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THE BRIDGE TOLL AT GRANGETOWN,…

ANOTHER GATE DEMOLISHED.

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Dyfynnu
Rhannu

ANOTHER GATE DEMOLISHED. The hostile action of tho inhabitants of Lower Grangetown cn Monday evening had not the effect upon the managers of tho Taff Vale Rail- way Company which many persons anticipated. It was evidently the opinion of the indignant work- men who demolished the gate on Monday evening that the company would refrain from putting further obstacles in the way of those persons who daily used the bridge connecting the Docks with the district of Lower Grange, and that an amicable settle- ment would be arrived at. So far from this being the case, the action taken by the company on Tuesday would imply that they are determined to stand on their legal rights. The gate that was so ruthlessly destroyed on Monday was re-placed by the workmen of the Taff Vale Company during the early hours of Tuesday morning, and a sentry-box was also erected for the convenience of the toll-gatherer. This structure met the eyes of the workmen who proceeded to their employ- ment at an early hour, and though the begrudged penny was paid by the majority, a tacit under- standing to repeat the performance of the preceding evening was quickly come to. No incident, of special interest transpired during the day, but an attempt to convey passengers over by a speculative milkman in an ordinary milk cart proved a failure, as the vehicle was unlicensed to carry passengers. The occupants had, therefore, to descend and pay the toll. Shortly after five o'clock small groups of workmen congregated round the gate and hut of the toll-collector. till over a hundred had assembled. The men were in the utmost good humour, and jokes and witticisms were launched at the expense of the collector before hostilities were commenced. The gate was kept closed, but, a break with passengers desiring to pass, the gate- keeper was obliged to open it. The plan of pro- cedure had been well-arranged by the men, for immediately a body of ship carpenters placed themselves behind the gate, their companions putting their backs to it, and thus preventing the gate from being closed. The Boycotted gate- keeper, imagining that lively proceedings were about to commence, at once proceeded to pack up, and quickly took his departure. The ship carpenters in the meanwhile had produced their tools, and in the space of a few minutes the gate was taken off its hinges, and, by the combined efforts of many willing volunteers, was, like its predecessor, thrown over the bridge into the river, its disappearance under the water being the signal for a hearty cheer. The number of persons present at this time was about a thousand. Whilst the demolition of the gate wasbeing proceeded with another party had commenced operations on the wooden structure that had been erected for the con- venience of the toll-keeper. This house gave much trouble to the destroyers. It had evidently been built to stand rough usage, and it was a long time before it fell before the heavy onslaught made upon it. Four huge gateposts still remained before the structure was completely destroyed,%nd the attention of the volunteers was quickly turned to them. The first post was with difficulty taken down, but the others quickly followed, for the first was utilised as a battering-ram, and in a short time the four posts were in the river floating with the tide. It may be asked. Where were the police during the course of these lively pro- ceedings ? But it might be stated that an arrange- ment had been come to between the Taff Vale Company and the Head-Constable that the police should not be any party to the collection of tolls. The police were only to be present for the purpose of preventing a breach of the peace. Inspector Lewis and a small body of constables remained on duty until late in the afternoon. At about five o'clock, however, a large crowd congregating, assistance was sent for to the central station, and Superintendent Price, with Inspectors Harris and Tamblyn and a number of constables, proceeded to the bridge. By the time they arrived on the scene the damage had been committed, and, as the crowd was orderly and good-tempered, they shortly afterwards withdrew. It is expected that tbeTaff Vale Company will erect another gate during the night, and that the toll will be again demanded this morning. A meeting was held by the malcontents after the work of demolition had been completed, when it was arranged that they should meet in force at half- past, five this (Wednesday) evening. Landlords of houses still continue to receive notices of with- drawal from their tenants, at least 60 having so far given notice, many being inhabitants of eighteen or nineteen years' standing. If this goes on the prediction made in these columns yesterday that Lower Grangetown would quickly become a deserted village will soon be fulfilled. MEETING OF THE CORPORATION COMMITTEE. The special committee appointed by the Town Council to inquire into this matter met at the Town-hall on Tuesday, the mavor presiding, and there being also present Alderman Jones and Councillors Sanders, Vaughan, Evans, Waring, Brain, and Stevens. Mr. R. Forrest also attended the committee.