Mr. President:
I am deeply impressed with the great importance of the question now before us for consideration. It is not local, not sectional, nor political, but a question that affects more or less directly the industrial, the mercantile, the manufacturing, and the commercial interests of the whole Commonwealth. The proper solution of this great problem rests with us, as the representatives of the people; and it is a responsibility of no ordinary importance, and one that should control our serious and earnest attention and our candid and best judgment, unbiased by any local or personal interest, with a solemn regard to our oaths to support and maintain the constitutional rights of the people of the Commonwealth.
Stern convictions of duty alone induce me to address this honorable body on this occasion—duty that I feel incumbent upon me, Mr. President, from the honored position that I received at your hands. It is well known that I neither have or make any claims as a public speaker, and I must ask your indulgence for being somewhat dependent upon my notes in presenting to you an honest statement of my own convictions of this great question, having no other interest to serve but the State and her people.
This important subject involves directly the whole question of the railroad policy of this Commonwealth; and here in Massachusetts the proper direction of the railroad policy is even more important than at the West, where it now engages the public attention almost to the exclusion of other interests.
Within the last fifty years this Commonwealth has almost entirely changed its industrial position. Half a century ago, agriculture, the fisheries, and commerce were the leading interests. Now, manufactures engross the attention of our people, and have made all other interests subordinate. They have not excluded other interests, but in a measure supplemented them. Our agriculture has changed and now finds its chief support in providing supplies for the manufacturing towns which have grown up in every part of the Commonwealth. Our commerce, both internal and external, is largely engaged in bringing to our doors the raw material for our laborers, and in spreading throughout the world the products of our manufacturing industry.
We can raise but a small proportion of the food necessary to feed the people of the State; under such circumstances the transportation must weigh heavily upon our industry. We feel it in the increased cost of living, which increases the cost of every article we produce. We feel it in the increased cost of the raw materials of our manufactures, which makes us less able to compete successfully with more favored locations. We feel it finally in the increased cost of marketing our goods. This position has been so well stated by the Railroad Commissioners in their report of 1870, page 39, that I may repeat it here: