, "sií;
.♦. I
Opportunity
for
Massachusetts
ri"
vfc.
NEEDS OF PORT OF BOSTON
pj;
HON. WILLIAM S. McNARY TELLS THE COM¬
MITTEE ON RAILROADS THAT THE RAILROAD
HISTORY OF THE STATE SHOULD TEACH THE
GREAT DESIRABILITY OF THE COMING OF
THE GRAND TRUNK LINES TO BOSTON.
WORCESTER, HAVERHILL AND REVERE BOARD
OF TRADE OFFICIALS, BOSTON BUSINESS MEN,
AND DELEGATIONS FROM DUDLEY, WEBSTER
AND SOUTHBRIDGE TESTIFY TO THE GEN-
RAL DESIRE FOR THE GRAND TRUNK
HE
[¿771
93
Opportunity
for
Massachusetts
NEEDS OF PORT OF BOSTON
HON. WILLIAM S. McNARY TELLS THE COM¬
MITTEE ON RAILROADS THAT THE RAILROAD
HISTORY OF THE STATE SHOULD TEACH THE
GREAT DESIRABILITY OF THE COMING OF
THE GRAND TRUNK LINES TO BOSTON.
WORCESTER, HAVERHILL AND REVERE BOARD
OF TRADE OFFICIALS, BOSTON BUSINESS MEN,
AND DELEGATIONS FROM DUDLEY, WEBSTER
AND SOUTHBRIDGE TESTIFY TO THE GEN¬
ERAL DESIRE FOR THE GRAND TRUNK
INDEX
Hon. William S. McNary, Boston .
page
3E
Edward M. Woodward, Worcester .
17E
Herbert M. Davison, Worcester .
19E
Charles T. Tatman, Worcester
21E
A. M. Child, Haverhill .
24E
Thomas H. Shepard, Boston .
27E
Andrew A. Casassa, Revere .
37E
Hon. Eben S. Stevens, Dndley
38E
Robert C. King, Boston
40E
Alexis P. Boyer, Jr., Southbridge .
41E
M. P. O'Shaughnessy, Southbridge .
43E
George Grant, Southbridge .
44E
James Cox, Webster
46E
Joseph P. Love, Webster
48E
Note:—The remarks of all the speakers have been
condensed, in order that excerpts from each of them
might be presented.
Railroad History Lessons
By HON. WILLIAM S. McNARY
Hon. William S. McNary, of Boston, former member of
Congress and former member of the Legislature, was the
speaker at the evening session of the Committee on Rail¬
roads, on February 28.
He made a strong argument in favor of the extension
of the lines of the Southern New England Railroad in
Massachusetts, so that there would be direct connec¬
tions between Boston and the Grand Trunk Railway
system.
His review of the railroad history of the state was com¬
prehensive in scope and interesting in narration, and demon¬
strated his thorough grasp of the subject of transportation.
His address was substantially as follows:
Mr. Chairman; I am here commissioned by the South
Boston Citizen's Association on this matter in a general way.
I might say I am a member of the Chamber of Commerce
but I do not pretend to represent them in any respect.
We saw that the Legislature last year, like everybody
else, had been interested in the question of the Grand Trunk
going into Providence, and a great deal of discussion arose
in the newspapers and commercial bodies about the Grand
Trunk coming into Boston. And last year, as I understand
it, the Legislature of Massachusetts passed a resolution
in the Senate, April 27, 1911, page 950, and in the House,
April 27, 1911, page 1158, inviting the Grand Trunk to come
3E
OPPORTUNITY FOR MASSACHUSETTS
into Boston; and, as near as I understood at the time—
I have not taken occasion to verify my understanding—
that was a unanimous resolution in both bodies.
So I take it that the House and Senate placed themselves
on record in favor of the Grand Trunk coming into Boston
last year.
We noted the fact also that a great number of commercial
bodies in various sections of the state had taken similar
action. No doubt, that action was similar in large measure
because of the fact that the Grand Trunk many years ago
got a line through Massachusetts, through Vermont, down
through New Hampshire.
When we granted the right, I was perhaps as young
as any member of the Committee on Railroads of that
time.
We thought that the idea of the Central Vermont wanting
to run to New London and transport freight and express
to New York and elsewhere, would be a good thing
for this state and the other states. I am still of that
opinion.
I was a member of the legislature when the New York
Central endeavored to secure the control of the Boston &
Albany Railroad. Representative Dean, of your Committee,
was a member at the same time. I opposed that measure
to the best of my ability, and am on record as voting against
it at every stage. The Chamber of Commerce advocated
it, under the belief that the New York Central would bring
to Boston a considerable western business. I could not see
it then, and have been unable to see it since.
The Boston & Albany Railroad under the New York
Central management is not nearly as well managed as under
its own control. There have been numerous complaints
since, but at the present time that road is doing better;
but it is due to the fact, as I believe, of the great outburst
4E
HON. WILLIAM S. McNARY, BOSTON
of public sentiment in Massachusetts, and also to the fact
that the New York, New Haven & Hartford is putting
considerable money into the deficit of that road at the
present time.
Foolish Ideas Have Been Advanced
I have not been a member of the Legislature for the last
few years and I have not kept very closely in touch with
affairs here, but I have watched this railroad discussion and
it seems to me many foolish ideas have been advanced and
many foolish things said. The Boston & Maine has occu¬
pied a position as if in the public mind it ought to be de¬
fended, upheld, nursed and taken care of.
The Boston & Maine Railroad was given the advantage
of the Connecticut River Railroad and St. Johnsbury &
Lake Champlain. We gave it control over one road and
then another, and, finally, when the state of Massachusetts
passed the lease of the Fitchburg Railroad, the state sold
that interest which it had in the Fitchburg Railroad to the
Boston & Maine at a very low price, the reason being that
we felt that the Boston & Maine should be stimulated and
strengthened as against the New York Central by having
a line to the West.
The Boston & Maine Railroad had a magnificent oppor¬
tunity to develop the port of Boston. It had a magnificent
opportunity several times to reach into Canada and to
reach into the West. It might have bought the West Shore
or the Nickel Plate, it might have bought the Ogdensburg &
Lake Champlain, it might have secured control of another
road which was sold very cheaply.
I will ask you to place yourself as if in a western com¬
munity, and think of a railroad forty or fifty miles from
Chicago, within forty or fifty miles' of Minneapolis, a rail¬
road within forty or fifty miles of Omaha, and a railroad
5E
OPPORTUNITY FOR MASSACHUSETTS
within forty or fifty miles of Kansas City. Western railroad
men would regard such a management as practically insane.
And yet, for many years, twenty years, more or less, the
Boston & Maine Railroad has been within forty miles of
Montreal, within fifty or sixty miles of Quebec, within
forty or fifty miles of St. John, New Brunswick, and has never
made an effort to build in.
Now, the Boston & Maine Railroad in the last few years
has received the protection of the public and the press of
Massachusetts and it would seem as if anything that was
being done to affect that road would be a crime. The road
has been steadily going down, the road has been steadily
milked. It is practically a tin plate road. Its equipment is
bad. Its stock is bad.
Milking A Railroad
Why the Legislature of Massachusetts or the people
should go out of their way to protect such an anachronism
as that is beyond me. For years they allowed the Boston &
Maine Railroad to be milked in the most scientific fashion
by the American Express Company which had practically
the sole contract for carrying matter over the road and had
a large number of shares in the road, and, therefore, was
interested in keeping up a high rate of dividends, and a
high express rate, from both of which they derived enor¬
mous incomes. So much so that at the present time the
dividends on the Boston & Maine Railroad are beginning
to disappear.
There is nothing for the Legislature of Massachusetts
to be proud of in the railroad situation in Massachusetts.
There has been no development, practically speaking, there
has been no increase of service, practically speaking, and
no great effort to bring it about, and if the commercial
6E
HON. WILLIAM S. McNARY, BOSTON
bodies of the state are waking up to the fact that New
England is waking up to the railroad situation, they are
waking up to a fact that was known everywhere else in the
country years ago.
