The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1849-07-18

VIII Ue NUie w sAtt Wy RSSPio ~ 10
souriint tile support Of his senatorial
pretensions, by. his project of grand
hationalhighway, from the Mississippi
to the Pacifcs B ut, 80 practical q
population rs the people of Missouri are
feputed to be, can never, in my judg
mcnt, be so taken in. In the first
place, tisXmuat perceive ,that if this
scheme of Mr.. Benton be q .judicious
one, he is by no means the person to
,carrYsit through, inasmuch as he is de-
cidedly odious at present both to the
Senate and country. Itisa we'll attes-
ted fact, that he failed in every under
taking in which ne engaged last winter,
commencing with the Panama road pro-
.jcct; embracing his silly and ridiculous
demonstration against the coast survey
policy, and ending with the Protocol.
Butthe scheme in itself is purely ridi-
culous and absurd! n road mile wide
allthe way from St. Louis to the Paci-
fc! A road, tho cost of which, upon
Mr.. Benton's plan, as will be in due
season proved most amply, will be some
two hundred and fifty Of three hundred
millions of dollars! A road, the annual
expense Of which, after it shall have
been established, will be some FIVE or
six millions of dollars! And to the
building of this road "scventy-fve per
centum of tho proceeds of the public
lands in the United States," are to be
'sset apart and pledged" So that all
reduction in the price of all the public
lands in the United States is to be dis
pcnsed with, as thing altogether i'm
possible to be effected, in the face of
this solemn pledging and setting apart
ofthe proceeds of the land sales! The
graduation principle is no longer to be
heard of! And this road is to run over
high mountains, covered with eternal
snow, which is oftentimes from twenty
to forty feet deep! Besides these OBJ
jections to Mr.. Bcaton's project, his
speech in support of it shows it to be the
most enormous project of the kind ever
heard of in other respects; for, in this
road alone, but he ayows himself in fay-
or Of other such roads all over the coun-
try. In fact, he has been all his life
contending for a general system of in
tcrnal improvements, and this bill seems
to be consistent Herewith, and, in truth,
to make part of such system. / do not
at all misstate his scheme, I am not con.
fident; for, in the course of his speech.
now referred to, he most formally intro
duced,a paragraph from Gibbon, de-
scriptive of the Roman highways under
the Empire, GOOD save the markD in
which that writer, enumerating the
'four thousand cities belonging to the
Roman empire, in Europe, and Asia,
and Africa goes on to say: "All these
cities were connected with each other
/. and with the capital by the public high.
ways, which, issuing from the forum Of
Rome, travcrscd Italy, pervaded the
provinces, and were terminated only by
tho frontiers of the empire," &c; and
Mr.. Benton, referring to this Roman
imperial road system: ''Such was
the extent and sslidity of the Roman
roads; single linc of road, above four
thousand Roman and equal to three
thousand seven hundred and forty Eng
lish miles, and the four thousand cities
Of the Empire and connected with roads
Of equal solidity bcsidcs;" and present
ly, saying of all these wonderful Ro
man roads: 81 mention them for their
magnificence, their grandeur, and as
presenting an example worthy Of oul
imitation!" Surely, surely, our patrio
otic and judicious friends in Missouri
cannot desire us to enlist in this enor
nous at the present moment. A rail
road from st Louis to Santa Fe, devi
scd by practical men, and brought for
ward under proper auspices; even some
Of the strict construction Democrats il
Congress, I doubt not, for high nationa
reasons, could vote for chccrfully. A
railroad from Memphis or Vicksburg
in the direction of the Gila river, ovel
surface comparatively favorable, anc
running all the way through mild anc
healthful climate, [ know that many
members Of Congress suppose to bt
practicable and polite; and they would
in oil probability, allow to st. Louis 9
branch railroad pursuing the genera
course of the Mississippi. and becoming
connected with tho grand Southwestern
road at some eligible point thus making
the city of st. Louis double terminus
and securing her all the commercial
advantages which she desires. But
repeat, Mr.. Benton's scheme will never
pass Congress, and it is only destined
70 make its author Immortality ridicul
aSOus.
I think, then, that if his senatorial
reelection depends upon this genuine
humbug project, his chances for success
are most rlnnmu indnnd Nhothon