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1,008,485








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EVIDENCE AND ARGUMENTS


BEFORE THE


COMMITTEE ON HORSE RAILROADS OF THE
LEGISLATURE OF MASSACHUSETTS,
SESSION OF 18 72,
UPON THE PETITION FOR INCORPORATION
OF THE
HIGHLAND RAILWAY COMPANY,
AND THE PETITION OF THE
MIDDLESEX RAILROAD COMPANY.
ft/i 4
BOSTON:
WRIGHT &POTTER, STATE PRINTERS, No. 79 MILK STREET.
1872.




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44 3 |
71
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THE PROPOSED HIGHLAND RAILWAY.
FEBRUARY 6, 1872.
The Legislative Committee on Horse Railways gave a hearing this morning in the Green Room to the petitioners for the
incorporation of the " Highland Railway Company." They
ask permission to construct tracks in Shawmut Avenue and
other streets, and to run cars over the tracks of the Metropolitan Railroad. The green room was filled with ladies and gentlemen, and many of the leading and most wealthy citizens of
the Highlands were present. The petitioners were represented
by Messrs. Moody Merrill, T. W. Clarke, John L. Swift and
Horace T. Rockwell, and S. W. Bates, Esq., appeared for
the Metropolitan Railroad.
OPENING ARGUMENT OF THOMAS W. CLARKE, ESQR.
Mr. Clarke said they appeared in behalf of the people of
the Highland district.  The gentlemen who petitioned for
the road had placed their entire interest in the hands of a
committee appointed by the people at a mass meeting.
This committee of the people discovered a great deficiency
in the laws regulating horse railroad companies. By the Act
of 1871 the penalty for not providing proper accommodations
upon horse railroads, instead of being made a forfeiture by
the company, became a fine for the Commonwealth. Several hundred circulars were sent to residents of the Highlands, containing queries about the accommodations which
were furnished by the Metropolitan Railway Company. Some
three hundred replies had been received. An abstract of
the replies showed that 47 per cent. of all never rode except when there are standing passengers, and the other 53




4


per cent. very seldom rode when there were not standing passengers. The average number of standing passengers was
from nine to twenty-two, or an average of half as many as
the cars ought to carry. Some replied that it was common
to have seventy or eighty passengers in a car at the same
time. It was common to find fifteen passengers on the rear
platform, and ten or more on the front platform. The Metropolitan Railway now had an exclusive right to run cars to
the Highland district upon their promise to accommodate
the public. Was it accommodation of the public to carry
people as cattle, and crowd people on the platform to the
risk of life and limb? They would not accommodate the
public, and they were not willing to let any one else accommodate the public, and he read from an agreement by which
the proprietor of Hathorne's line of omnibuses, for a consideration of $6,600 a year, agreed not to run over a fixed number of omnibuses annually. The capital stock of the Metropolitan Railway -as a million and a half, and on this the
people of Boston were expected to pay a dividend of ten per
cent. When extra cars were provided to carry the school
children-to festivals, the company expected from sixty to
eighty to ride in a car. This company had no right to the
monopoly, unless it accommodated the public-and it did not.
An opposition line was needed to spur up the Metropolitan
Company to run their road on Christian principles. It mattered not to the public whether the capitalists who put their
money in the road made anything or not, although he was
satisfied the proposed road would pay. The speaker then
exhibited a planwof the proposed road to the committee, and
explained the same. He said they wanted to run their road
on moral and Christian principles. The petitioners for the
charter were all large proprietors of real estate at the Highlands, and were deeply interested in the welfare of that portion of the city. They proposed to embody in the bill a provision that the platform of the cars should be securely railed
and the steps covered with an apron while the cars were in
motion, so that the platform, could not be used for standing




5
room. It; also asked for permission to use the tracks of the
Metropolitan Railway Company, and this involved no new
principle, for the same permission had been given in similar
cases previously. They wanted the company, tied down by
the act of incorporation, to provide a seat for every passenger at all ordinary times, and with 'permission at extraordinary times to run cars with standing passengers at
reduced rates. The gentlemen who asked for the charter
were willing to accede to these requirements, The charter
proposed also provided for the adoption of a three-foot
gauge, with the permission of.^the board of aldermen, if
at any time such a nieasure should become desirable. It
was proposed in the chartergo run through Cliff Street, and
through Eliot Street on to the tracks of the Metropolitan
Railroad, in addition to the streets named in the petition.
THE EVIDENCE.
Mr. Bates called attention to the informality of the presentation of the petition and the change which had been
made in the route since the public notice was given as required by law. Mr. Horace T. Rockwell then read, in evidence, some of the replies which had been received in response to the circular. The first was from Mr. N. C. Berry,
a lawyer, who stated that he was on the road usually between
seven and eight in the morning and six and seven o'clock in
the evening, and he usually found passengers standingsometimes twice as many as could sit. The cars were indecently crowded. The Rev. Benton Smith replied that he
patronized the road regularly twelve times a week. Among
his catalogue of inconveniences were the delay in passengers
getting out of overcrowded cars, the frequent change of conductors, and the haste of returning passengers to get in the
cars before they reached the end of the route. G. B Sylvester replied that there were always passengers standing in
the cars in the morning. Considered all grievances resulted
from the general management of the road, and not from any
fault Of the eiqploy6s. Aaron G. Reed replied that he ael-  /




6


dom rode when there were not passengers standing, and he
rode at all hours of the day. Hugh Cary replied that he
could not recollect having been on the road in the year when
passengers were not standing. Dr. Arthur H. Nichols made
the same written statement relative to the Warren Street cars.
ALDERMAN LITTLE'S TESTIMONY.
Alderman Little, of Boston Highlands, said that additional 
accommodations were needed, and the Metropolitan road
had failed to meet reasonably the reasonable needs of the
people. He considered the proposed new road as the only
means of securing the needed accommodations. One day,
in the last of December, there was no one at the Metropolitan car-office who could tell when, if ever, another car
would leave for Grove Hall. He could not depend upon the
cars, in going to his business in the morning. For the past
year he had studiously let the Metropolitan Railroad alone,
and accommodated himself as best he could. He thought
the corporation undertook more business than they could
take care of, and in any inconvenience the outlying districts
suffered first. He had told the president of the road, that
he considered the brain-power of the managers incompetent
to run the road. He heard the road talked of everywhere,
except in his own house, and there he had forbidden it.
There had not been snow enough this winter to prevent the
cars running regularly, at least on four-horse time. He never
saw any corporation make such blunders and exhibit such
incompetency as was displayed by the Metropolitan Company
in running their road. There was a general lack of efficiency
in the supervision of the road, and it was carried out in all
the lesser details. The road was run with cheap employ4s,
and they used improper language, or worse than that. He
would stand by the Metropolitan Railroad as long as they
accommodated the public, but he was a better friend of the
public than of any corporation. He did not know, but it
would be possible to reach the wants of the public with the
present road, if it was properly managed. The granting of




7


the petition would not inconvenience the public travel by a
multiplication of' cars. It would be essentially a new route,
and he did not think a line of cars through Shawmut Avenue
would inconvenience the public. The Metropolitan would
have all the business it could do well, after the new road was
running. The only way suitable accommodations could be
secured was by means of competition. In reply to a query
as to whether the Metropolitan road would not buy up the
stock of the new road and control it, he replied he would
make it a penal offence, and send any stockholder to the
House of Correction for six months, who would offer to sell
his stock to the Metropolitan Company. The standing of the
petitioners was a guarantee that they meant just what they
proposed to do. There was one spontaneous movement in
the matter all through the Highland district, and the new
road was universally called for.
Mr. Merrill spoke relative to the call for thestock. Ninety
thousand dollars had already been subscribed, and some
$2,000 had been paid in by those who were afraid they could
not secure the stock unless they paid the cash down. The
sewing girls and school teachers would take stock in the
road, and he was willing that a provision should be put in
the bill that it should be void unless all the stock was taken
within twenty-four hours of its passage by men who would
take their oath not to sell out. In reference to a query by a
member of the committee, Mr. Rockwell stated that the car
on which he rode home last night, contained seventy-six
people. In reply to a query by the petitioners, Mr. Little
stated that the business of the Metropolitan road would be
sufficient to afford a dividend of ten per cent. when the proposed road was built.
STATEMENT OF THE DISTRICT-ATTORNEY.
District-Attorney J. Wilder May was the next witness.
He stated that he had resided at the Highlands nearly twenty
years. He did not think the Metropolitan Railroad had tried
to accommodate the public whenever it interfered in any way


* 1




8


with their dividends. To use the word " accommodate" in
that connection was an abuse of the word. When he wanted
to go out, at four or five o'clock, he had been compelled to
run a race down to the head of Temple Place, in order to get
any chance of the seat by meeting the car before it was filled
up. He had been compelled to walk home in a storm, because
the cars were so full that he could not get a place to hang on.
The character of the drivers and of the conductors, he
thought, had depreciated. They used to have men of a higher
grade, men who would not insult women. He related an instance which occurred about a year ago, when fifty passengers
were kept waiting in a storm, over an hour, by a quarrel between two conductors, neither of whom would give way. He
should as soon think of finding a bear on Boston Common,
as to find a man or woman in Roxbury that did not desire
better railroad accommodations. He should as soon expect
an elephant to change his skin, or a leopard his spots, as for
the Metropolitan Railroad Company to manage a road as it
ought to be. If the managers had more capacity, coupled
with a disposition to do so, it might be possible. If the stock
of the Metropolitan Railroad was watered, as some appearances would indicate, it was a perpetual swindle. No one
had access to their books, except those who would be concerned in watering the stock, if it was watered. He did not
object to their paying a dividend of ten per cent. upon
their actual stock, but he believed solemnly their stock was
watered. He believed they were paying ten per cent. on
stock which did not represent any actual stock paid in, and
that they were paying twenty per cent. upon the real capital.
In his opinion, the profit above ten per cent. upon the actual
stock should go to improving the running stock of the road.
Mr. Moody Merrill stated that there were men present from
the Highlatds who represented at least twenty millions of
capital, who would indorse the statement which had been
made. The hearing was then adjourned until Friday next, at
halfi past ten.




9
FEBRUARY 9, 1872.
The hearing was continued this forenoon in the green
room. The attendance was larger than at the first meeting,
and an unusually large proportion of those present were
ladies.
Mr. Brownell Granger, who made a survey of the proposed
route of the projected railroad, submitted a plan of the route.
The survey began at Grove Hall, running over the tracks of
the Metropolitan Railroad 7,400 feet to the junction of Warren and Dudley Streets; thence through Dudley and across
Washington Street to Shawmut Avenue, 900 feet; down
Shawmut Avenue to the Metropolitan Railroad at Warrenton
Street, 9,170 feet on new track; thence down Tremont and
through Eliot to Washington Street, on new track, 510. feet:
and from Washington Street through Temple Place to Tremont Street, and return over Shawmut Avenue to Dudley
Street, and through Cliff Street to Warren Street, 1,100 feet:
making a distance of 10,570 feet on the Metropolitan tracks,
and, including single track and turnout, 17,780 feet, with
10,750 feet on new tracks; and, with a new track in Warren Street, it would require 7,400 feet of new track. As an
engineer he thought this a feasible route to build.
James Ritchie, who had been an assessor in Roxbury, testified that in two and a half years there had been an increase
of from 7,000 to 10,000 in population; the accommodations
from omnibuses to cars were a great change in conveniences, but there has not been an adequate increase of car
accommodations with the increase of population. Even the
Higllland Railroad would probably fail to meet the increased
wants of that section in the future; for, at the present rate
of increase, there would probably be, in six or seven years, a
population of 100,000. There is business enough now for
two or three lines of railroads to that section of the city. In
the beginning it was not strange that the Metropolitan Company should throw obstacles in the way of new 'companies.
The establishment of one, two or three more railroads isa a
2                                        A




10


necessity to meet the wants of the people, to stir up a
little competition, and induce these companies to give the
facilities they are able to. An underground railroad may
yet be a necessity. In answer to the chairman, Mr. Ritchie
said he did not think there was an inducement for the Met.
ropolitan Railroad Company to make the accommodations,
but the opening of Shawmut Avenue to railway tracks would
afford travel for twenty-five or fifty more cars. He had
never made complaints to the company, and always took a
seat when he could get one, but generally had to stand; his
family often made complaints of want of accommodations.
The car on which he went out the night before had seventytwo passengers, at about five o'clock; lie was due at home
at ten minutes to six, a distance of about three miles; he
took the Jamaica Plain car because it was generally quicker
than the Egleston-square cars. Mr. Ritchie said he had
never said much about the Metropolitan Company, on account of what the company had done in the past, but he had
not found any one so poor as to do them reverence. They
experienced a difficulty in not having the officers of the road
living amongst them. In reply to Mr. Bates, counsel for the
Metropolitan Company, he said he was willing to admit almost everything in excuse for the lack of accommodations;
that all of the great avenues were too narrow for the travel.
L. F. Morse, an assessor, gave some statistics of the
growth of the Highland district. When the cars first commenced running in 1856, the population of Roxbury was
18,000; in 1860, 25,138; in 1870, 34,773; and from the
increase of polls last year, the number was about 44,000.
From appearances in putting up large estates, the building
the present year will be greater than in any previous year.
The necessities of travel require another road. In ward 14
during the last four years, there has been a still greater increase. In 1868 there were 1,428 buildings, and in 1871,
2,857; thjre were 357 new buildings completed last year,
and 166 in process of erection. There was land enough in
that ward capable of sustaining a population of 100,000.




11


Mr. Morse agreed with Mr Ritchie that the new road would
afford but a temporary relief, and that steam must be required to meet the wants of that section of the city. The
present hearing, he thought, had given an impetus to the
Metropolitan Company, and new efforts had been made to
give accommodations; with a new road they would each
give a stimulus to the other, and a competition would be
beneficial to the people.
The hearing was further continued to Tuesday morning
next, at half-past nine o'clock.
FEBRUARY 13, 1872.
The hearing was resumed this morningin the green room.
Mr. George W. Wheelwright was the first witness called.
He said he lived on Warren Street, and he had felt that if he
could not choose his hour for returning home he should feel
compelled to change his residence. His son, who was in
business with him, was usually compelled to stand and frequently ride upon the platform. He had advised his friends
not to locate in the Highlands until there were better accommodations. The want of brains in the management of the
road was apparent to every one. Some of the cars in use
were very poorly ventilated. He was surprised that the
gentlemen who run the road were willing to continue such a
state of things. The road took all it could get, and gave the
public as little as possible in return. The management was
worse than that of the Erie ring. The statistics of the Baltimore Horse Railroad very nearly corresponded with those
of the Metropolitan, and they gave excellent accommodations; a lady was seldom seen standing in the cars in Baltimore. That road paid to the city of Baltimore some $134,000 a year, and kept the streets through which its cars
passed in repair, and also supported a public park. He
thought the Metropolitan road needed the spur of wholesome
competition. Any corporation which got its franchise for
nothing should be content with six or seven per cent., and




12


its dividends should not be pushed up to ten per cent. at the
expense of the comfort of the public. He thought the manners of the people had been corrupted by the Metropolitan
Railroad, and it had become more customary than formerly
for men to retain their seats when ladies were standing.
He considered that there was sufficient business for both
roads, and he considered the proposed route for the new
road perfectly feasible. He did not hear any one in his vicinity speak well of the Metropolitan road. He thought he had
said as much in its favor as anybody. He had several times
addressed a note to the officers about the accommodations,
and had always received a courteous reply. He did not
think the Metropolitan road was managed as well as it
might be, and he saw no reason why it could not be as well
managed as the Baltimore Horse Railroad. He made ten
or twelve trips on the road each week, and there were usually people standing on some portion of the route. He was
compelled to stand about two-thirds of the time. He thought
the inconvenience of putting on more cars could be avoided
by a higher rate of speed. An increase of speed on the part
of the Metropolitan road would not, however, meet the wants
of the people. He considered the new road a necessity, and
was willing to take stock in it. He thought it would pay
six or seven per cent., which was as much as any company
should take. He considered that there were many features
which the Baltimore and Metropolitan railways held in common, except in the better accommodations and the return
which the Baltimore road made to the city for the right of
way.
The evidence for the petitioners being here closed, the
opening argument for the remonstrants was made by S. W.
Bates, Esq., who addressed the committee as follows:OPENING ARGUMENT OF SAMUEL W. BATES, EsQ.
Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Committee: —The
petitioners having presented their case, it is incumbent upon
me to make such reply to it as may seem proper for us.




13
I understand that the people residing in this district say
to you that they are not accommodated as they think they
ought to be, by any existing means of communication between their territory and the heart of the city of Boston;
that they desire some relief, and that certain parties who are
the owners of real estate in that vicinity say to you that
they are ready, in connection with others, to build a road;
that the benefit which it will be to their real estate, and the
comfort it will be to the people generally, will be sufficient
to pay them, even if they do not make any money for a few
years; and they are, therefore, ready to build a new road, if
you will grant them a charter. It certainly would be a very
desirable thing for all these individuals to have better accommodation. I would go a good deal further than Mr. May
did the other day, when he said he would " as soon expect
to find a bear upon the Common as to find a person in the
Highland district who did not want better railroad accommodations." I think I would as soon expect to find a bear
upon the Common as to find any person anywhere in the
vicinity of Boston, on any one of the horse railroad lines,
that does not want better accommodations, or any person on
any one of the steam lines that does not want better accommodations. I would go further, and say that I would as soon
expect to find a bear on the Common as to find any intelligent man or woman who does not want every thing on earth
better than he or she has got now-for that is what makes
men. It is because we are discontented, in a true, proper
sense, that we have life and energy and spirit to go forward
and improve everything around us.  Therefore, I say to all
those who are dissatisfied here, " Get better accommodations,
if you canl; we will help you as far as we can; we will not
stand in your way one iota, unless it becomes our duty to do
so, from the fact that, in granting the accommodation that
you desire, it will be to the injury and the inconvenience of
a very much larger class of persons than yourselves." There
is a limit to space. The old doctrine that two bodies cannot
occupy the same space, is as true to-day as it ever was, and it


x',-^~-'
'.V..z:; i~
I )l
I,.I
7.1,,




14


is true, not only in those cars, that are so crowded that two
bodies cannot occupy the same space, as our friends on the
other side say they must in those crowded cars; but it is also
true in the streets, that two cars cannot occupy the same
space, any more than two persons in the car; and the question is, in certain cases, which shall give way? Shall the
people in the cars be crowded, or shall the cars and other
travel in the streets be crowded?  There is inconvenience,
injury, evil in both cases, but which will give way? That
question is to be decided by facts and common sense, and
not by the people in the streets complaining, as they do, that
the horse-cars are so numerous now that they cannot live,
and they must be taken off; that they go so fast that accidents are occurring every day, and they cannot exist with a
Metropolitan Railroad that runs so many cars, and runs them
so fast that there is no chance for anybody else to drive a
carriage through the streets: or by the other party complaining that there are not cars enough, that they don't go fast
enough, and that they don't have any accommodation whatever. There are two sides to the evil, and they must both
be considered, and the question between them decided by
facts and by contrasts.
Now, Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, if what is stated to
us is true, and what is proposed as a remedy is a remedy,
and there is no better remedy, then these gentlemen ought
to have their grant. If, on the other hand, the evil is exaggerated, or if there is a better remedy for the evil, or if the
remedy which they propose is worse than the disease, and is
not a remedy, then they ought not to have it. These points
we shall consider particularly. We think that the evil of
which they complain is much exaggerated, and we believe
that the remedy which they propose is no remedy at all. We
believe that the remedy that they propose will be a great injury to all the rest of the travel that is upon this line. We
believe that it will destroy what little good, as they say, the
Metropolitan road does, and if they have no brains now, and
no ability now, and no disposition now to manage their road




I.~:  I:,


15


acceptably to the public, they certainly cannot have either 
of these when they have to compete with this other road. I
believe, Mr. Chairman, in competition; always have believed
in it. But there are two things requisite to make competition useful. One is, there must be business enough to sustain two lines; and, secondly, there must be a place in which
to do that business. I would to-day like to see another line
of horse railroad established in the city of Boston, if there
was a proper place to establish it-because I think there
would be business enough to support two lines-and let the
two run side by side; but if one line is to compete with another, over the same tracks, I think we shall show you before we finish our hearing that it is an utter impossiblity for
the two to exist together, and therefore that competition in
that form is not what is desirable. I shall have something
more to say upon this point at another time, and will not
enlarge upon it now.
Before stating, briefly, the grounds upon which we stand,
I want to call the attention of the committee to the way in
which this case has been presented here; and I do it because
I think we should stop and think a little as to how a case
like this should be acted upon. When prejudices are excited, when the feelings of people are worked up by real or
fancied injuries, and they are inflamed by partisanship, they
are apt to be carried away, to go beyond the point they
would in calmer moments, and not to get at the true state of
things. We all know how far a little enthusiasm will carry
people. We know that the preaching of Peter the Hermit
carried all Europe into Palestine. We know that during the
great tulip mania people spent their fortunes in buying bulbs,
paying thousands upon thousands of pounds for what in reality was not worth as many cents, until the bubble burst.
We have seen that every little while the people of some particular town on one of our lines of steam railroad will get
up public meetings, and there will be a kreat deal of excitement, until you would think they were the most abused per-:
sons in the world. So it is here. It so happened that in
41,4.;.




16


Christmas week we had a snow-storm, just at the time when
everybody wanted to come into Boston. Of course, it caused
a doubling up of the cars upon the horse railroads; and it
seemed as though everybody in the surroundings of Boston
wanted to come into the city, and everybody who was in
Boston wanted to go out; and the cars on all the railroads,
steam as well as horse, were constantly overcrowded and
overloaded. But, Mr. Chairman, they were not crowded so
much as the streets of Boston were. There was hardly a
store that you could move around in. They were crowded
almost as much as the horse cars were crowded. You could
hardly walk through Washington Street or Tremont Street,
from the crowd that was on the sidewalk; and there was as
much ground for going to the City Hall, and saying to the
city authorities, " It is a disgrace to you that you do not have
your streets so that we can get through them; it takes us
half an hour to go from the Old South up to Winter Street;
we have to wedge our way through the crowds on the sidewalks, our clothes are torn and pockets picked," as there
was for complaining because of the crowds in the horse cars.
It is literally true that that was the state of things in Boston
a large portion of that week; and it is literally true that
such complaints were constantly being made with reference
to steam cars and horse cars. It was an extraordinary occasion, and it was worse for the roads from the fact, as I
say, that a snow-storm came the same week; and then it
was that the people who had been suffering, as they had,there is no doubtabout it,-from not having such good accommodations as they wanted, felt that their wrongs had
culminated, and they held excited meetings, of which the
papers have been full. Then came the story that the Metropolitan Railroad had neither brains, nor energy, nor ability,
nor disposition to meet the requirements of the people, but
were trying to do everything they could to make their patrons discontented with them. The papers were all full of
it; and, generally, the community got almost as much excited
as the people did in the days of Peter the Hermit about the




.i
17
Crusades. Everybody in Boston says," The Metropolitan
Railroad must be wrong. Where there is so much smoke,
there must be some fire." But sometimes, Mr. Chairman,
the smoke turns out to be fog; and, when the sun dissipates
it, we find there is some clear vision; and I think we shall
find it so here. I know that gentlemen have got into that
state of mind to-day, that they feel that the Metropolitan
road does not do right, and does not try to do right; but
I think they will find, before this hearing is over, that it is
not so. I know that the people who live out in that section
are people of common sense,-are people of intelligence;
and I believe that when they throw away their prejudices,
and look at this matter fairly, and as it really is, they will
see it in altogether a different light from that in which they
have looked at it, and very differently from the way in which
the testimony has come in here.
I need not go outside of this case to show, in a striking
manner, what prejudice will do. Here is Mr. May, an intelligent man, a lawyer, the district attorney for the county of
Suffolk, a man trained up to weigh testimony and consider
the relative value of different kinds of evidence; and yet see
what he has testified to here. In the first place, he says that
the Metropolitan road " never accommodated anybody. It
has been constantly deteriorating ever since it began. They
promise everything, but they don't perform any thing." He
says he lives on Oak Street, and that " the omnibuses, when
they had them, accommodated the people better than the cars
do."  ' Never heard a man speak well of this road," says Mr.
May; " they have neither ability nor brains; they have no
disposition to do any good." Perhaps that is all right. That
is very natural from a man who is strongly prejudiced. But
here is the point: the witness goes further, and says, "I know
that the stock of the Metropolitan Railroad is watered. I don't
know of my own knowledge," he says, it is hearsay; " but a
man that I have every confidence in told me so." But he says  i
that man said he did not have any facts to base it upon, but:
he knew it; and he would not tell the name of the man. And


3




18


this, gentlemen, is a lawyer, who goes upon evidence. He
says: "I don't know any more than what I have told you
about it; but I believe it as much as I believe in Heaven."
He had got his prejudice so worked up, that he was ready to
believe in any thing, no matter what it might be, if it was
against the Metropolitan road.
Now the fact is (without going into details) that that
matter has been fully investigated before a committee of the
legislature twice; and there is no shadow of truth in the
charge, and never was. The only pretence there ever was is
this: that, when Mr. Weld came into the road, he said that
he was going to have this thing sifted from beginning to end,
and, if there was any thing like watered stock, he would not
take the presidency. Then there came up a question with
reference to the line of omnibuses that had been bought for
$200,000, and he claimed, and some of the rest claimed, that
the stock that was issued for that purpose was more than the
omnibuses were worth, although it was a compromise in the
purchase, and Mr. Weld required that that stock should be
brought back, and it was brought back, and there is no pretence now of any stock being watered, unless the amount that
was paid for getting the charter, for making the surveys, and
for the various expenses incident to getting a road into working order, was a watering of the stock, and nobody pretends
that it was. Now, as I say, when the fact is that there was
no watering of stock, a gentleman comes forward and says
that he believes it, without any evidence. It shows, as I say,
what prejudice will do, and it is one of the best illustrations
we could give.
But that is not all. The joke comes in here. Our friends
who presented this case asked the committee if they would
allow all these gentlemen and ladies in the room who were
ready to say that they believed everything that Mr. May did,
to rise, stating that all of them would. I wanted to have the
question put, but the chairman did not choose to put it. But if
they had all risen, it would only have been another illustration of the force of prejudice to which I have referred.




19
Now, I do not bring this subject up in this manner to say
anything against Mr. May, or anything against the gentlemen and ladies who were so earnest in this cause. I only
bring it up to show that when we are eager for a thing, when
we think we do not have our rights, when we meet together
and talk over our grievances, we get so full of it, that we are
ready to believe anything anybody says, if it is only on our
side. Therefore, I want this committee, when they come to
consider this question, to remember that it is nothing but a
simple, practical, common-sense question, and is to be so considered.
Here is an evil, which, to a certain extent, we all admit.
There are remedies, perhaps, and perhaps there are not. We
have tried, again and again, to find the best remedy. These
gentlemen think they have got it. If they have, give it to
them. We think it is not a remedy; and we ask you not to
consider everything quite so bad as it is represented; not to
believe that the managers of the Metropolitan road are such
an awful class of people as it is claimed they are. Look at the
matter fairly, and see if they are. If they are, punish them.
See what the evil is, and see if you cannot find a remedy, and
I pledge you beforehand that the Metropolitan Railroad will
put what little brains they have got into the work of carrying
through whatever will be for the best interest of the people
they have to carry over their road.
Now, we admit this: that in certain hours of the day -
varying in winter and in summer, but say from eight to halfpast nine in the morning, and say from about four to six in
the evening-the cars of the Metropolitan road are very much
more crowded than they ought to be going one way, and are
very much less crowded than they ought to be going the other
way. Of course, in the morning, those who live out of town
want to get in, and there are very few who want to go out.
Early in the morning, certain persons will come in; but from
about eight to half-past nine those who have not come into
the city - and they are the largest part of the travel -want 
to come ill, and then the cars are very much crowded, and




20


crowded to our detriment, as well as to the detriment of the
people who ride in them. But when they go back (for these
cars cannot wait) they go back comparatively empty. Again,
at night, between the hours of four and six, is the time when
the great majority of the people want to go out of the city,
and then the cars are a great deal more crowded than in the
morning; but, when they come back, they have but few passengers. A little later in the evening, say about half-past
seven, the Neck cars, particularly (it does not apply so much
to the out-of-town cars), will be very much crowded for half
an hour, perhaps, with people going to the theatre, to concerts, and other entertainments. And then, when there happens to be a large number of lectures and concerts the same
evening, which end from nine to half-past nine, the cars about
that time will be crowded; and again, at the time when the
theatre people come out, and there are one or two cars there,
they will be very much crowded. During the other hours of
the day, as a rule, the cars are not crowded. Let me explain
what I mean when I say they are not crowded. I do not
mean that there are as many seats as there are persons who
want to ride. I do not call a car crowded if there are not
more than thirty passengers on it. A car is not meant to
give the conveniences that you get in a hack, that you pay
fifty cents, seventy-five cents, or a dollar for; it is not meant
to give you the conveniences which you have in your private
carriage. It is the people's vehicle. It is made wide; it
takes up room in the streets, with the intention of having
more or less stand. A great many prefer to stand, even if
there are seats. A great many will stand upon the platform
when there are plenty of seats, - not only gentlemen, but
ladies. I have frequently seen ladies, when there were seats
in the car, stand at the front door and look out of the window all the way down. Many gentlemen who have been sitting in their offices all day will stand on the platform when
there are plenty of seats in the car; they have sat enough
during the day. But whether that is so or not, you cannot
expect for five or six,cents to have the conveniences of a hack




21
or a private carriage. And the streets are not sufficient to
allow all the people to be carried who want to ride, if everybody is to have a seat; the thing would be impossible.
I say, therefore, that the evil is this; that in certain hours
of the day the cars are crowded too mnch; they are overloaded. It is an evil, a great evil; but I shall show you,
Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, that it is so
on every horse railroad that comes into Boston. It is so on
every horse railroad in the United States; it is so on that
paragon of horse railroads, the Baltimore road, which the
gentleman has told us about this morning. It is so with
every ferry that comes into the city of Boston, and especially
is it so with those that come into the city of New York.
People talk about the crowds in our horse cars. They do not
compare with the crowds on tile ferry-boats between Brooklyn and New York, and Jersey City and New York, which
are so immense as to make the crossing dangerous. It is
so, too, on our steam roads, to a very great extent. Take,
for instance, the Eastern Railroad. Having lived in Swampscott during the summer, I have seen the same difficulty
there. There will be a train of cars all ready to start, and,
to the surprise of the superintendent, who has perhaps put
on two extra cars, about a minute before the train starts a
hundred persons will come down to the depot, when every
seat is filled; he lhas no time to put on another car; the
train has its time to make, and so the hundred passengers
will get in, and, having to stand up, will complain all the
way down. That is so on every public conveyance; it was
always so with the omnibuses as well as with the horse cars.
We say that our road is not exceptional in this respect; and,
as I say, it is as much of an injury to us as it is to those who
ride. We have-and so has every other horse-railroad corporation in this city-horses that are strained by overloading, and, of course, we have our cars broken down by overloading; and so, as I say, does every other horse railroad. 
It does not pay for us to do it. We do not want to do it.
Some gentlemen here seem to think that we delight in see



22


ing how many people we can pack into a car, and make them
as uncomfortable as they can be. But if we want to make
our dividends, we should not do it if we could help it. We
must be a very spiteful set of people to do it, as long as we
lose money by the operation; and we do. I think I shall
show you by the testimony, that, when we have from forty to
fifty passengers in a car,-somewhere about that,-that is
as many as we can carry with profit, and that we lose
money when we carry a larger number. Therefore, when
we carry more, it is not because we want to carry so many,
but because we cannot help it, as we shall show you before
we get through. The people will ride, and we cannot avoid
it.
We shall show you that this has been one of the things
that the horse railroads have given more attention to than
almost any other question tliat comes up in connection with
their management.  The superintendents of the different
roads have been to other cities, to see what other corporations do; and they find the same trouble there, and I think
the testimony will show you that up to the present time no
remedy has been found for it.
Then, again, the Metropolitan Railroad, by the peculiar
position of the city of Boston, is more liable to this trouble
than any other.  Take the Cambridge road, for instance;
they have a pretty easy circuit all the way round. The
Middlesex has the same. Tile Broadway is troubled to a
considerable extent, because, like the Metropolitan, it has
to be run round to this crowded point. The Metropolitan is
circumstanced a little like this: here are these different
roads, which I will call now branch roads, that come into
the main trunk. Begin on the east and take the EustisStreet line, the Mt. Pleasant line, then the Warren-Street
line going out to Grove Hall and Dr. Means' church; and
then take the Egleston Square, Jamaica Plain, and Brookline lines; we have all these lines coming in, converging to
the same point, one coming down Tremont Street, and there
connecting with cars starting at Lenox Street, and then




23
coming down to the Tremont House; the others coming
down Washington Street, and there connecting with the
Camden-Street line, and then coming down Washington
Street, and coming through Temple Place, eventually bringing all the cars on to one track, all tle various branches
centering on that one track. That is the point everybody
wants to reach. And then comes this difficulty, that there
is not room enough for all these cars. Boston originally, as
was stated the other day, had but six hundred and ninety
acres. It was not as large as the ward they are speaking of
here. As has often been said by others, the streets followed
the cow paths, and they were not much larger than cowpaths, and they did not need much larger streets then.
There was no room in the city. It would have been all
streets, if they had made them to meet the requirements of a
population as large as the city of Boston has to-day. The
principal streets, Washington Street and Tremont Street, are
nothing but cul de sac.; there is no outlet to them; they
come butt up against something else, and end right there.
Now if Washington Street were widened to a hundred feet,
and extended to the water side, and Tremont Street were
widened to a hundred feet, so that we could have two roads
in each of them, one run by one company and the other by
another, we should come as near perfection in horse railroads
as we can. In New York they have much greater advantages; but they do not get rid of crowds, and we should not
here. They have wide, straight streets, and are able to go
a deal faster than we can. They can go right through, as
we cannot. The peculiar situation of Boston entails this
evil upon us. And then comes this trouble, also: what you
may call the heart of Boston, the place where everybody
wants to go, is within the circle from Boylston Street, up
around to the Tremont House. Every one wants to be carried to that section of territory. You heard what the gentlemen testified the other day. We asked them if they would
be willing to stop at Boylston Street, and they said no. You
would think a person could afford to walk from Boylston




24


Street to the different sections of the city. People who live
on Beacon Street, on Mt. Vernon Street, on Boylston Street,
and on the new land, walk to their places of business, and
they are contented to do it; but the people who come from
the South End, and from the outskirts, to what is called the
heart of the city, are not willing to do it. They say they are
not willing to do it, and, as a matter of fact, that is true. If
there were two cars at the same point, one of which was to
stop at Boylston Street, and the other to come up as far as
the Tremont House, and people knew that the horses of the
latter were to walk every foot of the distance from Boylston
Street to the Tremont House, they would get into the one
going to the Tremont House, to the over-crowding of that
car, while the one coming to Boylston Street would get very
few passengers indeed.
Well, how are you going to prevent it? As I say, you
cannot forbid their going around this circuit. In the first
place, the Metropolitan Railroad went only to the Tremont
House, but pretty soon there came a great cry: " We must
go round through Washington Street;" and the Metropolitan Company built the road through Washington Street.
Then the South Boston people, who came in as far as Summer Street, said, " This won't do for us: we must go round
through Washington Street also."   So the legislature
granted them that right. In a little while there came a cry
that there were twenty-seven thousand people coming in
every day at the railroad stations, who wanted to go one way
or the other, and we must furnish accommodations for them,
by running cars to the depots; and the Metropolitan Railroad granted them that right. Very soon the Chelsea Ferry
and East Boston people said, " We want to go round that
circuit, we want to go to the South End; " and the result
was, we were obliged to run cars to these points. All must
come through this little crowded section, where everybody
else wants to come with their horses and carriages; where
the ladies want to do their shopping; where gentlemen want
to come with their private carriages, and stop; where a




25
large portion of the hackmen and teamsters have to go; and
where there is generally a great crowd. And this is a fact,
Mr. Chairman,-I think, without dispute, there is no city in
Europe, or the United States, where what you may call the
shopping streets, the fashionable streets, what corresponds
to our Washington and Tremont Streets, are so crowded as
they are in the city of Boston; and I shall show you in my
closing, or at some other time, where I think the fault is,
and what has got to be done. The city of Boston has got to
take hold of this matter and provide means for this travel,
by making its streets wide enough. No matter what it costs,
it must be done now. I say it without fear of contradiction,
that there is not another city in Europe or America, where
the fashionable shopping streets are as crowded as Washington and Tremont Streets are in Boston. On pleasant days
you can hardly get through Washington Street on the sidewalks, and there is always a crowd at the corner of Winter
and Washington Streets. You go into Tremont Street, and
you experience the same difficulty in getting from the Revere House down to the Tremont House. I was at the
Revere House the other day, and, being in a hurry to take a
train, I asked a hackman how long it would take to reach
the Boston, Hartford and Erie depot. He said he should
not dare say he could go there in less than half an hour. I
said to him, " Why I can walk there in ten minutes."  He
said, " I may get there in five, but the chances are I shall
be much longer; " and lie was really twenty-two minutes.
He drove from the Revere House up by the State House,
down Park Street, and then worked his way through Winter Street, across Washington and down Summer Street. It
was a very zigzag course, and we were obliged to stop constantly.
As I said, Mr. Chairman, all want to go through this
crowded portion of the streets, and will not be content unless they cal be carried to that point. But we could not 
carry them all, so we have stopped four or five lines at the
Tremont House, instead of carrying them around the circuit,4  '..!tV
7<,




26


of this square. But there is not a day passes but some conductor is scolded at because he will not go farther. They
do not see why they should not go round as well as everybody else. Complaint is constantly made by those who have
not looked into the matter of travel, because the cars stop at
the Tremont House. Now, when the Metropolitan Railroad
began, il 1856, they carried the first year about four million
passengers, and this last year they have carried about sixteen and a half millions, in round numbers. The Broadway
Railroad carried the last year, I think, something like five
millions; so that the whole number of passengers that were
carried around through there amounted to about twenty-one
millions. That is the increase in passengers,-from four millions to about twenty-one millions. Now, what increase has
been made in the width of the streets? Tremont Street has
been widened, but not nearly as much as it ought to have
been, and Washington Street has been widened a little at
some points; that is about all. There is hardly any additional width of street through which to carry the largelyincreased number of passengers. And bear in mind that
the other travel in the city of Boston has increased very
largely at the same time; so that the streets have been
blocked a great deal more than formerly on that account.
The returns have not come in this year; so I do not know
exatly the number of passengers that came in over the steam
railroads last year; but, looking at the returns of the year
before, I find that the number of passengers carried by the
steam railroads in Massachusetts-miles and miles in length,
bear in mind-was twenty-four millions, in round numbers.
Mr. MERRILL.-That is only for tell months.
Mr. BATEs.-Call it thirty millions then; it was not more
than thirty millions last year. While tlhe Metropolitan and
South Boston Railroads alone, carried twenty-one million passengers, in round numbers, last year, all the steam railroads
over the State put together did not carry over thirty millions;
and the former were carried in this little bit of space. I do
not know the whole number carried by all the horse rail



27
roads in the State last year; but I have no doubt, when the
returns come in, we shall find that it will be thirty millions.
The horse railroads that come into Boston probably carry as
many passengers as all the steam railroads in Massachusetts.
Now, it seems to me that it must take some brains to carry
those people in any way through this narrow, crowded space,
and there must be a great deal of good-nature, if not goodwill, on the part of those who do carry them, with the generally admitted fact that all mankind, from the beginning of
the world down to to-day, have been finding fault with their
methods of travel, and always calling for and demanding
better accommodations and comparing their accommodations
with the accommodations of other people. We all know how
natural that is. I remember when I resided in South Boston it seemed to me that I never saw a South Boston car;
they were all Metropolitan cars; and when I lived at the
South End, it seemed to me I never found a Metropolitan
car; they were all South Boston. If I waited a minute, it
seemed as if I waited five; and if I waited five, it seemed
as if it was twenty. That is nature; it is the way with all
of us; it is the Yankee blood; we cannot do otherwise; and,
as I say, we have to meet the complaints of all classes of
people included in these twenty-one million passengers.
The Metropolitan road alone, carries something like fortyfive thousand passengers a day, all through this narrow space,
and the South Boston road carries about one-third as many;
so that in round numbers we will call it fifteen thousand,
making sixty thousand passengers a day carried by these
roads through this crowded portion of Tremont and Washington Streets. It is perfectly easy to say sixty thousand,
almost as easy as to say six; but when you come to think
how many people that is, and try to realize it, you will see
that it is a great many. Supposing you carried them altogether in cars, with each one having twenty seated in it. 
Each car and the horses attached to it would take about 
twenty feet; so that in reality you would have a line of cars
sixty thousand feet long, which is pretty nearly twelve miles. 




28


Now, it certainly seems to me that it requires some skill to
manage that every day, and it is a pretty hard thing to do.
If anybody on earth, even my friend Mr. Swift, can manage
it so that there shall not be any complaint, he will do better
than any other man in the world can do.
I will speak of another difficulty,-which I mean to have
explained by our witnesses soon,-in reference to this doubling up of cars. This is one of the sorest evils we have to
deal with, and always happens to come when our cases are
going on in the legislature, so that everybody naturally feels
more inclined to be bitter against us. God sends the snow,
and those of us who have to walk in it are sure to get wet
feet, unless we have pretty good shoemakers. The snow comes,
and we must provide for it, and all must suffer more or less
inconvenience from it.  Those who walk are in danger of
slipping, getting their feet wet, and getting cold; and some
of those who have private vehicles will not take them out on
account of the inconvenience; and on such occasions, and
such occasions only, they ride in the horse cars. Now we
try, we think, to do what we can. Some winters we get
along with little snow, and everything goes off smoothly; but
some winters we have a great deal of snow, and then it is
almost impossible to get along. As a rule, snow-storms cost
us all the way from five to fifty thousand dollars. We lose
money, something like a thousand dollars a day, when we
have to run after one of these heavy snow-storms. And
talk as you please about not wanting dividends, it is not in
human nature for business men to run horse railroads or
steam railroads from pure, disinterested benevolence; and I
do not believe my friends from the Highlands are going to
do it. We have to look after the stockholders to a certain
extent, or we soon shall not have any to look after, and the
road will have to be given up; then gentlemen who want to
ride may get along the best way they can, without any roads.
If you run a railroad so that nothing can be made on it, then
we all understand that it will not be a great while before the
people will have to get along some other way; therefore the




I '


29
managers of a road have to look somewhat after the interests
of the stockholders. Many years we have to suffer from the
disadvantages growing out of the snow, and sometimes we
lose the profits that we have made during the whole year.
Take us as we stand to-day, about nine hundred horses
will do our work in the summer. Now we have got twelve l
hundred horses, that is one-third more, and we have got
them for this very purpose, for the extra occasions when the
snow comes, when there is a holiday or any great celebration, and it is necessary for us to put on more cars. We do
not use them in ordinary times, because it is not necessary.
Supposing we kept these twelve hundred horses the whole
year, and the number of cars which they could draw, and
the drivers and conductors to go with them; supposing we
buy the real estate and stables necessary for keeping all
these: liow can it be done? Would anybody who has common sense, a practical business man, say that the Metropolitan Railroad had brains if they did that?  Looking at it
from a business point of view, it cannot be done. We think
if we get one-third more to supply the contingencies of the
winter, we do all that ought to be asked of us; we could not
do more and live.
Now, then, Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, supposing this
is true, that there is a crying evil, and that it is an evil that
can be remedied; that it is an evil that the Metropolitan Railroad have not the ability to remedy, and an evil that they
have not the disposition to remedy, then what is the remedy
for the people who suffer? Now, in the law of last year,I haven't it here, but gentlemen will remember it,-there is
a provision that if any railroad does not give reasonable
accommodation, they may be complained of by anybody who
suffers-any one of these gentlemen out here-and the question shall be tried, and the parties shall be fined from five to
twenty dollars. That remedy has never been tried, so far as
I know. If it is tried, when the question comes up, it is a
question of reasonable accommodations; and when you
come to the question of reasonable accommodations, you




'r
I, -i.4A,
11y 




30


then have to take into consideration what is really furnished
during the whole of tle day, and what the trouble is. That
question of reasonable accommodation has not been tried
anywhere to my knowledge. I cannot see what anybody can
ask for more than this.  Chapter 408 of the Acts of 1867,
which was an Act to establish a board of railroad commissioners, has these sections, which I will read, because it seems
to me they are very important for the committee to consider.
[Mr. Bates here read sections 2, 3 and 4, Chapter 408,
1869, of the act to establisl a Board of Railroad Commissioners, as follows:SECTION 2. Said commissioners shall have the general supervision of all railroads in the Commonwealth, whether operated
by steam, horse or other motive power, and shall examine the
same, and keep themselves informed as to their condition and
the manner in which they are operated, with reference to the
security and accommodation of the public, and the compliance
of the several railroad corporations with the provisions of their
charters and the laws of the Commonwealth.
SECTION 3. Whenever, in the judgment of the railroad commissioners, it shall appear that any railroad corporation fails, in
any respect or particular, to comply with the terms of its charter or the laws of the Commonwealth; or whenever, in their
judgment, any repairs are necessary upon its road, or any addition to its rolling stock, or any addition to or change of its
stations or station-houses, or any change in its rates of fares for
transporting freight or passengers, or any change in the mode of
operating its road and conducting its business, is reasonable and
expedient in order to promote the security, convenience and
accommodation of the public, said railroad commissioners shall
inform such railroad corporation of the improvements and
changes which they adjudge to be proper, by a notice thereof
in writing, to be served by leaving a copy thereof, certified by
the commissioners' clerk, with the clerk, treasurer or any director of said corporation; and a report of the proceedings shall
be included in the annual report of the commissioners to the
legislature.




31
SECTION 4. It shall be the duty of said commissioners, upon
the complaint and application of the mayor and aldermen of any
city, or the selectmen of any town, to make an examination of
the condition and operation of any railroad, any part of whose
location lies within the limit of such city or town; and if twenty
or more legal voters in any city or town shall, by petition in
writing, request the mayor and aldermen of such city, or the selectmen of such town, to make the said complaint and application, and the mayor and aldermen, or the selectmen, refuse or
decline to comply with the prayer of the petition, they shall
state the reason for such non-compliance in writing upon the petition, and return the same to the petitioners; and the petitioners
may thereupon, within ten days from the date of such refusal
and return, present said petition to said commissioners; and said
commissioners shall, if upon due inquiry and hearing of the petitioners they think the public good demands the examination,
proceed to make it in the same manner as if called upon by the
mayor and aldermen of any city, or the selectmen of any town.
Before proceeding to make such examination, in accordance with
such application or petition, said commissioners shall give to the
petitioners and the corporation reasonable notice, in writing, of
the time and place of entering upon the same. If, upon such
examination, it shall appear to said commissioners that the complaiit alleged by the applicants or petitioners is well founded,
they shall so adjudge, and shall inform the corporation operating
such railroad of their adjudication, in the same manner as is provided in the third section of this act.]
Now you see what the legislature has done. It has appointed as railroad commissioners Charles Francis Adams, Jr.,
J. C. Converse and Edward Appleton; and on the resignation of the latter, Mr. Henry S. Briggs, of Springfield, was
appointed to fill the vacancy. They have been performing
their duties since 1869, when they were appointed, and they
have had I know not how many hearings. They have reported to the legislature every year in regard to hearings
upon various roads. Where petitions have been presented,         /i
they have made thorough investigation, and have reported
the result to the legislature, and what action they recom



32


mended should be taken upon it. And there is no question
at all to-day, that, if anybody wants these commissioners to
take any one of these railroads, to go into an investigation of
the Metropolitan or any other, and will represent to them
what evils they are obliged to suffer, and the remedies for
them, there is no doubt the commissioners would make a full
investigation and report to the legislature what should be
done. Nobody has done it. The law has been in force since
1869; why do they not do it? Is not that the tribunal to go
to? We are ready to do what these commissioners tell us we
ought to do. When it is understood what difficulties and
embarrassments we are under, the various lines we have to
accommodate, and the slight space we have yet to accommodate then in, it will, I think, be generally acknowledged that
we do as well as we can, and probably as well as almost anybody could. If not, as I say, here are the railroad commissioners, who devote their whole time, and are paid by the
State, exclusively for the purpose of investigating just this
class of cases, and are ready and willing to do it to-day.
Why should not the gentlemen who find fault go to them first,
and see if they can suggest a remedy? I have no question
that every gentleman who asks for a railroad out there thinks
he is right; they want accommodation, and they ought to
have it. We are ready to give it to them; but if they cannot
get it in any other way than this, if this is the best way, let
them have it. But I am sure that this is not the best way,
as I think they themselves will be satisfied before this hearing
is through. If they go to the railroad commissioners, and
prove that they have a case calling for redress, those commissioners will not dare not to give it to them. If they are right
and we are wrong, the commissioners could not stand up one
moment against the public sentiment, if they did not oblige
the Metropolitan Railroad Company to give to these gentlemen who ask for them such accommodations as the road can
give. So I say, that for these parties, and all others who live
on other lines and suffer in the same way, that is the remedy
that should first be applied.




33
The real difficulty is behind this. The difficulty is in the
fact that the city of Boston has grown so much, not only in
this district that they speak of, in the city itself, but it has
grown in South Boston and in Dorchester, the part which has
recently been annexed; the city has grown enormously within the last three or four years, and it has outgrown the accommodations for travel in the streets. There has got to be
an enlarged plan to accommodate this travel; what it will be
we will consider before we get through with the hearing; it
may be, it will be an underground railroad, and it may be an
overground railroad. They have had the same trouble in
New York; you could hardly take up a paper in the last five
years without seeing it asked what they should do about it.
They have started a tunnel underneath Broadway; how far
they will go I do not know; and they have started an overground railroad, and whether that will be successful I cannot
tell. In London they have accomplished a great deal; they
have a steam railway all around the city, so they get along
pretty well, and their streets are not nearly as crowded as
ours are. We have got to consider this question, and it is not
to be considered for the Highland district, or Jamaica Plain,
or the South End, alone: all parts of the city must receive
attention. A comprehensive plan must be devised, large
enough to remedy the whole difficulty, and we are ready to
cooperate with all parties who desire to have the accommodation which such plan will afford. Until recently the only
place where a separate railroad could be built was on Washington Street and on Tremont Street; there was no other
place for it. We have seen it; the Metropolitan Railroad
Company have been more wide awake about it than anybody
else. For years they have been to the Board of Aldermen, and
told them the South End and Roxbury district were growing,
and could not be accommodated on Washington Street and
Tremont Street, that they must extend Albany Street and
Harrison Avenue and widen Kingston Street; and they have      4
been five years doing it. Within the last year or year and a 
half it has been accomplished: Albany Street has been ex-    /
5,




34


tended, and Kingston Street has been widened, and the Metropolitan Company have built a road there at an expense
of about ninety thousand dollars. They have spent a large
amount of money for the accommodation of these very people,
with those living on Egleston Square, and such as may live
on the line of the road. The track would have been finished
last fall, if the frost had not overtaken Uthem too early. The
road, as I understand,-and I shall bring testimony to show
it, -is substantially finished.
In a few weeks, after the frost is out of the ground, the
switches and frogs will be put in. They are being made of
steel in Philadelphia to-day, and, as soon as the weather will
warrant the putting down of these switches and frogs, they
will be put down, and the road completed. Then, Mr. Chairman, I cannot get it into my head why on earth these gentlemen will not be the best accommodated people who ride on
the Metropolitan road. Why, they have got a wide street all
the way,-Dudley Street, Harrison Avenue, Albany Street,
Kingston Street to Summer Street, right into the heart of
the city; then, through Chauncy Street and Harrison Avenue,
home again. The travel in these streets at present is comparatively slight, and you can go from one to two and a half
miles an hour faster than you can on the Metropolitan road in
Tremont and Washington Streets, so that they will be able to
come in from five to seven minutes quicker than they can
come over the route they want to come by. Instead of being
landed by the side of the Common, on Temple Place, they
will be landed in Summer Street, at the head of Chauncy
Street, which is certainly, so far as the ladies are concerned,
as convenient a point to start on a shopping excursion from
as any, and I should think, judging from my knowledge of
where the general business of the city is done, a car going to
Summer Street would accommodate the business men as well
as a car that went to the Tremont House.
Now, as I say, the cars are ready, and that road will be in
operation as soon as the frost is enough out of the ground to
enable us to put down the tracks. Then we have the first




35
partial remedy of this evil, and it is the first dawn of light
that we have been able to get; and we have been obliged to
fight for that, step by step, because the Board of Aldermen
and the people have not believed it was necessary. We have
seen this evil, and tried what we could do to prevent it. We
have got now what is to the people here the best remedy that
they possibly can have. But I agree, also, with Mr. Ritchie,
and some of the other witnesses, that this is, to a certain extent, temporary. I say, we have got to go behind all this;
we have got to have a comprehensive plan that will go a great
deal further; for no sooner will you have got this line than
the Jamaica-Plain people and the South-End people will complain, and say, " These people have all the accommodations,
and we have none; you must run your cars faster for our
accommodation."  We will have to find some way to work
that out, and we will have to do it alone. When we go to
the Board of Aldermen, or put any thing in a newspaper, the
immediate cry is, " It is all nonsense; the Metropolitan Railroad is grasping everything; they want to have all the streets
widened for their benefit." It is not for their benefit; it is
for the benefit of the twenty-one million people who ride in
the cars; and they are the ones who ought to be considered;
they are the ones who ought to go in a body to the Board of
Aldermen, and say, " We are the people; we pay the, taxes;
we have not got streets to carry us on; we cannot live in
your little four hundred and sixty acres; we want to live in
the Highlands, where we can get good air, and where we can
be comfortable, and we can do it if you will give us the accommodations."  Mr. Wheelwright says that business men
cannot and will not go out there to live because the horse
railroads and steam railroads furnish no accommodation for
them. Now, it is the business of the city of Boston, of the
Board of Aldermen and Common Council, to take this matter
in hand, and see whether that property is going to be left un-  A
productive out there, and whether they cannot contrive to
give them accommodation. That is what we go there and 
say and try to impress upon their minds. As I say, we have 




36


got the first ray of light in laying this track through the
streets I have named; it will be an immense relief to this
road, and a great accommodation to all the people who want
to ride on it.
I have taken up much more of your time than I intended
in the opening, and I ask your pardon for doing it; but I felt
so much interest in the question, that I was anxious that it
should be thoroughly understood. I am afraid I shall be
obliged to take up a great deal more time when I come to
close. I wish now to call some witnesses to show that this
evil that is talked of does exist, and has existed, upon other
railroads, and is not confined to ours; that this matter has
been a subject of considerable study by horse-railroad men,
and they have not been able to find a remedy; that competition is not the remedy, or letting one class of persons run
their cars over the tracks of another class. Those are the
general points that I wish to present this morning.
TESTIMONY OF MR. JOHN C. STILES.
Mr. John C. Stiles was called as the first witness, and
gave the following testimony:I have resided in Cambridge for seventeen years, and am
now superintendent of the Cambridge Horse Railroad; have
been so for nearly sixteen years. Pretty much all my life I
have had connection with methods of public travel. Previous
to my connection with the horse railroad company I was on a
steam road four years, and previous to that I staged it for
twelve years in Worcester and vicinity. The lines operated
by the Cambridge road are, one running from Cambridgeport to Boston, one running from River Street, one from
Brighton, another from Mount Auburn, another from Watertown, another from Arlington, and one from Porter's Station. Then the cars run from Harvard Square, and from
Union Square in Somerville. Then there is another running
from Harvard Square to Boston over the East Cambridge
road, and another from Atwood's Corner, and a line from
Eighth Street to Boston over Cragie's Bridge. The cars all




k
5              -
37


come to Bowdoin Square, and run around in a circuit. They
run different ways; those that come up over Cragie's Bridge
run around by the depots and up Portland and Chardon
Streets and down Green Street. The cars commence running in the morning at half-past five from the starting points,
and run once in fifteen minutes until six o'clock, and then
they go every ten minutes. The first two or three cars are
loaded very fairly both ways, in and out, and the number of
passengers in each varies from fifteen to forty. Beginning
about seven o'clock or a little after, they run every three or
four minutes up to eleven o'clock, and then I pull out more
or less until one o'clock, and then I start them again. When
the afternoon travel begins and the weather is fine I put on
as many cars as I think will answer the purpose, and when
it is stormy I slack up a little, except in a severe storm, and
then it requires just as many or more.
Mr. BATES.-Mr. Stiles, do you have your cars overloaded
at any time? What do you call a fair load for a car?
Mr. STILES.-Well, sir, we had rather not take on over
forty passengers. We can carry fifty passengers what we
call comfortably, if the distance is not too long, but forty passengers is enough. We have carried up as high, at some
particular times, as say along up to eighty. It is a disadvantage to the corporation to carry as many as that; it overloads the cars and horses, and is an injury. If I knew we
were going to have eighty passengers I would send two cars
for them, and I should if I knew we were going to have
sixty. Forty or fifty are plenty; that is a large load, but we
have carried a great many, more than that. I have taken all
the pains I could to prevent this. I have visited New York
and Philadelphia, and there the cars were crowded just as
much as they are here, and.they have twice the chance we
have of accommodating them; their streets are wider, and
so laid out parallel to each other that they can do their business easier; each corporation runs its cars on its own streets,
without interference in crossing and heading off the cars of
other corporations. When I think there is going to be a


1,
ji 
I.  
r,
",I",




38


crowd, I send in more cars; but it is hard to tell just how
many are needed, and exactly at what times needed. In the
afternoon, when people are pretty much got through with
their shopping, about five o'clock, we send in extra cars-all
we think they will need to make them comfortable. Sometimes we miscalculate the time, and instead of fifty in the
car it will have to go out witl only five. If there is a delay
at the draw or from any other cause, so that a cluster of four
or five cars comes up to the square together, the passengers
in waiting will pile into the forward cars, and others will go
out nearly empty. They step right on to the first car, regardless of how many there are on it, and get on as long as
it is possible for them to obtain a footlold. It is no use to
tell them there are plenty of seats in the cars just behind;
they will turn round and tell you to mind your own business,
that they know where they are going. It is so invariably;
that is the rule. It is the same with the ladies; the more
there are in a car, the more there are want to get into it; no
matter whether they stand up or sit down, they will crowd
in worse than the men. It has been so ever since I have
been on the road. We have a turnout in Bowdoin Square,
so that the cars can wait there until they are filled, in case a
crowd is expected. We have sometimes to run the cars on
to this turnout, and the agent would tell the people they
would start as soon as they were full, but we could never
get them filled up; if the passengers saw a car starting they
would run and get on to that, no matter how many were on
it, so that experiment was a failure. The true remedy is to
figure, as nearly as possible, when the extra cars will be wanted
and send them round in rotation and gather up the passengers as they go. In crowded hours, between four and six
in the afternoon, cars leave Bowdbin Square once in every
minute and a quarter. A quarter-past six is the worst hour
we have on our road, and the cars, if all hitched together,
would not more than accommodate the people at that hour,
seemingly; then at half-past six there is quite a lull.
When the draw was being replaced on the Cambridge bridge




N- I


39


the passengers were obliged to change cars, and although
three cars were waiting on this side, all to start at the same
time, and the passengers were informed of the fact, they
would all try to crowd into the forward car like a flock of
sheep. The same was true where several cars were detained
on the road from any cause; the passengers would always
get into the forward car, if possible, although they might be
more comfortable in one of the rear cars, and arrive at their
destination nearly as quick.
The CHAIRMAN.-The testimony that is being put in now
the committee are familiar with. We all do it-get into the
car that is going first-that is human nature.
Mr. BATES.-I think it is important that this should go in.
The committee will bear in mind that one of the points
claimed against us is that we carry this great number of passengers in our cars. I want to show that other roads do
the same thing, and how can I show it better than by a man
who has been years in the business?
QUESTION.-With your experience of sixteen years you have
not been able, with all the pains you have taken, to prevent
this excessive crowding in the cars at certain hours of the
day?
Mr. STILES.-I have not, sir; it cannot very well be done.
I have observed other roads, and I do not think there is
much difference in this respect. Something has been said
about four-horse time; there seems to be more people ride
in four-horse time than in two-horse time. We were overpowered almost in the same way as the Metropolitan road
last Christmas, but we have not so many tight places to go
through, and our cars did not get blocked up badly. It was
not because there was so much snow, but because there were
four inches, more or less, of meal, which made it very hard
for the horses, and it was as much as they could do to walk
or to move at all. I never saw so many people in Boston as 
at that time, and a great many ride in stormy weather who do 
not ride in pleasant weather. Many walk in in the morning     /
and ride out at night; I should think one-tenth more ride 




40


out at night than come in in the morning on the cars. The
Metropolitan horses, I think, are better than those I have to
look after, I am sorry to say; they are heavier and fleshier.
The Somerville, Brighton, Watertown and Arlington roads,
of those that now constitute the Cambridge company's roads,
were incorporated originally by other parties. Two of these
roads the company leased immediately. The cars from the'
Arlington road ran over the Cambridge road, the latter furnishing the horses, drivers and conductors. Afterwards the
Cambridge road leased the Arlington road, on the ground
that it was for the interest of both parties, as the roads
could not be well managed by two superintendents of two
different companies.
I do not see how it is going to help the public much to
have this line established which is asked for to the Highlands,
because there would be an increase of the number of cars
to go over the same piece of road, and because it would not
obviate any evils that exist on the Metropolitan road. The
cars could not go any faster, and there would be two sets of
cars over the same route. There would be trouble about the
time of meeting on a single track, and the drivers would get
into a controversy as to which should have the track first.
This occurs between conductors of the same company, and
it would be ten times more likely to occur between conductors and drivers of rival corporations. The conductors and
drivers are backed up by good men in the car, whom they suppose to be responsible, and they hold their ground  This is
so in both cars, and makes the difficulty much greater than
it would be if the conductors were left to themselves. If the
conductors were under the control of different superintendents it would be almost impossible to remedy this. If a new
road is to be established it should have independent tracks
throughout the whole distance. The trouble from loafing
and hanging back would be much increased, by having a
rival line running over the same track; it. would be triple
what it was, and the Metropolitan road would have to bear
the blame if there was any delay on this account. If the




41


new company found they were losing money, and they
wanted to be bought off, they might annoy the Metropolitan
road to such an extent that they would be compelled to buy
them off to stop their running. Complaints are made to
us by persons for exactly opposite causes; some because the
doors are open too much, and others because they are closed
too much; and we cannot satisfy both of them. There are
constantly conflicting complaints by persons who ride in the
cars; some say we drive too fast, and some say we drive too
slow; we are complained of as much one way as the other.
It is impossible for the Metropolitan Railroad to make as
good time as they do on the Union road, because there are
so many obstructions on the former in the city north of
Boylston Street, and it was no use for them to increase their
speed out of town, as they would have to come down to a
uniform speed in the city where the streets were crowded.
If the streets were widened they might drive faster over the
whole route, and a slight increase in the places where they
are now obliged to walk their horses would be a great benefit to the public.
CROSS-EXAMINATION.
In reply to Mr. T. W. CLARKE, counsel for the petitioners,
Mr. Stiles said they had ninety-seven cars belonging to the
Union Company, and about sixty-five cars running on the
road. The running time on the road was six miles an hour,
and the drivers were required to make it. If there was a
State law prescribing the number of passengers who should
ride in a horse-car, he did not think it would be enforced.
He considered it would be better for the new road to run its
cars around through Temple Place and back, than to make
the excursion down to the Tremont House. He was over
his road nearly every day. When they ran on four-horse
time they made all the trips in the morning and at night,
and economized in cars through the middle of the day.
When a car broke down on his road he did not collect an
additional fare when passengers were transferred to other


6




42


cars. If one conductor said to the other, here are ten passengers who have paid their fares, he would take them
through to Boston, and I guess the conductors would on the
other roads. If there was a double track on Warren Street,
with two companies running the same way on both tracks,
he thought one would undertake to annoy the other. The
granting to the South Boston Company the privilege of running over the Metropolitan track had been a benefit to the
public. He had not seen the newest cars of the Metropolitan Company, but those they had received during the past
year he did not think contained any more standing room
than formerly. The passengers waiting at Bowdoin Square
often went down Cambridge Street to meet the car. Some
of the men would go down and step on the car as it was
coming up the grade. If the passengers get on below Temple Street they now compelled them to pay an extra fare, in
order to avoid this evil. He could not increase the business
of his road fifty per cent. upon the track they now had.
The Cambridge road had been managed so as to substantially supply the wants of the community for the past four
or five years. They could put on a third or a half as many
more cars on the road. Without completing the testimony
of Mr. Stiles, the hearing was adjourned.
The committee will pass over the proposed route on Friday, and at that time will decide upon the time for the next
hearing.
FEBRUARY 20.
The hearing on the part of the remonstrants was resumed
this morning, at half-past'ten o'clock, at room No. 14, which
was crowded by parties interested in the matter, on one side
and the other.
Mr. Clarke, for the petitioners, said they were prepared to
admit nearly all the facts stated by Mr. Bates in his opening.
Mr. Bates replied that the remonstrants desired to prove
what they had to prove, because they believed that if the
gentlemen connected with the proposed enterprise knew the




. z


43
facts, they would no more attempt to build this road than
they would cut their hands off. It would be perfect folly for
them to do it for the purposes for which they proposed to do
it.
Mr. Bates then proceeded to say that in 1864 the legislature of Massachusetts appointed a commission to investigate
the subject of horse railways generally, with authority to
take testimony, which commission was composed of Hon.
Isaac F. Redfield, Hon. Edward L. Barney of New Bedford,
and Hon. Alfred R. Field, one of our most distinguished
engineers.  In the discharge of their duty they visited
New York and Philadelphia, and held some fifty or sixty
sessions, at which the parties interested, pro and con,
appeared  He desired to refer to some of the testimony
taken before them in regard to the question of the practical
difficulties arising from  one corporation running over the
track of another. He read first from the testimony of J.
Warren Wildes in reference to the troubles on the Dorchester branch of the Metropolitan road, which at that time was
run over by the Quincy Horse Railroad Corporation.
Mr. Wildes testified:


"I have served as conductor and receiver, and am now in
charge of the Dorchester branches of the Metropolitan road, the
line that runs to Milton and Mount Bowdoin. It is entered at
Field's Corner, some four and a half miles from State Street, by
the Quincy Railroad Company. They pass nearly half the distance to Quincy over this road. They come into the city with
their own horses, conductors and drivers. The Metropolitan
road is subjected to great inconvenience, perhaps not intentionally on their part. There is a single track with turnouts about
five minutes apart. The time-table is so arranged that each car
shall meet promptly at the turnouts. If the Quincy car is four
minutes late, a car has started from the other turnout to come
down to Glover's Corner, the next turnout. The Quincy car
being foul minutes late, of course the other must wait four minutes for that car to pass; and that time seems more to the pas-,^
sengers than eight minutes lost by slow driving. The running 
I.,~'..:




44


time from Field's Corner to State Street is forty-five minutes.
I am obliged to allow ten minutes more to make up for these
detentions at the turnouts, and for obstructions in the street.
If the Quincy line were not running, I could shorten the trip
ten minutes. I will add, that one car behind time deranges the
whole business clear into Boston. The cars meet frequently
between the turnouts, and then one or the other has to draw
back to the turnout. I have always given directions to our conductors to draw back, rather than to stop and contend for rights,
and our cars have drawn back repeatedly three minutes, which
would make six minutes in all. There have been actual collisions and fights on the road, and on one occasion one of the
Quincy cars remained on the track all night, the other cars
jumping around it all the evening. In that case, according to
rights of railroads, the Quincy car was in fault, because the
car running over another party's track should always give the
right of way to the party to whom the track belongs. The
Quincy car left the turnout with the other car in sight, contending that they were on time. In another case, where the cars
met, the Quincy passengers got out and lifted the forward end
of our car off the track. Our conductor was so indignant because the Quincy car left the turnout when his car was close by,
that he refused to go back.
"I have no control over the conductors or drivers of the
Quincy road. It is very natural for conductors to want to get
all the passengers they can. When they are running for the
same line, each one tries to get the largest amount of receipts."
Mr. Bates also read from the testimony of Charles Cook,
superintendent of the Quincy Horse Railroad, as follows:"The road runs six miles on its own track, and about four
miles on the Metropolitan road. It formerly belonged to the
Dorchester Avenue road, but now belongs to the Metropolitan.
It is in a travelled road. The run between Quincy and Field's
Corner is fifty minutes, and between Field's Corner and Boston
fifty minutes. We leave Quincy on the hour, and Field's Corner at ten minutes before the hour. When we come to Field's
Corner, we invariably find a car to precede us to Boston. We
leave Boston at quarter past the hour. We then find two cars




45


to precede us. One goes to Washington Village and Mount
Bowdoin, and the other to Field's Corner. The Mount Bowdoin
car goes on its own time, and the other one to precede us. It
interrupts our business to have these other cars run ahead. The
cars start from State Street about once in fifteen minutes. If
there was a reasonable space left for our cars to run in, there
would be no practical difficulty at all; there need not be any.
The turnouts are about fifteen minutes apart. If the conductor
of a car, on arriving at a turnout, sees another one coming, he
stops for the other one to pass. If we had five or ten minutes'
headway, there would be no practical difficulty in running the
cars. We have exact times for arriving at the turnouts. Inward
bound, we are due at Glover's Corner at five minutes before the
hour; and so on to the various turnouts. If a conductor is behind time, he starts up; if he is a little in advance, he drives
slower. If the cars on this road were arranged as they are on
the Metropolitan, there would be no need of any difficulty. One
turnout apiece is sufficient to avoid any difficulty. We commenced running regularly on the 8th of May, 1862. Our first
president [Mr. Leuchars] made arrangements with Mr. Gore to
take our cars at Field's Corner, which is the connection of the
Quincy road with the Dorchester, attach his horses, and with his
conductor and driver take the cars into Boston. We tried this
experiment, if my memory serves me right, until about the 26th
of May. We found then, on examination, that there was a great
difference in the number of passengers reported by the conductors of the two roads, and found there were other inconveniences. For instance, we found that some of the passengers, when
our conductor asked them where they got in, would not tell the
truth, and we found we were losing by that. Another point was,
that the conductor out of Boston, if he was requested to leave
a passenger at a certain place in Quincy, would not have time to
do this business when he got to Field's Corner, and we found
very great inconvenience from this, because, our conductor not
knowing about it, the passenger would be carried by the point
where he wanted to stop. Then an arrangement was made with
Mr. Gore to take our cars to Boston so much per trip; and
we were to have all the advantages that he had upon the route;
our rights then were to be equal. We were to be carried in with
despatch-without any delay of horses, or of any name or nature,




46


except by accident. This worked for a short time, but we soon
found this did not come up to what was agreed upon. The cars
were run with our conductors, but his drivers. We found that
his drivers were near-sighted, and consequently couldn't see our
passengers; and that made trouble and difficulty. Both coming
in and going out it was the same. We didn't get the travel that
would naturally come, either local or through. It then proceeded
to greater difficulty. That is, we were delayed at Field's Corner fiom three to five, seven and ten minutes. I called on Mr.
Gore and stated to him the inconveniences that were arising
there, and that I thought he was doing injustice to himself and
us, and after some perhaps half-hour's talk lie said that he would
make things better. But I found, in a short time, they actually
grew worse, so that, in fact, by the month of August, it was universally acknowledged, on the part of their men, that the Quincy
road had no rights that the Dorchester road was bound to respect; consequently, whenever they met our cars, whether on
time or not, our cars had to be hauled off the track, which produced broken wheels, sprung axles, and other inconveniences.
I do not mean all the nien, but some of them. Their drivers
would drive our cars off. Our conductor would say: 'We are
upon time.' 'No, you ain't,' they would say, 'you haven't any
time;' and they tried to instil into our men the principle that
they had no time. Our conductors and drivers would come to
me and say: 'Mr. Cook, what shall I do under these circumstances?' My advice was to be cautious and careful as possible.
I told them  they must not do anything out of the way; that
they must rather forbear than produce any evil. They would
sometimes say: 'It is impossible; we cannot do it.' One time
one car stayed out all night. I went to the conductor, and he
said: 'I pulled off of the track four times that d(ay, and they told
me I had no rights, and had nothing to do but to pull off; and when
I met this time, the conductor says: 'I am fifteen minutes behind time, and I'll not budge an inch for a Quincy car!' Consequently that created an irritation which it was impossible for
me to avoid feeling under the circumstances. We have experienced very great difficulty indeed. In the afternoon we have
two cars ahead of us. The Meeting-House Hill car keeps us
back one turnout, and sometimes one turnout and a half. If we
go out with two other cars, there is no trouble if they keep to



47


gether and go by the turnouts at the same time. The hind car
has to stop for the passengers taken up by the two preceding.
It shouldn't take more than a quarter of a minute to take up a
passenger. The practice is to stop the car in full half the cases.
We put on our conductors and drivers the 1st of March, 1863.
From that time to the 1st of October, 1863, Mr. Gore ran the
road. There were repeated difficulties between our conductors
and drivers and those of Mr. Gore. After the Metropolitan
took the road, those difficulties were somewhat diminished. I
don't think the Metropolitan road have been very submissive to
the Quincy; I think I shall show you it is entirely different. My
views relative to running the cars are precisely the same as Mr.
Wildes's."
TESTIMONY OF DR. ESTES HOWE.
I have been connected with the Cambridge Horse Railroad, which was the first street railroad built in Massachusetts, from the beginning, il 1853.  Before going into that
enterprise, I took some pains to inform myself about the
system in New York, which was the only city which, at that
time, had any considerable system of horse railroads, and
from that time forward I have made personal investigations
in New York, Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Cincinlati. The matter of crowded cars is the subject of greatest anxiety and trouble in the management of horse railroads.
The matter presents itself somewlat differently in different
communities, but there is a great similarity in the cases of
New York and Boston. Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington do not present precisely the same class of facts in relation to it. In New York and in Boston the business part
of the town is remote from that part where a large portion
of the people reside, and consequently it becomes necessary,
in both these communities, for people going to their daily
labor, of whatever kind, to go some distance from their homes
to their places of business. Tile natural effect of that is, that
in the morning there is a great rush toward the centre of
business, and in the evening a great rush in the other direction. Philadelphia is laid out like a checkerboard, and it




48


has twelve corporations, which run uniformly upon this principle-down one street and up the next one to it. With the
exception of Market Street, which is a very wide street, I
think there is no street which has two tracks in it. A part
of the roads run north and soutl, and a part east and west.
There is only one of the east and west roads that crosses the
Schuylkill River; the others are limited by the two rivers,
which are two or two and a half miles apart. The north
and south roads are about four miles long. As the centre
of the town runs along Cilestnut, Market and Arch Streets,
the effect is, that a car starting from the north and running
four miles to the south, empties itself at the middle of the
route; so that, in the morning it comes into the centre of
the city, discharges its passengers, continues on to the end
of the route, picks up a load of passengers and comes back
again. It gets full loads both ways, morning and evening.
That is not the case, to so great an extent, with the east and
west lines, but the route is very short. They get seven
cents.
New York is situated very much like Boston. Everybody
must come down town in the morning, and everybody must
go back in the evening. Of course, there is a great deal of
passing through the day, and within a few years cross routes
have been started, so as to accommodate the whole of that
immense population. I think there are ten parallel routes
in New York, besides what is called the " Belt Line," running around the city. One of these routes terminates at
Canal Street, another at Broome Street, the rest come
through to the Park. Those on the east side of Broadway
come down, and all concentrate on the east side of the Park.
They run along together for a short distance, but the Fourth
Avenue cars turn off at Centre Street, the others run up
through Chatham Street until they get to Chatham  Square,
and there those which go east of the Bowery run up East
Broadway, and that divides them, so that you find after they
get past that short space by the Park they are all separated.
On the other side of the Park the routes are divided, so that




49


the Sixth and Eighth Avenue cars come on the south side of
the Astor House, and the Seventh and Ninth, the University
Place, and the Broadway line, come in on the north side of
the Astor House. The Tenth Avenue line does not come
up to the Park at all, but goes down on to Marginal Street.
Those ten lines carry the people up and down, and they
have no common track where there is any competition for
business. That is similar to the situation of Boston, with
reference to the South End, except that instead of having a
population of some 200,000, they have seven or eight hundred thousand, in the direction which the cars must take;
but having these opportunities to turn round and spread
themselves out into lateral avenues, and get entirely clear
of each other as soon as they get past the central point, they
are enabled to keep tolerably clear of each other. With all
that, however, the crowd I think is greater in New York,
especially in the evening, than I have ever seen it in Boston.
It is some years since I have had occasion to try it myself,
but I have waited there half an hour to get a chance to hang
on to a car, any way. I should think it a difficult matter to
get eighty passengers on to one of our cars, but I have no
doubt that on holidays and other occasions when there is a
great rush, they will manage to crowd on to that extent. I
have seen men riding when they had to put their feet on the
pole of the horses. There are great crowds at all the stations. It is about as bad at times as it used to be in the
days of omnibuses, before horse railroads were built. It is
a necessary incident, almost, to the business, that there
should be a great rush at certain hours of the day. We do
all we can to avoid it, but it is a question of money. It is a
question of how far the small sum of money that is paid will
go, used in the most judicious and economical manner, in
carrying that number of people. Of course, space, also, is
an element. That is limited, in the first place, by an ordinance of the city; but it is very essential, if you are going
through crowded streets, that you should not undertake to
have a very extended space, because if you succeed in get-    /".
7                                              / 
i  i>




'50


ting through one car and then the next is obstructed, your
cars would soon be in a snarl. It is very important if you
are obliged, as the Metropolitan and Cambridge roads are,
to run cars on tracks that diverge and have but a single
track, to make very accurate time. If there are a hundred
people waiting, and only one car that will seat twenty to accommodate them, anybody acquainted with American human
nature knows that they will pile on, and will not be restrained
by any moderate amount of police.
The people prefer to go in the first car. Our Broadway
line is run at night every half hour regularly to Harvard
Square. We have a car running every fifteen minutes to
Cambridge Street, which is two-thirds of the way; but, in
order to take all the passengers, we run two cars together on
the Harvard Square cars' time, on the half hour and hour,
one stopping at Inman Street, the other going through. But
everybody will crowd into the first car, even when the other
is in sight, and that will go along with plenty of seats unoccupied.
I know nothing, of my own knowledge, of the omnibus system in Paris, but as I understand it, I don't think it would
be practical to adopt it here, for two reasons. In the first
place, there would be very great reluctance on the part of
people to waiting, as they would be obliged to at times, a considerable length of time, and if a car was not to start until
it was full, there would be such great irregularity in the running of the road that it would be next to impossible to manage it. It is much more difficult than it would be with omnibuses. For instance, take this very case I am speaking of
-the Broadway line. That car must meet another car on
the switch, and if they are not there together, one car must
wait at the further switch. Now, introduce that element
upon a single-track road, and nobody would know where he
was. And even with a double-track road, it would become very
difficult to manage, because you must know where your men
and horses are, and what they are doing. On our road they
are given an hour and ten minutes to run a round trip from




1.


