The Columbia Democrat. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1837-1850, 1849-02-24

which was delivered w lht Nthale on Ntuh'b-
day;
The road propose is necessary to us,
and now. Wcwant linow, The state OF
our possessions on the Pacific demands II.
The time to begin has arrived, All the
necessary information is on hand. Inc
means are ready. The ulc to Oregon IS
settled, and government established there
and population is growing up. California
is acquired, people are there, and gov
crnnenl must follow. We have fleet on
that coasr-troops there, and going
Streams of population are concentrating
there. Since the discovery ol the New
Word by Columbus there has not been
such an unsculng of the foundations OF So
cirty. Not merely individuals and com
panIes, but communities and nations are ID
comlnotion, all bound to the setting SUN
to the gllded horizon Of western America
For want of an American road, they seek
foreign routes, far round, BY sea aud land,
to reach bv an immense circuit, what IS
part Of their own land. Until we can get
a road Of our own, we must use ana sup
port foreign route; but that IS only tenn
porary resource, demanded by the eXigency
of the times, and until we can get our own
ready. Never did 50 great an object pre-
sent itself 10 the acceptance Of y nallOn.-
We own the country from sea to sea--
from the Atlantic to the Pacific and upon
breadth equal to the length o.! the Mlssls-
sippi- and embracing the whole temperate
zone. Three thousand miles across, and
half that breadth is the magnificent paral~
telegram Of our domain. We can run a
national central road, through and through,
the whole distance, under our flag and un~
der our laws. Military reasons require us
to make it; for troops and munitions must
90 there. Political reasons require us to
make it, it will be chain Of union be-
tween the Atlantic and Mississippi States.
Commercial reasons demand it from us :
and here touch boundless field, dazzImg
and bewildering the imagination from It's
vasmess and importance. The trade OF
the Pacific Ocean, OfthC western coast OF
North America, and of eastern Asia, will
take its track and not only for ourselves.
but for poseriy. That trade of India which
has been shifting its channels from the time
of the Phrnicians to the present. IS dcstln-
ed to shift once more aud TO realize the
grand idea of Columbus. The American
road to India will also become the Euro
pean track to that region.
The European merchant, as well as the
American, will fly across our continent on
straight line to China. The rich CONS
mcrce of Asia will flow through our centre.
And v here has that commerce ever flow
ed without carrying wealth and dominion
with it! Look ut its ancient channels, and
the cities which it raised into kingdoms, and
the populations which upon its treasures
became rcsplendcnt in science, learning,
and the aris. Tyre, SidOn, Belbcc, Pal
myra, Alexandria, among It's ancient en-
pOriums, attest the power OF this commerce
to enrich, to aggrandizc, and to cnhghtcn
nations. Constanlnople, in the middle
ages, and in the time of the crusadcs, was
the wonder of western Europe; and all
because she was then a thoroughIarr Of
Asiatic commerce. Genoa and Venice,
mere cities, in later Time, became the march
Of kingdoms, and the envy of the kings,
from the mere divided streams Of this trade
of which they became the thoroughIarc.
Lisbon had her great day, and Portugal
her prcemnrnrc during the little while
that the discovery Of the Cape of Good
Hope put her in communication with the
East. Amsterdam, the city Ola little ter
ritOry rescued from the sea, and the Seven
United Provinces, not cqal III extent TO one
OF our lesser State, became great i'll arms, in
letters in wealth and in power; and all
upon the East India trade. And London,
what makes her the commercial mistress of
the world-what makes an island and no
larger than one of our first class States
the mistress Of possessions in the four
quarters of the giobe-a match for half Of
Europe and dominant in Asia! What
makes all this, or contributes most to it, but
IIllS SANE ASIdllC IdUC IN no lHSldUte
has it failed 10 carry the nation or the people
which possessed it, to the highest pinnacle
of wealth and power, and with it the high
est attainments Ofletlcrs, arts, and sciences.
And so will it continue to be. An Amer
lean road to India, through the heart Of our
country, will revive upon its line all the
wonders of which we have read--and
eclipse them. The western wilderness, from
the Pacific to the Mississippi, will start into
life, under its touch. A long line Of cities
will grow up. Existing cities will take
new start. The ,talc of the world calls for
a new road to India, and it is our destiny
to give 1.-THE last and greatest. Let us
actup to the greatness of the occasion, and
show ourselves worthy ofthe extraordinary
circumstances in which we are placed by
securing while we can an American road
to India--Central and nationaI--for our
selves and posterty-nOw, and hCreiier,