I very soon secured by lease the premises, numbers 535, 537 and 539 Broadway, seventy-five feet front and rear, by two hundred feet deep, and known as the Chinese Museum buildings. In less than four months, I succeeded in converting this building into a commodious Museum and lecture room, and meanwhile I sent agents through America and Europe to purchase curiosities. Besides hundreds of small collections, I bought up several entire museums, and with many living curiosities and my old company of actors and actresses, I opened to the public, November 13, 1865, “Barnum’s New American Museum,” thus beginning a new chapter in my career as a manager and showman.
CHAPTER XL.
MY WAR ON THE RAILROADS.
SCENES IN THE LEGISLATURE—SHARP-SHOOTING—PROPOSITIONS FOR A NEW CAPITAL OF CONNECTICUT—THE RIVALRY OF CITIES—CULMINATION OF THE RAILROAD CONTROVERSY—EXCITEMENT AMONG THE LOBBYISTS—A BILL FOR THE BENEFIT OF COMMUTERS—PEOPLE PROTECTED FROM THE PLUNDERERS—HOW SETTLERS ARE DRAWN INTO A STATE AND THEN CHEATED BY THE RAILROAD COMPANIES—EQUAL RIGHTS FOR COMMUTERS AND TRANSIENT PASSENGERS—WHAT COMMODORE VANDERBILT DID—WHAT THE NEW YORK AND NEW HAVEN RAILROAD COMPANY WANTED TO DO—EXPOSURE OF THEIR PLOT—CONSTERNATION OF THE CONSPIRATORS—MY VICTORY—AGAIN ELECTED TO THE LEGISLATURE—UNITED STATES SENATOR FERRY—EX-GOVERNOR W. A. BUCKINGHAM—THEODORE TILTON—GOVERNOR HAWLEY—FRIENDS AT LINDENCROFT—NOMINATED FOR CONGRESS AND DEFEATED.
DURING my membership in the Connecticut Legislature of 1865, I made several new friends and agreeable acquaintances, and many things occurred, sometimes in the regular proceedings, and sometimes as episodes, which made the session memorable. On one occasion, a representative, who was a lawyer, introduced resolutions to reduce the number of Representatives, urging that the “House” was too large and ponderous a body to work smoothly; that a smaller number of persons could accomplish business more rapidly and completely; and, in fact, that the Connecticut Legislature was so large that the members did not have time to get acquainted with each other before the body adjourned sine die.
I replied, that the larger the number of representatives, the more difficult it would be to tamper with them; and if they all could not become personally acquainted, so much the better, for there would be fewer “rings,” and less facilities for forcing improper legislation.
“As the house seems to be thin now, I will move to lay my resolutions on the table,” remarked the member; “but I shall call them up when there is a full house.”
“According to the gentleman’s own theory,” I replied, “the smaller the number, the surer are we to arrive at correct conclusions. Now, therefore, is just the time to decide; and I move that the gentleman’s resolutions be considered.” This proposition was seconded amid a roar of laughter; and the resolutions were almost unanimously voted down, before the member fairly comprehended what was going on. He afterwards acknowledged it as a pretty fair joke, and at any rate, as an effective one.
The State House at Hartford was a disgrace to Connecticut; the Hall of Representatives was too small; there were no committee rooms, and the building was utterly unfit for the purposes to which it was devoted. The State House at New Haven was very little better, and I made a strong effort to secure the erection of new edifices in both cities. I was chairman of the committee on new State Houses, and during our investigations it was ascertained that Bridgeport, Middletown and Meriden would each be willing to erect a State House at its own cost, if the city should be selected as the new capital of the State. These movements aroused the jealousy of Hartford and New Haven, which at once appointed committees to wait upon us. The whole matter, however, finally went by default, and the question was never submitted to the people. It is quite possible, however, that ere long the citizens of Bridgeport or Meriden will offer to build a capitol, and that one of these two cities with the entire consent of the rest of the State, including the inhabitants of Hartford and New Haven, will become the capital of Connecticut.
As the session drew near its close, the railroad controversy culminated by my introduction of a bill to amend the act for the regulation of railroads by the interpolation of the following:
Section 508. No railroad company, which has had a system of commutation fares in force for more than four years, shall abolish, alter, or modify the same, except for the regulation of the price charged for such commutation; and such price shall, in no case, be raised to an extent that shall alter the ratio between such commutation and the rates then charged for way fare, on the railroad of such company.