51
Boston to Cambridge; when they have stayed ten minutes
in Cambridge, we want them to come back. If they are not
there to come back, our whole system is deranged; or, if they
are obliged to wait in Boston ten minutes to pick up a load,
and do not get back in time, the whole thing is deranged.
There is another objection, which would be perfectly fatal
to the adoption of the Paris system here, especially on a road
like the Metropolitan, and that is this: You say a car shall
leave Park Street wlen it is full, and it puts up a sign —
" Full."  Well, what sort of an accommodation will that be
to people living along on the route? The.very essence of a
horse railroad is, that it takes people in at any moment,
all tlhe way along; and it must be ready to do it. The people'
would not endure any such system. A man would not stand
on Tremont Street and see three or four cars marked " Full"
go by. Tlere would be a rebellion.
There has been some attempt on the Third Avenue line in
New York to put on higher-priced cars, where every passenger is to have a seat, and which are expected to run without
stopping, but so far as my observation goes, it has not been
successful. I do not know but it may be made to operate,
but I would suggest this difficulty, which is one I have had
some practical experience in: If a car which is not allowed
to stop is run in connection with cars that are allowed to stop,
the whole thing will get into confusion. The car that is going along full and not allowed to stop will be soon arrested
by cars ahead that are stopping to pick up passengers, and
the annoyance and delay upon that car which is expected to
go through on express time will be almost as great as on the
other.
As a matter of fact, there are certain people who always
stand on the platform- never think of going inside, and
never seem to desire to. It is no sort of indication that a
car is full because you see three or four people standing on
the platform.
You can form some idea as to whether it would be possible
for the horse railroads to provide sufficient accommodations




52


so that every passenger should have a seat, by looking at the
cost of running these roads per mile. Since prices went up
in 1863 or 1864 no road has returned less than about 33 cents
a mile as the cost of running, exclusive of all questions of income to the road, or interest, or anything of the kind: taking in simply wages, provender, repairs of the track, repairs
of the cars, and the incidental expenses that belong to all
such things. It costs a little over a dollar to run a car from
Boston to Cambridge, and about the same to the Norfolk
House. At five cents a passenger, that will just use up the
receipts from a full car, if the passengers are all seated, leaving nothing whatever to pay for the investment, which is a
pretty large one, and nothing for contingencies. It implies
that every car has every seat full all the time. That is practically impossible. It becomes necessary for us (and I suppose it does for the Metropolitan, though I don't know), for
an hour or two at night, to put on all the men and horses
and cars that we are using, and move them as fast as we cal
into Boston, to bring the people out. They do not carry in,
on the average, more than a fifth part as many as they bring
out, during those hours. If they could only bring out twenty
in a car, we should lose money all the time. The only way
to pay expenses is to get enough into a car going out and comingin to make up a full load both ways. If we were obliged
to provide a seat for every passenger, at all times, of course
we must be prepared for the maximum at all times, and of
course our expenses would be at the maximum. Three hours
in the morning and three hours in the evening would cover
the whole time during the day when there is a rush.
We have no cars upon our tracks other than our own, except on a piece of mixed track that we use with the Metropolitan. Beginning at Bowdoin Square, the Metropolitan
own the track round through Green Street and Leverett
Street to Causeway Street, and we run over that. We then
own the track in Causeway Street, through Portland Street
and Chardon Street, and they run over that. We make a
loop around there, where their depot cars run mixed with ours.




53


We get on amicably with the Metropolitan, but sometimes
questions arise. I remember at one time one of their switchtenders neglected his business, and we had an accident in
consequence of it and divided the damages. There is no
competition for business. We have an understanding as to
which car has the right of way-that is a matter very easily
settled-and the question of repairs and switches is provided
for.
To the CHAIRMAN.-The whole distance of the mixed track
must be three-quarters of a mile; but we run an eighth of a
mile from Bowdoin Square before we leave their track, going
out. Coming in, we have something like three-quarters of a
mile that we use in common, coiing up from the stations.
To Mr. BATES.-The cars all run in the same direction, so
that there is no turnout where the cars have to wait. We
have had four roads connected with us-the Watertown, the
Newton, the Arlington and the Somerville. The Newton
road ran for a number of years under a lessee, and when the
time came for a new lease, we bought them out; and we did
substantially the same thing with the Arlington road. The
Arlington road has been run for ten years.. Our arrangement
with that road was that we furnished the cars, and they put
on their drivers and horses and carried them over their own
road, and took their own money, and we made an equitable
division, by contract. We had a monthly settlement of accounts. We never had any controversy with them, or any
difficulty about the consideration. We never had any shifting of passengers, but always carried the cars through. We
considered, from our own experience in the matter, that it
would be entirely impossible for us to run a single-track road,
with cars going in opposite directions, without having the
thing absolutely under our control.
I should say with regard to the plan proposed by the petitioners here, that if it contemplated to run in opposite directions on a single track, it would be very difficult; but if anything is to be done, there should certainly be a double track
all the way. I have no question about that. With regard




54


to the particular route proposed, I should say that what
seems to be the greatest difficulty with the Metropolitan Railroad, is the very small and narrow neck through which all its
business has to go; and I think that the greatest difficulty in
accommodating the public must be, as I have observed it, in
the fact that they have to go through this narrow neck, and
that over a part of their course they have to switch off some
of their cars to avoid obstructing the others. It seems to
me that, if they had a competing line there, they would have
a great deal more than the ordinary difficulty. Where two
corporations use the same track, there are constant obstructions from the attempt to get passengers. The thing about
which conductors have to be checked, more than anything
else, is their not keeping time. They won't move along;
they hang back, with a view to getting a full load. It seems
to me that if there were two different corporations desiring
to get the same business, the difficulty would be greatly enhanced. It is perfectly obvious that it is in the power of any
car on that road to be an obstruction to the car behind it.
If the men who conduct both cars are under the control of
the same superintendent, of course that difficulty can be
avoided, but if one car is under the control of one man and
the other of another, and they have adverse interests, I do
not see how you can very well prevent constant friction in
carrying on the business. I should think it was obviously
an injudicious thing to allow one line to put on cars having
the power to interrupt five other lines. If a railroad does
not do its duty, I suppose there are remedies at law. Generally, if there is any neglect, the community make so much
disturbance that it is very uncomfortable for the management of the road. They cannot be indifferent to these complaints,-but the fact is, that horse railroad companies are
working on the smallest margin of profit of any business that
I know of, where so much labor is done, and so much capital invested. The profit of a cent a passenger is an enormous one to them. They are working for a very small margin in their business, and they may very easily lose it by a




55


mismanagement of the means that are in their hands. It is
for the interest of the community that they should work
closely, because otherwise they cannot accommodate them.
The cars, necessarily, are not palaces.  They cannot be
made like the soft and easy stuffed coaches, where ladies can
ride and keep their dresses smooth, and everybody be comfortable. They must go at the smallest price, and what the
community have a right to demand is that they get their
money's worth. I do not believe it is possible to carry them
much cheaper than they are now carried, in any mode. I
do not think the expenses can be reduced to a point much
below what they are now. People expect to be carried at the
very lowest price. They are sometimes rather unreasonable
in their complaints. They must not expect, they cannot expect, to have comfortable seats at five cents a passage; it is
demonstrable that the thing is impossible. And yet it would
be a great wrong to the community to make an arrangement
which would oblige them to pay more, because five cents is
as much as the great body of their patrons can afford to pay.
That matter was illustrated to me somewhat tersely by a
friend of mine in Philadelphia, a professor in the Pennsylvania University, who told me that, just after the passage of
the fifteenth amendment, when for the first time they allowed
negroes to ride on the cars, he was coming down through
Market Street in a horse car, when a woman got in with a
piece of corn-beef done up in a newspaper under her arm,
and a shawl that was reeking with the winter's concentrated
smells, and sat down beside him. She put on her spectacles,
and looking across the car saw a colored man sitting there.
Turning to my friend, she said, " I don't like to rideowith a
nigger."  " Well," said he, " I don't like to ride with you,
but we can't either of us afford to pay more than seven cents,
and I guess we shall have to stand it."
To Mr. CLARKE.-I understand that, by the proposed route
through Temple Street, the switching of the cars at the narrow neck of Tremont Street is avoided. If there were half
a dozen people on the front platform, and as many on the




g6
rear platform, and thirty inside, I should consider the car
full. I believe there are some omnibuses in Paris that start
without being full, and pick up passengers on the way. No
New York corporation, I believe, has more than two streets
to itself, and many of them have only one. In this city the
ground is all occupied except Shawmut Avenue. The Metropolitan occupies every available route from the outlying
portions of the city to the business portions. If any cars are
to be run into the city over Shawmut Avenue, they must run
over some of the streets occupied by the Metropolitan road.
I should think people had ground of complaint, if it was an
habitual thing to provide only one car to accommodate
enough persons to fill two cars. We very rarely bring up
persons in our cars from the depots. Occasionally some
person, who wants to come up as far as the Revere House,
may get into one of our cars. The question about making
an arrangement by which one company is allowed to run
over the track of another depends a great deal upon personal
disposition, you know. I will explain with regard to our
mixed tracks, that they were all put down at the same time,
on a location granted to the several roads, and upon a full
conference between the Suffolk road (before it went into the
hands of the Metropolitan) the Metropolitan and the Cambridge, who agreed, in connection with a committee of the
board of aldermen, to arrange the thing for the public convenience, so that we could get around there and make our
several exchanges. A negotiation made when we were all
standing with no rights whatever, is somewhat different
from a negotiation between parties in possession of certain
rights, or conceiving themselves to be, and other parties who
are endeavoring to obtain some rights. But with regard to
this particular case, I would state this difference between it
and ours, which is a very strong one. In our case there is
no competition for business at all; in your case, here would
be a car coming down on to Washington Street, at Eliot
Street, and going out, we will say, through Shawmut Avenue,
and here is a man to whom it makes no difference, practically,




57


so far as reaching his home is concerned, whether he goes
by the way of Shawmut Avenue, or Tremont Street, or Shawinut Avenue and Washington Street; you have, therefore,
two cars coming right round together and competing with
each other. There is where the difficulty comes in. You
are competing for the same business. In our case we are
simply interlocking, running round on the same track, and
carrying our passengers to entirely different places. A man
who wants to go to Cambridge has no desire to get into a
Metropolitan car. On the other hand if he wants to go to the
South End, he has no desire to get into a Cambridge car;
so there is no competition.
I certainly think that the people on Shawmut Avenue
should have a railroad there, if they want it. But if you ask
me what I think would be the greatest accommodation to the
public, I should say it would be to let the Metropolitan Railroad put a line down there.
Mr. CLARKE. —" For whosoever hath, to him shall be given,
and he shall have more abundance."
Dr. HowE.-No; to the people that have no accommodation it shall be given, and they shall have connection with
all the other tracks. They get the advantage of a connection with all the other tracks of the Metropolitan road, instead of having a competing road. I really believe they
would be better off.
To General SwIFT.-The most direct experience I have
ever had with regard to competing horse railroads was in
connection with the Suffolk road. I know there was a great
deal of money wasted there, and that the whole effort of the
Suffolk road for two years after it got fairly in operation was
to compel the Metropolitan road to buy it. I believe that
will be the result of any road that fails to make a profit. If
this road makes a profit, the Metropolitan road will make a
profit, and they will not have any occasion to sell; but if
they do not make a profit, they will try to sell out. They
will not succeed at first, and then they will come to the legislature and ask for some further grants, to accommodate the
8




58


public, and they will get them if they are poor enough. If
anybody wants to get anything from the legislature, the best
way is to come and tell them they are very poor. When
they have got enough, they will sell out. I doubt whether,
under any circumstances, the Highland Railroad would be
profitable if it could not be sold. I don't know of any property in this country that cannot be alienated. It requires
constant discipline on our road to make the drivers and conductors keep in their place, and not hang back and take
another man's business. I doubt if you can make it for a
man's interest not to take passengers. I doubt if you could
give him premium enough. I doubt if you could afford it.
I don't believe any man is going to lose twenty-five cents on
passengers and pay twenty-five cents for the purpose. There
are times of the day when it does not pay to run the cars.
It don't pay to run between eleven o'clock in the morning
and two o'clock in the afternoon; but we cannot stop to consider whether it is profitable or not, because we have undertaken to accommodate the people. Those would be the
times when there would be the greatest hanging back. I
would not have a man for conductor wh6 did not want to
get as many passengers as he could. If he has not an interest in his road he is not fit to be there. The Suffolk road
was intended to connect East Boston with the city, but it
did not pay well, and they got further extensions and ran
around the North End; and finding that did not pay, they
got leave to run through Tremont Street to Boylston Street
and round to the stations, and finally they made themselves
so uncomfortable to the Metropolitan that they bought them
out, and are now running some portion of the line. It accomplished its purpose and obliged the Metropolitan to buy
it out. I have not been over Shawmut Avenue since it was
opened into Tremont Street. I should think a road through
Shawmut Avenue ought to pay, but if the road is to be run,
as Mr. May proposed, to give every man a seat for five cents
fare, I don't think it can pay.




59


TESTIMONY OF KNOWLTON S. CHAFFEE.
To Mr. BATES. - I have been president of the Union Railway for three years, and have lived in Cambridge over twenty
years. The travel on our road is much larger in the morning
and at night than at any other times in the day. The people
scatter a good deal in the morning and come home together
at night. The only way the company can transport its passengers at night is to put on a large number of extra cars,
and even then it is impossible to prevent some of the cars
from being crowded, while others are ligltly.loaded. We
have a little turnout in Bowdoin Square, which was built for
the purpose of allowing extra cars to be accumulated, but
we were compelled to abandon the use of it, except on some
holiday occasion like the 4th of July, because the people persisted in crowding into the first car. I have put on extra
cars at night to accommodate the extra passengers who walk
into the city in the morning and ride out at night. I have
been unable to find any means of preventing the people from
getting into the first car, although I have spent a good deal
of time, and have personally begged lady passengers to wait
for a short time-something it is impossible to make them do.
Our greatest difficulty is to make people wait a few minutes.
If we could stop the cars we might load them more evenly,
but we are obliged to send them right along as fast as they
arrive. Tlere is no use in attempting to provide special cars
where passengers can have a seat for an extra price, because
men will not wait three or five minutes when only going one,
two or three miles. We can give all our passengers a seat,
if they will wait and not crowd in to get the first ride. There
are large numbers of persons who prefer to stand, and who
go forward to the front platform to get the air. Mr. Henry
W. Muzzey always does this. We are running cars on the
Main Street line about once every minute and a half during
the morning and evening hours. The facts demonstrate that
if we furnished cars enough to give all our passengers a seat,
we could not make much money. We averaged 43 passen



60


gers to a car on the round trip last year, and if we furnish
cars enough to carry only twenty at any given time, many
of the cars would have to come out empty in the morning
and go in empty at night. It would be fair to estimate that
the Metropolitan Railroad average more passengers to the
trip than the Union Railway, because the cars of the Metropolitan pass all.the way through a densely populated district,
while most of the passengers carried on the main route of the
Union line go from Boston to Cambridgeport, and vice versa.
On the Metropolitan road many passengers are carried for a
short distance, while most of the passengers on the Union
railway are carried a mile and a half at least. The same thing
is true of the South Boston railway, when compared with the
Union railway. I suppose the advantages of the South Boston road are about the same as those of the Metropolitan road.
I think the experience of the Middlesex Railroad shows that
unless more passengers are carried than can be comfortably
seated, people will not invest their money in such enterprises.
The amount of money earned by horse railroads is greatly
affected by the requirements of the' municipality through
which the tracks of the company extend. In regard to snow
in the streets and other obstacles, the streets of Cambridge
are more open than the streets of Boston. The streets are
wider than in Boston, and there are not so many roofs to put
snow into the street. I don't travel over the Metropolitan to
see how they manage, but if they undertake to clear the
whole of their tracks, they have a pretty sweet job of it. On
our road we keep a very large snow equipment, and come in
and take the snow right up and carry it away. There is no
other way. We have the advantage over the Metropolitan
that we don't have so large a distance in Boston. We have
been favored very much the last three winters and especially
this winter, but we had at Christmas the worst snow-storm,
with the least snow, that we ever went through. I never saw
the horses so used up as they were then. From East Cambridge, instead of running once in every seven minutes and
a half, we only ran once in fifteen minutes. We took off a




61


very large proportion of our force. We did not take off our
long-trips. If you get on to one of our cars that is crowded
you will find plenty of people grumbling, and saying that
there are no accommodations. I have heard other complaints,
especially one from a man who got out of a car and came at
me and complained of being crowded, when there was a car
behind with plenty of room in it. If a road was chartered
to Mount Auburn or Arlington, I should ask that a clause be
put in to relieve me from the responsibility of accommodating
the people on the route. Our Mount Auburn line pays in the
summer,.but not during the six months of the winter, and if
another company were chartered it would not be for my interest to run over that line a great deal, and I should rather
run more cars below and let the route back take care of itself.
If more cars were run there, our interest and profit would be
between Harvard Square and Boston. I have not paid much
attention to the Metropolitan road, and rarely ride in their
cars. I think the stock and cars on our road are about the
same quality as theirs. I don't think there is much difference;
we have a different style of cars. Since I went on to the road
I have taken the utmost pains to satisfy my people. I make
myself partly a superintendent, but still I cannot satisfy them
all; they will grumble; they cannot live without it. If they
are crowded they will grumble, and at the same time I have
formed the opinion myself that the people like to be crowded
to a certain extent. I spend a good deal of time in watching
my line at Bowdoin Square and at the corner of Leverett and
Green Streets. I can see my whole line, and I look to see
whether I have got cars enough. The most crowded line I
see is Mr. Hathorne's omnibus line, and it leads me to suppose that people like to be crowded, because I see ladies going in after the omnibus is full, and sitting in laps, and then
another set get in and stand up. I think it is the most
crowded line of vehicles in existence. If the people rode at
the proper times we could accommodate many more with our
present number of cars. I don't calculate that our line is
full. By changing at Temple Street, instead of going around




62


through Bowdoin Square, I could carry many more, just as
the Metropolitan does on Tremont Street. Give me the same
facilities the Metropolitan road have for picking up people,
and I should say I could add to the number of passengers
very largely. Carrying them the same distance, we could
probably carry five millions more passengers than we now do,
but our cars have to go very much farther. If you bring my
cars down to the same length of route, they can do very
much more business. To East Cambridge we only average
about thirty passengers, and to Cambridgeport we only average about thirty-five; there is plenty of room for more passengers, provided they ride at the proper times. We pick up
very few-scarcely any- passengers between Cambridgeport
and Boston. That is where the trouble comes with our fares.
We sell eighteen tickets to Cambridgeport for a dollar, and
twenty tickets to East Cambridge for a dollar, and twelve to
Harvard Square. There is no doubt that the Metropolitan
road could accommodate all the passengers now going over
it, if they went at the proper time. The average is only a
little more than twenty, and all these do not get on or off at
the same point. I cannot tell how much the profit is on our
road on each ticket; and yet we managed to divide ten per
cent. last year. There was 12 per cent. earned on $200,000,
and another $200,000 only got 7 per cent., so that on the
whole we did not make more than 8 or 9 per cent. I think
that, at the present time, the average price of tickets is six
cents and a fraction. I have no doubt that the Metropolitan
road could carry the Warren Street passengers better than
any other road. It would be for the advantage of the Mount
Pleasant and the other long lines to have the benefit of the
improvement caused by going through Shawmut Avenue. No
two men are going to control the drivers and conductors on
lines where the cars are going so thick. We don't run our
cars on our crowded lines thick; so there is no chance for
competition among our own conductors. We find it difficult
all the time to keep our men up to time. If another line were
tocome on, it might be said that we could go to the courts to




'      -   b 


63
settle differences, but what are we to do when the hindrance
is only three or four minutes, and yet our whole line behind
delayed? There is a chance for hindrance in Tremont Street
if this Highland road is established.
The hearing was then adjourned until Friday morning
next.
FEBUARY, 28.
The hearing was continued at the Greerf Room this forenoon, additional evidence on the part of the remonstrants
being offered.
Mr. Bates commenced by referring the Committee to the
testimony of Mr. Asa P. Robinson, before the Street Railway
Commissioners in 1864, in reference to the Salem and Danvers Horse Railroad; A. M. Kidder of the Lynn and Boston
road; John H. Studley of the Middlesex road, and of several
gentlemen prominently connected with horse railroads in
Plliladelphia, on the impracticability of two competing lines
running over the same track.
TESTIMONY OF JOHN H. STUDLEY.
[From page 31 et seq. of " Evidence before the Street Railway Commission."]
" To Mr. POWERS.-I have been connected with the Middlesex Railroad ever since it started, and have been Superintendent about four years. The Boston and Lynn and the
Cliftondale roads have exercised the right to pass in and out
over its track. There was a great deal of dificulty when the
Cliftondale run over our track. Every time a Cliftondale
car came to Charlestown Neck it would stop on the track, if
one of our cars had passed down, and wait until another
car came along; and I have known them to walk their
horses down as far as Crafts' Corner, a little over a mile.
The consequence would be that four or five of our cars would
be in the rear, and when they arrived at Scollay's Building,
the first car (the Cliftondale) would get forty or fifty passengers, or as many as they could stuff into the car, and the
other cars would go light; for passengers are always in



64


dined to get into the first car, even if they have to stand.
They ran between Charlestown and the junction in Malden
upon a single track, a distance of a mile and a quarter, with
three turnouts. They claimed the right of way on that; and
the only way we could get along without an open rupture, a
number of times, was to pull our cars off the track. I have
always told our men never to have any words, nor delay the
public; but if another car insisted on staying on the track,
to take our car off and go along about their business, and report to me. There was a deal of loafing at the time on the
part of their conductors, with a view of holding back and
getting all the passengers. I have known one of the Cliftondale cars to stand on the track between Charlestown Neck
and the end of Maiden Bridge draw two hours and a half.
That was because they were bound not to take their car off,
and they could not go ahead because we had a car there. I
would not allow but one car to be taken off, and then put on
five cars instead of four, and transferred the passengers. I
have known nine cars, after leaving Charlestown Square, to
be delayed in a string, principally on account of the Cliftondale car. Since the Lynn and Boston and Middlesex roads
have made an arrangement between themselves, there have
been no very serious difficulties. There is some rivalry between the employ6s, but none between the corporations. I
endeavor to instil into the minds of the men on our road that
it is just as well for the Boston and Chelsea cars to get the
passengers as for our cars to get them, since we get proper
payment for them, and that I don't wish any rivalry, or hard
driving, or hard words.
"To Mr. HUBBARD.-I rather think the Cliftondale road
never paid its running expenses.
" To Mr. POWERS.-I don't think it practicable for one corporation to run over the track of another, where the lines are
competing ones. The Somerville road ran down to the
Charlestown line, and their cars were then taken by the
horses and drivers of the Middlesex road into Boston. It
was found necessary to lease that road, and also the Medford




65


and Maiden. The Cliftondale road has gone out of existence.
I was connected with the omnibuses in Charlestown for about
fourteen years. During that time there were a large number
of competing lines. The general result of this competition
was to bankrupt the whole party. We ran from Charlestown
Neck to Dover Street, a distance of about five miles the
round trip, for three cents, and if a man wasn't satisfied with
that, we would give him a pocket full of tickets. We should
have had twelve cents for the distance that a man might
ride for three cents.
" To Mr. DERBY. The result was to saddle the public with
a large number of carriages and large establishments, that
there was no call for. And not only that, but a great many
accidents would happen. One driver would punch another,
and it became the fashion to touch one another with the
whip as they went by, and to throw iron wrenches at each
other's heads. Finally it became dangerous for passengers
to ride. At the time the Middlesex road was started, the receipts of the omnibuses averaged about $160 a day; they
dropped down to $59. The rate of fare was the same on
both-five cents; but the cars ran only to the lower part of
Haymarket Square, while the omnibuses ran to the Providence
Depot."
AFFIDAVIT OF WILLIAM WHARTON.
" PHILADELPHIA, MARCH 10, 1862.
" E. H. DERBY, Esq., President Metropolitan Horse Railroad Co., Boston.
" DEAR SIR:-I have your letter of the 8th instant, and in
reply will state that, being from the nature of my business
well acquainted with the practical operation of horse railways in Philadelphia and other cities, I have had ample opportunity to notice the difficulty, in fact almost the impossibility, of two city railway companies running their cars upon
the same track without detriment to the accommodation of
the public, as well as injury to their own interests. This
arises from the rivalry naturally existing between the companies, extending, of course, to the conductors and drivers,
9




66


who seek by all means to obtain all the passengers for their
own particular line, to the exclusion of the other. Irregular
running and violations of the time-table are of daily, almost
hourly, occurrence; and however stringent in this particular
the rules adopted by the companies ma? be, they cannot be
carried out in practice.
" This ill-feeling, in many cases, causes not only inconvenience and delay to passengers, but actually endangers their
safety; for instance, when cars of the different lines approach
at nearly the same time to the point of intersection, the drivers often try to " cut each other out," knowing that the car
which is ahead will have a much better chance to pick up
passengers. Thererefore, each one will whip up his horses,
and by their recklessness a collision is imminent.
" When on the main route, the car which is ahead will
probably lag behind the proper running time, and so obtain
passengers which rightfully should be carried by the other
one; the driver of which, feeling imposed upon, will keep so
close up as to render it dangerous for passengers to be upon
the platform of the first car, or to get on or off the car, except at the risk of being hit by the pole or knocked down by
the horses.
" Sometimes to such an extent has this been carried that
personal assaults between conductors or drivers, while upon
duty on their cars, have been the result, to say nothing of
the foul epithets used, and profanity.
" The question of the amount of compensation to be paid
for using another company's track is seldom satisfactorily
settled; often lawsuits arise, and complications, injurious to
all concerned, are almost inevitable, rendering an equitable
adjustment impossible.
" But having an arrangement between two connecting roads
that passengers carried by one line to the end of its route
shall be transferred to the other cars, and so taken to their
destination, all this want of harmony and conflict of interest
is avoided.
" In this way passengers can be carried at a less rate than




67


if each company should run its own cars upon both of the
routes; for, in that case, owing to the difficulty of properly
regulating their running, more cars are required to do the
same work; also, they will be likely, from jealousy of each
other, to put on more cars than are actually needed. It is
obvious, therefore, that the fare must be higher, or the railroad companies lose the difference.
" This needless increase in the number of cars, in my opinion, would certainly be another strong objection when the railroad runs through business streets, especially if they are narrow or crooked and already overcrowded by vehicles, as is
the case in Cornhill, Washington and other streets in Boston.
" In Philadelphia, you are aware, we have a system of transfer or exchange tickets, by which the transportation of passelgers is efficiently done at a less cost, and with greater convenience to the public and the railroad companies themselves,
than would be possible by any other method. This plan,
although general with us, is not universal; upon some of our
roads we see the ill effects of using the same track, and can
compare the two methods, as it were, side by side.
"  ours respectfully,
"WM. WHARTON, Jr.,
" Railway Contractor."
"William Wharton, Jr., being duly sworn according to law,
doth depose and say that the foregoing facts set forth are just
and true.
"WM. WHARTON, Jr.
"Sworn and subscribed before me, this 11th day of March, A. D. 1862.
"JOHN WHITE, Alderman.
' I have read the foregoing statement, and corroborate the
facts contained therein.
< OLIVER EVANS,
" Sp't Germantown P. B. W. C., via 4th and 8th Streets.
"MARCH 10, 1862.
"PHILADELPHIA, MARCH 11, 1862.
"I also agree in the above statement.
"CHAS. CAMLOS,
" President Chestnut and Walnut Street Railroad.




68


"I cheerfully concur with Mr. Wharton's statement.
" JNO. W. GILLINGHAM,
" up't 2d and 3d Street P. R. R. Co.
"MARCH 11, 1862.
" N. B. We have two lines of our own running on the same
road, and it is impossible to prevent jealousy from existing with
the men.
JNO. W. GILLINGHAM,
" Superintendent.
"We have two lines running on part of our road, and find it to
be a great injury to our company.
" W. MCILWAIN,
"President Green and Coates Street Passenger Railway.
"PHILADELPHIA, MARCH 11, 1862."
AFFIDAVIT OF JOHN W. YOUNG.
"To the Joint Special Committee on Railways and Canals of the Legislature of Massachusetts.
" I, John W. Young, being duly sworn do depose and say:
that I am Superintendent of the Second and Third Streets
Passenger Railroad Company, of the city of Philadelphia,
State of Pennsylvania; that the Green and Choate Streets
City Passenger Railroad Company, and the Aace and Vine
Streets City Passenger Railroad Company, run their horsecars upon our track, jointly with us, for a distance of nine
squares, which is a source of constant annoyance and nuisance to the respective companies and to the public generally.
The drivers and conductors of the one loaf upon the time of
the conductors and driversof the other; that they compete
for travel with great outcry and disturbance to the public
peace; that they fall into quarrels and fights, and delay and
interrupt business; and many other evils have resulted which
clearly demonstrate the impolicy of such an arrangement.
The cars of the one impede the travel of the other, and, in
my opinion, founded upon the above experience, it would be
the height of folly to permit a competing railroad to run opposition cars on another railroad, on which five hundred or
more cars are daily transporting fifteen to twenty thousand




69


passengers. That the common use of our track has resulted
in several collisions, thereby endangering the lives of passengers and horses; and, through the rivalry of the conductors
and drivers, our passengers have been grossly insulted. Il
truth, the joint use of our track subverts, to a great degree,
the intention of a city horse railroad company, viz.: expedition, economy, and quiet and peaceable transportation.
"JOHN W. YOUNG."
TESTIMONY OF JOSEPH H. WARREN.
To Mr. BATES.-I reside in East Boston; am a police officer and have been for seventeen and a half years; my beat
runs from Court Street to Winter Street, on Washington and
Tremont Streets; I am round that route every hour, from 8
o'clock in the morning until 6 at night; Tremont Street is
blocked colsiderable of the time, from 3 o'clock until 6, by
teams and cars; in the winter time it is worse than it is in
the summer, for the snow and ice get on the tracks, and the
cars get so snug together that the teams cannot get by them;
there are more blocks on Tremont Street than on Washington; there they go right straight along; but on Tremont
Street, from Winter Street up to Court Street, they are
blocked up in winter almost all the time. I think Tremont
Street is blocked more than other streets, on account of there
being so many hacks and carriages from the different hotels
going down Winter Street to the railroads, and coming back
from the railroads. I don't think there is any street in the
city that is so crowded as Tremont, from Winter Street to
the Tremont House, in the afternoon. In the morning it is
very pleasant; in the afternoon it is very crowded. The cars
are very often blocked in the afternoon. I have seen a string
of cars from Temple Street down to Cornhill. That was on
account of a team unloading a safe on Cornhill, and it blocked
a whole string of cars, all the way along. In the afternoon
they are blocked up very frequently, when the cars come up
pretty thick on the turnouts, where they have to stop. That
occurs about every afternoon. It is a common occurrence




70


to see 15 or 20 cars in a string. I do not know how any
more cars could get along up through Tremont Street, on
account of those turnouts. There would be a block there
all the time, if there were any more cars. I should say I
have seen the street blocked five or ten minutes, sometimes
longer. There are a great many funerals go through Tremont Street, and when there is a funeral, they have to stop
the cars to get them along. Sometimes they turn up Beacon
Street, sometimes they go down right through, and then they
have to stop the cars to get them along. If a team breaks
down on the track, it does not take more than two minutes
to block the cars as far back as you can see them. A block
of the cars frequently causes a block of the other travel. If
any vehicle stops on the street, so as to hinder the other travel,
that also hinders the cars. There is great liability to crowds
and stoppings.
To Mr. CLARKE. - I should say it was the shifting of the
cars on the turnouts near the Tremont House that causes
the blocks. If there was no shifting of cars near the Tremont House, I don't know as there would be so much blocking as theie is now. I should say it was the turnout at the
head of Bromfield Street that made the blocks.
To Mr. BATES. - There are a great many blocks right at
the head of School Street. I have worked there twenty
minutes some days in getting a block out, with another officer.
If the cars, that now switch off and go back on Tremont Street,
were turned down Bromfield Street or School Street, I don't
think there would be so much blocking. If they did not turn
down one of those streets, but went on, I think they would
make blocks. I should say that if all the cars went up and
down Temple Street, there would come a collision when they
got out of Temple Street. Those that were coming down
would have to stop to keep out of the way of those coming
from the opposite direction. I should not think there was
sufficient space there for them to switch and turn out, as
there is on Tremont Street. If the route of the cars should
be changed, so that, instead of going through Temple Street,




t' -to.


71
all of them should go up Boylston Street, and a part of them,
when they got to Temple Street, should turn down that street,
I should think there would be constant confusion there.
To Mr. CLARKE -I don't suppose it would make confusion
for one of two cars to turn off to the right and the other keep
right on, but if one car has to cross the track of another, I
should say one would have to stop to allow the other to go by.
The Middlesex and Metropolitan cars, when they run on to
the same track at Scollay's Square and go down Cornhill,
don't cross any other track; but on Tremont Street they have
got to cross one track and go on to another. They would
not have to cross another track in going from Tremont Street
to Temple Street, but they would in going from Temple
Street on to Tremont Street.
To Mr. BATES.-I think the effect of turning the Tremont
Street cars, through Bromfield Street or School Street, on
to Washington Street, 'vould be to cause more or less blocking there. I think it would take them some time to get
through Washington Street, because that street is narrower
than Tremont Street, and teams could not get along so well
when the cars are so nigh together. The blocks at the corner of Winter and Washington Streets are very bad in the
afternoon. There are so many folks going across, that the
officers who are passing them back and forth have to stop
the teams and cars, and it makes blocks there about all the
time. I should think if the five or six hundred -cars that now
go back on Tremont Street went down on to Washington
Street, it would be very bad.
To Mr. CLARKE.-I think the narrowest part of Washington Street is from the head of State Street to Milk Street.
It is a little wider from Winter Street up to Boylston. I
think there are not so many blocks there, as there are this
side. I think all the Metropolitan cars that go up Washington Street turn off at Summer Street, except the East Boston
line and the Berkeley Street cars, which run through Temple
Street.
To the CHAIRMAN.-I was stationed at the corner of Dock




72


Square and Exchange Street about two years and a half.
These blocks are common in all the business streets of the
city. Union Street and Dock Square, during the busy hours
of the day, are very much crowded. I have seen blocks of
cars extending from Dock Square up to the junction of
Washington Street and Cornhill, when there was a team unloading in Dock Square, and I have seen a string of cars
blocked from the junction of Washington Street and Cornhill
up to Scollay's Square. I have seen such a block as that, on
the afternoons of Thanksgiving week -a steady block. As
soon as we got them clear, they would come right in again.
I don't think there is half so much inconvenience caused by
the blocks between the Tremont House and Temple Place as
in Dock Square, because there is more teaming down there.
To Mr. CORNELL.-It wouldn't take more than five minutes
to make a block from Washington Street clear round up to
Scollay's Square, if a car got blocked at the lower part of
Washington Street.
To the CHAIRMAN.- I don't think there would be much
trotting of horses, if all the cars that now go back on Tremont Street were obliged to make the circuit through Cornhill. They would have to walk very slow. I have seen them
go through Cornhill pretty fast. The additional cars on
Washington Street would be more bother in the afternoon
than in the forenoon. In the afternoon they would be blocked
all the time, I should think.
TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM F. WEST.
To Mr. BATES. -I have been a police officer nine years;
have been stationed two years and a half at the corner of
Tremont and Winter Streets; I don't think there is so much
foot travel there as there is down on Washington Street, but
I should say there were a great many more cars, because the
cars don't go down Washington Street, as they used to; in
the afternoon the street is very much crowded; I see a great
many blocks of cars and teams in the afternoon; I made a
count of the teams for one week, ten hours each day, about




73


three months ago, for the City Government, and the average
was about 130 cars an hour passing my crossing; there were
4,100 teams passed there a day; the tel hours embraced
from 9 in the morning until 7 in the evening; in the afternoon the street is full of cars, and if there is a funeral procession, a heavily loaded team, or any thing of the kind, it
blocks them back to Temple Place, and sometimes down
Temple Place a piece, I don't know how far; I have seen as
many as could stand in the street, perhaps ten feet apart; I
don't know as those below me would be ten feet apart, because they drive up pretty close, when they can; fifteen or
twenty, perhaps thirty cars; this is a frequent occurrence;
I should think if more cars were put on to run up Tremont
Street, with the detention caused by the turnouts, it would
be almost impossible for them to go in the afternoons.
To the CHAIRMAN.-I have seen the cars and teams blocked
on Tremont Street fifteen or twenty minutes before they
would get them started, and then they would get to going
again; but there would be a perfect crowd, or block, you
might say, for perhaps an hour, before they would be relieved
so that they could run freely. I should think the blocks
would average five minutes.
To Mr. CLARKE.-The shifting of the cars at the turnouts
is the principal cause of a great many of the blocks, because
a delay of two or three minutes there, in changing the cars,
will make quite a block. I never noticed any great difficulty
between the conductors or drivers of the Metropolitan cars
and those of the South Boston cars, because there are no
turnouts, or anything to have any difficulty about, along
where I am stationed. I have been on the cars when there
was more or less feeling. The South Boston man would say
he had a right to go, and the Metropolitan man would say he
had the first right. I suppose I could prevent the driver and
conductor of one car from " loafing " in front of another, for
the purpose of annoyance, if there was any law or ordinance
to break it up. Of course we could break it up, the same as
we do other things.
10




74


To Mr. BATES.- They would have to make a law or ordinance, and require the horse-car men to comply with it; and
if they didn't, we could arrest them for obstructing the street.
I have had no experience in that. If the difficulty of switching at the Tremont House was relieved by sending the cars
down Bromfield Street or School Street to Washington Street,
there would be more or less blocks, because those streets are
narrow, and if they all went down Corihill, that would cause
a great many blocks, I should suppose, in Washington Street.
I have been down on Washington Street when I have seen
it blocked by heavy teams; but I have no call to go down
there very often.
To Mr. CLARKE.-I have no difficulty in starting up teamsters when they are obstructing the street, because there is
an ordinance against it. I think School Street is a little narrower than Temple Place, and Winter Street also. I should
say Winter Street was five feet narrower between the curbstones. I know, when there are two vehicles in Winter Street,
a third one, if it is one of these jigger wagons, cannot get
down there. I have frequently had to go down and start up
one of the private carriages, to let one of these teams
through.
To the CHAIRMAN. - There are considerable many heavy
teams come up from the Providence depot and pass down
Winter Street. Not much lumber, or bricks, or materials of
that kind pass there. I should say the public were more inconvenienced by the cars obstructing the vehicles than by the
vehicles obstructing the cars. I think the cars would obstruct
the street more than other vehicles, because they cannot turn
out, and teams can. An increase of the number of cars over
that route would inconvenience the public more than an increase in the number of vehicles. If the cars could go right
along, without being detained at the turnout, they would not
be blocked up. When the cars are blocked down at my corner, they have to stop there a minute or two for the parties
at the turnout to change their horses or their cars and come
back, so as to let some of the other cars on to the turnout,




75


and it makes quite a block there. I think if a circuit could
be arranged, so that all the cars could go round without stopping, except to take or land passengers, there might be an
additional number of cars put on the street.
To Mr. BATES.- In the case supposed, Trepont Street
would be relieved; but of course, if there were more cars put
on Washington Street, there would be more blocks on that
street.
TESTIMONY OF MARTIN S. STARKWEATHER.
To Mr. BATES.-I am Assistant Superintendent of the Metropolitan Railroad. I have been on the road since it first
started in 1856, September 17th. Have been seven years in
my present position. I was first conductor, then starter, then
receiver and paymaster, and now I am with the Superintendent. I have charge of the time-tables of the road. This
map (showing the tracks of the Metropolitan Railroad) was
prepared under my direction, and this table.
A




76
Number of Cars that Arrive at, and Leave on Regular Trips,
the Tremont Street Office, between the following hours.


Gc o t0  E I "
*NAMES OF LINES.              c.00 


Norfolk House,
Neck and depots,.
Lenox Street, 
Tremont Street,
East Boston and Camden Street,
East Boston,..
Chelsea Ferry, 
Lenox Street and depots,
Warren Street,
Grove Hall,.
Dorchester,
Egleston Square,.
Forest Hills,.
Providence Depot,.
Mt. Pleasant,.....
Brookline,
Beacon Street,
West Roxbury,


II


162
189
224
98
6
54
60
27
36
13
15
26
12
14
52
28
48
30
1,094


122
155
178
74
5
42
48
23
34
8
12
21
12
14
42
23
39
24
876


36
46
52
25
1
12
12
7
10
4
3
7
3
5
17
6
12
6
264


Total Number cars arriving, 
Leaving the Office, going out through Tremont
Street,
Lenox Street and depot cars passing through Temple Place to Tremont Street, outward,
South Boston cars passing Tremont Street Office,.


596   481    150


27
355


23
274


6
80


Summary.
Cars arriving at office,...1,094      876  264
Cars leaving office,....596         481   150
South Boston cars,..355                 274   80
Lenox Street and depot cars, out,.... 27  23  6
Total Number,....2,072 1,654       500
Number of cars per hour passing Temple Place'
and Tremont Street,.....115       137  167




77
[The witness explained, by reference to the map, the foregoing table, and showed the points at which the different
lines and branches intersected.]
Between tlhe.hours of 7 A. M. and 7 P. M., nearly two and
a half cars a minute pass the corner of Temple and Tremont
Streets, and between the hours of 4 and 7 P. M., about three
cars a minute pass the same point.
[Witness presented the time-tables for the different routes,
two-horse, four-horse, and Sunday time, which extended to
the length of several yards.]
These time-tables are printed and furnished to the conductors, and also posted in the cars for the benefit of passengers, and printed on small slips and given to those passengers
who desire them. We do not start so early on Sunday, and
we run oftener during church hours, and run more cars in
the evening between 7 and 10. Some of these tables have
not been changed for ten years, and others have been changed
within three months.  We change them according to the
season. Wllen the days are the shortest, we bring the cars
along earlier; when the days lengthen, we lay them back a
little, to meet the tide. As a general rule, the tables are
made up twice a year, spring and fall. On the lines where
the cars run frequently, we very rarely make any changes;
and with respect to the others, the spring and fall generally
answers for all changes. If we start a new route or anything
of that kind, we advertise the time when we start it. We
lave not taken off any cars for the last two years.
To Mr. MERRILL. —Te trips are all run, unless there is a
snow-storm, and they are run then, if they can be.
To the CHAIRMAN.-This time-table has been altered, with
regard to Warren Street, since the legislature met; I should
think, about a couple of weeks after Christmas; it may have
been a week after Christmas; we altered the four-horse time;
the two-horse time has not been altered; January first we
put on two trips on four-horse time; we averaged ten minutes
on two-horse time in September, I will say, and we do to-day.
To Mr. DRAPER.-We altered the four-horse time as soon




78


as we could get accommodation for the horses. We gave
them all the accommodation we could, until we could put on
the additional stable.
To Mr. BATES -We keep about 1,200 horses now. We
average during the year about 900. We have run more or
less extra cars to the outskirts, on the two-horse time.
To COMMITTEE.-We consider 300 of these horses a reserve.
We can run the road with 900. We are obstructed at the
corner of Beach and Washington Streets, by the South Boston cars coming in there.
To the CHAIRMAN.-We do not have much difficulty with
the South Boston Railroad. Once in a while there is a little
strife there between the drivers. They keep " loafing," as
we call it. When they get on the track, they lay back more
or less.
To Mr. PALMER.-It would be impracticable for the Highland Company to run out in the way they propose. They
would have to cross one track, and obstruct our cars
coming in.
To Mr. BATES.-I have been arranging these time-tables,
more or less, for fifteen years, and I find it is some trouble
now. Another company coming over our tracks would disarrange our business very seriously. There are a great many
times now when we cannot make our regular trips, on account
of detentions. We cannot get back in time to start, and we
have to lose trips.
To Mr. CLARKE.-We run over the Boylston Street track,
between Washington and Tremont Streets, after eight o'clock
in the evening. The South Boston cars come round there all
the time. The cars that niw come up Temple Place used to
come up Boylston Street. I should think Boylston Street
was wider than Temple Place. We run five trips that are not
on the Warren Street time-table. I should say it was two or
three weeks since we put on the five trips there. The fourhorse time-table was issued about the 1st of January; it may
have been the 10th. I can't swear whether the first time the
cars were run on that time-table was the 10th of January or




79


not, because I have not got the figures here. During the last
snow we have not run more four-horse cars than are laid
down on the time-table. There is 15-minute time morning
and night, and that is all we have run. We have not run on
five-minute time to Warren Street, in the morning, any time
this winter. You may have seen two cars five minutes apart,
if something detained them, but there has never been any
five-minute time. There is a Dorchester car that comes down
five minutes behind the Warren Street car regularly every
hour. There have not been, to my knowledge, four successive
cars five minutes apart in the morning, habitually, three or
four successive mornings during the last snow. The stable
for the Warren Street line was built in June, 1870. I think
we kept eiglit cars there, for the Warren Street and Grove
Hall lines. We could have kept 11 cars there. We commenced running as many cars as we could have kept in that
car-house, June 8th, 1871; they were not all kept there; we
had room for forty horses there; there might have been a
few spare stalls there at the time; it would take thirty-six
horses to run the line. We use eight horses a day on the
cars that run eight trips, because we have plenty of them;
we can run them with six. We could have worked the horses
a little harder and put on an additional car for a few days,
but the horses could not have stood it. We used eight cars
in doing the work in June, 1871, and we use eight now on
two-horse time; that and the Grove Hall together. I can't
say that we have put on any additional cars to the Warren
Street line since June, 1871. As I say, we have been running
five trips extra within two weeks. Two cars have been put
on, to supply the place of old ones that need repairing. We
have the same number of cars running there that we had in
June, 1871. We are running five trips more than at that
time, and that is all. We have probably got 25 more horses
in the Warren Street stable now, than we had in June, 1871.
We had to put an addition on to the stable, to accommodate
them. Our stables are all full. We keep some up there,
when we can't keep them anywhere else. There are more
Ait4




80


trips run on the Warren Street line than are necessary for
the Warren Street travel. The five extra trips were put on
to carry the South End people who crowd into the Warren
Street cars and crowd the Warren Street people out. The
people going to the South End will take the first car that
comes along, whether it is the Warren Street car or any other.
I do not ride in the cars much; I have my own carriage. I
have seen them pass my office every night, at the Washington
Street stable. That is from three-quarters to a mile from the
Warren Street station. It is beyond where the Neck cars go.
The seats are not generally fall in the afternoon, until halfpast five. I have noticed them very particularly within the
last few weeks, and they go oftener with the seats not full
than they do with anybody standing. The car that leaves
Boston at five o'clock does not always go full. I call a car
with forty passengers in it full; I should not want to carry
any more; I don't call a car with twenty passengers in it
full. The cars are arranged to seat from eighteen to twentytwo. The number beyond eighteen or twenty-two are supposed to stand inside and on the platforms. For instance,
you seat twenty; ten can stand inside-that would be only
a single row-making thirty; and then you can put five on
each platform, and not be much crowded; they are very wide
platforms. I should prefer to have ten on each platform, for
profit. I do not think there is any notice in the cars forbidding passengers to stand on the front platform; it refers to
the steps. There is a notice in all the horse cars in Boston,
forbidding passengers to get off the front platform; I don't
think we forbid our drivers from soliciting passengers to get
on or off the front platform; it would not do any good if we
did; they would get on; they don't solicit them to get on
the front platform; I don't know that the drivers of tile
Warren Street, Mount Pleasant and Neck lines, in four-horse
time, habitually solicit people to get on the front platform;
I have never heard a conductor.say to passengers: " Pass out
forward," since I have been in the business, or use any such
expression; we bought, I should say, from 50 to 100 horses




81


after the 1st of December; we added the 300 horses in the
months of October, November and December; we might have
got in 50 during the month of January.
To Mr. PALMER.-The cars on the Warren Street line are
running to-day as they were run before there was any trouble
there at all. The extra trips were put on to accommodate
all through, the same as the others do. Indirectly they accommodate the Warren Street travel. The directors have
increased the number of horses in the fall of the year generally, but not to the extent they have this year.
To the CHAIRMAN.-They had more road to clear and more
snow-ploughs to run, and it would take more horses to do it.
We have had a very favorable year, but we did not know that
we were going to have it. We give our patrons on the Warren
Street line better facilities than they have on any of the
branches, except the Mt. Pleasant, and that is the same. We
have no room to keep any more horses to carry them with.
I suppose the company can do more in the future. They have
not got any more room for cars and horses now. We could
put on extra cars, but it would detain others and make slower
work of it, and make it more difficult in getting round. I
don't know that we could put on any more cars without obstructing the streets. In pleasant weather we can't make
our regular trips now; we lose a good many. I do not see
how we could increase the speed any. If we run faster out
of town, I think we should necessarily have blocks in town.
If we came in at the rate of eight or ten miles an hour, and
when we got to Boylston Street, walked the rest of the way,
we should have a string of cars clear round back to Boylston
Street again. I don't think the people of the suburbs would
be content to be left at Boylston Street. We tried the experiment of running a line to Essex Street, and back through
Harrison Avenue, and run it empty for a while; we got sick
of it and took the cars off. The passengers would pile on to
a car that was coming down town, if it had fifty or sixty on it,
rather than get into one of the Essex Street cars, where there
was plenty of room. I think it would be an expense to the
11
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#3i'




82


public, if all the cars made the circuit round Cornhill. If
we ran in through Tremont Street, and came out through
Temple Place, we should run against our cars that are coming in. We have got to cross an incoming track, and by so
doing, we should block the cars that are coming in. A shifting of the tracks, so as to obviate this crossing, would involve
a change in most of the streets and most of the tracks we are
using now.
To Mr. CLARKE.-The addition to the Warren Street stable
was made within two months since Christmas; perhaps
since the first of January. It holds 25 horses, I think.
To Mr. BATES.-If we open the new line through Harrison
Avenue and Tremont Street we shall need these additional
horses; the stable was built partly with reference to that.
To Mr. DRAPER.-I should say the Warren Street cars
have about three full freights in the morning. The Norfolk
House cars carry more.
To the CHAIRMAN.-The increase in the number of trips
on four-horse time was made to convene other people who
ride in those cars, not with special reference to meeting the
complaints of the Warren Street travel. We have a reserve
of horses, and, when they are not on the snow-ploughs, we put
them on the different lines to help out what we can, and we
put some on there. We do not have horses enough to run
the same number of trips on four-horse time that we would
on two-horse time. It would require double the number.
The corporation have a large number of sleighs. If it was
pretty good sleighing, we should not carry many, I guess.
We can carry as many with one car as we can carry with
four sleighs, with just about the same degree of comfort.
To Mr. CORNELL.-We do not mean to use sleighs, but to
clear the snow off the tracks and run the cars.
To Mr. PALMER.-We made this change in the four-horse
time to accommodate the passengers from Warren Street,
from the Neck and back again. It was just so at Mount
Pleasant. We made the same change there.




83


To Mr. CLARKE.-I have never heard a word of fault-finding from the Mount Pleasant people since I have been on the
road.
To the CHAIRMAN.-Neither of the gentlemen who are
present here as counsel ever made any complaint to me.
TESTIMONY OF JOHN W. DRAPER.
To Mr. BATES.-Am President of the Metropolitan Railroad Company; reside in Cambridge, and have since last
October; removed there on account of having a son in college there; previously resided in Boston, in the 16th ward;
have been President of the road two years this time, and
filled the same position six or eight years ago; have been
director of the road six years.
[Mr. Bates read, from the rules and regulations prepared
for the use of the drivers and conductors of the road, the
statute forbidding one car to pass another standing to receive
or deliver passengers faster than a walk, and explained that
the delay on Tremont Street which had been complained of
was due to this statute. Cars were passing on Tremont
Street at the rate of three a minute during some hours of the
day, and the stoppages are so frequent that the horses cannot be trotted either way without violating the statute. Mr.
Bates also read the rule of the road in regard to collisions,
which provides that the drivers of both cars shall be discharged; and said that, with a competing road, it would be
difficult to tell in cases of this kind which driver was at
fault.]
Mr. Draper continued: Two years ago we found we were
crowded on Tremont and Washington Streets, and there
were quite a number of attempts made to remedy it. The
great trouble was, we had to bring all the cars to a common
centre We tried the experiment of running round Temple
Place, but it gave us no relief. A year ago I went to Mr.
Little, and told him it was impossible for us to fully accommodate that section and very difficult to accommodate any
section, and if he, living where he did at Grove Hall, would




84


make out a time-table, or suggest anything that would be
more satisfactory, we would try to adopt it, and we made
some changes in consequence of his suggestions. He said
the other day that they were not satisfactory, but we never
heard from him about it. Last fall, Harrison Avenue was extended; it was late when it was finished. *Kingston Street
was very narrow by the United States Hotel. We understood that it was to be widened, and I went to Mr. Little and
told him we must have a track there, and the city gave it
without any trouble; and, when the connections are made,
we shall have a direct route by which we shall take all the
Grove Hall and Warren Street and Mount Pleasant travel,
and turn it into Harrison Avenue, and so on down, and the
distance from where we enter Warren Street to the corner of
Summer and Kingston gives us an advantage of five or six
hundred feet over the proposed line  So far as the ability to
make good time is concerned, it is greater on this line than
on the proposed line. The great objection to the new line is
that they come in where we are already crowded. We
might have had a location on Shawmut Avenue, but we do
not want it; it would not help us at all. We can bring in today on Tremont Street, Harrison Avenue and Washington
Street, three times as many cars as we can accommodate
down town. We have streets on the Back Bay that are
clamoring for tracks. That section of the city is growing,
and it is a question with us how we are going to provide the
necessary accommodation. I have no doubt that the Highland people would like to be brought to the Tremont House;
our Dorchester people are anxious to be brought there too.
The people of those districts cannot be brought to the Tremont House, any more than all the steam railroads can bring
their passengers to a common centre. If this new route of
ours were in operation, we should not be here to-day; but
the winter set in early, and we did not get our steel switches
so soon by two months as we should, and although we could
put them in and have that track in running order in ten
days, it would not be well done, and we thought we had bet



85


ter wait until the frost was out of the ground. We have
expended on that some seventy to eighty thousand dollars.
Mr. Starkweather testified that we had been running eight
cars to Warren Street. That section has grown very much.
We have got to cover our whole ground out there with stables. We shall run twelve cars from Warren Street and
twelve from Mount Pleasant this present year, and that will
give that section of the city, the Highlands, Warren Street
and Mount Pleasant, better accommodations than any other
section of the city has or any other section can have. The
minute we take these sixteen or twenty Mou.nt Pleasant and
Warren Street cars off, we shall put on just as many to take
their places on Tremont Street to the Neck. We are to lay
a track this spring on Charles Street, and that will take six
cars; and, do our best, I don't see how we can accommodate
this section of the city, unless we have more room to work
in. We have thirty-five new cars going on this spring, and
that is about as many as can be handled.     We have
always tried to do our best, and I think Mr. Little's testimony the other day shows that we have been anxious to
accommodate. The only thing that brought about this hearing was the snow-storm Christmas week. I don't wonder
the people were uncomfortable; I was myself in going to
Cambridge in the horse cars. If this proposed line starts
from Grove Hall and comes to Tremont Street, they may
come and welcome. Warren Street is not worth anything;
there is no money in it and has not been. If we knew that
they would be willing to stop there, we should not object;
but their ultimate destination will be as far as they can get,
and then we shall have to buy them out. If they start from
the Post-Office and run over Shawmut Avenue, they have a
competing line with the Metropolitan Road without being of
any benefit to anybody, because we can carry all the passengers there without trouble. That would close up the only
avenue in that part of the city that has no track in it. I
ride myself in a carriage more than in the horse cars, and
would like to have one street not taken up. Where we run




86


through the city, it is the profitable part of the road. The
depot route is the most profitable, because it is all the way
through a continuously thickly settled section and the passengers are constantly changing. We probably take, on a
good day, three sets of passengers. The great trouble with
the roads outside of the thickly settled portion of the city is
that the travel is not continuous. For two hours in the
morning the cars are very full indeed, but on the outward
trips are nearly empty. Then at night on the outward trips
they are full, and not full on the return trips.
To the CHAIRMAN -It is in the hope tliat the limits of the
business and thickly populated section of the city will be extended, that I have held on to the Metropolitan stock; but to
make it profitable, it must be a crowded section-not merely
where people live, as they do in the Highlands, but where
there is business going on; where you take up passengers and
carry them short distances, and then change. I think, this
class of travel is extending. We used to start at Concord
Street, then worked up to Camden Street, and I think, before
long, we shall have to extend our depot lines and every thing
else out to the Post-Office in Roxbury. In future years there
will be money in all these branches; they are like the lateral
branches that the steam railroads had to build; they were
obliged to build them, but it was a great while before they
paid.
To Mr. BATEs.-We used to have some difficulty with the
Broadway Road, but have not had since we bought stock
enough to control it. The two roads were continually meeting on each others' tracks; and there was clashing, especially
between the Dorchester and Broadway lines running in over
Federal Street. The only competition between the roads was
on Washington and Federal Streets-some depot travel. It
was thought better to unite the two corporations, but the
legislature would not allow it, and we bought stock enough
to make it the same thing, so far as we were concerned. I
don't mean that the road bought the stock, but the individual
stockholders. We shouldcwait to see if the new corporation




87


didn't fail before we bought any of their stock; and we certainly should not buy any, if they were obliged to seat every
passenger at five cents apiece. There is only one place that
I know of where we could make better time, and that is on
the Neck. We have a great deal of loafing there, and have
discharged a good many drivers for it; and I suppose, so long
as drivers are human, we shall be troubled in that way. On
Harrison Avenue they drive too fast, and there are many
parts of the city where there is great liability to accident,
where they drive too fast. We have turned off about as many
drivers for driving too fast, as for loafing. We have had a
great many accidents, and are liable to have them every day.
It is on account of the crowded, narrow streets. There would
not be much difficulty in going fast in the wide streets, but
when you reached the narrow streets, they would be crowded
all the more. I have sometimes thought, if I were a driver,
I could get along better than some of them do all the way
from Park Street to Winter Street; but they have to stop to
pick up passengers, and other cars are passing and stopping
to discharge passengers (and our experience has taught us
that people in getting off these cars are careless); and they
have to go slowly for fear of running over some of them. It
is a very dangerous place until you get down to Temple Place
or West Street; beyond there I think they might move a
little faster. We had in the fall something over 900 horses;
we have more than we ever had before, and more than it is
profitable to keep. Horses last fall were very low-lower
than for years; and I told the superintendent, in October, he
might as well fill every stall and see if we couldn't give people
as much accommodation on four-horse time as any reasonable
beings had a right to expect. He bought in the fall 200 to
250 horses, until the stalls were filled. In Christmas week
we never yet accommodated anybody on two-horse time, and
this year we were unfortunate enough to have snow come
and give us four-horse time. We used all the horses and cars
we could during that week. When I returned that week, I
told Mr. Hendry that he had not bought horses enough, and




88


must have more at once, and he said he had no place to put
them. It has been the endeavor of the company to divide its
accommodation fairly between all the lines. I think we have
given the out-of-town lines the preference, particularly in the
accommodation at night. On the Tremont Street we run all
the cars we can; the Warren Street at night is very much
crowded, and Mt. Pleasant also; so with Egleston Square
and Brookline, though not so much, because they have steam
cars; Jamaica Plain also depends on the steam cars. We
give them all we can at night, and have tried to, ever since I
have had anything to do with the road. I think, if the road
is going to be built at all, the Metropolitan had better build
it; but I don't think it will help anybody; I think it will be
an injury. The running over our track by another company
would be an annoyance, both to our road and to the public.
I believe the Warren Street travel is about 3,000, and the
whole travel over the road 42,000. I do not think we ought
to discommode the 40,000 to accommodate the 3,000. The
people of the Highlands ought not to expect to come on to
Tremont Street. They belong on this road, which will take
them right into the heart of the city, and where we can give
them a car a minute, if they need it. That line belongs to
them just as much as the Federal Street and the old Dorchester Avenue line belongs to the Dorchester people. Some
few years ago, at the earnest solicitation of the chairman of
the Committee on Paving, Alderman Carpenter, we ran our
Norfolk House cars through Temple Place, but did better
than the petitioners propose to do, by coming to the
Tremont House. The idea was that, by doing this, it would
relieve Cornhill and Washington Street. I told Mr. Carpenter I would try the experiment, provided the Broadway would
haul off some of their cars; and Mr. Johnson took off onethird, and found it relieved Washington Street and his cars of
passengers, and he went back. They were finally satisfied
that it didn't pay; that the people would not ride to Temple
Place, other things being equal, and it didn't pay. The Norfolk
House cars pay very much better to run round than to stop




89


at the Tremont House. It is not the Roxbury travel that
pays. We run a Norfolk House car every five minutes; we
couldn't do it but for the South End; and when these cars
went through Temple Street, the South End people took the
Neck cars, and left the Norfolk House cars comparatively
empty. We are compelled by our location to stop the Tremont Street lines at the Tremont House. There would be
more accommodation to the people on all the lines if we went
clear round; everybody wants to go round. When I first
knew the road, tile Mount Pleasant and Warren Street lines
went roundl; then we have established the line to the Providence depot and the Back Bay, and they were anxious to go
round.
To Mr. CLARKE.-The city government have no right to
say how many cars shall run through a given street in a
given time. I told Alderman Carpenter so, and he went to
City Solicitor Healy and came back satisfied. I am engaged
in business other than as President of the road. I don't
know when these printed rules and regulations for drivers
and conductors were establisled; to all intents and purposes,
they are the same as those always in use; they have been
changed a little at different times. The track in Kingston
Street, between Summer and Bedford, is so close to the curbstone that a carriage cannot pass between. I think that
Bedford and Chauncy Streets would be as inconvenient as
any part of the city to put a car through. The difference,
as compared with another line on Temple Street, is that in
the former case we should be on our own tracks, and the distance is very short. We applied for the location of this new
track last year. I can't tell when the petition was put in;
the matter had been talked over some time before; we
waited to have Harrison Avenue extended and Kingston
Street widened; we did not order the frogs and switches for
that route until after the location was granted; the matter
of material for the road is generally in charge of Mr. West
and Mr. Hendry; I ask them how much material is wanted,
and order it; for instance, we are going to lay a track in
12




90


Charles Street; I ask Mr. Hendry if there are rails enough
to lay it, and if he says there are not, I order more; I think,
for the Harrison Avenue line, it requires ten switches and
frogs; the trouble is at Beach Street, where we have to cross
the South Boston track; we have the frogs and switches, and
have had them about two months; the Superintendent of
Streets has not objected, that I know of, to the track on Albany Street and Harrison Avenue; on the contrary, he said
it was as good a piece of paving and track-laying as in any
street in the city; it was done by Philadelphia parties;
the Superintendent of Streets has not refused to accept that
work; no formal acceptance is made; if there is anything
that is not right, we alter it and make it satisfactory. I think
the track is paved with Belgian pavement on the outside just
the same as between the rails. The matter of ordering the
new cars is a long story. I went last fall and told Mr. Stevenson we should want from thirty-five to fifty cars, but we
could not make up our minds at that time exactly how many.
Mr. Stevenson wanted us to try a new pattern before we
ordered any more. We ordered six, and they were to be
ready by the 1st of March or the last of February. After I
returned I talked the matter over with Mr. Hendry or some
of the directors, and I wrote immediately to Mr. Stevenson,
and told him we could not wait to try this experiment; he
must build ten new cars of the ordinary pattern, and I would
give him the lettering as soon as we made up our mind exactly how to divide them. That was before Christmas. Mr.
Stevenson agreed with me to furnish thirty cars at least,
last September or October; and we should have had more
cars before, but for the desire to try this experiment, and
the fact that at that time we could not put any more where
we wanted to put them. He wrote me afterward, asking if
we couldn't pay an advance for some of them (a good many
of them are paid for), and when I replied I told him he
might as well make the order four more, which would make
twenty. Since January, I have ordered ten more, and told
him possibly we should want more yet. Then we have five




