Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1902-05-30


Atlas it appears that on this route there
are but forty miles of level, while the
whole distance from Rutland to Burlng
ton, and from the foot of Mount Holly
to the Connecticut must furnish double
that number of miles of nearly level sur
face In the article in the Boston Atlas
we find the following statement of the
grades from the Connecticut river to
Burlington made as we suppose by a
friend of the Central route
40 miles level.
10 miles from to 90 feet per mile.
IL " 20 to 30
u " 30 to 10 "
If " 40 to so 4" 3"
Considering the uncommon regularity
of surface from Rutland through the
great valley of Lake Champlain to Bur-
lington, and the frequent curvatures of
the Central route, it is scarcely possible
that the higher grades of Mount Holly
will not be fully counterbalanced by the
more numerous grades and curvatures of
the Montpelier route.
The repeated attempts of the writers
of the Central route in Boston and Mont
pelier to belittle the resources of the
Western route have induced us partially
to tread over the grounds which we &C.
cupied last week, clearly evlncing that
the Western route possessed vastly the
advantage of the Central from the supe-
rior agricultural and mineral produc-
tons of Rutland and Addison counties.
Never until very recently has it been
pretended that the rugged mountains
ard narrow valleys Of northeastern YER
mont were to be compared in variety of
soil and eXuberance of agricultural pro-
ducts with the gentle slopes and wide
spread valleys of Rutland, Addison and
Chittenden counties. The same obser.
walton is true in relation to the mineral
wealth of that region, which by the aid
of granite rocks and exhausted beds of
copper and copperas IS recently attempt
ed to be exalted into a sort of northern
FL Dorado. To fortify our position we
will not resort to a display of tables and
deceptive classlfications upon which our
opponents have wasted so much inge-
nuity.
We appeal to the census returns which
appeared in our paper last week, and in
this for the truth of our statements. A
man must be utterly ignorant of Yer
mont " no does not know that the sec
ton Of country throughout which the
Southern route will pass is vastly richer
than the Central route in agricultural re-
sources, in a thrifty and numerous popu-
lation, in ineXhaustble quarries of white
~ Ia
slate and serpentine, in mines of iron,
manganese and copperas. AS a specimen
Of the downright frauds practiced by the
opponents of our route, correspondent
in the last Atlas makes up list of towns
passed through or touched on each
route, with the amount of the grand list
of 1911, and finds the total of the Rut-
land route Sl0,477,000, of the Central
Sll, 100 900, balance in favor of the
Central route of SG77, 95S. The abomin-
able injustice of the statement is, that it
includes fowls to the extent of IS or 80
miles on this route between Bellows
Falls and the mouth of White river,
which is the very space Of the Central
over and above the length of the Rutland
route, whose list amounts to 81 $50, 900,
which should be substracted from the
ST., l55 900 and would leave balance in
favor of the Rutland route of 81, 275 600.
Another important consideration in
this comparison of routes is, that by the
Montpelier route Boston would not Sc
cure single new customer, but by the
Rutland route she would secure western
= Vermont, which from the difficulties OF
transportation now diverts large por-
ton of her trade to Troy and New
\ DIRK. If none but the Central road
should be built the counties of Rutland
and Addison would be nearly lost to
Boston in the end.
But the argument against the Rutland
route upon which the editor of the Watch.
man dwells with the most self. satisfied
complacency is, that it is liable to be
= tapped at Rutland by railroad from
; Whitehall. Nothing could be more de.
sirable to the Boston capitalists than such
an event. A paramount object with them
ever has been to compete with New York
on her own ground. The great Western
railroad was built for this very purpose.
The object of reaching Lake Champlain
is TO command the trade which now flows
down to New York by the Northern
Canal and if New York people conclude
to build railroad from Whitehall to
Rutland 1t would be saving Boston an
expenditure which her interest might
otherwise compel her to make. That
road would give Boston a renewed adj
vantage of competition with New York
upon her own territory. Upon smaller
scale it would give her the same Increase
of business on the Saratoga route which
her western railway affords her in the
western world. The truth is, Boston is
a better market for the produce Of this
region than New York. Every article
sent there from Vermont uniformly bears
a better price In Boston than New York
Besides Rutland is about so miles nearer
Boston than New York, or within lGi
miles of Boston. Albany is 200 miles
from Boston and yet an immense amount