The previous generation were great railroad builders,
and nowhere were there greater than those right here in
Boston. They were keen, intelligent, sagacious business
men, but for the last generation, Boston has not been led
by such business men. They have been investors, and they
have regarded railroad matters with a view to obtaining
secure investment, and not to build up new railroads. That
is the situation at the present time, and if the Grand Trunk
is coming in here, if the Grand Trunk is to bring in new ideas
and new points of view, it would be doing a good thing for
New England and Boston.
This afternoon I heard questions asked here which would
indicate to my mind that some members of the Committee
feel that if a railroad already exists in a town or city, or
two railroads, that no new railroad ought to come in imless
it can be clearly and definitely shown that existing railroads
were not handling the business of those towns. On that
basis the city of San Francisco ought never to have allowed
the Southern Pacific to get in there.
What New Orleans Did
In the last ten years New Orleans has got a number of
new railroads into that city. They have there forty-five
miles of terminal railroad, connecting every wharf, pier and
dock with every other wharf, pier, dock and railroad in
New Orleans. It is government owned and government
managed, and it is reducing the cost of handling freight
and everything else of that character.
New York stands between us and the West. New Eng-
7E
OPPORTUNITY FOR MASSACHUSETTS
land is almost isolated in a corner of the country. Great
railroads center there in New York. New York stands
between us and the South, and there is no great reason why
those great producing regions of the West and of the South
who reach tide water at New York, who find there superior
dock facilities and railroad accommodations—there is no
great reason why they should send their business to Boston
when they can reach tide water by New York quicker than
they can at Boston.
As I say, we are up in a corner of the country, and, while
nobody who is a patriotic citizen would wish that this
might have been a part of Canada, yet we may readily
wish that Canada had been a part of the United States. If
Ben Franklin had not been sick at the time of the signing
of the treaty with Great Britain, he would have insisted upon
the cession of that great region, Canada, so that it might
have become a part of the United States. But the other
commissioners, in his absence, did not insist. We lost
Canada at that time, and again, in 1812, when we had
reasonable ground for taking Canada we did not do it.
Our Hope is Canada
But, speaking from a geographical standpoint, we are a
part of Canada, and Canada would quickly become a part of
us if there were no tariff barriers between us. We cannot
—even if the business of the West continues to grow—we
cannot get that business in competition with Baltimore
and Philadelphia. But the business of the West is not
going to continue to grow in the export lines. It is a
serious question how long we shall continue to export beef
cattle, and grain, and cereals, for they will all be required
for home consumption. Then what have we left? We have
a chance to get Canadian business. We would not get it, of
8E
HON. WILLIAM S. McNARY, BOSTON
course, if the Canadian ports were not icebound at times.
That is natural.
Our chance consists in the fact that they have not a good
port that is ice free. Halifax and St. John can be made
into shipping ports, but they will be for a considerable part
of each year closed by ice. There is a chance for us to get
some of that great business from the Canadian Northwest
which will be the great developing section of this continent
for the next twenty-five or fifty years. There is a chance for
us to do it, but the other day I noticed that the Canadian
Pacific was shipping down at a differential rate of 10 per
cent to Baltimore, as against Boston from that same section.
You can build all the docks that you can place in the har¬
bor, you can increase the facilities of Boston, but unless
you can bring business here for these docks it won't benefit
Boston or the city.
How to Get Business
How will you get the business? There are two ways.
One way is to let in the Grand Trunk Railroad if it means
business. Some people are casting doubts on its sincerity.
Some people say the Grand Trunk wants to come in here
and get a location to ship outward from the great grain-
producing section, and to take the manufacturing products
of the East out to the West. That is reasonable, and I
have no doubt that they have some such purpose. But, on
the other hand, it is reasonable to expect that they intend
to bring some business to Boston, and if they reach this port
they undoubtedly intend to do some business which is of
interest to themselves.
Boston is not a great manufacturing section. It does not
originate a large amount of business to be taken west, as
Lowell, Fall River, Providence, Worcester, Lynn, Brockton
9E
OPPORTUNITY FOR MASSACHUSETTS
and other cities do, all high-class freight. It seems a rea¬
sonable expectation that the Grand Trunk will do some¬
thing to develop Boston if it comes in here.
We are inclined to believe that it will, and being so in¬
clined to that view we believe it ought to come in under
conditions as favorable as it is possible to secure, and that
this Legislative Committee ought to see that it has a rea¬
sonable opportunity to get in.
I am speaking personally for the South Boston Citizens'
Association, because we were told when the Grand Trunk
entrance into this city was Erst proposed, that necessarily
East Boston would be the place for the terminal, that it
must locate its terminals over on the East Boston flats, and
that it must enter Boston on the north. That is a remark¬
able situation, and our contention is that the Grand Trunk
Railroad should be allowed to come into Boston to secure
its own locations in such location as it regards to be the most
favorable for its purposes.
What South Boston Offers
I want you to consider with me what Boston has on its
Commonwealth lands. It started developing in 1871 a lot of
land of 125 acres on the deep water front affording an op¬
portunity for piers 1,800 feet long running out to the main
ship channel, large enough to accommodate any ship in the
world, an opportunity to locate there any one or two or
three railroads. It is near the heart of the city, it has three
splendid teaming bridges. Congress Street, Summer Street
and Northern Avenue, tapping it, and as compared with East
Boston where the lands are unfilled and under water, and
where it will take years to fill and millions to complete, with
no teaming facilities and in a position where teaming
facilities can only be supplied by the construction of tun-
lOE
HON. WILLIAM S. McNARY, BOSTON
neis at an expense of from $5,000,000 to $8,000,000, I believe
that you will agree with me that its location is infinitely
superior.
Now, in addition to that we call attention to the fact that
a passenger terminal might be located there, but a few
minutes beyond the South Terminal, and that it would be
a very convenient thing for taking the passengers in and
out of the city. When I brought out the proposition to
show the people they said, "But this road is coming in from
the north."
Now, I understand that the railroad is coming in from
the north and from the south of Boston and if they are to
come in to Newton or Readville and there to unite with
each other and come into the city, we suggest either a
terminal on the Commonwealth flats on the Summer Street
extension, or that the South Bay be taken for that purpose,
south of Dover Street, which is almost an unoccupied place,
where the wharves are practically dying out. We suggest
that it be filled up for this very worthy purpose, thereby
benefitting the city as regards the whole south end, and
thereby benefiting the city of Boston by developing the
city down in that direction.
If the Grand Trunk is to come in here, give it its right to
locate its own passenger station, where it will be most con¬
venient and most beneficial to the city of Boston or if the
proper authorities find that it should come into the North
Station, to send it in there.
Not Opposed to East Boston
Now, we are not opposed to the development of the East
Boston flats. On the contrary, our body passed a resolu¬
tion last year in favor of an appropriation of $3,000,000
and we sent a committee here to advocate it. I personally
HE
OPPORTUNITY FOR MASSACHUSETTS
appeared before a legislative committee in its favor; still,
we do strongly object to any proposition which is to be for
the development of the port of Boston by a one-sided propo¬
sition; we do object that all the money should be expended
and all the influence be exerted, and all the development
located on one side and for one purpose. The development
proposed in this bill is a great project, a project which should
have been taken care of years ago, and you can never de¬
velop it without the aid of the railroads and without the
development of the railroads with it.
Great ports in other sections of the world have been
developed from small beginnings, from small ports, and when
Massachusetts begins at $9,000,000 or $25,000,000, or
$50,000,000, you want to consider the history of other cities
in the world. Liverpool has invested in this undertak¬
ing approximately $100,000,000; Amsterdam, $50,000,000;
Antwerp over $65,000,000, and Hamburg, 125 miles up
the river, has put in $75,000,000, and is going in even
further. So that the development of a port means a lot
of money if you are to make it a properly equipped modern
port.