91


that we procured from another source, which we have been
in treaty for, but have bought since January. The new experimental cars are of the Ridgway pattern, such as are in
use in Philadelphia, Brooklyn, and one or two of the New
York lines. There is no entering on the front platform, the
entrance being at the side in the rear. There is no platform
to stand on; the conductors stand in a particular place, and
there is a fare box as you see in Washington and Western
cities; the conductor stays in his place and takes fares without making change. We shall try these experimental cars
on the Beacon Street line. They are to be painted the Beacon Street color. It was proposed at first to paint them the
Mount Pleasant color, but the directors didn't like the idea,
and it was abandoned. We carried more passengers in November than in December, 1870. Early in December we
had ten or twelve days four-horse time, and of course lost a
great many passengers. The number of passengers carried
gives you no true clue from one year to another. We carried more in November, 1871, than in December, 1871. In
November we would be likely to have more passengers than
in December. In December there is no crowding, except at
Christmas. During the winter months you can get no idea
of what the travel will be. In the week just passed the
travel was remarkable for winter; it was pleasant weather
and two-horse time. One day with another, we get more
travel in pleasant weather with two-horse time than in unpleasant weather with four-horse time; in the latter time,
everybody wants to ride at one time in and out. We hadn't
made any addition to our four-horse time-table for the growth
of three years up to Christmas; but we found out the mistake
as soon as anybody did, and went to work to alter it. There
was a petition to the legislature for an opposition line through
Berkeley Street before our line was established there, and
also one for a location through Albany Street and Harrison
Avenue, prior to the grant of our location there. We opposed them both on the ground that if lines were wanted
there we ought to build them. I don't know whether it was




92


proved that it was impracticable to run a line through those
streets at that time. Kingston Street, between Summer and
Bedford, has not been widened since, that I am aware of.
There is a Metropolitan track running through it now. The
Harrison Avenue and Kingston Street route was built solely
and entirely for Warren Street and Mount Pleasant, and if
they want to use it, we should be glad to lease it to them.
We believe that section needs additional facilities  and, in
addition to that, we believe, after taking reasonable care of
our stockholders, in spending all we can for the benefit of
outsiders. We have very close work, more difficulty than
anybody has any idea of, to make a reasonably fair dividend
for the money invested. One of the main objections to the
use of this projected line is that the people along the line
there don't wear good clothes enough to ride in the Metropolitan horse cars. We run the cars for the benefit of all
classes. So far as that is concerned we should like really to
try the experiment of running palace cars; I think the majority of the people out there would ride in the five cent cars
rather than pay ten and ride in grandeur.
TESTIMONY OF HON. HARVEY JEWELL.
I have been a director in the Metropolitan Road for a year.
I became a stockholder about the middle of '64. I was simply
a stockholder, having no other connection with the road, until
December, '65, when there was a change il the direction of
the road, which was then in a very bad condition. Mr. Rogers was a very large stockholder in the road. I was his
counsel. In 1865-66 he was one of the most active men with
whom I conferred in regard to the change in the management
of the road. I was executor of his will, and have been one
of the trustees under his will, and that has obliged me for
the last six years to know very intimately the management
of the road. The great difficulty in its management has
grown out of the character of the city of Boston, which is
unlike New York and Philadelphia, where there are parallel
streets, and lines of horse cars going through parallel streets,




93
and not running upon each others' tracks, and so making
competition easy as compared with what it is in Boston. The
configuration of Boston is such that all the horse cars that
come from the south part of the town run into one street. In
other cities there are but one or two lines of cars, all lettered
alike, and you may put on as many as you please. In New
York the roads run up one street and down another, or up
and down the same streets, so that there may be an unlimited
number of cars, and they are not in each other's way. Opposite tie Astor House, for instance, the street is very wide
and the cars stand there waiting, each car moving as it is
filled. Tle Metropolitan road has twelve or fifteen routes;
the cars for eacl have to be specially lettered, and run according to a special time-table. The question here is one of
practical administration: How shall the people who live at
the South End be brought in where they desire to go,-that
is, as far down as the Tremont House? There are two or
three practical difficulties. One is the narrowness of Washington Street: another, the narrowness and crowded state of
Tremont Street between Temple Place and the Tremont
House. The Metropolitan Railroad management has striven
to fiurnish as many cars to run from the South to the North
End as the two avenues would permit of.  There have been
frequent consultations between tle management and the aldermen as to the mode of relieving the great pressure of
travel in Washington and Tremont Streets, and to prevent
the blocking which occurs every day in those streets; and the
great labor of the administration of the road has been to find
some practical solution of the difficulty. There are run down
Tremont and Washington Streets, uniting in Tremont Street
at Temple Place, in round numbers, about 1,500 cars every
day; 100 cars an hour, for 15 hours in the day. Of that
1,500, 600 in round numbers come down to the Tremont
House, and there switch off and go back, making 900 trips to
Scollay Square and round Washington Street. The 1,500
and 600 make 2,100 cars every day, which pass between Park
Street and the head of Temple Place, or 140 cars an hour




94


for 15 hours a day. There are two systems of administration; one, the circuit system, through Corhhill, and back on
Washington Street. The Norfolk House cars, a large number of cars from Camden Street, the South Boston cars, 355
trips a day, on the average, go that way. The depot line
could be increased with great advantage to the public, but for
the narrowness of Court Street, which, from Sudbury Street
to Bowdoin Square, is so narrow that there can be but one
track, and the cars which go both ways over it have to stop
and look ahead to see that no other cars are coming the other
way. Tlen there is the line to Chelsea Ferry, which might
be indefinitely increased but for the crowded state of Tremont
and Washington Streets. The East Boston line might also
be increased but for the same limitation. Probably 900 trips
are about as many as it is possible to get along with through
Washington Street. Then there is the return system; the
Beacon Street line, Brookline, Roxbury and Lenox Street
line, which is very numerous; West Roxbury, Forest Hitls
and Egleston Square, which come in over Slawmut Avenue;
the Dorchester line, Grove Hall and Warren Street, which
come through Warren Street, the Mount Pleasant line —all
coming in in front of the Tremont House, and shifting and
going back, about 600 trips a day. Every one of these lines
it would be desirable to increase, but the crowded condition
of Tremont Street forbids, and the road has been under this
embarrassment. The difficulty is that everybody wants to
come as far as the Tremont House, whereas, if we could only
establish lines stopping at Boylston Street, the accommodations could be indefinitely increased, to the advantage of the
road and the public. Efforts have been made to relieve the
pressure of the travel on Waslington Street; one plan was
a double track down Washington to West Street, and a track
through Temple Place. The city government refused to
grant that location; but the next spring an application was
made to go through West Street, which was granted. It was
hoped that the road could put a part of its cars on a line
having its terminus on West Street, and that the South Bos



95


ton line would terminate at that point, but the hope was disappointed. The President has stated the result of the experiment of diverting the Norfolk House cars through Temple
Place. The next point of attention was a road through Harrison Avenue and Albany Street. About three years ago a
petition was made, called the North End petition, for a new
corporation to construct a track from Warren Street through
Harrison Avenue and Albany Street to Summer Street.
Summer Street has been a point to which we have thought
of bringing our cars, in the belief that it would furnish a satisfactory solution of the difficulty, for Summ.er Street is as
near to State Street, and nearer to a large portion of the business of the city than the Tremont House. That petition
asked to go through Kingston Street, but it was objected that
the street was not wide enough. Then they asked to come
round the northerly end of the Albany Station, between that
and the United States Hotel, and turn to the east into Linco4n Street, and so to Summer Street. That was objected to
by the Boston and Albany Railroad and the South Boston
Road, as crossing their tracks, and the Legislature didn't
grant that petition. From that time the Metropolitan have
been looking at that point as a means of affording relief. It
was stated at that hearing that, as soon as the streets were in
condition, the Metropolitan Road would ask for a location
there and build a line to accommodate the south-easterly side
of the city. The first thing was to go through Summer and
Chauncy Streets. We once tried to get a track in Summer
Street, to return through Washington Street, for the benefit
of the Dorchester line, but the city would not grant it; but it
did grant a temporary line through Chauncy Street to Harrison Avenue, which was made a permanent location. That
enabled the Metropolitan Road to see light, and, when Harrison Avenue was extended and Kingston Street widened, the
road petitioned for authority to lay tracks in Harrison Avenue and Albany Street, and in Kingston Street and Summer
Street, from the head of Kingston Street to Chauncy Street,
to get a line over the North End location; and the location




96


was granted and the construction of the road begun. That
road would have been finished, if the frost had not shut down
so early; I suppose a week's time after the fiost is out of the
ground will enable the necessary connection to be made. This
route enables the road to run from Warren Street and Mount
Pleasant by a direct line that does not come into conflict with
any of its cars, or the cars of any other road, and make a
short route out and back again, similar to the Lenox Street
line; it enables them to take fifty, sixty, or one hundred trips
off from Washington Street, and put on one hundred or more
cars from other parts of the city. Columbus Avenue is shortly to be opened, by cutting away the Providence depot. If
the people on that line want the cars put on and ask for them,
we shall ask the city government for permission to go there;
if they don't want it we shall not ask for it; but if they do,
it will be impossible, as we are now running, to furnish them
with cars. So with Huntington Avenue, which will be constructed by contract between the Water Power Company and
the city government, from its junction with Boylston Street
to near Parker Hill, through a very thickly settled part of the
town, and which will necessarily require a track, which the
Metropolitan road will undoubtedly be asked to lay. Then
Boylston Street will be extended, undoubtedly, toward Brookline. We are looking ahead to see where we shall be when
the time comes to run these lines of cars. The Back Bay
will require an additional line. The proposed line asks to
run from Warren Street down on to Tremont Street, into the
crowded streets which we are trying to relieve, and which we
shall relieve, if we are allowed to do so. This difficulty on
Tremont and Washington Streets has ~een the great source
of anxiety in the management of the Metropolitan road.
You will find, by the report of the Chief of Police, for 1870,
a statement of a count of the cars that passed various points.
You will find that there were 1,760, ol the 19th of October,
1870, running through Tremont Street; to-day that is increased to 2,072. There were 852 through Washington, and
to-day there are a little less than 900. The only way by




97


which we can be enabled to get more cars for the accommodation of the south-west part of the city, Tremont Street, toward Brookline and West Roxbury and Shawmut Avenue,
is to get the relief on the east side, which this new road will
furnish. The present mode of running through Temple Place
must be temporary. We now run down Washington to Summer and out through Chauncy Street. Chauncy Street is
very narrow. As soon as the new cars are run on the new line
through Kingston Street to Summer Street and to Chauncy
Street, we apprehend that we shall find Chauncy Street too
narrow to permit the whole line to pass through it, and then
we shall have to give up running that way. That will compel us to run our cars clear out on Washington Street in the
old way, by Essex Street and Harrison Avenue. If this is
done, I don't see any possibility of running the line as these
gentlemen desire - that is, from Eliot Street through Washington into Chauncy.
The arguments in the case will be made on Monday evening next.
FEBRUARY 27.
CLOSING ARGUMENT FOR THE REMONSTRANTS,
By SAMUEL W. BATES, Esq.
Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen:-Although this subject is
one of very great importance, and one with which I am very
familiar, and might consume a great deal of your time, perhaps with profit, I shall endeaver to be as brief as I can tonight, even though it may interfere with any symmetry of
argument.
I assume, in the first place, that the legislature will not
accord a charter for any important public purpose, without
some exigencies being shown, some great evil to be remedied; and, secondly, that they will not grant it, unless a
remedy is shown for the evil, which, if not the best, is at
least a remedy.
13




98


Now, what is the exigency that is presented to us to-night?
It is of a twofold nature. First, general; and second, local.
The first general evil to be remedied, as stated by the petitioners, is, that the Metropolitan Railroad Company have not
the disposition to accommodate their patrons. The second
is, that they have not the ability to do it.
First, on the question of indisposition. No fact has been
brought forward to show this, except the general statement
that there is want of accommodations. On the contrary,
their own prominent witness, Mr. Little, testifies that the
president asked him how the Highland people wished to have
their time-tables arranged; that he told him how he wished
to have them arranged; that the company arranged them in
accordance with his plai, and that the cars were so run. To
be sure, he says that in thirty days he found it was not
enough, but he says that he never mentioned it to the Metropolitan Railroad Company or any of its officers; and no
one has testified that he has made any complaint to the railroad company, or brought any complaint under the statute
of last year, to have them fined for not giving reasonable
accommodations; neither has any one applied to the railroad
commissioners, under the statute of 1869, for relief from
any inconvenience that they suffer, either of which, I say,
would or ought to have been a remedy. On the contrary,
our witnesses testify that they have tried to give equal accommodations to all the people who ride upon our road, the
Highland people equally with the rest. I submit to you,
gentlemen, that is all the testimony there is before you that
refers to the indisposition of the company to do what they
can to accommodate.
Second, as to want of ability. It is said that they have
not the ability to run the road, even if they had the disposition to do it. Well, gentlemen, almost everybody thinks he
can run a horse railroad, until he tries it. Almost everybody
thinks accommodation can be given, or ought to be given;
and yet it is not given, as people generally interpret accommodation, and therefore everybody instinctively finds fault




99


and says there is not the ability to accommodate. But, Mr.
Chairman, the moment you come to think a little of running
a horse railroad, and such a horse railroad as the Metropolitan is, and apply the question of ability to it, and look at it as
a practical, common-sense man, you find that it is not quite so
easy a thing as these gentlemen, who have had no experience
in it, think. The moving of a large body of men is a very
difficult task. The Duke of Wellington, just before the Crimean war, when there had been peace for some years in
England, when the House of Lords was saying that there
was no use in having a standing army and keeping any preparation for war, said, "Gentlemen, you do not know any
thing about the difficulties of moving men."  I am not sure
that I give the exact figures, but he said something like this:
" I think there are not ten generals in the English army who
can take 10,000 men off from Hyde Park, without getting
them all into confusion.'"  Well, Mr. Chairman, I have shown
you that we carry 45,000 passengers a day, and the South
Boston cars carry 15,000, making 60,000 a day, not once,
but every day, and, when we have extra trips, more than that;
but the average through the year is 60,000 passengers a day
through that little narrow street; and we carry them through
when the street is also crowded with a variety of other
vehicles. Well, if there are not ten generals in the English
army who could take ten thousand men off from Hyde Park,
it certainly seems to me that it does require some brains and
some ability to put 60,000 persons every day through that
street, with all the other travel there is in it, even though it
is not done to the perfect accommodation of every person
who rides.
One of the great difficulties in this whole case is that almost every one has a particular grievance of his own that
has to be remedied. He considers that his is the main grievance, without considering the grievances which the others
may have, who are equally entitled to respect and who are
also patrons of the road. A few of these I will mention.
For instance, the passengers in the Brookline, Jamaica Plain




100


and all the other lines of cars that are stopped at the Tremont House, all wish to go through to Washington Street,
and daily complain that they are not allowed to, and also
complain that Boston passengers are carried in their cars to
their exclusionl; that is, that a person wlio is going to the
South End will get into a Brookline car, will take a seat, and
that the Brookline passenger is obliged to stand until the
Boston passenger gets out. On the other hland, the people
who travel in Washington Street say, " Thlere are so many
cars there now that we cannot consent to the Brookline, Jamaica Plain and Egleston Square, Mount Pleasant and
Warren Street lines, &c., going through; if they do, we cannot do our business in the street"  And the Boston passengers who ride in the Brookline and other cars say, " Here is
a car that is going right by our door; we pay the taxes for
having our streets paved and taken care of, and these gentlemen from Brookline and Jamaica Plain go out of town to
avoid taxation. Let them get into town the best way they
can; at any rate, we are entitled to ride in any of these
cars."  I do not say, gentlemen, wlich party is right; I
only mention it to show you that the Metropolitan Railroad
have to meet complaints on both sides.
Again, we have complaints every day from some persons,
because we do not allow smoking on the one platform or the
other; and if anybody does smoke on the platform, we have
complaints from people inside that we ought not to allow it.
We have had testimony from both sides, before committees of
the legislature, on that subject. Some persons cornlain if
the doors or windows of the cars are opened. They say that
they take cold; and the Metropolitan Railroad ought to have
their cars so that people shall not take cold in them. On
the other hand, there is a class who say we must have ventilation in these cars; we will have the doors and windows
open; and both parties will come to the officers of the road
and complain, and say they ought to have a new company
who will accommodate the public. You will find that ladies
will stop a crowded car on the street, and, after they have




101


stopped it, they will stand a minute (a minute is a long time)
to say good-by to some lady friend. Again, a lady who is in
the car will ring the bell to get out, and stop a minute or
two to say good-by to a friend; and some impatient body will
get up and pull the bell to make the car start, and the lady
will be angry and pull the bell again; and the conductor
does not know what to do, because the lady complains if he
don't stop for her to get out, and the rest of the passengers
complain if he waits for her to say good-by.
Some people complain because the cars are so crowded
that they cannot find standing-room; that they are so crowded that they experience all manner of inconvenience  On
tlhe other hand, people complain because the conductor won't
stop a crowded car, and let others get on. No better illustration can I give, than to state what was said by a witness
before a committee of the legislature some years ago, because we have had this matter here for ten years. Mr.
Charles A. Parker, a partner of the firm of A. & A. Lawrence
& Co., came to the legislature and claimed that tlere ought
to l)e a new company to run over the road; and he gave as a
reason that lie came down two or three mornings to take a car,
and it would not stop to let him get in. I asked him, "Was
not the car full?"  " Yes, sir; a fly could not have got on
to it."  " Don't you think the people in the car would have
had a right to say that we ought not to stop the car under
such circumstances?"  "It don't make any difference; I
live in the city of Boston, and I have a right to get into a
car, even if it is crowded, if I want to."  "But if the car
is so loaded that if it stopped to take on another passenger
it cannot start again, don't you think there would be great
complaint?"  "I don't care; then you ought to put on four
horses." I only mention his name as one of the large class
of gentlemen who complain that the cars do not stop for
them. I remember going home one night, and there was a
gentleman waiting on the street, who had two ladies with
him.  There were four horses on the car, it was quite
crowded, and snow was deep, and the conductor did not stop.




102


The gentleman ran after the car, very angry, and declared
that he would report the conductor, and have him turned off
if he did not stop; but the passengers in the car were saying, " Go ahead-don't stop," and the conductor didn't know
what to do to please both parties.
Then there are some people who complain because the
cars go so slow. They say, " You go so slow there is no use
riding in your cars; we can walk faster." Well, to a certain
extent, that is so within a certain distance.  But, on the
other hand, you ask the policemen, the hackmnen, and the
people who drive private carriages, and they tell you that
the cars go so fast that there are accidents all the time, and
there ought to be a city ordinance to prevent their going as
fast as they do. You see that accidents are very likely to
occur in these narrow streets. A car is going down, and a
carriage comes through a cross street, and an accident takes
place; and the railroad has to pay the damage. Wlien one
car is going in one direction and another in another, it
seems to me that the ladies are sure to get out on the wrong
side of the car; and, if an accident happens, the jury will
never consider that the passenger was to blame, and we
always have to pay heavy damages.
These same people say, " Exclude all the cars from Wash.
ington Street;" but the people who ride in the cars say, on
the other hand, "We must go to Washington Street, for
there is where we trade, and there is the business centre,"
and, as Mr. Little says, the people of the Highland district
will not be contented to stop at Boylston Street. Others say,
on the other hand, "No; we are sixty thousand people, to
be carried every day; we are an important element in the
prosperity of the city of Boston; the city of Boston ought to
provide Washington Street for our exclusive use, so that the
cars may be driven through fast, and the people be accommodated."  Bear in mind, gentlemen, I am not saying what is
right; I am only saying what conflicting statements the
Metropolitan Company have to meet, and how these questions are coming up all the time. Some say the fares are




103


too high. Generally it is the richer class who say that; the
poorer people do not complain so much of the fares. On the
other hand, a great many say, " Your fares are too low;
they are so low that every ragamuffin, every Irishwoman with
a basket, every person who has the measles, everybody who
wants to ride, no matter who he is or what he is, can get into your cars. You ought to increase you fares, and let nobody ride who is not well dressed."  Others say, "Have
palace cars, and charge accordingly." Others say, on the
contrary, "No, that won't do; the cars are so crowded now,
that if you should put on cars enough to give every one a
seat, there would not be room enough in the street to convey the passengers."  Others say, still further, " This is a
free country, and there is no reason why one class of persons, by paying one or two cents more, should be entitled to
take up room, to the exclusion of other people. The fare
has been put down to the lowest point, so that every one
may ride, and they are willing to be crowded once in a while,
if necessary."
These are only a few of a great many contradictory suggestions and complaints that are made to the company. It
seems to me that the people expect almost impossibilities
from the railroad company. I think the testimony of our
friend, Mr. Wheelwright, the other night, is a pretty good
illustration of this. Here is a rich gentleman, who lives in
a fine house in the Highlands, with plenty of real estate, and
he comes into Boston to attend the theatre or the opera, with
his family. If he came to the opera, he paid four dollars
apiece for his tickets; if he came to the theatre, he paid
probably a dollar a ticket, for himself and his friends. What
was the complaint he made? It seems he came out of the
theatre and found a car waiting, and he said he rode home
with his family; but the car was crowded, and it was not
well ventilated.  He paid five cents.  If he wanted the
same luxuries for which lie had been paying his dollar, or
four dollars, as the case may have been, why didn't he take
a hack, and pay fifty cents or seventy-five cents or a dollar




104


for a ride?  How can you expect that a railroad company is
going to give you, for five cents, the accommodation that you
have a right to expect, perhaps, if you pay a dollar for a seat?
These are some of the incongruities which you must reconcile the best way you can; and it is not right, I think, to
hold the railroad company alone responsible for these incidental troubles. And a very suggestive fact, Mr. Chairman,
is this: that so many parties have tried, as directors, to manage this Metropolitan road, and have not succeeded any better than those who are now operating it.      I remember when
it was first started: Mr. Harris and Mr. Ober, who had
been in the Board of Aldermen, and some other gentlemen,
tried it for awlile.    They were complained of just as we
are to-day,-a perfect storm    of complaints.    Then Mr. Weld
was sought for and came in, and great things were expected.
He was made president; some other members were put into
the Board of Directors, and they tried it for about two years;
then they went out.      Shortly after came in Mr. Hill, Mr.
Reynolds, and a number of that class of gentlemen.          Then
Mr. Dudley H. Bayley and Oliver Brewster, and that class.
By and by came Mr. Lemuel Shaw, and a certain other class,
and so it went on down to the present time. But few of
them  stayed in more than two or three years.       I will furnish
the committee with a list of the directors from the time the
road was opened, and I ask you to notice the changes.*
* Directors of the Metropolitan Railroad from the Fall of 1856, when the Road was
opened, to 1871-1872.
1856.-John P. Ober, M. Field Fowler, Horatio Harris.
1857.-John P. Ober, John J. Clarke, Charles Carruth, W. R. Carnes, A. W.
Mann, M. Field Fowler, Henry N. Hooper, Horatio Harris, George W. Warren.
1858.-Stephen M. Weld, John P. Ober, George W. Warren, Alden Speare, A. W.
Mann, Lemuel Shaw, Jr., M. Field Fowler, Henry N. Hooper, Horatio Harris.
1859.-S. M. Weld, Henry N. Hooper, George W. Warren, John Flint, W. J. Reynolds, A. G. Greeley, Thomas Upham, Alden Speare, Edward D. Peters.
1860.-S. M. Weld, W. J. Reynolds, John Flint, A. G. Greeley, George W. Warren, William H. Hill, Noah Lincoln, Edward S. Dane, B. W. Thayer.
1861 -B. Poole, W. J. Reynolds, B. W. Thayer, A. G. Greeley, William H. Hill,
Charles Emerson, Noah Lincoln, D H. Bayley, Edward S. Dane.
1862.-E. H. Derby, William H Hill, W. J. Reynolds, John Flint, D. H. Bayley,
Oliver Brewster, James M. Blaney, Lemuel Shaw, Thomas J. Lee.




105
After Mr. Weld withdrew, they sent down for Mr. Poole,
who had manifested so much ability in Essex County railroads, and tried him. He did not stay a great while before
he gave it up.    Then Mr. Derby came in.       He stayed a year
or two, and then went away so sick that he was obliged to
leave the country. Afterward came Mr. Blake, who had
been president of the Middlesex road, and he did not succeed any better.    Then came Mr. Brigham, and he worked
until he killed himself; and then the company put in Mr.
Cumston, who staved      until he died.    I hope our friend Mr.
Draper is reserved for a better fate.
I only mention these facts to show that some of the very
best men we have in Boston have put their brains into the
management of the road, and, after a while, they satisfied
themselves that it was too hard a task for them, and withdrew.    I don't know but these real estate gentlemen from
the Highlands, who have no experience in railroad management, may have more power and more ability to manage a railroad in such a way as to accommodate the people than the gentlemen whose names I have mentioned; but I hardly think it is
so. It seems to me that the attempt to meet these various
complaints lias really been one of the chief troubles.        You
hardly know which party to accommodate and which not;
which one of the different lines you will accommodate, or
1863.-E. H. Derby, Oliver Brewster, William J. Reynolds, William H. Hill,
John Flint, lemuel Shaw, Dudley It. Bayley, John R. Blake, William Brown.
1864.-E. H. Derby, Oliver Brewster, John R. Blake, John H. Blake, William
Hendry, Lemuel Shaw, John Flint, D. H. Bayley, William B. May.
1865.-John HI. Blake, E. H. Ierby, John R. Blake, Oliver Brewster, William
Hendry, William B. May, Charles O. Rogers, Liberty Bigelow, H. P. Cushing.
1866.-E. I). Brigham, John W. Draper, William Hendry, William Gaston, Silas
Potter, Charles O. Rogers, William Cumston, H. P. Cushing, Liberty Bigelow.
1867 and 1868.-E. I). Brigham, J. W. Draper, William Hendry, William Gaston,
Silas Potter, Charles O Rogers, William Cumston, Hi. P. Cushing, Liberty Bigelow.
1869.-William Cumston, J. W. Draper, William Hendry, William Gaston, Silas
Potter, C. O. Rogers, H. P. Cushing, Liberty Bigelow and G. H. Vincent.
1870.-William Cumston, J. W. [)raper, William Hendry, William Gaston, Silas
Potter, II. P. Cushing, Liberty Bigelow, G. H. Vincent, Charles U. Cotting.
1871 and 1872.-John W. Draper, William Hendry, Silas Potter, Liberty Bigelow,
G. H. Vincent, Charles U. Cotting, Harvey Jewell, William T. Hart, Nathan
Cuahing.
14




106


which one of the different classes of complaints you will try
to meet. It has often reminded me of the story of the old
man, his son, and the ass: where the old man started off on
the ass's back, and he met a man, who said to him, " Why
don't you let your son ride? " The old man got off, and put
his son on the beast. Theii another man said, " Why do
you, a little boy, ride, and not your father?"  So they both
got on. Pretty soon another man came along, and he said,
"You are overloading the ass; you ought to carry him."
So they both got off and took up the ass, and you know the
result: they all fell through the bridge together. It seems
to me, that, in attempting to please everybody all around,
you make " confusion worse confounded." Certainly, it is
a very hard thing to reconcile all these complaints.
Now, what do we do? I will not attempt to go into all
the particulars, because the testimony is before you. We
carry, according to the testimony, about two cars and a
half a minute, for eighteen hours in the day, by Temple
Street to the Tremont House, on an average; and, between
the hours of five and seven in the afternoon, we carry nearly
three cars a minute. Well, a person would think that was
pretty good accommodation. Of course, we do not run
three cars a minute to accommodate the people at the Highlands. We have shown you the different lines, and that we
have to accommodate a great many other people than our
friends there. But we carry, as I say, about three cars a
minute by that point. We have increased our passengers
from about four millions the first year to sixteen and a half
millions; and we admit, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, that
that is about all we can do with tlhe present condition of Tremont Street; and, if anybody has the brains to do better
than that, I am inclined to think that the Metropolitan Railroad, if they can make that fact appear, will put them in as
directors, and let them do it.
Then conies the question of the four-horse time, which
always creates trouble. With four-horse time we do not, of
course, carry as many; but we do increase our force, and




107


this year, at any rate, we have added one-third to it, and
have tried to do as well as we could. But we all know that,
whenever there is stormy weather, the people who do not
usually ride crowd into the cars, and they are the people
who do a large portion of the grumbling. Now, I say, Mr.
Chairman, that if we move sixty thousand people a day
through Tremont Street, and give the accommodation of
about three cars a minute during the busiest hours of the
day, I think that answers the question pretty well as to
whether we have any ability or not.
These are the two general charges that are brought against
us,-want of disposition and want of ability. I cannot answer them any better.
The next is a local evil. And what is the local evil? It
is crowded cars But that evil is really confined to some
particular hours of the day; and, if you will observe the
papers of complaints put in by the petitioners, you will see
that more than three-quarters of the complaints come from
parties who ride during those crowded hours. I do not dispute that their cars are sometimes crowded; but I say, in
answer to that, in part, that every one of our lines is equally
crowded. I say, as I said in the opening, and I have proved
it, I think, that other lines, whether of horse cars or omnibuses, are crowded; that, in other cities of the United
States, within those hours of the day, public conveyances,
whether horse cars or steam  cars or ferry boats or omnibuses, are crowded. That is the evil. Now the question
is, Where is the fault? We have brought as good a testimony as we can bring from those who are connected with
other railroads as well as our own. They say they have tried
everything they could to prevent it; but the people themselves, to a great extent, are in fault, because they will get
into crowded cars, even when there are comparatively empty
cars close behind them. Where you are running cars fifteen
minutes apart, you can arrange to run them more frequently;
you can arrange the loading of those cars; but where you
start two or three cars from the Tremont House every min



108


ute, you do not know what particular minute to sandwich in
the car which is to take up the passengers, so that you shall
not have two of them crowded. But, as has been testified
to, if you attempt to carry everybody at the particular moment they want to ride, and give them all seats, you cannot
run your railroad at all. If people are willing to wait, they
may all have seats. If they are not willing to wait, they
must get into crowded cars. That is the experience all
over the United States. The Metropolitan road is no worse
than any of the rest.
Now, in snow time, I will admit that it is a very hard trial
to all the people who ride on the horse cars,-not only to
the people in the Highland district, b)ut to everybody else. It
is a hard trial to every person who lives in the city of Boston, who has no horse railroad accommodations. The man
who has to walk over the hill to Beacon Street, or Mount
Vernon Street, or Charles Street, must wade through the
snow and buffet the storm; and he is apt to complain, does
complain: it is natural he should complain; he has to suffer.
The snow is a providence sent upon us, and we must all
take it as a providence. It is as bad for the railroad as it is
for the passengers. In the first place, as has been testified
to you, this excessive crowding of the cars is a great pecuniary injury to us. It is an injury to our horses and our cars.
We are obliged to leave a large portion of our cars unused,
when, if it was not for the snow, we could use them, and we
break the cars and strain the horses that we do use. Then
we are obliged to clean the streets of snow. We are obliged
to keep on our snow-plougls; we are obliged at very much
expense, to cart this snow all off. We do not ask for the
snow; we thank God when it does not come; and if it does
come, we feel as badly about it as the patrons of our road do.
We mean to try, we do try, with what little brains we have,
to accommodate them.
Now, is there any remedy for it? Tile only remedy that
I know is to keep double the number of horses that we ordinarily keep. Then what is the result? Keeping double the




109


number of horses, we must have very much more real estate,
larger stables, more men to take care of them. Our expenses are not doubled, of course, but they are very largely
increased, and perhaps a winter may come when we do not
have any snow, and then we shall have to keep the horses a
whole year for nothing. Even when the snows do come, as
a rule they do not last more than a few days, although sometimes they last a week or two. Now, would it be wise, would
it be judicious, would prudent people recommend to the Metropolitan Railroad the keeping of a double stock of horses
to meet a contingency that may not occur? I say, no. It
is one of the things which we have to bear, as one of the
evils incident to life, like sickness, or storms, or fires or whatever evil may come upon us. We cannot expect to have
perfect sunshine every day. I do not see any other remedy.
You must take one horn or the other of the dilemma,eitler submit to be crowded at certain hours of the day, or pay
double fares, so as to enable the companies to keep the double
force necessary to provide the accommodations demanded.
That, Mr. Chairman, is the local evil. It is an evil to this
extent: that people do not have all the comforts of riding,
at all hours of the day, that they think they ought to have
for five cents.
Now comes the question of remedy; because, as I said before, if you admit the evil, the next question is the remedy.
If you find the remedy, and will tell it to us, if we do not
adopt that remedy, and apply it with all the force and all the
brains we have, and all the assistance we can get from other.
parties, then take away our charter and give it to either of
the three roads that to-day have the right to lay tracks anywhere in the city of.Boston. For you must bear in mind
that the Board of Aldermen have to-day the right to take up
every single track of the Metropolitan Railroad in the city
of Boston, and give it to the Middlesex road if they choose, or
to the Cambridge road, if they choose, or to the South Boston
road, if they choose,-to either of these three railroads.
Mr. CLARKE.-There will be another pretty soon.




110


Mr. BATES -Perhaps there will; but, as I say, there are
three roads that have the right to run anywhere in the city,
and if you can show us a remedy, and we do not adopt it,
there is no necessity for incorporating another of these evils.
Let one of the three evils that will be left try it, and see if
they can do any better than we do.
Now, what is the remedy that is proposed? It is that
these parties slall enter upon one of our lines, about twotlirds of the way down, leaving something like a mile and a
half for us to run before coming to their station; then go upon
our track about a mile; then build a new road through Shawmut Avenue; then run over our track for say an eighth of a
mile; then build a new road through Eliot Street; then run
over our track down Washington Street, through Temple
Street, and out on Tremont Street to Washington Street, on
our track, say a quarter of a mile. Tlat is their remedy;
and they say tlat they propose to put cars on there for the
accommodation of the Highland district, and to give all parties
a seat,-sandwiching in their cars with our two thousand and
seventy-one cars in the whole eighteen hours of the day.
That is the remedy they propose. Now, if it is a remedy,
would it not be better, after the testimony that has been before the committee, for tlhe legislature to pass an Act requiring the Mctropolitan Railroad to put on the number of cars
that they propose, and run them round over those tracks,
rather tlan incorporate a new company, and have an additional amount of money expended,-because there should be
no waste of money?
This is what they ask. Now, what is our objection to it?
As I stated to you before, the Metropolitan Railroad have no
objection to the laying of a track on streets where will be no
competition with them, if there were any such in the city of
Boston. Now, the answer that the gentlemen always throw
out to us, when we speak of that, is, " Oh, you have got
them all." So we have. And why? As I have told you
before,-without enlarging upon it,-because we could not
run the railroad, and accommodate our patrons, without hav



1ll


ing them. But this road will compete with us, —first, on
the track from the point where they start, at Grove Hall,
down to Dudley Street, both ways, for some mile and a half.
Then, when they come back, they compete with us on the
most profitable part of our line, that is for the passengers
going to South End. It will make very little difference to a
person going to Dover Street whether he goes by a Metropolitan car or a Highland car. We should not care for the
competition if it were not on our tracks. But how will it
work at the corner of Temple Street? There is a fair chance
to start. There is a car coming down Temple Street, and
going to the South End, up Washington Street on our track,
and one going round by tleir track through Temple Street
and Tremont Street. When that car gets on to Tremont
Street, and all the way up to Washington Street, a distance
of a quarter of a mile, more or less, they will have the same
opportunity to pick up passengers going to the South End
that we do. There is every inducement, tllerefore, for what
railroad men call " loafing."  There comes in direct competition. We do not complain that they take away our passengers, because we have enough, as you say, and we admit it.
What we complain of is, that they will have the power of
disorganizing all our arrangements for running our cars;
so that all the people who do not get into their cars are incommoded by them. It is not that they stop to pick up
Highland passengers; that is all right elough; we do not
want them; it is that they pick up our Soutli End passengers. There, I say, is the competition, and there will come
the trouble.
Now, you have heard the testimony with reference to competing roads, and you know (without going into any particulars) that the substantial testimony which has been given
by all those who are conversant with the management of
horse railroads is, that two competing companies cannot use
the same track, except by agreement with each other. It is
bad enough in the case of omnibuses, where they have a
whole street to compete in; but when they are on a con



112


tinued line of track, and one can hold the other back, the
testimony of all those cognizant of the facts, not only in this
city, but in all the cities of the United States where horse
railroads are in operation, is, that it is an impracticable
thing to be done.
To show you how it has worked here: the Metropolitan
Company have bought or leased the Brookline, the West Roxbury, the Dorchester and Roxbury, the Dorchester Avenue,
and the Suffolk, because they found that they could not run
with them in competition. The Middlesex Company have
bought or leased the Malden and Melrose, the Somerville, the
Medford, and the Cliftondale.  The Cambridge Company
have bought or leased the Brighton and Newton, the Waltham and Watertown, the Somerville and Arlington. And
this was done, as was testified generally by Dr. Howe and
others, so as to give accommodation to the people, and because one head was better than two in running a horse railroad.
Without taking up your time further on this point, I will
merely say, that there has been no testimony in this case iup
to the present moment, from any railroad man, that two
competing railroads can run over the same tracks, without
such serious inconvenience to the people; but, on the contrary, the testimony is, that one or the other must succumb.
The remedy that they propose is the introduction of a competing road, -a remedy that, we say, will result either in
their buying the Metropolitan road, or the Metropolitan road
buying them; and that is the experience, as I say, of all the
other roads. But, admitting for the moment, if you please,
that you can get over this difficulty by a competing road,
that some brains can be brought to bear that can manage
it better than all tile brains on horse railroads up to this time,
then comes this other question, Is it right to give to these
Highland gentlemen this almost exclusive privilege? I will
not go over the map with you again; but there, you see, are
some fifteen different lines, all culminating at this one point.
Why should not Dorchester, which is Boston now, and Grove




113


Hall and Forest Hill and Egleston Square and the Tremont
Street line and the Lenox Street line and the Norfolk House
line and the Camden Street line and the Mt. Pleasant line,
and all the other lines, have this, as well as this one selected
circle? Now, I suppose that they carry about 2,000 a day;
call it 3,000, if you please (it is not more than 3,000), that
are carried from this Warren Street station out of tle 45,000
that we carry. Now, why should 3,000, out of the 45,000,
have the right to 1)ecome a corporation, and bring their cars
sufficient to accommodate the 3,000, right into that little
crowded space where we have got to put 45,000, and the South
Boston 15,000? One of the great objections we have to their
even trying the experiment is, that, if they did it, the first
thing we should have would be all these other lines, that we
are obliged to accommodate, coiing to the legislature and
saying:  Now we want a road of our own, and we want to
run over the Metropolitan road."
Now the facts are, as shown by the table I put in to-night,
that we lose money to-day for every single one of those ladies
and gentlemen fromn the Highland station that we bring to
Boston. The average cost per mile run on the Metropolitan
road is 83.666 cents, and the earning of the Warren Street
line is '31.103 cents. That is, we lose onl every mile run
2.563 cents. And bear in mind, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, that what we do make is not made out of them, but it
is made out of the people who get into the cars within the
city of Boston and crowd these people, which they complain
of. If we carried exclusively Highland passengers, we should
lose so much we could hardly pay a dividend on our road.
Our money is made inside of the old city limits, north of the
Roxbury line. It is extending a little farther now as the city
is growing, so that eventually it may reach to the Dudley
Street post-office. Out of the 16,500,000 passengers that are
car.-ied by the Metropolitan Railroad, about 3,000,000 of them
pass the limits; that is 1,500,000 each way, making about
3,000,000 out of the 16,500,000, or less than one-fifth. The
money is made round in this circuit; and when we go much




114


beyond that, we lose money, just as was testified to-day, in
the hearing in reference to a general law, by Mr. Powers and
Mr. Chaffee. The same is true with all outside lines. It is
like our post-office system. The post-office makes its money
between cities; carrying the mails to the country towns, all
over the country, is a very losing job. Some eight or ten
years ago some parties here in Boston and in New York
started to carry letters between Boston and New York for a
cent apiece, when the government was charging six cents,
and they made money; but the United States stepped in riglit
off, and said, "No; we must have what is made between
cities to pay us what we lose outside." So with railroads;
the people that live il the crowded parts of the city are paying the expenses of those who ride from the suburbs; and
this company, if incorporated, could not pay its expenses in
carrying its own people, but only by what it might collect
within this city limit. So I say, this is not a remedy, because
it would interfere with our travel; and then it is not right,
if it is a remedy, because it would be fixing special privileges
to this part over the other outskirts of the city of Boston.
A complete and perfect answer to the wlole question is
this: that the accommodation which we propose to give
them will give them better accommodations than any other
people that ride to-day in the horse-cars. Years ago a petition was made by these very parties, - Mr. Little being one
of the prominent ones, - to build substantially the road we
have built to-day through Albany Street, Harrison Avenue,
Kingston Street and Summer Street. Mr. Little was a very
earnest advocate of it. We told them the streets were so
narrow that the road could not be built, but that, as soon as
we could get them widened, we would build it. We got them
widened this last fall; we spent our $75,000 in the building
of the road, and, with the cars we have to-day, it will come
up to $90,000. We have built that there, not exclusively for
their accommodation, but it is peculiarly for their accommodation, because it is the outlet of their road, and we can run
cars from that point down over Albany Street and Harrison




115


Avenue to Summer Street, which is about as near the centre
as any other portion of the city; and, as there are so few
teams and so little crowding on those streets, we can take
them from five to seven minutes quicker than by the other
route. Then we can do wliat is, I think, with all due deference
to the ladies and gentlemen who complain so much, a great
deal better. While we give them the accommodation, we
can also, by the relief we get on Tremont Street, give to the
South End, who need it more than they do, and some of our
other outskirts, more cars and accommodations than they
now have. The only objection I have heard made to that
street is, that they go through something like an Irish settlement somewhere; but it does not compare with the Irish
settlement that the Jamaica Plain and Brookline passengers
come through, and those cars come through Tremont Street.
The South End people get into those cars that have just come
through this Irish city, whatever it may be; and I think, if
they can ride in those cars, our Highland friends can. At
any rate, they can try it and see how it works. If they are
dissatisfied with our running it, we will lease them the whole
line at any fair price; and if we cannot agree upon a price,
we will leave it to commissioners to be chosen. We will lease
it to them, and let them run it, and try their experiment,
and see if they can furnish seats for all their passengers. We
have got a perfect remedy for these people; we have spent,
as I say, some $80,000 to $90,000 to do it; and just as we
have spent it, in comes their petition, which, if they succeed,
will take away a certain part of the travel that this new road
is specially designed for.
This is all I propose to say on this remedy; but I think,
after the turn which this hearing has taken, it is proper to
say a word or two upon the general remedy (and I will be
very brief upon it) for the want of accommodation on all the
lines that the Metropolitan road runs into the city of Boston.
Before I speak of that, I want to show you how we came to
be located as we are. In 1859 the position of things was
about this: The Metropolitan road was located at the Tre



116


mont House; the Broadway road at Summer Street; the
Middlesex and Suffolk roads were confined to the northern
boundary of the city proper. All were clamorous for an extension to a common centre  The Board of Aldermen considered the matter, almost through the entire summer of 1859,
and appointed a committee with Alderman Clapp as chairman; and the committee went to Philadelphia, Brooklyn and
Washington, and examined the railroads there, and came
hack with a plan  There was a great variety of plans proposed, but eventually this plan was fixed upon: that the
Metropolitan should be extended through Cornhill and Washington Street; the Middlesex, up to Scollay's Building; the
Suffolk, up to Scollay's Building, and that the Broadway
should be allowed to run its cars through Cornhill. On the
last day of December, 1859, the Board of Aldermen passed
these several'locations, with the consent of all the railroads,
as the best way of arranging the plans; and they have run
from that day to the present in tlat way, with this exception:
that from time to time, as the travel increased, the Board of
Aldermen, when they have granted new locations, have excluded. the Metropolitan Road from running all their cars
around the circuit, although they have allowed the South
Boston to do it; and that, since the Suffolk tracks were acquired by the Metropolitan, it has run cars to the ferries and
depots. There has been no trouble, because there was no
competition, although we have had to pay $15,000 for what
was really the fault of the Middlesex road. The Middlesex
ran one of its cars down in front of one of our cars, which
had the right to the road, and in checking our car the pole
struck a man and injured him, so the jury gave him $15,000
damages. There was no legal claim against the Middlesex
road, and no reason why our driver should be discharged, as
it was not his fault; it was not one of those cases of collision
provided for in tlhe rules of tie road. It was the result of
two lines running over the same track, and nothing could be
done about i'. Substantially, however, there.las been no




117
trouble, because there is no competition. That was the position of things in 1859, and that is the way we stand now.
Without taking up the time of the committee further, there
is this evil of crowded streets and crowded travel, and there
are only five remedies occurring to me. The first remedy,
perhaps, is the one suggested by Mr Towne this morning
before the committee. That is, that the city itself should
buy the tracks of the different railroads, and make them a
part of the street, and tlen either run the roads itself or
lease tile right of running cars to individuals, under such
regulations as they shall arrange; and then, as Mr. Towne
knows he could do it if he was mayor, put him in as mayor
and let him try it. That might be one remedy, and so I suggest it.
The second one will be to build underground or overground
railroads, as they are contemplating in New York. I will
not go into particulars, but that is one remedy which occurs
to me.
Tlhe third would be to do as certain parties wish, giving
certain of the streets to the roads to run their cars in,
excluding all other travel from it, so the cars could go in a
circuit and go quite rapidly. There is no difficulty in our
running our cars fast or slow after we get south of Dover
Street; it is in the crowded parts of the city where we cannot do it, and, as we cannot do it there, we cannot do it in the
wide streets above, as they would accumulate in the other
streets. Without going into any argument about the feasibility of the plan, I am suggestilg what might be done.
The next plan is to widen some of the streets. I will not
enlarge upon that. I will only say, that, if we attempted to
get the city to do it, there would be a very strong howl
against us; and, if we did it at our own expense, we should
lhave to raise our fares so high to pay the expense that a call
would be immediately made for a new road.
Then there is another plan, which is to say to people,
Don't be so lazy; you must be willing to have the cars
coming from the outskirts stop at Boylston Street on the one




118


side, and Scollay Square on the other; and you must
walk from there, as people do from Beacon Street and Cedar
Street and Boylston Street and the Back Bay. You must
not expect to have a road from your house to your store door.
The people who use the steam cars all walk from the stations
to their places of business, and you should."  But up to the
present time we have found it impossible to find anybody
who would be contented to allow the cars to stop at those
points. I think that the true plan would be, crowded as Boston is, to have a law or ordinance passed, saying that no car
shall come farther north than Boylston Street, and no car
farther south than Scollay Square; except this, to accommodate the cry that comes up from the depots, that certain
cars may be run from depot to depot, which would be comparatively few, and the parties from other cars who rode in
them should pay a commutation ticket.
Those are the remedies that occur to me as the only reme
dies for this trouble. That matter might be considered very
properly under the powers that are given in the charter to
the Board of Aldermen or the railroad commissioners. It
seems to me, one or the other of those is the tribunal that
the people who have complaints to make slould go to, and
inquire if something cannot be done by them, before they
come to the legislature, especially if they propose what
would be a partial remedy.
I say, in conclusion, that this charter should not be granted; first, because the evils are no greater than on other roads;
second, it would result in disaster to all other travel; third,
it would give peculiar privileges to a special and small section; fourth, we have furnished a better remedy, which will
accommodate them, and, at the same time, give us room to
accommodate all other lines.
CLOSING ARGUMENT FOR PETITIONERS.
MOODY MERRILL, Esq., of the committee of citizens of Boston Highlands, then proceeded to make the closing address
in behalf of the petitioners, as follows:



119
Mr. MERRILL.-Before proceeding to the argument, I would
like to read a letter from the Hon. William Whiting, which
was addressed to me on Saturday evening. I was not aware
that he was in town.  fe was very anxious I should read
the letter, and I will put it in as a part of the argument, or
as evidence, as the committee are pleased to take it.
LETTER FROM HON. WILLIAM WHITING.
"MONTROSE AVENUE, BOSTON HIGHLANDS, Feb. 23, 1872.
"MOODY MERRILL, Esq.:
"DEAR SIR:-I have just learned that the final hearing of the
petitioners for the Highland Street Railway will take place next
Monday. I regret that I must be present at the opening of the
Court of the United States in New York, on Monday morning,
to argue a case in equity before Judge Woodruff, otherwise I
should have taken part in the hearing before the legislative committee. You are aware how earnestly I desire that the petitioners may obtain their charter. That there is an urgent public
necessity for additional street railway facilities, no one can fairly
deny who has witnessed and shared in the sufferings of residents in the southern section of this city, during the past two
years. A feeling, not of dissatisfaction only, but rather of indignation, pervades the great majority of our citizens, caused by
the management and policy of those who now monopolize the
business of transporting them by street cars. You have brought
the facts to the attention of the committee. The people of Boston are not discouraged by the oft-repeated assertion that the
Metropolitan Railroad Company controls the city government
and the legislature, and can and will effectually prevent us from
obtaining a charter for any other conveyance than such as this
corporation may find it profitable to allow. For my part, I cannot believe that the legislature will turn a deaf ear to the honest
demands of the people, who only ask leave to use their own
streets, for their own accommodation, and at their own expense.
Who objects to a demand so reasonable and so just? It is only the
Metropolitan Railroad Company, consisting of a few gentlemen,
who, for the sake of increasing their dividends, desire to secure
a monopoly to compel us to ride in their cars by preventing us
from obtaining other and better means of conveyance. While I




120


filly appreciate the shrewdness and the indomitable energy of
the corporation in beating down and buying off competition, I
still believe that one or more new lines,, built and managed by
the citizens who need and use them, will exert a wholesome and
beneficial influence upon all other competing lines, and will not
prove detrimental to the interests of the Metropolitan Company.
"Let me also say, that the earnest, able and manly efforts made
by yourself to secure to our fellow citizens that which every
fair man, in or out of the State House, must know we are justly
entitled to, meet my most cordial approval.
"I am, dear sir, with most fiiendly regards, truly yours,
" WILLIAM WHITING."
ARGUMENT OF MOODY MERRILL, EsQ.
Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen:-I do not think I can argue
this case as ably for the petitioners as the counsel for the
Metropolitan Railroad Corporation has already done.
The gist of his argument has been a complaint about the
amount of ability which it requires to run their road, and a
complaint of what they have to do and what they have to
endure. He has shown you that president after president
has been obliged to resign, and, at last, the corporation has
grown so large that it kills them off before they have an
opportunity to resign; and although I was not acquainted
with the amiable president of the Metropolitan road until
this hearing commenced, I really have great fears that he
will not have an opportunity to resign, unless he resigns very
soon. I really think it is more dangerous to be president of
the Metropolitan Railroad than it is to drive blooded steeds.
Why, Mr. Chairman, the argument of the counsel goes to
show conclusively, to my mind, that there should be another
corporation, for the sole benefit of the Metropolitan Road.
He shows that it is utterly impossible to manage forty-five
miles of railroad track in the city of Boston. Talk about
the president of the road not having brains enough to manage the Metropolitan road! Why, sir, where can you find a
man that has sufficient brains to manage forty-five miles of
street railway in the city of Boston as it should be managed,




121


to the satisfaction of the people; and, sir, the eminent counsel should have come here and helped the petitioners, instead
of coming here and attempting to beat them back.
His argument, Mr. Chairman, has been very pleasant and
agreeable. He is a gentleman of eminent talents; he is the
best railroad counsel in this Commonwealth; he has the
ability to earn more, in defending railroad corporations, in
one year or in six months, than I could earn in twenty years.
I think, if he had the same ability in managing railways in
their operations through the streets that he has of coming up
here and defending them against the people andbeating back
the people, that the Metropolitan Railroad Corporation might
be managed to the satisfaction of the people.
What do the petitioners for this Highland Railway ask?
They come and ask that they may have a charter for the purpose of operating a railway from a certain point in the Highlands to the city proper, and in asking that they attempt to
show you that they have not now the proper facilities for
transporting them, in the manner in which they ought to be
transported at the present time. They come here and ask
that they may put out their own money, for the purpose of
building a street railway through their own streets, for their
own accommodation. They ask that they may commence
on a point in Warren Street, then down Warren Street at
the side of the Metropolitan line (to which they don't object),
and then through Shawmut Avenue, a street which has recently been extended to Tremont Street, so as to make it
perfectly practical for a street railway. Shawmut Avenue is
the most feasible street in the city of Boston for the accommodation of the citizens of Boston Highlands; and they have
always known that it would be, in case it should be extended.
That time has come; it is about completed to the point on
Tremont Street where we wish to join the Metropolitan.
They do not object particularly to our road coming to that
point. What do they object to? They object to our running on to their track on Tremont Street, and thence to Temple Place, and back again through Washington and Eliot, or
16




122


perhaps Boylston Street, to Shawmut Avenue, and thence
back to the point of beginning. What are the objections
that they raise to our entering upon their track and using it?
It is that the streets are too narrow; that they are blocked
so we cannot possibly go through them with our cars. But
have they brought one syllable of testimony here to show
you that our cars cannot be run to Temple Place, and thence
return? Their whole endeavor has been to show it would
be almost impossible for us to run up to the Tremont House
and unhitch our horses and turn back. The two police officers testified simply to blocks in that section of Tremont
Street, and not in regard to the route where we intend to go.
Then, sir, what objection do they raise? None at all,
except that the Metropolitan Road does not want to see
another corporation chartered for competition. It has been
their policy, since their incorporation, to monopolize all the
streets in the city of Boston. They have devoted their entire
attention for years to monopolizing the streets, and securing
locations for their tracks, instead of giving proper care and
attention to running their cars over the tracks when they
were laid, so as to accommodate the people in even a decent
manner. Then the counsel in his opening admitted that he
could not accommodate our people; he admitted that they
had grievances, but they could not remedy them; he admitted that even with the further accommodation which he holds
out to us as in the future-and how far in the future no one
knows-he says that, with all this additional accommodation,
it will be but temporary. He says that the people of Boston
Highlands are growing so rapidly that they will soon have to
look to other methods of transportation-to steam, he says.
But, sir, we cannot have steam communication from our
section of the city. They have it in the other localities he
has mentioned; they have steam in the vicinity of Mount
Pleasant,-the Hartford and Erie Railroad; they have it in
the vicinity of the Norfolk House,-the Boston and Providence Railroad; and at Forest Hill they have steam facilities also; but here we are in Ward 14, in a very central part




123


of Boston Highlands, where steam is impossible, and impracticable even if it were possible. There was a charter obtained a few years ago, for the purpose of running a steam
railroad from a certain point in Ward 14, round to the Bird
Street station of the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad; but
it never was used, from the simple fact that it was too expensive, and that capitalists would not put their money into it.
That was some five years ago, when land could have been
purchased for fifteen cents a foot, and to-day land has risen
to at least five times that value, and the mere expense for
land damages in building a steam railroad there would be at
least twelve or fifteen hundred thousand dollars. Besides
all that, you would have to grade through about a mile and
a quarter of solid rock, of more or less depth, and you would
have to cut it in a direction entirely adverse to the way the
grain runs,-to use perhaps an improper expression; the
ledge in that part of the city runs nearly north and south,
and digging in that direction is comparatively easy; but in
the other direction it is almost impossible to grade to any
extent. The very little matter of ditching about five or six
rods inl Dale Street, for the purpose of building a sewer the
last summer, took, I should think, something like three
months, at a depth of not more than from three to six feet.
So I say, that it is utterly impracticable for us to attempt to
obtain any steam communication.
Then the result is, that the people of Ward 14, in Boston
Highlands, must rely upon horse railway communication
with the city, and the people from that section of the city say
that they are not properly accommodated, and the corporation say that they cannot accommodate them with their present facilities, and that they cannot long, with the facilities
which they propose. Then what are we to do? Most of
the residents of that section of the city have their places of
business in town, in the city proper, and they must be brought
there, and let me say to you, that the most feasible route for
them, and the only feasible route for them, is the very route
which the petitioners ask.




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Mr. Chairman, I know too well the desire of the managers
of this corporation to obtain that route. They tell you, sir,
that it will not pay. They tell you, sir, that it would not be
long before they would have to buy us up; before, perhaps,
we would be willing to sell out our stock in the proposed
road, and counsel have insinuated that repeatedly during the
hearings. Why have they done it? For the purpose, I
think, of giving the committee the impression that we are
after a charter for the purpose, perhaps, of selling out and
making money, or to make you think that we shall attempt
to build the road, be unsuccessful, and then sell out to them.
But I think the great trouble with them is that they know
the road will pay, as I know it will. I have it from the lips
of some of the best men connected with their own corporation, that know more and better about the running of their
own road and its earnings than the president or the counsel,
that it will be the best paying line of road in the city of Boston, and the president of the road knows too well that the
men that are connected with this project are not here to obtain a charter to sell out; for if they build a road he never
can obtain one dollar of their stock-not for five years to
come-and I don't believe it would be possible for the Metropolitan Railroad to buy up five hundred shares of our
stock in half as many years. The men connected with this
project, Mr. Chairman, are men that mean business, not
play. They are men that have come here and asked of you
the right to build a street railway for the purpose of accommodating themselves, their wives and their children. They
come here and ask for the right to build a street railway for
the purpose of transporting them in and out of the city, in a
comfortable manner; and, when they have obtained such a
right and built such a road, they will not sell out the comfort, or the health, or the lives of their families. They have
had too much experience in that already, Mr. Chairman.
Then the president, the other day, said that all the people of all the territory in the vicinity of Shawmut Avenue
could be accommodated on Tremont and Washington Streets.




125


But was the president, until the other day, ever out so far
on the avenue as we went, in the vicinity of the Sherwin
School-house? Did he ever see, or has he seen, the number
of houses that are shooting up there, and the people that are
moving into them? And has he noted the great increase in
population that must very soon occur in that vicinity? A
school-house was built there, a little over a year ago, and
built so large that the people there and the authorities at the
city hall thought it was going to be large enough to accommodate that section of the city for five or ten years to come,
and supposed that half of the rooms would be empty for at
least three or four years-and what was the result? To-day
every room in this school-house is filled, and they are seeking
to colonize outside. How is it in the upper section of the
ward? A new school-house, built a few years ago, which it
was supposed would accommodate that section of the city
for at least tel years, full to-day, and colonies outside. The
other school-houses in that section of the city have all been
enlarged, and they are seeking to colonize, and the result is
that tlhe board of school committee will ask at the next
meeting that two additional grammar school-houses be built
in that section of the city. Why, according to the figures
of Mr. Morse, one of our witnesses, it shows that the increase
of population has been so great that, for the past three years,
we have needed more than fifty additional trips in case onethird of the people that have moved there in that time, ride
in and out of town-to carry them thirty in a car. Have
they put on fifty additional trips within three years?  And
let me say, that the increase of population in that section
of the city will be more in the next three years than it has
been for the past ten years. Why, the fact is, Mr. Chairman, that the route through Shawmut Avenue is absolutely
necessary, and we must have it, and the only question before
you here is, whether a new corporation shall have it or
this Metropolitan Corporation shall have the right to build
their tracks through it. That is the question you have got
to solve. It won't be one year from this night, if the High



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land Railway charter is defeated, before they will have their
tracks laid through that street. I know it, Mr. Chairman,
and I know that is what they want; and they come here and
very frankly and blandly tell you that they think it would be
very much better for the people that their corporation should
have the right to lay their tracks through there. Well, 1
suppose they know a great deal better what the people want
than the people know themselves. They have always gone
upon that very principle of doing just what they thought
the people wanted, whether the people liked it or not. But
the people like freedom occasionally, and this is not the
first time that the people of Boston Highlands have asked
for freedom from this corporation. This is the third time.
We have failed twice, but we shall not fail the third. [Applause.]
Then, Mr. Chairman, the question, as I said before, is
whether you shall grant a new corporation the right to lay
tracks through that street, or whether you will give that
right to the Metropolitan; and further, the question is
whether the legislature of Massachusetts shall for once
grant the wishes of the people against a powerful corporation
which they have fought for a great many years, or whether
they shall again go empty-handed from the State House.
As to the management of the Metropolitan Railroad, I don't
care whether it is managed well or not. That is not a question for us to settle. I claim that it was not necessary for us
to make out a grievance, in order to obtain the right to lay
a street railway through Shawmut Avenue, upon the principle that competition in everything is the sure protection of
the people. But, Mr. Chairman, I think we have made out
a grievance. The corporation admit it.  Then the only
question is the remedy.  And we say that the remedy
against that evil is a new street railway. But, Mr. Chairman, they have brought in witnesses from other roads, from
Cambridge, to show that the people over in Cambridge are
dissatisfied; that the people over there are unreasonable
beings. But it is no reason, because they are unreasonable




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over there, that we are so out in the Highlands. Mr. Stiles,
the Superintendent of the Union Railway, devoted something like an hour to showing you that the people of Cambridge were only about half civilized; and, according to my
idea of his testimony, I should say that Harvard College
ought to be abolished at once on account of the demoralizing effect upon the people of that city; and, if you were the
committee on education, I should advise the chairman to
offer a bill to-morrow for that purpose. Then the president
of the road, and Dr. Howe, the treasurer, both came here to
show how hard it is to operate street railways and make
them pay any profits or dividends, and how difficult it is to
run two competing lines over one single track. But Dr.
Howe admitted that there was no difficulty where there was
a double track; he didn't think there was any difficulty then.
Why, they have come here and attempted to show you a
great many bugbears against granting our charter.  But
there hasn't one of them been applicable to our case-everything has utterly failed. To my mind, everything that they
have brought in here, in the shape of testimony, has had a
tendency to strengthen our own case. We admit it had,
perhaps, a tendency to divert your mind, just as it would in
case I was being tried here for some misdemeanor, and my
counsel should come in and attempt to show that my brother
was a very nice fellow, and never did anything wrong in the
world, and, by showing you that, to draw your attention
from my rascality and make you forget about me for the time
being. That has been the effect of all their testimony. All
of the Cambridge witnesses testified to nothing else. But it
was very singular that the Union Railway should have been
so very anxious to come in here, and help the Metropolitan
Railroad out of this awful dilemma. But it occurred to me
what, perhaps, was the reason. I don't know but they
might be paying off some old debt. 1 was in the legislature
last year, and I remember that the Union Railway of Cambridge was up here before the legislature, arraigned by the
people; the people were dissatisfied with it; and I know when




128


the bill came into the House, that they got a terrible slaying
there  The bill for a new horse railroad went through like
fire, although the committee reported against it; and when
it came into the Senate it came very near passing there, but
was defeated; and I heard it rumored that it was very unaccountable how it came to be defeated, and it has been intimated to me that possibly the incidental expenses of that
company for last year might possibly show the reason to those
that understood it.
Well, now, Mr. Chairman, they say that they have got a
remedy for our difficulties, and that is the Harrison Avenue
route, a route which they said we applied for three years ago.
We never applied for any such route. We applied for a route
to commence at the old Post-office, and thence run down Dudley Street to Albany Street, thence through Albany Street
to Lincoln Street, and through that street to Summer Street,
and thence through Chauncy Street home. We applied for a
route a great deal better than the one they propose to give us.
In returning, it was to come up through Harrison Avenue and
Winslow Street. But the people of the Highlands were not
anxious for this road. Very few of them believed in the feasibility of it; but the feeling then was that they wanted some
remedy, some competing line with the Metropolitan Railroad,
and this was all that induced them to sign petitions for it.
And, although the committee on railroads reported solidly
against the bill, it was carried through the House, two to one,
and went to the Senate and was defeated; and if you want to
know how it was done, ask our senator who was there at that
time. Why, he said that every senator had half a dozen men
on his back,- that is the expression he used, - and it was
squelched. I assure you, that was a very much better route
than this; it was more feasible than this; and yet now they
say this is our natural route, and this was the very route we
ought to have had. If this is the route that we ought to have,
and ought to have had, why in the name of common sense
did they come up to the legislature and oppose our obtaining
it? Why, the eminent counsel for the road, in his testimony




129


the other day, said there was a route applied for there in
1869, and the legislature defeated it. Well, remonstrances
came in from Summer Street and Chauncy Street, protesting
against the location of tracks there; and one of the best men
that ever sat in the House of Representatives was induced, I
think,-I don't know, but I think he was influenced some by
the Speaker of the House at that time,-to say a word against
the track being laid through Chauncy Street, where he resided. I think it was the first time he opened his lips in the
House, and he got up and said it was utterly impossible to lay
a track through Chauncy Street; that it was. going to be a
business street, and the people there wouldn't submit to it.
Well, what was the result? I think that, in less than a year
from that very time, the Metropolitan Railroad had their
tracks laid through those very streets and their cars running,
and there was no difficulty then-not the slightest. It makes
a very great difference, sometimes, who asks for a thing. Well,
the people of the Highlands said then that they didn't care
for this route; that they only wanted it for competition and to
run through-cars for business men; that ladies did not want
to ride there. And now that there is another and better avenue opened, we most assuredly don't want it, and we ain't
agoing to have it. The most beautiful route that was ever
thrown open for the accommodation of the people of any city
or town is thrown open to us; and if it is in the power of
human influence to obtain it, we are going to have it. We
are not going to use any money. We haven't raised any from
any of our citizens, and we won't. We are here as a citizens'
committee. We have raised no money from them; we have
put out but little ourselves. We don't want to see it back,
but we want to see a charter. We are going to see if the
people can obtain from the legislature, without money, what
too many have said cannot be obtained without money.
[Applause.] I have always said that I did not believe that
money ever was used upon members of the legislature, and I
believe it to-day. No members of the legislature ever derive
any benefit, but money is sometimes paid to their friends.
17




130


Gentlemen of the committee, you may not fear this influence.
But I have been through it, and know all about it.
The CHAIRMAN (smiling.)-I hope that no aspersion is cast
upon this committee by the gentleman.
Mr. Merrill.-Not the slightest. Then, Mr. Chairman, I
think that the legislature of Massachusetts in the year 1872
cannot refuse the people of Boston Highlands the simple
charter for the Highland Railway. I believe that when the
people from any section of the city, or from any section of
any town, show an interest in a case which concerns them,
the legislature is always ready to grant it. As a member of
the legislature for three years, I found it was always safe to
follow the desires of the people of any section of a town or
any section of a city. I always went upon the principle, if
a section of a town came before the legislature and asked for
a division, and they were a unit, that the best thing was to
grant it; because they were sure to win, sooner or later. And
why shouldn't they? If the people come to the legislature
and ask for anything which is for their benefit, and they are
united, why shouldn't they have it?
Then, Mr. Chairman, one word before I come to my conclusion; and that is, that I remember in 1869 there was a very
strong effort made by the Metropolitan Railroad Company to
bring to their bosom the South Boston Company. The South
Boston Company were perfectly willing; both corporations
were united in their desire to come together. But what was
the reason they were not united? It was because forty thousand people from South Boston came up to the legislature to
forbid the banns. That was all the reason; and, sir, at that
time what were their arguments in favor of the union? It
was that the Metropolitan Railroad Company could accommodate the people so much better than a small corporation
could do it. They could carry them much cheaper, and it
would be much better for the people that they should come
into the bosom of the Metropolitan Railroad. But the people,
Mr. Chairman, didn't see it. And what has been the result
ever since? Do you believe that the people there- do you




131


believe that you can find a man, woman or child there, that
has changed his mind since that time? I think not. The
"Boston Daily Advertiser," about the 1st of January, said:"While the whole city is dissatisfied - to use a mild term -
with the want of decent accommodations furnished by the Metropolitan Railroad Company, the residents of South Boston speak
in the highest terms of the regard shown for its patrons by the
South Boston Railroad Company."
This question, finally, may be summed up under four heads:
first, what we have suffered; second, what we ask; third,
the objections urged to the relief we seek; and fourth, the
relief proposed by our adversaries. First, we have shown
you, gentlemen of the committee, that we have suffered under an intolerable oppression. Read our testimony in writing
before you, which has not been answered or gainsaid. The defects and shortcomings of the present mode of transportation
have been fully set before you. They are admitted by the
corporation itself, and they are declared to be inevitable, and
the relief of five additional cars which, we had fondly hoped,
were put on the Warren Street line for our accommodation,
turns out not to have been put on for us, but for the purpose of accommodating Neck passengers, and for the purpose
of exercising their extra horses. They say it is impossible
to do better for us at present, and there is no intention shown
by their testimony of continuing our present accommodations
even. Mr. Draper, the president, tells us that we have no
business on Tremont Street where we now come. Mr. Chaffee and Dr. Howe tried to persuade you that this sort of
complaint which we have brought here is an every-day occurrence with horse railroads. I suppose that people, who
would grumble at the accommodations we get, would complain in the same unreasonable way at having their ears
pulled. Two policemen tell you that funerals come up Winter Street, and that the standing of cars on Tremont Street
near the Tremont House is a terrible obstruction to that
street beyond Winter. But no patron of the Metropolitan




132


Road has come to tell you that ever at any time are the accommodations sufficient. Why, Mr. Chairman, the Metropolitan Railroad Company is worse off than the people of
Sodom and Gomorrah. The Lord promised to spare even
them, if they would find ten righteous. Why, we would spare
them the infliction of the Highland Railway if they could
bring five to testify that their accommodations were satisfactory.  Applause.]  The petitioners' case shows a crying
evil, calling for a remedy, and no syllable of evidence is before you to gainsay it. Every known, manifest and acknowledged evil demands a remedy, and it is the right and the
duty of the legislature to grant it.
Second, we propose the commercial remedy of competition; and it is conceded that, if practicable, this is the best
remedy and a complete one. It is then only in detail that
the Metropolitan corporation and the petitioners are at variance. We ask competition on Warren Street to Dudley
Street, and they raise no' objection. We ask to be allowed
to continue our competing line, as a non-competing line in
fact, to the corner of Shawmut Avenue and Tremont Street,
and to this no objection has been urged. We then stand
here unopposed through our whole route except about a rifle
shot in length, even by these contestants.
Mr. BATES.-You don't understand that we do object
where you run over Warren Street? I distinctly stated that
that was a competing line.
Mr. MERRILL.-Well, I didn't understand that you objected
to it. Mr. Draper said in his testimony that he didn't object
to it. Any way, we propose to have a double track through
there, and we will use your track and you may use ours,
and we will lie down like the lion and the lamb together.
And if you don't want to use our track, we will buy you out;
you may go in peace. But we will never allow you to buy
us; no, never. We are substantially unopposed in our whole
route, except about a rifle-shot in length. The rest of the
route, on which all opposition is concentrated, consists of a
single track on Washington and Tremont Streets, a single




133


track on cross streets connecting the inward with the outward track; and we are told that is impossible. What we
ask is a charter, or power to build and maintain a street
railway in the city of Boston, south of the line of Summer
Street and Park Street, and to this there has been no objection urged, except the very charitable one that we shall lose
money by it, and therefore ought to be saved by the superior
judgment of the legislature, enlightened by the pure motives
of the Metropolitan Railroad. The General Court, Mr.
Chairman, have got some half a century beyond the time of
sumptuary laws and the regulation of the investment of the
capital of its citizens.
So this, then, is no objection. And we ask permission to
apply for a location in our own streets to the proper authorities, namely, the board of aldermen; and to this the Metro-,
politan Railroad Company objects. It is conceded that there
is no difficulty as far as Shawmut Avenue and its junction
with Tremont Street.
It is admitted, both by the counsel and the legal engineer
of the road, Mr. Jewell, that we should do no harm as far as
Boylston Street even. I say legal engineer, because they have
introduced no other engineer, and he acted as the engineer
witness. I don't mean any disrespect  So that Tremont
and Washington Streets, between Temple Place and Boylston
Street, are the only impossibility. And why is that an impossibility? Because they say we should render them impassable. And to prove the present crowded condition, and the
impossibility of maintaining our line over them, they call two
police officers, neither of whom, according to their evidence,
was ever farther south than Winter Street, or even viewed
the end of Temple Place any nearer than the distance at
which the father of the prodigal son recognized his boy as he
returned from filling his belly with the husks of which the 
swine did eat. But these officers testify that the obstruction
at the junction of Tremont Street is caused by the turnouts
of the Metropolitan Railroad at the Granary Burying-ground,
and that no additional obstructions would be caused by any




