Republican vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1857, 1849-03-05

Road DO siae Pacific.

The bill introduced into the Senate Of the U.
States by Col. Benton; to provide Tor the con-
struction Of a railroad to the Pacific, contem-
plates magnificent enterprise. 1t is proposed
to commence at the Bay Of San Francisco and to
terminate at St. Louis. The following is the
concluding portion of his speech:
"rhe road propose is necessary to Us, and
nsw. We want it now. The state OF cur pos
e,esio S on the Pacific demands it. The time to
bagiu has arrived. All the necessary lniorma-
ton is on hand. The means are ready. The
title 10 Oregon is settled, and government es-
tabisled there, and population is growing up.
California is acquired people are there, and a
government must follow. We have fleet on
that coast--troops there, and going. Streams OF
population are concentrating there. Since the
discovery of the New World by Columbus there
has not been such an unsettling OF the iounda-
tons of society. Not merely individuals and
companies but communities and nations are in
commotion, all bound for the setting sur-to the
gilded horizon OF western America. For want
of an American road, they seek foreign routes
far round b. sea and land to reach by immense
circuit hat is part of their own lanl Until
We can get road OF our own, we must use and
support foreign route but that is a temporary
resource, demanded by the esigency Of the times;
and until we can get our own ready. Never did
80 great an object present itself to the acceptance
Of nation. We own the country from sea to
sea--from the Atlantic to the Pacific--and upon
q breadth equal to the length OF the Mississippi
and embracing the whole temperate zone.-
Three thousand miles across and halt that bredth
is the magnificent parrallelogram of our domain.
We can run a national central road through aed
through ths whole distance, under our own flag
and our own laws. Military reasons require
to make it for troops and mum, ions must go
there. Political reasons require Us to make 1t !;
it will be chain of union between the Atlai..ic
and Mississippi States. Commercial reasons de-
nand it from lis and here touch boundless
field, dazzling and bewilderieg the imagination
from its vastness and its importance. The trade
of the Pacific Ocean, of the western coast of
North America, and Of Eastern Asia, will all
take its track aud not only for ourselves but
for posterity. That trade of India which has
been shifting its channels from the time of the
PhDnicians to the present, is destined to shift
once more, and to realize the grand idea of Co
lumbus The American road to India will also
become the European track to that region.
"The European merchant as we'll as the A
merican will fly across our continent Oh straight
line to China. The rich commerce Of Asia will
flow through our country. And where has that
commerce ever flowed without carrying wealth
and dominion with it Look at its ancient chan
nes, and the cities which it raised into king
doms, and the populations which upon its treas
ures became Respondent in science, learning,
and the arts. Tyre, Sidon, Balbec, Palmyra A.
laxandria among its ancient eInporiuns, attest
the power or this commerce to enrich, to aggran
die, and to enlighten nations Constantinorle,
in the middle ages, and in the time of the cru
sades, was the wonder Of western Europe and
all because she was then thoroughfare of Asiat-
ic commerce. Genoa and Venice, mere cities,
in later time. became the match of kingdoms.
and the envy OF the kings, from the mere divided
streams of this trade OF which they became the
1horouohare Lisbon had her great day: and
Portugal her pre-eminence during the little while
that the discovery OF the Cape of Good Hope put
her in communication with the East. Anster-
dam the city OF little territority rescued from
the sea, and the Seven United Provinces, rot e.
quail in extent to one ofour lesser States became
great in arms, lii letters, III wealth. and in power,
and all upon the East India trade. And London.
what makes her the commercial lnistress-ot the
worll-what makes an island no larger than one
of our first class States, the mistress of posses
slons in the four quarters OF the globe-a match
for half Of Europe-and dominant in Asia
What makes all this or contributes most to
make it, but the same Asiatic trade? In no in
stance has it failed to carry the nation Or the
people which possessed it, to the highest pima
Gle of wealth and power, and with it the highest
attainments OF letters, arts, and the sciences.
And so it will continue TO be- An American
road to India, through the heart of our country,
will revive on its line all the wonders of which
we have read-and eclipse them. The wilder
mes 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 state of the world calls for a new
road to India, and it is our destiny to give it
the last and the greatest. Let us act up to the
greatness of the occasion, and show ourselves
worthy of the extraordinary circumstances in
which we are placed, by securing while we can
an American road to India-centIal and nation
al-for ourselves and cur posterity-now; and
hereafter, for thousands of years to Gomez