But behind all those cities are railroads. Liverpool taps
a large manufacturing center and an area where a large
amount of materials are brought in. Antwerp is a very
successful manufacturing community, but behind Antwerp
is Belgium, and a part of France, and it has in addition
to railroads a lot of canals behind it, and that port has
developed to one of the largest ports in the world because
they made it a port for that thickly settled country behind
it. Amsterdam has developed considerably but not so
largely—so that most of the products of France and Ger¬
many now pass out through these ports.
This port of Boston may be made a great port, but it
cannot be made a great port by the building of docks and
12E
HON. WILLIAM S. McNARY, BOSTON
wharves alone. In addition to those you have got to pro¬
vide proper facilities for freight transfer on transportation
between those docks and wharves and all railroad terminals
in the city.
Unless you have a railroad in Boston that all shippers
can use, connecting all wharves and docks, you will soon
realize that some agency has got to be established to do it.
When Laws are Changed
Now I am not impressed with the railroad laws of Massa¬
chusetts. I have heard some questions here from which
we might be led to believe that the railroad laws of Massa¬
chusetts are a sacrosanct institution.
Laws are passed when good judgment demands their
enactment, and they are changed whenever the situation
demands that they be changed. A proposition which was a
first-class thing ten years or five years ago may not be a
good thing now. And if the railroad laws of this state stand
in the way of port development, the railroad laws should be
changed.
The railroad laws of Massachusetts, and many eminent
men in the community, I believe, have maintained the same
position, provide that no railroads shall own steamship
lines if I understand the thing correctly. The Canadian
railroads are not only aided by the government but are
permitted to own steamship lines. They own steamships
on the Lakes, they own steamships on the Atlantic, they
own steamships on the St. Lawrence, on the Pacific, and
when the government of the United States builds the Panama
Canal, a government built and owned canal, I have not any
question that some of the Canadian lines and some of the
American lines, too, will run steamships through that canal.
Why, in the neighboring state of New York, railroads own
steamship lines and operate them.
13E
OPPORTUNITY FOR MASSACHUSETTS
In almost all progressive countries of the world the rail¬
roads own steamship lines and operate them. Massaehusetts
has got to reform and change its railroad laws if this state
is going to develop, and the port of Boston is going to de¬
velop, and I shall not be surprised if you have to radically
change your railroad laws.
The Grand Trunk Railway that seeks an entrance into
Massachusetts at the present time, through its subsidiary
corporation, the Southern New England Railroad, runs a
steamship line between New London and New York, and
has been doing so for many years. And it gets a part of its
freight by the operation of that steamship line. And by
means of that steamship line it brings freight from all points
of the United States—Chicago, points in Wisconsin, Illinois,
and Ohio; it brings it by rail to New London and carries
it to New York in competition with the great trunk lines.
I find that the Grand Trunk Railway asks in a section of
this bill, section 12, permission to own and operate ferries,
ferry boats, steamship lines and docks. That is the clause
at the end of this section. And it also asks in the next
section for authority to "unite and consolidate with the
Southern New England Railway Company established under
the laws of the state of Rhode Island," and with the Southern
New England Railroad which it is proposed shall be con¬
structed in Massachusetts if it can get an entrance, with a
similar corporation to be established under the laws of
New Hampshire.
Gentlemen, the Grand Trunk is an entering wedge, and
it will change the railroad laws of Massaehusetts. The
Grand Trunk business has been successfully operated in
Canada by doing exactly these things, and the Canadian
Pacific the same way. Now, how are you going to refuse.''
The Grand Trunk has been invited by the Legislature, with
a knowledge of these facts. How will you refuse them the
14E
HON. WILLIAM S. McNARY, BOSTON
same rights and privileges that they have in Canada, that
they have in Rhode Island, or in the neighboring state of
Connecticut? And if you refuse them, how can you
grant the railroads now in Boston the same things?
Must Have Terminal Railroad
I think the railroad laws of Massachusetts ought to be
changed. If you are going to develop, you cannot do
it by putting $9,000,000, $25,000,000, $50,000,000, or
$75,000,000 into the docks and wharves alone. You have got
to build a terminal railroad and you have got to allow the
railroads to do business under the best conditions under
which they operate in other states.
If the Grand Trunk is to come in, and the sentiment of
the state seems to be in favor of its coming in, as voiced by
the newspapers and the commercial bodies, as voiced by
both branches of the Legislature last year, it carries with it
great changes in the railroad law of Massachusetts and
great changes in the railroad business of Massachusetts, and
you, gentlemen, ought, to my mind, to consider the propo¬
sition in a great, big, broad, strong, splendid way, and not
consider the minor points in the problem.
There may be objections to the bill. I find some myself.
I think they ought to be remedied, but at the same time it
seems to me we have a measure before us that ought to in¬
terest every man in the community, and which provides a
chance to do something for Boston and recast our legislation
in such a way that it will benefit all Boston and New Eng¬
land. If Boston does not very soon get a chance to be an
export port, it never will have a chance in thé world.
If we are not going to put ourselves in position to take
advantage of the great growth that we can get in the pro¬
duction of grain, lumber and everything else of that kind
15E
OPPORTUNITY FOR MASSACHUSETTS
and character, then we might as well abandon any hope
or intention or any endeavors to ever become a greater
export port than we are at the present time, and make up
our minds that we are going to stay here and reinvest what
money we have in safe securities, in bonds or stocks or
government securities, and make up our mind that the chance
of New England becoming the great commercial center that
it was once is going by and has gone by.
This gives you a chance to deal with this proposition
in a big, broad way, and if you take advantage of it, this
Legislature, this Committee, the Railroad Board, the Dock
Board, can make of Boston a big port. If you do not, then
this opportunity is gone.
16E
EDWARD M. WOODWARD, WORCESTER
REMARKS OF EDWARD M. WOODWARD, PRESI¬
DENT OF THE WORCESTER BOARD OF TRADE
FEBRUARY 28, 1912
About two years ago our organization learned that the
Southern New England Railroad Corporation, so-called,
proposed building a road from Palmer, through Douglas
and Blackstone, into Providence. We, as a Board of Trade,
at once entered into correspondence with the proper rail¬
road officials, asking them if they would not petition to build
a separate track running from some point on this proposed
road into Worcester.
One of the officers called upon us and had an interview,
and a little later our president and secretary of the Board
of Trade called on Mr. Fitzhugh, president of the Southern
New England Railroad Corporation, requesting again that
they petition to build a track into Worcester. Later, we
learned that this railroad had petitioned the Legislature.
The Directors of the Worcester Board of Trade at once
called a special meeting to consider the advisability of
endorsing the building of a road from this proposed new
road from Palmer to Providence, into Worcester.
This subject-matter was 'referred to our railroad and
transportation committee, which is composed principally
of heavy shippers and receivers of freight. This railroad
and transportation committee gave the subject careful
consideration and reported back to our board of directors
recommending the passage of a resolution endorsing the
building of a road from this main line into Worcester, further
passing resolutions requesting our representatives and
senators in the Legislature to do all in their power to pass the
bill, that portion of it at least for the building of the road
from this main line which I have mentioned, into Worcester.
17E
OPPORTUNITY FOR MASSACHUSETTS
I think, gentlemen, it goes without any remark that any
concern seeking a location for manufacturing will certainly
look to and thoroughly consider a town or city that is a
railroad center, and the town or city which possesses the
greatest number of railroads is the town or city that appeals
to the manufacturer. That is the one main reason why we
desire to have this separate road running into Worcester.
We have today practically two roads running into Worces¬
ter. When I first went to Worcester as a manufacturer, I
went there because there were more than two roads. Today
we have two. Now, if we can have one more, at least, it
will be an advantage to the city of Worcester. We are not
anticipating or expecting any better freight rates from the
Southern New England Railroad Corporation, as we are
all aware of the fact that these freight rates are governed
by our Interstate Commerce Commission to a large extent.