134


additional number of cars which turn off at Temple Place.
And to corroborate this statement, the affable and elegant
legal engineer casts his eagle eye, in a spirit of prophecy, over
the future, and tells you how Huntington Avenue is to be
filled and built up, and that Columbus Avenue is to be extended, and that in five years the Metropolitan Railroad will
be obliged to put on 150 or 200 cars, to accommodate the
people from that section of the city and carry them to the
business centre. And how is he to get to the business centre?
There is only one way, Mr. Chairman, and that is through
Tremont Street to Temple Place. The Highland travel, in
ten or twelve additional cars, cannot be accommodated, because it would make the streets impassable; but this street,
which will become impassable if ten or twelve cars are put on
now, will be ample to accommodate 150 Metropolitan Railroad cars, to carry the people on the Back Bay lands. If this
does not prove the feasibility of our running to Temple Place
this year, what does it prove, Mr. Chairman? It proves, perhaps, the dog-in-the-manger policy of the Metropolitan Railroad. It proves, perhaps, their obstructive policy. It proves
anything but their case of impossibility. There is, by the
showing of their own witnesses, no real objection to the route
we ask; no real obstacle to be created by the running of our
cars to the point we desire. But there is one other objection
urged by the witnesses imported from over in Cambridge, and
that is, that passengers cannot be profitably carried, seated.
The answer to this is, that, if that be the case, it is a fraud
for any corporation to attempt to seat them. Another answer
is, that a state of discomfort ought not to be imposed upon
an unwilling people, because others are willing to be discommoded. But the best answer of all is Mr. Draper's. After
Mr. Stiles and Dr. Howe and Mr. Chaffee had told their pitiful tale about the profits of horse-railroading - how difficult
it was to pay 9 per cent. on $727,800 of the Cambridge Railroad stock, 8 per cent. on $150,000 to the Cambridge road
for bonds and the rent of the West Cambridge and Somerville roads, and to make 121- per cent. on $200,000 capital in




135


the Union Railway, with all their heavy legal and incidental
expenses, - and had fully demonstrated that, in order to do
this, the platforms must all be crowded, -then Mr. Draper
comes on to the stand and says, that he has ordered six cars
for his own road, without any platforms, and proposes to run
them on his Beacon Street line, as an experiment. Then,
Mr. Chairman, the matter of a road's not paying with seated
passengers is not settled, is it? The new economies of lighter
loads, diminished accidents, less repairs, more honest return
of fares, are all subjects of experiment; but no competing
line must be allowed to solve them, —oh no! The question
has been growing since 1855, when the Metropolitan Corporation was chartered, and it remains unsolved; and the party,
who has failed to solve it in 17 years, now comes and asks to
be allowed to experiment on the solution, and this party alone
-nobody else. What a series of futile objections! Competition confessed to be the true remedy, but impossible! Why?
Because of the crowd in the streets; and not a witness called
to prove the crowd along our route, and none who does not
say that the proposed route would be an actual relief. Competition admitted to be practicable as far as Boylston Street,
and proved by their own witnesses as far as Temple Place;
nothing yet urged, Mr. Chairman, that allows you to refuse
the right to apply for a location as far north as Temple Place.
The objections made are as flimsy as gossamer.
But they say they are going to provide for us the Harrison
Avenue and Albany Street route - a route that is choked at
its northern end, near Summer Street, by commerce, so far
as to be practically impassable in business hours; tracks laid
within five feet of the sidewalk along the front of large warehouses in the jobbing and wholesale trades. To this we say,
what this very corporation said, three years ago, when the
petition for the Highland Railway was before the legislature,
that nobody wants that route. They say to-day, by the mouth
of their president, that they don't want it. They offer to
lease it to us. You have seen, gentlemen of the committee,
the two routes: that one is very desirable, and the other is




136


not. But the president urges that we are a sort of pinchbeck
and nickel-plated aristocracy, who dread to come in contact
with Irish or honest labor. We are willing to meet him on
that. We don't dread the contact with the Irish or the honest
laborer; but, Mr. Chairman, we do dread filth. Our objection to the neighborhood through which that route goes is not
that it is poor, but that it is dirty. We don't object that the
people are not well dressed, but we do object to their vermin.
And we say that we, in our section of the city, are a clean
people, and want to stay clean. And we say that the Metropolitan Railroad interest intend to turn Warren Street into
a second Grub Village. But we have found a way in which
this can be prevented, and it is the only way; and we ask
permission to work out our own deliverance, in our own cars,
over our own streets, at our own cost. Will the Massachusetts legislature stifle the last hope of our people for emancipation, deliver us over to this monopoly, and accede to the
proposition that this company have the sole right to say
through what streets our people shall travel to their places of
business? Year after year the coils of this serpent corporation have been tightening around us, and this is our last hope
- and they know it. Will you, gentlemen, turn us over to
the tender mercies of the Metropolitan Railroad? Will you
declare it to be the policy of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, that a people who want to be clean, and show how
they can continue so, must encounter vermin, because a horse
railroad company says it is their natural route? This, Mr.
Chairman, is the question you are to solve; and rest assured
of the thanks of a grateful people, if you give them competition, a clean route, and liberty to spend their own money for
their own benefit. Forty thousand hearts will thrill with joy
when you report the bill for the Highland Railway.
[Applause.] Forty thousand vqices will say, " God bless you."
Forty thousand hands will clasp yours in friendship and
thanksgiving. But if you refuse the prayer of the petitioners,
the wail of forty thousand people will rise in sorrow and accusation to the heavens. You cannot, gentlemen of the




137
committee, be deaf to our entreaty, or untouched by our
wrongs; and you can not send us away from the State House
without giving us a charter for the Highland Railway.
[Applause.]
The hearing was then declared to be closed.
18




138


PETITION OF MIDDLESEX RAILROAD COMPANY.
FEBRUARY 27, 1872.
The hearing before the Legislative Committee on Horse
Railroads, upon the petition of the Middlesex Railroad Company for leave to exend its road from Scollay Square to
the Roxbury Post-Office, was begun this morning, in the
Green Room, at State House.
LINUS M. CHILD, GEORGE 0. SHATTUCK, and GEORGE PUTNAM, Jr., Esqrs., appeared for the petitioners; and SAMUEL
W. BATES, and HENRY W. MUZZEY, Esqrs., for the Metropolitan Railroad Company, in opposition to the petition.
OPENING ARGUMENT FOR THE PETITIONERS.
LINUS'M. CHILD, Esq., in behalf,of the petitioners, addressed the committee as follows:In presenting this petition to the committee, it is my
desire, in the first place, to say a single word in regard
to the petitioners themselves.  The Middlesex Railroad
Company was originally incorporated in 1854, to run a
street railway from certain portions of Charlestown to the
city of Boston. At subsequent periods, by agreement or
otherwise, they have had the charge of and are running lines
of road to other parts of Middlesex County near Boston.
The petitioners believe that they have conducted their business, heretofore, in a manner satisfactory to the public, and
that they understand and are experienced in the business of
carrying passengers to and fro in horse-cars. They have
accommodated the public better than other railroads in and
around Boston; and have carried the people at less cost and
with greater comfort, as appears by the reports of the Mid



139


diesex Railroad for the ten years last past. The average
number of passengers per round trip that they have transported in their cars, in the last ten years, is thirty-three and
one-third (331), whereas the Metropolitan Railroad has averaged forty passengers per round trip. And no railroad, we
believe, that enters Boston, has averaged less than thirty-seven
passengers per round trip. We have endeavored also to procure a better class of men for conductors and drivers, and have
paid them from twenty-five to fifty cents per day more than
other roads, and thus have added largely to the public accommnodation and comfort. We therefore believe that the
petitioners who present themselves here to-day are reliable
and responsible, and ask for this right honestly and fairly,
so that there can be no claim that this privilege is sought for
any other than the single purpose of doing the public business; and they pledge themselves that they will not, under
any circumstances, sell or transfer to any person or corporation any rights or grants the legislature shall see fit to give
them. The petitioners, therefore, coming to you. in that
spirit, would in the first place call your attention-their patrons-to the public which they accommodate. Tile company
run their cars and control the tracks running from Boston to
Charlestown, Malden, Chelsea, Somerville and Medford.
There are carried, in the course of the year, on these different
lines and from these different towns, over 6,000,000 of passengers to and from Boston. There is no way travel of any
amount. Within the last few years, as the business of Boston has changed in its character, as the places of retail trade,
places of amusement, places of resort, public libraries, and
all these places have been removed farther to the south end
of Boston, there has been a growing desire on the part of
those people who patronize the Middlesex Railroad, that they
should be taken by that line of cars to that part of the city
where nine-tenths of the people desire to go. One great
reason why the company make this petition is, that their
patrons desire it, and they desire it very earnestly.
Some of your committee may remember that, some ten or




140


twelve years ago, the cars of the Middlesex Railroad ran
from Charlestown to Haymarket Square only, and there they
deposited their passengers. After a time there was a growing feeling, on the part of the passengers from Charlestown
and vicinity, that they should be carried farther into the city.
And, therefore, the road was compelled to petition; and
after a great deal of trouble and a great deal of cost, after
being compelled by the city of Boston to pay ten thousand
dollars ($10,000) into the treasury of the city, the company
were enabled to extend their terminus farther into the city.
I need not tell the committee that since that time the change
that has taken place in the places of resort to which people
desire to be carried in the street cars has been very much
greater than it was before, and that the desire on the part of
the citizens of Charlestown and vicinity is that they may be
carried farther into the city. The places of public resort
are very much farther up than Scollay Square. And, although thirteen years ago that might have been a convenient
stopping-place, yet to-day it is not a convenient place for the
six millions of people that pass over these tracks, coming to
the city of Boston.
Now, Mr. Chairman, I will call the attention of the committee towhat the petitioners ask for. In the first place, on
the map, the route that is marked by the blue line is that
proposed by the Middlesex Railroad; and the route on the
right-hand side of the map, which is marked with the red
line, is the present line of the road. [Route indicated by
reference to map.] The Middlesex Railroad desire, as you
will see by the petition, instead of going down Cornhill, to
run up through Tremont Row and Tremont Street to the
junction of Shawmut Avenue and Tremont Street, which
has been recently opened into Tremont Street. They desire
to go up to that place part of the distance on the track of
the Metropolitan Railroad. The first thing that the company desire is to build a track from Scollay Square up opposite the old Granary Burying-ground, there to enter on
the tracks of the Metropolitan road, and use their track




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from there to the junction of Tremont Street and Shawmut
Avenue, a distance of about half a mile only. Then they
desire to go out on Shawmut Avenue to Roxbury, at or near
the Roxbury Post-Office. If the legislature will grant the
petitioners a double track on Shawmut Avenue, which is
feasible, they then ask to go and come on Shawmut Avenue,
and use no portion of the Metropolitan track, except that
portion which runs from the junction of Shawmut Avenue,
and Tremont Street to the Granary Burying-ground. If
that can be granted, they will withdraw aly other location
which they have asked for, and simply ask for a double track
on Shawmut Avenue, upon which they cani go and come.
Shawmut Avenue, which I presume the committee are familiar with, is sixty feet wide through the whole length of itamply wide for a double track. Tile company propose to lay
a piece of new track from Scollay Square to the " Granary
Burying-ground," seven hundred and fifty feet. And that
is the entire length of track proposed to be laid in any street
which anybody can claim would be in any degree an obstruction of any sort. We propose to lay seven hundred and fifty
feet of track from Scollay Square to the Buryilng-ground;
and then all the track that we ask the right to lay is in
Shawmut Avenue.
Now, Mr. Chairman, we believe that this, which we have
asked for, is both practicable and feasible, and that it would
be for the benefit of the city of Boston, as well as the petitioners and their patrons, those people whom they bring from
the easterly end of Middlesex County.
I now would ask the committee's attention to the formation of the city of Boston on the rap which they have before
them, and the manner in which the streets run from one end
of the city to the other. The first thing that is noticeable on the
map is, that the two great avenues that run from the centre
of the city, running from one end of the city to the other, are
Shawmut Avenue, connecting as it does with Tremont Street




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and Washington Street. They run directly, and almost in parallel lines, toward Charlestown, and joining in Charlestown
Street, and continuing thence over the two bridges to
Charlestown. These two avenues, therefore, seem to be the
natural lines of communication between the Highlands of
Boston and the city of Charlestown. Therefore, we think, the
opening of Shawmut Avenue to a line of street-cars furnishes
an avenue which is the nearest and best and most direct for
any person desirous of going from Charlestown to the Highlands, and is one most feasible and practical for a line of
horse cars, in order to accommodate the travel which is
growing every day between the two points.
Then the committee will also see, that there are six great
avenues that run from the suburbs of Boston into the heart
of the city-Tremont Street, Shawmut Avenue, Washington
Street, Harrison Avenue, Albany Street and Federal Street;
every one of which, with the exception of Shawmut Avenue,
is now occupied by the Metropolitan Road. The Metropolitan Road also have a track through Boylston Street, running down to the western part of the city, and a line running
through Berkeley Street up to the South End. So that their
tracks are laid through nearly every possible avenue from the
city to the Highlands. In addition to that, they have a track
through Federal Street, rails laid and cars running through.
So that, of all these great avenues that lead from the centre
of Boston to the southern part, and connecting Boston with
the whole of Norfolk County, the Metropolitan Railroad
occupy every one, with the exception of Shawmut Avenue.
Therefore, when we ask you for Shawmut Avenue in which
to run our tracks, we think we ask that which is feasible,
and which will afford as little discomfort to any body of men
or to any citizen as any that could be indicated, and that it
is the only avenue left that is possible for any railroad to run
on, unless they run over the tracks of the Metropolitan Railroad. The Metropolitan also have a location through Cam



143
bridge Street and Charles Street, by which to join with their
track in Tremont Street. So that there is no other route
from Charlestown to Norfolk County which is not now occupied by the Metropolitan Railroad.
Now, sir, we think, in addition to the needs and the desires
and the oft-repeated requests of the citizens of Charlestown that they may have further and better opportunity to
reach that part of Boston that they desire to go to, that
Boston also needs this accommodation. It is not necessary
for me to go into that question so fully, for the committee
have had so much evidence on that part of the subject
recently, that I shall only touch on it briefly.
In the first place, it seems to be a settled fact that there is
a greater or less difficulty and want of accommodation experienced by persons desiring to go to the south end of Boston
and places beyond; and that, if additional facilities could be
furnished, it would be a relief of the burden of the corporation that now undertakes to carry the passengers, and to
the people, who would then have an easier mode of getting
to and from the centres of business. These avenues, as I
before indicated, are all occupied, with the exception of
Shawmut Avenue. And I do not think any one hardly can
be found who would not say that, if a horse railroad were to
run through Shawmut Avenue, it would be a benefit to the
citizens of Boston. I do not suppose it is necessary for me
to claim here that horse railroads have become a necessity;
that people have come into the habit of relying upon them as
a means of communication between their homes and their
places of business; that it has become the custom for men
to reside at a greater or less distance from their places of
business, and that it is necessary that there should be frequent and easy means of communication.
And if that is true, and if the public demand has become
an exigency, the question then is, Who is to have this privilege?




144


Now, in the first place, who asks for it here to-day? Middlesex County. The whole eastern end of Middlesex County.
You will probably not find a man who does not desire it.
Persons desiring to attend the theatres, lecture halls, places
of amusement, and all places of resort, desire to be carried
there directly by the horse-cars. Then, too, the citizens of
the south part of Boston desire it; and we have here, in aid
of this petition, the petition of some two or three thousand
residents at the south end of Boston, in addition to four or
five thousand from Charlestown and vicinity. These parties request that the Middlesex Railroad, this particular
petitioner, shall have the right to go through Shawmut
Avenue, and have the right to run their cars, and carry
people to and fro between Roxbury Post-Office and Charlestown Neck. We have also the additional fact, that nearly
the whole community of Roxbury Highlands have been here,
and desire additional means of communication with Boston.
We then believe that it is a universal desire that there should
be such a road granted; and we believe that these petitioners can do this better, that they can do it in a more
reliable manner, than any other company. And while one
portion of Boston, the southerly part of Boston, desire this,
the whole easterly end of Middlesex County unanimously
desire it; and we think that that should have some weight
with this committee, in granting this petition. Now, sir, we
believe that the road is desired, and that a large community,
and these different communities desire it, and prefer that
these petitioners should have it rather than anybody else.
And whom have we in opposition to this petition? The
only parties who actually oppose it are the Metropolitan
Railroad. Of course, I cannot tell who may appear here to
oppose this; but, as we are informed and believe, the only
active parties who oppose it are the Metropolitan Railroad.
We believe there are no citizens, or body of citizens, that
will oppose this matter, and we believe that there is no city




145


government that will oppose it. We believe, therefore, that
the question that the committee will be called upon to try,
will be between the petitioners and the Metropolitan Railroad; that that is the principal and main question that they
will be called upon to examine. And I will refer, at this
point, to some of the objections to be offered by the Metropolitan Railroad; the objections which I may anticipate are
three:
1. That the streets through which we have to pass are
some of them too narrow.
2. That we cannot enter upon their tracks and use them.
3. That we shall interfere with their rights.
Now, sir, as to the narrowness of the streets; we claim,
in the first place, that by laying two tracks in Tremont
Street, between Scollay Square and the Granary Buryingground, we shall not add any additional burden to what it
now has to bear. And we believe that it is a correct theory,
and it is one that has been passed upon by other bodies, that,
if a double track is laid in a street, and the travel through
that narrow street is organized so that everybody knows that
they have to go on one side of the street in one way, and on
the other side in another way, there will be no greater blocking, delay or hindrance on Tremont Street at that point than
there is at the present time. And I will call the attention
of the committee to the fact, that this was investigated and a
report made by a committee of the board of aldermen of the
city of Boston, of which Mr Otis Clapp was chairman (City
Doc. No. 58, 1859). I will read only a portion of it:" No means of communication has yet been devised which will
transport so large a number of persons through the streets with
so much ease and so little public inconvenience. The presence
of a railroad track as a fixture in the streets has its disadvantages; it has also its advantages. The very fact of its being a
fixture enables the driver of a carriage to govern himself accordingly; and when a rail is properly constructed, laid and protected by stone blocks, in accordance with the latest experience,
the inconvenience of crossing the track with wheels is greatly
19


I,




146


diminished. It is a well-established fact that crowded streets
with horse railroads in them are less liable to be blocked than
those which have none, for the reason that cars help to keep an
open communication. It is also a well-established fact that there
is no mode of conveyance less liable to accident."
And that is the experience of the men who have examined
the subject, as we can show. What we claim, therefore, is,
that the street is wide enough to allow the passage of any
vehicles that are used in Boston or in any city, and that the
burden to the street there will be little if anything. And we
call the attention of the committee to the fact, that it is only
750 feet of Tremont Street that is to be occupied. There
comes the next question, which the committee have heard
a great deal about, that no two corporations can be operated
and carry on the business of a horse railroad on the same
tracks. That, we know, has been the favorite objection of
horse railroads. It has always been their custom to hold that
up as a bugbear to every committee and every legislature, where
it has been asked that one corporation may have the privilege
of running over another. And I believe I state the facts correctly, when I say, that not in a single instance did it ever frighten the legislature in this or any other State into refusing to
grant a right of that sort; but, where a petition has been persistently and manfully asked for in that manner, it has always
been granted; and when it has been granted, and when it has
been put in operation, there never has been any particular difficulty in operating the two corporations over a single track.
And I would call the attention of the committee to the fact,
that, while this will be one of the principal grounds of objection offered by the Metropolitan Railroad why this petition
should not be granted, the Metropolitan Railroad itself, in
1862, obtained from the legislature a grant of the privilege
of running over every foot of track in the city of Boston
northerly of Scollay's Building, belonging to any horse railroad, including the Cambridge and Middlesex and the Suffolk roads. And not only that, Mr. Chairman, but that they




147


had the further right to run over all the track that should in
future be built and in future be occupied by any road in the
northerly part of the city of Boston, and to operate upon it.
Now, sir, we believe, and we shall be able to show the
committee, that in the city of Boston there are two roads
occupying the same track; that they run over a large extent
of rail, some four or five miles, and that they do a competing
business, and that it is done with the greatest ease and without the slightest difficulty. We can show, from the experience of railroad men, that this thing can be done and has
been done, not only in Boston, but in other places; and that
two corporations doing a competing business do it over the
same track, and without any trouble. That it has been an
obstacle that has been frequently thrown in the way of petitions of this kind, we admit; but we say that it has been
simply an obstacle thrown in the way, and that there is no
practical reason for it, and no practical difficulty of the kind
in the way. And, then, the last ground of opposition which
we anticipate, the other question which you will be called
upon to consider, is the interference with the franchise, the
rights, of the Metropolitan Railroad. It is almost impossible,
however, to drive from the centre of the city to the South
End, or to get to the centre from the South End, without
running on their track, or in streets in which they have a
location. And the question, therefore, narrows itself into
this, whether you are to be deterred from granting any rights
in Boston to any railroad corporation, and whether Boston is
given over utterly and entirely to the corporation of the Metropolitan Railroad.  They have all the avenues except
Shawinut Avenue. So that the question is not whether we
shall interfere with the franchise of the Metropolitan Railroad
Company; for no man can walk into the streets of Boston
without interfering with that. But the question is, whether
the legislature are prepared to say that it is impossible for
but one corporation to run cars in the city of Boston, and
that corporation the Metropolitan Railroad.
Last, but not least, we believe that it is a principle which


I




148


is fully understood, that competition between different lines
of railroads affords the travelling public greater facilities and
greater comfort; and that, if this whole business is to be
given over to one corporation, and its managers are not to
be brought up to their duty by any competition, no laws
which the legislature can pass, and no rules that boards of
aldermen may make, will have the wholesome effect that a
little competition will have. And we claim that for public
purposes this petition should be granted, and that the evidence that we shall bring before you will show-that the
statements which we make are true. That being so, we believe that the committee will recommend that this charter
should be granted.
J. H. HATHORNE stated that he might desire to appear before the committee, a remonstrant, at a subsequent stage of
the hearing, but desired to stand aloof at present.
Messrs. KNAPP and BOWMAN appeared on behalf of citizens of Somerville.
The counsel for petitioners introduced testimony as follows:TESTIMONY OF HON. RICHARD FROTHINGHAM.
To Mr. CHILD.-I have resided in Charlestown about sixty
years; was formerly mayor of the city. I think there is a
general desire, on the part of the citizens of Charlestown, to
have increased facilities and to come farther into Boston. They
are not accommodated now by stopping at Scollay Square;
inasmuch as there is a desire on the part of many of the
inhabitants to attend the lectures and various places of
amusement, and also to visit their friends in the rapidly increasing portions of Boston. The present facilities are not
adequate to their wants. I should say there was a large
number of people who would desire to use the proposed route
through Tremont Street and Shawmut Avenue to the old
Roxbury Post-Office. I do not think the coaches meet the
wants of the people, although they are well conducted. If
ladies get into them in Charlestown, when they get into




149


Boston they are crowded to excess, so that it makes them
very uncomfortable. I believe it is the universal opinion of
the people in Charlestown, that that mode of getting to the
South End is inconvenient. They would prefer horse-cars
with equal facilities.  If people want to go to Summer
Street, I suppose it is easy for them to change cars; but it is
not so desirable as to go for one fare. There is no immediate connection. I believe the Middlesex Railroad has been
managed with success, with a view of accommodating the
public; at least it has been my experience and my family's.
Of course, in the growth of the city, there is a crowding of
the cars, and the business is increasing very rapidly. I
should say that the relation of Charlestown to Boston is the
same as tlat of the South End of Boston to the business
portion. Any one who will stand on the bridges near sundown will be astonished to see the multitudes that cross them.
I am sure I am right in saying, that the cars take but a small
proportion of those going from Boston to Charlestown at the
close of the day.
To Mr. BATES.-I ride in the cars at all hours of the day.
They are crowded in the evening when I have occasion to
travel in them. I should say there was a rapidly-increasing
intercourse between Charlestown and the North End, in consequence of the number of families who are located in these
parts of the city. So far as relates to business, I should say
that the throng comes from the stores and banks. The business of Boston is now substantially north of Boylston Street,
but it is rapidly extending. The fare from Charlestown to
the South End, in the omnibus is five cents. They can go
anywhere within the limits of Boston, in the horse-cars, by
buying a commutation ticket, for nine cents.
TESTIMONY OF JOHN S. DUNLAP.
To Mr. CHILD.-I reside in Newton Street, at the South
End; am connected with the Erie Railroad. I use the cars
every day. My theory is, that a healthy competition is always a good thing for the public. I should say that the




150


Metropolitan Railroad did a very large business. I have no
means of knowing definitely, as I never read any of their
reports particularly. I think a majority of the people at the
South End would be very glad to see another road up there,
because it would have a tendency to cause the Metropolitan
Railroad to behave full as well as they have done. I have
no fault to find with them. At the same time, I think, if
there was a competition by another company, that company
would probably come in there with good cars and drive
promptly with civil drivers: they would be obliged to do
that, in order to compete for a fair share of the business, and
it would have a tendency to cause the Metropolitan to do the
same thing. I slould favor increased facilities between the
South End of Boston and Charlestown and the towns beyond,
as I am somewhat interested at the South End. I have
no question that an increase of facilities would benefit the
South End. I have heard that there are men working at
the Navy Yard who would like to live at the Soutl End; and
I have heard that there are mechanics living at Charlestown,
and working at the South End. Anything that would help
accommodate these parties, of course would be a benefit to
both extremes, Cllarlestown and the South End.
To Mr. BATES.-I believe that the more facilities you get,
the more increase of business you get. I would not like to
have a competing company run over the Erie Railroad, but
I think the public would like it. I think, where you have
two competing lines,-and it applies as well to horse-cars as
to steam-cars,-that each tries to do a little better than the
other. As you know, we have the Pennsylvania Central and
the New York Central to compete with, and I believe that
this competition makes us all feel like doing better. A monopoly I like, if I am in it; but we get kind of careless,
where we have a monopoly. I like a little healthy competition. I do not believe it hurts anybody. I do not believe
that the running of the Middlesex cars to the South End
would hurt the Metropolitan at all.  They would run
through Shawmut Avenue, and some people would take these




151


cars; but it would be merely a bagatelle, comparatively. I
think the Metropolitan Road has done pretty well up to the
South End. I have to take a good many steps on Tremont
Street; but I think, since Colonel Brigham died, they have
tried to serve us pretty well on the Tremont Street line. I
don't know but they could have put on some other cars,
morning and night; but I have always felt that there was
apt to be a good many complaints that were not necessary.
I can see no reason wlhy a joint time-table cannot be made
for the use of two corporations to run over the same track.
I know, in Vermont, we had another railroad running over
part of our track, and there never was any difficulty in it.
If each corporation should instruct its employ6s to bother
the other as much as they could, unquestionably it would be
a bad thing; but if an arrangement should be made, that is,
a right granted, I cannot see why time-tables might not be
arranged so that both slould run without difficulty. I have
had no experience witl horse railroads. I suppose the conductor would have thle power to block the cars behind, if the
matter was left with him; but I take it for granted that a
horse railroad has a time-table as well as steam railways. I
was superintendent of the Rutland Railroad during the competition with the Vermont Central; and I always felt that, if
I could get anything better than the Vermont Central, it was
a feather in my cap, and that it was a benefit to the public.
Fortunately, we had no trouble witl the stockholders. They
did not expect any dividends, and we had nothing to do but
to run the road. The companies are now united, and it has
been made a monopoly. There was competition between the
Camden and Amboy and New Jersey Central, and they
eventually consolidated and controlled the State of New Jersey as a monopoly. My idea is that a double-track road
through a street helps to regulate the travel. And I say
this from experience, as I frequently drive down of an afternoon, and always follow the cars, and I do the same thing
on the other side.
To Mr. JEWELL.-It takes from a quarter to half a min



152


ute to switch on the other track and change horses on the
turnout at tile Granary Burying-ground. There is no way
in which the Metropolitan Railroad can run its Tremont
Street cars without making a shift. If the Middlesex Company were authorized to enter their cars upon the roads so
that two currents of cars would meet each other at that
point, it might cause a detention; I do not know how great;
it is a matter I never have thought of. In four-horse time
it would be still more difficult; there would be a liability to
detention. I should not be in favor of allowing the Middlesex Company to run through there, if it would impair the
ability of the Metropolitan Road to accommodate the South
End.
To the CHAIRMAN.-I cannot see that there would be any
trouble in managing a horse railroad in the city of Boston,
because, I take it, if two corporations are to run over the
same track, an arrangement for a joint time table should be
made. I should rather not say whether I could accommodate the people, if I had the entire direction of the Metropolitan Railroad, better than they are now accommodated.
To Mr. SHATTUCK.-The South Boston cars run over the
Metropolitan tracks, and I understand that, in New York,
four or five roads run over the same tracks, and that in the
most crowded streets.
To the CHAIRMAN.-I am sorry you have asked me whether
the Metropolitan Road does not run nice and clean cars. The
Lenox Street cars are beautiful cars, kept nice and clean,
and I always go for them. What we call the " Crossing
cars," the Jamaica Plain cars and the Brookline cars, I
should say, could be improved. I feel that we are a pretty
clever set of people up there, and that the Metropolitan have
taken pretty good care of us. But we have had complaints
up there. Everybody will complain.
To Mr. BATES.-The cars I speak of go through the Irish
settlement. You will very easily tell what locality they pass
through, by getting into one. My impression is that the
Washington Street are the same as the Lenox.




153


To the CHAIRMAN.-I think the Metropolitan have a pretty
gentlemanly set of conductors. In saying what I do, I would
not have it understood that I am finding any fault, because
I know how hard it is to control such things. I had occasion this morning to speak to one of the conductors, because
the driver did not stop for me; being lame, I do not chase
the cars much. I said to the conductor, who has been on
the line six or eight years, and is gentlemanly and polite,
"You must learn your driver to stop for me."  Says he,
" Mr. Dunlap, I have talked to the driver about that, but I
have no control over him." If I was the superintendent, I
would make the conductor report that, and I would take the
driver's head off the first thing, and I would do that thing
fifteen, or twenty-five, or forty times, and see if it could not
be stopped. But then I know how it is, because I have
heard the complaints of people on our own' roads.
To Mr. SHATTUCK.-I have a theory of my own about all
these matters. I believe a good deal depends on the manager of the road, whether he is a disciplinarian, and whether
he holds his employ4s right square up to the mark. You
may see this on all the roads in the country. In some cases
you may see a brakeman walk through a car with a pipe in
his mouth, and sit down in the car with a lady or anybody
else; but go on a well-managed road, and you find the brakemen where they belong. I believe that depends, in a great
measure, on how the thing is managed. But, to answer
your question directly, I know that it would improve the
civility of conductors and drivers, and add to the public accommodation, if one of these avenues running to the South
End was occupied by a road that would incidentally compete
with the Metropolitan. That is common sense.
TESTIMONY OF LIVERUS HULL.
To Mr. CHILD.-I have resided in Charlestown some
twenty years, and am acquainted with the business wants of
the citizens of Charlestown, to a greater or less extent. I
have been mayor of Charlestown. I think there is an in20




154


creasing desire, on the part of the citizens of Charlestown
and the towns adjacent, that the horse railroad communication between those cities and Boston should be extended
into the city. One of the reasons is, that it would be a great
convenience to the ladies. The most of their trade is on
Summer Street, and that vicinity, and they are obliged to
walk from Scollay Square to that portion of the city. I suppose seven-eighths of the ladies in Charlestown do their trading in Boston. There is a great deal of social intercourse
between the South End and Charlestown. A great many
people have moved from Charlestown to the South End of
Boston. I think a road through Shawmut Avenue, to the
Highlands and Roxbury, would be a great accommodation to
the citizens of Charlestown and vicinity, and would give
them great satisfaction. I use the Middlesex Horse Railroad cars, and think the accommodation they afford is as
satisfactory as any railroad. There is very little complaint.
I think the proposed route is as desirable as any that could
be obtained.
TESTIMONY OF CALVIN A. RICHARDS.
To Mr. CHILD.-I am an old citizen of Boston; was on
the board of aldermen in 1860 or 1861; I have examined
the proposed route of the Middlesex Railroad here this morning-the map, I mean; so far as I have heard any expression by my neighbors and associates at the South End, they
are decidedly in favor of it, as providing extra accommodation. Mytown reasons would be, as a real estate owner of
that section of the city, I should desire to see Charlestown
connected with that section of the city. I believe we are entitled to good accommodation northerly as much as we are
southerly, and should run as far as we can each way to connect that growing portion of the city. The only communication we have directly with Charlestown is by Hathorne's
coaches. I should say there was considerable call for a line
of commuuication of some sort; I don't pretend to give
much beyond my own opinion. If such a line was estab



155


lished, there would undoubtedly be considerable business
developed between the two places. I think there is considerable business between the South End and the navy yard
and manufactories in Charlestown. We have a great many
large manufactories at the South End; there is quite an extensive business there-a business that is unknown to a
great many, until they examine into it. They desire communication with Charlestown, as a great many of them live
there. I let houses now to people who formerly lived there,
who said they would like to live there, but their accommodations were such they could not get here in the morning,
and had to move away. Then the additional expense would
make a difference. This proposed extension of the Middlesex Road would help the communication between the South
End and the business part of tile city. Of course, a line of
horse-cars which everybody likes, running directly from one
point to another, always makes accommodation.
To Mr. SHATTUCK.-I know nothing of conducting or
managing a horse railroad. I have ridden for twenty years,
I think. I was almost the first passenger on the Metropolitan Road. I have seen them grow with the growth of
our city. I have seen them endeavor to meet difficulties
which came from natural causes, and many ditficulties which
came, perhaps, from imaginary causes. I have that general
idea in my mind that every business man has, that any
business, of whatever name, is benefited by a competition. I
remember that, when this location in Tremont Street and
Washington Street, below Boylston Street, was granted,
there was a clause inserted in the grant reserving the right
to the aldermen to permit the Middlesex Company, or any
otheP horse railroad company, to run over the tracks so
located; I remember that the coaches (prior to the building
of the railroads) that ran to Charlestown, went up to Dover
Street; I have the general impression that, when this location
was granted to the Metropolitan Road, it was anticipated that
the Charlestown cars would ultimately run farther up towards
the South End, and that the Metropolitan Road took this




156
location, with the understanding that that might be done at
some future time; but, of course, I am not under oath, and
could not swear to it; it was a long time ago-twelve years
ago.
Mr. SHATTUCK.-I should like to call attention to the
report of a commission consisting of Isaac F. Redfield, Daniel L. Richardson and Henry W. Fuller, made in 1862, on
the question what damages the Metropolitan Railroad Company should have from the South Boston Railroad Company
for the use of this track, extending from Boylston Street
round through Tremont Street and back up Washington
Street to Boylston Street; I want to show what these commissioners said this track was built for, and how the Metropolitan Railroad hold it. I put it in as the opinion of the
commissioners, which was reported to the supreme court,
and no exception was ever taken to it; and therefore it may
be considered as an adjudication, I suppose. Speaking of
this part of the road, which is the part between Boylston
Street and Cornhill, on Tremont Street, and also on Washington Street-the part which we ask to use, and some besides-the commissioners say: "As the circuit in question
seems to be the natural outlet of a considerable number of
horse railroads centering in Boston, and the use of it seems
necessary to enable such companies to accomplish satisfactorily the proper business for which they were incorporated,
the commissioners regarded it more in the nature of an
investment for the common benefit of all those companies
than in ordinary cases." That is their opinion, which was
referred to the court. About three years before this, this
location had been granted with the express proviso that the
board of aldermen reserved the right to permit the lAdlesex Railroad Company, or any other horse railway company,
to run cars over that track so located by virtue of its order,
for such compensation as might be determined. Our point
is, that the Metropolitan Railroad has no right to come here,
and on its own account object to the use of these tracks by
any other railroad that the authorities of the city might see




157
fit to authorize, because, when they took the location, they
took it with the understanding that the other roads should
run over it, if it was thought proper.
To Mr. BATES.-I was not on the committee of the board
of aldermen in 1859, appointed to investigate this subject.
Mr. BATES.-Mr. Clapp was the chairman, and they went
to the various cities. They reported this location and four
others, substantially that there should be some method of
these roads coming together. One of the points was, whether
they should all run round over the tracks, or whether they
should come together at one given point, and commute. The
committee recommended that they should come to a given
point and commute at Scollay's Building; and, therefore,
they granted the Metropolitan the right to extend its tracks
from the Tremont House round by Cornhill and through
Washington Street to Essex, the board of aldermen reserving
the right to allow any other of these roads, if they afterwards changed their minds, to run over that track. They
extended the tracks of the Middlesex up Cornhill, round by
Scollay's Building, and allowed it to run over the tracks of
the Metropolitan Road down Cornhill. They extended the
Suffolk in the same manner up Cornhill, round by Scollay's
Building, and allowed it to run over the tracks of the Metropolitan road, down Cornhill; and gave to the Broadway
Road, which could by no other means get to Scollay's Building, the right to extend its track. First, they extended it
through Winter Street; but there was opposition to it, and
they withdrew it, and then came into Beach Street, and the
city gave them the right to extend their tracks up to this
given point-Scollay's Building-and connect from  there.
That is the plan that was decided upon; and finally, the last
day of the session, December 31, 1859, the four locations
were granted to these various roads, and that is what the
city settled upon, as an experiment.
WITNESS.-As near as I recollect it, that is the fact. There
was a long debate, and great difficulty about it; but the




158
roads all agreed to it finally. The roads acquiesced, and the
locations, as agreed upon, went through unanimously.
Mr. SHATTUCK.-I have here the report of that committee
(City Document, No. 58, of 1859). The subsequent history
is very interesting. The arrangement contemplated in 1859
was, that the roads should meet at Scollay's Building, and
that there they should interchange passengers. Of course,
that gave the Middlesex the North End railroad stations, the
Fitchburg, Lowell, Boston and Maine, and all the Charlestown travel, and gave rise to this commutation law. This
report is called the report of the committee on the meeting
of the horse railroads at a central point in the city of Boston.
Observe that this was in 1859, and that was the arrangement made. But in 1862, less than thie years after, the
Metropolitan Road comes before the legislature, and gets authority to run over the Middlesex tracks down to the North
End, and the Suffolk tracks and Broadway tracks. and Cambridge tracks. That is chapter 175, Acts of 1862. The
Middlesex, up to this time, has never been allowed to deviate from that arrangement, made in 18,59; but the Metropolitan has utterly disregarded it, and has had authority to run
to the North End over our tracks. We ask, substantially,
that the same privilege that was given to the Metropolitan
Road in 1862 should be given to the Middlesex at this time.
Mr. BATES.-This assertion, I think, ought to be met here.
The Metropolitan Road did not come to the legislature and
ask any such thing; but, as I have explained to the committee before, the Suffolk made no money by this arrangement,
and they went to work to break this up, and they came to
the legislature year after year. The Middlesex opposed them
and the Metropolitan opposed them; but they finally got a
bill, and then they got a compromise bill. That is my statement. Mr. Shattuck has made his. We will put in proof
of our statement.
Mr. SHATTUCK.-All I mean to say is, that the Metropolitan Road, from that time to this, has been running over our
track, under this legislation.




159


Mr. BATES.-No, under an agreement with the Middlesex
Road and with the others.
Mr. SHATTUCK.-No agreement whatever.    They had a
right to do it.                          o
To the CHAIRMAN.-I think a line of cars running through
that particular street, would take the travel of that street,
which is very large  Then I think tlere is a difference between a fare of five and a fare of six cents, in the minds of a
great many ienl. The Middlesex Road tell me they are
going to run from one terminus to the other for five cents.
I know that there is a great deal of dissatisfaction that this
road has never taken off the cent extra tax that they put on.
It seems a small matter, but it is a consideration with a great
many poor people. There has been a great deal of complaint
against the Metropolitan Railroad, in regard to their management, when there are snow-storms. I am  not one of
those who complain; but tlere is complaint, and this, coming in connection with the Highland Road, has given the
people a hope that we slall have a change, and that benefits
will grow out of it. There is a tremendous growth in that
section of the city, and the corporation must grow with it, or
there will be this trouble all the time. I think if one corporation demands all the streets, and grasps at everything, they
will meet that growth as they see fit. I think if another one
comes in, competition will come in, and benefit arise from it.
That, I believe, is the feeling of the people who are more
interested than I am in the South End. I never have thought
the Metropolitan Road would be deprived of any dividends, on
account of the extension of the Middlesex Road. I think
they have got a splendid business and a splendid road. I
think it is one of the grandest charters there is to-day; and I
believe their gains, with proper management, would be sufficient to satisly the stockholders. I know the granting of
this request on tile part of the Middlesex Road would gratify
the people of the South End. I own property on Shawmut
Avenue, considerable of it. I think I have a right to appear
here to-day, and object to a track or favor it, as a real estate




160


owner, and I think I have a right to express my opinion. I
have not come here to vilify the road which has been the
making of my property, or the gentlemen connected with it,
who are my personal friends, and who, I believe, are doing
the best thing they can; but, in a business point of view, if
I was a director or stockholder in the Metropolitan Road,
which I am not, I should not be afraid of this thing at all.
I think, if it will make the South End grow, and draw from
Charlestown to it, there must be benefit from it. I do not
know of any real estate owner on Shawmut Avenue who objects to a track there. That has gone by, I think. I think
a track running by a piece of property adds to its value.
The street is wide enough for two tracks. There is not that
business on it that there is on other avenues.
To Mr. SHATTUCK.-I don't believe there are any residents
on Shawmut Avenue who would not like to have a horse
railroad there.
Adjourned to Thursday, March 7.
MARCH 7.
The hearing was resumed at the green room on Thursday,
March 7, at 101 o'clock, A. M.
TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM S. BARBOUR, CIVIL ENGINEER.
[The witness exhibited a map of Tremont Street, between
Scollay Square and the terminus of the Tremont-Street line
of the Metropolitan Railroad, opposite their office, and
explained the same to the committee.]
To the CHAIRMAN -The distance from the point of connection with the track of the Metropolitan Road in Scollay
Square, to the end of the double track opposite Montgomery
Place, is 750 feet.
To Mr. CHILD.-The width of Tremont Street at the
narrowest point (full width between curbstones) is 29.6 feet,
opposite the Albion; and at the widest point, opposite the
Metropolitan Railroad office, is 34.6 feet.




161


To the CHAIRMAN.-Opposite Bromfield Street it is 38
feet; at Hamilton Place, 40.1 feet; at Winter Street, 42
feet; at Temple Place, 39.9 feet; at West Street, 40.7. Two
hundred and thirty-one feet south of West Street, it is 34.2
feet.
To Mr. CHILD.-At the narrowest place, opposite the
Albion, the width between the curbstone and track is 7.7
feet; between the tracks, 4 feet; from outside to outside of
track, 5.1 feet. The distance from the termini of the Metropolitan track, opposite their depot, to where the Middlesex
propose entering Shawmut Avenue, is 3,100 feet; and from
thence to Washington Street near the old Roxbury Postoffice, is 9,963 feet.
To Mr. BATES.-Tlle Metropolitan track is not to be
touched, except in crossing, in turning back into Shawmut
Avenue.
To the CHAIRMAN.-Have had considerable experience in
surveying, ol the streets of Boston, as engineer of nearly all
the railroads; and consider this proposed route as favorable
as any I know, so far as obstruction of streets by cars and
vehicles is concerned.
To Mr. CHILD.-There is a place in Guild Row, Roxbury,
which compares favorably with this as to width; also a similar place in Union Street, where the narrowest point is 31
feet in width. One place in Dock Square is 21 feet in width,
where the Middlesex track runs.
TESTIMONY OF CHARLES E. POWERS, Esq.
To Mr. SHATTUCK.-Am president of the Middlesex Railroad Company. Have been connected with horse railroads
since 1860; as director until within four years; as president
since. Have investigated the management of horse railroads
in Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Brooklyn for some
ten years, and in other cities more or less. In my judgment,
the proper accommodation of the public requires most certainly that the track of the Middlesex Road should be extended to the South End. The general retail business of
21




162


the city, as well as the public halls and places of amusement,
have gradually, and are still gradually, working toward the
southerly part of the city. At the time the tracks were
located around Scollay's Building, that was considered the
central point, to about which point nine-tenths of the people
desired to come; and at that time there were only dwellinghouses on West and Winter Streets, and but one or two
stores on Summer Street. There are not now, as then, public halls and places of amusement north of Scollay Square,
on the line of the Middlesex Road, excepting the Howard
Athenaeum. The stores where ladies naturally go to purchase dresses and do shopping are now in Summer and Winter Streets, and beyond. There is, as I know from personal
knowledge as a resident at the South End, an intimate
relation between that part of the city and Charlestown.
There has been a constant and growing complaint on the
part of the patrons of the Middlesex Road, desiring further
accommodations toward the Soutl End; particularly from
passengers from the Boston and Maine depot, from which the
distance to Scollay Square is but four or five minutes' walk.
The commutation system, inaugurated eight or nine years
ago, is practically a failure. The companies found the comparative amount of commutation business very slight indeed.
Taking all the railroads together, it does not amount probably to five per cent. As to the commutation witl the Metropolitan by the Middlesex, it probably would not average
seventy-five passengers during the day, out of twelve or
thirteen thousand. Appeals for furtler facilities for intercommunication are being made almost continually; there is
constant complaint. Have endeavored many times, during
six or seven years past, and up to within six months, to
secure by negotiation a right to run our cars to the South
End, and had a number of interviews with the officers of the
Metropolitan Road for that purpose, and been led to it in
consequence of the pressure made upon us to run to the
South End. In 1864 there was a petition before the legislature by several parties for incorporation, with a view of




163


doing business between the South End and Charlestown.
A remonstrance was made, more particularly by the Metropolitan Railroad. We stated then that, if there was a general want of intercommunication between these two sections,
we held ourselves in readiness to run our cars through. An
arrangement was made soon after.
[LIr. SHATTUCK at this point read to the committee an extract from Senate Document No. 4, of 1864, being from a
remonstrance of the Metropolitan and Middlesex Railroads,
in which the remonstrants state that, if there is a demand
for other lines from Roxbury to Charlestown Neck, they
deem it wiser and better for the public, and fairer for the
roads themselves, to see whether the two remonstrants cannot enter into some mutual arrangement with a view of doing
the business without change of cars, and thus avoid the
necessity of creating another corporation, with a capital of
$500,000 for the purpose; and further stating that, if there
be any such demand for such an arrangement, the existing
roads have greater facilities for meeting it than a new company could have, and it is their business to furnish such
facilities as the public do demand and will pay for.
Mr PowERs then resumed his testimony.]
To Mr. SHATTUCK.-About two years after that remonstrance, the two corporations made an arrangement by which
the line of the Metropolitan was extended to Charlestown
Neck. The arrangement was abandoned in about a year, to the
mutual satisfaction of both parties, for the reason that great
complaint was made by Charlestown people of the delay
made, even with full cars, opposite the Fitchburg, Eastern
and Lowell depots, being generally three and sometimes five
minutes at one depot, and the conductors hanging about the
depots. This resulted in running down the receipts of the
Main Street line forty to fifty per cent. below what they had
been and were immediately after the abandonment of the
arrangement. The cost of going from Charlestown to Rox
bury Post-office is nine cents by commutation; otherwise,
eleven. If the Middlesex road should have this additional,1




164


line, they would not charge over five cents certainly, and the
probabilities are that the line could be run cheaper still.
The effect of running a long line in that way would very
naturally be to reduce the cost of transportation. There
would be constant changes of passengers, which no company
gets now on a short line, being obliged always to go one way
empty. The most profitable line of the Metropolitan Road is
undoubtedly its depot line. There is not the slightest doubt
that it will be ultimately practical to carry passengers on the
proposed line for less thani five cents. Much better accommodations could be furnished, because the company could
run more cars, and they would become uniformly filled with
passengers. There would doubtless be no less than five sets
of passengers in the run from Charlestown Neck and back.
The natural effect would be, as has been proved on other
roads, greater uniformity of travel. Tlhe Third Avenue
Railroad in New York city, one of the largest corporations,
and perhaps the largest, in the country, load their cars less
than any other company. One is rarely obliged to stand, in
riding in their cars. As a general thing, the more dense
and compact the business of a horse railway is, the greater
the economy with which it can be operated. In other cities
than Boston, the street railways are almost invariably confined to one avenue, where the avenues are sufficiently wide
for a double track; where they are not wide enough to allow
a vehicle to pass on each side of a double track, they go
down one avenue and back on another. In Philadelphia,
where the streets are very narrow, there are seventeen or
eighteen railway companies; in New York, eleven or twelve;
in Brooklyn, about a dozen. As a general thing, there are
in these cities no street railways running over four or five
different avenues, as the Metropolitan now does. In New
York city, where several different roads are found running
on parallel avenues, if one road fails to come up to the standard of efficiency and the character of its cars and conductors,
the effect is that passengers seek other avenues. The Sixth
Avenue Railroad was an instance, being suffered to run down




165


from mismanagement, having formerly been one ot the bestpaying roads in New York. The people sought other lines. It
was then taken control of by its present president, the track
newly ironed, new cars put on and new equipment; and in the
course of a year or two the travel all came back, and now passengers from parallel avenues seek this, and the road has become
the most successfully operated in New York. Invariably, the
road that has the best cars and conductors and most efficient
managers gets the most passengers. The people who walk
over the bridges between Charlestown and the city, every day,
are more, I should judge, than those who ride in the cars of
the company; and I should say twice as many walk, between
Dover Street and Boylston or Washington and Tremont, as
are carried in the Metropolitan cars through these streets.
Good management will certainly make business; and a
decrease of fares makes a great deal of -difference. If there
were two or more roads to the south end of Boston, I do not
know that I should recommend their operating upon the
same track; but if there were two companies, there would
certainly be a desire on the part of each to outdo, if possible,
the other, with a view of inducing travel to its own line.
The result would be to improve the accommodation to the
public, and benefit the roads themselves. And, not regarding it in the light of competition, there is a great deal more
business there now than the Metropolitan can do in their line
of cars. I am satisfied in my own mind that, sooner or later,
there will be other companies doing business to the South
End, and it would be to the advantage of the Metropolitan
Road to have other companies. It would satisfy the public,
instead of having the constant wrangle that is had before the
legislature, and has been had since the Metropolitan and
other roads were incorporated. The desire of the Metropolitan to monopolize and procure locations through all the
streets they could, with a view of heading off other companies, has not only resulted in an injury to the corporation,
but having so many lines has made a great expense, and the
receipts have not been commensurate with the expenses.
4:
A
ft:~




166


Had that company confined itself to its original location in
Washington and Tremont Streets, it would probably have
been better able, at this time, to pay, instead of ten per cent.,
twenty or thirty. The Cambridge road was better operated
before it was spread out on three or four avenues. The
business of horse railways involves a multitude of little details. If they are confined to one avenue, or two at most,
the business can be looked after more closely. It is true that
it was formerly supposed by the best railroad men that there
were practical difficulties in the way of running the cars and
horses of competing lines over the same track; but, within
the last ten years, it has become almost the universal custom
to do it in New York and Philadelphia, and to a great extent
in Boston. In Boston, now, there is not a corporation operating with its horses and cars, which does not use the track
of other companies in making its circuit. In Philadelphia
this is done to a great extent, cars being run over the track
of another road, distances of from seven or eight hundred
feet to over six miles. There was a heated contest on the
subject, ten or twelve years ago, before the Pennsylvania legislature, and a desperate opposition on the part of the companies, but the legislature authorized permission in almost
every instance; and it has been found to work well, tle cars
being run in entire harmony, and one result being that they
are run more regularly.
Mr. SHATTUCK said lie should like, as showing the progress
and the change of views on this subject, to read the affidavit
of WILLIAM WHARTON, Jr., taken March 10,1862, which was
put in the other day by the counsel for the Metropolitan
Road, in the hearing upon the petition for the Highland Railway, as follows:AFFIDAVIT OF WILLIAM WHARTON, Jr.
" PHILADELPHIA, March 10, 1862.
"E H. DERBY, Esq., President Metropolitan Railroad Company, Boston.
" DEAR SIR:-I have your letter of the 8th instant, and in
reply will state that, being from the nature of my business




167
well acquainted with the practical operation of horse railways ill Philadelphia and other cities, I have had ample opportunity to notice tle difficulty, in fact almost the impossibility, of two city railway companies running their cars upon
the same track without detriment to the accommodation of
tlle public as well as injury to their own interests. This
arises from the rivalry naturally existing between the compalies, extending, of course, to tile conductors and drivers,
who seek by all means to obtain all the passengers for their
own particular line, to the exclusion of the other. Irregular running and violatiolls of thle time-table are of daily,
almost hourly, occurrence; and however stringent in this
particular the rules adopted by the companies may be, they
cannot be carried out in practice.
" This ill-feeling, in many cases, causes not only inconvenience and delay to passengers, but actually endangers tleir
safety; for instance, when cars of the different lines approacl at nearly the same time to the point of intersection,
the drivers often try to ' cut eacli other out,' knowing that
the car which is aliead will have a much better chance to
pick up passengers. Therefore, each one will whip up his
horses and by tleir recklessness a collision is imminent.
"When on thle main route, the car which is aliead will probably lag belind tlie proper running time, and so obtain passengers which rightfully should be carried by thle other one,
the driver of which, feeling imposed upon, will keep so close
up as to render it dangerous for passengers to be upon the
platform of the first car, or to get on or off the car, except
at the risk of being hit by the pole or knocked down by the
horses.
" Sometimes to such an extent has this been carried that
personal assaults between conductors or drivers, while upon
duty on the cars, have been the result, to say nothing of
tle foul epithets used, and profanity.
" The question of the amount of compensation to be paid
for using another company's track is seldom satisfactorily
settled; often lawsuits arise, and complications, injurious to




168
all concerned, are almost inevitable, rendering an equitable
adjustment impossible
" By having an arrangement between two connecting roads,
that passengers carried by one line to the end of its route
shall be transferred to the other cars, and so taken to their
destination, all this want of harmony and conflict of interest
is avoided.
"In this way, passengers can be carried at a less rate than if
each company should run its own cars upon both of the
routes; for, in that case, owing to the difficulty of properly
regulating their running, more cars are required to do the
same work; also, they will be likely, from jealousy of each
other, to put on more cars than are actually needed. It is
obvious, therefore, that the fare must be higher or the railroad companies lose the difference.
" This needless increase in the number of cars, in my opinion, would certainly be another strong objection, when the
railroad runs through business streets, especially if they are
narrow or crooked and already overcrowded by vehicles, as
is the case in Cornlill, Washington and other streets in
Boston.
" In Philadelphia, you are aware,we have a system of transfer or exchange tickets, by which the transportation of passengers is efficiently done, at a less cost and with greater
convenience to the public and the railroad companies themselves than would be possible by any other method. This
plan, although general with us, is not universal; upon some
of our roads we see the ill effects of using the same track,
and can compare the two methods, as it were side by side.
"Yours respectfully,
" WILLIAM WHARTON, Jr.,
" Railway Contractor."
Mr. SHATTUCK then read a letter from the same gentleman,
written recently, after ten years' experience, as follows:



169


[COPY.]
"PIILADELPHIA, February 26, 1872.
"CHARLES E. POWERS, Esq., President.
" DEAR SIR:-Yours of the 24th instant is at hand, calling
my attention to the affidavit made by me on March 10, 1862,
in reference to the use of one track by the cars of different
street-railway companies.
" In reply to your inquiry, I will say that, at the time the
said affidavit was made, the difficulties I pointed out did actually exist; but since then [about tel (10) years] the various
companies have come to a better understanding, of their
rights in the mlatter, and their officers have operated their
lines jointly, with as mIuch harmony as was practicable. The
result has, therefore, been that for some years past the practical difficulties have very much diminished, and I have very
materially modified my views. There are a number of lines,
owned and operated by distinct companies in this city, which
use tracks in common and without any apparent interference
to each other's business or to the general use of the streets.
In fact the public appear to require that this should be the
case, in order to fully accommodate travel to and from the
central points of great resort.
" Yours respectfully,
(Signed)                 " WILLIAM WHARTON, Jr."
Mr. SHATTUCK also read the affidavit of Mr. JOHN W. YOUNG
of Philadelphia, given some dozen years ago, as followsAFFIDAVIT OF JOHN W. YOUNG.
" To the Joint Special Committee on Railways and Canals of the Legislature of Mlassachusetts.
"' I, John W. Young, being duly sworn, do depose and say:
That I am Superintendent of the Second and Third Streets
Passenger Railroad Company of the city of Philadelphia,
State of Pennsylvania; that the Green and Coats Streets City
Passenger Railroad Company, and the Race and Vine Streets
City Passenger Railroad Company, run their horse-cars upon
22




170


our track jointly with us, for a distance of nine squares, which
is a source of constant annoyance and nuisance to the respective companies, and to the public generally. The drivers and
conductors of the one loaf upon the time of the conductors
and drivers of the other; that they compete for travel with
great outcry and disturbance to the public peace; that they
fall into quarrels and fights, and delay and interrupt business; and many other evils have resulted which clearly demonstrate the impolicy of such an arrangement. The cars
of the one impede the travel of the other, and, in my opinion,
founded upon the above experience, it would be the height of
folly to permit a competing railroad to run opposition cars on
another railroad, on which five hundred or more cars are
daily transporting fifteen to twenty thousand passengers.
That the common use of our track has resulted in several
collisions, thereby endangering the lives of passengers and
horses; and, through the rivalry of the conductors and
drivers, our passengers have been grossly insulted. In truth,
the joint use of our track subverts, to a great degree, the intention of a city horse railroad company, viz.: expedition,
economy and quiet and peaceable transportation.
"JOHN W. YOUNG."
Mr. PowERs then read the following letter from Mr. YOUNG:
"PIHILADELPIIIA, February 26, 1872.
" CARLES E. POWERS, Esq., President of the Middlesex Railroad Co.
"S IR:-In answer to your letter that I received on the 26th,
I reply to you as follows, with correct statement: Our road,
the Second and Third Street P. R. R. Company, is about
thirty-eight miles, with all its branches. In that distance we
run over two roads, as follows: To make our ci'cuit of that
line, which is called the main line, from Kensington to Mifflin
Street and back to station, is eleven miles. In that brancli
we run over the Spruce and Pine Street track, as follows:
From Second and Dock to Second and Pine Streets is about
1,080 feet; from Third and Spruce to Third and Walnut is




171


about 800 feet, making in all 1,880 feet; for which we pay,
to the Spruce and Pine Street P. R. R. Company, $200 per
year. We have no trouble about the running time; it is
understood that they must keep their track in good repair,
and not detain us. We also run on part of the Fifth and
Sixth P. R. R. Company's track, as follows: to make the circuit from Front and Berks Street to Front and Norris Street,
whlich is about one thousand feet; we pay them the sum of
$1,000 for the use of the said track. They keep it in order.
When it is out of repair, we notify them; in ten days, if not
put in order, we then repair it, and deduct from the rent.
The Fairmount P. R. R. Company, to make a circuit, runs
over our road fiom Second and Race to Second and Dock,
from Third and Dock to Third and Vine, about nine blocks,
which is about a mile or a little less, for $600 per year, payable every six months. We have to keep the track in repair,
except the curves that they branch off of to get on their
track. Speaking about the time we have now, the running
time from Third and Dock to Third and Vine, is nine minutes.
The Race and Vine Street cars run to our time, in case they
lead our car out at that point. On the Spruce and Pine
track there is no trouble; if they run on five minutes and
we run on five, either one or the other leads, which does not
interfere. It is the same on the Fifth and Sixth. We run,
on one part of the day, on two and-a-half and three-minute
time. The longest is five minutes, at a late hour at night.
If the cars of our road run on three minutes, we lead one
and follow the other; if on five minutes, we will meet at the
point about the same time. Tile car that is nearest the curve
has the right of way. We never have had any trouble with
that arrangement, and have been running that way for the
last thirteen years. The Race and Vine Street cars run on
our track through the principal part of the city. If a passenger gets on, he says td the conductor: ' Do you go up
Third?' He makes answer: 'As far as Third and Vine
Streets.' If the passenger wants to go further, he tells him
to take the other car, which is ours. We allow them to take




172


passengers on that circuit; that is, in case they want to go
no further.
"Yours respectfully,
" JOHN W. YOUNG,
"Superintendent Second and Third Street P. R. R. Co."
To Mr. SHATTUCK-The difficulties between the Middlesex
Road and the Cliftondale Road, to which Mr. Studley referred in his testimony in 1862, were owing to a controversy
with the managers of the Cliftondale Road, in reference to
giving security for the use of our road. We claimed that
they should give us a bond to pay us such award as commissioners appointed by the supreme court might make. They
said they would not give any bond. There were some proceedings had in reference to it, and finally they gave us a
bond, with sureties to our satisfaction. After the bond was
given, the difficulties il a great measure ceased. We have
had no difficulties whatever with tle Lynn and Boston Company, who use our tracks from Chelsea Bridge to Scollay
Square, since an arrangement was made with them some ten
years ago or more. The cars of the Metropolitan Road have
run over our track since 1862, and we have had no particular difficulty on that account. When the Soutlh Boston Railroad commenced running over the tmacks of the Metropolitan
Company, I am inclined to think (I am not sure about it)
that they made some difficulty among themselves, but there
is no trouble now.
Mr. POWERS then read the following letters from the
managers of several street railroads in Philadelphia:[coPY.]
"OFFICE OF GiREEN AND COATES STS. P. R. R. Co.,?
" PHILADELPHIA, March 2, 1872. 
"CrHARLES E. POWERS, Esq., President Middlesex B. B. Co.
" DEAR SIR:-  am in receipt of your letter of the 29th ult,
and, in answer to your inquiries in the order proposed, it can
be said:" 1. This company use about five miles of track jointly with
another company.




173


"2. It has done so for more than twelve years.
"3. There is no difficulty in thus running the cars of both
companies on time, beyond that of controlling conductors
and drivers under ordinary circumstances.
" 4. There need be no difficulty in one company using the
track of another for the distance of 3,000 feet, under proper
rules and regulations; and I can conceive circumstances in
which each of the companies would promote the interests of
the other. The use of one road by other companies, for the
purpose of a circuit, occurs in several instances in this city,
and is deemed no detriment to either of the companies.
Where two companies have an equal right to the same track,
there should be no competition, as their interests are identical the prime object being to popularize the street by short
and regular time, which rivalry of the usual character would
prevent. Hence the question would not be, which of these
companies could obtain the greater advantage of the other,
but it would be, whether the travel should be attracted to
the street they occupy, or driven to another on which the
cars would be better regulated.
"Very respectfully, yours, etc.,
(Signed)                          "HY BUDD,
"President Green and Coates St. P. R. R. Co."
[coPY.]
"OFFICE OF CITIZENS' PASSENGER RAILROAD COMPANY, 
"NORTHWEST CORNER TENTH STREET AND MONTGOMERY AVENUE,
"PIILADELPIIA, February 26, 1872. 
" CIARLES E. POWERs, Esq., President Middlesex Railroad Company.
" MY DEAR SIR:-I answer the inquiries contained in your
letter of the 24th instant as follows: First-this company
uses the track on Tenth Street, from Callowhill to Arch
Streets, in common with the Girard College Passenger Railroad Company, and has so used it for over thirteen years.
The distance from  Callowhill to Arch Street is about two
thousand (2,000) feet. The two corporations are entirely
independent of each other, but there is a joint ownership of
this part of the track; it was constructed by this company,




174
and the half-cost paid by the Girard College Railroad Company.   Second-there is very little practical difficulty in
running botll sets of cars over this part of the road, as there
is no competition for passengers on this part of the line;
the Girard College cars turning to the eastward on Arch
Street, while ours continue down Tenth Street for a distance
of nearly two miles further south.  Tliird-under proper
rules and regulations and tlhe strict enforcement of them,
there is no 'practical difficulty' in one street railroad
using the tracks of another company for a distance of 2,500
feet.
" Yours truly,
(Signed)                       "GEO. WILLIAMS."
[corY.]
" OFFIICE UNION PASSvENGErn R. R. Co., 
" TWENTY-TIIInID AND) B1IOWN STS.,
" PIIILAIELPr1IA, February, 2G, 1872.
"CIIARLES E. PowERS, Esq., President Mididlesex Ilailroad Company.
" DEAR SIR:-Yours received; in reply, would state that
we do in several instances use our own track in conjunction
with other lines, sometimes on the same rails, and others on
rails of our own laid inside and out of the rails of otlier
roads; we have been running in this way for seven years,
and have never experienced any difficulty whatever in running on time; of course, no cars are allowed to stop in such
cases, only to take up passengers; it has been our custom
always, when our charter gave us the right to run over a
street for a distance that was already occupied by another
company, and not wide enough for a double track, to apply
to the company first in possession to purchase one-half of
the length of the track that is to be used jointly, each company to keep their portion of the track and street in order;
and, if they refuse to sell, we lay our track inside and out of
theirs. We run three lines of cars oil Ninth Street, from
Arch to Vine Street and tile Girard College, one distance
eleven hundred (1,100) feet; same track on Master Street,
from  Fifteenth to Twentieth, our road, and Thirteenth and
Fifteenth, distances twenty-one hundred (2,100) feet; and




175


on Columbia Avenue, our road, Thirteenth and Fifteenth,
distance four thousand (4,000) feet; besides which, the
Seventeenth and Nineteenth road runs on the same rails
nine hundred (900) feet.
"Respectfully yours,
(Signed)                   "JONATHAN BULLOCK."
[coPY.]
" TH SEICOND AND TIInnD STREET PASSENGER R. R. CO., 
" I'PRESIDENT'S OFFICE, PIILADELPIIIA, Feb. 28, 1872.
"CHARLES E. PowlElS;, Esq., Presidenzt:" I am in receipt of your letter of the 24th, and note contents. Our company use the tracks of other companies, at
three diffbrent points, for about one thousanld feet (1,000)
each; and we lhave our track used frotm Dock Street to Vine
Street, on both Second and T'lhird Streets (the distance on
each street is about one-half a mile) by the Hestonville Passenger Railroad Company. On tlhis track the Ilestolnville Compally have to conform to our time-table and rules tllerefor;
there is not the least trouble or difficulty between the cars of
the two companies; this joint arrangement has been in operation for nlearly thirteen (13) years; during the most of this
period, I have been president of tills conpanly, and the balance
of the time directorl. I cannot see tile least difficulty in two
roads being operated on the same track for twenty-five hundred feet (2,500). We use tile tracks of the Philadelphia
and Gray Ferry Railroad Comnpany and Frankfort and Southwark Railroad Company. Ally other information I may
have I will bQ pleased to furnish.
" I am, very truly and respectfully, yours,
(Signed)         " ROBERT F. TAYLOR, President."
To the CHAIRMAN.-TlIe control of the cars in Philadelphia is left substantially as it is with us, to the board of
mayor and aldermen. They have the right to regulate the
running.
To Mr. SHATTUCK,-New York, in its location and situa



176
tion, is very similar to Boston, as the territory of Boston is
increased now by the addition of Back Bay. A map of Boston and a map of New York, placed side by side, have a similar appearance. In New York we go up two or three miles
before we strike the avenues. There are some four or five
different lines on each side of Broadway. They go almost
the entire length of the city, and come down to City Hall
Park. The Third and Fourth Avenue cars, the Blcecker
Street, Madison Avenue, Astor House and Dry Dock, and
two other lines, all come to a common point opposite the
Astor House. There are four or five lines that run upon the
track through Park Row and Chatham Street, distances
varying from 1,000 to 2,000 or 3,000 feet. Upon the other
side of Broadway there are several lines that use a common
track for a greater distance. That is, through a part of
Varick Street, a part of Canal Street, the entire length of
West Broadway, and through Church Street, its whole length.
These tracks are used by all the cars on that side of the city.
Church Street is one of the most crowded streets of New
York. It is a good deal like our Merchants' Row in Boston.
The street is twenty feet five inches wide throughout, from
curb to curb. It is continually crowded with vehicles. A
great deal of heavy business is done on that street, which is
very narrow. There is one track its entire length, and part
of the distance two tracks. The Third Avenue Company
run their cars on thirty seconds' headway. That is their
regular time of running during business hours. The Fourth
Avenue cars run on about a minute or a minute-and-a-half
headway. They all use one track in common through Park
Row and Chatlam Street, and it makes a car every fifteen
seconds at least.
To the CHAIRMAN.-We have nothing like it in Boston.
To Mr. SHATTUCK.-There are more than twice as many
cars run on that crowded street than are even on Tremont
Street, between Temple Place and the Tremont House. Tlle
conductors' returns are all made up,town.
Mr. POWERS then read the following letter from Mr. DICK



177


INSON, superintendent of the Third Avenue Railroad Company:[COPY.]
"OFFICE OF THE THIRD AVE. R. R. Co., 3d AVE., 65th and 66th Sts., 
" NEW YORK, Feb. 23, 1872. 
" CHARLES E. POWERS, Esq.
" DEAR SIR:-Yours of the 23d received, asking how many
cars can reun oni one track, etc. My answer is, that at Park
Row, as many.s four to five a minute pass one point without difficulty-that too, where the street is crowded with
other vehicles. I consider it entirely practicable to run that
number. We are putting on thirty new cars, next month,
to run over the same route, which will make one every three
minutes more; still, I apprehend no difficulty. When the
distance is not over, say half a mile, I do not see any reason
why the number I have mentioned cannot be run with great
facility.
" Yours truly,
(Signed)                "E. S. DICKINSON, Supt.
To Mr. SHATTUCK.-III my judgment, there certainly can
be no difficulty in running a car every fifteen seconds through
Tremont Street. I believe that none of the companies report less than five miles an hour as the rate of speed. It is
practicable for a car to go at the rate of four miles an hour
through the streets.
Mr. SHATTUCK.-It is a mere matter of computation, and
perhaps I may as well state it as the witness. At four miles
an hour, a car moves 352 feet in a min,, *: and 88 feet in a
quarter of a minute. Therefore, the cars, if they were going
at the rate of four miles an hour, which is the slowest trot,
in fact not more than a fast walk, would be 88 feet, or
about five and a half rods distant from each other, at four a
minute. The shortest time on the Metropolitan track is one
in 48 seconds, and they are about 164 feet apart, which is
ten rods. That is when the cars are moving at the rate of
four miles an hour, and equal distances apart. Of course,
23




178
sometimes they come nearer together, and sometimes they
are further apart.
Mr. BATEs.-Look at Tremol.t Street any day and you
will see how valuable such calculations are.
Mr. SHATTUCK.-Well, that is for want of proper management.
To Mr. SHATTUCK. -The cause of the blocks on Tremont
Street, the immediate cause of them, and the principal cause,
is the fact that they change their horses from end to end on
the cars in that street; and furthermore, the fact of their
having a receiving office there, where every conductor, on
arriving at that place, is obliged to go and render his account and purchase tickets, if necessary. In my judgment,
if these obstructions were removed, twice the number of cars
might be run there as easily as the present number. Formerly, our receiving office was in Scollay's Building, where
the conductors stopped to render their accounts upon arriving
every trip. Tile Metropolitan Railroad Company made such
a noise and disturbance about it, and made so many threats
about bringing an order into the city government to compel
us to give up that office, that I told the president of that
road I would remedy the difficulty as soon as I could, and we
gave up that office and had it in Cllarlestown. Now, we
have abandoned the office in Cliarlestown, and the conductors
are only required to make their returns once a day-in the
morning. I require a bond from every conductor, with two
sureties, resident in Massachusetts, in the sum of $500. They
compelled us to give up our office in Scollay's Building,but they
still retain their receiving office on Tremont Street. None of
the New York or Philadelphia roads lhave tleir accounts rendered down town in that way. They invariably do it at tile
very extreme end of their roads, in the country. The Metropolitan Railroad is the only road, that I am aware of, that
stops its cars in a crowded thoroughfare to have its conductors render their accounts. I have lhad the time for an entire
day of eleven or twelve hours taken of the detention at the
Tremont House. I tried, of course, to get an average day.




