The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1911-02-17
COMMITTEE REPLIES
TO JONES ARTICLE
Central Vermont Didn't Offer
to Make improvements
MINORITY REPORT WAS ILLEGAL
For the Reason That the Public Service
Commission Cannot Compel One Rail.
road to Make Improvements for An
other-A Word About the Lobby.

Commission Cannot Compel One Rail
road to Make Improvements for An
other-A Word About the Lobby.
Editor Reformer:
Having read the article published in the
St Albans Messenger and the circular
that has been SO freely distributed around
Brattleboro, the local railroad committee
feel that in justification TO the town oil
Brattleboro and to themselves the follow
ing statement should be made:
In the article published IN the Messen'
ger, representing an interview with Gen
erai Manager Jones, and in this same arti.
Gle printed in circular form and circulated
through the town Of Brattleboro, was the
implication that the people Of Brattleboro
were not fair in dealing with the Central
Vermont Railway company:
Several items OF this interview Mr.
Jones knows personally are not the facts,
for il states that Mr.. Jones says that
the Central Vermont submitted PROPOSE
ton to the committee OF the town OF Brat.
tleboro that they would raise the yard and
tracks and build a S25, 900 passenger sta
tion, according TO the plans OF the Boston
x Maine Railroad company, without any
expense TO the town OF Brattleboro, and
that the committee, through their attor'
ney, promptly refused TO accept this pro-
position.
These are not the true facts. The Cen
tral Vermont never made any proposition
to the town of Brattleboro or to the com
mittee in regard TO raising the yard or
building a passenger station. The only
thing approaching il was that one OF the
Central Vermont officials did telephone TO
Brattleboro to see il the committee could
be induced to cease its support OF the
Boston & Maine bill, provided the Central
Vermont would raise the yard and tracks
and build a station. We never had this IN
! form of a proposition. They only asked
| the committee that question.
| The committee took the ground that
they had agreed to support the Boston 4
Maine bill for an independent line and
could not go back on their agreement, hay
ing been so instructed by the vote OF the
town. But there would have been no dit
ficulty in arranging for the Boston 4
Maine to come up through on their own
iron without troubling the Central Yer
mont, if the Central Vermont had raised
I the tracks themselves.
Shortly after this the committee were
invited TO confer with the Central Yer
mont management in their car at Mont
pelier,- and they. expected that some pro
position would be made at that time. But
on the contrary, the only proposition they
did receive was from Mr.. Fltzhugh,. who
said "Go ahead and live up to the origina
proposition that was ordered by the pub
lie service commission" This, OF course
| the committee refused to agree to. Had
the Central Vermont management in that
conference submitted any proposition
other than the plan ordered by the public
service commission. the committee would
have submitted it to the Boston X Maine
railroad officials and used their best effort,
to secure a compromise satisfactory to all
! parties concerned. :.
Mr.. Jones further refers to the minority
report adopted BY the senate. He well
knows, without any contradiction, that
the conference committee looked into the
legality of this report and submitted the
question to the encouragement, VINO
after one hours consideration, promptly
said that the minority report was in his
opinion not legal, as the public service
commission could not order or compel any
railroad company to build tracks for the
accommodation of another.
| Ii is useless to talk over the matter .oi
| the lobby at Montpelier, for anyone who
served in the house of representatives oil
senate knows that the lobby OF the Cen
tral Vermont Railway company was much
larger than the few citizens from Brattle
boro. -,
| Everyone at Montpelier during the last
day of the session knows that when the
members of the conference committee un
dertook to get out of their committee
room they were Immediately surrounded
BY Central Vermont attorneys and did moi
have a chance to converse with anyone
else. The conference committee, appoint
ed by both the house and senate, shoulc
have been left absolutely alone TO worl
out an agreement between themselves, ant
Mr.. Jones knows full well that this wal
not the case. -, =,
| Mr.. Jones states still further that tn.
Boston & Maine proposed building tract
about 1,500 feet in length, upon lant
which the Central Vermont people owned
and he well knows that practically all o
this 1900 feet of track would have beer
built on filled land out in the river; whlcl
il not owned or never was owned by th'
Central Vermont railway.
The only issue on this whole proposition
was that the Boston & Maine wanted il
some way the right to get up through
southern Vermont on their own iron
They were willing to go by way of Vernon
street, not interfering with the .Centra
Vermont property in any way whatever
or to build practically two-thirds OF thei
road on the river, and on flooded liant
which will never be used by the Centra
Vermont railway, and to lay out quartz
of a million dollars in the Brattlebor.
yard, so as to enlarge the same to sucl
an extent that it would not damage tn
Central Vermont railway in the least. Or
they would do anything that the publ
service commission might designate, in OF
der to get up through Brattleboro on thei
own iron, as was proposed in Senate
Adams's last amendment, but the senat
refused to- consider any proposition tina
would give any other railroad the right t.
come into Brattleboro from the south OIL
its own iron. They insisted that if an!
other railroad should come into Brattle
boro it should pay toll to the Central Yer
mont railway.
This, Mr.. Mellen absolutely refused. t.
do, and he was justified in taking tina
stand