The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-12-23

] 1 the legislature. I may offer in all 1 good faith to do many things, but I | cannot perform if you persist in ty- ] ing my hands.
 Sound Steamer Lines.
 The New Haven has been criticised flor its ownership of steamboat lines, particularly on the Sound. Practi-
 cally all steamboat lines operated by the New Haven on the Sound came | with it's leased lines and were ex- 1 tensions of those leased lines to New l York, and they were mostly acquired l before the advent of the present ad- l n1inistration, and not in any way to prevent competition. The service has | been continually improved, the rates have not been increased despite 1 largely increased expense and the l main purpose of the New Haven in i operating these lines has been to en- 1 able it to furnish a quicker and more
 regular system of delivery at ter minals in various sections of New 1 York not served by all it's rail lines New York is series of cities un- 1 der one name. Delivery in certain sec | tions will not serve others. We must
 reach the dry goods district. the boot
 and shoe district, etc, seriously | discommode our patrons If we
 could handle all our business at one 1 terminal it would very much reduce
 
 | charges. not including labor and cost l of operation. are in excess of one 1 million dollars per annum These 1 steamboat lines do not in themselves pay. They can only be justified in ] connection with business like the
 railroads, which they can help and
 which can relieve it's congestion through them. Alone they would | have a precarious existence and 1 would have to seriously curtail the | character of the service, certainly in efficiency and possibly in safety.
 Many times within recent years it l has been the desire of the Boston
 merchants that additional water lines 1 should be operated between Boston l and New York, and also. to Gulf 1 points, to extend New England's com
 merce. The propositions for these
 new lines have been submitted by l these business. men to the New Ha-
 ven and the New Haven has stated l that it was always ready to go on with this development providing it could have legislative authority from the state of Massachusetts, such as it | had from Connecticut. The legisla- l ture always refused to give this right | to the New Haven company, but per mission was granted this year in the 1 bill giving the Grand Trunk right to come into Boston. It was neces- | sary for the Grand Trunk to secure such authority in Massachusetts. We could not.
 When MT. Morse acquired the Met ropolitan Steamship company, the outside line between Boston and New York. He raised the rates that had obtained for long time. At the re- quest of committee of the Boston chamber of commerce we placed an additional line between New York and Boston in competition with MT. Morse and operated these boats on the original Metropolitan rates. The outside steamship rates have re- mained down to the old basis to the present day as a result.
 American Express Contract.
 The insinuation has been subtly put forth that in conjunction with the New Haven purchase of Boston & Maine stock the American Express com pany contract was extended on a basis which now means loss of $7e0,0o per annum to the Boston & Maine. While do not believe that an express company can operate on the Boston & Main with the same profit or percentage of the gross re- ceipts, as to more densely populated lines, I think it right for me here to say that the present express con- tract was made before I had any voice in Boston & Maine affairs. Passenger Rates.
 It is charged that my administra- ton in New England has resulted in advancing passenger rates. As matter of fact, the passenger rates on the New Haven railroad today av- craze lower than they were when I took charge of the property nine years ago and no passenger rate on the Boston & Maine has been in creased since I took charge. The ex- trerne reduction has not been main reduced the fare from Boston to New i York from $5 to $4.65, but when the added expense of our New York ter n1inal had to be assumed added 10 cents to the reduced rate, making it S4.75, a net reduction of 25 cents from the original. Campaign Has Demoralized Elm
 pIoyees. The most dep1orable of all the re- suits attending the present organized campaign of misrepresentation | against the New Haven road is it's de- | moralizing effect upon our employees and upon the weak and evil-minded | in the community.
 We have been obliged now for sew eral weeks to have our tracks con stantly patrolled and in spite of the | unable to prevent two notable at tempts and several minor ones at | train wreckfng The number of at temptS to secure newspaper notoriety | by loosening spikes and reporting them to discredit the road has been most depIorable. We have had our | tracks inspected by experts not in | any way connected with the road. We l have removed material, sound and l good because it's appearance was | against it and might cause comm ent | by those of insufficient knowledge We have done everything that could | be thought of, not considering ex- | pense in the least, to make our road the best in the country. There cer- | tainIy should be no better road and I | don't believe there is. No road in |