But we are aware of the fact that, where there are a number
of roads, the efficiency of those roads is more satisfactory
to the shipper and receiver of freights.
More Efficiency Wanted
I may say that since the talk of the proposed road, the
Southern New England, that the Worcester Board of Trade
has been able to bring about certain things with certain
other roads that we could not effect one year ago. That,
gentlemen, is efficiency. We want more of it.
Representative O'HEARN. Generally speaking, the
Worcester Board of Trade are in favor of the Grand Trunk
or some other railroad extending its lines into the city of
Worcester?
Mr. WOODWARD. We are emphatically in favor of the
Grand Trunk extending its lines into Worcester. We have
not considered any other railroad company, for we do not
know of any other at the present time.
18E
HERBERT M. DAVISON, WORCESTER
REMARKS OF HERBERT M. DAVISON, SECRE¬
TARY WORCESTER BOARD OF TRADE
FEBRUARY 28
Mr. DAVISON. With reference to the matter of the
introduction of another railroad. I do not share the view
of some men that the introduction of the Grand Trunk
into Worcester—I say nothing about any other city, but
I am simply here as representing the Worcester Board of
Trade—I do not share the view of some men, particularly
railroad men, that the introduction of the Grand Trunk into
Worcester will curtail the activities or revenues of any
roads that we have there. On the contrary, I believe it
will result in creating a large amount of new business which
does not now exist in the city.
The competition between cities to obtain new enterprises
has become as spirited as it is between private corporations
to obtain new business. There is a spirited effort being made
in New England at the present time to develop new indus¬
tries, and some at the expense of others. For example, in
South Framingham an effort is being made to develop
South Framingham as an industrial center, and they
have recently obtained two industries in South Framing¬
ham on the strength of the fact that their railroad
facilities in South Framingham are superior to those in
Worcester.
If the Grand Trunk can have the privilege of coming
here under such terms as this committee is perfectly compe¬
tent to provide, and I am confident you won't allow them
to come in under any other terms that are not fair and just,
if you will allow them to come here under these conditions,
I am confident we will have our situation there materially
improved, and that on account of that improvement I shall
19E
OPPORTUNITY FOR MASSACHUSETTS
be able to get into Worcester a great many industries that
we have not there now, but which would come if the addi¬
tional railroad facilities which the Grand Trunk offers us
are brought there.
20E
CHARLES T. TAXMAN, WORCESTER
REMARKS OF CHARLES T. TAXMAN, ESQ., OF
WORCESTER, FEBRUARY 28
Mr. TATMAN. Mr. Chairman, when there was talk
last year about the Grand Trunk Railway having a railroad in
New England and in Massachusetts, the Worcester Board
of Trade took occasion to invite the Grand Trunk Railway
to make a connection with Worcester. The proposition for
this Southern New England Railroad to hit Worcester, so
far as we know, did not originate with the Grand Trunk
people or anybody connected with them, but it did orig¬
inate with the Worcester Board of Trade.
I want to emphasize, Mr. Chairman, the fact that the
Worcester Board of Trade invited the Grand Trunk Railway
to make its plans with reference to this railroad in New
England, to build a branch from the line which it had proposed
which goes down through Palmer to Providence, so as to hit
Worcester. That suggestion came from the Board of Trade.
After that suggestion was made, we did not know whether
they would look upon it with favor or not, and it was a very
serious question in our mind whether they would think
that it was possible to get into Worcester. And so the
thought originated with the Worcester Board of Trade again,
to have a plan made by a competent engineer which was sent
to Mr. Fitzhugh, representing this railroad, in order that
they might convince him that it was feasible to get into the
city of Worcester on pretty near as good terms as the other
railroads which are now there.
The Worcester Board of Trade represents, through its
membership, ninety-five per cent of the capital and ninety-
five per cent of the labor employed by concerns through
those concerns and their oflicers; ninefy-five per cent of
all the manufacturing and mercantile business of Worcester.
21E
OPPORTUNITY FOR MASSACHUSETTS
It is truly representative of Worcester as a community.
Now the rights of individuals must be safeguarded in a proper
way, of course, and the Legislature will safeguard the rights
of individuals; but there is a time for the safeguarding of
those rights. It is up to the Legislature, it seems to me, to
let this railroad come in here in a practical way, not to ham¬
per them by any unreasonable or difficult rules or regulations
for their coming in, but to let them in on a basis on which it
is practicable for them to come in.
Great Benefit to Worcester
If the city of Worcester could make the Blackstone
River as big as the Mississippi or as big as the Connecticut,
it would like to do it. The railroads have assisted very
materially in the building up of Worcester, and it goes
without saying that a great continental line of railroad
coming into Worcester would benefit it. Nobody can deny
it. I don't suppose anybody here would deny it. And one
of the important benefits would be the effect of additional
factory sites, because we must admit, which we do not
like to do, that factory sites are getting scarce in Worcester,
so scarce that it has become a problem. But that is not the
principal thing.
I suppose that our manufacturers would like an outlet
through the great Northwest better than what they have
enjoyed heretofore. They would like to obtain better
accommodations. They would like competition in facili¬
ties, whether it is competition in rates or not. Competition
in facilities will be of very, very great advantage.
These people in Worcester who are in the machine tool
business, which is a very important industry there, are in
serious competition with the manufacturers in the Middle
West. It is a problem they have before them all the time.
22E
CHARLES T. TAXMAN, WORCESTER
They have to fight for their existence, and if there is any¬
thing that will help them, they want it done.
I have been a member of the Legislature myself a couple
of years, and I know that you don't have many bills go out
in the form that they come in. And I suppose that this one
will be rearranged in a variety of ways, and I don't doubt
that it needs it. lidon't suppose that the framers of the bill
expected that it would go through in anything like the shape
it is presented in here. But they do expect, and I think the
people of Massachusetts expect that you gentlemen will
frame the bill which will be a practicable one for these
people to build their railroad in Massachusetts.
So far as Worcester is concerned, all that we desire, of
course, is covered by the part which relates to that little
fifteen miles down to Douglas, or wherever it is that the
railroad between Palmer and Providence would be hit by
the little branch. It is that little fifteen-mile branch which
interests Worcester principally, so far as this bill is con¬
cerned.
The Greatest Good
It does not matter with us whether some other line of rail¬
road goes through somebody's front yard or back yard.
Neither does it matter at the present time whose yard it
might go through in Worcester. Those matters will have to
be attended to in due form at the proper time. You cannot
try to adjudicate everybody's rights who is coming up here,
whose property will be taken or whose rights might be
invaded by the building of this railroad. You cannot fore¬
see all those things, and I do not think this is the proper time
to take every individual into account. The great question
now is whether it is for the advantage of the people of this
state, as a whole, and of the communities in general, not
whether it is for the advantage of every citizen."
23E
OPPORTUNITY FOR MASSACHUSETTS
REMARKS OF MR. A. M. CHILD, SECRETARY
HAVERHILL BOARD OF TRADE
FEBRUARY 28
Mr. CHILD. I am here by authority of the Board of
Directors at a meeting held last evening. You might say
also that I am president of the Essex County Associated
Boards of Trade, an organization which at its last meeting
unanimously endorsed the proposition of the Grand Trunk
Railway entering Massachusetts into Boston. At a meeting
of the Directors held last evening the subject was brought
up and every member present was called upon to
state his views, and in every case they were very
strongly in favor of the entrance of the Grand Trunk into
Boston.
Of course we, in one way, may be selfish. We are hoping
that they will hit Haverhill, but we have gone on record
as very strongly in favor, whether they reach Haverhill
or not. We feel the possibility of their hitting Haverhill
from White River Junction and Manchester, then through
to Salem and Lynn, would be a great advantage to Essex
County. We feel that we can put up an argument there
which will draw them our way. And whether they reach
with their direct line Haverhill or not, we do feel that it will
facilitate shipping from Haverhill to Detroit, Chicago and
the West, through easy connections from where they might
pass.
