Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-12-21 00:00:00

THE PACIFIC RAILROAD.

Long experience kits deco' y convinced me that a strict ennesruc' ion
of she powers granted to Co•tgreso is the only true, as welt as the
only 'Ere, theory of she constitntion. Whilst this principle shall
guide my public conduct, I consid r it c ear that ander the war-
Making pemer Congress may appr ipriate money for she coustrxction
of a =Mary rod through the ter. itories of the United States, when
this is absolutely necessary far he defence of any of the Scat s against
foreign invasion. The constitution has (lief eered upon Congress
power " to declare war." " to raise and support armies," " to provide
and maintain awavy," an t to c ol forth the militia to "repel inva-
sions." 'these high sovereign powers necessarily involve important
and respo sible public dudes, and among them there is Hone so
sacred and sit imperative as that of ore-erving our soil from the is tea-
ti in of a foreign eneit.y. Tao constitution has, therefore, left nothing
on this point to constru -lion, but expressly requires that "the
(Tatted states she 1 protect each of them (she States), against
invasion " Now, if a mlitary road over oar own ter-
ritoris be ind spensab'y necessar / to enable us to meet
ald rep I the invader, it follows as a ne,essary
quenee not only that we possess the power, but it is our• im-
ps rative duty to construct sock a road. It would be an absurdity
to invest a government with the un imite pow, r to make and
conduct war, and at the same time deny it to the only ire ne cf
reaching and defeating the enemy at th, frontier. Without such a
r ad it in quite evident we cannot "protect" California and our
Peelle possessions •• against invasion." We cannot by any other
mesns transport men and mu ,itiAis of war fi om the Atlantic Sta es
in sufficient time seicsessiul y to defend these remote and diitast
portions of the republic.
Experience has proved that the route across the Isthmus of Central
America are kt best but a very uncertain and unreliable mo o of
communicadon. But even if this were not the case, tt ey wsnald
at once be clos"d aestinst us in the event t f war with a naval power
so much stronger that; our own as to enable it to blockade the
ports at either end of these ron es. After all, therefore, we can
only rely upon a military r Aid t..rottek our own Territories; ml
even eh ca the origin of the government Congress has been in the
practice of approuriati,g money from the public Treasury for the
construction of such roads,

•
The Jiffictilr es and the expense of constructing a military railroad
to connect our Atla,tic and Pacific sta es have een gr ,atTexagge-
rated. The ).istance on the Arizona route near the 32nd par Met of
north latitude, be wean the western boondary of Texas on the Rio
Grande and the eastern boundary of Califo' nia on the Colorado. from
the best tip! nations now within our knowledge, does not exceed 470
miles, and the face of the country Is, in the main, favourable. For
obvious reasons the government aught not to undertake the work
itself by means of its own agents. This ouglt to he comm tted to
other agmeiss, which Cologne-a might assist either by grants of
lend or money, or by both, uron such terms and conditions as thoy
may deem most ben finial for the count, y. Provision might thus be
made not only f. r the safe, rapid, and c,onomical transportation of
troopsrend munitions of war, but also of the puhl e mai s. The com-
mercial interests of the who :e country, both east and west, would he
greatly promoted by such a road, and above all it would be a powerful
additional bond of union. And &thong advan' ages of this kind,
whe her postal, cemmei cial, or political, cannot confer constitutional
power, yet they may furt.ish auxiliary a. geonents in favour of expe-
diting a work which, in my, judgment, is clea:ly embraced within
the war maki g power.
For these rca ons I commend to the friendly consideration of Con-
gress the subject of the Pacific railro ,d, without finally committing
my szlf to any articular route.