Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-02-24

manager, and who has bad all the time
experience what to dBwith Aroostook
county and Aroostook needs, unhesi-
tatingly declares that the passenger
service now maintained is an absolute
necessity for the development of that
county. Now, gentlemen. don't you
believe. that when he tells you that he
believes he is telling you the truth?
And if you do believe he is telling you
the truth. do you think there is any
man in this Legislature who wants TO
sit up and put his Judgment against
his and say that that passenger service
should be reduced? / leave that prop
osition to you.
Now the effect of maintaining that
passenger service can best show you
by referring to the railroad commits
sioners' reports for the year 1898, in
the Bangor & 4Aroostook Railroad re-
port, and these are sworn statements.
You will find that the Bangor & Aroos-
took Railroad Company carried $751;
| I'll passengers one mile. Eight
million, eight hundred sixty-two
| thousand and seven hundred and
eleven passengers on mile. and you
will find that the average rates per
passengers per mile were 2.549. Now if
| this 2-ccnt mileage law goes into effect
| the practical result of that will be to
| reduce the average rate per passenger
| per mile from 2.549 to cents If the
| law had been in operation in the year
| 1898 the loss to the Bangor & Aroos-
| took Railroad Company would have
| been over $4,000 and out of that same
years operations its surplus was $751;
O00
And let me explain now what l mean
there by surplus. The Bangor & Aroos-
took Railroad has a common stock of
81 900: it has a preferred stock, first
of 5000, 600 and little over. am giving it
in general figures, owned by the county
of Aroostook; it has in preferred stock
some 100000. owned by individuals
who had subscribed for it all the way
from Maine to New York. Now out of
the opera ton in the year 1898. we got
enough to pay for running the road
first then we got enough to pay the in
terest on the bonds which had been
placed upon it.
We have not paid a dividend upon
any stock preferred or common, never
| from the beginning of the road up to
| the present time. That $31 900 is what
| is left after paying the cost of opera
| ton and the interest on the bonds. So
| that you see if this proposed law had
been in force and effect in the year
1898, instead of having $4,000 more
| than enough to pay the interest upon
| the bonds, why we would have had
| about $4,000 less than enough, and
! after what this company has gone
| through. this committee some of them,
| know what it is. don't you think that
| is a pretty black picture to put up in
| front of them?
But, gentlemen. somebody will say
| that the passenger service will increase.
| that the revenues will increase under
| this law or they won't fall any. l say
| the very argument proves. it is an adj
| mission that our passenger rates
| should not fall. But. gentlemen, we
| say they will fall. We say that our
experience about this thing and this
| territory is more than theirs and we
| say that there is not the travel up
| there. There is not community up
! there who spend their time travelling
around for fun. They are like a lot of
| the rest of US who have to work and
| put their time to work. But, gentle
| men, this bill proposes to put us upon
| the same level as the Boston & Maine
| Railroad and the Boston & Maine Rail
road for that same year of 1898 carried
| D, 600. 900 passengers and a little over.
| The census of 1890 shows that the
| population of ArooStook county was
! $4,000, and if every man. woman and
| child in ArOOStook county travelled
every week day in the year it would
not be half as many passengers as the
! Boston & Maine haul. SO that, gen
! tlemen, we say To you that this mile
age law if it is passed will take money
! out of our treasury which we cannot
afford to have go. Tho only way we
have to pay our bills is out of opera
ton. and, gentlemen, if money is taken
out of our gross receipts it must be
| made UP in one or two ways. Either
| you must rcduce-iix the freight rates
| in some way or else you must tinke,
with the passenger service. To do
either ] have tried to show you would
| injure the development of that county.
would make it harder for the shippers
of that county to meet the fierce com
petition. If you make it harder for
| these shippers to meet competition 1t
makes it harder for every man, woman
and child in the county. Now, gentle
men. it seems To me that is fair pro-
position. l think it appeals to fair
men. Through eight years of as bad
| times as this country has ever seen we
| have gone on and tried and worked
hard and we believe we have accom-
plished something for the State of
| sx1