—The Mayor stated that he had wired to tho chairman of the directors of the Taff Vale Railway on the subject, and had received from him a telegram in the following words, Cannot alter resolution of my board, but payment of tolls will not prejudice your interview with board on Wednesday in fact, I am sure interview useless unless company's rights first admitted—INSKIP." A letter was read from Mr. R. Forrest, in which he expressed his readiness to render the committee all the assistance in his power. He also took the opportunity of informing the committee that the statements made at the meeting at the Town-hall on that subject, and reported in the South Wales Daily News of July 23, were entirely incorrect ard untrue so far as Lord Windsor's present estate agent and himself were concerned, and that after inquiry he could not find the slightest ground for supposing that the former surveyor ever made any such statements as alleged, but that, on the contrary, if any such applications were made to him on the subject he invariably pointed out, what was common knowledge, that the road was a private one, constructed by tbe Penarth Company under Parliamentary powers, and, of course, only open to the public upon payment of tolls if demanded.—After some discussion it was resolved that a deputation, con- sisting of the whole of the members of the com- mittee, should wait on the Taff Vale Railway Com- pany to-day (Wednesday) at 2.30 p.m. to discuss the whole question. DEPUTATION FROM THE TOWN COUNCIL TO THE TAFF VALE RAIL- WAY DIRECTORS. On Wednesday afternoon a deputation from the Cardiff Town Council, consisting of the mayor (Dr. Jones), Alderman Cory, Councillors Waring, Vaughan, Sanders, Evans, Stevens. Brain, and the town-clerk (Mr. Wheatley), waited upon the directors of the Taff Vale Railway Company at the general offices, Crockherbtown, Cardiff. Mr. Inskip presided, and the other directors present were Messrs. G. Fisher, R. W. Butterworth, S. Fripp, A. E. Guest, S. Jones, J. H. Nash, H. B. O. Savile, and C. H. Williams. The MAYOR, in introducing the deputation, said that they came before the directors particularly in the interests of the inhabitants of Grangetown in reference to a toll which had been levied by the company upon passengers over a bridge which formed the main access to that district. For many years past the Cardiff Town Council had been using every effort to get rid of all the toll-gates in the neighbourhood, and they were very anxious that a road which was becoming one of the main arteries of the town should not be hampered by so heavy an impost. They wanted to know that day from the board what could be done with a view to liberating the road in question. They knew, of course, that the company had the right to levy the toll, and wished to establish their right to do so, bat as the road had been free for so many years, and such a step had never been contem- plated by those who had built houses and gone to live in the neighbourhood, it was naturally felt to be a great hardship by the people. The Town Council were, therefore, anxious to arrive at some amicable arrangement with the directors by which the burden might be lifted from the shoulders of the working men. Alderman CORY remarked that they had been endeavouring to do away with all the toll-gates in the neighbourhood, and had not only endeavoured to do away with them, but had succeeded in doing so. As representing the working classes in Grange- town, they felt that the imposition of this toll was a very great hardship upon them, especially as the greater portion of their number were of the poorest class. Whilst they deprecated the physical measures that had been resorted to by the people, they very much sympathised with them in their misfortune, and were anxious to do everything in their power to relieve them from the heavy tax which would result from the enforcement of this toll. Mr. INSKIP, replying, said that, speaking for himself, and also for the other members of the Taff Vale Board of Directors, they were very glad to see the deputation there that day. Continuing, he said he would take the opportunity of addressing his worship the mayor In two capacities, and if he would allow him he would, in the first place, address him as the head of the body which was charged with keeping the peace and protecting the rights of the people of the borough. On behalf of the Taff Vale Board, he put it to his worship thnt, as mayor of Cardiff, it was incum- bent upon him to protect and sympathise with the Taff Vale Board just as fully as his colleague had expressed his sympathy for the working men as owners and occupiers of certain houses in the vicinity of the Grangetown Bridge. He thought his colleagues on that board would support him in putting their claim fairly before the mayor and other members of the corporation as controlling the police authorities of the borough, and impressing upon them that the scenes of the past few