We are very much interested—our shoe manufacturers are
very much interested in that, as they ship a great many
shoes to Chicago, and during the busy season of the year
there are often times, in fact almost always, when they are a
little behind their dates on shipping. And a few days, or one
day, means a great deal in the delivery of these goods; in
24E
A. M. CHILD, HAVERHILL
some cases, it is even the difference between the sale and
a countermand. Probably some members of your com¬
mittee in the shoe manufacturing business may realize
that. Help, not Hurt, B. & M.
Last week, the president of the Board, Mr. Emerson,
and Mr. Charles H. Hays, president of the Haverhill Trust
Company, the largest box manufacturer, and a very large
lumber dealer, purchasing in Canada and in the West and
bringing it to Haverhill for the purpose of making boxes—
he does over one-half of the box manufacturing business—
and Mr. C. W. Arnold, president of the Merrimack National
Bank and also the largest cut sole dealer in the city of Haver¬
hill, if not in the world, with President Emerson of the
Board, who is a large retailer, and a civil engineer and
myself, upon a solicited hearing with the Grand Trunk
officials in the Hotel Touraine, spent an hour and a half,
and among the statements made by these gentlemen was
one made by Mr. Arnold.
He said: "I do not believe that the entrance of the Grand
Trunk into New England will injure the Boston & Maine
railroad or the existing railroads in any way whatever, for
any length of time.'' He said: "I purchased yesterday
$10,000 worth of Boston & Maine Railroad stock, and I
shall continue to own that stock or other purchases just
the same if the Grand Trunk enters this section." He said:
"I am heartily in favor of the admission of the road here
for the reason of increased facilities any way, and not op¬
posed with any idea that it will injure the present railroads.
I believe in the end they will all be benefitted."
As to General Law
I would like to say this, and that is all I want to say now,
that in respect to your argument, as to the general law on
25E
OPPORTUNITY FOR MASSACHUSETTS
the books at the present time, that if I were in your position
and thought that the general law on the statute books
would make the cost of the Grand Trunk excessive, or
more than it would be by some little change, some special
law, that it seems to me I should try and devise something
that would be practicable as a business proposition between
business men.
The CHAIRMAN. You don't request the admission of
the Grand Trunk on any supposition which would increase
the bringing of business or bringing freight business to your
city?
Mr. CHILD. It will increase the business of our city or
of any city which it goes through, in that it will increase the
facilities for manufacturers and increase the attractiveness
for manufacturers to those cities. It would mean a great
deal to Haverhill or any other city that it goes through.
Two railroads are more attractive to a manufacturer looking
for a location.
2()E
THOMAS H. SHEPARD, BOSTON
REMARKS OF MR. THOMAS H. SHEPARD, OF
BOSTON, FOR THE EXPORT LUMBER TRADE,
FEBRUARY 28, 1912
Mr. SHEPARD. Our company is a member of the Boston
Chamber of Commerce, and I speak more particularly for
the export lumber interests.
The CHAIRMAN. Your name is Thomas H. Shepard?
Mr. SHEPARD. Yes, the treasurer of the Shepard &
Morse Lumber Company of Boston. We are engaged to a
considerable extent in the export lumber business, with
a number of other concerns here in Boston.
Senator PEARSON. Do you know what the rates of
freight are from Michigan points to New York by the
Grand Trunk in carload lots, and what they are to Boston
in carload lots?
Mr. SHEPARD. The export rates are, as a rule, the same.
But that is not the whole story. I was going to tell you
the rest.
Senator PEARSON. Do they make a different rate for
export than for the home trade? What is it for home trade?
Mr. SHEPARD. Usually they are two cents higher to
Boston on lumber.
Senator PEARSON. Why?
Use Your Own Inference
Mr. SHEPARD. I don't know why; possibly because
we have so little competition.
The CHAIRMAN. Is that a fact, or a supposition?
Mr. SHEPARD. You can use your own inference.
Senator PEARSON. I am asking him about the Grand
Trunk rates.
Mr. SHEPARD. The Grand Trunk makes the same
27E
OPPORTUNITY FOR MASSACHUSETTS
rates, as a rule, as other roads. And I don't suppose they
could go to Boston without being in competition.
Senator PEARSON. They do make the same rates to
Boston?
Mr. SHEPARD. Yes, the export rate.
Senator PEARSON. And for home trade they make it
two cents higher than New York?
Mr. SHEPARD. Yes, from most points.
Senator PEARSON. And you think that is due to lack of
competition?
More Competition, Better Chance
Mr. SHEPARD. Yes. If we had more competition we
would have a chance to do better.
Senator PEARSON. If the National Despatch make the
rate two cents higher to Boston than to New York, and you
think it is due to lack of competition, how would it benefit
it to have the Grand Trunk come in here?
Mr. SHEPARD. They would have their own road here,
and they would have an incentive to do business here instead
of dividing the rate with a carrier to New York. But I am
speaking principally of the export trade. I think the Grand
Trunk mileage would be, in many cases from the west, as
short to Boston as to New York. And it would seem as
though they might make us the same rate here that they do
in New York. ... I have forgotten now just where I
arrived in my argument, but you will pardon me if I repeat
a little. I was saying that we had all seriously felt the compe¬
tition of other ports here in Boston. New York has been
gaining on us in the South American white pine business.
They have considerably increased their business, and I do
not think Boston has increased at all.
Perhaps the reason that Boston has held on as well as
it has is because the Export Lumber Company and our-
28E
THOMAS H. SHEPARD, BOSTON
selves, the two principal concerns exporting white pine, are
tied down to Boston and have headquarters. The Export
Lumber Company are tied down to Mystic Wharf and it is
not convenient to ship ^m New York. But we have been
met with serious competition. We have ourselves been
obliged to ship from New York, although it is not where
we want to ship from. In New York we get-
Representative ELLIS. Why are you obliged to ship
from New York if the rates are the same?
More Facilities, More Business
Mr. SHEPAED. We get in New York a steamer service
that we cannot get in Boston. When Boston has greater
facilities it will probably have more business here. There
are a number of steamship lines there, seven or eight, to
South America, Buenos Ayres, to Brazil, and various
South American ports. I succeeded in getting one or two
shipments by the Barber Line recently from Boston. They
had a ship here to take paper, and while they did not care
to do it, I got them to take some lumber for me. But I
cannot get them to continue it and to make the same rate
as from New York. They told me recently that there were
not sufficient facilities here, not sufficient cargo, and they
had to go to both Boston and New York to get a load. And
that is one reason that New York has gained on Boston.
The sailing vessel is getting to be a thing of the past,
although the business from South America is still almost en¬
tirely in sailing vessels. Still there are probably fifty or sixty
million of lumber going from Boston to South America,
although it is becoming more and more difficult to carry on
this class of business because of the facilities and also on
account of the demurrage charges. They only allow forty-
eight hours here in Boston for unloading, whereas in New
29E
OPPORTUNITY FOR MASSACHUSETTS
York we are allowed thirty days. Also in New York they
lighter all around the harbor and deliver wherever the vessel
is without any charge whatever. I understand that lightering
costs about three cents a hundred.
Representative DEAN. On that point you have struck
a very interesting condition that some of us do not under¬
stand. That is the relation of demurrage. You say that you
get forty-eight hours in Boston and thirty days in New York.
What does that apply to?
Mr. SHEPARD. That applies to lumber in sailing vessels.
I think in Boston they discriminate in favor of steamers.
Representative DEAN. Do you mean on the train?
Mr. SHEPARD. On the cars. If the cars are not released
in forty-eight hours, we have to pay demurrage.
Representative DEAN. Isn't that fixed by the Interstate
Commerce Commission, and how can it be different?
Mr. SHEPARD. I think not at all. Any way, I know that
in New York we have thirty days for unloading.
