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THE STORY OF ERIE 35
will readily perceive how much shorter the distance from
Geneva, even by way of Rochester, to Buffalo is than that
from Elmira to Portland or Dunkirk. Add to all this is the
fact that the end of a great improvement farthest from the
sea coast is by far the less productive of toll, the company,
therefore, actuated by all these considerations, during the
term of seventeen years, until which they are not obliged to
finish the railroad to Lake Erie, would have ample time and
power, by arraying the rest of the State against us, to have
withheld entirely the extensions of the railroad from Elmira
to Portland or Dunkirk; but the members of the western
counties, however obvious this was, did not perceive it.
" The very foundation of our railroad is the uninterrupted
use ofit during the winter months and the velocity of movement
on it, giving a continued and rapid communication between
the country and the city of New York. By commencing
at the Hudson and Delaware Canal these two great
features, its only support, were abandoned, and consequently
all the members from New York, except three, voted against
the bill, although they all more than ever have been in favor
of the main project, and after a most violent and continued
struggle of fifteendays the bill was. I am happy to say,
entirely lost, notwithstanding Mr. Lord. Mr. Ruggles. and
many lobby members sent by the railroad and the Trust Company
were making astonishing efforts in its favor.
" At the commencement of the debate Mr. Ogden of Delaware
County made an allusion to me. although not by name,
which was most triumphantly refuted, and Mr. Burke of Cattaraugus
made a smart but injudicious speech, in which heattacked
the motives of persons opposed to the bill, and
which was full of personalities. This not only produced warm
retorts on these members, but also occasioned, unjustifiably,
very violent abuse of Mr. King, who had written a letter his
friends were indiscreet enough to read to the house, and also
upon Mr. Lord, who was in attendance on the part of the
company, but who had not by any act brought his name into
the Legislature. No one ever recollects so warm and long
a debate.
" Since the failure of the bill I have proposed to the friends
of the company to join in trying to -obtain the construction
of the road by the State; but they have refused, saying that
the company intends itself to construct the work, which, of
course, is entirely out of the question. I cannot say at present
what course I shall take in regard to our application from
Allegany, and the one from New York, both joining in recommending
its construction by the State.
" During the debate the Hudson and Delaware Canal stock
rose from about 70 to 114, and many hundred shares have
been sold at the advanced prices. I never felt more gratified
than I have at this triumph over those who would have sacrificed
the western counties, and indeed the whole project, to
their own local and sordid views."
Yet, at the next session of the Legislature, 1836,
a bill quite similar to the one so vigorously opposed
and emphatically condemned by Mr. Church became
a law, and it is recorded that it was opposed by Mr.
Lord. Whatever of insincerity might have possessed
his contemporaries in Erie, or however much
he might have believed they were swayed by ulterior
motives, either must have in time been made satisfactory
to Mr. Church, or the work of their successors
he must have regarded as having condoned
for it all; for, in reply to the invitation sent him by
the Company, May 1, 1851, to be present on the
occasion of the opening of the railroad to Dunkirk,
he wrote as follows:
Angelica, May 10, 1851.
Gentlemen: I accept with great pleasure the invitation of
the Hoard of Directors of the New York- and Erie Railroad
Company to be present at the contemplated opening of that
great work; prosecuted with much energy and devotion, with
so much skill and science constructed.
I remain, gentlemen, etc., etc.,
Yours,
P. Church.
But the people in other localities along the line of
the proposed
railroad did not share Mr. Church's
views on the Erie relief bill of 1835, and their disappointment
over its defeat was great.
was vigorously expressed by an Owego
in its issue following the defeat of the bill.
This feeling
newspaper,
" It is
with feelings of mortification, disappointment, and
regret," this editor wrote, " that we announce the
defeat of this bill in the Assembly on Friday of last
week. The vote stood 61 to 45 ; who could have
calculated upon such a result ? Who, in view of the
strong claims which the Southern Tier of counties
have upon the State, and the acknowledged importance
of the proposed road, who could have anticipated
such a course at the hands of a Legislature
claiming to be honorable and high-minded ?
one.
No
We do not hesitate to say that their conduct
has been illiberal and unjust in this matter, and dishonorable
to them as Legislators.
But we console
ourselves with the conviction that the matter is not
o-oing to rest here. This road must and will be
built!
The intelligent and enterprising citizens of
the Southwestern
counties will never suffer themselves
to be duped in this manner. They have
ri«-hts which
the}- will be bold to assert and, we
trust, found able to maintain. If treated in this
way, they will be driven to the ballot box for redress.
There they can make themselves heard—and
they will be found!
there
For our own humble self we
would waive every political consideration rather than
submit to a system of persecution so unjustifiable
and dishonorable. No man shall have our vote
whctlier for Governor or a less responsible station,