236 



CONNECTICUT. 



printed ot them, to be " cast by the freemen 

 of the said city in their respective wards/' 



The final voting on the resolution took place 

 in the Lower House on July 14th, when, after 

 a very hot and protracted debate, it passed 

 yeas 100, nays 86 ; members absent or not 

 voting, 63. The three other above-cited reso- 

 lutions dependent on it were also separately 

 voted upon and passed at the same sitting. 

 The Senate had previously passed these reso- 

 lutions by a vote of two to one. 



On the 18th of July a bill was proposed to 

 the House, authorizing the Common Council 

 of the city of Hartford to take land for the 

 erection of a capitol, and providing for the 

 settlement of damages before the courts by 

 appraisals. Under a suspension of the rules, 

 the bill was immediately voted upon and 

 passed, and sent to the Senate, who also 

 passed it. 



The holding of the special election in Hart- 

 ford, designed to ascertain whether the people 

 of that city would accept the conditions of ths 

 General Assembly, took place on the 16th of 

 August, 1871, when 1,250 citizens voted "yes," 

 and 45 "no." 



Immediately after the appropriation for a 

 new State-house at Hartford, on July 14th, a 

 member called up the resolution previously 

 offered, making a like appropriation for New 

 Haven. It was made the order of the day for 

 the 19th. Meantime the Common Council of 

 New Haven held a meeting on the 17th, in 

 which a resolution was adopted " that, when- 

 ever the Legislature should appropriate $500,- 

 000 for a State-house in New Haven, this city 

 will furnish a site, and will make such other 

 appropriations as may be deemed necessary." 



The matter came up for discussion on July 

 19th, as appointed, when a long and most ani- 

 mated debate ensued. 



The resolution was finally put to the vote, 

 and lost by a large majority yeas 83, nays 

 119 ; members not voting, 34. 



The Senate passed this resolution on a later 

 day by a majority of one. The vote was taken 

 at a time when some Senators, known to be 

 adverse to it, were absent, and were of equal 

 number on each side ; but the president of the 

 Senate, who was from New Haven, cast his 

 own vote in the affirmative, which made the 

 yeas one more than the nays. The resolution 

 was thus sent to the Lower House, where, on 

 July 26th, a representative from Hartford 

 called it up, and moved that the House, which 

 had rejected the resolution by a decided ma- 

 jority on the 19th, should now vote to adhere 

 to its rejection. The House adhered to its 

 previous vote, which ended the question. 



Among the subjects acted upon by the Gen- 

 eral Assembly in this session, the greatest im- 

 portance was attached to the bill consolidating 

 the New York & New Haven and the Hartford 

 & New Haven Eailroad Companies. These 

 roads, taken together, make a continuous 

 line, extending from the city of New York to 



Springfield, in the State of Massachusetts, a 

 distance of about one hundred and thirty-six 

 miies. The Hartford & New Haven Railway 

 Company was incorporated in 1833, and tht 

 Hartford & Springfield Company in 1835. 

 These two corporations were united by act of 

 the Legislature in 1845, thereby becoming ono 

 company, under the name of the New Haven, 

 Hartford & Springfield Railroad Company. 

 In the same year, 1845, the New York & New 

 Haven Railway Company was chartered, the 

 charter giving this corporation full power to 

 make joint stock with any other connecting 

 railroad ; that is, to merge and consolidate 

 with it, thus making of both a single corpora- 

 tion. The Hartford & New Haven and the 

 New York & New Haven Companies were 

 hostile to each other in regard to their respec- 

 tive interests from the first, by reason of the 

 steamboat connection which the former road 

 had established before the latter was built. In 

 order to remedy this evil, the New York com- 

 pany engaged by contract to pay $30,000 for 

 five years to the Hartford company, to have 

 a direct connection; which contract, except 

 the bonus, was continued for twenty years. 

 As each of these roads was controlled excli 

 sively by New York and Connecticut men 

 spectively, dissensions still arose between the 

 two companies about the construction of the 

 contract and the fares, which involved them 

 in litigation before the courts of either State 

 to a heavy amount. With a view to put an end 

 to these contests, the New York company, some 

 five years ago, placed its road under the con- 

 trol of Connecticut men, who, having the man- 

 agement of both roads in their hands, and see- 

 ing their interests to be not only common, bv 

 the same, endeavored to bring them into 

 harmonious operation, and finally resolved 

 unite them. For the purpose of effecting this 

 union, the General Assembly was applied to in 

 behalf of the two roads for permission to con- 

 solidate, which was done for three successive 

 years, yet always in vain, though all the com- 

 mittees, to whom the matter was severally re- 

 ferred, reported in favor of the consolidation, 

 and the Senate voted each time for it. At 

 session of 1869, the Boston, Hartford & Erie 

 Railroad Company, having asked the General 

 Assembly to pass an act covering the per- 

 petual lease which they had just made of the 

 Norwich and Worcester road, which they had 

 no right to do by their charter, the compa- 

 nies of the other roads in the State also came 

 forward and urged on the Legislature that, in 

 this matter, a general law should be enacted, 

 giving the right of lease to all the roads in 

 common, and not a privilege given in favor of 

 one road. This request was granted by the 

 legislative body, and a general law was ac- 

 cordingly passed in that year, " permitting any 

 one railroad company in the State of Con- 

 necticut to make any lawful contract with any 

 other company, if their railways connect or 

 intersect, in relation to the business or prop- 