Representative DEAN. That is something very important
that we ought to look into.
New Haven Inñuence
Mr. SHEPARD. Some time ago we made arrangements
with the Boston & Albany Railroad, and we got from them
the New York rates. And we loaded a cargo, and then the
Boston & Maine Railroad came around and inquired why
we were not shipping in the usual way by Mystic Wharf,
as we had heretofore. Of course we did not tell them, but
I have no doubt they learned of the situation, and the
arrangement which we had made with the New York Cen¬
tral. Apparently they went to the Boston & Albany, and the
New Haven had influence enough with the Albany—I am
told that the New Haven pays part of the annual loss
30E
THOMAS H. SHEPARD, BOSTON
which the Boston & Albany Railroad is to the New York
Central—and if that is so, of course they have a pretty
strong hold.
Senator PEARSON. What is that?
Mr. SHEPARD. I have been told that the New Haven
pays a portion of the annual loss which the Boston & Albany
is to the New York Central, and, if that is so, I have no
doubt that they have a strong influence over the Boston &
Albany. I understand that the Boston & Albany has not
met its rental lately, and that they pay a portion of that
loss, for reasons which I don't understand. At any rate,
they were able at onee to put in force a new tariff, cutting
us down to forty-eight hours on the Boston & Albany, so
that we did not succeed in shipping but one cargo under the
New York terms.
We have had a good deal of experience in the past with the
Grand Trunk. We have one plant on the Central Vermont,
and on the Rutland road both. In order to meet competition
in shipments via Tonawanda and New York City, we have
had to have some rates put in that were not the existing rates.
Senator PEARSON. From where?
Mr. SHEPARD. From lake ports particularly, I had in
mind at the present time. We had a rate put in from Sarnia,
Ontario, which equalizes us so that we could do business
through Burlington and Boston instead of doing it through
Tonawanda as most other people do.
Senator PEARSON. Who did that?
Mr. SHEPARD. The Grand Trunk did that at that time.
Senator PEARSON. A tariff different from the legalized
rate?
How the Grand Trunk Helps
Mr. SHEPARD. No; they made a rate where there
was no rate. We showed them that we could not afford to
31E
OPPORTUNITY FOR MASSACHUSETTS
ship via their lines, via Tonawanda, and they put in a rate
for us. No. They don't cut the rates for us, but we find
that they are the road which pays most attention to our
needs and furnishes the best facilities for such a business
as ours is, where we are obliged to get competing rates
put in. The Grand Trunk is the road that has been in¬
clined to do that for us.
We have tried the Rutland frequently, and that road has
been so controlled by the New York Central, and we have got
the impression that they do not care to ship any more to
Boston than necessary. There has been a suit by some of
the large stockholders of the Rutland against the New York
Central, claiming that the Rutland was not getting fair
treatment, and the New York Central was milking the
Rutland. At any rate, we could not get competition at our
plant through the Rutland- road, but the Grand Trunk
seems to have been the road looking for business and willing
to equalize the rates. Therefore, we have felt that if they
were in Boston, it would be a great benefit to the port.
They would reach over a large stretch of country. They
do now, in fact. It is said that the New Haven is controlled
by the Pennsylvania. Whether it is true or not, I don't
know. But there is a large ownership, I believe.
Of course, if Pennsylvania has a lot of lumber for export
shipment, they would rather stop it at New York than to
send it on to Boston and divide up the earnings. A road
like the Grand Trunk coming into a large city like Boston
—the largest city they would go to unless they eventually
built to New York, which I hope they will not do—would
naturally be inclined to do what they could to build up
through Boston trade and give Boston such shipping facili¬
ties as New York now enjoys.
The CHAIRMAN. Through lumber where?
Mr. SHEPARD. All over the west.
32E
THOMAS H. SHEPARD, BOSTON
The CHAIRMAN. Via what roads?
Mr. SHEPARD. We have used the Grand Trunk to a
considerable extent and they have given us the best facilities,
as I say.
The CHAIRMAN. Which way do they come down
through?
Mr. SHEPARD. Most of our export business has gone
down from the Mystic Wharf, by the Grand Junction, and
to Chicago, which is a great competing point.
The CHAIRMAN. Does that go through Montreal?
Mr. SHEPARD. Yes, it goes through Montreal, as a
rule.
The CHAIRMAN. Do you think that the Grand Trunk
could do that?
Mr. SHEPARD. I say that they do it now.
The CHAIRMAN. Do you think that they could ship
from Montreal down through here on export business?
Mr. SHEPARD. They do. They ship from Ottawa.
A great deal of lumber comes from Ottawa by the Grand
Trunk. We have either the Grand Trunk or the Canadian
Pacific.
Representative DEAN. As a lumber man, a suggestion
was made to me by a man who has been in that business,
that the future of that business—you say yours comes from
the Pacific Coast largely?
Mr. SHEPARD. Oh, no; largely from Canada.
Representative DEAN. Well, upon lumber from the
Pacific Coast, in future, wouldn't it come by the Panama
Canal? Wouldn't that be the naturally cheapest way?
Blocking the Grand Trunk
Mr. SHEPARD. I think it would have that tendency,
although good railroads will not favor it. They have a large
33E
OPPORTUNITY FOR MASSACHUSETTS
territory which the Grand Trunk goes through, largely
opening up new lumber as we supposed, and a great deal
of it will seek its way east. It may not necessarily be for
export, but will supply domestic trade.
I may sympathize somewhat with the Grand Trunk in
not wishing to disclose their route. I had a little experience
in such a situation as that, in connection with our office in
Burlington. Shortly after the New Haven bought into the
Rutland railroad there was agitation for a new station in
Burlington, Vermont.
The Rutland came to us for a piece of land which we
had that was probably the best for the new station. I
think I suggested to them that the Grand Trunk would
also like that land. They did not much more than get
that suggestion before they filed a taking or a legal
condemnation of that land, so that it could not possibly
be sold by us to the Grand Trunk. We finally suc¬
ceeded in arranging private terms for them to buy it,
but they have not used it, and I don't know whether
they ever intend to.
The CHAIRMAN. Did you realize at the same time
that they could take it by eminent domain?
Mr. SHEPARD. I suppose they could.
The CHAIRMAN. And that no such hold-up process
could be taken advantage of?
Mr. SHEPARD. I suppose they could take it by right
of eminent domain, but I suppose at times that is pretty
expensive. I have seen times when it was. A jury does not
always, and does not generally sympathize so much with the
directors of the foreign corporation as it does with individuals
living in the immediate locality.
The CHAIRMAN. Is that sufficient reason why we
should change the existing law?
Mr. SHEPARD. I have not gone into that, and I don't
34E
THOMAS H. SHEPARD, BOSTON
know that I should be able to express an intelligent opinion,
but I think it would be a great calamity to Boston to
let this opportunity to get the Grand Trunk in here
go by.
Boston Treated Unfairly
Representative DEAN. Mr. Chairman, I want to return
to that demurrage. I think you have shown up a discrim¬
ination apparently against the port of Boston.
Mr. SHEPARD. There certainly is.
Representative DEAN. In order to get some definite
idea as to that, you say that the New Haven or the Boston
& Maine, whichever it may be, give you only demurrage for
forty-eight hours?
Mr. SHEPARD. Give us free time of forty-eight hours
without demurrage; whereas in every other port better
terms are given. I think the Boston & Maine gives better
time in Portland. At any rate, the Maine Central
does.
Representative ELLIS. Now, Mr. Chairman, I also am
a little interested in this demurrage question, but perhaps
we ought to wait until we get an expert to find out. As I
understand it, our Chamber of Commerce has been before
the Interstate Commerce Commission urging that we retain
the old four-day free time, and that they refused to give it
because it was not in operation anywhere else.
