Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1901-04-22
The Railroad ciiuati0n.

Editors kenucbcc journal:
am very glad /" lind that my letter in
our issue Of Thursday has Set y. ope
to thinking. IL IS an ! wanted. We hatr
pichtN OF Grain. men i'll oar city VINO 81
private I'M mess shows The good effect of
luteIllst AT thoN-f.t. ANA If tney will only
think with equal intelligence about III /;
matter Of the Maine central branch 10
Winthrop thcic can hc no ,uubi II ii sue
ccSsftil issue.
Now. perhaps. some consideration Of
the general situation 81 Augusta with re
| Said t" lines al traihc may Prove in.cr-
estng.
| VIII try to show how /. is tha;. from
: "tihS an independent. ,inicttcrcd centr"
| or trade 10 which prosperity flowed as in
tNitahIS rs ri*crs scch Tho ocean. W.
nave come 10 liz. at 4 way station. sih-
Jrct to single corporation whicn VIII
neither help us Itself. nor i,I anybody else
h"ip Us, nor even Sraclolisly allow Us to
help ourselves
Ana VIII try "a show how wc can hep
/ ourselves, anu VIII, ought To he uoli. 10
get Us out OF The scrap..
one hHndrcU and 1ity years ago. nil
transportation and nearly an CummBII-
cation WAS ny water. At that jimc Ihcr"
were hut TWO routes from the colonies t.
Canada up n" Hudson. Lake
George ANA Lake Champlain. ana the 9th
er by way uf The kcuu, bee ana Chan
dicrc. Augusta, ar Fort Western, waS
At he head ri SCa-GoinE navigation. and
const queutiy tEc stdTtiug-point Tor boats
going up to the carrying places whence
the path lay to Quebec. A. the country
became settled. aud stage roads were cS
tablishcd. Augusta. still being at the Eol !
OF navigation. was still the STot from
which they rtdated 70 every point OF III
compass. Immense freight wagons bIousht
in thc products Of kenncb"c. Frank.i in.
Some rSet ana Waldo counties; dnd thrfr
are men ". living who cam RENE mbcr tn"
hlStliEG excitement attendant on the ar
rival and departure OF the coaches as
they went oui 10 or cdnc in from Port
land. Bangor. Belfast. RoCkiand. Lewis
ton. Winthrop, Pennington. Mercer and
many other places. All along these routes
were water privileges most Of which. in
ih. small country towns. are no longer
of use to any one and have fallen into
ruin. Probably. all things considered
. Augusta was then more prosperous than
now. 1t would take too much space 70
explain why this was So but. terSely
stated. 1t may be said that. If she had
| fewer rich men she had fewer poor ones {;
| il She had Il low valuation. she had low
| taxes: ii she did smaller business. II
was better distributed; and if she owned
| less. she owed less.
| Well. then came the railroad era. the
| old Portland X kennchec WAS pa:al lcled.
even while being built. by what Is n
present called the back route and, at
. ON. blow All our western tributarlc,
were. ct1t off. Next. the Belfast trade was
taken from US because the branch which
| should have followed the stage route To
| the lower Pcnobscot was diverted in an
| entirely different direction. Years after
| ward the KNOX X Lincoln robbed us OF
| Rockland. Look at road map OF the
/ State and observe how the old highways
tended toward Augusta. 1hcn examine q
! railway map and see the way in which
We have been cut off. isolated and set
| aside until q person unfamiliar with the
| country would conclude that some IN
superablc obstacles must interpose be
! tween us and the east and west; whereas.
| in reality. We happen to be situated eN :
actly where the central Maine tapie iann
| Il cut by easy approaches from both
| Iuartcrs 10 the valley of the i\ennepec
! Part of this spoilation was the newt /
able result NJ circums tances-anothcr
/ part arose from intrigucS into which II i
I not now worth while to inquirc-aild sun
another came ont of the fact That Ger
/ tain chance conditions obscured IN" true
interests nf Augusta from all men : eye"
These chance conditions were two, the
civil War. creating a fevcrish and FAC,
titiouS prosperity which, though II could
not last and did not last. yet neNcrtht-
less occupied evcrybody's attention to the
exclusion OF really solid and permanent
sources of wcll-bens; and the Develop
itself. but being limited. not the basis
UPON which constantly increasing
/ growth can he founded.
This development took place at several
different periods. ending i'll lSS.. or soon
! after 1t that time 1t gave u what Is
/ pop,lariy called "A boom, and /; Is sun
the main support of our trade. But we
are now getting all we ever can get our
If it-and now, after the lapse OF fifty
wears. we once more feel the pressure OF
cxigcncics arising from causes wncn hiSt
began 10 operate SO ION. dSt IT. thiS
we ought to get back L" the position We
occupied half a century ago. We ought
once more To be Il conmerclal ccn're-
We ought to have "A railroad in the place
OF almost every one of the Old stage
routes Then we shah again see our Guy
AS il was once. plIs the increased scare
unon which everything is done IN these
times Better communication means
more business. more business means more
population. more population means NOR"
taxable property, and more taNaplc piop-
,rtv means less taxes.
Ali this brings me back 10 the Name
Central branch to Winthrop, which VII
prove either the beginning of every hiiis
Of the end of everything, accordingly as
we manage matters 3, ou
And the time to manage matters Is now.
As "A preliminary step. | would SuSSeS'
1s,1bicct to the correction of wiser hcads.
who may have better plans 10 propose
that some representative citizens be ptop-
crly authorized 10 confer Win tnc MAINE
Central officials, state the case 70 .iie,ii'
tind ont what they will do or VIII MOI 90.
ana report results. Then we shall nave
something tangible to 20 u ip,i,.y ana 'e en-
a"'c" - ''''i' AUGUSTAN.