179


This count was taken on Tuesday, February 27, 1872, a clear
day. Tle number of cars tliat stopped (and they nearly all
stopped for a longer or shorter time; but very few passed
on, and that was whien there was a block, and the conductor
ran ahead and rendered his account),-the total number of
cars was 725. The total detention in eleven 'hours, from
seven in the morning to six in the evening, was 17 hours, 26
minutes and 32 seconds, at that one point, making the average detention of each car one minuite and 26 seconds-nearly
a minute and a hlalf to eaclh car. Tills was occcasioned entirely by the conductors going in and rendering their accounts, and by the cliange of horses from end to end of the
car.
Mr. SHATTUCK.-At four miles an hour, that minute and a
half would carry them about 500 feet; that is, over thirty
rods.
To Mr. SHATTUCK.-That includes all the cars of the Metropolitan Railroad, everything but the South Boston cars.
There is no reason for any such stoppages as that-nothing
more than for passengers to get on anld off.. One way to
avoid shifting horses at tlhat place would be to lay a track
through Winter or Bromfield Street, if they did not choose
to go back as far as Temple Place. Probably there would be
no difficulty in getting a location through eitlier of those
streets. Bromfield Street is two or three feet wider than
Winter Street, atid is sufficiently wide to allow a velicle to
staid on eacli side of tle track. If the circuit through
Washington Street is objectionable, and it is desired to confine the Tremont Street line to Tremont Street, instead of
stopping the cars where they do now, a much better plan
would be to continue the route for 700 feet further, to Scollay Square, where there is plenty of room. They could then
run their Tremont Street cars the whole length of Tremont
Street, change their horses from end to end, and return.
There is considerable space in Scollay Square unoccupied;
at all events, the city permits some express or furniture
wagons to have a stand there.




180


It is within the observation of every one who patronizes
the Tremont Street line, that it is exceedingly tedious getting over the short distance, less than 400 feet between Park
Street Church and the Granary Burying-ground. I find that
the average time taken by a car in going from Park Street
Church to the turnout and returning to the same point, is
something over five minutes. The time was taken on two
days-February 23 and February 26-and on one day of 11
hours the total detention was 39 hours, 30 minutes and 25
seconds, and the other day of 11 hours, 40 hours, 3 minutes
and 15 seconds.
Nearly every important street railroad has among its employ4s two or three men who are termed " timers." They
have time-tables in their possession, and know precisely the
time when the cars should arrive and depart at different
points. The duties of the timers on the Third Avenue Road,
in New York, for instance, are to be on the road continually,
and if they see two cars of that line together they put down
the number of the car, etc., on a printed slip, which is sent
immediately -to the office; and, the moment the car arrives
there that is out of time, the conductor and driver are required to leave it, and others take their places. If the brake
has given out or the harness broken, that may be a sufficient excuse; but, unless there is a substantial excuse, they
are discharged. The men know that that is the rule, and of
course they are anxious to keep on time. As many times as
I have been in New York and ridden over that roud, I do
not know that I ever noticed two cars together. They are
never in a bunch, as may frequently be observed on Tremont
Street. The Philadelphia roads also have timers. I think
the Metropolitan Road does not employ any.
From Charlestown to the Roxbury Post-office, through
Shawmut Avenue, we should not probably average more than
one car in two minutes and a half on the shortest headway;
from two minutes and a half to once in five minutes. The
addition of that number of cars would hardly be perceptible.




181


Mr. SHATTUCK.-I have made this calculation: Allowing
that they run a car once in three minutes, in addition to
thqse now run, if they go four miles an hour the cars will be
one hundred and thirty feet apart, instead of one hundred
and sixty-four, as now. That is, it would make a difference
of about thirty feet.
To the CHAIRMAN.-There will be a car from Charlestown
Square to Roxbury Post-office as often as once in two and a
half or three minutes. It would be desirable, of course,
and that would be our intention, to run the Bunker Hill cars
as well as the Main Street cars through. That would give
a car down Main Street as often as once in five or six or ten
minutes that would go to the South End. And on the Bunker Hill line it would be the same. We could increase the
number on Main Street, if it was found desirable. The regular time of starting on the Neck line is once in ten minutes;
but there are the Malden, Medford, Winter Hill and Somerville cars that come in, so that in point of fact there would
be a car up or down Main Street, as the case might be, as
often as once in four minutes on the average. The people
on Main Street would have more than double their present
accommodations. We are willing that a provision shall be
inserted in the bill that the fare shall not exceed five
cents. It would be more profitable than it is now to run
cars at five cents a passage. That is, the passengers now
ride from Charlestown Neck to Scollay Square for five cents,
and we cannot rely upon more than one set of passengers. If
the route were continued to Roxbury Post-office, it would
be safe to assume that we should have at least three sets of
passengers; so that, instead of having five cents from one
passenger, as now, we should have fifteen cents from three
passengers. I based my statement, that we should probably
have five sets of passengers, upon the testimony of Mr. Draper. He said, if his testimony was correctly reported, that
the depot line was the most profitable line of the Metropolitan Road, and he estimated that there were three sets of
passengers that invariably rode in the depot line of cars. I




182


stated that, if they had three sets, it would be fair to presume
that, in going from Charlestown Neck to Roxbury Post-office, we should have five sets of passengers. We should go
very likely at certain hours with full freights from Tremont
Street, or Boylston Street, to Roxbury. Of course we should
be very light returning, until we got to Boylston Street or
thereabouts, and there the car would commence filling on
the return trip, and we should go full-freighted to Charlestown; so that we could safely calculate upon always having
a full set of passengers, one way or the other. I should not
think there would be much difference in the number of passengers we should pick up on the different portions of the
route. Between Charlestown Neck and the South End it
would be about the same as between Scollay Square and
Roxbury Post-office; if anything, it would be rather in favor
of the Soutli End, because the run is so continuous and so
long. I should be perfectly willing that the Metropolitan
Company should use the same amount of our track tlat we
use of theirs. I cannot say that I should want them to run
all their cars upon the same tracks that we operate upon;
but I should not have any particular objection to their doing
it, provided we had the same privilege to enter upon and use
their tracks-that is, I should be willing in every case tlat
the one should offset the other. They have the absolute
right to use all the tracks that are now or may hereafter be
laid between Scollay Square and the northern part of Boston, going to the ferries or the northern depots, and they
have the same right to use the tracks of the Cambridge and
the old Suffolk Road; but we have no right to enter upon
and use their track within any circuit. So far as distance is
concerned, there is not much difference between the track
that they would have the right to use and the track we ask
the right to use-that is, from the Granary Burying-ground
to Shawmut Avenue. As to the Metropolitan Railroad absorbing the Middlesex, I should be willing to have the committee take as stringent measures as possible to prevent that.
I know perfectly well the feeling of the directors of the




183


Middlesex Railroad. With the present management and present board of directors, it would be absolutely impossible, at
any price, for the Metropolitan Company to purchase it.
Legislation could not prevent a stockholder in the Metropolitan Company from purchasing stock in the Middlesex Company, but provisions can be made that the Middlesex Road
shall never lease or sell its road or franchise to the Metropolitan or any other company.
The CHAIRMAN.-You remember that we have been told,
during this present hearing, very broadly, by the counsel for
the Metropolitan Road, that there was no trouble existing
between that road and the South Boston Road, for the reason
that they had a controlling influence over the stock, through
individual owners. I am free to confess that I am looking
to the interests of the people of Charlestown in my question,
and I wish to know what guarantee we can have that we
shall not be saddled by a monopoly.
WITNESS.-Perhaps the stock of the South Boston Road
has been purchased recently; but, unless it has been, there
was a mistake in that statement. The Metropolitan Railroad
has nothing whatever to do with the management of the
South Boston Railroad. The president of that road, if he
were here to-day, would say, I think, that he was not in any
way under the control of the Metropolitan Railroad or any
of its officers; and everybody wlo khows Mr. Seth Adams,
knows very well that he is n At a man to be managed by anybody. With regard to the question you have asked, I should
have no objection, nor would any of the directors or stockholders of the Middlesex Company, to your putting in a proviso similar to that which exists with reference to the officers
of corporations soliciting proxies, rendering them forever ineligible to office in the corporation, if they do so. I should
be perfectly willing to have it provided that, if any officer of
the Middlesex Company should be elected to office in the
Metropolitan Company, lie should cease to be an officer of
the Middlesex Company. I should be perfectly willing to
have any provision made in reference to this matter that




184


should be thought desirable. So far as the present board of
directors are concerned, I know their views very fully, and I
know they would never consent to being bought up by any
company.
To Mr. SHATTUCK.-The use of one avenue to the South
End by another road would most assuredly be an advantage
for the Metropolitan Road, by increasing the efficiency of conductors and helping them satisfy public opinion. The stock
of the Metropolitan would be worth more than it is to-day,
and they would be more secure in their rights than they are
now. I know the minds of a large proportion of the people
at the South End, and the prevalent feeling among them is
that the Metropolitan Road is a monopoly; that they are
grasping at everything, getting all the locations and securing
all the inlets and outlets between the South End and the
southerly wards of the city and Boston proper. And, furthermore, there is a feeling in the community that the
Metropolitan Company have adopted the policy of buying up
all the other roads on that side of the city. I know that has
been the policy of the company. They have purchased all
the lines in the southerly direction, and also the Suffolk line.
To Mr. CORNELL.-The Middlesex Company has not pursued the same policy. They have only purchased one line,
the Cliftondale. They have three other lines,-the Somerville, Medford and Malden,-connecting with their track at
Charlestown Neck. These roads have the right, given them
by their several charters, to enter with their horses and cars
upon the track of the Middlesex Road and come through to
Boston.
Adjourned to Monday, March 11, at 10 o'clock, A. M.,
from which time the hearing will be continued from day to
day until finished.




185


MARCH 11.
The hearing was resumed at the State House, Monday
morning, March 11, at 11 o'clock.
CROSS-EXAMINATION OF CHARLES E. POWERS, Esq.
Q. (By Mr. MUZZEY.) Can you give me the distance
from the junction of Tremont Street and Shawmut Avenue
to Northampton Street? A. I can i;vu you the di.tance in
this way: From Scollay's Square to the Tremont House,
750 feet; from Tremont House to Shawmut Avenue, 3,100
feet; from Shawmut Avenue to Northampton Street, 6,100
feet, and from Northampton Street to Washington Street, 400
feet.
Q. You stated the other day that you had been president
of the Middlesex Railroad four years, and a director, I think
you said, since 1860? A. Yes, sir.
Q. When did your directors first vote to ask this grant
of the legislnture? A. A year ago last September.
Q. Why was not the request presented to the legislature
last year? A. Because I was in hopes to make an amicable arrangement with the Metropolitan Railroad. I believe
I read the vote, as it was recorded, to the president and
several of the directors, and I lad several interviews, I think,
in reference to it. I took the entire responsibiiity of neglecting to petition the legislature, and was censured quite
severely by two or three of the directors for so doing.
Q. Youi own directors? A. My own directors. It
was my own fault.
Q. When did any negotiation with the Metropolitan
Railroad, to avoid presenting the petition, terminate? A. I
should say sometime late in the summer, August or September.
Q. Of the last year? A. Of the last year.
Q. And then you regarded it as hopeless, and determined
to apply to the legislature? A. Well, I laid the matter
before the board of directors for their action.
24




186


Q. They had already acted upon it? A. They had
acted once upon it.
Q. And censured you for not bringing the matter to the
notice of the legislature the previous year?  A. No, sir.
As a body, they have not censured me. Two or three of
them have.
Q. There was then no hope of renewing the negotiation;
that expired, you say, last summer, about August. Why
did you not advertise this petition, thirty days before the
meeting of the legislature? A. I did not think it was necessary.
Q. Why not, sir?   A. Because, from the experience I
have had in legislative matters, so far as a compliance, or
attempted compliance, with the statute law in reference to
petitions is concerned, it has, for the past six, eight or ten
years, been substantially ignored by committees of the legislature.
Q. It was not for want of ample time to advertise it,
tlhen? A. No. It was not my intention to advertise in
either event, a year ago last September, or this present last
September; and from my own personal knowledge, the great
majority, or a large number, at least, of petitions for lhorserailroad charters have not been advertised in conformity to
the law.
Q. When was the pctition wlich has been presented to
the legislature this year, actually drawn up? A. Well, sir,
my impression is, during the month of December or thereabouts.
Q. How late in December? A. The latter part of the
month.
Q. Near the time of the legislature coming together?
A. It was before.
Q. Was it before or after Christmas?  A. Well, sir, I
can't say; I should say about Christmas time.
Q. Did you draw it up yourself? A. I did, sir.
Q. Wllln was it actually presented to the legislature?




187


A. It was presented during the first ten days of the session,
I think.
Q. Tlhe Highland excitement arose about Christmas
time, did it not? A. I believe it did.
Q. And you drew up your petition about Christmas?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Now, sir, let me ask you when the first tracks of the
Middlesex Road were built, and between what points?  A.
Well, sir, I was not connected with tlhe corporation at that
time, and I cannot speak of my own knowledge.
Q. No, sir, I don't require tlat. I suppose you have
learned, in your long colnnection witl the company, the fact
that I inqutire about. What were tlhe first tracks built,
between wlhat points, and wlhcn?  A. The first track of the
Middlesex Road, I think, was laid from Charlestown Neck,
througllh Main Street, to Boston, over botli bridges, to Haymarket Square, through Beverly Street.
Q. Wlen was tllat laid? A. W`ll,sir, I think in 1857.
Q. Wlho was the contractor for laying the road?  A. I
don't know.
Q. I don't ask you whetler you know, in a legal sense;
but don't you know wlio built tliat track? A. I don't.
Q. Ilave you never leard?  A. My impression is that
the original contract was given to Messrs. Blake and Darracott.
Q. Did they build it? A. I have no means of knowing.
Q. How long was that track, as laid? A. I don't know.
Q. You know the distance from Cllarlestown Neck over
the two bridges into Boston. How much single track would
it make? A. I should say, somewhere about six miles.
Q. And that was built when? A. In 1857, I think.
Q. When did the road go into operation? A. I think,
some time in the latter part of 1857.
Q. What did those six miles of track first laid, which
you have described, cost? A. That I cannot answer.




188


Q. Have you never informed yourself upon that subject?
A. I never have.
Q. You never have inquired what it cost? A. No,
sir.
Q. You have no means of knowing what that track cost?
A. I have nothing further than a reference to the contract.
I believe that is on file, but I have never seen it. The road
was built with a part of its capital stock, the same as all
other roads have been built, with the exception of the South
Boston.
Q. You anticipate me a little; I do not care now in
what it was paid for; I want to know what amount that
road cost? A. I cannot state. By turning to the original
reports, I presume it could be ascertained.
Q. Have you not, as director and president, over and
over again, made returns to the legislature, showing the
cost of the track of the Middlesex Road, and made oath to
it? A. Up to the peseiit time.
Q. Do you mean to say to the cvlimittee that you do
not know what the oiiginal six miles of tr.nk cost?  A.
My impression is, that it was somewhere about $240,000;
but the original clerk of the corporation, Mr. Harvey Jewell,
can give you all the information in relation to that. He
was the clerk and a director at the time the contact was
made, and the meetingb were invariably heid at his office.
Q. If you find you are in error, I will give you ample
opportunity to correct it. That was not the question I
addressed to you, but still, I make no objection to any answer
you may give. That does not alter the fact that the original
six miles of track cost $240,000. Now, how was it paid for?
A. It was paid for in stock of the company, I suppose.
That ib, I do not speak of my own knowledge, but I know
that was the fact with the early horse railroads, and also
with the steam railroads.
Mr. SHATTUCK.-If this committee think it is worth while
to go over the history of this road, it seems to me that this
witness is not the person to give the information. He has




no knowledge, except from hearsay. Mr. Jewell was clerk of
the corporation during all the time, and Dr. Estes Howe a
director, and it would seem that they have a great deal better knowledge of the transactions than Mr. Powers.
The CHAIRMAN.-The committee presume, of course, that
the intent of the question is to lead to the development of
other matters, and it is perfectly legitimate.
Mr. MUZZEY.-I can not allow my skilful friend to interpose at this point, without remarking upon the impropriety
of the interruption. Mr. Powers is president of this road.
He must have legitimate knowledge in regard to all these
various points of inquiry. It is for him to know, as he said
he knew, under oath, to the legislature, a great many times,
all about this matter I am addressing questions upon. My
learned friend will remember that he put in a great deal of
testimony by Mr. Powers the other day, which certainly was
not strictly matter of his own knowledge, yet we made no
objection.
Mr. SHATTUCK.-No, sir, I did not. The gentleman talks
about the impropriety of objecting to hearsay testimony. I
say, the only impropriety is, they are asking Mr. Powers to
give testimony about a matter which he can know nothing
about except from hearsay, and probably from the very gentlemen who represent the other side-what Mr. Jewell has
told him, and what Dr. Howe has told him.
The CHAIRMAN.-Thle chair will remind counsel that the
committee do not think the time profitably spent in these
discussions. Up to this time, so far as the questions are
concerned, they appear to be legitimate.
Q. (By Mr. MUZZEY.)  What is the next track that the
Middlesex Road built?  Where from, where to, when, and
at what cost? A. I think immediately after, or soon after,
the Main Street track was laid, the Bunker Hill branch was
laid.
Q. From where to where did that extend? A. About
from Sullivan Street, on Bunker Hill Street, to Chelsea
Sfeet, and from  Chelsea Street to Charlestown Square,




190


through Henley Street, and subsequently through the entire
length of Chelsea Street.
Q. How long was that track? A. I cannot state the
length of it.
Q. Give us your best knowledge, as president of the
company, about the length of that track? A. I should say
somewhere in the vicinity of a mile and a half.
Q. And what did that cost?    A. I am not informed
how much it cost.
Q. Did you not learn, in the same way you have been able
to tell us what the original six miles cost? A. I leave
learned what the original road cost from prior sworn reports;
and all tle reports tlat have been made since, whether of
horse railroads or steam railroads, have been based upon the
assumed correctness of the former reports. I know notling
about it other than this: I know tlat the Middlesex Railroad was chartered, and that they got two renewals, and
nobody would come forward to take the contract to build
the road. About that time the Cambridge Road had been
contracted for, at a very large price, and the contractor had
failed, and that embarrassed tiings upon the ether roads
very much-the Metropolitan as well as the Middlesexand the original plan looked forward to; and it was expected
that piling would be required for the bridges, and an additional width would be required, so that tracks could be laid
upon the bridges. The contract was made in anticipation
of that-that. is, an outer tier of piling on each of the
bridges. This, of course, is all hearsay.
The CHAIRMAN.-The chair would suggest to counsel, if
information so definite as his questions seem to indicate is
desired, why we may not have from the Middlesex Railroad
Company a certified copy from their books. I presume that
would be legitimate.
Mr. MUzzEY.-That is precisely what would suit me.
The CHAIRMAN.-I do not understand that there is any
objection made, on the part of the witness, to give infor*




191


mation, but at the moment it is not clearly withi
lection.
WITNESS.-I should be perfectly willing to furn.
original records of the company.
The CHAIRMAN.-We think we can pass this matter 
the present. It is the desire of the committee to have no
time wasted in obtaining information which can be obtained
in a more expeditious way.
Mr. MUZZEY.-Of course, we share that desire.
WITNESS.-Will the committee allow me to state, that I
have taken particular pains, during the past ten years or
more, to ascertain whether there has been any fraud, or
attempt at fraud, in reference to the issue of the stock of
the Middlesex Railroad, and there has been none that I can
find; while there was a very bold attempt made by the Metropolitan Railroad Corporation, which was, to a certain
extent, successful.
The CHAIRMIAN.-This testimony is not strictly in order.
No fraud las been cliarged upon the Middlesex Company, in
the view of the committee.
Q. (By Mr. MUZZEY.)    Then we have it, that, soon after
the original si.x miles of track were built, an additional mile
and a half was built. Has there been any other track built?
A. There has.
Q. From where to where, and when? A. From Haymarket Square through Su'bury Street, around Scollay's
Building, down Cornhill, thi ough Dock Square and Union
Street to Haymarket Square.
Q. When was that built? A. I believe, in 1859.
Q. What is the length of that? A. I cannot inform
you. You can judge, or any member here, just as well as I
can.
Q. PSince 1859, has the Middlesex Company built any
track? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Where?    A. A double track on Bunker Hill Street;
and they have built a track in Everett, in Malden, in Somerville and in Medford.
a




192


you mean, as part of their railroad, or under a
vith some other company? A. Not under a conith any other railroad.
Or contractor on some other railroad? A. Nor.tl a contractor on any other railroad  They have built
the roads and paid for them, because they operated those
roads, and it was necessary to have those tracks.
Q. Do you mean to say to the committee, that the track
of the Middlesex Road proper extends into Everett, Maiden
and Somerville?  A. It does; into Everett, Somerville,
Maiden and Melrose.
Q. You say they built it? A. They did, and paid for
it themselves.
Q. As part of their own track? A. As part of their
own track.
Q. Do you think it has been so returned to the legislature? A. No, sir, it has not; only so far as Everett is
concerned.
Q. Why not, if it is a part of the Middlesex track?
A. Because they had no right to procure locations, or own
them, in Medford or in Somerville; in Maiden they had.
But we were obliged to have turnouts and double tracks for
certain distances, and we could not spend a year's time in
getting another corporation to build them. Those corporations had no money to pay for them: and we built then,
and charged it to profit and loss.
The CHAIRMAN.-The chair would state to the counsel for
the remonstrants, that the committee do not understand the
connection between these questions and the matter under
consideration by the committee.
Mr MUZZEY.-Of course, it is never quite judicious for
cross examining counsel, particularly if he is interrogating a
brother lawyer, to indicate to him exactly what his intentions are. I assure the chairman I do not intend to waste
time. I think that will he quite apparent to the committee.
The CHAIRMAN. If the purpose is to prove that, in the past
transactions of the Middlesex Railroad, there has been fraud,




193


or that they have paid too much for their roac,
understand the connection between that and the m2;
consideration now by the committee, which is simp.
tion of the Middlesex Railroad to extend the run Oi
cars to the South End of Boston.
Mr. MUZZEY.-I suppose, if any such state of facts exists.
as the chairman refers to, it would have some bearing upon
the question whether the legislature should confer new privileges upon the corporation.
The CHAInMAN.-The Chair would state that it would be
an open question, probably, which might be turned against
every horse railroad in this Commonwealth. Therefore, at
the present time, it is not deemed to be pertinent.
Mr. MUZZEY.-Do I understand the chairman to rule, that
this line of examination cannot be pursued?
The CHAIRMAN.-Unless it can be shown how it is to affect the present case.
Mr. MUZZEY.-If the testimony is not considered by the
committee as valuable, in any light which may occur to
them, I only wish to say that we offer it for a purpose which
we think is perfectly legitimate in this inquiry. We think it
does make a difference, and we shall ask the committee and
the legislature to believe it does make a difference, whether
the affairs of this company have been so well and prudently
managed as to commend it to the favorable consideration of
the legislature, and to entitle it to an extension of its privileges.
Mr. PUTNAMI.-I would suggest, then, that the limitation
of a reasonable time should be imposed by the committee,
and that we should not go back to the origin of the road.
The CHAIRMAN.-Tlh Chair rules, for the purpose of bringing the matter before the committee for their decision, that
the subject is not relevant to the case.
The committee had a conference, and the chairman stated
that they deemed the questions not pertinent.]
WITNESS.-So far as the transactions of the Middlesex
Railroad Company are concerned, since I have been con25




194


c, I have personal information of every transac-,and they have been strictly honest throughout;
t been no fraud or deception. I should be perfectly. to have all the books of the corporation brought beyou for your examination; or if you think it advisable
j employ an accountant, I will pay the expense. I believe,
furthermore, that all the transactions have been honest from
the start.
The CHAIRMAN.-It is not deemed necessary to take more
time upon this point of the evidence.
Q. (By Mr. MuzzEY.)-I see ill your return for January,
1872, in the 39th item, you say, "Length of railroad belonging to other companies, measured as single track, including
sidings, etc., operated by this company, with description of
the same, 7 812-1000 miles."  Tlen you go on to enumerate the track belonging to other companies which the Middlesex operates. The Maiden and Melrose is stated as one
of those companies. What are the relations of the Middlesex Railroad to the Malden and Melrose?  A. Well, the
relations are that we operate their road and run cars to
Maiden.
Q. Is that under a lease? A. There is a lease or a
contract. But under that lease we have taken possession of
the road. We pay no rent for it, but we assume certain obligations of that company, in the payment of its bonds, which
have been brought very low now, by way of a sinking fund,
which does not amount to a great deal. We virtually have;  that road for nothing. We pay nothing for its use except
that we pay the coupons upon its bonded indebtedness.
Q. Where does the Maiden and Melrose track lie? A.
From the Charlestown line to the village of Maiden.
Q. Is there a sub-lease of that road? Is it underlet to
anybody? A. No, sir.
Q. Then the Middlesex Company hold a lease of it?
A. Yes, sir. The Middlesex Company claim to hold the
road.
Q. Under a forfeiture of the lease? Is that it? A. It




195


may be so considered. At all events, we have
road for nearly ten years, and no one has made a
for any rent, and we have never paid any.
Q. Do you take the cars off of that line in bad w
A. No, sir.
Q. Have you been running the cars all winter? A.
winter; every day, and on regular time. When we have
doubled up, we have had horses enough to run the cars regularly.
Q. You have run the cars regularly to Malden all winter? A. Yes, sir, through snow-storms and all.
Q. Can you say the same of the Medford and Charlestown
Road? A. On a part of the Medford Road, from the top
of Winter Hill to Medford Village, I suspended the trips
from the first part of December this year, for the first time.
Q. Why?     A. Because, in the first place, in icy, cold
weather, it is very dangerous running cars down the long
hill the other side of Winter Iill. Last year, we had a car
thrown from the track, in some unaccountable way. The
track was in good condition; but it was icy and slippery,
and the car rolled over and down an embankment. Fortunately, no one was harmed in the least. And a short time
before that,-six or eight months, or more,-in a severe gale,
one of our cars was upset. So I considered it very dangerous and very hazardous indeed to run the line. And, so far
as the road itself, from the top of Winter Hill to Medford,
was concerned, from December until the 1st of March or
April, it actually cost us a dollar for every trip we made,
over and above the receipts. I did not think we were called
upon, as a corporation, to run that branch of the road at
that hard season of the year. In summer time the riding is
very good on that part of the line; and on holidays and
Sundays, particularly, the cars are very much crowded; we
have more really than we can do. And, then, the races that
are there in the summer time, never in the winter, give us a
great many passengers.
Q. (By the CHAIRMAN.)     Do you run the cars now?




196


'not running the cars from the top of Winter
edford Village.
<By Mr. MUZZEY.) What time in December did you.A. I think it was during the first ten days; perhaps
Ajt the 10th of December. Nobody has ever made any
objection. The travel is very light, indeed, during the winter months; but it is our intention to resume the trips again
very soon; within a few days.
Q. Do you feel at liberty to stop running any branch of
your road, whenever it does not pay to run it? A. No, sir,
I don't say that.
Q. That was the reason you gave for discontinuing the
trips? A. That was one reason.
Q. It costs too much? A. The cost was considerable,
but the danger was very great; and if a car should upset,
and turn over two or three times down the embankment,
very likely some parties would be injured, and seriously so.
Q. What are your relations to the Medford and Charlestown Road? A. We have a contract with them by which
we operate the road.
Q. Have you that contract with you? A. I have not.
Q. It is a contract between the Middlesex Railroad and
the Medford and Charlestown Railroad? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Is there not an obligation in that contract that you
shall run this road? A. Well, there is an obligation, 1
think, to this effect: that we shall run the cars as often as
the public convenience demands; and we claim that we have
done that. At all events, there has been no public clamor
in regard to it. Everybody has been satisfied.
Q. I see you return the Somerville Horse Railroad as a
road operated by you. In point of fact, is not most of that
road sublet to the Union Railroad Company? A. In point
of fact, it is not-only a part of it.
Q. How long is the Somerville Road? A. You have it
before you in the report.
Q. That does not give the entire length of the Somerville Road A. The return of the Somerville Railroad does.




197


Q. What part do you operate? A. We operat
from Main Street, in Charlestown, to Union Square,
erville.
Q. Has there ever been any legislative sanction of t
leases between the Middlesex and the other roads mein
tioned? A. Well, in reference to the Somerville, I believe
there has been no legislative sanction. We do not claim
that it is a lease.
Q. Well, as to the Medford and Charlestowl? A. We
do not claim that that is a lease. Certainly, we are advised
by counsel that it is not.
Q. And as to the Malden and Melrose? A. The Malden and Melrose, we claim to have absolute possession of.
Q. Has there been any legislation in regard to the lease
under which you claim to have obtained possession?  A.
We do not claim that there was any lease.
Q. How did you get possession? A. By an absolute
conveyance.
Q. It was an absolute sale?  A. An absolute conveyance of the property. A sale of it; yes, sir.
Q. Has there been any legislative ratification of that
sale?  A. We claim that it has not been necessary.
Q. I don't ask you whether it is necessary or not; I ask
you if there has been any legislative ratification of it? A.
I don't know but there has been.
Q. Don't you know there has not? A. In reference to
the Somerville, I am pretty confident there has not.
Q. I am not asking about the Somerville. I ask you
about the Malden and Melrose, which you claim to own. I
want to know whether there has been any ratification by the
legislature of the conveyance of that property to the Middlesex Company? A. Only so far as the legislature authorized the purchase, on the part of the Middlesex, of the
Cliftondale Road; which gave us, I think, the absolute right
to enter upon and use the tracks of the Malden and Melrose.
Q. The Cliftondale Road is the Malden and Melrose?
A. Part of it is.




198


oou say the Cliftondale includes the Maiden and? A. Includes part of it; perhaps the whole of it.
What part of it? A. The part from Melrose line
-Charlestown line.
Q. How did the Cliftondale Road come into possession
of the Middlesex? A. Well, sir, they owed us for the use
of the track from the time they ran their cars until the
time they ceased running, which amounted to a considerable
sum, as awarded by the commissioners appointed by the
supreme court, of which Ex-Governor Wasburn was one.
A demand was made upon the company for the payment of
that money; they were unable to pay it, they had no money;
and we got an execution for the amount, and a sale was
had of the franchise and the property of the company.
Everything had been'conveyed to trustees, to secure some
$25,000 in bonds, and arrangements were made with the
trustees afterwards. There was a general compromise, I
think, between the bondholders in some way, and they got
a little something-not much of anything-for their bonds.
It took some time to bring it about, and all the details I
cannot give now.
Q. That road was built originally by Mr. James M.
Stone and his associates, was it not? A. He was a director
in the road, and president. I do not know that he had a
contract for building the road.
Q. Did you buy that road individually, or in connection
with others? A. I purchased, for a nominal sum, a part of
the bonds. That is all that I purchased. I did not purchase
any of the stock.
Q. When was that?    A. Well, I think, from 1860 to
1862.
Q. It had been called the Cliftondale Railroad up to that
time; did not you and others organize under a new namethe "Suburban Railroad"? A. The trustees applied to
the legislature for the right to sell the road, and its franchise, and the legislature gave permission to them to make
the sale on the required advertisement; and there was a sec



199


tion incorporated in the bill allowing the purchaser or purchasers at that sale to form themselves into a separate railroad corporation, under any name that they might assume,
and with the power to maintain and operate the road, with
all its rights and privileges.
Q. Now, before reorganizing, did you not strip the iron
off of that track? A. Tile sale had been made, and I
think the corporation had been organized, under the name
of the "Suburban Railroad."
Q. The iron had been taken off?  A. Not before the
sale.
Q. It was very shortly afterwards? A. A part of it
was.
Q. I see you appear to have increased the length of the
Middlesex Road, in the year 1871, some seven miles. You
had eight miles of track at the time you made your return
in 1870, and last fall you returned fifteen miles and a fraction. Were did you get the additional seven miles? A.
The Cliftondale and other branches which had been built
had been added. For instance, the double track on Bunker
Hill Street had been added.
Q. How long was that? A. It is the entire length of
Bunker Hill Street, from Sullivan Street to Chelsea Street.
Q. A mile? A. From three-quarters to a mile.
Q. Was not the rest of it this Cliftondale Road? A.
Not all of it. There were other extensions which had been
built.
Q. About how much did the Cliftondale Road make of
these additions which had increased your track from eight
to fifteen miles in a single year? A  The additions which
we had built, with the length of the Cliftondale Road, which
we were authorized to put in, make the total length as now
reported. I cannot give you the figures.
Q. That does not answer my question. How long was
the Cliftondale Road?-how much of this seven miles?
The CHAIRMAN.-We would like to have you pause here, a
moment, if you please.




200


[After consultation with the members of the committee,
the chairman said that they were of the opinion that the
counsel should state, for their information, what point he
intended to make.]
Mr. MUZZEY. I will state, with perfect frankness, that I
propose to show to the committee that, in 1870, the Middlesex
Road had but eight miles of track; that they pretend, in
the return made to the present session of the legislature,
that they have increased their track by seven miles, and
thereby they have attempted to reduce, in their return, the
cost of their road from something like $44,000 a mile, as it
stood in the return of 1870, to about $23,000 a mile, the
present year. Now I want to show the committee what
kind of track they have added, and what sort of right they
have to make tlat showing. I offer to show that it is a track
bare of rails; that it is an unoperated road; that it is a road
put in there merely for the purposewof deceiving the legislature into the belief that the Middlesex RailroadShas not
cost at least twice as much as any other road having tracks
running into Boston. That is my purpose. I wish to show
the legislature the cliaracter of this candidate for additional
privileges. I want to show what faith it keeps, in its legislative returns, with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
I want, further, to show what faith it keeps with communities which it pretends it is now in the care of. That is
the purpose of this examination. We wish to put these
facts in. In the judgment of the respondents, they have an
important bearing on the merits of the Middlesex Railroad
Company, which is before this committee and the legislature,
asking to take something from the corporate rights of another
road. We want to know whether they present themselves
to the legislature with clean hands; whether they, of all
the companies in this Commonwealth, are the ones to challenge our right to pursue our own business in peace; whether
the legislature will disturb us in rights they have already
granted; whether they will take them away from our stockholders, and confer them upon the Middlesex Railroad and




201


its stockholders. It is a question of relative management.
Something was said in the former hearing, and something
may be said here, by way of comparison of the Metropolitan
Road with some other roads. The challenge is directly made
here, whether the legislature, on the petition of the Middlesex Road, shall disturb us, and partially destroy us, in the
pursuit of our business. Now I submit, that it does have a
bearing upon this question, to show you what the character
of this corporation is that is before you asking for an additional grant, and asking for a grant against us.
Mr. SHATTUCK.-I am authorized to say, in behalf of the
Middlesex Railroad, that, if it is put upon that issue, they
are perfectly ready to have an investigation of their accounts
and of the management of the road from the beginning,
before the legislature or anywhere else. They do come here
with clean hands; and if there is any issue of that kind to
be taken, they are ready to meet it.
Mr. MuzzEY.-If the Middlesex Company are ready to
make this exhibition, with the assistance of the committee,
it may be made very readily and in little time.
The CHAIRMAN —The Chair would decide, subject, of
course, to the direction of the committee, that that matter
is not relevant to the question under consideration. If any
individual wants an investigation into the affairs of the Middlesex Road or of the Metropolitan Road, I will offer an
order for that purpose; but we take the roads to-day as
they exist, not in their past management.
WITNESS.-Allow me one word.
Mr. MUzzEY.-Is the witness to make an argument here?
WITNESS.-There was a change in the form of the returns.
Mr. MUZZEY.-If my question is shut out, I object to Mr.
Powers making any argument about it.
The CHAIRMAN.-Mr. Powers is a witness.
Q. (By Mr. MUZZEY.) Now, dropping this subject, will
you give a description in detail of each line that you run,
with the number of trips, number of cars, the distances, the
fares (single fares and by ticket) on each route? and I should
26




202


like to have it in the form of a table, so that it can be intelligibly reported. A. On the Neck line, 127 trips. This
is the regular time table, but in the morning and at night,
when the great rush usually takes place, there are extra
trips that are run, which are not included here. The regular time-table gives 127 trips on the Neck line.
Q. Now, the number of cars on that line? A. On the
Neck line, I think the number is somewhere from eight to
ten.
Q. Now, the distance the cars are moved on that route?
A. From Charlestown Neck to Boston. I have not the
table of distances here.
Q. Give me the length of that line, as nearly as you can?
A. The round trip, I should say, would be somewhere in the
vicinity of five miles and a half; pretty nearly six miles.
Q. How much is the fare? A. It is twenty per cent.
lower than on any other railroad coming into Boston-five
cents.
Q. I do not ask you to make an argument here about
your low fares, but to answer my question. A. I was
answering your question; I said five cents.
Q. Are there any tickets on the Neck line, or is it a
cash system? A. There are tickets.
Q. What is the fare by ticket? A. The fare is the
same by ticket and single fare-five cents.
Q. Either way? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Now, what is the next line?     A. The Maiden.
That comes in over the Neck, and may be considered, from
Charlestown Neck, a Neck line.
Q. How many trips are made by the Maiden?        A.
Seventeen trips, running once an hour from Boston.
Q. What is the distance they run? A. You can judge
as well as I can. I have not the tables here. It is to Maiden Centre.
Q. You cannot tell the distance on one of the lines of
your road? A. No, sir.
Q. Very well, we will leave that out, and try to find it




203


somewhere else. What is the fare? A. To Maiden Centre, ten cents single fare, 8~ by ticket; and to the boundary
line between Everett and Maiden, it is 6~ cents by ticket.
Q. Are the conductors on that line allowed to sell tickets
in the cars, or are the passengers obliged to go to the office
for them? A. On the Malden and Medford lines they are
obliged to go to the office.
Q. Do you sell any commutation tickets upon these outside lines? A. None outside of Charlestown.
Q. So that, if a passenger from Maiden is riding in a car
through Charlestown, and happens to want to go in a Metropolitan car to tle 'Soutll End, you do not furnish him with
any commutation ticket at Scollay Square?  A. He can
procure a ticket on the Charlestown line.
Q. But he cannot, if he rides in from Malden in a Maiden
car? A. He can; they all have commutation tickets.
He could pay his fare down to Charlestown line, and then
procure a commutation ticket.
Q. Then he would have to pay another fare from Charlestown to Boston? A. By paying eleven cents, he will get a
commutation ticket, which is not much of any saving to him.
Q. The only way he can do that thing is by changing
cars when he gets to Charlestown, and taking another of
your cars into town, and then in that car he can procure a
commutation ticket? A. He can procure a commutation
ticket in the Malden car, in Charlestown.
Q. How? A. From the conductor.
Q. How much does it cost? A. Eleven cents for a single fare; by commutation, it is nine cents. He gets a commutation ticket from Charlestown to the South End for nine
cents.
Q. At what price can a passenger, starting from Medford
in one of your cars, procure a commutation ticket and ride
to the South End? How much must he pay from Medford
to the South End, by your arrangement? A. Well, if he
pays his fare down to Charlestown line by a Medford ticket,
that costs 8j cents; of course he has to pay the regular fare'




204


to that point; and then he gets a commutation ticket in
Charlestown, by paying nine cents. That is, he saves one
cent.
Q. Is it not 191 cents that he must pay in order to ride
from Medford to the South End? A. No, sir.
Q. Will you tell us why not? A. If he pays a single
fare, without a ticket, it is 10 cents.
Q. To where? A. To Boston or to Charlestown; and
then, if he buys a commutation ticket anywhere in Charlestown, he pays for that nine cents; that makes 19 cents. If
he chooses to give a ticket instead, paying 8- cents for the
ticket, he then pays nine cents additional to the 81 cents, for
a commutation ticket, which would be 171 cents.
Q. He has to change cars in Charlestown to do this?
A. He has to change at Scollay's Building and get into a
Metropolitan car.
Q. Don't he have to change in Charlestown? A. No,
sir.
Q. Can a passenger from Medford, in a Medford car,
without changing, get a commutation ticket in that car? A.
He can.
Q Do your conductors sell them to Medford passengers
in Medford cars? A. To Medford or any other passengers
in Charlestown. They don't sell them outside of the limits
of Charlestown. The commutation ticket does not apply
outside.
Q. I want to know whether the conductors of your Medford cars are allowed to sell commutation tickets tQ passengers from Medford in the Medford cars? A. They are
allowed to sell commutation tickets in Charlestown.
Q. To Medford passengers? A. It don't make any difference whether they are Medford passengers or Charlestown
passengers.
Q. They sell them to Medford passengers? A. If they
desire them; by paying for them they can have them.
Q. By paying these prices they can get them? A. By
*paying the 9 cents required, they are allowed to have corn



205
mutation tickets after.they get on to the Middlesex Road in
Charlestown; they, of course, have to pay their fare from
Medford or Maiden to Charlestown Neck.
Q. You have given me the Maiden line; now give me
the next line. Take your Medford line; in the first place,
the number of trips? A. That is the same as Maiden.
Q. The number of cars?   A. 17 trips; 4 or 5 cars.
Q. Distance of the trips? A. It is a little further than
the Maiden branch.
Q. What is the length of that trip? A. I could not
state accurately without the table; I can give you and the
committee the actual distances.
Q. State as nearly as you can. A. From Medford to
Boston, I think it is somewhere between 5 and 6 miles.
Q. What is the fare?   A. Tel cents single fare; 8A
by ticket.
Q. Give me your next line. A. The Winter Hill line.
Q. Number of trips? A. Thirty.
Q. Cars? A. Three or four.
Q. Which, 3 or 4; how many in bad weather?    A. It
would be three regular cars; then we generally have one
extra.
Q. What is the distance? A    From 3 to 41 miles.
Q. Fare?    A. Six and one-quarter cents by ticket.
Q. How much single fare? A. Ten cents.
Q. What is your next line? A. Union Square line.
Q. Trips? A. Thirty.
Q. Number of cars?   A. Every half hour; 3 or 4.
Q. Distance?   A.   Somewhere about 3- miles from
Boston.
Q   Fares? A. I believe, by ticket it is about seven
cents.
Q. What is the single fare? A. I believe it is eight
cents.
Q. What is the next line?  A. The Bunker Hill line.
Q. Number of cars there?  A. One hundred and four
trips daily.




206


Q How many cars? A. Eight or nine.
Q. Distance? A. About 21 miles.
Q. Fares? A. Five cents single fare.
Q. Any other line? A. That comprises all, except the
Lynn and Boston; they run over our track; they are not
operated by us.
Q. Do you run any car between midnight and four o'clock
in the morning, between Charlestown and Boston? A. At
the present time, we do not. We have run cars every hour
from midnight.
Q. When did you cease doing that? A. About a year
ago.
Q. Why? A. Because it didn't pay.
Q. Has not an omnibus line been licensed recently to run
there from midnight until morning? A. I believe a license
has been procured. I don't know that they have begun to
run.
Q. What number of horses had you last summer? A.
The number of horses varies from 250 to 275.
Q. Did you have 275 last summer? A. We might
have had at some one time.
Q. Did you increase your horses when winter came on?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. How many additional did you procure for the winter
travel? A. Somewhere in the vicinity-we had about
30 or 40 or 50 horses to do the extra work with.
Q. So you increased your stock of horses 40 or 50? A.
Upon the lines we have run we did. It makes about 500
trips a day that are run over the Middlesex Road.
Q. Describe where Mr. Hathorne's line of omnibuses
runs. A. Between Northampton Street, and I think the
foot of Salem Street in Charlestown-Main Street.
Q. Where is Salem Street? A. Near Craft's Corner,
a little beyond.
Q. How much beyond Charlestown Square? A. Perhaps half a mile.
Q. They run from a point half a mile beyond Charles



207
town Square up to Northampton Street, for five cents fare?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. How frequently are trips made by these omnibuses?
A. I don't know.
Q. Do you know whether they go twice a day?  A. I
know they generally go oftener than twice a day.
Q. How often do they run? A. I could not say whether
they go once in 5 minutes, once in 10 or once in 15. I never
had occasion to investigate that line.
Q. They go as often as from 5 to 15 minutes each way,
according to your best knowledge? A. I.believe they commence running at about 6 or 7 o'clock in the morning, and
run no omnibuses after 10 o'clock at night.
Q. I wish you would describe to the committee the arrangement )by which Charlestown passengers are supplied
with transfer tickets; explain the commutation system, in
full. A. The conductors are required to always have commutation tickets with them; and if a passenger wants a commutation ticket, he obtains it of the conductor, by paying the
7 or 9 cents. If he comes from Charlestown, it costs him
9 cents; if he purchases it in Haymarket Square, he pays
7 cents-8 cents.
Q. The conductors deliver these tickets to the passengers? A. They deliver a coupon to the passengers.
Q. The company selling and issuing those tickets and
the company delivering those tickets keep an account between themselves of all that are issued and delivered? A.
Yes, sir.
Q. Don't they also divide the amount received from passengers for those tickets, equally? A. They do.
Q. So that, if a passenger buys a commutation ticket in
a Middlesex car, the Middlesex Company retains half of
what he pays, and the other half goes to the Metropolitan?
That is the arrangement, is it not? A. I believe it is.
Q. How many of those tickets, on the average, are applied
for by passengers in your cars, coming into town? A. So
far as the Metropolitan Railroad commutation tickets are




208


concerned that are returned to us, that have been redeemed
by the Metropolitan Railroad Company, I believe it does not
average more than about 75 a day, out of some 12,000 passengers.
Q. How many of those tickets, on the average, are applied for and used by passengers moving from the South
End of Boston over to Charlestown? A. About the same
number.
Q. About 75 passengers either way, daily, use those
tickets? A. Yes, sir; but the applications for South Boston transfers are very much greater. Parties desiring to
come from Charlestown to the South End of Boston, anywhere this side of Northampton Street, take the omnibus
line, which takes them for five cents.
Q. But the applications to pass over the Metropolitan
Railroad are about 75 a day? A. Yes, sir.
Q. And the passengers you receive from the Metropolitan cars into your cars upon these transfer tickets are about
the same in number? A. Yes, sir, I should say so. To
South Boston it is very much larger.
Q. How far in Boston will one of these commutation tickets carry a passenger; how far up from Scollay Square?
A. In which car?
Q. In any Metropolitan car; how far can a passenger
ride who holds one of those tickets? A. Up to the line
that formerly divided Boston from Roxbury
Q. That is Northampton Street? A. Yes, sir, up as
far as the omnibuses go.
Q. I suppose your company regard it as their office to
supply the people of Charlestown and the neighboring towns
with means of access to Boston; that is your chartered
duty, as you regard it? A. Undoubtedly.
Q. I want to know how many trips you propose to run
from Charlestown to the South End; to Northampton Street,
in the first place, and then, secondly, to the Roxbury Postoffice? A. I should propose to run all the trips to the
Roxbury Post-office.




209


Q. You propose that every car that now passes over
your track into Boston shall make the trip to the Roxbury
Post-office? A. No, sir.
Q. Then 1 misunderstand you; explain your purpose?
A. My purpose is to continue all the Charlestown cars
proper, with the Winter Hill and perhaps Everett cars, to the
South End or to the Roxbury Post-office.
Q. That will make a car how frequently? A. Not
oftener than once in two and a half minutes; about that.
Q. Will they pass Scollay Square every two and a half
minutes? A   Yes, sir.
Q. And you propose to continue them to the Roxbury
Post-office? A. Yes, sir.
Q. At that rate? A. Yes, sir.
Q. (By the CHAIRMAN.)-How many miles would that
be, the whole length of the route? A. Somewhere from 5
to 6 miles, I should say.
Q. On a single track? A. On a single track; that is
from Charlestown Neck to the Roxbury Post-office.
Q. (By Mr. MUZzEY.)-How frequently, at the present
time, do tho cars over your track, including the Lynn and
Boston, move through Scollay Square? A. I should say
somewhere in the vicinity of two and a half minutes.
Q   Do you propose to increase the number of your cars,
or the number of your trips in from Charlestown? A. Not
much of any. We should increase them, if anything. It
would not be very much of an increase; of course it would
require double the amount of rolling stock. The distance
would be about twice as great as it is at the present time.
Q. Then you do propose to increase your trips? A. Not
much of any; we should not at the present time, and should
not at all unless the public required it; if they did, we
should most assuredly.
Q. It will take twice as long to make the trip; nearly
three times as long, will it not? A. No, sir; about twice
as long.
Q. You don't expect to fill a car running every two and
27




210


one-half minutes from Charlestown Square to the Roxbury
Post-office, with Charlestown passengers? A. No, sir.
Q. You have, then, something in view besides the accommodation of the Charlestown passengers? A. I should
expect to fill a car a day with Charlestown passengers who
would go to Boylston Street, or who might possibly go to
Dover Street.
Q. How frequently, in your judgment, is there a demand
for a car to pass-for the accommodation of Charlestown
people-from Scollay Square to the Roxbury Post-office?
How frequently in the day do you think passengers would
be furnished for such a trip as that? A. I don't think a
very large number of Charlestown passengers would be desirous of going to the Roxbury Post-office, or in that immediate vicinity, but I know there would be some.
Q. How many cars do you suppose you would have to
run in a day to accommodate them? A  I know there are
people in the vicinity of the Roxbury Post-office who desire
better facilities than they now have to get to Boston; those
we propose to accommodate.
Q. How many cars a day do you think it would be necessary
to run from Scollay Square to the Roxbury Post-office to
accommodate the people of Charlestown? A. Judging
from Mr. Hathorne's omnibuses, as they go through Washington StreetQ. He don't go to the Roxbury Post-office. A. He
carries a large number of passengers, and don't seem to unload much till they get beyond Boylston Street.
Q. Have I asked you anything about Hathorne's omnibuses? A. You asked me about passengers, and I have
to base my answer upon the observation I make on the street.
Q   Did you understand my question? A. You want
to know how many cars a day would be required to accommodate Charlestown passengers to the Roxbury Postoffice.
Q. Yes, sir. A. I have no means of judging of that
now.




211


Q   Do you suppose there are ten persons in the day, living il Charlestown, who desire to ride to the Roxbury Postoffice? A. I do, ten times that.
Q   Do you think there are one hundred? A. Yes, sir,
one thousand that desire to go further off than Northampton
Street, into the old Roxbury limits.
Q. I want you to state how many Charlestown people,
a day, you think desire to ride from Charlestown to the Roxbury Post-office? A. Not a great many, but to a greater
extent than ever before. People that have formerly lived in
Charlestown, and the friends of Charlestown people, instead
of living at the South Eud as they did formerly, now go to
points beyond-to the Highlands, which is far preferable as
a place of residence to the South End. I presume there are
in the vicinity of a thousand people who would require to
go, or desire to go, from Charlestowl to Roxbury, or to the
vicinity of the Roxbury Post-office. I don't know as they
would want to go to that particular spot, but within a quarter of a mile of it
Q. Have you any opinion on this subject?  Have you
any judgment as to how many people from Charlestown, a
day, desire to make the whole distance to the Roxbury Postoffice? A  Nothing but from general observation and
what parties have told me.
Q. Give your estimate; I don't care where you put it,
if you will answer the question; if you have an opinion,
state it. How many people from Charlestown desire to go
to the Roxbury Post-office, daily? A. I should judge there
would be in the vicinity of 800 or 900, perhaps 1,000.
Q. And you think, about the same number would want
to return from the Roxbury Post-office to Charlestown? ATo Charlestown and points of the North End where they
are not accommodated now by any railroad. There has
been a very general complaint from passengers that come
from the Boston and Maine Railroad Depot, and there are a
large number that desire to go there.
Q. How many Roxbury people, do you think, wish to be




212


carried from the Roxbury Post-office to Charlestown, daily?
A. I have no means of knowing that. I should judge, a like
number.
Q. About 800 or 900? A. Yes, sir.
Q. How many Charlestown passengers, do you estimate,
wish to be carried as far as Northampton Street in a day?
A. I should say 1,500 to 2,000.
Q. How many from that point do you suppose, of Boston
people, desire to go to Charlestown in a day? A. Perhaps
an equal number.
Q. Does that include the people who desire to go from
the Roxbury Post-office, or do you mean additional to that
number? A. I should say an additional number. But
then, I don't base my estimate upon the number of passengers that now ride in the cars. As everybody well knows, there
is a navy yard in Charlestown, and there are large numbers
of employes over there, and they are scattered all over the
suburbs of Boston. There are a great many that seek a residence at the South End and in the Highlands, but not so
many as would if there was communicationl.
Q. Your estimate is not made up from the existing state
of things, but what you think will in future exist? A. I
think it will exist almost immediately.
Q. How many of those mechanics in the navy yard are
there who live at the South End and desire horse-car facilities? A. A considerable number.
Q. What is the whole number employed there? A. It
varies from a few hundred to several thousand.
Q. How many are there over there now? A. I could
not state.
Q. Do you know what the average is? A. No, sir.
Q. You don't know whether there are 10, 20,,0 or 40 mechanics in the navy yard, who live at the South End? A  I
have no means of knowing at the present time. My opinion
is based upon the statements of the proprietors of tenement
houses at the South End and Roxbury.
Q. I understood you to say, the other day, that the great




213


majority of people to be carried from Charlestown desired to
go to tile stopping places, the stores about Winter and Summer Streets; that that was the great need. I understood
you correctly, did I not? A. To a great extent; the majority would want to go tlere.
Q. You only claim that you ought to reach about the
business centre of the city witl the Middlesex cars? A. So
far as the Charlestown travel is concerned, the great majority
would require to go near the centre, the places of resort in
the city.
[The cross-examination of the witness was here suspended
to allow the petitioners to put in additional evidence; thirty
minutes having been allotted them at the previous hearing
for that purpose.]
Mr. SHATTUCK.-We summoned thirty or forty intelligent
gentlemen from the South End and from Charlestown, with a
view to putting 1n evidence showing the necessity of this line
that we ask for, and then we propose to call attention to our
petitions. There are about 5,000 petitioners from Charlestown and 2,500 from the South End of Boston, representing
many of the most intelligent and promising business men,
and I think if the committee think on the whole we are not
to have more than thirty minutes, I shall simply call our
witnesses and state that we have them here and are ready to
put them on. I don't think I shall put in any more additional evidence, but leave the case as it is.
The CHAIRMAN.-The Chair understood that the thirty
minutes allowed by the committee was satisfactory to the
gentleman.
Mr. SHATTUCK.-It is satisfactory with the views the committee have as to the hearing. We should like to put in a
large amount of testimony coming from persons of weight
and character and sound judgment, and their testimony and
judgment upon this matter would undoubtedly be of value to
the committee and be of value to us; but we put oil a few
o ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~.
o




214


men, who have stated it. From my knowledge of the limitation the committee are subject to as to time, it seems to me
it is not worth while to go into it.
The CHAIRMAN.-Tle Chair assumes that any new testimony would be cumulative.
Mr. CHILD -We have had but two witnesses from the
South End and two from Charlestown. We don't want it
understood these are all the witnesses we could get. We
have a list of witnesses, all of whom would be cumulative testimony. We desire to have it understood that we are ready
to present the witnesses, and not that those we have brought
here are all that have interest enough to come and testify.
The CHAIRMAN.-The Chair understands we could devote
a week or more, and have all the time occupied with testimony.
Mr. SHATTUCK. —In that view of it, we will waive the thirty
minutes and give it to the other side.
Q. (By Mr. MUZZEY to WITNESS.)-I was on the point
of asking you where you considered the present business
centre of Boston to be? A. Boylston Street or Eliot Street.
Q. Do you mean to imply that you think our passengers
moved from the South End would be satisfied if we dropped
them at Boylston Street, on the plea that that was the centre of the city? A. I presume a great many of them would.
Q. Would the majority? A. From the observations I
have made upon the Metropolitan cars, and I have ridden
upon them considerably, upon the Tremont Street line twothirds at least of the passengers leave on the arrival of the
car at Park Street. This generally, I think, will be found
to be the case.
Q. You would not venture to put the present centre of
Boston any further south than Boylston Street? A. I
should say the business centre was between Winter Street
and Eliot Street.
Mr. SHATTUCK.-By business centre you mean in refer



215


ence to horse railroad travel, or in reference to what kind of
business?
Mr. MUZZEY.-I want to find out what the witness meant,
whenl he said the people of Charlestown were left now at
what was the former business centre of Boston, whichever
was in his mind.
WITNESS -At the time the tracks were originally located
round Scollay's Building; I should consider now that West
Street would be equivalent to what Scollay's Building was 15
years ago.
Q. In the interest of Charlestown passengers, for you are
carriers of Charlestown passengers, in the interest of those
passengers? A. We are carriers of Boston passengers as
well.
Q. At present, you don't carry many? A. We do; a
great many from Boston.
Q. Between Charlestown and Boston you are common
carriers of passengers; from Cliarlestown and the other
towns in that direction, you move passengers into Boston
and from Boston to those towns?  A. Yes, sir; and from
the Boston and Maine Railroad.
Q. Speaking in the interest of those passengers, would
you be contented if you moved your cars down Cornhill, and
then turned up Washington Street and went through Boylston, and came down over Tremont Street? A. As a general thing, the Charlestown people would be accommodated,
but the South End and Roxbury people would not be.
Q. So far as satisfying Charlestown people goes, in your
judgment that would be a reasonable thing? A. In a
measure. The great majority would be satisfied to go as far
as Boylston Street.
Q. That would be all you would be bound to do for them,
if you had the opportunity? A. That, I think, would satisfy them for some years to come.
Q. Then, if that is the case, you have something else in
view besides accommodating Charlestown? A. I have in
view trying to accommodate petitioners that have presented




216


themselves on the part of the South End of Boston, Wards 10
and 11, and Roxbury.
Q. You are not going to do this on the ground of humanity, or because you want to please anybody? A. To a
certain extent it is on the ground of humanity.
Q. You feel that you would make a little more profit in
the streets of Boston if you ran beyond Boylston Street?
A. I don't have any such feeling.
Q. Don't you look for that? A. I don't have any such
feeling. We can make very easily 7 3-10 per cent. Anybody that knows anything about Charlestown connections
knows the experience we have had the last few years, breaking down ponderous draws, etc.; and, notwithstanding all
that, we have been able to earn between seven and eight per
cent., and add very materially to our rolling stock and equipment, provide additional stables, build repair shops, etc.,
which have all been built from the earnings of the road.
Q. Then it is not to repair the fortunes of the Middlesex
Road that you want to get upon the paying part of the Metropolitan Road; you are doing pretty well already? A. So
far as we can we accommodate the people of Charlestown.
Q. Do you put it that you desire to go to the South End
or beyond Boylston Street, for the sake of pleasing the South
End of Boston? A. To a certain extent, I do.
Q. Do you need to go away out to the Roxbury Postoffice for the purpose of pleasing the people of the South End
of Boston? A. I desire to answer that question in my own
way. To a certain extentQ. Answer the question, please, and don't make an argument. A. If I can't be allowed to explain, I shall say yes,
I do.
Q. Now you can explain. A. There are, to my personal
knowledge, many people desirous of going to the Highlands
daily; people that are visiting back and forth and throughout the entire limit of the South End. Tlat is done to a
great extent. Tile Charlestown people, the great majority
of them, would undoubtedly be satisfied, so far as they tlhem



217


selves are concerned, with a point perhaps near Boylston or
Eliot Street. Thle Soutlh End pe;,ple and the Highland people are desirous of further accommodation. There is an
avenue nlow unoccuplied, and if we can lbe allowed to lay
tracks in tllat avenue to tile post-office in Roxbliry, as asked
for, I hlave not thle least questioll ill my own minid but that,
within. three years, the fare upon the Middlesex Road will be
three celts instead oi' iive, alnd that we will )be able to declare dividends that will be satisfactory to our stockholders.
Q   Why do you stop there?  A. So far as railroads
are concerned,-llorse railroads particularly, —I have always
considered it necessary to get tile public upon the side of the
corporatioll. So initimately are horse railroads connected
with the public, tllat it is always safe for the parties having
managemelnet of' the railroads to rather anlticipate the public,
and1 take a step a little lefore the public. If some other corporations had dole the same thing, perhaps it would have
saved the trouble that is nlow made  And, furthermore, I
know the pulblic are desirous of going at as cheap a rate as
possible.  If railroad companies cal make.a reasonable
profit for their stockholders, and charge three cents for a single fare, thlere would plrobably be twice the amount of riding
that theie is now, eveni froin Clarlestown to the South End.
Th'le oject of the petition is to accommodate the people of
the Sotlthl Elld and Charlestown; to give them accommodation.
Q   As I understand your testimony or your argument,
whichever it may le called, you mean to say, if you could get
this Metropolitanll ield to run over, you would make so much
mlloley thllt you would be able to reduce your fares 40 per
cent '  A  I don't consider it the Metropolitan field. They
hlave Harlrisoll Avenue and Washington Street and Tremont
Street, and they should be content.
Q. You think, if you can get what you ask for, you could
inake so nluch profit in the use of it as to.be able to reduce
your fiares 40 per cent. in three years?  A. Yes, sir. I
should mlake the reduction before I made the profit.
28




218


Q. That is the way you value the opportunity there?
A. To a certain extent.
Q. Have you llad ally witness lhere from  as far out as
the Roxbury Post-office, who was ready to say there was a
demand that you should run your cars thlere? A. Yes, sir,
a number of tlhem.
Q. Livillg outt as far as that? A. Yes. sir, and beyoind.
Q. AWNhy don't you run beyond? A. Perhaps we slhall
do so, if the public require it.
Q. Whly don't you run to Brooklille anld Dorchester?
A. We have not been requested to do so.
Q. I thought you said people fal' beyond hltd made that
request?  A. I (lid not say fatr beyond. I said we llad
people who lived beyond, who were ready to testify that thlere
was a demand for our cars tllere.
Q. Very well, put it beyond; wihy don't you go as far
as anybody waints youi to go?  A. I al not alle to say but
what we would be willing to go bleyoznd, if the committee
and the legislature thillk it is important we slhould.
Q. Does the facte tllat it don't pay thle Metropolitan to
run beyond there, have anything to do witlh you!r stolping'
there in your petition? A. As a general thling, thlere are
no railroads in Boston that hlave, beei sources of profit
beyond a radius of three or fonr imiles from City Hall.
Q. You pult it about three the other day?  A. Betweeln
three and four.
Q. You put it about thlree to tile committee the other (lay,
on the general law ' A. I believe I did limit it to three
miles; of course the population is increasing in the sullburbs.
Q   Yotu don't mean, then, to go as far as anybody asks
you to go, but only as far as it will pay? A. I don't think
the public would justify us in going so tfar beyond that it
would not be any advantage to thle public. The pullic want
the most accommodation they can get, and they wait the ~
roads to run through thickly-populated sections, witlh a view
to gettinig a cheap rate of fare. The Trcmlolt Street a(nd
Washington Street lines are obliged to pay a portion of the




219


expenses of the lines to Dorchester, and to a certaiii extent
to Brookline and J amaica Plain and East Boston.Q. WX-hen the Middlesex Coinpanly tran~sfers its attention
fromn Charlestowni and the people west of the Charles Riverto the ~,-oith End anid Highlanid people, it is not their, purpose to Serve outflying comm11unlities beyond Boston.?  You
don't propose to do anything for the accommodation. of the
outlying, non-payillg coiniiinuiities, south of Boston, that the
Mfetr-opolitan now run their car's to? A, T1he people of the
South End heave reqested uts to estend tile rul. of our cars,
and are here with petitions to that effect. We are seeking
ntot only to accommodate our own patr'ons bi)Lt the people in
other sections5 of the city.
Q. State whether you contemplate a transfer of' your
duties as, a railroad corlporationl to tile South End of Boston
from Charlestown Y  A. I inost certainly intend to accommodate the peopile of'Charlestowxn, and not transfer my duties;
1 intend to still do iny diuty to the peolple of Charlestown,
and at; dic same tulle tile additional duty of accommo~ting
l)eople (at tile S~outth End.
Q. IDo you still adhere to the sentiments you expressed
in that documeint [-showing witness "1 Remonstrance of Metropolitall and Middlesex Railroad Companies, presented to thle
leg-islature of' 186 —,4"]?  A. Some of them. I do.
Q. H~ow long agro Was that writtell by you? A. Eight
yeats, ago; in164
Mr. MUZZEY.-We desire to pult in this document as a
whlole, and will try to furnish tile committee with copies.
W1TNES~,,,,.-The Metropolitain has a large supply of it J)robably, as thie documient was written for them and they paid for
the writing. It was submitted to them, and gone over with
very carefuilly, line by line, audl suggestiolls were made by
various directors of the M~etropolitan Road.
Q. (By Mr. Sii.,rrUCK.)  It was prepared for the Metrolpolitaln Road, and p~aidi for by them, and was not paid for by
aiiy other company Y A.. No, sir.




220


Q. (By Mr. MUZZEY.)      Was it not submitted to the
directors of the Middlesex?  A. Only for signature.
Q. They signed it at your solicitation, without reading
it?  A. They signed it witliout reading it, but tile Metropolitan were very particular to make some alterations.
Q. You say that you adliere to some of the sentiments
contained inl that docrument; do you still hold to the views
therein expressed about tlhe interference of one company
with the proper field of another?
Q.   (By the CHAIRMAN.)     The committee would be
pleased to have the pages mentioned in which the witness
differs from his former views.
Mr. MUZzEY.-I sliall then, 1 fear, liave to take up another
day with the examination.  I shoull b)e very glad, however,
to go into it.
Tlie CHAIRMAN.-TIle committee will waive the question,
then.
Q.  (By Mr. Muzzy-Y.)   Does it occur to yotl that tlle
peopl of' Cambridge suffer rather more tllanl'the peop)le of
Charrestown in llot bleilg brouglht to thle b)usilless centre of
Boston?  A. They sufler as mucll.
Q. A little more, don't they; they are left at the Revere
House, and you are brought to Scollay Square? A. Thlere are
a large 'number that get out of tlhe cars anJd go upl Temple
Street. Their distance, then, is about the same as with us.
One thinog tllat llas brougllt tills state of tllings, and made
the Charlestown people more desirous of this than thle
Cambridge people are, is tlhe fact that thlcy have a lihle of
oniiiibuses runnilng from Charlestown to the South End, a
through line, and the)y of course feel thle le(d of the hlorse
cars doing thlat business, as niiie-tenths of the people prefer
to ride in a hlorse car ratlier tllan in an oinlibiis, going in tihe
same direction to the same point; as far as the oimnibus line is
concerned, it is a fact tliat thle Metropolitaii procured, iIn a
great measure, the extension of tllat line to Bostoin.
Q. The people of Camlbridge have niot even an omnibus




221


line to bring them to the South End? A. No, sir; but I
don't know how soon they may have one.
Q. Your view is, tlhat a commulity that (ioes llave all
omnibus line, alnd is already provided with some public conveyance runining directly through to the South End, is
worse off than a community wlhich lhas none? A. They
feel thle loss of thle accommodation morne.
Q. Tell!ne 1how they can suffer so mucll when they have
a conveyance?  A. Tlleir is a mutual sufiering onl the part
of the public, and the companly suffers itself. So far as the
omnibus line is concerned, it does niot accommodate, nor
does it pretend to accomrmodate, thle people of Charlestowl.
They run to about the centre of tIhe city in a longitudinal
direction. Tlley run no onmnibuses after ten o'clock; only
at tlhe hlours that are most 1,ayinig, and take the cream of the
travel ill Charlestown anld Washinlgton Street.
Q. You want to get rid of these olnlibuses? A. That
is one tllilng; but I didn't have in view the getting rid of
tlhese omnibuses by this petitiotn. The ominibuses are confined to Washington Street. We shall not come in contact
witlh them at any l)oint; they will accommodate people off
from one particiular line to a great extent. We don't ask to
go into Waslhington Street at all-olly for 3,000 feet in
Tremont Street and tllrougl Shawmut Avenue, and we come
in conltact with no omnibuses and nJo other road.
Q. You say you lhad a negotiation with thle president and
directors of thie Metropolitan Road about this matter; did
you urge upon tlhem, tlhat in your belief, it would be an end
of thle omummibuses if this thiing was done?  A. I urged
upon tlenm tlhe importance of running a through line of cars
between Clharlestown Neck and Northampton Street.
Q. For tlle purpose of killing off the omnibuses?  A.
No, sir.
Q. Didim't you urge that as an argument? A. If you
will allow me to state itQ. Do state thlat. A. One of the directors suggested




~22


it would be a better course to buy thle omnibuses, and lihe
wenlt and called upon Mr. Hathorue.
Q. My question is, what you urged upon anylbody in
authority?  A. I didn't urge it; it was urged by thle Metropolitan Company to buy the omnibuses.
Q. I inquire what you yourself urged upon them. Did
you or not ever present, as an argument in favor of thlis
schleme, to tlhe Metropolitan Road, the idea tlhat it would kill
off Hathorne's line of omnlibuses? A. In case they run
cars, as they proposed, it would; but this does not touclh
Washington Street where he rulns his omInibuses.
Q. (By the CHAIRMTAN.) IS it niot legitimate to drive
off omnibuses or anything else in carrying out what is for
the interest of your corporation; omnibuses or any other
public conveyance or vehicle? A. To a certain extent it
is, if we can give the ptublic all thle accommodation they ask
for, and satisfy the pull)lic we can carry them clheaper than
to have the force divided.
Q. Do you or llot know that tlhis room could be filled with
witnesses fromn Cliarlestown who would testify that a great
benefit would bIe conferred upon Charlcstown by hlaving this
line taken off?  A. I hlave no doubt of' it.
Q. (By Mr. MUzzEY.),How would it be with the people
who are ab)le 1low to ride in thle omnibuses for five cents to
the South End; would tlhey like to lhave tlhe omnibuses takeni
off?  A. I can't speak for the people who ride in the omnnibuses  It would deprive a good many of a through communication whiclh is desirable.
Q. Wlhat supports these omllibuses? A. The public.
Q. If they olbject to tlhem, whly do thley ride inl tlleln?
A. Tliey have anl advantage, a very decided advantage, over
any railroad company, from the fact that they make a througl
line, and the passenlgers in the horse-cars are uniable to reach
the places of amusement, the thleatres, iialess they take thle
omnibuses.
Q. How much heyomld Scollay Square do such people
wish to go? A. What people?




223


Q. The people that you speak of-thle people that visit
tlie places of amusement. They don't go above Boylston
Street?  A. Up to nearly IHollis Street.
Q. What place of amusement do you find up as far as
Hollis Street?  A. The St James Theatre is almost opposite Hollis Street, and very many of the halls are soutl of
Hollis Street.
Q. State to tle committee just tlie route of the omnibus
liie,-llow far to tlhe South Eld does it go?  A. They go
to Nortllampton Street in Boston-on Washington Street, its
entire lengtl, botl ways.
Q. Did you take part in an effort, in 186:, to convince the
l)oard of railroad commissioners, of which Judge Redfield
was chairman, against the policy and justice of allowing one
railroad to run over, with its own motive power, tlie track of
another?  A. I tried to adhere very strictly to my instructions from my client. I was counsel for tle Metropolitan
Road
Q. And for tlle Middlesex?  A.  Yes, sir.
Q. You were then a director in tlie Middlesex? A. I
believe I was, but I was not acting particularly as a director
then; more particularly as counsel, and I very naturally
acted more earnestly and zealously for thle corporation that
paid me the most money.
Mr. MUZZEY.-I desire to put in the evidence taken before
the street railway commission appointed by the legislature,
session of 1863-64.
Q. The Union Railway Company of Cambridge makes its
monley wllere-on what part of its route? A. In carrying
passengers?
Q. Where, sir y  A. 1 sllould say between the Revere
House and Harvard Square.
Q. Your own company makes its seven per cent. where?
A   In Cliarlestown, from Somerville
Q   Wlere is the profitable portion of tile Metropolitan
Road?  A. Between Northampton Street and the northerly
depots.




