The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1907-07-19
no FREE BRIDGES.

N%AN OeNeo AAStiio VI AC6lSAahAOAir &AASAN
has been a great deal said of the pro-
posed bond-issie from the alleged point
Of view that "the pee-pul' were to be
allowed to take hand in the govern
ment Of Connecticut by means Of the
referendum. All of the conceivable
changes have been rung upon this
condescension though the truth is that
consideration for the electorate has
had nothing to do with it. The purpose
has been to hitch to the popular bond
issue for good roads other bond-issues
in which a given locality is neces-
sarily deeply interested and unload the
responsibility on the people with the
expectation of probably winning out
without criticism. That is all there is
to the proposed referendum.
But this is not all there is TO the
bond-issue. The possibilities Of 1t have
SO grown upon those to whom bond
issues are meat and drink that the
sooner Governor Woodruff sharpens
his veto pen, in event Of the general
issue receiving the assent of the Cen
eral Assembly, the better for the tax
payers of the State. When the house
of representatives received the bill
from the senate 1t knocked out the
referendum clause and substituted for
1t an additional bond-issue of $780,
900 with which to free the bridges now
under charter to toll bridge companies
or toll bridge companies owned and
operated by towns. 1t appears that
there are number Of these structures
in various conditions Of innocuous
desuetude. In an enlightening debate
upon the subject in the senate when
the bond bill was returned from the
house, Senator Judson charged that the
bridges to be freed were in a dilapi-
dated condition, though there was no
specific information before the legls-
lature regarding the cost or condition
of the bridges He asked the senate If
as business men they would sanction
such a transaction in private. He furth-
Ter reminded his associates that the
people Of New Haven and Fairfield
counties had freed their bridges at
their own expense, and he might have
added that other counties have done the
same thing. He protested against any
other method being followed, though
he failed to observe that had it not
been for the deadly idea of the referen-
dunn the proposed bond Issue for
bridges would never have been sprung
on the General Assembly.
There should be no more question
about the meaning Of this bridge
enterprise than there is about
the referendum itself, What 1t
proposes and what ii seeks to
accomplish is Just this, this and moth
ing more. The sole object is to unload
on to the state treasury the cost which
should be put upon towns, connecting
towns and counties created by either
| the feeling or the maintenance OF
| bridges. All the sephistry Of which cIev.
| er lobbyists are capable VIII not and
/ ought not to be allowed to modify the
truth of the obvious fact that raid is
contemplated upon the state treasury
| for the benefit of given number OF
| towns and not for the benefit Of th'
| State at large. Fourteen years ago the
five towns concerned in the maintenance
of the East Hartford bridge undertook t
| unload that structure upon the STATE
| wholly because a new structure was
necessary. A corruption fund was Or
ganized and used to such good purpose
that the bridge was unlosded on to the
State, only two years later to be again
Iunloaded upon the five towns interested
This was not, however, accomplished
until after the flercest kind Of a f1ghi
which attracted the attention Of the en-
tire commonwealth. The principle in
volved was that Hartford county or th'
towns directly interested in the building
of a new bridge over the Connection
river connecting the city of Hartford
with East Hartford and the nearby
towns should pay their own bills ant
mot ask the residents of the other sec
tons of the state to chip in for wha
was not of necessity to them.
If that was good logic then it is goot
Ilogic now. So simple in fact is tn,
Iprinciple in all such emergencies tina
it is nothing short of impudence for tn
Legislature to undertake to convince tn
people of this state, who are not fool
seven though they are at times careless
in selecting their representatives, tina
their best interests are being served b,
the issuance Of bonds for the purpose o
making the many bear the burdel
which properly rests upon the few di
irectly concerned AS Senator Judsol
says: THE bridges should be assume
community wise, possibly county o
town wise within the zone the bridge
serve" 1t is well to remember, toe