The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1852-03-08

the ice obstructs the navigation In that river, In
consideration of which you are to appropriate
500 and odd thou sand acres OF land to build this
railroad You will start from the bank of the
Mississippi at Dubuque, and when you get
through your railroad you will be upon the Mis-
siss ppi again, 1876 miles from where you started
Now, the first question which comes up is, does
the condition Of the land along this proposed
railroad require this improvement to render it
valuable! Not 80. Every gentleman upon thi1
floor knows that this is merely demand to get
an approx ration for particular State out Of
the public lands Of the country, when the cir
cumstances do not justify it. | am told that
this road from Dubuque to Keokuk goes through
one of the finest bodies of land in the whole
valley of the Mississippi.
But let US 90 u little further. went to the
map for the purpose OF getting information, and
learned even the population Of the various
counties through which this road passes. This
road is already Incorporated, and is in the hands
Of individuals The county Of Dubuque, in
which Dubuque is situated has upwards Of TO-
900 Inhabitants Three-fourths of the public
lands down from Dubuque to Keokuk, for five
miles on each side of the road, have already
been taken up, and the portion of the country
in the neghborhood Of the road is the most
thickIy populated, and has the most prosperous
people in the great valley of the West Now,
where is the balance of the public lands now
asked for in this bill to come from Upon what
principle is this grant asked 1t is said that il
will increase the value of the lands remaining
to the United States Now, there is not foot
of land for five miles on each side of that road
which can be obtained for even ~ SO per acre,
except it be some poor land which nobody would
take but for the timber upon it. Now, where
is the balance Of the lands in this grant to be
obtained? The bill says that in the event the
lands are taken up, or subject to presumption
for five miles on each side of the road, then the
State of Iowa, through her agent, shall have the
right to extend the lines within which she shall
take her land to fifteen miles on each side of the
road But in that case the alternate sections
that are reserved to the government between
FIVE and fifteen miles from the road are not to
be put up to 81 SO an acre, but are to remain at
81 25 per acre, as they are now. Hence this
land is to be taken from portion of the coun-
try where the price Of the adjoining sections is
not to be increased at all. That is the provision
of the bill. Yet the country is taught to believe
that we are improving the public property by
the passage of these bills and throwing money
into the treasury-that our liberality is for self
ish purposes. and the government does not lose
dollar. Now, this is not sustained by the facts
before us. 1t is unjust to the country, and it is
time we should arrest this matter, and let some
thing like principle and justice be involved in
the passage of these large appropriations. But
will pass from this point to another.
Now, how is this road to run? Mark it we'll
! have the map Of Iowa before me, and the road
has been traced upon it. Iowa is great and
tot o1p
and success with which her senator's defend her
rights here. She is great and glorious State ;
and unless you check her soon, she will have all
the land that is within her limits, and in a few
years she will say, See our improvements, our
the capital we have invested here
And every dollar of it will have come out of the
treasury Of the United States. These are truths
which gentlemen should nderstand-whch
many do know now, for they cannot be denied
Now, how does this road run 1t goes from
city to city, then takes a bend more winding,
more circuitous than the Mississippi, the great
artery of our western waters. 1t leaves the
at Dubuque, and goes from city to
city, passing down through Iowa City. be-
|ieve they have given it q more national name
Mr. JONES, of Iowa. No, sir; it is called
Iowa City yet.
Mr.. DAWSON. It passes through Iowa
City, aud then runs almost parallel with the
great Des Moines river will show you pres
emily what Congress did in 1916 for this great
Des Moines river. So the road runs
Now, what injury is thus inflicted upon others?
Have we looked to that? Have we, in our wild
and fancful manner of dsposing of these pub
lie lands, looked to the injury inflicted upon cor
porations and private individuals? Where are
The senators from Illinois They know some
thing about this, and would feel for it but that
they have had their arms up to the elbows in
The public treasury. They dare not come out
and advocate the interests of their own citizens,
because they know that they stand upon soft
ground, remembering the old prcverb, "Those
who live in glass houses should not throw
stones" Who owns the road from Chicago, in
Illinois, to Cairo, upon the Mississippi river
Then there is road from Rock island to La
sale, and the road from Burlington to Peoria
Who owns all of those roads which connect with
The Mississippi at points between Dubuque and
Keoknk?
Mr.. SHIELDS. As my colleague Mr.. DouG-
LAS is not here, | would beg leave to ask the
Senator to explain the remark he made, that we
had run our arms into the treasury up to the
elbows.
Mr.. DAWSON. meant to say, cup to the
shoulders" Laughter.
Mr.. SHIELDS. wish the gentleman would
confne himself TO land, and not speak about
money; for it might raise suspicion that my
colleague bad had something to do with the
treasury of the United States
Mr.. DAWSON. am not at all surprised
that the Senator from Illinois Mr. DouG LAS
should have been nominated to the Presidency
when he had obtained all this for his people
AS regards the terms, land and money, the Sena-
tor knows that equivalents are the same thing.
II land is equivalent to money, what. is the
difference between saying money or land?
But this is true, that these railroads are now
being constructed, and some fthem in operation
in part and all by private enterprise And yet
we are seeking by our legislation here to suffer
Iowa, through our instrumehtality, to come in
conflict with the interests of these various com.
panies in Illinois. And these private individuals
cannot be heard even through their represent
atives; because the State of Illinois, as will
show you presently, has made one of the most
mastery operations that has been performed by
any State in this Union, and a, no expense to
her at ALL But this is not all. have disposed