days ought not to be tolerated. The Taff Vale Board were not prepared to submit quietly to the repeated enactment of such scenes, and if physical force was used in opposition to the undoubted rights of that company, it would be necessary for the directors to consider in what way their rights could be enforced, and what steps they could take if those primarily responsible for keeping the peace of the borough failed to perform their duty. In reference to the other question, he might say that, he fully sympathised with the Town Council in their desire to provide free roads. At the same time, it was right for them to be distinctly re- minded that, so far as the members of the Taff Vale Board were concerned, they were not prepared to make any proposition for com- pensating the company they represented for pro-1 viding the bridge in question. As a good deal of apprehension seemed to exist as to whether the company were acting within their legal rights, he would read two or three passages from the Act of Parliament under which the road and the bridge had been constructed. The Act of Parliament stated that it would be beneficial to the public if more convenient means of communication were provided between Penarth Harbour and Cardiff, and that for such purpose the company were empowered to construct a road over the River Taff. The Act then set forth the usual proceedings, and imposed serious obligations upon the company as to the manner in which the bridge should be constructed, and finally authorised the company to demand and take for the use of the road and bridge certain toll?, none of which had been exceeded in the demands recently made on behalf of the company. So far the question was simply this, that a large sum of money belonging to the shareholders of the Taff Vale Railway Com- pany had been expended in providing a road and bridge upon the faith of an Act of Parliament which authorised the company to receive certain tolls. No attempt had been made to purchase those tolls or to free the road and bridge. On the contrary, the adjoining land- owners had used the bridge and road for the pur- pose of building houses upon the frontage it had created, and he thought the directors would be failing in their duty if they did not take steps to prevent the road made by the money of the share- holders of the company being used by other persons for their personal gain without any compensation. He thought that a fair principle, and they would feel bound to follow out that principle to a reasonable conclusion. Whatever proposal was made, it would be fairly and liberally entertained. In his opinion, however, the time for negotiating had not arrived until their rights had been recog- nised, supported, and maintained as well as those of any other ratepayers in the borough of Cardiff. The MAYOR explained that instructions had been given to the police to take the necessary steps. with a view to the preservation of the peace. On the first day everything seemed to be passing off so quietly that some of the men were with- drawn and it was after they had left that the damage was done. On the second day there were, he had been informed, several thousands of people present, so that, if that were so, the whole of the Cardiff police force would have been unable to prevent them from executing their plans. He assured them that no one depre- cated more than he did the steps taken by the people; but such was the condition of affairs in Cardiff at the present moment that the authorities scarcely knew to what extent the interference of the police might be justifiable. Mr. INsKIP remarked that a good deal of sym- pathy had been expressed for the residents of Grangetown, and he felt so sincere a sympathy for them that he should be extremely sorry to see any of them lodged in prison through foolishly acting from any mistaken notion of their rights; and he, therefore, took that opportunity of saying to his worship that if the public persevered in their illegal conduct they would undoubtedly be prosecuted, and be had no doubt his worship was aware of the fact that there was an Act of Parliament which made the congregating of a number of men for an illegal purpose a serious offence, which the judges of the country had visited with severe punishment. He should be sorry to put so severe a law in force, and he trusted that the warning would be taken by those who were disposed to indulge in riotous conduct. Continuing, he said that whenever the rights of the company were recognised and they were approached in a reasonable spirit, it would be found that the directors were as willing to negotiate with the Corporation of Cardiff, or with the ownefs of land on either side of that private road, as the corporation would be in negotiating with them. Mr. VAUGHAN observed that they had not come there to justify the action of the people In throw- ing down the gatea, but they came to ask if some- thing could not be done to put aside the toll, be- cause the burden was falling upon a class who were not parties to any negotiation. He asked if they could not see their way clear to postpone the levying of