224
Q. Take Northampton Street to Scollay Square; don't
you call that a profitable part of their line? A. It may be;
but I believe, as was testified to in a former hearing, tlat tile
most profitable part is the depot line.
Q   Don't you think the Neck line is a profitable one?
A. I should judge so.
Q. Take the cars that run between Northampton Street
and Scollay Square; don't you think that they are run over
the most profitable part of the route, leaving out the depots?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Tile Middlesex Road lias some burdens upon it of
outlying lines to sustain? A. Not to amount to anything.
Q. Why?. Because you don't do it?  A. The Malden
pays nothing, and we get it for nothing; the Medford is not
a source of expense, provided I can discontinue fromn November to April.
Q. You are aware in tile case of tile Cambridge Road,
that beyond Harvard Square, il Watertown and Arlingtonl
the road is not profitable; that they have to support those
brancles by their profit from their trunk line to Harvard
Square? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Is not the Metropolitan placed in tlle same way? A.
The Metropolitan has a greater burden upon it tlan any
other line in Boston; then, tlhe Cambridge, I should say, was
next to that; the Middlesex would comiie next, and the South
Boston next.
Q. What did yopi say the profitable field of the Metropolitan is? A. You asked me if between Northampton
Street and Cornhill was not profitable, and 1 said it was.
Q. Where is tleir most profitable field, in your judgment? A. Between tlhe depots and tlhe Norfolk House.
Q. That includes the line from Northampton Street to
Scollay Square?  A. It does, upon Waslligton Street.,
Q. The Cambridge Road makes its money, you say, between the Revere House and Harvard Square? A. Yes,
sir; I presume also tlat tlle Nortli Avenue line is a profitable
line, aud I should judge that they make some money from




225


the Mount Auburn line a part of the year. They charge a
large fare. Taking the fare into account, I don't see how
any of their lines can be anything other than profitable.
They charge from 100 to 200 per cent. more than any other
road in Boston.
Q. You say the Metropolitan suffers more burden from
outlying lines? A. It has more in point of distance; more
unprofitable routes than any other road.
Q. Then next comes the Union, as I understand you?
A. With regard to miles.
Q. Then the Middlesex, and then the South Boston,
which is better off than aly of the rest? A. The South
Boston is all profitable; it is a very short line and continuous.
Q. You could not do much with your outlying lines, if
you were to be deprived of your profit on the trunk line?
A. What I have considered is this: that the people from
these outlying surrounding localities should pay what it costs
to transport the passengers. Those that ride between here
and Malden, or between here and Medford, there is no reason
in the world why they should not pay a large fare, and there
is no reason why a person at the South End should be
required to pay twice as much as it costs to carry him, to
accommodate passengers at Jamaica Plain and Brookline.
Q. The fact itself is, you could not sustain yourselves as
a corporation, unless you had the benefit of your trunk line,
-if the profits of that were taken away, you could not keep
up? A. At the present prices we could not.
Q. It is true of the Metropolitan; if you take away its
paying lines, it cannot maintain its outlying lines? A. That
could be remedied by a readjustment of fares.
Q. As things are now, that is true? A. Yes, sir.
Q. If you took away its trunk line, its profitable part,
then it could not maintain its outlying lines? A. Yes, sir.
Q. That is true of every road? A. To a certain extent.
Adjourned to Tuesday at 10 A. M.
29




226


TUESDAY, March 12.
Mr. BATES, of counsel for remonstrants, stated that General Burt, postmaster of Boston, was present, and asked leave
to examine him out of order, as his engagements were pressing, and he was obliged to leave the city this afternoon. No
objection being made by the counsel for the petitioners, the
chairman said the committee would hear him.
TESTIMONY OF GENERAL WILLIAMI L. BURT.
To Mr. BATES.-I reside at 702 Tremont Street; have
been postmaster between five and six years; was connected
with the Suffolk Horse Railroad from 1859 to 1863, and,
while connected with that road, I made the subject of horse
railroads a study, to some extent, within this city and in
other cities. I believe I have examined these roads in every
city of the United States where they exist, except San Francisco. Since my connection with the Suffolk Road terminated, I have had occasion to be more or less familiar with
the horse railroads in this and other cities, in connection
with the post-office department. Knowing their arrangements for running and their fares, I endeavored to make an
arrangement with the horse railroads in other cities, similar
to the one we have here, for the transportation of the mails
and mail-carriers, which we thought of very great advantage,
and I think it ought to be adopted everywhere where horse
cars run. In regard to a comparison of the horse railroads
of Boston with those of other cities, in the first place, the
personnel of the road-that is, the drivers and conductorsour drivers and conductors are infinitely superior to those
of New York; they are a better class of men, in every way.
The same thing applies to Philadelphia. In Baltimore, they
are more under control. We have better cars than either of
these cities. There is more expense in refitting and refurnishing the cars; they are neater, cleaner, more orderly. This
grows out of the necessity of the case in those cities, in many
instances; but there is quite an expenditure upon the cars




227


for the comfort of the passengers; there is none whatever in
the city of New York. The idea of comfort does not enter
into their calculation. It is merely a question how to carry
the immense crowds that are there offered. On such a day
as this it is simply impossible to carry them. Here it has
not got quite to the point of being an impossibility, and consequently the officers of the road are able to pay a little attention to the condition of the cars and stock. Taking it
generally, the management of the roads is superior here to
any of those cities, with tlhe single exception of Baltimore,
where the cars are under the control of one man. Colonel
Tyson has the entire charge of the horse cars of the city, the
cars being run by a company, and paying a license to the
city, which is a certain proportion of their receipts, there being no competition, and all being really one institution. He
is a very superior executiveSman, was formerly connected
with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and he has a control
of his men that I presume is unequalled. It is unequalled in
the city of Washington, decidedly. You would suppose that
the horse cars on Pennsylvania Avenue, in Washington, would
certainly be superior, but they bear no comparison with our
cars. They are dirty; they are crowded double what ours
are; the rule is that a majority of the passengers are standing on the trips between the Capitol and the Treasury Building. When you get to New Orleans, you find a different kind
of car. Theyr un a one-horse or one-mule car, as a rule.
They have some cars with a double deck, carrying passengers above, and these are drawn by two horses. The cars
are run slowly, the city is perfectly level, and, to a great extent, there is a uniform way of doing the business. There
are no conductors on the one-horse cars; the fare is placed
in a box, and the driver does not handle it in any instance.
On the double-deck cars, they have a conductor who goes
through the cars and goes above. The climate enables them
to use those cars substantially the year round. The experiment was tried here, but the grades in the streets were so
great that it was found impossible to build a car strong




228


enough to do that work without making it so heavy as to require four horses, and the idea of driving a car with four
horses through the streets of Boston, except when they are
blocked with snow, is, of course, not to be thought of.
In regard to crowding the cars, Philadelphia has less centering of traffic than any other of the cities. On Pennsylvania Avenue, the cars are crowded, going to and from the
Capitol, at nearly all hours of the day, especially morning
and evening. In New York, the whole car system is a
centralizing one, running down into the lower part of the
city, and from there up. Brooklyn is situated to a great
extent in the same way, the cars coming down to the ferries,
and from there out. But here we have the same thing in
another shape. Our deep-water wharves are all at the
North End; our heavy business is at the centre and North
End of the city. For a long tiae our centre of business was
State Street and below, and up to 1866 there was the greatest desire, on the part of both steam and horse roads, to get
into the centre of this city. The city proper at that time
extended out as far as the Roxbury line. The people had
begun to move above Dover Street for residences, and the
whole object of riding did not seem to be accomplished, unless
they could get through to the place where their business was.
In that respect our city has undergone a very great changeprobably a more marked change than any other city in the
United States. While in New York the retail business has
gone up town, so that Broadway, even as far up as Union
Square, is occupied by stores, the heavy business still
remains below Wall Street. The moneyed business is done
at Wall Street and in that vicinity, and the traffic down
town is still immense. But it is not so here. The travel is
distributing itself over a great distance in this city. The
stores that were below Milk Street six or seven years ago
have gone above. Franklin Street, which was filled with
residences a short time ago, Summer Street, which was all
private residences, Avon Place, and so on, extending toward
Boylston. Street-a large part of this territory is filled with




229


wholesale stores of a certain class, leaving Milk Street
entirely for other purposes. We have reached a point where
our streets are really inadequate to the wants of the public.
Probably there is no city in the world that is more crowded,
between the hours of eleven in the morning and five in the
afternoon, than the space between Scollay's Square and
Boylston Street. The sidewalks are so full that you can
hardly walk; the streets are full of vehicles and teams, and
it is almost impossible, at the hours the trains are leaving,
from three to five o'clock, to get through the city with any
speed. Now, in New York, they have gone through what we
are going through here. They have had the same trouble
about want of accommodations  They supposed that it was
the railroads, but they have found that it was not; that it
was the growth of the city, which they could not control,
and that nothing could furnish accommodations equal to
the demand. They have abandoned the idea. All the
horse cars they could run would not furnish sufficient
accommodations. They have tried the scheme of an elevated railroad, and now such men as Henry Clews propose
to subscribe five millions of dollars and furnish twenty
millions in ten days froml the time a charter is granted
them, to build a railroad under-ground from Bowling Green
up. We have not got quite to that; but we have got clear
up to the capacity of horse cars. The time when they will
be less crowded (no matter who runs them) is past. It is
simply a question how long they will be endured. There
were institutions in the city that foresaw this condition of
things, and they are profiting by their foresight to-day.
The Cambridge Road never came beyond the squarp where
it is now. Originally they came to the top of the hill,
switched and turned back. That was more inconvenient
than to go round, and now the cars of that road come to
Bowdoin Square and make the circuit on tracks that I laid
myself. When the Suffolk Road came in and built those
tracks in the centre of the city, it furnished a means necessary for every road but one in the city. The Cambridge




230


Road furnishes all the accommodation that is wanted. They
bring their passengers into the city. A man living at the
Revere House can readily walk to his place of business.
The cars are back, out of the way, reasonably. They will
be encroached upon very shortly, because those avenues
must be widened. I recollect very well when Cambridge
Street was a narrow and inconvenient street. Since then it
has been widened at the upper part; but, notwithstanding
that, it was found necessary to put the cars around through
Green Street and Chambers Street. That was very violently
opposed, but it gives them a convenient outlet to both East
Cambridge and Cambridge. That travel is accommodated.
We shall have to do the same thing at the South End. The
cars must be stopped somewhere near Boylston Street. If
the city will take off a strip from the Common sufficient to
give us a wide track there, we can get along with it; but
the idea of running the Norfolk House cars, as they are run
to-day, down Cornhill and up Washington Street, is simply
absurd. There is no reason for it. The people may say,
" We want to be accommodated," but there is not a person
in the city who is not perfectly accommodated where the
Boston and Albany Railroad comes in, and the horse cars
can furnish the same accommodation. To be sure, some
will say, " We want to be carried to the doors of our places
of business," but the city is too large for that. We are no
longer a country village, and we are growing, I am satisfied,
beyond all comparison. I think I can say, from my relations to the city, that its business has doubled in the last
five years  Its business increases faster than its population.
There is a larger amount of business done in this city, in
proportion to its population, than in any city in the United States, not excepting New York. Boston to-day, with
her 250,000 population, gives a larger return in the PostOffice department than Philadelphia, with 900,000 population. That has not come up in*a day, to be sure, but it
has doubled in three years. We collect as many letters
from the street boxes now, in thirty days, as we did in twelve




231


months four years ago, and the mails have increased from
ten to twenty-five tons daily.
The central part of the city is so situated, from the shape
of the hill here, tlat it is impossible to do anything with the
streets as they are. There are two remedies, apparently,
either of which is expensive. The first is, to open Tremont
Street directly across the city, taking this extension of Shawmut Avenue into Tremont Street, and carrying it northerly
ilto Sudbury Street across Charles River, over Charlestown
Neck across Mystic River and through to Malden and Melrose. The difficulty with us to-day is, that our city runs
towards the south almost entirely. I can start from my
office, and in ten minutes walk to three post-offices-Charlestown, East Cambridge and Somerville. They are all business parts of Boston, and yet in each of these cities the
streets are narrow and inconvenient; and I do not know that
they will ever be widened, or anything done to improve
them, until the cities are consolidated. To-day there is no
communication with East Cambridge, except through Leverett Street. Somerville has increased fourfold in three or
four years, and the travel must be accommodated in some
way. Yet the city of Boston is lying perfectly idle, doing
nothing about it, for the reason that their interests are all in
the other direction. If there was a broad avenue from the
north end of the city, extendiingin each direction, there could
be a line of horse cars put upon that street, going and coming, that could fuirnish greater accommodation than can be
got in any other way. If the city 'will do that, the people
can be accommodated. To begin with, it would require the
widening of Tremont Street some twenty feet, at least, from
the burying-ground, by the Museum, down to Scollay Square.
I think it should be done to-day. It ought to have been
done ten years ago. Whether it will be done or not, depends
upon the interest the city takes in it. Going north, this
avenue should be extended out of the city, and horse cars put
into it. A horse car is not an obstruction. It is a means of




232


carrying more people, with less friction, through a large city
than any other scheme that has been devised.
Until this is done, the South Boston cars should stop at
Church Green. If there are any people who do not believe
that the tide of trade is pressing in to parts of the city that
were formerly used for other purposes, let them look at the
churches which have been converted, within the last few years,
into places of business, and those which are now being removed for the same purpose. It began with Dr. Channing's
church in Federal Street; then the Cathedral property at the
corner of Franklin Street, and what is now the extension of
Devonshire Street; and from that the sites of five, six or
seven of the largest churches, used by the wealthiest congregations in the city, have been torn down and their places
filled by stores and warehouses. The Old South will have to
go next. It may stand for a short time longer, but the
change is inevitable. The reason that the South Boston
Railroad did not come into Summer Street was because the
citizens who occupied houses in that street objected to it.
To-day there is hardly a private residence on the street.
South Boston would be abundantly accommodated by coming
there; Roxbury would be abundantly accommodated by
coming to Boylston Street; Cambridge is well accommodated where they are, and I do not see that Charlestown
would not be abundantly accommodated by coming where
they formerly did, to Haymarket Square. The necessity for
riding up to Scollay Square has decreased infinitely within
a few years. If the city would furnish these avenues, as it
would do immediately after Charlestown and Boston were
united, we never should have such a lack of accommodations
between the two cities as we have to-day, and you would not
see property within two miles and a half of State Street selling for ten cents in one direction and for five dollars in the
other.
To the CHAIRMAN.-I have bought land myself, within the
last year and a half, and I guess within the last six months,
in Somerville, within two miles and a half of the city, for ten




233


cents a foot. I think that land can be bought to-day, in some
portions of Somerville, for ten cents a foot, high land, well
situated and supplied with gas and water. I know of no
reason for it, except that it extends outside of the limits of
the city corporation. That is all, apparently.
Now, on the Suffolk Road, coming from East Boston,
there was the same pressure to get up into the centre of the
city, to come to the places of amusement, the theatres,
churches, schools, and the public library. All these things
are scattering now. To-day, you will find public buildings
going up at the corner of Dover Street and above. There is
the Odd Fellows' Hall, a large, handsome building, erected
on land that was never occupied even by a shanty before,
and never paid a tax for any earthly purpose until that
building, which is one of the finest buildings in the city, was
put there. The same rule applies in every direction, not
only on the Back Bay, where lands have been made, and
made the fortunes of those who made them, but in every
direction.  These institutions are separating.  We are no
longer a centralized village; we are growing into an extended city, each part of which will have its own business.
Look at Tremont Street, just over the railroad bridge. It
has been devoted for years to shops for mechanical purposes.
Mr. Paul's large establishment was there. Within a year
those shops will all be removed. They are putting up large,
handsome stores. The business of the city, in a permanent
shape, is going up into those localities. Houses on Tremont
Street, that were worth $10,000 or $14,000 ten years ago,
are worth $35,000 or $40,000 to-day.
To Mr. BATES.-There is- no city in the United States
where the ladies' shopping streets are so crowded as they are
here. They have centralized that business to such an extent
that they will be eventually driven out. They cannot do it
in the way they have attempted to do it. You might as well
attempt to do the business of New York at Stewart's old
store down by City Hall Park. He moved his store to the
30




234


upper part of the city, and now he is below the city. There
are immensely large retail stores clear above Union Square.
To the CHAIRMAN.-Until there is an avenue through the
city, I would leave the people, who come in on the various
horse railroad lines, at the points I have mentioned. I will
state to the committee just what I would do. The people
who come in on the steam railroads have no communication
from one side of the city to the other. We have neglected
our duty in that respect. Philadelphia has spent about a
million and a half of dollars in putting a track around the
city for steam cars; Baltimore is being tunnelled to furnish
the same accommodation. Boston has the means of furnishing it easily, but she has neglected to do so. If you want to
go from Lowell to New York by the way of Boston, by any
train, you cannot get a through ticket and your baggage
checked through. There is no facility whatever, in this
respect, for passengers from Lowell, Manchester, Concord, or
allny town on that line or on the line of the Boston and Maine.
On the other hand, cars are run from Lowell through to
Stonington, to the boats; they are run to Framingham, to
connect with the Boston and Albany line to New York.
Unless this matter is looked after, there will be a cross-cut
made that will take this travel and divert it from Boston. I
would furnish a certain amount of accommodation by horsecars, but I would not attempt to run a line of cars through
the city to meet the wants of other parts of the city.
To the CHAIRMAN.-The city of Boston, when it has a
million of inhabitants, will have all these cities around her
consolidated, and then there must be two or three avenues
running north and south. These will accommodate the people. They cannot be put into a tunnel and run into the city
together, so that they cannot get by each other on the sidewalks. These avenues must be opened in some way, before
the people can be accommodated. When these avenues are
made, I would not bring the cars back, but they will be right
on the line. If the Metropolitan cars stand at Boylston
Street, others in Bowdoin Square, others in Haymarket




235


Square, and others at Church Green, when you see Harrison
Avenue carried through the city directly into Charlestown,
and across the river to Chelsea, and Tremont Street carried
through the city, these railroads will be on the line. It is a 
perfectly easy thing to do; because, in an avenue like Atlantic Avenue, there is no trouble about cars. Give us something like that for our passenger and retail business, and I
will show you how to accommodate everybody who wishes to
be accommodated. When we get avenues corresponding to
Atlantic Avenue, I would have the horse-cars run through
then. Any gentleman who has seen the cars run will appreciate the advantage of it. A car that comes in on one
side of the city, if it can go through and deliver its load,
can begin to pick up passengers while discharging others.
It can do double duty.
To Mr. BATES.-In New York City the fare in the omnibuses was formerly as cheap as in the horse-cars; but it is
now increased to ten cents. They run up and down Broadway at ten cents fare, and a car is run in a parallel street at
five cents. The omnibuses have become an aristocratic institution of the city of New York, and those who furnish the
passenger travel up and down Broadway patronize them.
There is very little travel by ladies, in the horse-cars in New
York, below Union Square. There is such a crowd as makes
it indecent for ladies to ride. in any public conveyance in the
city of New York, during the average travel of the day. The
horse cars have doubled the fares in the omnibuses. Here,
it used to be the other way; the fares were lower in the
omnibuses than in the cars, and I do not know but it is the
same now   In New York they have given up Broadway to
omnibuses and the parallel streets to railroads.  When
General Brigham was president of the Metropolitan Road, I
had an early interview with him in reference to what I wanted
to accomplish with the horse-cars. It seemed to me that the
horse-cars, running as frequently as they did, and into the
centre of the city the way they did, could be made very efficient
in my department; and if some arrangement could be made




236


with them to carry the mails and the letter-carriers, they
could distribute their letters more rapidly, and that whole institution could be made to help the public at large in a way
A^   that was desirable. After one or two interviews with the
directors, they acceded to it, in the first place as an experiment, and finally it became a permanent arrangement. All
the letter-carriers and collectors of letters in this city ride on
the horse-cars free, and the mails are carried to Roxbu'y, and
as far out as Jamaica Plain, on the cars. They are carried
back and forth, and so far, I believe, without loss or accident
to us. At any rate, it has been a very great relief to the
post-office and the people. It is one of the cheapest institutions, and the most ready at hand, considering it in all
respects, that we could have in connection with the post-office.
There are various other things that have been suggested, but
I will say that this we have got here, while it has been refused us elsewhere. Letters come from Roxbury twelve
times a day now, whereas they came only five times before
this arrangement was made.
There is no other city where this is done. The South
Boston Road declined to do it, so that the arrangement does
not include every part of the city. It was refused at Philadelphia; it was refused, of course, in New York. New York
is so far overgrown that no such arrangement can be made
to work, or be grafted on to a horse railroad or anywhere
else. Every one there is for himself, first, last and always.
I put up a box in the New Haven Station for letters to come
to Boston, but I had to get the permission of the department
to have it done. I have also put up boxes in Worcester and
Springfield, in order that the people might deposit their letters in them, to be collected as the express trains pass. There
is such a box in the New Haven Station in the city of New
York, and that is the only place where you can mail a letter
on Sunday and have it come through to Boston. There are
none of these boxes in Washington, none in Philadelphia,
and none in Baltimore. I know it is some disadvantage to
the roads to have this large number of men, seventy or eighty,




237


riding free on these trains all the time, making five trips a
day, and it furnishes the men and conductors the means of
treating the company improperly. But the railroad company
have printed us tickets, and furnished them to us, and in
every way cooperated with us in that respect, for which I
know everybody in the post-office department is obliged to
them.   This arrangement adds very largely to the convenience of the people. 
To Mr. POWERS.-I don't know whether the Middlesex
Horse Railroad carry the letter-carriers free or not; they
ought to do it.
To Mr. BATES.-In regard to running a railroad like the
Metropolitan, I will say that it is one of the most annoying
and vexatious undertakings, to say nothing of the capacity
required to do it. Imagine yourself in a street car where
one wants to go fast, and his neighbor wants to go slow; if
the car is driven slowly, everybody is complaining that they
don't drive fast; and if they drive fast, the complaint is that
they are driving like Jehu, and will run over people. If
you want to make for yourself a perfect hell upon earth, go
into a horse railroad company. Instead of making more
companies, I would put the whole concern into one management, and rule it with a rod of iron. I would furnish them
good cars and run them as they ought to be run. I would
listen to the people just to the extent of learning whether my
employds did their duty or not, and I would hold them to
that, or have their heads off. The business of the railroads,
as it is done now, is simply a struggle as to who shall get
this advantage, or that advantage. I think it would kill any
president to take the Metropolitan and run it; it would
either drive him into an insane asylum or into the grave.
And you cannot have two heads to such a corporation; there
must be one absolute head, without any questioning at all
times and with all parties inside and out. You might just
as well talk about two heads in the post-office. The general management must be an absolute monarchy. The rule
applies to these branches in the same way; they should all




238


be under one head. The Metropolitan have bought in the
branches of their road, and the Middlesex have done the
same thing; they had to do it. The Chelsea cars formerly
ran down to the first street that leads off to the beach; and,
when the Lynn and Boston came in, that was continued for
a time, but they could not do it, and so they gave it all to
the Lynn and Boston Railroad, which now comes in through
the whlle of Chelsea and Charlestown, and up to Scollay's
Square, instead of going over the ferry. Each of these
roads has, at almost any expense, kept the control in its own
hands. Suppose a branch road ran from Brookline to Boston, and the cars came in over the Metropolitan Road in
Tremont Street, a car once in half an hour would furnish
average accommodation for the Brookline people, while in
Tremont Street a car was required once in three or five
minutes. If two corporations were running those cars, what
would be the result? The Brookline branch would put on
a car every five minutes, not to accommodate the Brookline
people, but to run over the paying end of the route here in
Boston. That is the way it would work. Now, under one
corporation, they furnish the average travelling wants of
Brookline, and the cars are run on Tremont Street that are
wanted there, which is a much better arrangement than it
would be the other way. Tlhe car I came down in this
morning, on Tremont Street, was by no means full. I think,
to-day, that the number of cars that are run on Tremont
Street, with seats that are occupied in them, must be fully up
to the returns they are getting from them. I think the company have increased their accommodations faster than the
population has increased, and that to-day the line is not
very remunerative. They cannot continue to run with that
amount of passenger travel on that street. It is now proposed to have a horse railroad on the street between Tremont Street and Washington  Street, Shawmut Avenue.
*      My theory has been, that one street should be devoted to
one purpose and another to another. Shawmut Avenue
is apparently devoted to residences. I took all the letter



239


boxes from Shawmut Avenue, and put them on Tremont and
Washington Streets, because the people go down to those
streets to take the cars; and I have no doubt, from the result,
that it was desirable. I am not one to fight against any
railroad in Boston, but I think it is very desirable in winter
to have the companies clear their roads down to the ground,
so that the cars can run on the tracks. At first the city
authorities would not allow the tracks to be cleared, but
required the companies to furnish sleiglls; but it was found
that this would not work: they could not put on omnibuses
enough to bring the people from the South End who
desired to come, so the tracks must be cleared. That being
so, I think that sonme streets should be free from horse car
tracks, for it is getting positively dangerous to drive through
them sometimes. The facilities for disposing of the snow
are very small, and they are growing less. They used to
dump the snow on the vacant lots at the Back Bay, but
those are not accessible now. The Cambridge Road throw
their snow over the bridge, and thus dispose of it very
readily, but there is no other road that can. The Metropolitan Road runs through the city; and, with all they can
do, they cannot keep the streets clear. I think the plan is
now to take them off on Washingtdn Street and put them
on Tremont Street, when there is a heavy fall of snow. I
am not opposed to horse railroads, but I think they should
not be put down in all the streets, to the detriment of other
travel.
On Tremont Street the track can be cleared of snow, and
still leave space enough on each side for sleighs, all the way
up from Dover Street, and I think all the way up from the
bridge where the street crosses the Boston and Albany
Railroad, and there is no difficulty on Washington Street,
above Dover Street; the difficulty is all below Dover Street.
I don't see any difficulty in carrying all the passengers from
the South End and outskirts of the city in that direction,
through Washington and Tremont Streets above Dover
Street. Instead of putting tracks through another street, I




240


would have them run their cars over the tracks in Washington and Tremont Streets, and let Shawrnut Avenue
remain as it is. Still, if the new company could not go on
those streets, if your company refused them the right,
they would be obliged to go on the avenue.
Mr. BATES.-We never refused them the right to go on
the street, only on the tracks.
Mr. BURT.-I think Shawmut Avenue should be reserved
for ordinary travel; it is a better street for that than for the
horse cars. I think a horse-car track oii the Mill Dam
would be a positive disadvantage to the street; but, on a
street parallel to the Mill Dam, it would be an advantage,
and it might run clear out to Brookline.
Mr. BATES.-We are running, as seen from that map,
about 2,072 trips a day; and at certain hours of the day,
from four to seven, some five hundred trips, making something like three cars a minute. Now 596 of those cars,
when they get to the Tremont House, turn back, so there
are cars going both ways on Tremont Street. Now there
are two propositions, I understand, the Middlesex Railroad
make. Their plan is to build a road from Scollay Square
up to the second track on Tremont Street, and prevent the
stopping of these six hundred cars; and there are two ways
proposed of accomplishing this,-one by having our cars run
around Washington Street, and the other by having all those
cars that now stop at the Tremont House go into Scollay
Square, and switch off there. Knowing, as you do, Washington Street, would you think it expedient to run those six
hundred cars around through Washington Street, and so out
as the South Boston cars go now, or as our Norfolk line
runs?
Mr. BURT.-Nobody supposes they could be run around
there. I don't make any question about it. You cannot
run your cars around there; they have got to go back the
/I  ~  same way on Tremont Street. If it could be done, I do not
think it would be as convenient, or accommodate the people
as well. I do not believe it does, the Roxbury travel to-day.




241
There is more time wasted by the cars in coming from Boyl- 
ston Street and back to that street than it would take these
cars to make a trip to Roxbury and back. It is a perfect
loss of time, so far as any convenience to the public goes. in
having them run around there; and, as for sending any more
cars around there. I would not do it.
Mr. BArTIS.-Would it be expedient, in your opinion, to
have those cars go to Scollay Square and switch off there?
Is there any room for tl)at to be done in Scollay Square,
where they would meet the Malden and Melrose and other
cars in that crowded space?
Mr. BuRT. —f any one would go any afternoon and see
these cars come in, and( see them switch off at the junction
on the side track, andl thell jlst imagine any more cars coming in and waiting and switching at the same point, they
would have a better answer than I can give. I say just as I
did befbre, there are too many cars running here. We shall
never have as good accommodation as we have had; we
shall not have as good accolmmodation to-morrow as we have
to-day. We have passed the possilility of any better accommodation, witli out present arrangement of streets. It is
just as albsolutely gone past as it has in New York. The
crowding in of more cars will not remedy the evil, in my
judgment. I llave seen strings of cars half a mile long,
and I don't know but a mile long, without any obstruction
whatever. In order to get in there at all, I guess there is a
continual violation of the city ordinances in regard to a certain distance between the cars. They only pretend to ob- 
serve it at certain places, and there only when a policeman
is present. Theoretically, the policemen are at the corner
of Sumnmer and Waslington Streets to help people to cross
the street: lut practically, to keep the horse cars at certain
distances apart. Thle same is true in other localities in the
city. The increase of the number of cars through the principal points where passengers get on and off, with anything
like the present street room, is an absurdity; it is not an
accommodation.   I should infinitely rather go down to Scol31.::.




242


'lay Square, and get in, than attempt to get in anywhere this
side of Boylston Street. To be sure, it is a convenience to
be carried right where you want to go; but not so much so
when you have to get into a crowded car, and they must be
expected in a crowded city. In the country one may keep a
pig and a cow, but in the city you have to give up those
privileges. As the city grows, you will have to give up your
conveniences in the horse cars. It is so in New York to-day.
I think, any one who has ridden in the cars there knows that
it is hardly possible for a lady to ride below Twenty-Third
Street, at any time of the day, on the Third Avenue cars.
Mr. BATES.-It is seven hundred feet from Scollay Square
to the point where the tracks join at the Tremont House.
Now, if we went to Scollay Square and switched off, we should
go with all those cars seven hundred feet and back, making
1,400 feet in that narrow and crowded part of the street.
Now, if I understand you, you say that would affect seriously
the other travel in the street, and it would not be advisable
to do it. I will ask how it would affect the people, those who
live on Tremont Street, who use those cars to-day? Would
it be as much accommodation to them to go to Scollay Square
to get into the cars, as they do now at the Tremont House?
Mr. BURT.-I have resided on Tremont Street ten years,
and, so far as Tremont Street is concerned, I suppose no one
will pretend to say that the accommodation has not been
ahead of the demand all the time. There is no question
about that on our street. I don't think there is any difference of opinion on Tremont Street. The Metropolitan Company have got their permanent stables there, and out at
Roxbury they have got unlimited stable accommodations.
It has been a growing business on that line all the time, and
it is a very large business now. There is a steam railroad
running parallel to it from Roxbury to Park Square; and, I
think, in our part of the city the accommodation has been
j      ahead of the wants.
Competition for the purpose of controlling horse railroads,    is the last thing that is wanted. Every man in the city




243


government now, has to hit the horse railroad once in so
often, if he wants to be reilected; and that has been so for a
long time. There is a great pressure behind them, and they
cannot do as they think best, for the people hold them to a
strict account. The result is, the conductors, drivers and
the whole institution get up a sort of antagonism. It cannot
be helped. The people say they are not accommodated,
and that very likely the one hour in the day when the cars
are the most crowded. These very gentlemen, if they lived
on another street, nmight have to go twice as often standing
up; and in less than five years they will all have to ride standing up, and lye thankful for the chance of doing even that.
Some way may hereafter be devised for accommodating the
people, but the day for seats in a horse car is one of the
things of the past.
A MEMBER of the committee.-You think that, by virtue
of the influences which surround the city government, they
are the natural and permanent enemies of the road?
Mr. BURT.-No, not the natural and permanent enemies,
because their better judgments are the other way. I do not
think these men are the permanent enemies of the road.
You go down to the superintendent of streets; his relation
is a peculiar one to the horse railroads. He holds up his
finger, and the snow-ploughs stop, and he gives no reason for
it. That is his position. Now, a few years ago, if he didn't
hold up his finger when there were six inches of snow, men
would rush up to the city hall and say: "How is this, Mr.
Harris, are you under the control of the horse railroads? 
aren't you going to clear off the snow?" and so the snow
had to be cleared away.
Mr. BATES.-One of the difficulties the horse railroad company has to contend with is the opposition of that class who b
do not ride in the cars, who are looking out for their own
interest, and the other 4class, those who ride in the cars, are
represented by the railroad only. The city government dare
not listen to the railroad officials, although they feel that
they ought to, as the company is accommodating 40,000




244


people, who ride in its cars each day. As the first class do
not ride, they blame the road for giving accommodation to
those who do ride, and so they go to the city government
and make a fuss; and as they are directly the people, instead
of the road, which is the agent of the people, the government yields to them instead of yielding to the railroad.
That is so, Mr. Burt, is it not, substantially?
Mr. BURT.-It is so; but it does it without any personal
ill will at all. Life is a struggle, but railroad life is a particular struggle all the time. There are more contending
elements in that institution than in any other I ever saw,
without exception. Competition is not required; there is a
constant pressure behind every one of tlese institutions all
the time. This unreasonable Jpressure makes horse railroads,
as a business property, almost valueless. 1 would not take
my friend's stock if he would give it to me, if I had to take
the position which a man would have to take in this city
to-day as the holder of a large railroad interest. General
Brigham, to my certain knowledge, worked himself to death
on this railroad. He was annoyed in every sort of way,
and finally driven to his grave. Ta.ke the gentleman who
succeeded him; lie died in his place. Men cannot live in
such a struggle, and they cannot afford to have competition.
You put this road up there, and at some price they have got
to be bought off; the two roads cannot live together. You
might just as well put a hornet into a beehive, and have
the hornet and bees live together in peace. You cannot do
it. The moment these cars are run thlroulgh the city, the
great public outside and the two corporations inside will
say they have got to be run by one management. It will
have to come to a consolidation, undoubtedly.
It is not a monopoly of the company: it is the monopoly
of the streets, that the people complain of. The people are
not prejudiced against the men, and never were. I think
i  ~   the Boston people have got beyond making an outcry
against a person because he has the monopoly of a business:
the only feeling is that they take'the streets, and they do




245


actually monopolize them. The railroads monopolize the
streets, and it is ruining the property on Washington Street,
the way the cars are run through there. Suppose a steam
road, the Boston and Albany, ran through Washington
Street at grade, do you suppose the people doing business
on the street would allow it? It cannot be used in that
way. Yet the horse railroad is affecting it in the same
manner, although not to so great an extent. Stop two
carriages opposite eacll other in Washington Street, at four
o'clock in the afternoon, and they make a jam that half a
dozen policemen cannot work out. You see it, down by the
express offices. I have heard it said, they ought not to let
the express offices go into Washington Street i but that is
unreasonallle. The cry is not against the corporation, but
against a monopoly of the streets. The complaint is that
they discommode the lpublic travel, and become an obstruction. That is the complaint of the people who do not ride in
the cars. The complaint of the people who ride in the
cars is, that they do not put on cars enough. You hear
both. Property owners, business men, all those men who
have to do with the transportation of merchandise, think that
it is an obstruction; and that complaint, I think, has been
made before this committee.
Mr. BATES.-Then, in view of your experience in horse
railroad matters, and the knowledge you have of the city,
in your opinion it would not be wise to grant the charter
that is asked for by the Middlesex Road?
Mr. BIuiT.-1 don't know what the charter is; I have not
read it. I would reduce this pressure in the crowded portions of the city, until it was in a proper condition.
The CHAIRAI.AN.-You have no favoritism in regard to this
railroad company?
Mr BURT.-Not a bit.
The CHAIRMAN.-You are looking to the interests of Boston, and you think that Boston, in its present condition, with
its narrow streets, cannot well bear the infliction?
Mr. BuRT.-Yes, sir, I do....~~~~~~~~~




246


The CHAIRMAN.-Taking Boston as we find it, is it not a
necessity to widen its streets?
Mr. BURT.-1 lived in Tremont Street when it was
widened, and I was the first man to pay his assessment for
widening. I said then: " Yes, we need this widening; but,
gentlemen, you have not got anything like a conception of
what you have got to do. Don't touch this street, until you
know what you have got to do."  I did not want to see them
widen the street, until they had some proper basis to begin
oil If I were the State of Massachusetts, I would lay out a
city such as we ought to have, ten miles in diameter, and I
would have an avenue from eighty to one hundred feet wide
right through the city. I think it a positive detriment to
the city to work without a comprehensive plan. It makes
the taxes higher, without any corresponding benefit. We
want a broad avenue through here, and we must get it. If
we go to temporizing over it, we shall pay our money and get
no benefit from it.
Mr. MUZZEY asked whether Mr. Powers had prepared the
construction account which it was intimated he could have
made.
Mr. POWERS said it was furnished in the reports to the
legislature.
v\   ~Mr. MUZZEY wished him to furnish the books of the Mid-.1''   dlesex Company fo' examination.;'i.    Mr. SHATTUCK replied that he was ready to furnish the
books of the Middlesex Company' for examination, if the opposite counsel would furnish the books of the Metropolitan
Company for his examination, but he understood the Chairman to rule that they could not go into that matter.
The CHAIRMAN said that he did not deem that allusions to
the past history and management of the road were pertinent.
Mr. SHATTUCK said that not one of the present board of
directors of the Middlesex Road was connected with it orig('    iinally, and the only person present who was connected with
it was the gentleman who represented the Metropolitan Railroad, Mr. Jewell; and, if they wanted any information, they
would be obliged to apply to him.




247


Mr. JEWELL.-I was one of the original corporators of the
road; but before the organization, before aly stock was
issued, before anything was done, I retired from my associates. I was never a shareholder.
The CHAIRMAN said that allusions to the past management of the road were not in order.
Mr. MUZZEY read from the testimony of Mr. Powers on
Monday, and claimed that lie agreed to produce the books
of the Middlesex Company.
The CHAIRMAN.-The committee do not depart from the
record of yesterday. That is the full understanding of the
Chairman; and, now at this stage, the committee may request
a certified statement of the cost. We understand there is
no objection made by the petitioners. We then will request,
as from the committee, that there should be presented to the
committee a certified statement of the cost of the Middlesex
Road, to be put in as testimony.
Mr. SHATTUCK.-We should also ask the cost of the Metropolitan Road, and the cancelled certificates of the Metropolitan Road which they have in their possession, representing
the over-issue of stock.
Mr. PUTNAM read the following letter:- 
"NEW YORK CENTRAL AND HUDSON RIVER R. R. Co., }
" ALBANY, March 7, 1872. 
"CHARLES E. POWERS, Esq., President Middlesex Railroad Company.
" DEAR SIR:-Yours of the 29th instant reached me this
morning. I remember having been interviewed by some gentlemen from Massachusetts as to the street railroads, but
had quite forgotten the names.
" I had charge of the Brooklyn City Railroad for some ten
years. Tllat company had, for a long time, the monopoly of
street railways in Brooklyn; but after a while new roads were
started, and, though they reached portions of the city not accommodated by our lines, still, in their construction to reach
points which were natural termini for business purposes,
they were compelled to occupy the same streets occupied by




248 '


us. This must be done either by the use of our tracks or by
laying additional tracks.  In narrow streets more tracks
were not possible, or destructive to their use as a carriageway, hence these companies sought the use of our tracks.
They attempted it by resolutions of the board, without compensation to us; and we resisted it, claiming prior rights, of
which we could not be divested without compensation, and
so the court held. We subsequently gave them the right,
they recognizing the ownership or superior claim of our company, and paying us an annual rental, which, I think, was
fixed at what the interest of $10,000 per mile would amount
to at 7 per cent. per annum.
"We subsequently made the same arrangement with some
four other companies. With a disposition to do simple justice and accommodate, there is no practical difficulty in it
whatever, and the rules and regulations are very simple.
Nor do I well see how street railways in a city like Brooklyn
or Boston, which must come from the exterior lines of the
city to some common converging business point, like our
ferries to New York, or your Common, or central point
between the Tremont and Revere.
" Of course the legal rights of a company grow legitimately
from their franchises, and that is their only guide, and, as I
have the charters before me, I can speak only in general
terms.
"I am, sir, yours very truly,
(Signed)                       "H. R. PIERSON."
TESTIMONY OF LUTHER FARWELL.
Mr. LUTHER FARWELL was called by the remonstrants, his
testimony being admitted by the committee out of regular
order, and testified as follows:To Mr. MUZzEY.-I live in Medford.   leave beenl president of the Medford and Charlestown Horse Railroad Comnpany ever since it has been in operation, something over ten
years, I think. I was a director of the Middlesex Road for
four or five years, perhaps longer, prior to the election in




249


January last. The Medford and Charlestown Railroad Company does not operate its own road. It has a contract with
the Middlesex Road to operate its road for the unexpired
term of its charter, or nearly the unexpired term. That arrangement was made in 1.862, I think. Under it the Middlesex Road has continued to operate the Medford and
Charlestown to the present time. It does not run cars over
the whole of the road. Tle runrning of cars over that part
of it lying in Medford, froml Medford Square to the top of
Winter Hill, has been temporarily discontinued this winter,
against the objection of the people of Medford, and the
Medford and Charlestown Road. I know personally that
the people of Medford object to the discontinuance. When
I learned that the cars were discontinued, I called upon Mr.
Powers, and told him that I understood that they had ceased
to run the road  and he told me that on a certain day the
directors had voted unanimously to cease running temporarily during the inclement season, and at times when it required double teams. I told him I should be glad to have
the road run; but as he had leased the road or contracted for
it, I, of course, wanted him to exercise his own judgment and
run the road as he thought proper, but that I did not want
to have any of the rights of the Medford and Charlestown
Road injured or the people discommoded. Latterly I called
upon Mr. Powers, and told him that the people were very
desirous that the road should be run, and he told me he
intended that it should be run between now and the 2.th. 
The people have been without accommodation, by the running of cars over that road, this winter.
To Mr. SHATTUCK.-1 suppose they had a right to exercise
their own judgment in running the road. We were desirous,
of course, to have it runrand there have been a good many
complaints in relation to it.
To the CHAIRMAN.-I went to Mr. Powers, as the President of the Medford and Charlestown Road, in the first
place, with a view to the interest of that road. We get just
as much money, whether the road is operated or not. Lat32




250


terly I went to him in behalf of the people, and requested him
to have it run.
Mr. MUZZEY put in the lease of the Medford and Charlestown Road to the Middlesex Road, and called the attention
of the committee to the fact that it contained a clause obliging the lessees to run the road " at times suitable for the
public convenience."
The WITNESS.-I think the road ceased to run about the
last of December or the first of January.
To the CHAIRMAN —I think that, as a general thing, in the
summer season, the Middlesex Road has done for the people
of Medford and Somerville about all that they required. I
think competition against any road is healthy, and it might
be so from Medford to Boston and Charlestown  There are
some peculiarities in the business matters between our two
roads that I suppose would not be in point here. I have not
made any statement in relation to them. I suppose it is
unnecessary.
Mr. BATES then commenced his opening argument for the
remonstrants, but, without concluding, gave way to an adjournment.
MARCH 13.
OPENING ARGUMENT FOR REMONSTRANTS, BY SAMUEL W.
BATES, ESQ.
Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen:Having taken so much time in the other hearings, I propose
to be very brief in stating the grounds upon which we oppose
this petition. The petitioners ask, as we understand, to run
over our road in Tremont Street from Scollay Square on one
track as far as Shawmut Avenue, and on Tremont from the
Tremont House as far as Shawmut Avenue on the other, and
propose to go through Shawmut AAvue,-a street substantially parallel to Washington Street and Tremont Street, and
but a short distance apart, and where, as has been shown to
you in the other hearing, all the money of the Metropolitan
Road is made, which enables us to support the road and to




251


support the losing outside lines,-and thereby to do with us
a competing business on the cream of our travel. As I said
in the other case, I suppose the legislature will not grant
any persons a charter, unless there is an exigency.  Now
the exigency claimed here, I understand to rest upon these
grounds: first, that the people of Charlestown, a great many
of them, wish to go to the South End; secondly, that a very
great number wish to go as far as Boylston Street; third,
that the people of the South End want better accommodation than they have, and think they can get it by competition. I believe those are the only grounds that have been
set up.
Let us look at those points. First, how many Charlestown people go to the South End; and how many South
End people, on the other hand, go to Charlestown? There
is no proof of any. Mr. Powers thinks there may be from
seven to eight hundred a day, but he says the transfer commutation tickets do not show seventy-five a day. That is,
they do not want to go to the South End enough to pay four
cents more than the fare they pay from Charlestown. Now,
if there are anything like the number he supposes-seven
hundred or eight hundred-that want to go to the South
End, and the same number that want to go the other way,
it seems to me there must be more than seventy-five transfer tickets sold, and that is the best evidence we have on this
point. I admit it is not perfect evidence. There will be
some persons walk rather than pay four cents; but is the
only evidence besides Mr. Powers's guess that there may be
seven hundred or eight hundred. Is it worth while to allow
another set of cars, run by another set of persons, to go over
those tracks, where it has been proved to you sixty thousand
people are carried, to accommodate seventy-five a day, or
seven hundred or eight hundred or nine hundred or one
thousand, if there are as many as that? I don't believe the
legislature will do it.
The other exigency is, that formerly people were contented to stop at Scollay Square, because the business stores




252


were so much nearer than they are now. Unquestionably it
wa's true that business has been going south, and a good deal
south; but, up to the present time, there is not a single store
that any lady wants to go to, south of Boylston Street. I
don't know of one, and there is no proof of one. The only
one I can think of is Paul's furniture store below Boylston
Street. There may be one or two others that have moved a
little. Some of the jewelry stores have moved a little further
south, perhaps six hundred or seven hundred feet, but none
south of Boylston Street. Now we say, if the business has
moved a little up on Washington Street, a few doors, so as
to make it desirable that these parties should be carried further south than Cornhill, the business of the city of Boston
has increased in a very much greater proportion than the
changes have been north of tlese retail stores; so that the
streets are very much more crowded now than they were
then, and that these Clarlestown people ought not to be
allowed to go in cars any ifrther. So I say the exigency
they show there, is met by our saying they must walk that
little distance.
Now, the third exigency is, that some of the people at the
South End say, if you put on a competing line it will be
favorable to us; but you must bear in mind, that both of the
gentlemen, Mr. Dunlap and Mr. Richards, testified tlat, after
all, the Metropolitan Road gave good accommodation; was
doing about as well as they thought it could; that they had
had no experience in the management of horse railroads; but,
on general principles, they believed in competition, and they
thought any competition that the Metropolitan might have,
would be good for them. I agree with that general principle,
and I always have, but the difficulty is, tlat you must compete in a place where you carl compete, and you cannot
compete when one car is upon a track, and another cannot
get by it, so that you do not get the benefit of the competition.
Notwithstanding all the letters that Mr. Powers has read,
and his own testimony, my mind is not changed at all in
reference to this question of competition of one horse rail



253
road with another, certainly so far as relates to the city of
Boston. I will take this very letter, put in by Mr. Powers
this morning, to illustrate the point. What does he say?
Formerly, he says, they had contests with each other; they
could not agree; finally a grant was made by the city
requiring them to pay compensation. " We subsequently gave
them the right, they recognizing the ownership, or superior
claim of our company, and paying us an annual rent, which I
think was fixed at what the interest on $10,000 per mile
woitd amount to at seven per cent. per annum."  Then, he
says, they subsequently made the same arrangement with
four other companies. They made an arrangement  Then,
he says, " With a disposition to do simple justice, and to
accommodate, there is no practical difficulty in it whatever."
We say so too. " And the rules and regulations are very
simple. Nor do I well see how street railways in a city like
Brooklyn or Boston, which must come from exterior lines of
the city to some converging business point, like our ferries to
New York, or your central point between the Tremont and
Revere," &c. Just exactly our South Boston case; just
exactly, the case with the Middlesex and the Lynn and
Boston. If you can make an arrangement satisfactory
with the parties, so tlat it comes, as Mr. Burt said yesterday, substantially under one mnaagement, you can do
it; but the moment you try to do a competing business
over one road, and the interests of the roads are to compete,
that moment you have trouble. You saw the map, the other
day, that was presented by Mr. Powers. You will remember
that there were two long lines coming down Philadelphiasome miles from the north to the south-and they ran
entirely distinct on different avenues, each having its own
legitimate business. When they came down to the lower
part of the city, they run off through a certain number of
streets over a certain track to distribute their own passengers
down on that territory, and to pick up their own passengers
again. There is undoubtedly some competition for some
part of the route, but the great business of the roads is done




254
upon these long lines; and, if you notice those letters which
Mr. Powers gave you, you will find, as a rule, that the
parties have made an arrangeement satisfactorily among themselves. Now, then, 1 think it is true, if the Metropolitan and
Middlesex could go upon this road, and make al agreement
satisfactorily among themselves, so they could be managed
by one head, perhaps there would not be any very great
difficulty; but, until they did make that arrangement, there
would be constant difficulty; and my point is just this: that
the only way that an arrangement can be made, that I can
see, is by one or the other purchasing, and that will be the
inevitable result. Perhaps it is best for the public that it
should be; perhaps it is best that the Metropolitan should
own the Middlesex, or that tie Middlesex should own
the Metropolitan; but it will be one or the other, if this
charter is granted and goes into operation. I will give
an illustration, from Mr. Powers' own testimony, showing
this point, as given by Mr. Studley before the street railway commission in 1864.   I am not going to read any
more of the testimony than to show why they do not have
difficulty. He says:  Since the Lynn and Boston and
Middlesex Roads have made an arrangement between themselves, there have been no serious difficulties. There is
some rivalry between the employes, but none between the
corporations. I endeavor to instil it into the minds of the
men on our road, that it is just as well for the Boston and
Chelsea cars to get the passengers as for our cars to get
them, since we get proper payment for them, and that I don't
wish any rivalry or hard driving or hard words. I don't
think it practicable for one corporation to run over the tracks
of another, where the lines are competing ones."
Mr. SHATTUCK.-The legislature obliged them to make
i|  ~   the arrangement. They didn't want to.
'iF.Mr. BATEs.-You may argue it by and by. I will give
i |*    you the facts. I say, at the time this testimony was taken
about the Cliftondale Road and these other roads that were
^I;    complained of, they put in their testimony, and at that time
A




255


they said they had made an arrangement with the Lynn and
Boston, and there was no difficulty; and they testified also at
the same time that, with competing roads, there would be. I
was perfectly astonished the other day, when Mr. Powers
made the statement he did. Thougll I don't mean to call it
intentionally false, it is false,-incorrect is what I mean. I
am very much surprised that he allowed it to be printed afterward. Mr Powers says:"I know the minds of a large proportion of the people at
the South End, and the prevalent feeling among them is that
the Metropolitan Road is a monopoly; that they are grasping
at everything; getting all the locations, securing all the inlets
between the South End and the southerly wards of the city
and Boston proper. And, furthermore, that there is a feeling in
the colnmunity that the Metropolitan Company have adopted
the policy of buying up all the other roads on that side of the
city. I know that has been the policy of the company. They
have purchased all the lines in the southerly direction, and
also the Suffolk line.
"To Mr. CORNELL.-Tle Middlesex Company have not pursued the same plan. They have only purchased one line, the
Cliftondale. They have three other lines, the Somerville, Medford and Maiden, connecting with their track at Charlestown
Neck. These roads have the right given them to enter with
their horses and cars upon the tracks of the Middlesex Road
and go through to Boston."
What would a person suppose from reading this?  What
is the fair inference that a person would have? First, he
says they have not pursued the same plan; and then he says
there are other roads running over thleirs. The last clause is
true, that these three other roads " lIave the right given them
to enter with their horses and cars upon the tracks of the
Middlesex Road and go through to Boston "-but would not
anybody suppose, from reading that, that they were exercising
it now, when the fact is they are all exercised by the Middlesex to-day, either under a lease, or because they have taken




256
it and don't pay any rent for it, and nobody claims any rept?
The fact is, the only road that is run over their tracks
to-day is the Lynn and Boston Road, and that by agreement,
except a little piece near to Boston, and that too by agreement. Here, in this same book, is a statement of what the
state of things was when we had this hearing before. The
evidence that was put in was summed up by me the other
day, when I told you that all the railroads had pursued the
same course, and showed you that the Middlesex had bought
or leased all that connected with it, with the exception of one;
and that the Metropolitan had done the same with all that
connected with it, except the South Boston: and that the Cambridge had done the same with every one that connected with
it. Let us see whether the Middlesex and Metropolitan have
pursued the same course. I read from the report of the
street railway commissioners:' Trunk roads, with branch roads connecting with them, and
the cities and towns through which such roads run, and date
of charter.
'METROPOLITAN-1853. Running through Boston and Roxbury.
"Dorchester Avenue-1854. Running through Boston and
Dorchester. This road was sold under a mortgage, and the
Dorchester Railway Company organized. Subsequently sold to
the Metropolitan.
"West Roxbury-1856.    Running through Roxbury and
West Roxbury. Right of connection with the Metropolitan,
but not of entry. In 1857, right of entry granted, then leased
to the Metropolitan, and then sold.
"Brookline-1857. Running through Roxbury and Brook-?; <    line. Right of entry on Metropolitan. Sold to them.
" Suffolk-1857. Running through East Boston and Boston.
fi!        rn No connection with or entry upon the Metropolitan. Entry
*granted them. Sold to the Metropolitan.! i'~    "Dorchester Extension-1859. Right of entry on l)orchesi      ter Avenue. Sold with that road to the Metropolitan.
"Dedham and West Roxbury-1861. Running through Bos2he
'()




257


ton, Roxbury, West Roxbury and Dedham. Connection-no
entry. Subsequently, right of entry with cars from fixed points
on branch road granted.
[Subsequently the tracks of part of the road were taken up
because it didn't pay, and the rest leased to the Metropolitan.]
" Quincy.  Running through Boston, Dorchester, Quincy,
Braintree and Weymouth. Right of entry. Difficulties arise.
[And the result of it finally was that those tracks were taken
up.]
" Winthrop-1861. Running through East Boston and Winthrop. Right to connect with the Suffolk; but no entry."
That makes eight roads that were leased to the Metropolitan. Now see what the Middlesex has done:"MIDDLESEX. Running through Boston and Charlestown.
"Malden and Melrose-1856.   Running through Boston,
Charlestown, Malden and Melrose. Right of entry on Middlesex. Leased that road, then failed, and is now operated by the
Middlesex.
"Miedford and Charlestown-1855. Running through Boston, Charlestown and Medford. Right of entry never exercised.
Cars run from Medford to Boston. Horses changed at line of
the Middlesex-then leased to it.
"Somerville-1857. Originally included under the Middlesex charter. Then set off as a separate corporation. No right
of entry. Cars run through and horses changed at line as above.
Then leased to Middlesex.
" Cliftondale-1859. Running through Boston, Charlestown,
Maiden, Melrose, Saugus and Lynn. Right of entry. Run for
several years, then discontinued, and now broken up and sold."
[Sold to whom? Why, to the Middlesex!]
"Boston and Chelsea-1854.    Running through Boston,
Charlestown and Chelsea. Right of entry. Leased by Maiden
and Melrose; lease assigned to Middlesex, and subsequently to
Lynn and Boston, who now run it.
"Winnisimmet-1857. Running through Boston and Chelsea.
Right of way never exercised. Leased by the Lynn and Boston.
33




258
"Chelsea Beach-1858. Running through North Chelsea.
No entry. Leased by the Lynn and Boston.
" Lynn and Boston-1859. Running through Boston, Charlestown, North Chelsea, Saugus and Lynn. Right of entry. Originally run over part of the Chelsea Road, then by ferry to
Boston. Difficulties arose, and then they took an assignment of
the lease of the Chelsea Road, and now run it, running over the
Middlesex Road by agreement, accounting to them for all local
fares."
That is, all the local fares that they take on the road belonging to them, according to this statement. This is the
statement prepared by Mr. Powers when he was counsel for
the Metropolitan Road, as lie says, and that is the document
as printed. I don't now. know exactly what the fares are,
where this says " accounting to them for all local fares;" but
I understand from Mr. Oliver, who was here yesterday, that
their agreement is such that no profit can be made, by the
Lynn and Boston out of any passengers they carry over the
Middlesex Road, and that it all goes to the Middlesex Road.
I don't think they ought to get any profit on it; I think that
is a fair arrangement for the Middlesex to make.
But when Mr. Powers says the Middlesex have not pursued the same policy, see if they have not. I gave you eight
roads for the Metropolitan, and there are eight for the Middlesex; these two together, under this arrangement, make eight.
They have pursued this policy (in connection with this other
road, that is substantially using their road in common with
them) with every road that runs over their track: so that
they lave no trouble with those roads, but arrange between
themselves.
That is exactly the course which the Cambridge Road has
pursued. I have read the Metropolitan and the Middlesex:
DI ~   I will read the Cambridge:i t  ~   "CAMBRIDGE-1853. Running through Boston and Cambridge.
"Union-1855. No right to build, only to lease Cambridge
A'




259


and connecting roads. Has leased and now runs the Cambridge,
Watertown, Newton and Somerville.
Waltham and Watertown-1855. Running through Watertown, Waltham and Newton. No right of entry. Leased by
the Union, then sold to Cambridge.
"Newton-1857. Running through Brighton and Newton.
No right of entry. Cars run to Boston. Motive power changed
at point of connection. Then sold to the Cambridge, and leased
to the Union.
"West Cambridge-1857. Running through West Cambridge. No right of entry. Same plan of running with Newton. Now operated in same way.
"Somerville-1863. Running through Somerville. Right to
connect with Cambridge, and'change of motive power."
So it is true that all the three trunk roads, the Cambridge,
Middlesex and Metropolitan, all of whom have pursued the
same course of getting completely into their control the roads
that connect with them, share the right to run over them. I
say it must be so; it will have to be so with this Highland
road, if it goes through; it, eventually, just as sure as its existence, must go into possession of the Metropolitan; and,
just so sure as this petition is granted, the Metropolitan must
go into possession of the Middlesex, or the Middlesex into
possession of the Metropolitan.
So I say, having got through with this question of exigency, our first objection is, that you will put a competing
element right upon our road, that we have got to fight with
for two or three years, to the disadvantage of the public, until
one or the other buy out. We think tle people will suffer,
and both companies will lose money, by their fighting among
themselves, and the public eventually will have to pay for it.
But, going from that, suppose you believe it is just as easy
to compete on the same track as in two streets, and therefore, on that account, you would be willing to grant it, I go
back to the other testimony again, in reference to the cars in
the streets. I will not enlarge upon it, but I will ask you if
it does not seem to you, according to all the testimony that




260
has been before you, and according to your eyes, if you look
down on Washington Street and Tremont Street, that it is
perfectly absurd to talk about cars going continuously in fifteen seconds, unless you will cut off the other travel in those
streets. Another point is this city ordinance:" Cars driven in the same direction shall not approach each
other within a distance of 100 feet, except in case of accident,
when it may be necessary to connect two cars together, or at
stations."
Mr. Shattuck put in testimony to show you, if they went
at the rate of four miles an hour, they were eighty-eight feet
apart. Then we break the ordinance all the time, on the
average. We break it continually on Tremont Street; but it
is winked at, because there is no help for it.
Mr. PUTNAM.-Mr. Shattuck's statement was that four
miles an hour, with four cars a minute, would be eighty-eight
feet apart; but as it is now, with two cars a minute, it is
twice that. He said it would be possible to run twice as
many as there are now, and have them eighty-eight feet
apart.
Mr. BATES.-The point is, we now go three a minute, a
great many hours a day. They say if they have four a minute, it would be eighty-eight feet, while we, with our three a
minute, are continually violating the ordinances of the city
of Boston. As a matter of fact, we had a great deal of
trouble in getting that ordinance changed from three hundred feet to one hundred. The teamsters, and people who
drove their private vehicles in Boston, objected, and said it
was outrageous; that they had not room to get along.
The CHAIRMAN.-Was it ever enforced when it was three
4        hundred feet?
DId      Mr. BATES.-We were prosecuted a great many times.
Then, if we had any trouble with any policemen, or hackmen,
or driver, etc., they would make a complaint; and, if any accident happened, testimony was always brought in that our. {b




261


cars were less than three hundred feet apart; so it came to
us in the shape of damages. We are now breaking the ordinance every day, and must, from the nature of the case, break
it; and I say tlat, with the streets crowded as they are now,
we cannot put on many more cars than are on there now,
without some alterations in the streets. Now, then, they say
they can put on a great many more, if we will do one thing,
which is, move our office from where it is; if we will not
stop there, and will also extend our track to Scollay Square
and do the shifting there. So far as changing the office is
concerned, I think that will probably be clanged any way.
As soon as we open this new route through Harrison Avenue
and Summer Street, we shall have one office there, and shall
probably have the other office in another place, although I do
not believe there is so much trouble growing out of the stopping there as is alleged. It is the shifting that takes up the
time. But we must shift somewhere, or else run all our cars
through Washington Street. We did not wish to stop our
cars at the Tremont House, and opposed it as far as we could.
But the city of Boston required us, as a condition of our
location, granted September 5, 1861, as follows: " Also, under the further express proviso and condition that the said
Metropolitan Railroad Company shall not run the Jamaica
Plain or Brookline cars in Tremont Street, northerly of School
Street, or in Washington Street, northerly of Boylston Street."
That is, we should not run those cars in Tremont Street
northerly of School Street, and we slould not run them in
Washington Street northerly of Boylston Street. We were
excluded from running any of those cars in Washington
Street, though we owned the track, and yet the South Boston
had been allowed to run all their cars round the circle. We
complained, and the aldermen said: " South Boston is part
of Boston, and Jamaica Plain and Brookline are not," and
we were obliged to stop where we do,-near the Tremont
House. Since they obliged us to stop these there, we have
stopped the Egleston Square, Warren Street and Tremont




262


Street lines; so that some six hundred trips a day, out of the
two thousand, now stop there and go back.
In the first place, therefore, we should be obliged to have
the city rescind those ordinances and let us go through to
Washington Street, or go down to Scollay Square to shift.
I do not know whether they would or not. Perhaps they
would; if an act of the legislature was passed giving these
parties the right to go through Tremont Street, the aldermen
would have to do something. The supreme court perhaps
would compel them to, notwithstanding the aldermen thought
it injurious to the other travel, as they did the selectmen of
Dorchester in the Quincy case. But would it be wise to take
these six hundred trips,that nowstop at the Tremont House,
more than quarter of the whole trips run by us, and send
them round through Washington Street by Cornhill? Even
the Middlesex hardly advocated the expediency of doing it, and
I think it would be almost absurd to say we could do it. Next,
shall we go to Scollay Square and do it? That involves going seven hundred feet further, at any rate, and coming back
seven hundred feet; and nobody pretends, however they may
say that there is not much crowding on Tremont Street, that
there would not be a great deal of inconvenience in extending the running of these cars seven hundred feet. It would
be so great an inconvenience in the street there, that it ought
not to be done unless there is a necessity for it. It would
not accommodate the people who ride in those cars, because
now it is testified that they walk down to Temple Street to
get into the cars coming up; and if they went to Scollay
Square, as the centre of the city is moving toward the South
End, they would have to go a good ways further north to get
to Scollay Square, and then begin to walk down to the Tre4..    mont House to get in, and then ride back to Scollay Square,
and then ride seven hundred feet back again. Practically, it
would incommode all the people that ride in those cars, and
it would incommode the people on the street.
Who would it benefit? The only pretence is that it would
benefit the people who want to go from Charlestown to the
i,?%4,




263


South End, and as to how many there are is no testimony.
Therefore, I say the exigency they propose amounts to nothing; the remedy they propose will be a very serious inconvenience to the people who ride in the Metropolitan cars, and
to the disadvantage of the streets through which they go.
The ground I take is this: Here are four corporations,
the Metropolitan, Middlesex, South Boston and Union.
Each has a mission to do, and each is bound to do it, and
that is to take care of its particular section and the outskirts
of that section. The South Boston is to take care of South
Boston; the Metropolitan must take care of the South End,
with the natural extensions of it into Roxbury, Jamaica Plain
and Brookline-as far as anybody wants to ride in a horsecar. The Union must take care of Cambridge and its outskirts. The Middlesex has got to do something; it has to
take care primarily of Charlestown and the outskirts that
want to be accommodated by it. That is what they were
incorporated to do, and they ought not to encroach upon each
other's business, or try to compete with each other for each
other's business. If it can be proved satisfactorily that the
great mass of the people of Charlestown necessarily must go
to the South End, and you cannot devise a better way of doing it, and it does not interfere too much with the rights of
the people of Boston who do not want them to occupy their
seats in their cars, it is perhaps to be granted, but it is not
the business of the Middlesex Road. Their business is to
bring them to Boston, so they can take a Cambridge car to
go to Cambridge, or a South Boston car to go to South Boston, or a Metropolitan car to go to South End; and it is the
business of each of the other roads to carry them to their
destination.
Growing out of the application of the omnibus lines, or of
some omnibus proprietor, some time ago with certain other
parties to build a railroad from the South End to Charlestown, il accordance with suggestions that were made at that
time, we tried the experiment of running our cars to Charlestown, and Mr. Powers gave you the reason why he thought




264
it did not succeed. The Metropolitan, he said, stopped too
long at the depots. But this was the fact: It was given up
by both of the corporations, because neither of them found
they could make any money in it; that it did not accommodate the people. They got along while they had an arrangement with each other, but they found they could not do anything with it; it did not accommodate the people. Now
they propose to say they can do it in another way, but I think
they were satisfied at that time it was no advantage to either
of the corporations to do it. The real reason for this petition is this: The Middlesex directors know that our part of
the road from Dudley Street post-office down to the depots is
where all our money is made. They do not make money
enough to pay such dividends as they want to pay; and they
ask to go over our road, that they may do our business, and
take the cream of our business to enable them to pay greater
dividends; and now comes the pertinency of what we design
to prove in reference to the Middlesex Road and its cost. I
have never accused the present proprietors of that road of
any fraud, and do not now accuse them. I do not accuse the
old ones of fraud, or say it was even a mistake, but it is a
fact, that the road cost so much more than it could be built
for to-day that it makes it necessary for them to earn money
somewhere else than on their own road. The trouble is,
their dividends are too small, and for two reasons. One is
on account of the competition of the omnibuses, and another
is on account of the large amount of stock issued to build
their road. I read an extract from Hon. James M. Stone's
speech, delivered in Charlestown, and reported in the Charlestown Chronicle of November 6, 1871:"There are several reasons for the parties interested in the
Middlesex Railroad not liking me. There are some excellent
men in the management of that corporation who had nothing to
do with it in those early days, and are entirely innocent of its
errors at that time; but the truth must be told, wherever it may
hit. Now, you are all aware that Charlestown does not have; ); 




265


the comfortable cars, the frequent trips to pass between Charlestown and Boston, which you have a right to demand, and which
the people living in other sections around Boston do have. Why?
I don't complain of the fare. They carry you for five cents, and
that is a fair price; they ought not to charge you less. But I
do complain, and the people of Charlestown have a right to complain, of the quantity and quality of the accommodation they get
from that corporation. And yet they say they give the best
they can afford, and perhaps they do, as they are situated.
Where is the trouble? The trouble was with the early history
of the corporation. I have here the 'Railroad Returns' for
1860, published by the legislature of 1861. In. these returns the
Middlesex Railroad Corporation reports that the capital stock
paid in is $348,000. They report that the total cost of their
road was $348,000. They report that the 'total length of rail'
(they put it in that peculiar way) is '12 miles and 1,859 feet.'
That means, that they had six miles of track, because it takes
two rails to make a track. [Laughter.] That is all they had.
They had not a dollar's worth of property beside that track.
The road was leased to the Malden and Melrose Railroad Corporation, run by them and equipped by them. The Malden
and Melrose Railroad Company owned all the horses, cars, stables and equipment; and this Middlesex Corporation owned the
track-six miles and a little over. Well, that six miles of track
could not have cost, in money, at the very outside prices, paying liberal commissions and liberal profits, more than $150,000.
As a matter of fact, it probably did not cost $100,000. Upon
that they issued $348,000 of stock; and that is what is the matter to-day with the Middlesex Railroad Corporation. It is because they have got such a load upon their shoulders, that they
are obliged to make you ride in poor cars, and to give you such
few trips as they do. Now, I have said that this corporation
does not like me. I was instrumental in getting an Act of the
legislature passed, which provides for their system of commutation tickets, by which, if you want to go to South Boston or
Roxbury, you get into one of these Charlestown cars, give the
conductor nine cents, and tell him you want a transfer ticket;
so that you get a ride to Roxbury or South Boston for nine cents,
instead of paying five cents for your ride to Boston, and six
34




266


cents for your ride from there to Roxbury or South Boston,
which would be eleven cents. If you are going to either of
these places and coming back, it makes a difference of four cents;
and if you go with half'a dozen in your party, as I frequently
do, it is quite an item. That Act was passed through my instrumentality; it is a good Act, and it has been maintained. The
Middlesex Railroad corporation has been striving, ever since it
was passed, to get it repealed; but they have not been able heretofore to get Charlestown representatives into the legislature who
would vote to repeal it."
The fact is substantially true that the Middlesex Road
cost, the first part of it that was built, about $60,000 a
mile; the parts of the road that have been built since then,
of course, have cost less; but the average of it was such
that, according to the returns of last year, it would be about
$46,000 a mile. By the returns of this year, by adding in
the Cliftondale Road, they make their road about double the
length it was last year, and it brings the building of their
road down to about $26,000 a mile. But practically to-day,
as I understand it, the cost of the road per mile, which they
run, is about $46,000. Our road was not built under such
circumstances. It was built for cash, at the lowest price
that it could be built for; and it had to be built over twice,
for the Board of Alderman wanted us to try what was called
the Rich rail (a short rail of about ten feet in length), and
which was a failure.
Mr. SHATTUCK.-The Middlesex Road went through the
same experience.
Mr. BATEs.-The Metropolitan Road built the whole of
its road over at this expense; but the average cost of that
road, thus twice built, is about $26,000 a mile, and the Middlesex, built, as I understand, bit once, was $60,000 per
mile.
The cost of their road has been so great that, with the
S4,~ opposition of the omnibuses, they cannot make a dividend
as large as they want to make; and the real fact of this
application is, that the parties want to go over the paying




267


part of the Metropolitan Road, taking the Metropolitan business, and neglecting the business which they ought to dothe proper care of Charlestown, and the outskirts of Charlestown, whose roads they own. They want to come on the
paying part of our road, that they may be able to pay dividends on this large, extravagant cost of their road. If their
road cost in the same proportion with the Metropolitan,
what they now earn would pay ten per cent. dividend, and
they would not need to go to our road, and would not ask
for it. But the object of the petition is to make up what
they need for a large dividend. There is. another reason,
and a prominent reason, that induced them to bring this
question before you at the present time, and that is that the
omnibuses are a large competing power against them. The
omnibuses carry the passengers for four cents, and they
carry them for five cents, and that cent makes a considerable
difference; it is an important element, and therefore they
have been anxious to buy off these omnibuses. They have
come to us about it, and those negotiations which Mr. Powers talks about were in fact as to whether the Metropolitan
Road would join with the Middlesex in buying those omnibuses; for, before, we have always declined, for two reasons.
In the first place, we have had experience enough in buying
off omnibuses. In the second place, the Metropolitan has
declined to join in buying out the omnibuses, because they
say there are certain classes of persons who will ride in
omnibuses, no matter how many horse cars there are; and,
if you buy off this line, there will be another one established;
and then, in addition to that, we say that we have as many
people to carry now as we can accommodate, until our streets
are widened.
Then, another reason why we declined to join in the purchase is, that the price is too large a price, just as the price
was considered too large in the purchase of the Hathorne
omnibuses bought originally; that is, the good will that they
ask, is more than in reality we think the good will is worth.
The first proposition from the Middlesex was, that they




268


would pay one-third of the purchase-money, and the Metropolitan should pay two-thirds; afterward they modified it
in some way which they say is equivalent to paying half; but
the Metropolitan have declined to comply with their request
in that way, and then they have said their only resource was
to come to the legislature, and see if they cannot compete
with the omnibuses over our line; and that, I think, is
really the question. I cannot say that I blame the Middlesex Road for doing everything they can to increase their
dividends, if it is legitimate; but I do say, I think the
legislature ought to look at it in a different light, and say
whether it is right for one railroad corporation, incorporated
for the purpose of taking care of Charlestown and its vicinity,
to go over the tracks of another corporation incorporated to
do the business of another city, and to go over its paying
part to increase its dividends.
So that we say-First, we object to the granting of this
petition, because they have shown no exigency to warrant it;
that the business between the South End and Charlestown
would not warrant a new road, even if there was a place to
build it in, and much less to run over the tracks of another
company to interfere with its business.
i\     Second,-That the competition, which the two witnesses
from the South End say is desirable, cannot be had by companies running over the same tracks, without a mutual
arrangement; and that, in cases like this, where the Middlesex Road desire to go over the paying part of our road, for
the sake of increasing their dividends at the expense of ours,
an amicable arrangement is not possible.
Third,-It would involve an entire change respecting a
portion of our travel, by either sending it through Washington Street or to Scollay Square, both of which are undesirable.
It will involve an entire change respecting a quarter of
our travel. We have two thousand cars that go up Tremont
Street, and about one-fourth of them stop and go back, and
that would involve an alteration of that quarter of our
Vi?   s




269


travel which now stops at the Tremont House, either requiring it to go through Washington Street or go to Scollay
Square, and switch off there, neither of which would be
desirable.
Fourth, —That it is the province of the Middlesex Road to
take care of its own patrons in Charlestown and its outskirts, and not to interfere with ours; and,
Finally,-That the people between the Roxbury line and
the depots have enough to do to pay for the loss on our own
non-paying roads, without being made to pay what the Middlesex loses by the competition of the omnibuses and what
is required to pay dividends on the extravagant cost of their
road.
TESTIMONY OF GEORGE B. UPTON.
To Mr. BATES. —I reside in Boston. I am a merchant,
and have resided between thirty and forty years in Boston.
I have had occasion to examine more or less into the condition of the streets of Boston, in connection with business,
and am generally familiar with their character and condition.
I am also familiar with the horse-car travel. The business
in Boston has increased very rapidly during the past few
years, and the travel in the streets has increased proportionally more. I don't think that it would be advisable to
increase the cars upon Tremont Street north of West Street,
or on Washington Street north of Boylston Street. The
business of both of these streets north of Boylston Street is
now very much obstructed. My opinion is very decided, that
the plan proposed by the Middlesex Road would be objectionable, as Tremont Street is now constituted. I had hoped
that, before these were any changes of the railroad cars, or
any.new elements brought in, there would be a commission
appointed to take all these things into consideration; the
widening of Tremont Street; the widening and extension of
Washington Street; the widening of Devonshire Street;
and to settle all questions relating to the horse cars and
define their lines. In the meantime, until such a thing as




270


that is done, I should not advise that any additional cars
should be put on. I think I should make the Metropolitan
Road move its cars with more rapidity than they now do.
As long as they have the track, there should be no delay;
but I think that to put on more cars would be a great error.
I appreciate the difficulty of moving the cars faster in Washington Street in connection with the other travel; but I go
up that street very often, and frequently see drivers walking
their horses when they ought not to. I think there are
obstructions occasioned by the cars walking too much, when,
if the cars had driven on, the obstructions would be very
much lessened. In these narrow streets, I should move the
cars with all the rapidity possible, for the purpose of keeping
as many cars out of the street as possible. I am pretty
familiar with New York, and to a certain extent with Philadelphia, and the horse-car travel in those cities. I don't
think there is any comparison between Boston and New
York. On the business parts of Broadway, in New York,
cars are not admitted at all. There are only omnibuses;
and any one who gets into an omnibus in the lower part of
Broadway, if he rides only one square, must pay ten cents;
and, although the present omnibuses fill Broadway very much,
still, if they should undertake to have the system which we
want here, of carrying passengers for little or nothingthere are not omnibuses enough built to do the business
which would be required in Broadway alone. I am familiar
with several lines of cars-the Astor House cars and the
Fifth Avenue cars, and know pretty well the Fourth and
Sixth Avenue lines. We know nothing about crowds, as compared with the crowds in New York from half-past seven to
nine o'clock in the morning, and from four o'clock until seven
at night. I don't think crowding such as they have there
would be allowed here. It is entirely different in Philadelphia. The cars there run down Walnut Street and up
Chestnut, or down Chestnut and up Walnut, and there is
not such crowding as they have in New York, or as we have
here at times.; *^" '




271


In Philadelphia, the commutation system. enters much
more largely; that is, I presume so. I know nothing about
it, except in passing as a traveller and seeing how it works
there. I mean by commutation the change from the cars
on the cross streets, or to the north and south streets.
To Mr. PUTNAM.-I have taken an interest in having the
streets cleared for business purposes, and also for the comfort and convenience of passengers. I have advocated the
extension of Devonshire and Washington Streets to increase
the accommodation for business travel, and thereby lightening, to some extent, the pressure on Washington and
Tremont Streets. I think that such extension would relieve
the pressure on those streets. I think, if any legislation
extending horse-car privileges over Tremont Street would
bring about such action on the part of the city as the
extension of those streets, it would be a good thing. I am
looking forward to an increase of business in the city which
will almost entirely obstruct the present streets. I should
be glad, as a tax-payer, to have such pressure brought on
the city as would induce them to make those needed
improvements. I don't know that giving the right to run
more horse cars would be a pressure upon the city government in that direction; if it would, I think it would be a
good thing; I think anything would be a good thing that
induced the city government of Boston to take a comprehensive view of the present streets of Boston. I ride in the
hoose cars a good deal.
To Mr. BATES.-I don't mean to say that I think it would
be wise for the legislature to pass a law authorizing the
Middlesex Road to run its cars over the Metropolitan tracks,
for the purpose of compelling the city to widen the streets.
I should hope the pressure would be brought in another
form.
TESTIMONY OF ROBERT M. BARNARD.
To Mr. BATES.-I reside in Everett, and have for 15 years.
Am not now in business, having sold out a short time since;




272
was formerly in the paper-box business. The Maiden road
runs through Everett, and is run by the Middlesex. We get
accommodation once an hour, and poor at that in our place.
We have sent in a number of petitions for better accommodations; a short time ago we sent in one, I think, with over
two hundred signatures, for more trips; but we did not succeed. Mr. Powers stated, last year, that he would run once
in twenty minutes or a half hour; but that promise has not
been fulfilled as yet. There is a great deal of dissatisfaction,
extending to almost everybody on the line of the road, with
the manner in which it is run. The cars are almost always
crowded. This year is hardly any criterion for snow time,
because we have not had any blocking-up snow-storms. Last
year there was a number of days, and the year before, a week,
that they didn't run at all. The reason was, they had not
the facilities. There were no omnibuses furnished at those
times, and the only communication with Boston was by the
steam cars. They have not fulfilled their obligations in this
respect at all. Until this year, on Sundays they have run
round on the other road. We have two tracks, the old one,
and up School Street, and Sundays they would stop running
i   ~up School Street entirely, and make us walk up. I am one
of the committee of the church I am connected with to get
ministers, and we find it very difficult to get ministers to go
out there, on that account. The distance to be walked is
from one-half to three-quarters of a mile. This year they
have run up School Street. Some little time since tley
altered the fare by ticket. I think it is the universal opinion there, that we had rather have the tickets remain as they
were than have the fare lowered and have the trouble to get
tickets that we do now.  The conductors formerly sold
tickets; now we have to go to Pemberton Square to get
f;     them. Ladies and gentlemen who get out at Haymarket
A   ~   Square have to go up to Pemberton Square to get them. In
former times we were in the habit of getting them of the
conductors. I asked Mr. Powers, one time that I happened
to meet him in the entry, if it was going to be a permanent
'




273
thing, and he told me (I do not give his exact words, but
the substance) that what money they made they wanted to
get. My answer was, " Then you have not honest conductors." I thought it was poor policy, because any one could
go up there and buy tickets and hand them to the conductor.
I know it is a great inconvenience to the ladies to have to go
up stairs to get tickets. The conductors are not allowed to
sell commutation tickets; they say so, at any rate, and I
have been unable to buy them, and know of a number of
others that have. I don't think this road ought to have
more privileges, until they take better care of us.
To the CHAIRMAN.-The Sunday cars by way of School
Street have not been taken off for a year; that is, for a year
past they have run up that street. We have no cause of
complaint on that score now. As to the relative number
of passengers that go to Maiden and Everett, I should have
to answer in a roundabout way. Throw out Sundays, and
I think we have three-quarters of the passengers; throw out
week days, and taking Sundays, I think they have probably
ten times as many passengers to Maiden as to Everett. Taking Sundays, I think the Maiden travel would about balance
the Everett travel through the week. I believe they run
once in half an hour on Sunday. If they should run the
half-hour cars that they run on Sunday on week days, I think
the travel would be fairly accommodated, and I don't think
there would be any complaint. I never made any request
that, instead of tprning the corner of School Street at its
junction with Charlestown Street, they should go up
Charlestown Street to High Street, to give greater facilities
to the people of Everett. It has been proposed, but I never
made the proposition. I have suggested, instead of going up
School Street at all, they should go up the Main street. I
have no means of knowing whether the road to Malden, exclusively, pays. I am not interested in any way or shape in
the petition that went through last year. The complaint
that they did not furnish us witli sufficient accommodation
has been general among our prominent citizens. On Sunday
35




274
there is no steam road running to Malden, which accounts
for their large travel on that day. I do not mean to say
that I ever made a personal request of Mr. Powers for increased accommodation which he has refused. I never had
any personal intercourse with him, except in relation to the
purchase of tickets, as I have stated. I signed the petition
which I have spoken of, and I understood from the gentleman who handed it round that there were over two hundred
names on it. He told me in a horse-car which was in motion,
and I may have misunderstood him in the noise. I almost
always take the horse-cars as a means of getting to Everett.
I think a great many of the business men seek the steam
conveyance. I don't think they ride in the horse-cars so
much as they used to formerly, because they run only once
an hour, and used to every half hour. I think, pecuniarily,
the Middlesex Road would be better off, if they had kept the
fare as it was, and the price of tickets as it was, and run
once every half hour. There would not have been any complaint then; but they did just opposite, and reduced the price
of tickets and run once an hour. I have never heard a person say but what he would have been better satisfied with
the arrangement as it was. I can't tell how it would operate
to go back. We think we have to pay pretty good fares on
that road. To go to Malden Centre or Charlestown, we have
to pay ten cents. The fare used to be eight cents by ticket;
now we get 16 tickets for a dollar. If we get on at Everett
Square or Charlestown Neck, we have to pay ten cents,
unless we give a ticket; if we give a ticket, that will carry us.
I mean, way passengers.
To Mr. PUTNAM.-I should think the population of Everett
was from 2,500 to 3,000. I should think half of them live
within three-quarters of a mile of this road. From Everett
tI.     Square to Scollay Building, or rather to the old State House,
is three miles and a half. We can ride three miles and a
half, once an hour, for six and a quarter cents. We can go....on the same ticket up to the line, which may be half a mile
~m. ~farther, and that makes it four miles which we can ride
"'''
a.4
);.?



