New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1852-07-29
PRgsERyE THE UNION.

As for the preservation of the Union by
tsk we have had q surfeit thereof, but
where action of positive, Der eiicial, crea-
tive kind is needed to preserve It. not Con-
gre ssional Bombastes will stir step. And
vet there is danger, and instant, palpable'
increasing danger OF its dissolution.
Califolnia and Oregon are on the other
side of North America. They are great
countries. rich to excess in all the natural
elements Of power. They have seaports
whic b in time will swell into the marts Of
a mighty commerce, while their fertile
plains and teeming gold mine~ will sustain
an immense population of hardy Ameri-
cans. They are yet part of the Union
but journey Of thirty or forty days,
through foreign lands and seas not our
own, is requisite to reach their shores.
They are twice as far from US as we are
from Great Britain, and the trip is much
more difficult. Now, in the DAYS of their
comparative weakness and dependence,
they are held to the Union by the senti-
ment of loyalty and patriotism. That
sentiment is deep one and will last long,
but it will not last forever. 1t cannot
stand against the pressure of interest it
cannot stand against the Suggestions of am
bition. Why should not those States
become an Independent Republic of the
Pacific! Why should they remain only
part of a distant, though kindred nation,
instead Of rising into importance in the
worlds affairs as a Nation by them>elyesl
Be sure that this is The natural course
of things. AS California and Oregon be-
come popular and powerful, as their terri
tory is covered with industrious, thriving
towns and cities, and the white sails of
their shipping are seen by every island and
on every coast of the broad Pacific, they
will infaIlibly cast off the cumbrous ma
chinery which subject, them to govern
ment thirty days distant, and mpels
them to look to Washington for their laws.
They will dissolve the Union and become
Independent.
This is no remote or fanciful catastrophe
threatened in great swelling words of fool
ish buster by men who would be the great
est sufferers and the first tC repent bitterly
should their gasconade be realized. So
much the more likely is it to take place.
1t will come of itself, as the consequence
of natural causes, and without being plot
ted or prayed for by either fool or sage.
There is one means of avoiding this re-
suit, one means of preserving the Union.
That consists in bringing its remote parts
together, in binding them INFO one by in
cissoluble bonds, in reducing the distance
between them from thirty days to four, in
rendering transportation not only speedier
but safer, and making the expense of
travelling from ocean to ocean merely nom
iDal.
That means is the Pacific Railroad.
Congress has time and money without
limit to spend in preserving the Union
where political intrigues, and Jobs, and fat
places for friends and dependents can be
combined with the lOquacious process. But
this great public work, so grand and gIe-
rious in its conception, so magnificent q
triumph of national power and genius in
its execution, so indispensable to the integ-
rity of the Republic, so grateful to Ameri-
can ambition in its results upon the world,
is forgotten by Representatives and Sera-
tors, or remembered only to point Jest or
spice gaseous squirt Of rhetoric.
But the people will reject the aIternativ
which Congress thus leaves them as soon
as they clearly see it. They will not agree
to the dissolution of the Union. They have
no willingness TO see this great republican
empire severed into an East and West, a
Pacific and an Atlantic federation. Rather
than that they will build the Pacific Rail
road ten times if need be. Bat they are
slow to believe there is such a danger
because no politicians find their account in
making hubbub about it. No great states
man has made speech to rouse them to the
teTrors Of 20 great calamity, and they do
not mistrust It's approach. But there is no
time to lose. The work cannot be done in
o day, ard let as not wait till il is too late
before it is commenced.
LIKE TAKES TO LIKE,
La the following ndnrnns and 6nnrative