The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-08-30

"Why is it, I ask, that originally the railroad committee of this Legis'
 lature reported unanimously in favor
 of this petition?" asked Senator Jud- son. Because at that time, there
 was no opposition on the part of the
 New Haven road.
 'T don't want to say anything per- sonally offensive" he continued, ''tc the mem mbership of the railroad com mittee but in the House of Represen- tatives the favorable reports of that committee carry prima facie evidence that they ought to be unfavorable while the unfavorable reports con- tain prima facie evidence that they ought to be favorable. It may be, however, that the valued services to the people of the State of the gentle men who compose this committee are not appreciated
 After the railroad committee had at first decided to report favorably up on this petition,s he went on, the velvet hand of the New Haven road appear ed. Upon a spacious plea of the com mittee succeeded in having the report recommitted. Then it was that the manoeuvres for the purpose of des- troying it were begun. The lncorpor- ators of the road were willing to grant any reasonable request in order that the line might be built. They would have been glad to have the New Haven road itself build it.
 Finally at the instigation of the New Haven road the language of the charter was changed so that every passenger on the prospective line com ing toward Bridgeport would be de- livered into the Connecticut company s paw in Bridgeport where the lines would converge. In the original peti- tion the incorporators had provided for a connection with the Danbury SS Bridgeport Railway at Trumbull. The lobby of the New Haven road seemed to become possessed of the notion that it would be a bad precedent to estab- fish to allow the citizens of Connec- ticut to enter into a co-partnership to construct line of this kind for their convenience and saw to it that the report stayed with the committed until it was transferred from a fa- vorable to an unfavorable report.
 Almost precisely the same procedure took -place- when the search light bill so-called continued Senator Judson was recommitted to the same commit tee upon a similar spacious plea. It was simply a case Of history repeat ing itself 1t an expense of several hundred dollars the citizens of these same towns engaged a competent en- gineer to resuryey the grounds in or der to overcome the objection on the part of the New Haven road that the proposed line would parallel their troll lev system. So careful were these men that they laid their prospective charter before Governor Simeon E. Baldwin and received his o. K. Then what happened? A mild voiced en- gineer appeared before this railroad committee with the astounding propo- sition that this charter should not be granted because the residents in the several communities through which it was proposed the line should pass had failed to comply with the technical provision of the law which provides that before a charter of this kind may be granted public notice in the form of a newspaper advertisement must be given.
 ''Oh, what a chance for a Mark Twainv exclaimed Judson. Think of such an objection as this The law contemplates notice being given so that those holding adverse opinions may be notified. Here is a situation where there are no adversaries, where everybody in the communities con-