The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-03-14
rae PROTEST oF Mr. GAY "A
ne Sets Fsrth Reassas Why He Thinks There
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hurst and s. ID. 4 SfOOQWaTQ,; III SSloA ?.
In addition to the officers and direcIoIs
H AIMED there were also present MessI 6
I Geo.. w. Brown, Benz. Z. Crump, j..
II eeman, G. E. Wingo. Ware .. Ga3,
Nsjor Sol. Cutchins and others
Several reports of standing committees
were received and flied or continued III
TIL. hands Of the committee tor 1urthe e
consideration, but the report OF MI. %. Y.
Leigh, Jr., chairman of the Commlttee
OF Inland Trade in reference to House
bill No. 161 to incorporate the SManchesletff
ard Richmond Free Bridge Company anu
under certain circumstances to institute
condemnation proceedings against. MAYO s 3
In;dge, proved a subject of deep interest
ard lively discussion in the meeting. air.
Lee frankly stated that the bill had been!
referred to his committee at an hour on.
~ ednesday when it was impossible to
cali meeting of the committee, but that
being informed that it was desirable 10
Lring the question to the attention of the.
Board OF Directors at its meeting Thursrrss
CaS. the members has been individ uallys
consulted. with but one exception, ana
they had all approved of the measure.
JIe then gave brief history OF the OIL
rim of the bill, after which he suggested
that Nsessrs. freeman and WOODWARD.
who had given much attention to tho
question, could give full information 10
z 'A' Mr.. Mr.. FREEMAN EXPLAINS.
Mr.. G. Freeman said he did not
think it was necessary to aoo mucih "
What had been stated by MI. Leigh anu ana
= I1at was contained in the bill itself but
lie would scall attention to the fact that}
circle drawn around five or SIX blocks.
WITH the northern terminus oil the brldge
as a center would include most OIL ING
principal business estabilsiln e1Lls " %
Ejchmond, and a similar circle drawn s ~
N;anchester, with the southern terminus
MY fhe>tc
trace nearly all Of the manufacturing
s,.ta hlishments of Manchester, ana these
tY5o centers of business We're suoecleo
annually to a toll OF about Sb,0oo IN t rau;-
irg with each other. His conclusion was
therefore, that The pubic a- .s.. -, 80
ss,,,S7ed snother free bridge at or near
five site of Mayo's Bridge He said ne
was opposed to doing anything Which
y,,Ild iniure the owners OF that proper
~. but, in his opinion, 9ifs Mayo S for1ose
could be made a free bridge, the value
or .Mayo's Island alone for manulactnr IN
s.:tas would be greater than that or the
Island and the bridge under present cir
camstances and in the present condltlon
a.. the latter.
MS. NJ. Woodward said he consulted
1Ion III. r. Pollard, the City Attorney, as
10 whether the interests OF Rlchmond
were protected in this important measure ss
and in the present shape of the Dill. lie
Ind replied that they W re fully protectcd;I
that ine#had had some doubt III his mind
as TO whether the section providing for
condemnation proceedings against the
owners of Mayo's bridge was not rather
iEconsiae1ate Of their rights, puta tnat
when his attention had been called to the
fact that If that bridge was parallel by
n free bridge, it would betwcrth nothing,
his doubts had been entirely 1emoyed, and
lie thought tie bill in its present shape
contemplating sucn condemnation pro-
ceedings was fairest to the present own
crs of the bridge. He added that al
though some twenty citizens Of tnelr own
motion had appeared before the commit
tee of The Legislature in favor OF the
a,ill. Vet some doubt had arisen as to
whether the people Of Richmond really
wanted another free bridge and that,
therefore, .he matter had been brought to
the attention of The board, and he hoped
that it would see fit to endorse the mea-
sure.
RESOLUTIONS PROPOSED.
Col. Shelton, to bring the matter to an
Issue, offered the follwing::
Whereas, House Bill No. ISL, entitled "A
bill to incorporate the Manchester and
Richmond Free Bridge Company has
been passed by the House of Delegates,
and is now pending before the Senate
Committee on General Laws, and
Whereas. it is greatly to the interest OF
all the people of Richmond and Manches-
ter to have another free bridge connecting
the two cities. and
Whereas, we think the pending bill is a
fair and just one to all parties concerned,
therefore, be it
Resolved. That the Richmond Chamber
of Commerce heartily endorses the pend
ing bill, and respectfully requests that
1t be enacted into law; and be it further
Resolved. That Messrs. J. d. Crump
syo1,,, ol,oy.c.
be appointed a committee to present the
views of this body.
VIEWS OF Mr.. GAY.
Mr.. Ware 3 Gay, as an interested
Darty, was invited to address the meet
ing. He stated that he thought the
Chamber should be conservative in any
resolutions it adopted with respect to
this measure; that he had never been
! approached by either of the municipali-
| ties upon the subject, and the passage of
this bill, in his opinion. would be practi-
cal confiscation of the property of the
| bridge owners, that the cities Of Rich
/ 1nond and Manchester were not in a posi-
| ton now to issue bonds, and the bill held
a club over the heads of the owners of
! the bridge for the next three years; that
| plans had been prepared for new steel
bridge, but that the execution of these
plans had been unayoidably delayed on
account Of the inpossibility of procuring
the necessary materials, that in the
meantime the street railway traffic had
been withdrawn, but the bridge was nat
unsafe, and he had the report of thor
oughly competent engineers to that eff
feet and he thought the city of Rich
:nond, if 1t chose to do SO, could compel
s a renewal of the street car service. He
asserted that this franchise for tho bridge
had been granted In 1855. and 1t was now
maintained in a better condition than