The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1853-03-16
Railway to the Pacific.


the Atlantic states from the territories
on the Pacific, unless abridged by facil-
itics of communication, may, one day, be
regarded as sufficient reason for sew
erance of common government, may
well be apprchended The Rocky Noun
tains may come to be looked upon as a
natural boundary of empire. The vast
deserts that sweep south and easterly
from their base, may serve as an apollo
gy for separation, and new republic,
with its President and Congress, com
prising a union of Independent states
like the present. may we'll become fix
cd fact, unless means are taken to pre-
vent so undesirable result.
"Thc Republic of the Pacific " is a
taking phrase. 1t appeals to the pride
and the ambition of the enterprising
thousands and hundreds of thousands
that have clambered over the Rocky
Mountains, crossed the Isthmus, or trav-
crsed the still longer way around the
Cape. to better their fortunes in the land
of gold They are men of ambition and
energy They departed from the East
in search not of gold or treasure alone,
but of fortune, to better in all things
their condition. They are proud, fear
less, independent men, who are ready to
meet danger and encounter hardships !;
Just such mon as are fitted to battle
with savage nature, and shape it iuto fit
ness for the arts. tastes and necessities
of civilization. They will come to love
the homes they have made for them
selves, better than those they left. They
will grow strong in their selfrcliance,
as they survey the country they have
created, the cities they have founded
and the vast sweep of agricultural acres
they have subjected to the plough
Leave them isolated, and they will count
ernment, separated from them by noun
tains. on whose SUBMITS glisten the ever.
lasting SHOWS, and deserts Of sterile
sands. They will grow to regard them
selves. as best by themselves, garncring
the Pacific trade, and gathering the
commerce of Asia into their own store
houses They will choose rather to be
rival and competing republic, look
ing from the mountain SLOPES away to
the westward. gathering beneath their
dominion the islands of the sea that
form. as it were. convenient stepping
stones for progress towards tho CONT,
ncnt of Asia.
To prevent such consummation some
thing must be done, and that speedily.
California is fillinr nm with n rapidity
unknown to history. The tide of emf
grafton continues in vast unbrokcn
flood. Emigration. too. of a kind that
is ardent. restless energetic. ambitious
of fortune. and panting for distinction.
California. Orepon. all the Pacific val.
lev. New Mexico and Utah. must be
bound to the Atlantic States by some
thing stronger that the rocollections of
home. the memories that cluster around
the country of our birth Distance must
be- as it we're annibilated ard the time
and cost of communication wiped awav
This can only be done. bv linking the
Atlantic and Pacific States torether aby
cords of stealn bv an iron woT that shall
bring them into close proximity by
the telegraph. along whose wires the
lightning NAV fash their morning greet
ing and their evening salutation To
connect those states bv n railroad shonld
be the crowninr achievement of this gen,
Grafton. 1t is an enterprise worthy of
the spirit of the age. and will be a
triumph that belonps to the great ccni.
MS of progress that governs the times in
which we live The necessities Of com.
merce require it The political and so.
cial relations of the world reouirc il