The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1850-05-15
RAILROAD DEPARTrIENT.
1'n''"hq1""e and an Keokuk Railroad, Grant,

.
ty for the following extract of letter rece;ved
by him froni1tlie Hon. asRe pherd Lsfaer. unon
the subject Of the grant of land by the Genera
Government, for the construction of our Rail.
I road. .fUIIIIH94 10 1EHaT
"Ihe committee on yesterday, decided in ia
vor of the Dubuque and Kcokuk road, and the
bill introduced early in the session. will be re-
ported to the House in few days, and think
there is no doubt of its passage. It will he y
magnificent grant, and will be Of great benefit
to the State!' +tl@' q "oi &" Ho'tV"ellfi ! 80
This paragraph contains much encouragement
to the friends Of the road, as it amounts almost
to guarantee that the grant ofland will be made
The favorable report of the committee will be
all that is wanted to secure the affirmative ac-
ton of the Honse. The merits of the question
have been examined, and have elected the an
probation of scrutinizng tribunal, and it is not
probable that the House will spend much time
in going behind the report. ,'o.-..
When once through the House, we feel sure
OF its passage through the Senate The feeling
in favor Of donations of this kind is becoming
very general in the minds of our National Leg
slators. .~t,5zi "tt3 ~
The Government is awaking to the necessity
Of action in its capacity of landholder, and finds
itself under some obligation to assist in develop.
ing the resources ofthe country, where 50 much
ofits own property lies comparatively useless.
We were much pleased with the of the
discussion which took place in the Senate few
days since, upon'a similar question to the one
under consideration. j.: iai@,a..
On &c A..
the right Of way, and making donations of land
to the State of Illinois, in aid of the construction
of the Central Railroad was taken up This bill
provides for grant similar to thatsasked for the
Dubuque and keokuk road, viz: alternate six
miles on each side of the road, with privilege
of going more remote from the line, where the
land upon the line had beer sold, and raising the
price of reserved sections to $3.50 per acre
This road extends from Chicago to Cairo, and by
an amendment offered by Mr.. King of Alabama,
and adopted by the Senate, extends on through
Tennessee. Mississippi and Alabama to the City
of Mobile. To show something of the feelings
in favor this and all similar grants we give the
following extracts.
MIR. CASs. Mr.. President, | should great
l
pressed. l shall vote for the bill and for the a.
mendment, if it is inserted, but have serious
objections to its insertion. think that each
measure should stand upon it's own merits The
original bill here relates to the railroad in the
State of Illinois. You attach to it now an a.
mendment carrying it through the States of Ken
lucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama
prefer very much that each separate PROPOSE
ton shonld be judged by itself But, sir. do
not feel the difficulties upon the general subject
which present themselves to some of the sena.
tors upon this side Of the house, and especially
to the honorable senator from South Carolina -
have been over this subject with; him MANY
times before. There is no assumption of iuris-
dlctlon by the general government whatsoever.
There is a fundamental difference between this
case and the case of the government of the u
nlted states undertaking work of internal i'm
proVement on It's own account, involving the ex-
ercse OF jurisdiction over such works within \
State of this Union. There is no assumption Of
Jurisdiction here, sir. That difficulty does not
arise at all. The jurisdiction is left where 1t be-
longs, with the States themselves 1t leaves
them to do precisely as they please--to nuke
the road or leave it unmade. ~ 'y~
Then, sir, what is the reason WHY we should
make such an appropriation? The reason is We
ry manifest In all the new portions of the Uni
ted States this government owns large part of
the property; they offer it for SALE 1t is survey
ed and emigration is invited. Tract after tract
is solo, roads are made towns are built I'D. and
improvements of very great value to the coun-
try go on, which increase the value of the land.
while the government sits still and does nothing.
l desire to know if this government, being the
great landholder, is to do nothing for the settle
ments, while these improvements are made by
the people, but to sit still and demand it's pound
of flesh tor the bond? There is no other govern
ment in the world that would do thus You AJAX
pioneers to 60 and convert the country from
wilderness to a high state of improvement, and
you, yourselves sit by and do nothing Why
should not you pay your reasonable proportion
as the great land owner of the country for that
which enables you to sell your land at an ncrea-
sed value, by bringing your property into mar
ket, which but for these improvements, would
have been useless' This practice has prevailed
almost from the foundation of this government.
When was young man, three tracts of land
were granted to citizens of Wheeling to enable
them to make road from that place to Lime
stone, (now Maysville,) in Kentucky, and to es,
tabllsh the necessary ferries and thus enable
the emigrants to traverse the State, and thus in
crease the value of the public lands This was
in 1895, during the Administration of Gen.
Washington. And do not see how any, man
can seriously call in question the right Of the
government to take reasonable measures for the
sale and improvement of their land, and especi-
ally to open roads through ita policy pursued
by every man possessing large tracts. Thiss
the principle on which this appropriation is JUS
There is another difficulty connected with this
matter This amendment, think shonld be a.
yolded If understand it, it goes through
State in which We have not foot of public land
A SENATOR, near by, was understood to make
correction in regard to this statement rls a.-@,
. Mr. CAsS. Then it is more restricted than
supposed, and have no kind Of objection to it,
except that wish it were not in this connection.
It will be recoected, further, that in manyof
the new States, IN the oldest portions Of them
particularly, such as Ohio and Indiana, largo
tracts for similar objects hayeEbeen granted, and
Others are now entitled to equal justice. be-
lleve there is already document published and
iaid upon our tables, establishing the amount
thatthe States have received respectively. But
will not 60 into this matter. / merely state
my views, satisfied that the principle of those
grants is Just one. st''l isa 5!25sz !9 jz,a 2f
!. Mr.. KING. AS regards the constitutional
power, so far as the public domain is concerned,
we have always made broad distinction be