the toll, to give time to arrive at some agreement, so that the burden should not rest upon the poor people. Mr. INSIUP replied that they should not be acting fairly by their company if they entered upon any negotiations until their rights were fully recog- nised by the people. Alderman CORY asked if it would not be pos- sible to reduce the toll in the meantime to a half- penny. Mr. INSKIP replied that the public must be given clearly to understand that the company could not be influenced in any way by such a course of con- duct as that which had been resorted to. Mr. SANDERS urged them to defer the collecting of the tolls for a fixed period pending a settlement of the matter. Mr. INSKIP reminded the deputation that the company had given notice of their intention to collect the tolls six weeks ago, and when there was no possibility of calling a meeting of the board an appeal was made to the officials of the company, and afterwards to himself, but he had no power to deal with the matter. Mr. SANDERS said that the conduct of which the board complained had been perpetrated since the committee had been appointed to wait upon the directors, and he trusted, therefore, that they would not allow those unfortunate incidents to have too much weight with them. Mr. WARING thought they might make some allowance for the irritation caused by the fact that the inhabitants had built their houses under the impression that the road would always be free. Mr. BRAIN suggested that if the tolls were levied simply for the purpose of establishing their rights the object, of the company would be served if the impost were confined to animals and vehicles. Mr. INSKIP said the committee would come to them with much greater weight when the tolls were being peaceably and properly paid, and they (the directors) should be much more able to con- sider calmly and fairly any proposal of the sort they had now made. The MAYOR asked if, in the event of the tolls being collected peaceably for the next week or nine days, the board would be prepared to con- sider a temporary discontinuance of the toll pend- ing a settlement. Mr. INsKIP replied that he saw no alternative but those he had presented to them, either to impeach their rights in a court of law or unconditionally submit, to the law and pay the tolls, and when that had been done if his worship, as mayor, thought it worth his while to see the directors of the company he was quite sure his worship would find them willing to entertain any reasonable proposal that might be submitted for enabling the corporation to acquire the tolls and free the road. The MAYOR having thanked the directors, the deputation withdrew. HISTORY OF THE GRANGETOWN ROAD-TOLL QUESTION. lBY SENKX.J The placing of a toll-bar by the Taff Vale Rail- way Company on the road between Cardiff Docks and Grangetown has excited a strong feeling among the residents of that district, not so much against tho Taff Vale directors in placing the toll- gate there, a9 against the Corporation of Cardiff for the apathy and indifference manifested by them, and in taking no steps to prevent its being fixed thore. Tho notices that tolls would be col- lected on the road on and after tho 26th of July were posted on the bridge six weeks ago. Two meetings of the council were subsequently held, but the subject was not referred to. At a special meeting of the council held last week the subject was brought forward, but that was due to a deputation of ratepayers from Grangetown waiting upon the Castle-road Im- provement Committee, and urging them to take some steps to prevent the tolls from being collected, and to an ind;gnation meeting of the inhabitants of Grangetown held a day or two prior to the special meeting of the council, and then a deputation was appointed to wait on the directors of the Taff Vale Railway Company, but not till after the tolls had begun to be collected, although the collection of those tolls affected very conside- rably from 3,000 to 4,000 ratepayers. On Saturday the mayor sent a telegram to the chairman of the Taff Vale directors asking him to prevent the tolls from being collected until the corporation had had their interview with the directors, but Mr. Inskip has no power to rescind a resolution passed at a meeting of the directors any more than the mayor has power lito suspend a resolution of the council, and on Monday morning the gate was closed and tolls collected from every person making use of the road up to five o'clock. The question is a very simple one. The road is a private road, and the Taff Vale Company have as much right to place a toll-bar on it and collect tolls from persons using it as the Turnpike-roads Board have in collecting tolls on roads kept by them in repair. The practice of taxing foot pas- sengers and passengers in vehicles when the vehicles themselves pay tolls is one that obtains nowhere else in this district. It is one that presses very heavily on the residents of the locality, but it is one which the company is legally entitled to charere. When the Penarth Dock and Harbour Act was obtained, the first work done was the construction