Jeffersonian Republican. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1840-1853, 1847-10-07
The Great Enterprise.
THE RAIL ) TO OREGON.

The Hon. Ia. Prat! mas, through tie Ndh""-
al lnteIligencer, issued an Address 10 The peo-
pIe Of The United States, in relation 10 The STU
pendous enterprise OF a passage across our con-
Iinen, 20 the Pacific He notices the TWO plans
that have been agialed. one by canal or rail-
road some where in Panama to 'rehuan,epec, in
Mexico between latitude N. z and l6 degrees;
and The other by railroad from Lake Michigan
through The Rocky Mountains 10 Oregon, on the
paralIel OF about 40 ID deg, all in our own
Territory. He regards the canal as impracii-
cable. because if it can be done al all, II must
he by the combined efforts and influence OF all
the different commercial nations that are inter-
e.red. combination that ii would be imposs-
bIe TO obtain. He states various o,her objec-
lions. and then proceeds 10 notice the Whitney
scheme of railroad from Lake Michigan thro'
the Suuh pass of The Rocky Mountains 10 Or
econ. He condenses its chief features thus:
fe asks Congress TO appropriate sixty miles
wide of the public lands, from Lake Michigan
to The Pacific for this especial purpose, and as
he builds lhe road he takes The land 10 reimburse
himself For eight hundred miles, the one hall
at the Government price II Is estimated VIII
build The road; The other half creates fund Tor
where The lands are poor. When completed
the road 10 be free TO all The world except for
repairs and operations, 10 be fixed by Congress.
The distance from the lake 10 the ocean is twen-
rv.(uur hundred miles; The estimated cost, when
ready for use, $4,000, 600 The number oil
acres required is 90. go, 600 waste land, 1000
miles without timber or navigable streams, and
of small value, and would il ever se,le or be oil
any valIe wiihou, the road Clearly noi.-
Then The question is, shall Mr.. Whitney take
these lands, aud, by the sale and settlement
thereof, build this road, or shall they be allowed
10 fruer away without any perceprble good!
This great highway Of nations, the greatest
work ever done by men or nations; road which
must forever be The ihoroughfare between all
Europe and Asia; work which will bring US
together as one family, binding us with a bond
OF iron which cannot be sundered-both useful
in war and peace; work which will give US
the command of and make the commerce oil all
the world tributary 10 US, adding millions oil
wealth la the nation, and ten folding It's popu-
latiun; work which shall change The condl-
,ion of all mankind, bringing all togetherIas one
nation in free intercourse aud exchange of com.
modries; work which must be The means ol
civiliziug and chrisIanzng the heaIhen, the
barbarian. and the savage-shall these waste
wilderness lands be applied 10 this noble, this
uIOle iHdH SlOiIUus p"lPoSC So"''N' No~~
all will say yes.
Mr.. Pralt urges The matter still further as TO-
follows:
when we look al The past, and see how
civilization has travelled west, bringing com.
merce and The useful arts with it; when we see
'hat civil and religious liberty was driven to
this continent as It's apparent last resting place
when the progress and even strides o
these United States in wealth and greatness
when we see this vast, this rich continent YET
a wilderness before US, the best climate and
country, and under the best gorernment the
sun ever shone upon; more congenial to grow
the whole man than any part of the globe
placed directly in the centre OF The earIh-Eu-
rome. with more than two hundred and fifty mil
hons of souls ca the one side. with the Allan
tic. three thousand miles between Us, and on
the other side all Asia. with seven hundred
millions OF souls, and the Pacific, a 'I,ile more
ihaa FIVE thousand miles. between US; and
when we know tha, the earth does not produce
enough to sustain the vast muiiiudes on either
side, aad nowhere for them TO GO bu, 10 US; and
when we know that the building Of this great
ro1d will open TO settlement, production, and
intercourse with all part, of the globe, this vast
wilderness OF twenty-five hundred miles in ex.
tent. can We doubt that il i. our destiny and
paramount doiy TO 60 forward aud accomplish
~ Cleally not.