will to en-
rich another person or corporation
merely for the sake of enabling hin
or it to make money. But this is ex-
actly what Monmouth County and
some OF the communities along shore
are doing, except for the nominal e4-
pense of gravelling the road bed and
keeping it in order, which they would
be partly compelled to do any way in
order to keep their track in proper
condition. These so-called street
railways will also not be adequately
taxed, as they will escape paying tax
for the land they are using for pri-
vate gain, except the nominal one on
their visible property, their cars,
tracks and power houses. After the
County furnishes them gratuluously
With the rights of way, to ask the
property owners or communities to
give them the roadway, which they
are not even compelled to grade for
the purpose of their business, is rub
hing it on a little too thick and is too
unbusiness like to be tolerated very
long
Now branch of the Coast Electric
Railroad Company, which even by its
name does not claim to be a street
railroad in any sense of the word,
wants the people of Neptrne Borough
to meet together Wednesday, Aug.
18th, 1887, and grant them the priv
ilege of changing its car-track and
Siding to the center instead of along
side of the road, as was located and is
now operated by the Company. In
the centre of the road is a valuable
Telford road put down few years
ago at an expense of thousands of
dollars per mile and which we sup
pose, mainly to oblige the street rail
way company, has been allowed to
become in wretched condition and at
placeseve dangerous for travel when
few hundred dollars worth of gravel
placed on top of the stone road would
have made it one of the finest, as well
as the most frequented drives along
the shore. The insistment that this
Tetford road is worn out is absurd
and looks as if made and tenderly
nursed by those directly interested
for purpose 1t is the most-trave,l-
ed 'wornout" road bed that we have
even seen. If the people of Neptune
borough at their meeting allow such
destructful waste of their money
and grant any further privileges than
now enjoyed by this grasping monop
oily, who now not Only want one side
but almost the whole of this none too
vide public highway, we WI be very
much disappointed in the calibre of
the citizens who compose the
borough