The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1853-03-09
NUMBER 25.

uon, Us rei9lousiy Delieve, involving
he brightest hopes of cur nation and people, if
,,o the perpAtuity Of the Union itself For "
- that will contemplate the present long and c
ne ut"us route, through foreign governments a
c'untres-the Rocky and Sierra Nevada mo,
A. tain barriers the scarcely less formidable des
!, praIries some of which even denomnal
- Joarnafa dei muerto," the journey Of death
$, can doubt that such a ligainent is necessary
lr bind it in cnntentinent and peace the mivl
). States which are 10 grow up uprn our Paci
borders, aud having those local ard sectional
- 'achments and prejudces VIII ch ever surrou
the spot called shome.'' Sir, without this ,
pld overland railroad connection, we must,
IS the laspe Of tune, see the god Terminus driy
II back from his present ocean boundary and sea
: ed upon this Stony m ,untains beyond which
! was once thought he ought not to have bee
removed, though was meyer Of the number
i those who thought
am rs much ayerse any Senator in tn
BODY, to increase the power OF patronage Of t!
Federal Executive. but the objections made
this bill upon the grounds that it does either al
not, in my poor Judgment, well founded II
Is to use officers o: the regular corps ofengne
just as they are now, evory day & year employ
ed; and when he gets, through with them, til
Information necessary to enable him 10 do 81
he decides where the contemplated road sha
him the appointment Of single new Officer
Congress often passes laws for the admission q
new States, and provides that when certai
things are done by territorial officers-as thi
does for certain things to be done by engineers
and certified to the President, that thereupon h
shall issue his proclamation, and the State b.
admitted with ut further proceeding on the par
of Congress. In high party times. remember
when such power was conferred upon the Pre-
sident, with the view of facliating the admission
of State, the then opposition grave!y assertet
that it was giving to the Executive the power o
admitting new State that it was bold in
| crease of Executive power and patronage, &c
Time has shown how qnfounded these appre.
tensions were, and if this bill should pass, / tee
that hazard but little in saying that the same
great arbiter will in like manner falsify the
lugubrious prediction OF its opponents.
Mr.. President, sfter the able expositons given
by the Senators from MASSACHUSETTS,, (Mr. DAv
Is,) Tennessee, {Mr. BkLL,) and Texas (Mr
RUsK,) Of all the provisions of the bill, and the
mastery defense, both of its consttutionality
and eypedicncy, by the Senator from illinois,
Mr.. DouGLAs,l there remains little for one so
humble as myself to add, in the way of its sup
port. But having been member OF the select
Committee whose chairman reported this bill.
and feeling as | do the deepes, interest in the
CONSTRUCTION of this great national highway, the
Senate will, am sure, pardon me for further
trespassing upon its time. No other Govern.
ment than one which, like ours, waits for the
people to do or prompt everything, would hesi
tate or delay for single day, a work so abso
Iutely necessary to ''bind in everlasting peace
State after State, mighty throng," as this is to
bind together our Coniedrracy.
Look at what the ever vigiant Government
of Great Britain is doing even upon this CONT
nent, and in the poxmity to us, in that great
commercial race which the two countries are
running for the Eastern Asia | see it stated in
the London Daily News, of January 18th, of the
present year, that the project of connecting the
Atlantic and Pacific, by ship canal across the
lsthmus of Darien, is seriously entertained, and
in the requisite arrangements A full prelimi
nary concession Las brcn obtained from the
pgb!ie of New Granada. A preliminary survey
ofihe route has been maae by civil engineers,
whose report is highly favorable. The docu-
men,s and plans, with an interesting pamphlet
on the subject has been, it is said, in the News,
privately circulated amongst the most influer
tial merchants Of Great Britain
The proposed route is between Port Ecosses
and San Miguel, and is only thirty nine miles
long. Three modes Of inttrcommunicaiion are
presented the most expensive and most effici
ent one, is by canal Of thirty feet depth a, low
water, one hundred and forty feet broad at bot
tom, and one hundred and sixty feet at low wa
ter surface; no lockage would be required
The material to be cut through being described
as chiefly rock-a strati!:ed shale, with thin
beds, which are said TO form an excellent side
liniE! to the canal, and render the cost of its
maintenance merely nominal. The estimated
cost is fl2, 1900, 900, (nearly $h0G,000) By this
canal, the transit OF the largest vesse Is from sea
to sea, could be eftac'ed in fpc hours.
y r ~ n
unless make some movement to checkmate
it, would i've her the control Of the commerce
Of the world, at least Of that portion Of it which
has for centuries been The object of merchants
and monarchs comforting prosperity and power
upon its recipients
For more thln FIFTY years the United States
have been engaged in commercial contest
with England, and rapidly gaining on that va
ricious and ambitions Power The second war
Of Independence was fought "for free trade and
sailors rights The appeal to arms taught our
ancient foe and present rival that we were neth-
er to be jockeyed nor lrampled on. Since the
War OF 1912, we have been gaining on her with
constantly increasing speed, and at last tn, race
has become so close that England is hardly
neck ahead or u.s. Construct this road, mount
Brother Jonathan on the iron horse, and he will
thus be enabled TO turn the corner, and not only
to beat John Bull but to distance him. Instead,
then, of meeting us in India, China, and even
on our own Pacific coast, as he now does, with
the advantage of some ten days sail, or more,
will be turned, and we shall have the advantage
over The English of twenty FIVE or thirty days,
which, in commercial and business transactions,
is conclusive and overwhelming.
call the special attention of the Senate to a
letter whca have received from Lieutenant
Maury
NATIONAL OBSERVATORY,
WAsHIsGToN, Feb. 10, 1853.
DEAR S SiR:-t have this morning before me
your note OF yesterday, asking for an approx
mate estimate in answer TO the question, "WIth
the railroad finished Ia San Francisco, how many
days will we beat the English in reaching the
marts OF trade in Eastern Asia'" We shall
be able 10 beat the English by about two thirds
the time that it takes to come from England
here, with The addition of e gain by cumming
nearly three thousand miles railroad instead
Of perfnrming the same distance in steamer at
sea, The distance from England, via: Straits
of Gibraltar, lshmus of Suez, and Red Sea, to
Shanghai, in China, the center Of the tea dis
trict, is very nearly equal to the distance from
England, via: Halifay, California railroad, aud
steamer thence to Shanghai. The distance by
the former route is some six or eight hundred
miles less than by the latter. On the former
route there ia no railroad transportat,ons to peak
of, the only land travel being across the Isthmus
of SueZ. OF course you will observe that pui
the route by European railways 10 the Mediler-
ranean question:; as commercial route, that
would require too much loading and unloading
Snpposing, then, that each route be in operation
with steamers connecting, equal in speed to the
Collins steamers, the difference in our favor BY
California railroad would be from fifteen to
twenty days; perhaps more, because our steam
ers would only have to stop once TO coal, and
would have u" way ports TO touch at whereas
from the head Of the Red Sea, by the shortest
steanng route possible, is mol less than eight
thousand miles. IF your question applies to the
English rp,tes as they are and to the California
route as itpr'bably will be, with railroad
hence to California and line Of cleaners
thence to Shanghai, the difference then in our
favor would not fall short oitwenty-tlye or thirty
days Respectfully,
nj. +. MAURY.
Hon A c. DopGE, Senate Chamber.
come to speak briefly Of s,me of the
vast aud inaPpreciable benefits which | think
will inure to mankind here and the world over
from the construction of This road, and conse-