The Sun.
London, England, 1851-07-03 00:00:00

SINGULAR BALLOON ASCENT.

M. Poitevin, yesterday made his promised ascension
from the Champ de Mars in a carriage and two horses,
suspended from the gigantic balloon, ",the Globe." The
fineness of the weather and the novelty of the
scene drew together, as might have been expected, an
immense concourse of spectators. During the opera-
tion of filling and other preliminary preparations, the
attention of the public was somewhat diverted by the
fantasia of the Arabs. The President of the Republic,
accompanied by General Roguet, his Aide-de-Camp,
and Commandant Fleury, his orderly officer, was pre-
sent, and viewed with great interest the manouvres
of the Arabs and the process of inflation of the
balloon. After their performances had terminated,
M. Poitevin with his wife and servant entered
the carriage, which was drawn by two very pretty
small horses, and drove round the enclosure, after which
it was attached to the balloon, which had been by this
time fully inflated. At the signal words " Let go," the
two hundred soldiers, who had been stationed round
the balloon to hold the cords, released them, and the
balloon rose majestically amidst the enthusiastic
shouts of the spectators. Madame Poitevin displayed
the most perfect serenity; on entering the carriage
she kissed her child with a smile, and when at a
little height from the ground threw out a large bouque,t,
which tell among the crowd, and the possession of which
was eagerly scrambled for. The balloon took the direc-
tion of the river towards Versailles. It is of spherical
form, and contains upwards of 4,000 metres of silk, in
alternate stripes of black and red. Every precaution ha,
be, n taken in its construction to endure its solidity.—
Galignani's Messenger.

THE ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Silt —Tire operation of my plan tor constructing a
railway to connect with the Atlantic and Pecific oceans,
would be this: first, the Bill, which will no doubt be
passed into a law at the next session of Congress, will
set apart and sell to me, 60 miles in width of the
public domain, from Lake Michigan to the Pacific
Ocean, in all 78,000,000 of acres, and the pro-
posed road is to be made through its centre, so as
to place 30 miles of the 60 on each side. For 800
miles of the first or eastern end, the lands are of the very
best quality for agricultural purposes, which is to be
divided into sections of 10 miles each; and as each section
of 10 miles of road for this 800 miles is completed, I
shall be allowed to sell the one-half of the lands-5 miles
by 60-192,000 acres, and the other half to remain unsold
as a fund to be used beyond this 800 miles of good
lands, where the sectioa of 10 miles may not be as good,
and not sell to produce means for the necessary outlay
for the 10 miles of road through it. Thus the 800 miles
of good land at the first end is made to produce the
means for 1,600 miles of the road; and for the other
400 miles of road, the good land on the Pacific side as
well as the intermediate 1,100 miles of land, some of
which, are good, would no doubt produce sufficient
means.
When the road shall be completed and in successful
operation, and when I shall have paid into the Treasury
of the United States 10 cents per acre for the 78,000,000
of acres, then all the surplus lands, or money for lands
sold, after paying for the cost of the road, its machi-
nery, &c., will be my reward for the work, and the
title to the road will vest in myself and assigns, to
be kept in operation and repairs at a rate of
tolls or charges for transport to be regulated
and fixed by Congress, and to yield no more in-
come than would be necessary to meet the expenses
for operation and repairs; but should the traffic require
more than the one line, the Bill gives power to lay such
other lines, and also power to charge for transport to
meet the interest on their cost. Now, the practical
working of the plan will be this, after the Bill becomes
a law, the route will be located from Lake Michigan to
the Mississippi, and to the Missouri, where those streams
can be bridged, and so on to the pass in the moun-
tains, and to the Pacific ; a contract will be made for
grading the first part of about 200 miles, and per-
haps for the second. Another contract will be made
for the iron rails, for the locomotives, &c., &c., and
so fast as each section of 10 miles is completed, the
sale of the lands (the 5 miles by 60) will commence,
the avails of which will be subject to the capital fur-
nished for this 10 miles of road, so that the capital
would not look to the road at all for interest or for
its return, but to the lands; and the inducements to
invest would be, first, in the certainty that the sale of
the lands would, under any circumstances, far more
than meet the annual interest, and the unsold lands
would be enhanced in value daily, by the operation and
extension of the road, as well as from the effcts
of the settlements which would daily take place. Second,
the inducement to invest, after a large per centage fur
interest would be, in a portion of the profits to arise from
the sale of the lands, over and above the cost for the 10
miles of' road. And, third, because the laud is perma-
nent, always of value, and in tnis case subject to no
charge for taxes or otherwise, until actually sold,
and the plan can be subject to no fluctuations or changes
from State legislaticn or embarrassments. And, besides,
the titles would be indisputable, as in all cases the Go-
vernment would give the titles to the actual purchaser.
The object of this is to allow the lands to be open freely
to sale and settlement, under my direction and at my
option, so that each settler may own 40 to 160 acres, with
a clear title directly from the Government, besides this
would relieve the operation from an immense labour and
expense in giving titles.
Thus, though the making of the road is dependent on
the sale and settlement of the lands on its line for both
means and facilities, without which it could not be made,
and the sale and settlement of the lands consequent upon
the building of the roads, and the facilities it would
render to settlement, as well as a cheap means for the
transport of products to market. Still the actual
business operation of the two are to be distinct and se-
parate, nor is it necessary that the progress of the work
should be entirely dependent upon, and limited to,
the actual amount of lands sold, because the lands being
the fixed basis of; and adequate security for, any neces-
sary amount of means for the rapid progress of the
work, the longer they remain unsold the longer would
be the return for the investment. The powers of the
Federal Government of the United States as well as
of its legislature being restricted by a written constitu-
tion, which inhibits the granting of corporate
powers to be carried into effect in any of the states,
renders it necessary that the act which I require
should be but a simple sale of the lands to me,
and as an individual enterprise, I undertake to make and
operate the road, and as an individual I can form my
own plan and details of operation, unrestricted by legis-
lative acts, further than the terms of the simple pur-
chase and sale; and I can therefore associate with me
as many persons as I may desire or think proper; but
should it be considered desirable, then the states (Wis-
consin and Iowa), through which I shall pass with the
road, can give all necessary corporate powers.
One of my great objects in this plan is to
establish a new system of settlement for
the emigrants where they shall not be tenants but
owners of the soil which they may occupy; and the
demand for labour to make the road, the concentration of
population on its line causing a demand fur the products
of the soil, with the road to take any surplus to market,
would very soon (in one year) give the means to each
I family to pay for 40 acres of the very best land, which
they would for ever after own, and would cultivate and
improve to their own taste and for their own advantage,
where every effort and every toil would receive a full
reward. Comforts and plenty would smile upon and
around them, and how changed their condition of body,
mind, and morals.
These emigrants may be aided by societies to get di-
rectly oa to the line of the road, to select their land,
get up a cabin or house, get in a first crop, with food
until it is grown; but they must own the lands they may
occupy, and, as soon as possible, thrown free upon their
own efforts, where a just reward is sure to follow, and
they will feel their own strength, their own power.
London, June 27, 1851. ASA WHITNEY.