|
FAVORING THE L SCHEME. The Street Railway
Committee
Indorses the Meigs Plan.
... "The members of the Legislature were treated to a
genuine surprise yesterday on a bill for the Meigs elevated railway. It was
known that the committee was in favor of a road, and a general bill was
expected. Instead of that the friends of the measure contented themselves with a
bill permitting the erection of a road between Boston and Cambridge, and asked
for nothing further. Last year, and in all previous years, when the measure had
been brought up, one of the chief arguments of the opponents was that the bill
was too general and permitted too much, many of them going so far as to
say that they would have no objection to the road if it could be built where
there was an unquestionable demand for it. To meet this objection the friends of
the road determined this year to bring in a bill against which no such objection
would hold. Cambridge's representatives and senators have time and again
urged the adoption of an elevated railroad bill of some sort, and as Cambridge
has for years demanded rapid transit it was finally decided to test the
sincerity of the opposition by restricting permission to build to some point in
Cambridge, from Bowdoin square in Boston. It was also determined to put in
very stringent provisions, one of which was that at least one mile of road
must be completed, and, with rolling stock, thoroughly tested to the
satisfaction of the railroad commissioners before any portion could be built in
Boston; also, that, at any time within a year, the aldermen in either city
might, if they so desired, compel the railroad to remove the road at its own
expense, and leave the streets in the same condition as before the road was
erected; furthermore, that one-half the capital stock should be paid in before
work begun. The friends of the road claimed that they would submit to almost any
restrictions and limitations, providing only that they might be given an
opportunity to demonstrate the value of Captain Meigs' invention, and they
declare their belief that the Legislature cannot fail to grant the desired
charter."
...
Return To Meigs Main Page |