Mr. SHEPARD. That is in domestic business, and they
have an entirely different rule on export. Export freight
must go right to vessels to load, and if they are going to do
it at all they must make the terms more liberal. Otherwise,
it will go to other ports. At any rate, they do make it more
liberal elsewhere. I think Baltimore has a liberal rule, as
liberal as New York. I think Portland has ten days. I
have applied to Mr. Berry of the Boston & Maine, but to
35E
OPPORTUNITY FOR MASSACHUSETTS
no purpose, and Mr. Taft of the Export Lumber Company
has told me that he has tried a good deal without result.
Representative ELLIS. I didn't mean to take further
time, but that is an interesting question.
Result of Competition
Mr. SHEPARD. We have always found where there is
competition there is a much better chance to do business.
Many of you have ridden on the western roads, and found
as I have that out there in the wilderness we get better
passenger service where there is not a town even within
fifty miles. I simply look on that as a result of competition.
And I think myself that Massachusetts made a great mistake
to allow the railroad situation to become what it has, and
I think they will make a great mistake if they allow this
opportunity to change it to go by without availing themselves
of it.
36E
ANDREW A. CASASSA, REVERE
REMARKS OF MR. ANDREW A. CASASSA
I am chairman of the Board of Selectmen of Revere and
a member of the Board of Trade.
The Board of Trade of Revere has unanimously adopted
resolutions favoring the Grand Trunk coming to Revere.
We feel that the Beach Reservation which we have should
be known not only throughout New England and the United
States, but also all over Canada. We feel that the Grand
Trunk will open up a passenger service to Revere which will
assist us in the development of that section.
We believe something along this line should be done.
I have been told that the Grand Trunk Railway intends to
build a belt line around Boston, and we feel that if a belt
line should be built, it would assist the cities and towns
in what we call Metropolitan Boston, and we hope and
trust that this committee will assist the Grand Trunk in
every way possible.
Senator PEARSON. Did you say that you have been
told that the Grand Trunk intend to build a belt line around
Boston?
Mr. CASASSA. I have.
Senator PEARSON. Who told you that?
Mr. CASASSA. Mr. Warman of the Grand Trunk Rail¬
way.
37E
OPPORTUNITY FOR MASSACHUSETTS
REMARKS OF HON. EBEN S. STEVENS
I am one of a number of gentlemen here representing the
Business Men's Association of Webster and Dudley, the two
towns being almost one in their business interests at least.
We appeared before the Railroad Commission when the
certißcate of exigency was asked for, for the location of the
Southern New England Railroad from Palmer to Blackstone,
and every town on the line of that railroad sent representa¬
tives from mass meetings to ask for the certificate.
The certificate was granted by the Railroad Commission,
and I understand the contracts are about being let for the
building of that line. That certificate was granted in the face
of the most bitter opposition on the part of counsel, who at
the first hearing did not know who he represented, but at
the second or third hearing admitted that he was repre¬
senting the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad.
The theory of co-operation was emphatically condemned
by every town that appeared before the Railroad Commission
at the granting of the certificate of exigency. It was compe¬
tition that they demanded, and it was the uprising of the
people, the demand, the public opinion that was brought
to bear on those hearings that led to the granting of that
certificate, I believe. And it was a certificate granted in
behalf of competition in contradistinction to co-operation.
This was again emphasized at a hearing where I was
present last week before the joint board of Railroad Com¬
missioners and Port Directors, where the audience was asked
after all evidence had been put in, that the gentlemen present
favoring the admission of the Grand Trunk Railway should
rise. And almost without exception—there may have been
one—every gentleman in the room arose. They were asked
to be seated and those in opposition to the admission of the
38E
HON. EBEN S. STEVENS, WEBSTER
Grand Trunk were asked to rise. And this hearing was made
up very largely of Boston gentlemen, representing Boston
commercial bodies. And there was not a man stood on his
feet.
I have read the bill of the Grand Trunk through, and what
they ask is a workable proposition to meet what is very
evident is a demand by public opinion that there should
be a competing railroad in Massachusetts; and the line of
towns which lie along and through which this road from
Palmer to Blackstone extends, that line of towns are espe¬
cially interested in the admission of the Grand Trunk
Railroad into Worcester from Douglas and into Boston
from Blackstone.
Any opposition to the sufficient amendment of this bill
to make it a workable bill, so that this railroad can be built,
will be a direct menace to that tier of towns.
39E
OPPORTUNITY FOR MASSACHUSETTS
REMARKS OF MR. ROBERT C. KING
Judge KENEFICK. You are connected with the United
States Leather Company.''
Mr. KING. Yes, sir.
Judge KENEFICK. And a member of the Chamber of
Commerce?
Mr. KING. Yes, sir. Mr. Chairman, I merely came up
here as being in favor of the admission of the Grand Trunk
road to Boston. I am not familiar with the details of the
bill and am not prepared to speak on the subject except so
far as that I know our company will be pleased to have the
Grand Trunk have the right of entrance to the city of Bos¬
ton. Beyond that I cannot give you any details or any
special reasons except for the general reason that we think
it would be a good thing for the city and for our own com¬
pany.
Judge KENEFICK. Have you in your mind any reasons?
Mr. KING. No, except on general reasons of increase
in competition and the facilities which we consider that we
will get from the Grand Trunk that we might not now have
with the existing roads. Those are the reasons which I
had in mind.
40E
ALEXIS P. BOYER, JR., SOUTHBRIDGE
REMARKS OF MR. ALEXIS P. BOYER, JR.
My name is Alexis P. Boyer, Jr., and I am chairman of the
Board of Selectmen. I am here representing the Board of
Selectmen of Southbridge. At the same time I represent
the Board of Trade and the Commercial Club of South-
bridge. Last evening we had a meeting of the Finance
Committee of Southbridge, consisting of fifteen of the most
prominent manufacturers and business men of Southbridge.
The question of coming before this meeting today came up.
Southbridge is peculiarly located. It is seventy miles
from Boston, on a branch road of the New Haven road,
from East Thompson to Southbridge. We have two trains
into Southbridge, one before daylight and one close to night.
The result is that a man going to Boston leaves Southbridge
on the trolleys to Worcester and takes the Boston & Albany
to Boston, in that way saving close on to an hour's time.
Southbridge is one of the towns through which the so-called
Southern New England goes between Palmer and Provi¬
dence. Last fall our town had a very large mass meeting,
filling the town hall, with close on to 1,800 voters and tax¬
payers in Southbridge, and the sentiment was heartily in
favor of an additional outlet for Southbridge.
Southbridge has grown to about 13,000, in spite of our
location and railroad accommodations. And I am author¬
ized to state here today, in the name of the Central Mills
Company and the American Optical Company, one of the
largest shippers of goods to Boston, that they are very much
in favor of this line to Boston.
Will Help Southbridge
The line to Providence helps Southbridge, but a line to
Boston will help Southbridge. s till more. It means a great
deal to us.
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OPPORTUNITY FOR MASSACHUSETTS
We have no reason to fear competition. It will help
Southbridge, and instead of 13,000 it would grow to a con¬
siderably larger town. Our industries are spectacle manu¬
facturing, a large part of the output is sent by express, and
the American Optical Company and other large concerns
believe it would be for their interest that they have com¬
petitive rates.
We understand that the Grand Trunk has a separate,
entirely distinct express company which does business on
their road, and for the reason that we believe competition
would help Southbridge, we favor this proposition. We
believe that if this proposition came before the voters of
Southbridge you would not find a dozen men but that would
be strongly in favor of this proposition. That is all, gentle¬
men.
Judge KENEFICK. How many are here from South-
bridge?
Mr. BOYER. Sixteen, consisting of the manufacturers
and business men of Southbridge, to express themselves
in favor of this railway proposition.
42E
M. P. O'SHAUGHNESSY, SOUTHBRIDGE
REMARKS OF MR. M. P. O'SHAUGHNESSY
Mr. Chairman: I am simply one of a number of business
men who have journeyed from Southbridge to Boston today
to place themselves on record in favor of this proposition.