of coal-tips on the harbour. At that time there was no communication between Cardiff and Pen- arth save by the road over the Dumballs. In 1861 an Act was obtained by the Penarth Harbour Com- pany for the construction of a road which was for some time known as If Dobson's road," from the entrance to die Glamorganshire Canal to Clive-road. Lower Grangetown. From this point a foot- path along a bank. s'milar to tboso from the Penrrth-road to Lower Grangetown, led to the ferry, and this placed the foot passengers in close proximity to the harbour. The land on the east side of the River Taff belonged to Lord Bute's Trustees, that on the west side to those of Lord Windsor. The land was obtained under the powers of the Act, the swing bridge was from a design by Mr. Dobson (the engineer of the Penarth Dock), and the cost of purchase, construction of the bridge, &c., involved an outlay of nearly £60,000. This, of course, formed part of the capital of the Penarth Dock and Railway Company, and upon which, under the terms of their agreement, the Taff Vale Company pay a dividend of 5i per cent. In 1861 there was no steam ferry to Penarth. Sailing boats passed to and fro when the tide served, a charge of sixpence being made for each passenger. At that time none of the merchants and brokers had offices at Penarth. All the business was done at Cardiff, and masters of vessels lying in Penarth Harbour had to come to and from Cardiff and Penarth for whatever they required. This route was then much used. and proved a great conven- ience to persons passing to and fro. By the Act of 1861 power was given to the Penarth Dock, Harbour, and Railway Company, not only to con- struct the road, but to levy tolls, and the tolls now levied on this bridge are fixed by that Act, and it was intended, when the road was constructed, that these tolls should be collected from those who used it. When the Penarth Railway was con- structed the footpath from Lower Grangetown to the ferry was diverted, and in 1867 another Act was obtained by the Penarth Dock Company for the construction of a road from Lower Grangetown to the ferry, and by this Act also the company has power to collect tolls for the use of this road. The traffic over the road at one time would hardly pay for collecting the tolls, and tho powers of the Act were kept in abeyance. The placing of three steam ferry-boats between Penarth Dock and Cardiff Docks, the opening of the Penarth Railway for passenger traffic, the running of 'busses, breaks, and omnibuses from the south end of St. Mary-street to Penarth, have so diverted the traffic that, as a means of communication between Cardiff and the Penarth Docks, the road is almost worthless, and the Taff Vale officials affirm that, were the road closed to-morrow, tHey would not suffer any loss. When the road was made there were only two or three farmhouses in the vicinity. Now a large populatIon. has grown up, the bulk of whom make use of this road. To continue to keep this road in repairs is simply to do so for the advantage of the ground landlord on whose estate the houses have been erected, and this point has been from time to time discussed by the directors of the Taff Vale Railway Company. There was a time when the road was not lighted, and then the inhabitants of Lower Grangetown complained to the corporation, and, owing to a com- munication from them, the company lighted the road at their expense. In 1881 the question of fixing a toll-gate on the road was again seriously discussed, but the carrying out of the suggestion was left,as it was felt, that it would certainly cause unpleasantness to the inhabitants of the locality. Recently the question has been before them again, as the cost of keeping the bridge and road in repair involves a large annual outlay, for which the Taff Vale Railway Company receives no benefit. There is no doubt that the tolls are exces- sive, but they had no power to levy tolls other than those sanctioned by the Act of 1861. It seems a matter of surprise that hundreds of houses should have been erected in Lower Grange- town without the builders of them being aware that the Taff Vale Railway Company had power to levy tolls on this road—a road the existence of which is of the most vital importance to the tenants who might occupy their houses—and the only course open to the corporation is to ascertain what the ground landlords on either side will give towards the purchase of the road from the Taff Vale Railway Company. Lord Wind- sor's property will be greatly improved by the conversion of this road into a public one. So will Lord Bute's property, as the road from Tre- sillian-terrace can then be carried through to the road near the swing bridge, and will open up a large area of ground for buildmg purposes. Until the road is made a public one the Taff Vale Com- pany express their determination to collect tolls upon it. and the sooner this question is settled the better, but up to the present time the corporation have had no interview with the directors or officials of the Taff Vale Railway Company.

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