Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-02-24
THURSDAYS HEARING.
Continued from page g.

stock of the Maine Central, l don't
care where they go. whether through g
sparsely settled or thickly settled
country or whether it is from one end
of this route to the other
We are not demanding here. as has
been argued and reiterated for the
management of these railroads, / do
not care what you call them, whether
you call them the Boston & Maine o.
Maine Central or Portland & Roches-
ter-have we asked for the manage
ment of them? They have stood up
here and beaten the wind-for how
, many hours? l think it was 3 out of
10. They say we are demanding the
management, and if you grant the
mileage we claim you are giving the
management of the railroad to the
people of the State. and that nobody
will come in here and invest their CAPT
tai because it will be said. as it was
done in Kansas. that the Legislature
was delivering over the management
of the railroads of this State to the
people.
What do you say. gentlemen. about
our asking for the privilege that we
have been asking most humbly here
for? Have we asked for any manage
| ment of the railroads of this State? l
am simply asking that when l pay my
| 500 to the Maine Central or any other
| railroad, and get a thousand mile cou-
non ticket on it. ] ask to have my
wife's name in there. or my boys
name, so that Enoch Foster or Mrs.
Foster or my son may ride on that,
where l have paid my $40 honestly.
| Not on a pass. now remember that
| that i may go on the road, that l may
ride ethat out upon the road on which
it is issued. Is that demanding the
management of the railroads of this
| State. gentlemen 1 ask you to put
that argument against what has been
said upon the other side, that these
| petitioners are demanding the man.
agement of the railroads of this State.
I say this is false-I characterize it
as false They are simply demanding
that they can have their rights, as
they are guaranteed now by the rail-
roads. except that they may not be
put to the necessity of buying $40 or
$50 worth of tickets, which may not be
used for a year or two years. Why,
we are not all so fortunate, want this
committee to understands say it for
the people of the State of Maine-we
are not all so fortunate as to have $50
or $40 or $50 to invest in railroad tick
cts. but we may scrape together $50
and ride on the railroad that has given
us that privilege. a privilege only diff
ering a little from that which we have
i today, I ask this in behalf of the 1905
petitioners. ask this in behalf OF
twice that number who were ready tc
sign the petition if it had been pre-
1 scented to them.
And that makes me think, gentle
men. in this connection, that of the "a;
petitioners which were presented tt
YOU here. that of those $4,000 petition
ers- I say this now without fear OF
4 contradiction-that those petitions
/ have been gone over BY date, and thai
out OF that $4,000. 11,0s2 names were
nut upon those petitions before Mr.
Webb was interviewed and before ever
anything went into the public news
papers. and I put that in here. gen
tlemen. in offset to what mas been said
that these $4,000 petitioners signed
these petitions on the statement OF Mr.