We in Southbridge, as perhaps some of you know, are at the
end of a branch line of the New York, New Haven & Hartford
Railroad; and the advent of the Grand Trunk or the South¬
ern New England Railroad Corporation means a great deal
to us, especially to our manufacturing industries. We have,
as perhaps some of you know, the largest optical works
in the world. We have a number of other large industries,
and the railroad facilities are the very worst.
And that is the reason why we, from Southbridge, are
very much interested in having this Grand Trunk or South¬
ern New England Railroad extended whatever rights or
privileges the Legislature may, in their judgment, see fit
to confer upon them, and allow them to build this line,
placing us on a through line. It means a great deal, as I
tried to say a few moments ago, for us to be on a through
line. We do not realize and cannot realize until we are on
a through line what it would feel like to be on a through line
instead of being at the jumping-off station of the New York,
New Haven & Hartford Railroad.
At a conference of business men last evening the repre¬
sentative of the American Optical Company, which is the
largest optical company in the world, expressed his desire
to be here today, but he could not, on account of some
previous engagement. And it is so with the rest of the
manufacturing shops in Southbridge. They are heartily in
favor of this Southern New England Railroad Corporation
being extended or granted whatever privileges they may
ask, with all due regard for the law.
4:5E
OPPORTUNITY FOR MASSACHUSETTS
REMARKS OF MR. GEORGE GRANT, NEWSPAPER
PUBLISHER, SOUTHBRIDGE
Mr. GRANT. I would like to tell the committee that
Southbridge is very enthusiastic over this Grand Trunk
proposition and has been from the very start. When the
news came that the Grand Trunk would possibly build
through Southbridge, the people rose there en masse and
expressed themselves as being like a crowd of people let out
of imprisonment. We have been cooped up there for the
last forty years at the end of a line, as my fellow-citizens
have told you, and we have suffered all the inconveniences
that people can suffer from such a condition of things, and
when the Grand Trunk proposition broke upon us, I don't
suppose you can conceive of the feeling of enthusiasm that
came to all of us. There is not a person in Southbridge nor
in the adjoining towns but that is in favor of this plan, and
if anything should be done to divert it now it would be a
sad disappointment.
The mass meeting which was held in Southbridge on the
first talking of the Grand Trunk going through was so largely
attended that our largest hall could not contain them, and
the manufacturers I find of the town as I go about my
business from day to day are all enthusiastically in favor
of it.
The Fiskdale mills, cotton manufacturers, employing
perhaps five or six hundred hands, have been obliged to
close down. They have had to team all their product, as
well as their raw material, a distance of six miles, and have
been doing business until within a few years apparently
at a profit. But the competition of recent years and the
difficulty in getting their product to market and getting their
material to their plant has necessitated their closing down.
44E
GEORGE GRANT, SOÜTHBRIDGE
and the mill has not turned a wheel for over two years. It
is a fine site, with brick buildings well equipped with modern
machinery, and they are still idle. And it is all owing to the
fact that we have not got railroad facilities.
In the town of Sturbridge, in which the village of Fiskdale
lies, there are several water privileges, and I understand
that recently men, manufacturers, have been there to view
them and they say that if there were railroad facilities
through there they would build.
Intolerable Conditions
You can see, gentlemen, why we are so anxious to have
the Grand Trunk go through. There is nothing that the
people of that community would not do to get the competing
railroad. Nobody who has not lived in a branch town and
been at the mercy of one railroad can conceive of the intol¬
erable conditions under which we exist. It is simply unen¬
durable.
The New Haven Railroad can raise our freight rate, as
I believe they do. I think that the adjoining town of Web¬
ster has better freight rates than we do because they have
a little competing road, a branch of the Albany road that
runs in there. We would like very much to have the Rail¬
road Committee frame a bill that will enable this company
to come through our town, and I think that if they do so
the people of that community will rise up and call them
blessed.
45E
OPPORTUNITY FOR MASSACHUSETTS
REMARKS OF MR. JAMES COX OF WEBSTER
Mr. COX. I do not represent officially any body, but I
speak for one or two manufacturing concerns that I have
talked with. I wish to speak mostly on the inadequacy of
the service that the New Haven road is giving us, both in
regard to the small number of trains and the accommodations
on those trains. We are a town of about five thousand
inhabitants, and we have no outlet from Webster to Norwich
and New London, from ten o'clock in the forenoon up to
half-past five in the evening.
Traveling men come into town and they cannot get out
again. They can go to Putnam, there is a train that leaves
Webster in the afternoon for Putnam, connecting with the
New York express. It goes through Webster at ten minutes
of three, but other than that there is no outlet from Webster,
going south, from ten in the forenoon to half-past five in
the evening. And traveling men coming in at that time have
no way of getting beyond Putnam, so that they are blocked
in there.
I spoke with one or two concerns this morning, or the
representatives of one or two concerns, who wished me to
say that they were strongly in favor of the admission of the
Grand Trunk into our section. One is the Perry Yarn Mills,
and I am interested in the Webster Box Company, which
also is greatly in favor of it. We, of course, have the Boston
& Albany in there which runs two trains a day, which are
mostly mixed trains, and it takes them about an hour and
a half or two hours to make a trip of sixteen miles to Worces¬
ter.
The Webster Business Men's Association, I think, a short
time since brought this matter up and voted unanimously
in favor of the admission of the Grand Trunk into this sec-
4CE
JAMES COX, WEBSTER
tion of the country. I am interested in our co-operative
bank, and we feel that by the admission of the Grand Trunk
it would create an interest which would cause buildings to
go up, men would build homes, and our banking institutions
would prosper. And for that and all the reasons we can
think of we urge its admission.
The New Haven road does not and will not give us the
accommodations that we ought to have. They say, some
of the ofBcials have been known to say, "Well, if you cannot
get train service, go by trolley," which, I suppose, means
that the New Haven road owns the trolleys. But the trolley
system does not carry baggage to accommodate the people.
So that if there are not trains enough, the accommodations
are cut off.
47E
OPPORTUNITY FOR MASSACHUSETTS
REMARKS OF MR. JOSEPH P. LOVE, OF WEBSTER,
BUSINESS MAN AND FORMER REPRESENTATIVE
Mr. LOVE. Mr. Chairman, I come here because I am
deeply interested in this matter so far as the competition in
the railroads is concerned. Some years ago we had a freight
rate to Boston of twelve cents, I think. About twenty-five
years ago, or something like that. A flat rate. Mr. Slater,
one of the late Mr. Slaters, built the railroad then from
Worcester—he got into a little trouble some way about
his freight business with the New Haven road, and he built
a road to Worcester, and he leased it to the Boston & Albany.
Our freight was then reduced to eight cents by his act.
Now the two railroads have got together, and our freight
business has gone up again. And if we should have any
competition there, the chances are that we would get better
freight rates to Boston than anywhere else.
I am very much in favor, as I said before, of the Grand
Trunk coming in here and giving us connections with the
State of Vermont. A great part of my goods come from
Montpelier. And I am very much handicapped by having
the stuff shipped to Willimantic and come up on the New
Haven. If the Grand Trunk came in I would have a direct
route from Montpelier and Barre. Then, if we had a direct
route running through, it would be a great help to the people
of Webster.
Some Sort of Collusion
I have heard it said here that we could not go back on the
Attorney-General's report, but what happened in Webster
recently would indicate that they have not exactly separated
the steam roads and the street railways there just yet.
We have a high tension wire along the line of the New
4.8E
JOSEPH P. LOVE, WEBSTER
Haven Railroad, running alongside the railroad, and re¬
cently it broke and killed a boy, and it broke again this
morning. That is a high-power tension wire, furnishing
power to the electric road to carry on the electric road. So
that shows that they are still in some sort of collusion there,
and that is one reason we do not get accommodation for
travel, because it looks to us out there as if it was all one
corporation.
49E