275


once an hour for six and a quarter cents; that privilege is
furnished to a population of twelve hundred people within
three-quarters of a mile of the road. The Eastern Railroad
accommodates the people of Everett. We have two depots;
one on the Saugus Branch, and one on the main road. I
could not tell how many trains a day we have, but the number is considerable.
The horse railroad did not reduce its fare until after the
steam railroad did. Of course, there is some competition,
and the horse railroad does not have all the travel of those
1,200 people. I could not say whether the horse railroad
has to divide the travel largely with the steam railroad or
not. A good many people go and come on the steam railroad. I go on the horse cars. I went on the steam cars the
other day, and paid them eight cents for a single fare. Itis
ten cents on the horse car. I have not bought any tickpts
on the Eastern Railroad for a year, so I don't know the price
of them. I don't know that they are as cheap as six and a
quarter cents. I don't know that the Middlesex Road has
been trying to get stable accommodations in Everett, with a
view to running more cars out there for the accommodation
of the people of Everett. I don't know that the reason they
don't run three cars an hour, instead of one, is that they cannot purchase stable accommodations in Everett at a reasonable price. A gentleman has told me of two or three parties
that have good stable room, and one man said he offered to
let the Middlesex Road have it. I don't know what his price
was; but he never did charge much for his land, and I don't
suppose he did for that. I may have heard that they were
ready to go out there with three cars an hour, if they could
get reasonable accommodations for a stable, but I should not
believe it if I heard it. After the president and superintendelt of the road have stated, as they did in this place, that
they were going to run once every half hour, or every twenty
minutes, as soon as the frost was out of the ground, and it
has not been done, I should not believe anything of that
kind until I saw it-until I had a personal demonstration by




276
my own eyesight. If the condition of their getting good stable accommodation was ever added to such a promise, it
must have been mentally; I never heard it spoken of. I
would assist the Middlesex Road, as far as I could, to get stable accommodations; I should be very happy to have them
have a stable there. People starting from School Street and
Everett have frequent occasion to ride down to about where
the Charlestown almshouse is, and also to the coal-sheds.
They have to pay ten cents. The fare from Boston to the
Clarlestown almshouse, I should say, was ten cents, from my
experience. That is within the limits of Charlestown. Anywhere the other side of Charlestown Neck is ten cents; after
you turn the corner, the price is ten cents. That is what I
have seen conductors take from passengers. I never have
had occasion to pay that.  To go two rods from Main
Street in Charlestown, opposite Sullivan Square, the fare is
ten cents, and the same to Canal Brewery just beyond.
To Mr. PUTNArL.-I don't know whether, if you ride from
West Street to Boylston Street in a Metropolitan car, you
would have to pay the same fare as if you rode to the Norfolk
House. I go to the South End very often, and know what I
pay there. I did not come over here to aid the Metropolitan
I       iin preventing the Middlesex from getting a chance to run
through the city. I don't care a snap for the Metropolitan
Road, whether they get it or not. I want to see justice done
to our town, and protest against their running to the South
End, until they give us better accommodation. I came here
to complain of the Middlesex Road, and I have no interest
at all in the question of their running through Boston, if
they do justice to us. I should not object to their going further south, if it is going to enable them to accommodate us
better. A number of times, when I have wanted to go to
the South End, I have asked the conductors to sell me ticki!         ets. Their answer is: " I am not allowed to sell, but if you
get in at Charlestown we can sell; but we cannot sell from
Maiden."  Now, it is a poor rule that will not work both
ways. If this Middlesex Road runs up to the South End, how
A hie
a.,)




277


is it going to benefit us? We cannot commute as soon as we
get to the Charlestown line, unless we get out and pay another fare. After paying the fare from Malden to Charlestown, we cannot buy a commutation ticket, unless we pay
another fare. Of course, we can buy a ticket, but we can get
into a Metropolitan car and be carried cheaper. This land
which was offered for a stable is on Hancock Street; it may
be half a mile from the present line of the road where they
are running now, but not from where we want them to run,
and wlere it has been proposed that they should run.
To Mr. BATES.-The people out there want to have the
road extended. It was suggested that they run up Charlestown Street, and through Hancock Street, and have a stable
there, running there once in twenty minutes, and to Malden
Centre once an hour. That is the way I understand it was
proposed. I don't know whether it was talked over with the
officers or not, but two or three gentlemen have said they
were in the hope of doing it. I can't say whether, if the legislature should grant the right of way as prayed for by these petitioners, it would give the people of Everett additional facilities, because I don't know how the president and officers of
the Middlesex feel in regard to it.
To the CHAIRMAN.-I did not come here opposed to the
extension of the Middlesex, except so far as it affects my interests as a citizen of Everett, and to have our cars run into
the city of Boston so that we can get better accommodation.
Until that is done, we think they ought to take care of us
before they go to taking care of strangers. As to whether,
if the right was granted, we should have better accommodations, I can only answer,'from past experience, that we
should not. I can tell my reasons. The Middlesex Road
has undoubtedly improved some since this occurred; but,
some three years ago, in a snow-storm, my sister came out
to my house, and was an hour and a half getting there; they
had one pair of horses from the line, and I was speaking to
the superintendent about it, and he said that it was impossible for him to get four horses; that they did not have them




278


in the stable. That was three years ago; and, if they have
not improved since then and got more stock, I don't see how
granting this new location would give us better accommodation.
To Mr. PUTNAM.-I appear here as a representative of the
people of my town. I don't know whether they are all such
strong grumblers as I am; but if you wish it, I will guarantee to have fifty of the citizens of Maiden and Everett here
to-morrow who are of the same opinion as I am. I know
that every one that I have spoken to has found fault about
their running up to the South End, until they give us better
accommodations.
To the CHAIRMAN.-I don't know how Mr. Evans comes in
now. He used to come in, quite frequently, by the horse
cars; I know the other gentlemen, whose names I have mentioned, come in the horse cars almost altogether. Mr. Waterman, I think, comes in three or four times a week; sometimes he comes in in his own vehicle.
To Mr. WALLACE.-I have heard some talk that, unless the
Middlesex Road gave us better accommodations, there ought
to be a town meeting held, to have the selectmen see what
could be done about it, in reference to taking up the rails. I
should think the rails were an injury to the street. If I
ij    lived there, where they are not used, I should object to their
being in front of my house, very decidedly.
To the CHAIRMAN.-The rails are raised up, so that common travel would not run on them. It is very bad driving
across them, as I have occasion to do very often. It is a T
rail, except on Sclool Street; and that is only a common
strap rail most of the way.,
To Mr. WALLACE.-The people of Everett have greater
facility for coming into Boston by steam than they formerly
had. My judgment is, that the ladies would rather have the
horse cars running than not, because they can go to Scollay's
Building in the horse cars, as they cannot go in the steam
cars.
To the CHAIRMAN.-Some of the streets are quite wide. I
i, 




279


understand that it is proposed to put into operation the new
road. I do not think it will have any effect upon the Middlesex Road, because it will take another class of passengers,
almost entirely. Ladies will not like to go by Chelsea Ferry,
get out of the car and go on to the ferry-boat, and then make
other arrangements on this side. The time to Boston will
be some ten minutes less than by the old road, but there is
only one place where the new road will come very near the
old tracks.
Mr. BATES.-Mr. Barnard is here for himself, and not for
the Metropolitan Railroad.  There are a number of others
who want to come, and it is not for us to say whether they
shall come oraot.
The CHAIRMAN.-The committee have a right to presume
that the other gentlemen will say substantially what he has
said, and that he states to that extent the opinion of those
gentlemen.
Mr. BARNARD.-The first time the matter was called to my
attention was one day last week, when the chairman of the
board of selectmen told me about it, and said he thought
they ought to protest, as a body, against the Middlesex Railroad going up there, until they gave us better accommodations; " but," said he, " my hands are tied." I said, I don't
care anything about it, one way or the other, if they will only
give us better accommodations. I was up here the other day,
and heard Mr. Powers testify that he could carry people from
Charlestown Neck to the Roxbury Post-office for five cents;
and as Mr. Bates came along, I spoke to him and told him, if
that was the case, I thought we out in Everett should have
better accommodations. That was the first time I ever saw
Mr Bates. I don't know Mr. Draper, or any one connected
with the Metropolitan Road.
Mr. PALMER.-What did the selectman mean by having
his hands tied?
Mr. BARNARD.-He said he had a petition from the Middlesex Railroad in regard to a change of route, and he




280
thought it would not be well to come up here with that in
his pocket.
The CHAIRMAN.-The Chair does not consider it worth
while to enlarge upon this class of testimony.
Mr. PUTNAM -We shall be very glad to meet any amount
of this class of testimony that the committee may desire to
hear, and shall offer rebuttal, of course.
TESTIMONY OF WM. S. BARBOUR.
To Mr. MUzzEY.-Thirty-one hundred feet over the Middlesex track, from the junction at the foot of Cornhill, would
carry you to the Boston end of Charles River Bridge, at Mr.
Goodnow's lumber wharf. The length of Metopolitan track
in Cornhill, now used by the Middlesex, is 456 feet. In
Dock Square and Union Street, the length of Metropolitan
track used by the Middlesex is 1,170 feet. The length of
Middlesex track used by the Metropolitan cars is 470 feet,
between the junction of Sudbury and Court and Cornhill and
Court. The Middlesex use the Metropolitan track a distance
of 1,626 feet, and the Metropolitan use the tracks of the
Middlesex a distance of 470 feet. I might say that I believe
the ownership of the tracks in Union Street is disputed. I
am not able to say which track belongs to which company.
i          It was the old track of the Suffolk Railroad.
\~   ~   To Mr. CHILDs.-The lengthof that is 1,170 feet. I don't
know whether it belongs to the Middlesex or Metropolitan
Company.
To the CHAIRMAN.-Omitting that, the amount of each
other's track used by the two companies is very nearly the
same. The only difference is the difference betwen 456 and
470.
To Mr. PUTNAM -In that case, the excess of use is on the
t:   ~   part of the Metropolitan.
iMr. BATES.-I understand the fact to be, that this track
Ii  ~   was formerly owned by the Suffolk Road; the Suffolk Road!J'  ~   is now owned by the Metropolitan. In the same street there
is a track that is owned by the Middlesex. There was an
b.t   \




281
agreement made, some years ago, between the two companies, that they would sometime exchange tracks; but they
have never done it, and to-day the Middlesex Road runs
over this track belonging to the Metropolitan Company; the
Metropolitan does not run over the Middlesex track.
The CHAIRMAN.-But may?
Mr. BATES.-I presume it may. I don't know how that is.
Mr. POWERS.-In point of fact, all the track of the Metropolitan Road we use is in Cornhill-one-tenth of a mile.
Mr. MUZZEY put in the following table:Metropolitan Railroad.
L ~1 N E.  |Distance, Number of Ticket Cash Fares,
miles.  daily trips.  Fares, cts. I  cts.
Norfolk House,.... 3 097     324     5       6
West Roxbur,...      4955      60     8{     10
Dorchester, via. Grove Hall,. 5 655  30    8t      10
Mount Pleasant,.... 3143      106    5        6
Warren Street,.             3.356     84    5        6
Tremont Street and Depots,   3         54     5       6
Washington Street and Depots,. 2 855  378   5        6
Tremont House,..     1870     448     5       6
Tremont Street,.... 2.610     196    5        6
Brookline,...        4.278      56    8       10
East Boston,.2 437                  108    5 8ss    7
Egleston Square,.      4 268     52     5       6
Night car,...          2 564     12    5        6
Forest Hills,.. 5.281                24    8j      10
Chelsea Ferry,.             2 883    120    5        6
(;rove Hall,..   4.106      30 1  5        6
East Boston and Neck,.. 4120       12    5 188    7
Beacon Street,.... 1.491      98    5        6
Providence Depot,.. 550    28     6        6
Milton Mills,...         5.447     3      8      10
I)orchester Avenue,.        3 551     28     5       6
Mount Bowdoin,... 4.162      38    8j      10
TESTIMONY OF JOHN W. DRAPER.
To Mr. MUZZEY.-I have been President of the Metropolitan Railroad two years, and was a director for four years
preously.   The track in Union Street that the Middlesex
runs over belongs to the Metropolitan Railroad. I have had


* 36




IVI
'!V


282


interviews with the officers of the Middlesex Railroad in
reference to this petition. I think the first interview I had
was with Mr. Powers, two years ago last fall. We had a
long talk about it. He said that his directors had passed a
vote directing him to present this very petition to the legislature, for the right to run over the Metropolitan tracks;
that he did not want to run over our tracks; did not want
to extend his running; that they must do something to get
rid of the omnibuses, for they took all the profit there was
out of the Middlesex, and he thought they were a great
injury to us as well. I told him that, so far as the petition
was concerned, he might go to the legislature with it, if he
wanted to; I didn't think there was much probability of his
getting anything. But I did not want the trouble and care
of coming up here and contending with him; and, more
than that, I was perfectly willing myself to' join him in buying off Mr. Hathorne, if it could be done at a reasonable
price; because I thought we could certainly carry all his passengers from the South End to Scollay's Building, and Mr.
Powers could take them to Charlestown. Mr. Powers saw
Mr. Hathorne, but it came to nothing; for Mr. Hathorne
wanted a great deal more money than the property was
worth, in our estimation. Then Mr. Powers proposed that
we should extend the running of our depot cars to certain
places in Charlestown.
To the CHAIRMAN. —The like privilege was not to be
extended to the Middlesex to run their cars to the South
End. It was not intended as a permanent arrangement.
After the omnibuses had died a natural death, then we were
to go back to our old position. That was Mr. Powers'
proposition, in the interest of the Middlesex Road. All
through that winter (two years ago), I had interviews with
Mr. Powers; and some of our directors, with me, met Mr.
Powers and Mr. Goldthwaite. I think the last regular
business meeting we had on the subject was last August or
September. Mr. 'Hendry, Mr. Cushing, and another of iur
directors, I think, and myself, were a committee to meet


'. 
i 
1.:
A:
$ l
'1
"                "!?     L'                       -




283


Mr. Goldthwaite. The whole story was, " We must try to
get rid of the omnibuses." We have always been ready to
join with Mr. Powers in that, provided we could buy at a
reasonable price. But Mr. Hathorne wanted $100,000 more
tian the omnibuses were worth, as a bonus. Then the Middlesex Company did not propose to pay any money; the
Metropolitan Company was to pay the whole; and that was
a part I did not like very well. The Middlesex Company
would pay the interest on one-third.
To the CHAIRMAN.-I had no correspondence with Mr.
Hathorne as the result of the meeting in August. I had
one interview with Mr. Hathorne, which was nearly two
years ago. We really tried to get rid of the omnibuses.
Mr. Powers was anxious to do it, and they are a nlisance to
us. It is not so much the competition, as it is they get on
our track, run one wheel on the rail and the other outside.
They cost us more for paving than our own cars. That has
been the opinion of the Superintendent of Streets for a long
while.
To Mr. MuzzEY.-In what I say about buying out the
omnibuses, I express my own views and those of Mr. Hendry; I have discussed the matter a great deal with him.
The other directors, as a general thing, have been very much
opposed to buying the omnibuses at all, without reference to
price. They thought it was merely paying a bonus for competition, and that another line would be put on immediately.
To the CHAIRMAN.-The directors of the Metropolitan
did not want to buy out the omnibuses; but if I had strongly
advised it with Mr. Hendry, and it could have been done
for a reasonable price (they would never have agreed to any
such price as was asked), they would undoubtedly have
assented to it. But a great many objected to it, at any price.
They thought it was better to let them run; that it was anl
opposition, and that was what a great many people wanted
to have; and if they were taken off, there would simply be
another line put on.
To Mr. MuzzEY.-The subject of purchasing the omni



284


bus line has not been formally voted upon in our board
since I have had anything to do with it. The negotiation
with the Middlesex terminated some time last fall. Since
then, whenever I have met Mr. Powers, we have discussed
this subject. We have both of us, individually, one idea
about it-that it would be a good idea to get rid of the
omnibuses. We abandoned it, because we thought it was no
use talking with Mr. HIathorne; he valued his horses too high.
We do not want to run our cars over to Charlestown. In
the first place, we have enough to attend to on our own
ground; and, in the next place, our depot cars are very uncertain as to time; we cannot tell with any accuracy when
they will return: and, if they went to Charlestown, they
would be still more uncertain. But we agreed with Mr.
Powers that we would do it, as all accommodation to him,
until we found that it was necessary for us to run for five
cent fares, and that we could not do. We could do it, if we
pursued the same policy in relation to the outlying branches
that the Middlesex Railroad does-if we did not run the outof-town lines in winter. But the real reason why we have
six cents in Boston is this: The United States law, by which
we had a right to charge one cent extra fare, by reason of
the tax, expired about two years ago. There had been, for
a long time, great complaint because of our having different
rates of fare; they thought we ought to have one rate to all
parts of the city. Mr. Carpenter, who is one of the directors
of the Middlesex Road, and who at this time was chairman of
the committee on paving in the city government, asked me
personally if we could not make some arrangement to have
but one rate in the city. I told him I wanted to keep on
that one cent. The South Boston Company joined with us,
'. i    and petitioned the city government to allow us to retain that
one cent, charge six cents single fare, and sell twenty tickets
for a dollar. My interviews were with Mr. Carpenter and
Mr. Peirce, particularly. They said, if we could carry for five
J~' ~   cents by ticket, to certain lines that they marked out in Roxbury, we might have the right to charge six cents single fare,X1
l '   ' X   ^ S 




285


anywhere we went within the limits of the city. I told them
we would do that, without making an arbitrary line; and in
1870 the city government passed this ordinance:"The Metropolitan Railroad Company, on and after the first
day of October, 1870, and until otherwise ordered, are allowed
to charge six cents for a single passage on any one of their routes
in the city of Boston-the termini of the several lines in the
Highland and Dorchester Districts of the city of Boston being
defined as follows:" Tile Norfolk House line at Eliot Square.
"The Warren Street line at Grove Hall.
"The Egleston Square line at Egleston Square.
"The Mt. Pleasant line at the company's stables on Stoughton
Street.
" The Tremont Street line at the Boston and Providence Railroad crossing on Tremont Street.
"The Brookline line at the junction of Heath Street.
"The Jamaica Plain line at the line of West Roxbury on Day
Street.
" Said authority is granted with the proviso and condition
that said Metropolitan Railroad Company shall sell twenty
tickets for one dollar, or five tickets for twenty-five cents, each
ticket being good for one passage in any of the cars run by said
company on any one of the routes as above defined."
These different lines were given by us. The city government did not require us to go so far; but the trouble was, if
we made any arbitrary divisions that were not marked by
town or city lines, there would be constant complaint. We
did that because it gave us the right to charge six cents single
fare; and any person who rides regularly in.the cars can ride
for five cents, and that ought to be cheap enough. Our
object was to have one general fare of six cents, whether a
person rode ten rods or three miles. The object of the ordinance was to make the fare within the limits of the city
proper, including what were formerly Roxbury and Dorchester, uniform-six cents single fare, twenty tickets for one
dollar.




286


To the CHAIRMAN.-I think while Mr. Derby or Mr.Blake
was president of the road, an arrangement was made with
Mr. Hathorne that he should not run his omnibuses above
Dover Street. At all events, I know that Mr. Hathorne,
when I first became connected with the road, was regular in
calling at the office and drawing $550 a month. He stopped
it of his own accord, some four or five years ago. I believe
the reason that was made was to give the people at Dover
Street a short line. They were always complaining that the
Neck and Norfolk House came down full, and they could not
get seats. I have understood that that was one of the
reasons why the Metropolitan made that bargain with Mr.
Hathorne.  There is no such arrangement existing at
present.
Mr. BATES.-It has been said that the Metropolitan Company made an arrangement that was against the interest of
the people, and I would like to state just what it was. Tlere
was a petition before the legislature, for a series of years,
from Mr. Hobbs and others, asking that they might run over
all the tracks of the Metropolitan Road, and a large number
of persons had testified that, by the time the cars got to
Dover Street, they were so full that they could never get
seats. In order to meet that objection, an arrangement was,h       made by the Metropolitan Road with Mr. Hathorne to start
i\  ~   his omnibuses from Dover Street, so as to accommodate these
people,-as the Metropolitan Company, of course, could not
start a new line there without having new stables, etc.,-the
company agreeing to pay him $6,000 a year. That was to
last for two years; but, as was testified the other day, it was
broken by Mr Hathorne himself, before the two years were
j,       l up, because there were not passengers enough (notwithstand-. -v     ing the testimony which was given) below Dover Street to
make it pay.
Mr. SHATTUCK.-That is, he found he could make more
by running to the extreme South End than by stopping at
U,   ~   Dover Street.
Mr. BATES.-Yes, sir. But it answered this purposeI;^  *  t
*t  ) \  '




287


that, when people came to us, and complained that they could
not be accommodated at Dover Street, we were able to say
to them that accommodations had been furnished by the omnibuses, and there was not travel enough to pay.
Mr. DRAPER, to Mr. MUZZEY.-The profitable part of the
Metropolitan line is anywhere within the heart of the city of
Boston. The outlying lines are unprofitable.
To the CHAIRMAN.-What I mean by the heart of the city
is anywhere from the depots to the Post-office in Roxbury.
To Mr. MUZZEY -Wherever we have more or less transient fares, there is where the profit comes in,-wherever
we run through a thickly populated part of the city. The
most profitable part is the depot line  but, as I recollect the
figures, it is not much more profitable than the Tremont
Street line. The Tremont Street line is a straight line, and
we can make the trips with very little hindrance and very
little trouble The trouble with our depot line is, that it
takes so long to go to the depots and back; we are blocked
and detained so much that it is not so profitable on that account. If this petition is granted, of course we shall have to
compete with the Middlesex Road on fares; and if we do that,
we shall be obliged to put up our out-of-town fares I think
the business of the Metropolitan Road would be seriously interfered with, because when they get as far as Shawmut
Avenue on Tremont Street, they have run right through the
heart of our travel and taken it away from us. So far as I
am concerned, I should be perfectly willing that they should
continue upon our track through Tremont Street, after they
reach that point. They need not go to the expense of putting down a track in Shawmut Avenue; they would not
injure us much there. If a man lives on Shawmut Avenue,
Tremont Street, Chester Park, or any of those cross streets,
it does not make any difference to him whether he takes a
car on Tremont Street, Shawmut Avenue or Washington
Street. It is not more than half a minute's walk either way.
Mr. Burt testified the other day that they had plenty of cars
to ride in on Tremont Street.




288


We think we have treated the non-paying branches out of
town very liberally. We have cleared the tracks after snowstorms, at great expense, except on one or two of the most
unprofitable lines, where we have sometimes put on sleighs
after severe storms. We always give some accommodation.
No line has been abandoned by the Metropolitan Road, in
winter. We have always lost money by doing this. We
have hardly an out-of-town line that pays, even in summer.
The receiving office in Tremont Street does not cause any
detention of consequence. The conductor jumps off the car,
when it gets to the top of the hill; he must open the door of
the passenger station, and tell the patrons of the road where
the car is going, and the car must stop for the passengers to
get off and on, and he runs to the receiver's office and throws
down his package. The utmost detention is for him to pay
his money and ask for tickets, which are ready for him. Unless there is a block, it is rare for a conductor to wait there
more than thirty seconds; and very often, when he has
turned in his tickets, he has to wait for his car to get up to
the door. Some of the directors were anxious that the receiving office should be given up. Mr. Jewell was one of
them; but after giving his attention to it for nearly half a
day, off and on, he made up his mind that I was right. That
is not the cause of the detention; it is the switching of the
cars. The out-of-town cars are run by time-tables, and sometimes they have to wait a minute or two. It might be practicable, as Mr. Powers suggested, to have one receiving
office out of town, but we should have a good many offices.
The business, as it is done in the Tremont Street office, could
not be transferred to any out-of-town locality. We are
obliged to have two offices, as it is now. We have a separate office for the Dorchester Avenue ahd Milton Branch;
and when we run this new track through Summer Street, we
intend to get over that by making an office for that and Warren Street and Pleasant Street. The expense of keeping up
separate offices would be considerable, but the main reason
for not desiring to do it is, that we are anxious to keep our re



289


ceiving clerks under the eye of the Treasurer. We have not
the same opportunity to have our receiving office out of town
that the Cambridge Road and the Middlesex Road have; for
they have a common centre, one in Harvard Square, and the
other in Charlestown Square, through which all their cars
pass. We have no such common centre.
If Tremont Street was.widened, we could take our Tremont Street cars there and have our switches there; but as it
is now, the thing is not practicable. If tlere was a double
track there, we could do it, but I do not see why our Tremont
Street patrons should be detained five minutes longer in getting to their homes. They are well accommodated where
they are, and we should have to take tlhen through a portion
of the city that is always crowded, and where the cars would
have to creep along, instead of going as rapidly as they can
when they get beyond Boylston Street. It would make a
difference of several minutes to a person living on Tremont
Street. I know it would not be satisfactory to our patrons,
to bring them no further north than Boylston Street; we
have tried that experiment.
I have given a great deal of attention to the horse-car system.of Philadelphia. I have been there a good deal in the
last few years; and having considerable interest in horse railroads, I have ridden in the cars, and watched their mode
of doing business. There was nothing new to me in what Mr.
Powers said the other day. There is but one line in Philadelphia wlere there is as much local competition between two
lines running over the same track as there is between the Metropolitan and the South Boston. That is, a South Boston car,
at Boylston Street, has the same chance to pick up a passenger and carry him to Scollay Square that a Metropolitan car
has, and, on the return, they both have an equal chance to
pick up a passenger and carry him from State Street to Essex Street.
[The witness described at length the routes of the several
Philadelphia lines, showing that the competition between the
lines using the same track was very trifling.]
37




290


There is no case in Philadelphia which is parallel to the
case of the Middlesex cars running over the tracks of the
Metropolitan, as proposed. No such difficulties can arise in
Philadelphia as must ensue here if this petition is granted.
There is no comparison between the two cases. I am not so
familiar with New York, but anybody can go there and see
that it does not make any difference where the cars run;
they will get fares enough. That city does not afford any
parallel to this case, so far as I know. In regard to the
*  Brooklyn roads, I think Mr. Peirson's road is very much like
ours. He testified, I thiitk, a few years ago that some outside lines came in over his road, but they did not run a great
way on his track.
In regard to the Suffolk Road, I can only give the same
testimony as Mr. Burt. There was always trouble: they
were in our way, and we had to buy them off. We have a
track in Temple Place. Suppose we want to hold some cars
for the theatre; we can run them in there and keep them
there; but if there is another line that has the right to use
that track, of course we cannot do it. We may want to stop
in front of the Boston Theatre, one minute or two minutes,
and the car of another line may want to stop in front of the
Globe, and there would be trouble. The fact is you cannot
r,  ~   manage a road, with more than one head. Every attempt
i\  ~which has been made here to introduce the system of runi   '     ning the cars of one company over the tracks of another has
been a failure; the roads have been bought up by the older
concerns. We had a great deal of trouble with the South
Boston Road, until four of us bought stock enough, with what
Mr. Adams owns, to make the two roads work in harmony.
i ~,       I mean by that that our interests are identical. In the first
i. i;      place, there was a party hostile to the Metropolitan in the
directorship of the South Boston Company. The opposition
was silenced by buying out the stockholder who was not particularly friendly to the Metropolitan Road. That was done,
E(~     not by the Metropolitan corporation, but by individual stockits.




291


holders, for the sake of peace. The President, Mr. Seth
Adams, is friendly to the Metropolitan Road.
There have been cases, where two roads in Boston were
using a common track, in which passengers or other travellers
in the street have been seriously injured. I do not recollect
a great many of them; the one which made the most serious
impression upon my mind was the case of Mr. Lord, which
cost the road fourteen or fifteen thousand dollars. It was
near Scollay's Building that the accident occurred, in the
open space where the tracks turn around for the cars to go
down Cornhill. A Middlesex car came around Scollay's
Building, and a Norfolk House car was directly belihhd that;
it was a question which car had the right of way. The Middlesex car should have given it to the Metropolitan; but they
didn't, and the result was Mr. Lord was struck in the back
by the pole of the Metropolitan car, and we had to pay the
bill. There was a. struggle between the two drivers probably
to get the track. Mr. Lord was walking in the street at the
time, and was between the two cars.
There was another accident on the track in Union Street.
The man sued the city too.
Mr. CHILDs.-One spoke of the wheel of a man's wagon
was broke. He sued the city first, then the Metropolitan
Railroad Company, and then the Middlesex, did he not?
Mr. DRAPER —I had forgotten. He alleged it was caused
by a defect in the track. There was a gentleman on a South
Boston car on our track, I think; whether he was thrown off
or not I have forgotten. The track, I believe, was not in
good order; it happened before my day; I do not recollect
tile circumstances; the amount of it was, he could not recover fiom either corporation; the company owning the
road claimed it was caused by want of care on the part of the
driver of the car, and the company owning the car claimed
that it was owing to a defect in the track. No suit was
brought in this instance, as we compromised the matter for
$1,000. It is a matter of common occurrence for collisions
and accidents to take place where two roads are operated on




292
the same track. We have trouble now between the drivers
of the South Boston cars and the drivers of our own cars,
especially in coming around the curve at Beach Street,
although there is harmony of management between the two
roads. It is only a few days since there was an accident at
the South Boston switch at Broadway. It was out of order,
and a great many of our cars got off the track. A man was
knocked off his wagon, and the case is now pending. We
were not to blame: it was the fault of the Broadway track;
but it was our car that struck the team, and we shall undoubtedly have to pay.
The Metropolitan Railroad Company began to pay dividends about 1857. The average yearly dividend paid to the
stockholders since the company was started, about sixteen
years ago, is 7.31 per cent.
To Mr. CHILDS. -I do not know that there was one of the
six or seven people, reported by our last return as killed upon
our road, whose death was caused by operating the road in
connection with other roads. I don't recollect anything
about those accidents now; I don't know whether any of
them were caused by operating in connection with other
roads, except the one I have just mentioned. It was claimed
by Mr. Lord that the Middlesex car had the right to go first,
and that the driver tried to get ahead of him, and came
>\  ~  rapidly down the decline, and that was the cause of the accident. There would not have been any such trouble, if the
tracks did not have to cross each other. If any one of the
thirty accidents reported in the last returns had occurred
from this cause, I might not have known it. I inquire if we
are liable; and, when we are, I find it is easier to settle than
go before a jury. We have a great many accidents of this
kind; we have cars smashed by coming in collision with
each other. Accidents are more likely to happen where the
cars of another company go upon our rails, than when they
f: Xare where the road is operated by ourselves alone. Whether
the number of accidents that actually occur happen on the
I,        part of the road that is occupied by the South Boston Com



293


pany is hardly a fair question, because that is a portion of
the city where we are the most liable to accident. I do not
think we have more accidents from operating with them on a
straight track, than we would if only our own cars were ran
over the road.
To Mr. SHATTUCK.-Mr. Powers proposed to me that we
should run cars to Charlestown, in order to accommodate the
through business between Charlestown and the South End.
I declined, because we had all the business we could do, and
because they charged only five cents fare. Our corporation
is full as large out of town as we want it. That would not
be a good in-town business; we do not think much of it; we
ran to our sorrow there two years. We wouldn't like to do
it at five cents or at six cents.
Mr. Powers might have proposed that he should run his
carsto the Soutlh End, but I do not recollect it. I believe
the Middlesex Road has, within the last seven or eight years,
dropped offsome of its lines,-ithe Chelsea line and part of the
Somerville line. I think it was good policy for them to give
up their side lines, if they were unprofitable. I think, if
Shawmut Avenue and Washington Street, and Tremont
Street and Harrison Avenue were all straight, wide avenues
running into the city as they do in New York, it would be
better to have eacl one of them occupied by a separate corporation. It would be better for all the corporations; but I
think, when there is only one avenue, and that a small one, as
is the case here now, that one corporation had better have
the management of the roads; I mean, if there were four
lines, and four different corporations owned them, they could
do the business much more economically than they can
where it is all scattered as it is in the city of Boston. Each
road should keep on its own line. The absorbing of the Dorchester Avenue Road by the Metropolitan, I think, was a decided mistake, but we shall have to absorb the Highland
Railroad, if the charter asked for is granted. The lines in
New York, running up and down the different avenues, are
owned by different corporations, but they do not interfere




294


with each other. Either one of those lines does nearly as
much business as the Metropolitan. Judging from what has
been the increase in the past, ten years from now the number of passengers carried on the Metropolitan Road will be
over thirty millions a year. There is no doubt that, so far as
the amount of business is concerned, there is ample room for
two, and even three such lines, if properly managed, and if
there was any room for them; but there is no room. I do not
think the South Boston Road can be more conveniently and
satisfactorily managed, under a separate, friendly administration, than it could be managed by the Metropolitan Company with one president. We have been intending for a long
time to consolidate the two; but the people of South Boston
came before the legislature, and opposed the consolidation.
I do not think the people are full of dissatisfaction with the
Metropolitan Road, and that there is no fault found with the
other roads, except by an occasional grumbler. It is not a
fact that the Metropolitan Railroad is too large, so large as
not to be comfortably manageable. I think that our out-oftown lines have been exceedingly unprofitable. It is very
difficult to take care of the people in the suburbs, and give
them reasonable accommodation, and at the same time to
enable us to pay anything to our stockholders. On a horse
railroad, if you increase the business, you must increase the
details just as much; you must have a car, a driver, a conductor and a pair of horses for every forty or fifty passellgers. A steam railroad, I should suppose, would be very
much more easily managed.
In Philadelphia, some of the roads run about seven miles
over the same tracks, but, there is very little competition between them. There is nothing like the local traffic there that
there is in New York city.
I think the policy of the Metropolitan Road to-day would
be to buy the South Boston Road. That road is a good
piece of property. If it was under our management, we
should run some of the cars very differently from the manner
in which they are now run, so as to relieve Washington




295


Street. We should probably run some of the cars to Church
Green. It is not now under our management; we merely
work in harmony. It is not under our control.
A great many of the roads in New York run over the
same tracks; not very long distances, however; I should
think a mile, perhaps. On the west side, in Broadway, they
run five or six thousand feet on the same track; then they
divide up, and go on to the different avenues. I don't see
any objection to that, because they have all got enough to
do. The business in Boston now is not enough for the Metropolitan Company. I should like to see the cars filled with
a reasonable freight of passengers through the middle of the
day. We don't get it now. The cars have good freight in
New York in the day time. I think there has been a little
increase in Boston in the middle of the day, but we run a
great many cars that do not pay for the feed the horses get.
That is one objection to another company coming in and
occupying our tracks, that there is not enough business for
two or three corporations: and another is, that I do not
think it right for al out-of-town company to come in and
take the cream of our business, and carry people three
miles for five cents, when we have to carry them four and a
half miles, by tickets, for the same sum. Our fare to Milton
is now ten cents for a single fare, twelve tickets for a dollar.
We tried the experiment of low fares to Dorchester and
Milton, and lost money. We ouglit to charge more, in order
to make it pay the cost, on all the out-of-town lines. Fifteen
cents or a shilling would be a fair charge to Milton for a
single fare. We always had trouble with people who lived
on Dover Street; they thought they ought not to pay the
same fare as people on Camden Street and Chester Park;
and for that reason the city government fixed one fare for
the city limits, in order.to have it uniform, and that there
might not be any more trouble.
I think that five cents would be a reasonable fare to the
South End. The question of fares has been discussed, and
my view has been that we could run for five cents; but our




296


treasurer, who has had a good many years' experience, and
our board of directors, do not think we can. I think Mr.
Powers is right in his view, that he could run for five cents.
We could not run over to Charlestown for five cents. What
I mean is, if we did nothinJg but Boston business, we could
do it for five cents. I think, if we had the city of Boston
business to do, we would at least put the fare down to five
cents, with twenty-five tickets for a dollar, and I think we
could do a good business at that.
To the CHAIRMAN.-Where the houses are compact, we can
run at a very low rate; the outer end of the route is what
increases the cost. If we carried the people but three miles
out, we could reduce the fares, and the people of Boston
are now actually paying for the loss at the extreme ends of
the various routes. They really give us all the profits there
are, and we object to having the Middlesex Company come
in and deprive us of the cream of our business in the city
of Boston. We claim that, after the stockholders of the
Metropolitan Corporation have taken the risk, and the managers have done the best they could to accommodate the
public, and have accommodated the public, that no other
corporation has a right to come in over their tracks and
take their business from them. We have more right in the
streets at the South End than at the North End, but we
have no right in the streets we have not occupied. If the
Highland Railroad had stopped at Tremont Street, I should
not have interfered particularly, because they would not
have interfered with our business mucli. All the passengers;.    they would get on Shawmut Avenue would not amount to
anything; their business would be on Tremont Street. It
would be just as much a competing line with us as if they
ran over Tremont Street, if they were allowed to come down
to Temple Place. The only reason we should not oppose it,. if it stopped at the end of Shawmut Avenue, would be because
they had made a failure, and they would be only laying
tracks in Shawmut Avenue for our future benefit.
To Mr. SHATTUCK.-I have no doubt that a line from
)t,
K..\ ^




297
Charlestown, up Tremont Street, to the South End would be
successful and profitable; that it could carry passengers at a
low rate and accommodate tile people. But I don't think
the great body of people in Charlestown and the South End
care very much about it. No doubt, they would like all the
accommodation they could get. I think it would not be a
line that the public would like as well as it does the Metropolitanl. If the road was chartered that this petition asks
for, I do not think the people at the South End would be as
well accommodated as they are to-day. I do not see how
you are going to run your cars without interfering and disarraigiJig our business. 1 don't see how you can run down
Tremont Street without doing it. Any one can see that the
cars could not be run into Bromfield Street or Montgomery
Place, as you suggest, and the horses shifted there, very
readily. I think the people on Tremont Street would not
gain anything by that change. 1 think that the travel would
be as mucl interrupted by this plan, and that there would
be more blocking up than there is now. Of course, there
are some obstructions there; cars cannot be handled without
some difficulty.  If' the cars of the Highland Railroad
were allowed to run to the Tremont House, all the business
they got would be taken away from us, and that would be a
good deal. A good deal of it would be mere local traffic; a
little more than the South Boston Road gets.
Mr. POWERS was recalled, and made a statement in relation
to Everett and the Union Street Railway.
Mr. HATHORNE, proprietor of the omnibus line, stated that
he carried about 2,500,000 passengers a year, about one-third
of whom are Clarlestown people. His business has increased
50 per cent. in five years. He had no objection to make to
the granting of the petition, for lie thought he had the inside
track anyway, and had better keep quiet.
The arguments will be made before the committee on
Friday next, at 10 o'clock.
38




298


MAncn 15.
CLOSING ARGUMENT FOR REMONSTRANTS, BY HENRY W.
MUZZEY, ESQ.
Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen:
This is a contest between two corporations. It cannot be
lifted to a higler plane than that. But, as each of these corporations is a common carrier of passengers to, from and
within certain sections of tlle city of Boston, the riding public cannot be indifferent spectators of the struggle.  The
Metropolitan Railroad Company, in defending the field of
tlheir clarter against an attempted aggression, believe tlat
the interests of tlloir patrons are linked to the preservation
of their corporate rigllts. If tle servant suffers, the served
must suffer also. If you cripple tile arm, you lessen the support it was created to give. If you choke up the avenue, the
passage cannot be made.
First chartered of the street railways in this Commonwealth, and the most conspicuous in amount of capital and
length of track, tlle Metropolitan lhas encountered many assailants. Occupying the most embarrassing grould for the
trial of a novel use of the highway, against whicl at the
start were arrayed many opponents, it was not strange that
the brunt of the battle to sustain the experiment, in bellalf
of all street railways, should fall upon it. At State House and
City Hall, it won the earliest victories for the system. There
it was the champion and protector of all who elsewhere had
embarked in the enterprise. The proprietors of other vehicles, public and private, feared the loss of custom, or safety,
or comfort, if this new mode of travel should fasten itself
upon the highway. It was not unnatural that it slould encounter hostility from many quarters. But, in one direction,
at least, this corporation would seem to have entitled itself,
by its part in this contest, to freedom from assault. There
are services that among men make title to gratitude and appeal to honor. Corporations ought at least to have souls in
their relations and dealings with each other.  Whatever




299


other street railway company has gathered fruit from the
ground conquered by the pioneer, ouglit, in common honesty,
to allow it to eiljoy its own place in peace.
But this doctrine, however acceptable elsewhere, appears
to have made but sliglit lodgment in the councils of the
Middlesex Railroad. We learn that, one year and a half
ago, the directors of that company resolved to act upon the
opposite principle; but their amiable president intervened,
and witlhheld the blow, so as to launch it at tile opportunie
moment whlen lhe found us threatened with a shaft from
anotlher quarter.
This artful seizure of the time for attack was a natural
step in a proceeding originally conceived in unfairness. It
is not surprisilg that a inean end should be soughlt iln mean
ways. No hlonorable excuse can be suggested for thle holding
back of tle petition umntil tile organization of the legislature
had been perfected. Th'l'le measure itself liad been. long contemplated. The directors' vote had been on record for
eiglhtecn months  An entire session of onec legislature was
permitted to pass witlhout movement. All lhope of negotiation ended last summer. Tlle thlirty days' rule of public notice, at last was ignored. Wly? Tle reason connot be masked.
Our cunninig adversary had tlhouglht it necessary to await the
happelilg of some extraordinary event. The application
needed adventitious aid. It was unsuited to quiet times. It
would not stanld the scrutiiiy of independent inlvestigation and
appeal. The Higlhland commotion arose; and thle MIiddlesex
manager thoughlt thle reward of patient waitilng at lengtlh had
come. It was to be a double hlanded figlit; and tlle assailanlt,
wlho lhad feared to take the field alone, but lain dormant for
eiglhteell mIonths, now ventured forlh. Tlihe  are the circumstances under wliicli the sclieme of the petitioners makes
acquaintance with the committee and the legislature.
What is the sclieme itself?  An attempt, on the part of
a corporation chartered to transport people living west of




300


Charles River into Boston, dissatisfied with the gains from
its own field, to intrude itself upon the profitable part of
the location allotted to, and which sustains, another corporation, engaged in the business of conveying the people of
Boston to and from their homes and places of business,
and of providing the inhabitants of Brookline, West Roxbury and Milton with means of access to the metropolis.
Stripped of all pretence about the demand of the public, this
is the undertaking for which legislative sanction is invoked.
The Middlesex Railroad Company, instead of minding the
business with which the legislature, upon its own request,
entrusted it, but tiring of that business, and envious of its
neighbor's success and prosperity, is striving to break down
long-settled chartered divisions. To attain this, it advances
impertinent criticisms upon the business management of the
respondent company, which it boldly asks may be practically
driven into sharing the well-earned rewards of that management with a less successful competitor.
But it was foreign to tle legislative intention that these
two corporations should ever be rivals for the same business.
Each, by its charter, was assigned to separate, though kindred, work. There was, and is, room   enough for both.
When the legislature is asked to revise and overturn its own
action in a matter of this kind, it will reasonably and justly
first inquire whether the demand founds itself upon any public exigency. It will grant nothing because envy, or illsuccess, or ambition prefers the request. It will not pronounce a forfeiture of rights and privileges which it has
bestowed, unless the receiver of them has proved either unworthy to enjoy them or incapable of answering the end for
which they were conferred. And then it will direct no transfer of those rihts and privileges, except into hands more
*  Ji ~  deserving an  capable of fulfilling the trust. So that the
first duty resting upon the petitioners is to satisfy the legislature of the exigency. And what is their showing in this;i hi     respect? Why, in the first place, they call before this committee two eminently respectable citizens of Charlestown, and




801


two excellent gentlemen of the South End of Boston, to state
that a desire prevails, to some extent, for increased facilities
for intercommunication between those points. There is no
limit to the desire of a community in this direction. The
best attainable means of supplying it are never adequate to
complete satisfaction.
Existing public conveyances now  traverse the entire
route. For five cents, single fare, and four cents by ticket,
a passenger may ride in Hathorne's omnibuses from Charlestown to Northampton Street in Boston,    If he prefers
the cars, he may make the trip for nine cents, merely stepping from a Middlesex to a Metropolitan car, at Scollay
Square.
The petitioners allege that these facilities are insufficient.
On the other hand, we hold them to be fully equal tod the
demand. Here is a square issue between us. My Lord Coke
says, " One man sayeth one thing, and another man sayeth
another thigg; but the verity is the record."  Our appeal is
to the record. In obedience to a statute of the Commonwealth, a passenger riding into town in a Middlesex car, and
desiring to continue the journey beyond Scollay Square, is
furnished with a transfer ticket, which entitles him to a passage in a Metropolitan car beyond. The sum received for
these transfer tickets is, by law, equally divided between the
company issuing the same and the company delivering them
to its passengers. An exact account, therefore, of the number of tickets, issued and used, is kept at the Metropolitan
and Middlesex offices.
By testimony of Mr. Powers, it appears that only seventyfive persons, each way, on the average, apply for these tickets
daily. This really tells the whole story of the pretended
demand. But my learned friend, who is to close for the
petitioners, will tell you that all of the people who employ
the omnibuses would prefer and use the cars, if they could
be carried therein as cheaply, and without change at Scollay
Square. Probably this is true; and, no doubt, every one of




302
them would prefer to be conveyed over the route in a close
carriage, if that comfort were attainable at the same cost.
The answer to the suggestion which I thus anticipate, is, in
the first place, that both car and omnibus are vehicles for the
cheap transportation of the people, and not luxurious conveyances for the rich; and, secondly, that the convenience
of forty-five thousand passengers daily carried in the Metropolitan cars, and fifteen thousand more daily carried in the
South Boston cars, is not to be jeopardized or lessened to increase facilities, already reasonable, of Charlestown people
for reaching the South End of Boston. Still less is their
convenience to be risked or diminished to repair the fortunes
of another corporation.
But I have not quite done with the record.   We have
heard it stated, as a leading merit of the petitioners' project,
that passengers in the Middlesex cars seeking the Soutli End
would thereby be saved the great sacrifice of comfort wlich
they now endure in changing cars at Scollay Square. On
this point, our witness is President Powers himself. Before
the present scheme had taken possession of him, and when
he may be presumed to have spoken disinterestedly, he commented upon this hardship.  I read from the " Remonstrance
of the Metropolitan and Middlesex Railroad   Companies
against the several petitions asking for the right to run over
81  ~  their railroad tracks, presented to the legislature of 1864."
Let Director Powers of 1864 answer President Powers of
1872.
t      " No sacrifice or diminution " (then said the witness) of the
rights of those who have committed their property to our charge
can be justified, except on the ground of some overwhelming,:', ~    public necessity or emergency. * * * Is it such an emer-:i; I    gency that there are perhaps twenty-five persons in a day that
would prefer to go through from Roxbury to Charlestown in one
car, rather than to step from one car to another on arriving at
Scollay's Building?" (Senate Doc. No. 4, 1864.)
i                                                       i
As I shall have occasion to refer again to this interesting
%   sqVl i..
X,.  \  Ha  E




303


and sensible document, the logic of which lies like a lion in
the petitioners' path, it may be well here, briefly, to state its
history, so far as the Middlesex Company was concerned.
Joseph Pratt and others, proprietors of the " Red Line of
Oninibuses," asked to be incorporated to run cars from Roxbury, througl Boston, to Charlestown Neck; and Chauncy
Page and others asked an Act of incorporation for a horse
railroad from South Boston to Charlestown Navy Yard, using
parts of the track of the Middlesex Railroad; and for divers
good and sufficient reasons, stated in the remonstrance, and
which prevailed with the legislature, the Middlesex Railroad
opposed tlhe granting of these petitions. I respectfully commend this document, in all its parts, to legislative attention.
It is the best speech that can be made for the remonstrants
to-day. I (lo not think its arguments" obsolete," as Mr.
Powers suggests; but I cheerfully admit that they have
become very troublesome to their author.
At the close of the year 1859, the cars of the Middlesex
Railroad stopped at Haymarket Square in Boston; those
of the Metropolitan, at the Granary Burying-ground on
Tremont Street, and those of the Broadway (or South
Boston), in Sunmmer Street.  December 31, 1859, locations were granted to these companies, and to the Suffolk
Railroad, by the board of aldermen of Boston, the general
design of which was to bring the passengers upon the
lines of railway operated by those companies to a common
centre, or point of union, in the city; so that a passenger
in the car of either company might, from that point, pursue his journey in the car of any other company. Scollay's Building was selected as the proper central point.
The Metropolitan Railroad was authorized to lay down a
single track from its terminus in Tremont Street, to and
through Cornhill and Washington Street, to its existing track
at the junction of Boylston and Washington Streets; and
the Middlesex, to extend its track to Scollay's Building,
thence over the Metropolitan location in Cornhill and through




304


Washington Street, Dock Square and Union Street, to its
existing track in Haymarket Square. These orders were
passed at the same meeting. In the location then granted
to the Metropolitan Railroad, the board of aldermen reserved
the right to permit the Middlesex, or aly other company, to
run cars over the track so located. But a reference to the
several orders of location then granted, shows that the intention of the board was niot to introduce eitler company to
any interference with the cllartered purpose of the other, or
to create any rivalry between them. Not the least shallow
of the pretences set up by the petitioners at this hearing, is
that the aldermen in this grant contemplated that the Middlesex Company should some time enjoy the use of Tremont
Street in the manner indicated by their present petition;
for the order of location expressly provides that the Metropolitan Railroad shall run its cars upon the single track
granted, down Tremont Street to Cornhill; while the present
application of the Middlesex Company is, that it may be authorized to run its cars up Tremont Street over tills very
track. The most that can be claimed by the Middlesex, as
in view under the proviso when this location of 1859 was
granted, is that the aldermen contemplated giving, at some
future time, a privilege to the Middlesex to run its cars
around the circuit, through Cornlill, up Washington Street
W   ~  to Boylston, through Boylston to Tremont, and down Tremont to Scollay's Building; in which case, its cars would
move all the way in the same direction with those of the
Metropolitan.
ti r       Now, Mr. Chairman, it is a noticeable fact, brought out
at this hearing, found in the opening argument of counsel,
and given great prominence in Mr. Powers' testimony,
as well as in that of the two witnesses from Charlestown,
that the people brought into Boston in the Middlesex
cars, who are not satisfied with Scollay Square as a stopping point, desire, with very rare exceptions, to be car~~~~~~~~~~




305


ried no further than the theatres and shopping places,nearly all of which are located north of Boylston Street.
If the Middlesex directors seek no more than to afford this
accommodation to their legitimate passengers, and are sincere
in claiming that the need of granting it was foreseen by the
Boston aldermen, why do they not ask for a location over
that route, and for nothing more? It is idle to talk of the
shifting southward of Boston centre, about which we have
heard so much in attempted justification of this petition.
Nobody pretends that it has moved beyond Boylston Street.
Our Highland friends first desired to come to the Tremont
House, and reluctantly consented to stop at Temple Street.
What do you suppose, sir, those of our own passengers now
moved no firther than the Tremont House, would say to us,
if we proposed to drop them further south, on the plea that
the centre of Boston had changed? The very suggestion of
such a step on our part throws a flood of light upon the real
design of these petitioners. Full well they know that the
paying-ground of the Metropolitan Railroad, by the occupation of which it is enabled to sustain its unremunerative
branches, lies between the termini fixed in the Middlesex
petition. It is upon this locality that their greed has fastened itself. The lust for ten per cent. dividends is at the
bottom of the whole movement. One must be very dull of
vision who does not perceive this.
How are the good people of Charlestown to profit from
this enterprise? Now, the Middlesex Railroad Company,
if the profits be small, must confine their attention to supplying the needs of Charlestown and the neighboring
towns. Open up to them this alluring Boston field, and
they will very soon come to look coldly and with neglect
upon a community that pays them only three per cent.
per annum. One may form a tolerably clear opinion
upon this subject, by tracing the Middlesex policy, as
heretofore disclosed in its treatment of unproductive
sections dependent upon its mercy. The wise men of
Charlestown had better think of the fate of Everett and
39




306


Medford, before they part with their chance of accommodation at the hands of this corporation. Better be dropped
at Scollay Square, than beguiled by the fancy that any
thought of accommodating Charlestown is the spur to this
movement.
It is hardly worth while to waste time over the other suggestion, that the compassion of the Middlesex directors has
been attracted to the desperate strait of the South End and
Charlestown mechanics, who, in journeying to and fro, cannot spare a second to change cars at Scollay Square, and are
too aristocratic to ride for four cents in the omnibuses.
I suppose there is some reason for believing that Bostonians at the South End, who are not stockholders in the
Metropolitan Railroad, would enjoy " a little competition";
but, as their representatives at this hearing both testified
that they were at present excellently accommodated, and
had profited very much by the exertions of the Metropolitan Railroad, they are hardly objects of pity on this
occasion.
It may be seriously said, however, that there are communities at the extreme points to which our tracks extend,
and who pay us no profit for the accommodation they receive,
who, like the poor people of Medford and Everett, and those
in general on the Cliftondale Road when their track shall
be "restored, with a heavier rail," might suffer if this
petition were granted. The Metropolitan Railroad, unlike
the Middlesex, has never neglected the distant communities
dependent upon it for access to Boston. It has devoted
enough of the profits derived from the territory that the
' ~    Middlesex Company now seeks to invade, to meet defil, |     ciencies in operating these outlying tracks. If, however, it
i j   were obliged to divide these profits with a rival, it might
lose the ability to continue this service.
A feeble attempt has been made to show that, if the Middle':rt//   sex Company were authorized to run their cars upon Shawmut Avenue, they would not be in direct competition with
the Metropolitan; but nothing can be clearer than the fact,, I.il    e:




307


that, if they were permitted to traverse two-thirds of the
heart of this district, now wholly enjoyed by us, they would
vastly diminish our receipts. Every resident on Shawmut
Avenue is now within a minute's walk of our cars. The
fact that the Middlesex Company desire to occupy this route
shows that that avenue now furnishes to the Metropolitan a
paying business.
I ought not to forget that the president of the Middlesex
generously promised you, Mr. Chairman, that, in case his
petition was granted, the Metropolitan, in the spirit of reciprocity, should be permitted to approach Charlestown with
its cars over as much of the Middlesex track as they would
use of our own. The testimony of the engineer who has
surveyed these distances shows, that this liberal offer would
carry our cars only to the Boston end of Charles River
bridge. We are very much obliged to the president; but,
being contented with the duty which the legislature has given
us, we think it better that both companies should do the
best they can at home, and not transfer their attention to
each other's business.
Thus far I have not touched upon the practical difficulty
which concerns the safety and comfort of the passengers
whom we carry through Tremont Street, in the proposed
occupation of our tracks by a rival for custom. Our opponents, instead of going to Philadelphia and New York to
disprove the opinions they themselves have heretofore
held and expressed upon this point, would have kept
nearer home, could they have supported their newlyacquired views by any illustration drawn from experience
and observation in our own Boston streets. However
successful attempts to adjust the difficulties attendant upon
the joint occupation by two companies of a common track
may have been in other cities, blessed with broad and parallel streets, through which the cars always move in one
continuous line or direction, it is enough for us at home to
know, that the experiment, except for short distances traversed without competition, has always proved a failure in




308


Boston; and that a more unfavorable place for renewing the
attempt here could not be selected than this very Tremont
Street, upon which the petitioners desire to force it. The
general experiment was tried by agreement between these
very companies about six years ago, and the Metropolitan
cars ran for a year to Charlestown Neck; when, as Mr.
Powers testifies, both companies desired its abandonment.
The difficulty, as he puts it, was that the Metropolitan cars
" loafed " for passengers, for several minutes, in front of the
Fitchburg Railroad station. What is to prevent the recurrence of this same difficulty, if occupation of a common
track were to be inaugurated anew?
Of course, the subject of the use of the same track in
rivalry for custom presents, in the case before the Committee, two questions. The first is a public question. It
concerns the interest of passengers in the efficient operation of either road, and physical difficulties presented by
the streets of Boston, and their existing occupation by railway tracks. Upon this branch of the inquiry the committee have recently listened, in another case as well as
in this, to valuable and pertinent testimony, and to the
able discussion of the whole subject by my learned friend
and colleague, Mr. Bates. His cogent arguments, amply
covering, and, as I think, concluding, the controversy,
I cannot enlarge or enforce, and I will spare the committee
from listening to mere repetition.,' i     I shall be pardoned, however, if, upon the other branch of
the question,-namely, the justice of corporate interference
with established rights,-I summon Mr. Powers to the stand
l!'i   again. In that same " Remonstrance " of 1864, from which
I have already quoted, he lays down further sound doctrine,
as follows:
I       "It is very evident from a perusal of the petitions, that not
one of them springs from an acknowleged want of accommodation on the part of the public; for in all of the mthe one fact
stands prominently forth, that all the business they propose to




309


do, and the public they propose to accommodate, is the same
business now done and the same public now accommodated,
either by the Metropolitan Railroad Company or the Middlesex
Railroad Company, or both together.
"Thus, when the Hobbs petitioners ask leave to run from
Roxbury to Charlestown Neck, we know that they wish to run
upon the rails belonging to these remonstrants; for that is what
they have desired to do for the last five years, and it is the only
practicable, and, we believe, the only possible route from Roxbury to Charlestown Neck.
" These several petitioners, therefore, ask your honorable body
to grant them charters, whereby they may either entirely supersede us, your remonstrants, in our rights, and in the business
we have been chartered to do, or else that they may do a competing business with us upon our own tracks; or, in other
words, they ask the legislature to give them all the substantial
benefit of the tracks built, maintained and owned by us under
the sanction of the legislature.
"They ask the legislature of Massachusetts to grant them
the right to take and use, without our consent, property and
rights granted to us by a former legislature of the Commonwealth, with no other object really in view than that of their
own pecuniary benefit.
"In times past the legislature of Massachusetts granted to
your remonstrants the power to construct, maintain, and use
a railway or railways, and to run cars by horse-power in the
streets of Boston, Roxbury and Charlestown.
" Relying upon the grant of the legislature and the hitherto
unbroken faith that Massachusetts has maintained in all her
dealings with the world, the country and her own citizens,
your remonstrants (or their predecessors, in their corporate
capacity), after encountering many difficulties and incurring
very much larger expenditures than was anticipated, have completed, and to-day are maintaining and operating, horse railroads, as follows: The Metropolitan Company have railroads
running from Boston to Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Dorchester
and Brookline; and the Middlesex Company have railroads running from Boston to Charlestown, the Navy Yard, Medford,
Maiden and Somerville."




