Hannibal journal. (Hannibal, Mo.) 1852-1853, 1852-03-18
TfuB EXTRACTS FROM THE
SPEECH
HON. R. RANToUL il JR., OF MASS


House OF Representatives, Feb. Is, 1852.
The House having taken up for consideration
the bill granting &c the State Of Missouri The
right OF way and portion Of the public domain
to aid in the construction Of certain railroad,
therein, the SPEAKER said the gentleman from
Massachusetts,, MIR. RANrouL1 was entitled &c
the floor.
Mr.. RANTOUL said: The question before
the House seems TO be very far indeed, from a
Raestine oF srsEo souti0Rss anA loesa interest
The disposition to be made Of the public domain
Is certainly great national concern, and ought
TO be argued with a view TO its bearing upon
the great national interests Of the country,
which are common TO all sections. / do not see
clearly cannot be certain, and think no 9TH
er man can be certain-that the national domain
VIII continue to belong to the United States as
common property, TO be applied as it is now
applied; for prolnbly-withOut looking very far
into the future-iti is probable that some means
Will be found TO Withdraw the public lands
from their present position, and to put an end
to the long series Of controversies somewhat
sectional in their nature-to make a final adj
justment, upon general, just, and national prin-
ciplcs, Of the whole subject. But intothe cues
tion whether such an adjustment be nos
sibls, and II it be possible, how it ought 70
be made, do not now propose 10 enter. in
tend to confine my remarks to the question
whether appropriations, such as are propose i
TO be made in this bill, ought to be made for the
opening Of great avenues Of internal trade
The old thirteen States have certainly rreo4
snter 1 ~! -! SS.e.mjrn. what shall be done with
the public lands-an interest as great. in some
views, as that of the States in which the public
lands are situated--and wish to inquire, what
use can be made of the public land, at the pre-.
sent, and until some final adjustment is agreed
upon, and Of the proceeds thereof, which shall
be equal in its advantages to the old States, as
well as to the new? The proposition now be-
fore the house is for a grant of alternate sec
tions Of land to aid in the construction of roads
liz the State of Missouri. 1t stands upon the
same principles as other similar propositions
which must soon come before us. What can
be done with the public lands that will so con-
ducc to the benefit of the whole country as TO
use them so as to bring about-especially if it
can be done without cost TO the National Trea-
sury-to bring about | say, the openings of all
the great channels. Of internal commerce? /
cannot conceive Of any other us 10 be made of
them so beneficial. A general plan of roads
has already been commenced-a plan, not the
product of any one mind, or any one set of
minds, and yet well combined, and mutually
harmonizing, from the natural tendencies Of thh
trade and intercourse, which occasoned their
construction, and so, without pre-concert, form
ing portion, so far as they are completed Of
great and well ccntriycd system. You, roads
from Boston, by the way of Buffalo, to the
the West; from New York, by the way of Dun
kirk, to the West; from Philadelphia, by the
way Of Pittsburgh TO the West; from Baltimore
by the Ohio river, to the West; From Alexan-
dria, Norfolk and Portsmouth, through Virginia
awake, at last to her commercial capacities
to the West; from Charleston and Savannah,
promising also to rise from their long depres-
sion, by their connection with the West i say
all these roads furnish the beginnings of chains
OF intercourse which must be carried forward
further than they now are, in order to derive
from them their full benefits to those Sec
tons Of the Atlantic slope through which they
pass. The Atlantic slope can have no valuable
commerce, might almost say, except what she
derives from the West; that slope being barren,
Us compared with the valley of The Mississippi;
and the old States being unproductive as com
pared with the new States. That western
commerce and western delivery of agricultural
products, which already employs far the great
er part Of the navigation, will, at no very dis
tant period, employ, comparatively, almost the
whole of your navigation. The products of the
Atlantic slope to be carriedto foreign countries,
and the products of foreign countries to be
brought here for delivery and distribution 10 the
inhabitants Of the Atlantic slope, will be as
nothing compared with those products which
are to be delivered from, and the merchandise
and manufactures to be forwarded to, the valley
Of the Mississippi.
This beng the case, then, and the commerce
. a. -, ;,,f L. loo
terchange between the valley of the Mississippi
and the rest Of the world it becomes extremely
important to all who are interested in the com
mercial prosperity of the old States, that these
channels should be opened, and should be made
cheap, speedy, and convenient. Now, so far as
this bill proposes to continue and aid in the con-
struction Of these channels of communication, il
proposes TO do 90 without loss TO the General
Government; without loss, I cay, of a single
dollar TO the general Treasury. You take $50
acFes OF land lying alongside of each 9TH
eT, and you cay 20 the State of Missouri, Take
one half Of the: take $40 acres, and apply the
proceeds thereof to the construction Of railroads
and pay the same price for the remaining 6A0
acres, which you Formerly paid for the ,2SO
acres. You say il 10 the settlers in those States
who are 10 pay the additional prices, for che
sections, taken together, pay as much as they
did hafoEe, and the sale is much more likely to
take place within a limited period OF time
much more likely to take place in year, or a
few years-than it would be at the Old prices
and il tho access to those lands had not been ia.
cilitated. What makes lands within five mile:
Of great city more valuable than those one
hundred or five hundred miles distant? 1t i,
simply because the produce of that land has
RAarsass, GRti bS6S0sS che sim5 Sssd expSnss d
getting to that market is comparatively small
him;n;xh tha time and axnense iof reaching ;