Wisconsin herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1846-1849, 1848-02-05
From he Chicago Daily Tri5une.
Galena & Chicago Railroad-Errors
Corrected.

bearing date at the village OF FotoSl, w Is
cousin, and signed 10y some twenty individ-
uals, residents of the western part of the
Territory. Its purport seems to be TO urge
the inhabitants of eastern Wisconsin TO some
speedy and energetic action towards com
mencing Railroad from Milwaukee to the
Mississippi.
To the subject contemplated by this Cir
cular we desire to offer no objections; in
deed, we Should be glad to have such line
of communication opened, even if it shall
| be "alI upon the soil of Wisconsin," We
trust that the day is not far distant, when
the iron horse will sweep through her beau
tful f,raif9es, and along her pleasant rivers.
j But there are several erroneous positions
adopted by the writer of the Circular, which
may do injury TO other interests, among
those who are not well informed upon the
subjects alluded to--and these we consider
it proper to notice.
| The Circular asserts very confidently, that
( the most favorable terminus for Railroad
to the Mississippi, is at some point a6oce
( Galena. 1t appears to US, however, that
4 inasmuch as Galena is above 6 the Rapids"
and is excelled in importance by no place on
the Upper Mississippi, is destined, indeed,
to be in all time to come, the second city Of
/ Illinois-it possesses peculiar claims as
terminating point, which cannot be over
looked. Its geographical position in rela-
ton TO the country benefited by road to
the Mississippi, is sufficiently central. and
il is already the market for the produce Of
large proportion of the territory around
it. 0
Another assertion of the Circular shows
that its authors are not well advised of the
facts in relation TO the Galena and Chicago
Union Railroad, nor familiar wth,the plain
est principles applicable to the construction
of any and all Railroads. 1t tells us, very
gravely, that Galena cannot be reached in a
direct route from Rock river, unless the wa
tiers of Apple, Plumb, and fevre rivers are
headed, (nstead Of crossed and that to
accomplish this, the road must run con-
siderable distance into the Territory. We
have never before heard it animated from
any quarter, that it was deemed necessary
to encroach upon the soil of Wisconsin, and
the survey which has been made of the
whole route from Chicago to Galena, with
in the State of Illinois, proves the route TO
he favorable one, and of the easiest grades.
Il has never been our fortune to visit the
rivers referred to by the Circular, and our
conception of their size may be exceedingly
incorrect, but we may surely reason with
some degree of confidence, that il the Hud-
son and Connecticut can be SPAWNED by the
band of the architect, and the iron track
way laid over their broad bosoms, it ought
not to be considered an impossible achieve
ment to bridge over the waters of the APP
ple, Plumb, and Fevre, in the direct route
from Rock river to Galena.
/ But the most decidedly injurious, and
most clearly erroneous statement, contained
in this Circular, is the assertion, that Ga
lena has never yet been selected as the ter
minus of the Galena s. Chicago Union Rail-
road-that this matter stands wholly option
al with the Chicago Directors-and that the
natural terminus of this road is Savannah
inferring that the road will be very likely to
terminate at that place Had the writer's Of
this Circular ever taken the trouble TO read
the Charter of that Company, they would
have discovered that it grants to the com
pany, " the right to construct, and during
its (the Company'sl continuance, to main
tain and continue Railroad with a single,
or double track and with such appendages
as may be deemed necessary for the con
venient use of the same, from the town of
Galena, in the county of 10 Davies, to such
point, at the town of Chicago, as shall he
determined, after survey shall have been
made of the route, to be the most eligible,
proper, direct, and convenient therefor" p
And if he had access to the books of the
Directors, be would have seen that an or
der, expressed in strong tyms, had been
passed, to "open books of subscription to
the amount of 100000, 10 be expended
in the construction of Railroad from Chi
cago TO GaleDa."
In this connection, we may also remark,
that report is abroad To a greater or less
extent, claiming to have the sanction Of high
authority for its truth, TO this efiect--'' That
Mr.. OGDEN, President Of this Company, and
Mr.. ScAMMog, one of its Directors, il not
others Of the board, have no idea of extend
ing the road in the direction of Galena, be-
yond the Fox, or Rick river, but from one
of those points, I'D that the road shall 90
west and south" From inquiry, we have
no doubt that this statement had its origin
in good faith, and was honestly made; never
theless, il is utterly erroneous. When the
renewal of the question of a road from
Chicago to Galena, under the present char
ter, was first agitated, many persons in
Chicago, and lis vicinity, and some Inhuen-
tial friends of the road IN New York, were
favorably inclined towards southern route.
But the more mature investigation Of the
subject, presented considerations favoring
the northern route, in so strong a light that
all have been made converts to it, and for
the last two years, but one feeling and de-
termination have existed in this city, or else
where, 50 far a. we know, upon that sub
Ject. Every stockholier Of The road. and
this community generally, is now decidedly
and firmly the advocate of Galena rs the
western terminus Of the road
To return TO the CircuIar-we regret that
IT. authors did not confine themselves 10 the
merits Of their own project, avoiding all re-
ma.ks rejecting upon, aud calculated to
create prejudice and Jealousy in relation to
III ha.r rInll.rfa Linlr. f ~. L.. irtn-r-t H..