310


Then, after strengthening the argument by reference to
the ample equipment of the Metropolitan and Middlesex
Companies, and their common effort to serve the public, he
remarks, that a passenger " can go from Scollay's Building
(the acknowledged central point for street railroads in the
city of Boston) to the South End every one and a half minutes."  *   *  *  "These statistics, which are carefully
made, show that the remonstrants run a sufficient number
of cars, and with sufficient frequency, to accommodate the
several communities they undertake to serve." Further on
he says, speaking of the "only suggested necessities or
emergencies on which these applications are based," that
"The mere statement of them is enough to demonstrate how
utterly inadequate they are as a ground for asking the legislature to interfere, and take from our stockholders and give to
another set of stockholders rights which we have purchased and
paid for in good faith;" * * * "and the only possible way
that a new company could effectually compete with us, would
be to appropriate, as these petitioners propose, our fixed capital to their own uses. They could compete with us on terms
still more advantageous to themselves, if they also appropriate
our cars and horses, car-houses and stables.
"If more cars are required by the public on either of our
lines, we are ready to supply them up to the limit to which it is
possible to run them in the streets of the city. It is from time
to time suggested, that this limit has been already attained in
Washington Street, and we have great difficulty in obeying the
city ordinance, which requires that the cars should keep at
least three hundred feet apart. Any considerable increase
would render the streets so crowded that ordinary vehicles
would find it difficult, if not impossible, to make their way.
These difficulties would be much enhanced, if the new comers
should be under a separate and rival organization. The same
number of people are to be carried: and, if we are obliged to
take off a car for every one the new companies put on our
track, the public will have no greater accommodation; if we do
not diminish the number of our cars, the streets will be overcrowded, and a business, which, with economy, is fairly remu

i
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al's 
'.., C
>, i:'  I~\  ) \




311


nerative to one 'company, if divided among several companies,
would inevitably result in a loss to all, and necessarily in an
ultimate loss to the public.
"It has been said, and will be said again, by every petitioner
that comes before you, that they do not ask the legislature to
take away our charters, and that our suggestions about forfeiting our charters or our rights being invaded, have no bearing on these petitions.
"In answer to this we refer to the petitions themselves.
"There are but four streets or avenues leading from Roxbury
to Boston proper, viz.: Tremont Street, Shawmut Avenue,
Washington Street and Harrison Avenue. Shawmut Avenue
ends at Dover Street, so that a new railroad must turn into the
streets in which the Metropolitan tracks are now laid, and the
inhabitants of that avenue would loudly protest againt any
railroad being put there; for they have horse-cars on either
side of them within a few hundred feet, sufficient for their
accommodation, and always have objected to such a use of the
street."
It may be suggested that, since these views were expressed,
Shawmut Avenue has been extended to Tremont Street;.
but this fact only strengthens the importance of keeping
that single leading street free from horse-cars, for pleasure
travel needs it in summer, andc in time of snow in winter,
the streets occupied by railway tracks must, it is steadily
becoming acknowledged, be cleared for the accommodation
of passengers in the cars, and one highway through the city
should be left for the use of vehicles on runners.
Mr. Powers continues the argument as follows:"The precedent established by the General Court has been,
that those companies which have obtained their charters, built
their roads and are in successful operation, should be protected;
but there are still many parties that hope, by constant importuning, to be able to succeed in obtaining some grant that they
can sell out to the old roads seeking for self-preservation, or
that they may, without constructing new roads, be enabled to run
over an established line and gather something that may perhaps




312


be profitable. Hence the legislature is troubled with these matters yearly, and members have no peace from the petitioners on
the one side, and the remonstrants on the other. And the
established horse railroad companies are compelled for selfpreservation to appear and exert themselves to their utmost to
preserve their chartered rights and the property under their
care.
"When steam railroads were first brought into successful
operation, the same difficulties arose, and would have continued
to the present time probably, if the legislature in their wisdom
had not passed a general law that gave all due encouragement
to new enterprise, and at the same time established the existing
roads and the capital invested therein on a firm and stable basis.
"In the history of the steam roads in this Commonwealth, it
was found absolutely indispensable, for their safe and efficient
operation, that the motive power of one road should not enter
upon and pass over the connecting road.
"In the year 1845 the following law was passed by the legislature:"', Every railroad corporation which may be the owner of any railroad
in use, is hereby required, at reasonable times and for a reasonable compensation, to draw over their road the passengers, merchandise and cars
of any other railroad corporation, which has been or may hereafter be
authorized by the legislature to enter with their railroad upon, or to unite
the same with, the road of such corploration and use such last-named road,
and if the respective corporations whose roads are so united shall be
unable to agree upon the compensation to be paid, the supreme court
shall appoint commissioners,' &c.
"And in the same year the following law was also passed:"' No locomotive engine or other motive power shall be allowed to run
upon any railroad constructed by authority of this state, except such as is
owned and controlled by the corporation owning and managing the road,
unless by the consent of such corporation.'
" This law has been found effectual in removing all the trouble
and vexation formerly endured by the legislature and the parties on account of such petitions, and has fully and beneficially
5.        encouraged all necessary enterprise in seeking for new roads,
1!i X    when the public demands the same; and we would respectfully




313


request this legislature to examine fully this matter, and see if a
similar law in regard to horse railroads would not be equally
beneficial.
"The legislature of Massachusetts has created, encouraged
and protected us thus far, and we have all confidence that it will
still continue to do so; and we feel assured that, when we ask it,
we shall have that investigation which the interests at stake demand; and we confidently await and willingly abide by the
honest judgment of the representatives of the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts.
"All of which is respectfully submitted.
"JOHN H. BLAKE,         JOHN R. BLAKE,
"JOHN FLINT,            OLIVER BREWSTER,
";DUDLEY H. BAYLEY,     WILLIAM HIENDRY,
"LEMUEL SHAW,           WILLIAM B. MAY,
Directors of the Metropolitan Railroad Co.
"LAWSON B. STONE,          WILLIAM W. WHEILDON,
"GEO. W. PALMER,           JOHN H. BLAKE,
"CHAS. EDW. POWERS, CHARLES L. FLINT,
" Directors of the MIiddlesex Railroad Co.
" BOSTON, JAN. 19, 1864."-(Senate Doc. NO. 4, 1864.)
These were not new views with Mr. Powers. Before they
were sent to the legislature, he had spent months in impressing them upon the Street Railway Commissioners, of whom
Chief Justice Redfield was chairman, and had called many
witnesses before them, among them  Mr. Studley, then and
now superintendent of the Middlesex Road, who, in reply to
a question put by Mr. Powers, said: " I don't think it practicable for one corporation to run over the track of another,
where the lines are competing ones." (Evidence before the
Street Railway Commissioners, p. 321.)
If Mr. Studley has, like Mr. Powers, changed his views,
we have not been made aware of the fact at this hearing. He
continues a witness for the remonstrants to-day. The petitioners went to Philadelphia for affidavits, to show that Mr.
Wharton and Mr. Young had altered their opinions, expressed
in 1862, as to the practicability of the use of a common track
40




314
by two street railway corporations. But a better witness
would have been Mr. Studley, the Middlesex superintendent. If he, with his practical acquaintance with Boston
streets, had changed the opinion expressed by him to the
street railroad commissioners, the petitioners would have
produced him in their hehalf at this hearing. His silence,
now, is equivalent to a reiteration of the views he formerly
expressed.
I do not think the argument, upon the point of justice or
practicability either, after these quotations from the president
and superintendent of the Middlesex, needs help from me.
"Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee."
Sir, the petitioners have not seemed troubled much by the
restraints of modesty at any stage of the present investigation;
but I think audacity approached its height, when they ventured to invite comparisons between the Middlesex and Metropolitan Companies upon the point of service to the public
and deserts of management.
Beset with extraordinary difficulties of location, having a
new system of passenger transportation to inaugurate, and
an exacting community to serve therewith, the Metropolitan
Railroad Company do not claim to have attained perfection
in the conduct of a street railway, or that they have nothing
to learn from others; but they are able to point with pride
to the fact, that their road was honestly and economically
built; that their public returns and private accounts will
bear scrutiny; and that the people upon no line of theirshowever distant in situation, or unremunerative in patronage
-have been abandoned by them in mid-winter. They may
not always have been found in advance of a public need of
increased accommodations; although ajust inquiry, had a disappointed public made it, would in general have revealed the
fact, that the managers of this railroad had not been thoughtless or unappreciative, but had long been striving to convince
city authorities of the necessity for street improvements
which would make it possible for the railroad to meet the
want. One thing is certain,-that from time to time this




315


corporation and the public have enjoyed the benefit, at the
directors' board, of the best business talent in our midst.
Men whose ships have whitened the seas; whose enterprise
has made the name of Boston honored in many a commercial
mart; who have adorned the professions and our halls of
legislation; who have been trusted servants of the public in
various stations, have brought their talents, their energies,
and their characters to this work. The difficulty has been in
the problem itself,-How, encompassed by embarrassments
beyond control, shall the recognized want be answered?not il the " lack of brains " to foresee the necessity, or the
will to meet it. It is not an easy thing to manage large affairs in which public interests are concerned. Ability, zeal,
and an enlightened judgment sometimes encounter undeserved
censure.
On the first day of the present month, the Boston newspapers startled their readers with the announcement, that the
inhabitants of our city, in twenty-three days' time, might be
without water from Lake Cochituate. As the alarm was
sounded, condemnation of the short-sightedness of the water
board, in failing to provide against the threatened famine,
was heard on every hand. They were loudly reminded of
past repeated warnings of the inadequate source of supply.
Yet the gentlemen in the care of this great public interest
were not undistinguished for sagacity and good judgment,
and the people had selected them because they possessed
special qualifications for their post. They had, besides, unlimited control in every direction essential to the wise administration of their trust. Are Metropolitan directors the
only fallible public servants?
It is a credit to the Metropolitan Railroad, worthy of public and legislative attention and acknowledgment, that its
complicated business has been so conducted that it does not
present itself anywhere as a financial cripple. At no time
exceeding in results to its stockholders anything above the
recognized legislative limit of ten per cent. per annum (see
Acts 1871, ch. 381, sect. 34), it has devoted its surplus profits,




316


invariably, to providing increased accommodations for its
passengers.
As the cost of construction determines the amount upon
which dividends are earned and paid, some contrasts, in this
respect, between the two corporations before you, may not inaptly find a place in this discussion. I quote from the official
returns, by which it appears that, on September 30, 1870, the
Middlesex Railroad Company possessed 8 623-5 miles of track,
which had cost $369,064.21, or $44,718.79 per mile. By the
same report, it appears that the Metropolitan Railroad then
possessed 44-1%2-6 miles of track, costing $972,486.92, or $21,697.61 per mile; less than one-half the represented cost of the
Middlesex Railroad track. In the returns for 1871, the Middlesex Railroad is stated to have acquired, within a year, 73020%5
additional miles of track; making its whole length of track
151%6omiles, costing $382,073.22, or $24,484.02 per mile.
But where, how, when, and at what cost, were these additional miles of track acquired? In what condition are they,
and for what purpose are they introduced into this return?
They do not appear at all in the return for 1870, and the
Middlesex return for 1871 states, that nothing has been
charged to capital account for extension of tracks during the
year. (See Pub. Doc. 1872, No. 29, p. 388.)
Let us try to solve this mystery. Figures may be dull, but
the end sought in the inquiry may not have an unimportant
bearing upon the merits of this candidate for legislative favor.
Bear in mind that, in 1870, the Middlesex had 8 —5%0 miles of
track, costing $44,718.79 a mile. They say they added 76 3%miles, or nearly doubled their track, during the next year.
What constituted the addition? Why, the old, defunct, abandoned, stripped " Cliftondale Road," of unhappy history. It
was built in 1860, by Mr. James M. Stone and his associates,
under the circumstances detailed by Mr. Stone in his testimony before the street railway commissioners.  (Report
of evidence before Street Railway Commissioners, pp. 70 -73.) After a year or two of disaster, it was purchased, for
iL     4$13,158.19, by Mr. Charles E. Powers and others, who, after




317


stripping the road of its iron, reorganized under the name
of the " Suburban Railroad." Under this name, returns
were made to the legislature for several years, at the foot of
which was repeated, year after year, a dismal " note," saying: " The rail originally laid was light, and a portion has
been taken up and removed, leaving the roadbed, stringers
and sleepers; said rail to be replaced by a heavier one as
soon as the times and travel will warrant." Imagine a street
railroad with only a " road-bed " (the highway), "stringers
and sleepers "!
In 1870 Mr. Powers obtained from the legislature authority to sell this road to the Middlesex Railroad Company.
(Acts 1870, ch. 20.) It is this valuable road which is made
to figure in the Middlesex return of 1871, as having increased the Middlesex track 7 362 miles, reducing the cost
of that road from $44,718.72 per mile, in 1870, to $24,484.02
a mile, in 1871. The Middlesex, however, felt obliged to
continue, in substance, the same melancholy foot-note about
the condition of the denuded " Cliftondale Branch."  (See
Pub. Doc. 1872, No. 29, p. 382.)
If the committee will further examine the return for 1871,
they will find the " Cliftondale " put therein to additional,
but similar, service in relation to the cost of the Middlesex
track. Item 36, p. 382, states the " total length of single
track " to be 151%o56 miles; item 16, p. 881, puts the "total
cost" of the Middlesex Railway at $382,073.22; item 17
gives the "average cost per mile of single track built by the
company" as $24,484.02, which shows that the " Cliftondale " was included in arriving at these computations; while,
strange to say, the cost of this " branch " ($13,158.19) is
represented, in item 18, as a railway or branch purchased,
and made, in item 20, to swell the "total cost to this company of all railways, built or purchased," to $395,231.14.
Now, what was the object of all this distortion of facts in the
Middlesex return for 1871? Simply, to delude the legislature
into the belief that the Middlesex Road had cost about the
same sum as the other street railways having tracks in Bos



318


ton and its vicinity. There was something to cover up here.
But the glaring fact is exposed, that (leaving out the " Cliftondale," for which they paid but $13,158.19), 8 253 miles
of Middlesex track cost, according to the sworn return of
their directors in 1870, $44,718.79 a mile, or about twice as
much as the track of either of the other roads; and this, too,
when the Middlesex escaped, in the city of Charlestown, many
large expenditures to which the other corporations were
elsewhere subjected.
It does not interest me, or my clients, to know who were the
"bottom parties " into whose pockets these enormous profits
of construction went; but no one can longer wonder why this
road pays but three per cent. upon its capital stock, while other
roads pay ten on theirs. The total cost of the equipment of
the Middlesex is returned as $175,566.31. The net earnings
of the company last year, according to its return, were $42,125.03. Had its eight miles of track (excluding the " Cliftondale ") cost but $25,000 a mile, or $200,000, instead of
$282,000, the $200,000, added to the cost of equipment,
would make a capital of $375,000; upon which the company
could have paid a dividend of 10 per cent. from the last
year's earnings, and still had a balance of $7,000 in its
treasury.
I do not propose to pursue an examination of the financial
exhibit made by the Middlesex Railroad, any further at this
time; but would suggest, to any one attracted by the subject,
that, in continuing the exploration he might well begin with
items 82, 83 and 84 of the return for 1871, and a comparison
of the " present surplus" item, in the return for 1869, with
the item in the return for 1870, of " surplus earnings of
previous year on hand." If he should report the result of his
investigations to the board of railroad commissioners, they
might, perhaps, feel it incumbent upon them, acting in the
public interest, to demand from this company a reconstructed
"Return."
I wish, at this point, to call the attention of the committee to the fact, that the Middlesex Company makes a
xt1




319
larger profit from its passengers than the Metropolitan;
and, if the results of its business do not reach the pockets
of its stockholders, it is owing directly to the extraordinary
inflation of its capital, produced by the original cost of its
track.
The table, compiled from       the official returns, is as follows:
Business of the Year ending September 30, 1871.
No. of    Re.ceipts from
ROADS.       Miles ran.               ees r      Total Expenses.
Passengers.  Passengers.
Middlesex,.    570,442     4,030,251 $214,417 07   $180,483 53
Metropolitan,.  2,233,339   16,386,989  882,905 66    751,874 10
No. of
ROADS.   Passengers  Receipts per  Expenses per  Profit per
per mile.  Passenger.   Passenger.   Passenger.
Middlesex,.    7.065     5 320 cts    4.478 cts..842 ct.
Metropolitan,.    7.337     5.387 cts.   4.588 cts..799 ct.


By this statement it appears that, while the Metropolitan
carries more passengers per mile run, and at a greater cost
per passenger, the Middlesex makes a larger profit on each
passenger.
By reference to other tables in the hands of the committee,
it will further appear that the Metropolitan passengers are,
in general, conveyed at lower fares than those of the Middlesex; while the accommodations furnished them, particularly
the number of cars in their service at remote points, present
in a contrast still more favorable to the Metropolitan.
An effort has been made to impress the public with the
idea, that enormous dividends have been realized by the
stockholders of the Metropolitan. The facts in evidence
before you show that the average of dividends, during the




320


whole period of its existence, has been but 73%-1  per cent.
per annum.
If it were just or practicable to force upon the route of
the Metropolitan, to the discomfort of its own passengers
as well as the injury of established corporate rights, the
cars of a company chartered to serve another community,*
my own neighbors in Cambridge might well dispute, with
the people of Charlestown, title to the privilege.  The
Union Railway Company conveyed last year in its cars
6,228,158 passengers from Cambridge and its vicinity;
while the Middlesex Railroad Company carried but 4,030,251 passengers from Charlestown and its vicinity. All of
these Cambridge passengers were dropped at the terminus
in Bowdoin Square, a point considerably more distant from
the "business centre of Boston" than where their more
favored neighbors of Charlestown are left. But no competent observer will deny, that it is utterly impossible that room
for the cars from both of these suburban cities can, by any
plan that human ingenuity oan devise, be now made upon
the tracks of the Metropolitan Railroad in Tremont Street,
between Scollay Square and Shawmut Avenue. If, then, the
privilege could be accorded to either, why-I appeal to your
candor, Mr. Chairman, a Middlesex senator, residing in
Charlestown-should it be bestowed upon the people who,
although a third less in number, enjoy already superior
facilities?
We must consider Boston streets as they are, not
as they will be when the enlightened views expressed
at this hearing, by General Burt and Mr. Upton, shall
have prevailed. The grand improvement which they wisely
counsel, must some day come. The great future of Boston
will demand noble thoroughfares; but they have not been
made yet; and it is absurd to suppose that they are
to be created at the State House, in the interest of the
Middlesex Railroad. When they have been ordered at
the City Hall, for broader and better reasons than that any
corporation wants them for its own profit merely, then comi&i,,,,!




321


prehensive questions of street railway accommodation will
have their day. The question as to when and how the improvement shall be made, is a matter for municipal, and not
legislative determination.
The pending application of the Middlesex Railroad has
not failed to draw attention to its merits from the Boston
press.
In its leading editorial on March 4, the Daily Advertiser
discusses the interests involved, with the intelligence, candor
and independence usual to its treatment of public questions.
I should be glad, if time allowed, to read the entire article, but will only ask the attention of the committee to a
brief extract therefrom:
"The petitions of both the Middlesex Company and the corporators of thle. proposed new road (Highland) involve the use,
to a greater or les1s extent, of the tracks of the Metropolitan Company. If there is any one point that has been decided by the
unanimous testi-ilony of all men of experience in horse railroad
manargement, it is that such competition is a great evil. Such
rivalry in tet cro'?,led part of the city would cause endless difficulty. It' two (: lil:e  erere to occupy the same entire route, it is
imp(ossible to say \wiv;t conflicts and what vexation to the public
might nt.ensae. What the Middlesex Company thought of
propo-itions t,) occupy its track, in 1864, is on record in a printed
remonstrance!)resented to the legislature in that year, and the
arguments theln:Ilvajn,*! are as strong to-day as at that time.
It is true tlhat, i' tle 1t;i of track so occupied in common was
small, the evil \ 'ui,' l, i'.iiitished to some extent; but the possible abuses of t 1i.e)  ' e inld f comnpetition leave one in very great
doubt, whether Ji.t i lt. tI ults of the present arrangement
are not prefieralble 1:!'y pi,;i t hat involves the use of the same
tracks for any dlisl'Jii e,, rve vlcr small, by two competing lines.
As to the petition,i' the Middlesex Company, there is no doubt
whatever.
"The public would pay through the nose for the promised better accommodations, and olt streets would be constantly in a
state of confusion to which their present condition is not to be
compared. The object of all the companies is the same-to
41


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322


make money; and though a new broom might sweep clean, the
ultimate result would be such as to create a strong party in favor
of abolishing horse cars altogether. In any case, it would interfere very materially with the admitted rights of the Metropolitan Company, and prove of no advantage whatever to the community. We shall not be accused of undue partiality to the
Metropolitan Company, when we express the opinion that the
Middlesex petition ought not to be granted at all."
Mr. Chairmaln,-Competition between railroads, traversing the same line and appealing to the same source for
support, has always been short-lived, and often resulted
in injury to the public as well as disaster to stockholders.
Mr. Dunlap reminded you of the history of the Vermont
Central and the Rutland, the Camden 'ld Amboy and
the New   Jersey Central, among steam  F'lads; and, at
home, competition between horse roads h; lead the samte
ending. When, in 1862, the Suffolk Rail) -,:ad (C>niany Xsacceeded in persuading the legislature to permit it to overstep
the bounds fixed by the order of the Boston altermenD of
December, 1859, the natural and usual result fillowed. After
a brief period of rivalry, the Metropolitan albsorbedl the Suffolk, and competition ceased. No legislative enactment can
be framed which of itself will perpetuate the conflict. If the
statute forbids a union in name and corporate organization,
nothing can prevent a practical consolidation when the same
persons possess themselves of a controlling interest in the
stock of both companies, as in the case of the South Boston
and Metropolitan. The rule holds in private affairs. If two
men become business competitors in the same market, they
may quarrel for a time, to the profit of their customers; but
at length they combine in a joint monopoly, rather than commit mutual pecuniary suicide. With the light shed by experience, on every side, can any one doubt that, were the
Middlesex petitioners to obtain that which they now seek,
although a brief struggle might ensue, iin the fitnal result a
combination of stockholders would terminate the battle, in
t     i-.,.i.L;.^\           \!         f* 




323


spite of any legislative restraint possible in the premises?
And what, then, would be the public gain?
Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: You have kindly and indulgently followed me through a review of the main points that
arise upon the inquiry in which you are engaged. I ask you
to reject this petition, and I pray the legislature to reject it,
because it was born in dishonor, and can serve no useful public
end. Let the Middlesex Company, before it enters our field,
silence the outcry against it of deserted communities that it
has engaged to serve. Leave the Metropolitan Railroad to its
legitimate work. Throw no fresh embarrassment into its
difficult path  Take away, rather, its charter wholly, if you
believe it merits forfeiture. Do not consign that company to
a contention, profitless to all, whether passengers or stockholders. Say, by the dismissal of these petitioners, to all
who approach the legislature for like ends, that Massachusetts keeps her faith with those who keep their faith with
t:her, atnd that her laws are made il the public interest, and
are not lent to any scheme of individual or corporate plunder.
CIOSING   ARGITMENT IN BEHALF OF THE PETITIONERS,
BY GEORGE O. SHATTUCK, EsQ.
Mr. (Chairman(X and ('entlemen:
I a)lpear here in behalf of six thousand petitioners in the
city of Cha rlestown, including every member of its pity
goverlnmlent, the mayor, aldermen and common council, and
in behalf of twenty-five hundred citizens residing at the
South Elnd of Boston, and also in behalf of the Middlesex
Railroad Company, and ask that better accommodations
may be given 'or travel by a street railway between Charlestown and the southerly part of Boston. The first question
that has been pr,-sented here is whether the Middlesex Road
is a proper party to be entrusted with this franchise, and
that question we are ready to meet. The directors of
the Middlesex Road to-day are Charles E. Powers, John




324


Goldthwait, James Beck, Cyrus Wakefield, George O. Carpenter, William H. Kent, Nahum Chapin, George W. Palmer
and Caleb Rand. All of those gentlemen are known in
the community for their integrity and character; and if you
can find anywhere in the Commonwealth a board of directors
more trustworthy and more competent to discharge any
trust or hold any franchise the Commonwealth may see fit
to entrust them with, I have failed to find them. The
strongest evidence which I can bring in favor of these gentlemen is, that'the only charge which has been brought
against this corporation, except in relation to the form of
the returns this year, which were made up by the clerk of
the railroad commissioners, is one, that is raked up after a
lapse of fifteen years, in relation to the building of the road
at a time when none of the present directors had anything
to do with it. This stale charge, which has been investigated over and over again, and which I supposed had been
put to rest, is the only one they have been able to bring
against this corporation.
They charge that our road cost too much. The fact
undoubtedly is, that the Middlesex Road~,.tt the time it was
built, was paid for in stock. Nobody \als ready to subscribe for the stock at par, and, there >r:c, a coltra.ct was
made with parties to build the road f:., stck, al.;d it cost
more than it would have cost if paid for in casih. You are
to consider, however, that $20,000  clr mile is not a fair
cost of a road built as this was in Chl;rl'l-stowi. [il the first
place, the Middlesex Road paid $1.0(00O i:. c.:S;l to the city
of Boston for the right to lay its tt'acIks in til  city of Boston; it paid $5,000 to the city of Chlarlestowi fo)r the right
to lay its tracks there, and burdei aftr,: b irdlen i the way
of paving has been imposed upon it. I lmal,' 1,no complaint
of this; but, when they charge us with unduly increasing the
cost of the road, it is fair that all thi itemn should be taken
into account. Take their own road, the Metropolitan, the
question of its cost was not long a,(eo b:ofori.;i commission; and
it appeared that about a mile and onl-ti drd of their road,
i            'v
iter *




325
the part in Washington Street, cost them in cash, $46,197.96,
which was about as much as the Middlesex Road cost in
stock. How do they reduce the average? They put in
roads out of town, some of which are buried up, and have
been buried for years; they include them in making up the
average cost of their road, and that reduces it to $25,000 a
mile. By including the Dorchester Avenue Road, parts of
which cost less than $4,000 or $5,000 a mile, and all its
tracks out in the country, some in use and some buried upby taking all these, they make the average cost of their
road very low.  So does the Middlesex. They are not
responsible for the form of the returns. They consulted
the commissioners as to the proper mode of making them,
and the commissioners themselves changed the returns from
the original figures to what they are now. The law requires
that every foot of road, whether in use or not, or whether it
cost much or little, shall be included, and they ask the average cost per mile of the whole. There is no attempt to
conceal anything. You may search over these returns for
the last fifteen years, and you will find always an honest and
exact statement of the cost of the road. This year they
have bought the Cliftondale Road.  The commissioners
don't ask them what their road to Charlestown had cost, or
what their road to Cliftondale had cost; but they ask the
average cost of the whole road, and they made a return
exactly as they were bound to. But, that no one should be
misled, they stated at the foot of the return, what they were
under no obligat:ion to state, that on a part of their road the
iron rails had beenl taken up. I should like to know what
deception, what want of perfect fairness and integrity there
is in their malking up their returns in this form, as they
were obliged to.
The fact that this road was built with stock has been flung
about before the legislature, the board of aldermen, railroad
commissioners. wherever the Middlesex Road has appeared.
But the Metrop,:litan is the only road in regard to which it
has been proved that there was an issue of stock not repre



326


sented by capital, and that was a transaction that has been
hushed up pretty carefully, and one which I don't care to go
into. My intention was to have nothing to say about it.
Judge Redfield and Mr. Richardson and others were appointed
a commission in 1865, by the Commonwealth, and reported
upon this mode of building railways with stock, as follows:
" This mode of building railways, and of putting corporations
in operation, has become so common and almost universal
throughout the country, that we suppose it is done by the
best-intentioned men, in the utmost good faith and sincerity,
without the remotest suspicion that there is anything wrong
in it, and certainly without supposing that it is 'illegal.'
And then they go on to say it is not a fraudulent issue of
shares; it is technically illegal and improper, but it is not
fraudulent. I have no doubt that nine out of ten roads in
this country have been built with stock, and the cost of the
Middlesex Road was increased by it to a certain extent. The
Metropolitan, and all the horse railroads —:xcclt tl;. South
Boston Road-in the neighborhood of Boston, vwere built in
that way.
But what is the inference that they draw from tius fact?
-They say we cannot carry passengers at:as 1,w a price as
other roads. But is it not proved to-day tl:ht wle alJce,-irrying passengers cheaper than they are? aL1d i)s noi. lit r'eason
given by the president of the Metropolit:i I.ota fit} his refusal to give this accommodation an,.:    <, irs to
Charlestown, that he could not affoni  caln.l  p.:asengers
for five cents, the price the Middlese:, larl ia.  I"';: cost to
a passenger, resulting from the inflai, ';.f In: it.!,1' in consequence of the construction of the rW'.;'i":k. would be
hardly a mill per trip. It would::t! italuci lly eiect, one
way or the other, the cost of tranlsplrtilg 11ltlin  The president of the Metropolitan Railrladl C(omp:,rni  matiade this answer to our question: " You say you (dclitiet, to carry passengers from Charlestown to tit S.louth 'jLtid t'or two reasons:
in the first place, because you lad all thle business you could
do; and, in the next place, they chalrgd five cents fare and
t.
1> % 1
R~~~~~




327


you charged six cents. Those were the two reasons?-Ans.
Yes, sir, they were." That is Mr. Draper's own testimony.
There is no better evidence of the weakness of the case than
the fact, that these intelligent gentlemen, men of experience
in legislative matters, are obliged to waste hours and hours
of your valuable time il raking up this stale charge, that was
investigated and put at rest a dozen years ago.; and when
they know perfectly well, that not one of the gentlemen who
is now connected with the road, had anything to do with it
at that time.
Now, gentlemen, the Middlesex Road asks for the right to
accommodate the people of Charlestown and the South End,
by this continuous line between them. Do they ask it in
good faith?  I think they have furnished the best possible
evidence of good faith, wlen they show here that once they
have induced he Metropolitan Road to furnish this accommodation. and suimitted to the annoyance, as they call it, of
allowing tile Al tropolitan to run its cars over their track in
(Ctr]esi(own, for the sake of furnisling tllis very accommodation; and wvliej it also appears that, within less than two
ye:ars, they pr:(ped to the Metropolitan Road to do it again,
anl oltff;red t(o sbitmit to the annoyance, if it is an annoyanecl., of hl;in's the Metropolitan Road run over their tracks
into C(h:l rl est;vo, Iv. tbr the sake of firnishing this accommodation. 1 shlOliod l c to know what better evidence there can
possibly,(e thiut t:hey are acting in good faith in this matter,
than thait tlliy l-nve urged the Metropolitan Road twice to
furnish thils ac.'1:uonol tdation, by sending their cars to Charlestownl; 1a   it -was only when they refused, that they came
here and asked (fr thle,privilege of running their own cars
to the South Endl.  It li..s a very significant bearing upon this
question, that, wlient the Metropolitan Road was asked to
send its cars to Charlestown, it did not then object that it
would put too mr.any cars on Tremont Street, although,
whether the ears of the Metropolitan Road run to do this
business, or the cars of the Middlesex Road, it would furnish
the same additional obstruction.




328 -I have alluded to the fact, that the remonstrants have
raked up a stale charge of fifteen years' standing to bring
against this road. They appear to be fond of old testimony;
testimony that was given in view of a different state of
things, before we had experience upon this question, and
which experience has shown to be worthless.  You know,
that, when steam railroads were first chartered in Massachusetts, it was supposed that everybody who had any freight
to carry, and who could build a car, would run over the road,
paying a toll for so doing; ahd you will find that the charter of the Providence and some other roads provides for the
payment of a toll for the use of the road in this way. It was
soon discovered, that locomotives owned by different companies could not be safely operated on the same track; and
there is a law that has been on our statute books for years,
prohibiting the use of the locomotives of more than one company upon one track. When the horse railroads were first
built, there was supposed to be the same difficlldty, tlnd a large
amount of testimony, of persons with very limited experience.
was produced in the hearing before Judg- Redficld atn
others, to the effect that it would be implossible to allow
different companies to use the same track. IJuf ' ie testimony
was not uniform.
Mr. Pierson, the manager of a Brooklyn city railro::l for
ten years, was one of the gentlemen, an:t he sai l:  I lon't
think it necessarily follows, if one company rulns its:. 's over
the track of another, that there will be dlelays:1,:i irterferences. It is a contingency that might foilow, htt docs not
necessarily follow. There are six roads tlhat st rlt Ifrom here,
and all run on the same track for different distaices. There
is no difficulty; and if there is no diiiculhy hi re, thlen there
is no necessary conflict in such a case. There ray be a conflict, if the parties are disposed to make it hut I don't think
it is difficult to run your cars so that they would not conflict."  Now the remonstrants knew perfectly well that, after
an experience of twelve or fifteen years in New York and
t       Philadelphia, it was impossible to find arly testimony of any
1*.-^ 




329


value to show that there is anything impracticable or seriously difficult in running the cars of different corporations over
the same track. It is done every day for miles in Philadelphia; and it is done in New York for miles, through streets
narrower than ours, with five or six corporations running
over the same track; and it is done at Brooklyn. There was
no evidence to be had that there would be any difficulty in
it; if there had been evidence to be had, undoubtedly they
would have furnished it on the other side. What do they
do? They put these two old affidavits, a dozen years old,
taken from men who had had little practical experience, and
they fill the newspapers with these affidavits, and give the
impression that it is really impossible to run the cars of one
corporation over the track of another corporation. They
even induced the respectable Daily Advertiser," on the day
-after their evidence was published, to say, after reading their
affidtavits ten years old (when they were'printed in the newspapers one was not marked by its date, so that it appeared to
be as green and fresh as any of our evidence), " It is clearly
admitted on all sides that it is impracticable to run the cars
of two corlorations on the same track."  Whether my friend
on the other side furnished the pamphlet containing the evidence, I dolt't know.
Mr. MUzzE:Y.-Does the gentleman mean to ask a question,
or merely to throw out a hint?
Mr. SIATTUCK.-I have not asked any question.
Mr. MuzzlE.Y.-1 should like to say, that I never wrote a
line or furnished any matter for the " Advertiser" regarding
this controversy; and I will add, that I do not think the "Advertiser's" infllence is procurable in horse railroad conflicts,
or upon any other snbject, improperly.
Mr. SHATTUCK -I have no idea of charging the " Advertiser"
with being purchased. I did not charge him with having
written for the " Advertiser." Ilmerely said that their evidence,
ten years old, had misled as wise a man as the editor of the
"Daily Advertiser." H' e said it was utterly impracticable to
run the cars of two companies on the same track. But that
42




330


was about the 4th or 5th of March, before any of our evidence
went in, and we had some interesting evidence afterwards;
and,in the course of a week, the " Daily Advertiser," being disposed to do fairly, stated as follows: " As to the use of
tracks in common by competing lines, there is a conflict of
testimony; and experts differ from one another, and from
themselves at different times. The balance of the testimony
is manifestly on the side of the oldest experience."
Now, I will venture to assert, that there is not a man who
can be found,-I think it is a fair inference,-in New York
or Philadelphia, or wherever they have tried this thoroughly,
who will say there is any serious practical difficulty in running the cars of two or three companies on the same line.
You will observe, that all the testimony they put in here is
from persons who are without practical experience-in the
matter. Why didn't they ask the manager of the South
Boston Road, or soide of his assistants who have been running for years over the Metropolitan Road? Why didn't
they ask the Lynn and Boston, which has run over the Middlesex for years?  There is no doubt that you can make
difficulty; but you cannot find to-day-and tlat;s the fair
result of the evidence-a man with any experience, who does
not say there is no practical difficulty whatever, with proper
rules, in running the cars of one, two, three or four companies on the same track. One gentleman says there is an
advantage in it, in securing more regularity; because, if one
car "loafs" in front of another, the conductor of the other
corporation will make complaints and in that way greater
efficiency on the part of conductors all drivers, and greater
regularity, will be secured. That is state(l by the gentleman
who has had the most experience in these matters in Philadelphia. I think, if you inquire here concernilng the Lynn
and Boston running over the Middlesex, you will find, where
they run in Charlestown, the car, rt'n mnore regularly than on
any other part of the road; because it is neeessary, where the
cars of two corporations run ove'r the sanme track, as they do
t   there, to have a more stringent regulation.
te- its.




331


I now come to the alleged difficulty of running through
Tremont Street. It appears from the evidence, that hours
and hours every day are wasted in Tremont Street, by the
delay in shifting horses from one end of the car to the other,
and rendering accounts; 128 cars per hour are the largest
number which are run in one direction on Tremont Street.
Mr. Dickinson says, in New York, on a track occupied by
two companies, there are run 240 cars an hour, and that
they intend to put on thirty more in a few days; making an
additional car every three minutes, which will make 260 cars
an hour on one track, and he anticipates no difficulty whatever. If you will stand upon Tremont Street, and watch the
cars there, you will find they run as well when they are
twenty or thirty feet apart as when they are 300; and the
ordinance of the city of Boston, to-day, allows those cars to be
within ten feet of each other. That has been contradicted;
but 1 have looked at the ordinance, and find that to be the
law. The ordinance is in the volume of 1869. It allows the
cars to be run within ten feet of each other. If they were
run within eighty-eight feet of each other, running four miles
an hour, there would be four cars per minute, nearly twice as
many as there are now. I venture to predict that we shall
see the time, within five years or ten years, when 300 cars
per hour will move in one direction through Tremont Street
with less difficulty than they now run 128. Before leaving
this subject, let me say a word as to the suggestion of Mr.
Burt and Mr. Upton, who come in here with certain theories
that the streets ought not to be embarrassed and obstructed
by having these horse-cars. Mr. Burt would exclude horsecars from Tremont Street. They fail to remember that the
real difficulty is, that the travel will go there and people
will ride; and the question is, whether you will have in our
streets horse-cars, which can carry forty passengers, or omnibuses, nwhic call:any thirteen or fifteen passengers. If you
take out y(o r,l inilnss, you will find hacks, or some other
private co   ey...yul.an S. iing their places. That is the case in
London or L'aris, or w:i. other of the large European cities.




332


You see on the streets omnibuses or cabs by the hundred,
crowding along through the great thoroughfares, because
they have no horse-cars. Taking away ihe horse-cars would
not relieve the streets, but it actually adds to the obstruction
of the streets. When I say that three hundred cars will
probably run through Tremont Street, I only mean to say
the travel will require it; the people must go by some mode
of conveyance, and that is the best mode of conveyance that
can be adopted.
I omitted to refer, in its proper place, to the charges of
mismanagement against the Middlesex Road, in not furnishing the proper amount of accommodation to the suburbs. I
will say but a single word on that point.
They brought here a gentleman from Medford. Now anybody knows how bleak and cold it is in winter. The Medford people have two steam railroads, and it is not to be supposed that many passengers will ride in the horse cars in cold
or stormy weather. In fact, they have only from one to three
passengers a trip in winter. When this witness was brought
here and put upon the stand, I expected to hear some complaint.% But what did he say? He said that lie lad been to Mr.
Powers, and told him that he did not want to lose his rights,
and hoped the cars would begin to run again soon; and Mr.
Powers told him they would. That is all the complaint we
have heard from Medford.
Then one man was brought from Everett, and he made
some complaint. There are 1,200 people in that part of
Everett, and they have steam railroad tracks in their town.
The horse-cars run out once an hour: and they would run
three times an hour, if the Middlesex Company could find land
convenient for a stable. That is not a very serious charge.
They have conveyance for six and a quarter cents. It strikes
me that is about as much as the town could expect, under the
circumstances. But I do not claim that my friend, Mr. Powers, is perfect. I suppose a little competition would help him.
I have no doubt, that, if you give him a chance to compete
t'    with the Metropolitan Railroad, at the Sou:;h End, it willim6.
S..   SA.




333


prove the accommodation everywhere-in Everett, as well as
everywhere else. All these roads, with their complicated arrangements, their multiplicity of details, their reasonable and
unreasonable drivers and conductors, find it almost impossible to satisfy people, unless they have some competition
to stimulate them.
I now come to this question of competition. Certainly, I
was a little surprised at tie course that was taken here this
morning by my friend (Mr. Muzzey) in his argument, as it
seems to me in direct opposition to the views which I supposed had been presented by the counsel upon the other side
in the case of the Highland Railroad, and also by the president of the Metropolitan Road, in his testimony. I supposed
that it was admitted, that the effect of having a road on a parallel line, running as this would, over Shawmut Avenue to
thle Solltlh End, would be an advantage to both roads; I suppos(ed there was no question about that. Mr. Bates, in his
opening on behalf of the Metropolitan Road, in the Highland
case, said:"I believe, Mr. Chairman, in competition; always have believed in it. But there are two things requisite to make competition useful. One is, there must be business enough to sustain
two lines; and, secondly, there must be a place in which to do
that business. I would, to-day, like to see another line of horse
railroad established in the city of Boston, if there was a proper
place to establish it, because I think there would be business
enough to support two lines, and let the two run side by side."
All he wants is space. Very clear and plain. There is
no modification of it; no desire to modify it. Allow me to
interrupt for a moment, to read the city ordinance to which
I referred. It is section 41, on the 116th page of the ordinances of 1869.
"No owner, driver, or other person having the care of any
street car, chaise, carryall, hackney carriage, truck, cart, wagon,
handcart, sleigh, sled, handsled, or other vehicle whatever, fin



334


ished or unfinished, with or without a horse or horses or other
animal or animals harnessed thereto, shall drive or place, or
allow to be driven or placed, said vehicle or the horse or horses
or other animal or animals attached thereto, within ten feet of
the vehicle in front of the same," etc.
Mr. BATES.-That is undoubtedly the ordinance; but the
ordinance relating to horse cars is still in force, which says
that they shall not go within one hundred feet of each other.
Although this ordinance of 1869 says that the driver of" no
vehicle," street car or other, shall go within ten feet of
another, still they have not repealed the other ordinance
1\  ~    ~relating specially to horse cars. Perhaps that may be considered a repeal. I hope it is, but I am afraid it is not.
The CHAIRMAN.-Practically, they act on this
Mr. SHATTUCK.-They act on this.
Mr. BATES.-That is true, but, if a suit comes up, there
will be damages, if the ordinance requiring the cars to keep
a hundred feet apart is not observed.
Mr. SHATTUCK.-If a suit comes up, I have no doubt that
the supreme court will decide it upon the latter ordinance.
To resume my argument: We have the testimony of Mr.
Draper, the president of this road, which is in accordance
with Mr. Bates's view. I asked him:" Q. Don't you think it is better policy to have the. business
done more snugly than it can be done with so mtany lines? A.
I think, if Shawmut Avenue, and Wasbhington Street and Tremont Street and Harrison Avenue were straight, wide avenues
leading into the city, and each one could be occupied by a different corporation, it would be better fbr- all of tben; but I think,
where there is only one avenue, and that is little, as it is here,
that one corporation had better keep it.
" Q. You agree with what Mr. Bates, s:l.d in his opening:
he believed in competition, always h:lad believe(d in it, he liked
competing lines; the only obstacle was going through the
avenue at this end?  A. You don't take the whole of my
meaning. I mean, if there were fbur lines, and four different
ft        corporations owned them, they could do the business much more
-.J i^~.




335


economically than they can where it is scattered, as it is in Boston.
" Q. That is, the true theory in the management of horse
railroads is to have each road running a single line, not having
it branching out over all the cross streets? A. Each road
should keep on its own line.
" Q. Mr. Derby's policy, which he inaugurated, of the Met
ropolitan's absorbing everything was a mistake; the taking of
the Dorchester Avenue Road was a mistake? A. I think it
was, decidedly, a mistake; but we shall have to absorb the
Highland Railroad, if its charter is granted.
" Q. In New York they have these competing lines running
up and down the different avenues under the management of
different corporations? A. Yes, sir.
" Q. There has been no tendency there to combination;
they never a,.ve merged into one another or combined? A.
T'!t they,.i-:'t; interfere with each other."
hllere rxe have it. We have the distinct admission of the
c(onltsel of liis corporation, in his opening in the case of
the Hfiglland Railroad, and of the president of the Metropolitai corporation in his testimony in this case, that the
comnlpetition of these roads at the South End, on those broad
avelues, will be desirable. We know it, also, as a matter
of common slene, and it is proved by the working of this
system in N.w York,-in the case, for instance, of the Sixth
Avenue Road,-that the effect of having these competing
lines is good. If the cars run slowly, if the drivers are
uncivil, the people go to the other railroad. It is too plain
for any argument.
Tlere is another consideration to which I wish to call the
particular attention of the committee, because the question
has been asked Iecre, whether they will not combine. We
know that there has been a great tendency, with steam railroads, to combination. In New York, all those large corporations under the control of Vanderbilt and others have
been combining for the last fifteen ortbwenty years. On the
other hand, the horse railroads in New York, Philadelphia




336


and Brooklyn never have combined. There has been no
tendency toward combination. Why is that? I will explain
precisely why it is, and illustrate it by a few statistics. It is
owing to the nature of the business. On a steam railroad, a
large business can be done more economically than a small
business. On a steam railroad, if you have fifty passengers
to carry, you must have a locomotive, a baggage car and
passenger car, an engineer, a conductor, fireman, brakeman
and baggage master-all for the purpose of carrying fifty
passengers. If you take another fifty, you will put on
another passenger car, simply, and you can carry the hundred about as cheaply as you can fifty. So, if you have six
hundred, you will need a little heavier engine, perhaps, and
more cars; but the expense is not substantially increased
The result is, the more passengers you have, the cheaper you
can afford to carry them.
This is illustrated by statistics. Take, for instance, the
Boston and Maine Railroad. In 1859 they carried, in round
numbers, twenty-five millions of passengers one mile, and
seven million tons of freight one mile. The cost; of their
road and equipment was, in round numbers,.i4,219),000. In
1869 their business had more than doubled. 'The',ir ipassingllers
had increased from 25,000,000 to 51,000,000, alld t ' i~r r'!eiglit
from 7,000,000 tons to 16,000,000. But the lost of their
road equipment had only increased about twenty-fin e per cent.
The result of it is that every passenger, in It6t9,,n thhe
Boston and Maine Railroad, is obliged to c;n!lrlbltte,)nly
about half as much toward dividends, i' tlhey laI;y tlie:ime
rates as they did before, as a passenger was ohiigr: i to pay
in 1859. In other words, as you increase thle bltsiel.':s on a
steam  railroad, you reduce the cost of transpori:, in: and
therefore the larger the road, within ccrtair ilmitaltions, the
less in proportion it will cost to run it.
On the other hand, take a horse railroad, and hllen you
have fifty passengers, they require a car. a pair of lorses, a
conductor and driver, And a certain amount of stable-room.
If you get fifty more, you must have another car, another.! ';, %.
I'  ^..m\




337


pair of horses, another conductor and driver, so much additional stable-room, and so much more detail and trouble; so
that you will find that, as the business increases upon a horse
railroad, you must increase the capital invested in the same
proportion. I have taken the Boston and Maine, the Providence and the Eastern, and have compared their cost in 1859
and 1869, and I find that, although their business had more
than doubled, the cost of the road and equipments upon
which dividends were to be paid had not very substantially
increased. But, on the other hand, the road and equipment
of the Metropolitan had cost, in 1859, $575,000. They carried
4,893,000 passengers. In 1871, their passengers had increased
to 16,000,000-a little more than three times as many
-and thie cost of their road and equipment had increased
fromin ->il.00 to $1,705,000. Tlat is, the cost of the road
mnd eq(uipmnlet had increased just as rapidly as the business
increased: so that each passenger to-day is obliged to contribute just as lnuch toward the dividends as a passenger in
1859, wlhen tlhey had only one-third as much business. I
* have taken x the Broadway Road, and I find substantially the
same result tlhere. It follows from that, that you will find,no instanlce where wise managers have consolidated these
horse r'iilr)oads. This system of consolidation began under
Mr. DIerby, wh(, had been educated in steam railroads.
Mr. BATES -It began long before him.
Mr. SUTATa'Crcl.-I will tell you how it began. These outof-town roads were built by parties interested in the neighborhood, alid they asked the trunk roads to come in and run
them for their benefit. The Metropolitan Road never cared
to take the Jamaica. Plain or West Roxbury, the Milton or
any of these out-of-town roads. It was simply that the people practically staid it must take them and run them. It was
just so with the Middlesex. They never sought the Cliftondale, or the Maiden and Medford.  On the contrary, the
quarrel between the Cliftondale and the Middlesex was, that
the Middlesex refi,'set to take the Cliftondale Road, after, as
the president of the Cliftondale said, they had made an
43




338


agreement with him that they would. That is not the
kind of consolidation to which I refer as objectionable. None
of these trunk roads seek these out-of-town lines; they take
them because they are obliged to take them for the public
accommodation. But the purchase of the Dorchester Avenue
Road by the Metropolitan was what I call objectionable consolidation; that is, obtaining possession of a parallel road,
and increasing the number of their main lines. The Middlesex has never done anything of that kind. On the contrary, they got rid of the Chelsea Road and the Somerville
Branch Road (which was another line coming into Boston)
as soon as they could. The Metropolitan is the only road
which ever adopted what. I call the policy of consolidation'
If you go over the whole of the United States, I do not think
you will find any horse railroads that, under wise management,
have been consolidated, simply because by ilclecasilnr the
amount of business you must increase the ca!it fl ji.,s.t so 'tir,
and there is nothing saved in the cost of doing. tihe ltilc-mioss.
If you will bear this in mind, it will relive y(1o f(rom: ny
apprehension of consolidation.  Take fliis Southl c-:.ton
Road. It is true that the president said here the oiiler (day,
that he should prefer to consolidate that road. w-itll te Mc tropolitan, but I do not believe that the judiciouls ov.t n  of a
large amount of the stock in both corporations, and who understands the management of it, would consent to( the consolidation, if he is to own the stock perma.nently. I say that
the South Boston Road is managed more satisfactorily to the
whole community and to its own stockholders, anld pIays better dividends than it could be expected to pay if there was
consolidation. If I were the owner of tlhe Metr(opol'oi!an Road
and of the South Boston Road, I should be careful not to
have any consolidation; because I should know that, with
separate organizations, with the comlpetition which separate
organizations create, greater efficiorvy can tbe secured; that,
by having a small road, I should secur(e bette r management
and better accommodation for the p1lll- i tian could be
secured by having this grand monopoly. Whly, my friend,
i   \




339


Mr. Draper, when he was talking about this,
saying, time and again, that he had more b
could do; and when he was asked to run c
town he said: " I cannot do it; I have as mu
as I can manage."
Why is it that the people of South Boston
crowds to prevent the consolidation of the
Road with the Metropolitan Road? Why is it
ple are dissatisfied with the Metropolitan Roa
that they come in crowds before the legislature
of it? It is not that my friend, Mr. Draper, is
or less good-natured, or less accommodating i
these other managers. It is that he is strug.
load which no human being can carry. The
Railroad is too large. You heard the patheti
Mr. Burt of the breaking down of my friend, Mi
worthy man, whom we all knew; and the break
Colonel Brigham, who struggled under that loa
persons, who left before them, whose names I co:
whose health was broken down by attempting th
task of managing this enormous monopoly.
I do not come here to say anything against the
these managers of the Metropolitan Railroad Coi
I do say, that they are in the unfortunate positioi
undertaken something which no human powers c,
to the satisfaction of the public. When you reduce
ness (and that is all it amounts to), when you sei
road to the South End, or two roads to the Sot
will simply prevent its expansion beyond its pre,
There is no danger of reducing it. Their increase is
passengers a year. You will secure what the pu
to have secured, and what I have no doubt the M
Railroad will lltimately thank you for; that i
efficient corporation for the stockholders and a 
factory one for tile public.
Now, it is so natural for me to look at the presen
things, to look forward rather than backward, that




340


iat green pamphlet, which my friend, Mr.
s counsel for the Metropolitan Road, some
ears ago, paid for by them, and written to
views. When a corporation is reduced to
finding capital to support them, before a legtee, by taking their own arguments, made to
eight years ago, under entirely different cir3y must be weak indeed. But, taking the cons as it existed in 1864, I think this document
aps fairer, than any the Metropolitan Railroad
1 before, or has issued since. I am willing, if
ircumstances as they were, to take every sylbe governed by it. But you will bear in mind,Mr. Powers, ill writing this pamphlet, not
3w the circumstances of 1864, but he was lookire, looking forward to 1872, to the accommothe people would.then require for the business
id if, side by side with what Mr. Powers said as
will take what he predicted as to 1872, I shall:tropolitan Railroad for producing the document., it. The traffic of the horse railroads of Boston
the rate of two millions a year. The business of
more than twice as large as that of 1864. The
issengers carried in 1864, was some eigllteen or
ilions on all the lines; it will be thirty-five mil-,ar. The Metropolitan has increased, on an aver)n a year, since 1859. That is what Mr. Powers
I. He says:aought to exist " [that is, the necessity for a through
)xbury to Charlestown Neck], "then we ask if it
e the wiser and better course for the public, and the
r us, first to see whether these two remonstrants
into some mutual arrangement so that they can do
without a change of cars, and thus avoid the necesing another corporation with a capital of five hunnd dollars to do it. If there should appear to be
1 for such an arrangement, we havo greater facilities




341


for accomplishing it than a new company woulk
ness is to furnish such facilities as the public d
pay for; and, if there is an actual demand for a ti
Roxbury to Charlestown, it will be our interest
Within a year or two after the writing of,
Mr. Powers came to the conclusion that there:
for such a through line, and made an amicable
with the Metropolitan Railroad, by which they
to Charlestown. That arrangement continue(
and then the Metropolitan withdrew their car
lapse of several years, Mr. Powers again came 
sion that such a line was needed; and last ye
to the admitted testimony in this case, he agai
the Metropolitan Railroad, and told them that r
mand existed, and that they must run their car'
town, or he must run his cars to the South End
to make a perfectly fair arrangement, and fai
Simply because the Metropolitan Railroad hac
business, and because they could not afford to c
gers there for five cents, which Mr. Powers is r
Undoubtedly, there are statements in the pamphl(
wrong of running the cars of one corporation on 1
anotler, and taking away the business of one cor
establishing another; and if the business of the I
were so small that they would be seriously injure(
illed by it, that objection would be of some weight
they have a business of sixteen millions of passeng
and when it is increasing at the rate of a million
is idle for them to come before this committee a:
that there is any serious alarm as to their ability t,
dends. This is not a new corporation that comes
ing new powers. Will the committee bear with
ment in reviewing some of these statutes, in orde
may learn what the rights of the Middlesex Rob
legislative grants?
The Middlesex Railroad, so far as the legislati




342.d, would have had the same right to lay its
ut Avenue to-day that the Metropolitan has.
of Massachusetts has twice, by two suce in 1857 and one in 1859, authorized the
I to lay its tracks and run its cars in any of
3oston. (Acts of 1857, chapter 43; Acts of
205.)
-The South Boston and Cambridge Roads had
I admit that.
JK.-I do not ask you to admit it; it is statute:tropolitan Railroad has the right to lay its
ere in the city of Boston that the board of
locate them; they have the right to go to the
nd the Middlesex had the right to go to the
One owns the business just as much as the
ccording to the legislation which stands here
are not asking for anything (except in the matover their tracks, which I shall presently condiffers from what the legislature has granted
It was never intended that the Metropolitan
ould monopolize the business of Bostor;. Their
ital was only $500,000, for the purpose of laying
rtain localities. They have increased their cap)0,000. We only ask for what we should have
joyed to-day, if it had not been for the superior
f the Metropolitan Railroad with the aldermen of
Boston. They said, "This is an out-of-town
d they made us pay $15,000 for the privilege of
treets of the city. They made the Metropolitan
1 sum once-$4,000.
ES.-Four thousand at one time and six thousand
TTUCK.-We had a right to come into the city and,cks. The legislature did not intend to build up
y here; but the aldermen said: " No; you are an
A road; the Metropolitan is ain in-town road; we
them the right."  They did give them the right;




343


and we come here to-day, not asking an.
taking away any rights, but simply asking tb,
given to us years ago, may be restored and,
Act of the legislature. They also complain
run over their track for a limited distance.
committee understand perfectly well whern
Scollay Square up to the extension of Sha:
My friend (Mr. Muzzey) read a statement fromn
in regard to Shawmut Avenue, made in 1861
mut Avenue only extended to Dover Street, I
cation to the present state of things. A tra
then be located there conveniently  now it ca,
Avenue has been extended through to Tremol
everybody expects a track there.  There a..
petitioners asking for it, and nobody objects t'
to run over their track, and that is all we ask.'
have they to object to it? In the first place, J1
and Mr. Richardson decided that a part of th
part this side of Boylston Street, was held, not'
ropolitan Railroad for its own benefit, but for t
all the railroads. Bear that in mind. That i,
granted to them by the board of alderman, sui
right of the Middlesex Railroad to run over
board of aldermen should consent. Considerir
they come here and say, You are taking our p
interfering with our rights? I should like to
security there can be, if such restrictions in the t
in the order of location are not to inure to tht
the public for whom they were reserved.
On the matter of running too many cars, I w
your attention to the letter of Mr. E S. Dickinso
he says they are running four cars a minute; 
letters of Mr. Pierson and others, and the ot;
which have been printed, showing that it is peri
ticable.
The Metropolitan Railroad is running over ouk
day, and has been running over it for about ten y,




344


rnly that, but all the tracks the Middlesex
uuild anywhere in Boston the Metropolitan
he right to run over, for the purpose of going
depots.
me word more to say, and that is as to the
It think it is well established by the testiMetropolitan Railroad is too large, and is unI think it is also well established, that a smaller
nlling upon a single line, would do the business
y than they do it. I think it is well established,
etition that would incidentally result from it
dvantage to the public.  There is also one
oh I think is well established, to which I have
that is, by running upon a long line in a city,
passengers at a lower rate than you can in any
t was the testimony of Mr. Draper, that his
s lie called them, paid better than any other,
were so long that the passengers changed.
er, Mr. Burt in his statement here said that you
lore money on long lines, because new passengers
to get in before the old ones got out. therefore
a paying line all through.  When a car is comnIt Tremont House, for instance, the passengers
/e at a considerable distance; and when the car
te house, there are no passengers.  W-hen it starts;ins to take up passengers, but goes sotme distance.ar is filled again. But if the cars were going
Charlestown, as soon as a passenger leaves on
Street there will be one to take lis place, and
be getting in and out throughout the whole trip.
e no doubt that it would enable a line to carry
cheaper than in any other way. Mr. Burt stated
istinctly, and Mr. Draper said that he thought
be a good line. Mr. Powers says there isn't any
passengers could be carried, within a year or two,
ents a trip on this line. If this is true, this is a
public advantage in our plan. It is an advantage




345


which the public will secure by having t
run in the best manner; and I say, it is tit
lature, in securing economical transporta7
to so arrange the railroad lines that the b,
in the cheapest manner. Now, if that we,
ment, that, in my judgment, would be colt
a material injury to the Metropolitan Rar
run a few less cars than they otherwise w
the committee to carry with them, as the gr..
ment in this case, the fact that the establish
will secure to the people cheaper transporta
a better system, a better method of doing t'
ness than can exist with the present legisla'
They say we shouldn't interfere with thei;
we only ask to run these cars to Charlestc(
cars from the South End to Cha'lestown il
cient to accommodate that business; and if
that will be taken on that line were taken fr;
of the Metropolitan Railroad, it would not i'
it, because in two years from now, at any rat.
the business of the South End, the growth of,
Boston, would make full compensation. Whe
account that the South Boston Road, in 18
million passengers, the Union six millions,
Boston two millions, the Metropolitan sixteen
the Middlesex four millions, making in all 3i
there is an annual increase of two millions, a
this can be to the Metropolitan Railroad is ut
cant. But if it will secure cheaper and bette
tion, it is ro answer to say that it will be some
Metropolitan Road. They took their franch
chance. Any one can run a line of omnibuses
Avenue to-day, or up and down Tremont Staway their business. That is one of the inc
the chances, which they have to take; but tl:
this petition will not, as I have already said, q
injury whatever.                          I
44




346
t of business, they have referred to the
nmutation tickets; that is, to the number
willing to pay four cents extra for going
in a Metropolitan car. That business is
)es not work satisfactorily; people do not
me car and hunt up another. But the
iween Charlestown and the South End,
ons and a half of passengers a year, inate of fifty per cent. in five years, shows
is sufficient demand for a through line be1 and the South End.




347
APPENDIX.
[A copy of the Bill presented by the Petitioners
Railway to the Committee, in the opening of their casq
AN ACT to incorporate the Highland Railway Conm,
Be it enacted, 4fc., as follows:SECT. 1. Donald Kennedy, Moody Merrill, Augustus.T!
Hardy, William K. Lewis, John F. Newton, James.1
Sheafe and Orlando H. Davenport, their associates and,
hereby made a corporation under the name of the Hi
Company, for the purpose of building and operating,
railway in the city of Boston, south of Park, Winte:
Streets; with all the powers and privileges, and subject 
restrictions and liabilities set forth in the sixty-eighth i
General Statutes, and acts in addition thereto, the thrtl
eighty-first chapter of the Acts of eighteen hundred an'
and all other general laws applicable to street railway c(c
may build, maintain and operate a street railway, with(
tracks and suitable switches and turnouts, on the followin
Warren, Cliff and Dudley Streets, Guild Row, Ruggles Stl
Avenue, Tremont, Elliot and Washington Streets, and ')
and on such other streets as may be granted them as a l(t
board of aldermen of the city of Boston.         4
SECT. 2. The capital stock of said company shall not'
hundred thousand dollars, may be divided into shares o
each, and at least one hundred thousand dollars thereof she
paid in before said company shall lay any portion of its tr
SECT. 3. The platforms of all cars belonging to said (
be securely railed, and the steps covered by an apron, so t.
not be occupied by passengers when the car is in motion.
SECT. 4. Said company may enter upon and use, pa;
compensation therefor, the tracks of any street railway
streets through which said company may be located, or an;
of, and may lease or purchase from the Metropolitan R.'
tracks in Warren Street.
SECT. 5. Said company shall so arrange its cars and pi;
in sufficient number as ordinarily to provide a seat for every




348


of the day when the press of travel is greatest said
cars in which standing passengers are allowed, at re' in any instance more than five cents single fare.
r section first of chapter one hundred and ninety-nine
ghteen hundred and sixty-one, suitable rules may be
ing the comfort, accommodations and safety of pasailway.
ree-foot gauge may be adopted for said railway by per)ard of aldermen.
charter, subject to the power of the legislature to
repeal the same at any time by special or general law,
i force for fifty years.
s act shall take effect upon its passage.
[Copy of the Act as passed.]
to incorporate the Highland Street Railway Company.
as follows:-,nald Kennedy, George W. Wheelwright, Charles HulParker, Augustus Hardy, William K. Lewis, John F.
j Ritchie, William Sheafe and Orlando H. Davenport,
s and successors, are hereby made a corporation by the
Jighland Street Railway Company, with authority to build,
operate a street railway in the city of Boston, between
id the line of Temple Place Street, and said railway may
ar the following streets, viz.: Warren, Cliff, Du)dley, Guild
it Avenue, Tremont, between Shawmut Avenue and Temeet, Eliot, Boylston, Washington, between Eliot and Tem3ets, and between Shawmut Avenue and Dudley Street and
e Street; with all the powers and privileges, and subject
ities, restrictions and liabilities set forth in all general
low are or hereafter may be in force applicable to such
raid corporation may enter upon and us(:, with its own
r, the tracks of any street railway laid in the streets through
icks of said corporation may be located, or any part there-.ase or lease from the Metropolitan Railroadl Company their
irren Street and their Dorchester branch from Grove Hall:
jvever, that in granting a location, the board of aldermen
interests of public travel demand, require said corporation,r more additional tracks in any street now occupied by the, other street railway, and may restrict said corporation to
tuch additional track or tracks.
The capital stock of said corporation shall not exceed three
ad fifty thousand dollars.
This act shall take effect upon its passage.




349
[Copy of the Bill reported by the committee on t;
road Company's Petition.]
AN ACT concerning the Middlesex Railroad CQ
Be it enacted, s4c., as follows:SECT. 1. The Middlesex Railroad Company is her
construct, maintain and use a railway, with a single t
Tremont Row, and in that part of Tremont Street bet(
and Scollay's Square, in which the Metropolitan Railr
has only a single track, and to connect the track 
with its existing track in Tremont Row, and with
Metropolitan Railroad Company which terminates r1
House, in said Tremont Street; and for the purpos.
said track, may remove and relay, at its own expense'
of the Metropolitan Railroad Company, so that both t:
and necessary connections made as aforesaid, in saidW
ner satisfactory to the board of aldermen of the city d
SECT. 2. The Middlesex Railroad Company is herv
construct, maintain and use a railway, with a single '
with suitable turnouts and connections, in Shawmut A
between its junction with Tremont Street and its june'
ington Street, and to connect said track or tracks w'
the Metropolitan Railroad Company at the junction (
Street and Shawrnut Avenue, and the same shall be t
connected to the satisfaction of the board of aldermBoston.
SECT. 3. The Middlesex Railroad Company is hereb.1
the purpose of running cars between Charlestown an
part of Boston, to connect with, enter upon and use wit'
cars the tracks of the Metropolitan Railroad Compa)
Street, Court Street and Tremont Row, between Scollat
the junction of Tremont Street and Shawmut Avenue; '
and condition of such entry and use, and the compen'
shall be determined in the manner provided in sectior'
chapter three hundred and eighty-one of the acts of ei
and seventy-one.
SECT. 4. In case any other railroad company shall cil
or tracks in Shawmut Avenue between Tremont Street r
Street, the Middlesex Railroad Company is hereby auth
upon and use the same with its horses and cars.
SECT. 5. This act shall take effect upon its passage. 
The House added to section two as follows:Provided, however, that at any time within eighteen me;
passage of this act the Highland Street Railway CompaL




350
ty of its stockholders in interest, be consolidated
c Railroad Company, which shall thereupon acquire
roperty of said Highland Street Railway Company,
alue as shall be determined by the railroad commisi, or fixed by mutual agreement; and thereafter said
I Company shall have all the powers and privileges,
'11 the duties, restrictions and liabilities with regard
ir route south of Temple Place Street, granted to,et Railway Company, or imposed upon it by chapter
twelve of the acts of the present year, except so far
istent with the provisions of this act; and provided,;aid Highland Street Railway Company may contract.x Railroad Company to build, equip and run its road,
mnchise or property to the Middlesex Railroad Com* within eighteen months, for a time not exceeding
aw section as follows:said corporation shall in no case charge or receive
rnts for a single passage, in any car that shall run to
nt in Charlestown or Boston, upon and over the tracks
thorized by this act to be constructed or used.
jected the bill.
t passed the Senate and was rejected in the House for a
) authorize the Formation of Street Railway Corporations.
as follows:number of persons, not less than fifteen, a majority of
ibitants of this state, may associate themselves together
riting, with the intention of forming a corporation for
ocating, constructing, maintaining and operating a street,lic use in the conveyance of persons; and, upon complyrovisions of section eight of this act, shall, with their
successors, be and remain a corporatiom, with all the
ivileges, and subject to all the duties, liabilities and reforth in all general laws which now are cr hereafter may
ating to street railway corporations, etxcept as is herein
vided.
'he articles of association shall set forth the name of the
the termini of the railway proposed to b.e built; its length,




351
as near as may be, and the name of each city, town,
or into which it will extend; the amount of the cap.
poration, which shall not be less than five thousa;
mile; and the names of at least seven persons to
directors until others are chosen by the corporatic
shall subscribe to the articles his name, residence,
and the number of shares of stock which he agrees t,
scriber shall be bound to pay beyond ten per cent. o:
subscription, unless a corporation is duly establishec
ions of this act.
SECT. 3. The corporate name assumed shall be one
other street railway corporation in this state, shall
" street railway company " at the end thereof, and sha
by act of the legislature.
SECT. 4. The directors shall be subscribers to the a
tion, and a majority of them shall be inhabitants of
shall appoint a clerk to keep a record of their doings
who shall hold their respective offices until a clerk an
corporation are chosen. The directors shall fill any
board, or in the office of clerk or treasurer, cause,
death or other disability.
SECT. 5. The directors shall cause a copy of the a.
tion to be published in one or more newspapers in eac;
the road is proposed to be located, at least once a
successive weeks, before proceeding to fix the route ol
sworn certificate of the clerk shall be evidence of the I
SECT. 6. The board of aldermen of any city, or the s
town, may, upon the petition of such directors, or a i
locate the tracks of such proposed corporation within
jurisdictions: provided, that before proceeding to locl
they shall give notice to all parties interested, by pub
newspapers, or otherwise, as they may determine, at
days before their meeting, of the timid place at whiz
sider such location. After a hearing of all parties inter
pass an order refusing such location, or granting the s:
tion thereof, under such restrictions as they deem the
public may require, and the location thus granted shall
taken to be the true location of the tracks of the corpol
ceptance thereof in writing is filed with said mayor a
selectmen within thirty days after receiving notice thei
SECT. 7. Where the tracks of said proposed corpor.
located within the limits of several cities or towns, an
aldermen of any city or the selectmen of any town refi
of the location of such railway, the board of county com
in the county of Suffolk, the board of railroad commissi
the petition in writing of such corporation presented




352


year, proceed to locate the tracks of such corporanner as highways are located under chapter forty1 Statutes.:he petition of said directors, or a majority of them,
and the track or tracks of the proposed corporation
in sections six and seven of this act, and when the
tock named in section two has been subscribed to
ciation in good faith by responsible parties, and at
of the par value of each and every share thereof
sh to the treasurer of the associati6n, the directors,
r shall endorse upon the articles of association, or
ir certificate, setting forth these facts, and that it is?aith to locate, construct, maintain and operate the
id as aforesaid, and shall also annex to said articles
publication and the several certificates fixing the
et railway, and its approval by the proper boards of
ien or county commissioners, and shall present the
)ad commissioners, together with a map of the proi appropriate scale, with a profile thereof on a vertical
ne as compared with the horizontal scale; and said
osited with said commissioners.
never it is shown to the satisfaction of the board of
loners that the requirements of this act preliminary to.t of the corporation have been complied with, the clerk
on their order, shall endorse upon the articles of assothereto, a certificate, setting forth the fact that the
the law appear to have been complied with. The direcipon file the articles of association, with all the certifithereon or annexed thereto, in the office of the secretary
wealth; who, upon the payment to him of fifty dollars,
same in a book to be kept for that purpose, and shall;e substantially in the following form:COMMONWEALI    OF MASSACHUSETTS.
hat whereas [names of the subscribers to the articles of
re associated themselves with the intention of forming a.er the name of the [name of the corporation] for the pur-;, constructing, maintaining and operating a street railn of the road as in the articles of association] and have
he statutes of this Commonwealth in such cases made,ow, therefore, I, [name of the secretary] secretary of
alth of Massachusetts, do hereby certify that the persons
associates and successors, are legally established as a
ider the name of the [name of corporation], with all the
rivileges, and subject to all the duties, liabilities and
t forth in all general laws which now are or hereafter:e relating to street railway corporations.
vhereof, I have hereunto subscribed my official signature,
e seal of said Commonwealth, this     day of
[Day, month and year,]




353
The certificate, so executed, shall be recorded M
association; and the original certificate, or a duly ce
record thereof, shall be conclusive evidence of the es
corporation at the date of such certificate. All mone
secretary under this section, shall be included in his
of fees, and paid into the treasury.
SECT. 10. The first meeting of the corporation sh
notice signed by a majority of the directors, stating ti
purpose of such meeting; and the clerk shall, seven dI
the day appointed therefor, deliver to each subscri
his usual place of business or residence, or deposit i
prepaid, and directed to him at his post-office addres
notice. The clerk shall make an affidavitof his doings
to, which shall be recorded with the records of the cor
SECT. 11. Any street railway corporation desiring tP
tion, may petition the board of aldermen of any city, (
of any town within whose limits such proposed extens:
upon such petition the same proceedings shall be had
for in sections six and seven of this act, and the provis
tions six and seven shall apply in all respects to such p
SECT. 12. A horse railway corporation may enter ul
tracks of any other horse railway corporation which
cross: provided, that after due notice and hearing, it s
that the public necessity and convenience require suce
by the award of a board of commissioners, or a major
which shall consist of the members of the board of ra
sioners for the time being, and of two additional comi
to be appointed by the corporation whose track is to be
and the other by the corporation desiring to enter upoi
tracks, but neither of whom shall have any pecuniary or
in the question involved.
SECT. 13. Whenever any corporation is duly authoriz
or by its lessees or assigns, to enter upon and use the
portion thereof, of another corporation, and the corpo
agree upon the manner and conditions of such enti
the compensation to be paid therefor, a board of
constituted in the manner prescribed in the foregoing
due notice and hearing of the parties interested, shall
rate of compensation to be paid for future use, and, if de
party, for past use, as well as all other questions relating
or use, and the award of the commissioners, or a major
shall be binding upon the respective corporations inter(
provided, however, that no such award shall apply to any p
covered by any previous award of commissioners or by
parties.
SECT. 14. No other street railway corporation shall s
take or hold any stock or bonds of any street railway




354
dis act, whether directly or indirectly, unless specially
legislature.
existing street railway companies shall have the
eges, and be subject to the duties, liabilities, restric)ns contained in this act, which, so far as inconsistent
L charters, shall be deemed and taken to be in alteraent thereof.;ions fourteen and thirty-eight of chapter three hunone of the acts of one thousand eight hundred and
Hereby repealed, and section thirty-nine is amended by
word " railroad" from the words "board of railroad
in. said section, so that the same shall read "board of
is act shall take effect upon its passage.


a




355
IN1,DEX
AiRGUMENTS IN HIGHLAND CASE
Thomas W. Clarke.
Samuel W. Bates.
Samuel W. Bates.
Moody Merrill.
ARGUMENTS IN MIDDLESEX C AS E
Linus M. Child,.
Samuel WV. Bates.
Henry WV. Mluzzey.
George 0. Shattuck.
TiESTIMONY FOR PETITIONERS IN HiGHLAm~
Samuel Little.
J- Wilder May.
Brownell Granger.
James R~itchie.
L. F. Morse.
George W. Wheelwright.
William Whiting.
TESTIMONY FOR REMONSTRANTS IN HIGHLAN


Jolhn C. Stiles,,J. Warren Wilder,
Charles Cook,
Estes Howe,
Knowlton Chaffee,
John H. StudlV',
William Wharton, Jr.,
John W. Young,
Joseph H. Warren,
William F. West,
Martin S. Starkweatber,
John W. Draper,
Harvey Jewell,.






356
FOR PETITIONERS IN MIDDL~ESEX CASE:
Page
148
149
153
160
).~~~~~~~~~~~~161
185
169
170
172
173
174
175
177
247
FOR RKMONSTRANTS IN MIDDLESEX CASE:




226
248
269
271
280
281
347.~~~~~~48
349
349
350


BILLS AND AOTg:
mers in Highland Case,
lJighiand Case,.
imittee in Middlesex Case,.
in the House,.
Railroad Ljaw,.














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