The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-11-27
From hs Iotea City Reporter.
Iowa State RaiIroad Conventlol

Pursuant to notice, the delegates 10 the
State Railroad Convention assembled in the
hall of the House of Representatives on
Wednesday, October Is, 1851, at | | O'Clock
a. m, and were called to order by Hiram Price,
esq, of Scott, on whose motion Ex-Governor
Robert Lucas, of johnson county, was APP
pointed president pro tenn, and L. b. Cum
ming, of Lee, secretary.
The convention, after preliminary roll-call
of delegates for counties, completed its organ
ization by choosing
For Presidest-Ex- Governor Robert Lucas, of
Johnson.
For Vice Presidents eneral Arthur Brideman
of Lee; William ii. Berritt, of Dubuque Daniel
Rider, of Jefferson; A. f. Durdock Bosquet, of
Marion.
Secretaries-W. Penn Clarke, of johnson; Thos
Tostevin, of Henry.
Mr.. BYMeToN, from the committee on resolu-
tions reported the following resolutions &C., which
were unanimously adopted to wit
RESOLVED, That this convention will reaffirm the
resolutions of the State Railroad Convention of De-
cember last, which said resolutions follow, num-
bered from TO inclusive, to wit:
/. ResoIoed, That the interior of Iowa is pccu-
liarly susceptible to improvement by railroads,
and her position and the interest of her people de-
nand such improvements; that their construction
would not only accelerate her onward progress in
enterprise and refinement, but would promote the
sale of vast guam titles of the public domain within
her borders, which are now comparatively uselcss
and that, in view of this consequent enhancement
in the value of euch lands, and of the great facili
ties which such roads would furnish to the Govern
mcnt in transporting her troops and munitions to
and from her extensive line frontier settlements,
we hold it to be just and polite that Congress
should make TO our State liberal grant of lands in
aid OF the construction of the railroads hereinafter
mentioned.
. Re,oIued, That the contemplated railroad
from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean, upon the
nl Of lab Erin thp Got Rand of alro
Michigan, Council Bluffs, and the South Pass is, i'll
our opinion, much more entitled to the immediate
and favorable consideration of Congress than the
several inter oceanic routes through distant for
eign countries, which SO unjustly monopoze the
patronage and attention of our Government; and
as citizens of productive State which is inter
sected by that parallel, and situated remote from
either ocean, between the two mghtest rivers upon
The continent, we earnestly invoke the action of
the national authorities III its behalf, and point
them TO our magnificent public domain as the lie
gitimate source whence to obtain the means OF
constructing it.
g. Resolued, That our Senators and Representa-
tivcs in the Congress of the United States be
quested by this convention earnestly and unremit
tingly to urge upon the attention Of their respcc
tive bodies at the ensuing session the just claims
and expectations of the people Of Iowa for liberal
grant of the public lands in aid of the construction
Of the projected railroads from Dubuque to keo-
kuk, and from Davenport TO Council Bluffs, upon
routes which shall be found TO be most practicable
and most conducive TO the interests OF the people
of the interior of the State.
a. Resoiusd, That the un1agging energy with
which the people of the East are pushing forward
their various lines of improvement towards the
Mississippi river, opposite Dubuque and Daven-
port, affords reliable guarantee that, within
very short period, the citizens OF Iowa will have
uninterrupted railway communication, at all sea-
sons of the year, with Baltimore and Washington,
via indianapolis and Wheeling; with Philadephia, +,
via Cleveland and Pittsburg; with New York, via
Erie and Dunkirk; with Boston, via Buffalo and
Albany, and with almost every other part OF the
Republic, upon numberesa lateral roads; and that
the various works which being rapidly ex-
tended towards by these rival cities, for the
purpose OF securing our trade, will not only afford
every desirable means of transit and traffic, but
will vastly augment, by increased facilities, the
tide of emigration from every part OF the East to
the fertile plains ofIowa.
8. Rssoired, therefore, that the people of the in
terror of Iowa have right to anticipate the speedy
prolon CATION of the above-n named railroads into
and across the State, and to expect from Congress,
as the owner of many millions OF unoccupicd acres
within our borders, that liberal degree of aid in
the premises which has been extended TO other
western States for internal improvement pur-
poses.
6. Resolued, That an experience of fourteen
years covering period of W ar as we'll as peace,
has demonstrated that the surplus of 1896,
among the then existing States, was simply equiv
alent to a gratuity TO the States receiving the
same; that those States have ever since been, and
stl are, using untold millions of this fund for edu
catonal and internal improvement purposes,
without any apparent prospect OF n reapportion-
ment thereof, whereby Iowa would be enabled to
obtain her share of the common treasure; that, in
addition, we have to complain of unjust discrimi-
nations to cur prejudice in the matter of the recent
land donations to older sister States; and that,
with these various considerations properly urged
by our representatives upon the attention of Con-
gross, we are unwilling to believe that our present
application can encounter denial or delay.
7. Resoioed further Gas more specihc dcclara-
ton of the views and wishes of the people OF this
State) That the memorial which is herewith pre-
sented be signed in manuscript by the president OF
this convention, and transmitted, with the printed
proceedings thereof, and accompanying docu-
ments, to our delegation in Congress, with a re-
ate and House of Representatives of the United
States.
MEMORIAL.
The people of the State of Iowa, by their regu-
larly appointed delegates, assembled in convention
at Iowa City, on the 10Th day of October, 1851, re-
present to the Congress of the United States that
two extensive railways have been projected and
sufficiently surveyed to establish the praccability
and economy of their construction, which arc de-
signed to traverse said State in different directions
and to cross each other at right angles; that said
railways arc extremely important TO the welfare OF
the inhabitants, and indispensable to proper de-
vclopmcnt of the immense natural resources OF the
State: and that one Of said railways vii! extend
from Dubuque, the heart of our mineral region, to
Kcokuk, at the head OF uninterrupted steam navi-
CATION Of the Mississippi river; and the other from
Davenport, at the most eligible If not the only
practicable point for bridging said river, and at
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