The Belmont chronicle, and farmers, mechanics and manufacturers advocate. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1848-1855, 1853-04-15


road and telegraphic communication betwoe
the navigable waters of the Mississippi rive
or one of its tributaries, and those of the Pa
cific coast, and this, too. wholly within ou
own territory-an enterprise of vast magni
tude, which, when accomplished, cannot fa
) to produce results Of infinite consequence t
ourselves, and to the world. The scheme j
a moderate one. 1t does not involve an ap
preparation of any considerable amount Of th
, public treasure, and certainly no part of tn,
public domain now Of much value, and yet i
holds out such encouragements for the invest
met of private capital, and the enlistment o
private enterprise, as to make the execution
of the work, within reasonable period, NOR
ally certain. The bill sets aside $40 900 ,00C
for this work, to be advanced as it progresses
and grants in the States alternate sections Of
! the public lands, on each side of the road, fol
six miles in width, and in the Territories, foi
twelve miles in width. 1t makes it the duty
of the President, after obtaining the requisite
information, to fix the termini and general
course of the road, and then directs him to
enter into a contract, after public notice, with
the lowest bidders, for the construction of the
road and telegraphic line, with regulations
and details which need not be specified. The
contractors are to own the road and line, and
to levy tolls subject to supervision and con-
troll of Congress to certain extent, and are
to surrender them up to the United States at
the end of thirty years, should Congress so
elect on terms which would seem to be equit-
able and just. In the mean time, they are to
be subjected to such burdens by the free
nsportation of the mails, and the officers,
troops, and property of the United States as
are likely, in course of thirty years, to be more
than an equivalent for theInoney advanceda and
the land granted. The bill also confers on
the contractors corporate powers, which would
seem to be quite important, if not indispen-
sable, to proper execution of the contract,
the convenience of the parties, and the safety
OF the capital to be advanced by them.
To this bill the honorable Senator from
Pennsylvania Mr.. BRoDHEADl has proposed
an amendment, the only effect of which will
be to adjourn over the whole project for an
indefinite period He moves to strike ont the
enacting clause, and to substitute a provision
for such explorations and surveys, by and un-
der the direction of the Secretary of War, as
he may deem advisable to ascertain the most
practicable and economical route, for railroad
from the Mississippi to the Pacific; and also
a further provision authorizing and requiring
the Secretary to receive proposals from indi-
viduals or associations, for the construction of
the road, to be laid before Congress at its next
session.
This amendment, Mr.. President, will, if a.
dopted, be in substance rejection of the bill,
and a reputation of the labors of the commit
tee. 1t is certain, that if we are to have
thorough exploration and survey of all the va
rious routes, and the costs of each precisely
ascertained so that we may determine which
is the most practicable and economical as an
indispensable preliminary to the action of
Congress, the work cannot be commenced in
many years.
The honorable Senator would seem to con-
template survey of all possible routes, and
of all possible notifications of each route, for
in no other way can the question of compara-
tive practcability and economy be settled
OF course he must cause a survey to be made
by way of the South Pass to the novigable
waters of the Columbia, if not to Puget's
Sound, and then, also, by the same pass, to
San Francisco. He must cause a survey to
be made by way of New Mexico and Walkers
Pass, to the Pacific; and then he must take
up each Of these general routes, and examine
all the various notifications which may be
suggested. He must also ascertain what is
the number of square yards of embankmcnts,
excavations, and masonry, which would be
bar will ba
of viaducts, depots and other structures, in
to the proper working of rail-
road. He would be obliged to organize sew
eral corps of engineers, and employ tncm on
different parts of the work, and each would
have to be protected by detachments from the
Army. How long would it take to execute
such work, and what amount of expendi-
ture would be required
Fortunately we have the lights of expert
ence to guide us. On the 3oth of May next
it will be four years since we commeDcedrun-
ming the boundary between the United States
and Mexico, in conformity with the treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo. The work has not been
finished to this day, and has cost us half a
million of dollars; and yet at least one half OF
that boundary consisted of rivers; and with
respect to the other half we had nothing to
do but draw line from point to point on tile
surface of the earth, and mark it by suitable
monuments. How infinitely more vast is the
undertaking proposed by the honorable Sena-
tor! Estimates of embankments, excavations,
masonry, and other matters appertaining to a
railroad, would be found to be quite different
affair from merely settling line, as in the
case oc the United States and Mexico. | vcr-
lily believe the surveys that would be neces-
sary to enable Congress to determine which
is the most practicable and most economical
route would require more time and larger ex-
pendture of money than the construction of
the read itself.
But the honorable Senator Mr.. BRoDHEAp]
requires the Secretary of War to receive pro-
posals for the construction of road from the
valley of the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean,
and to lay them before Congress at the next
session. How can proposals be made when
the honorable Senator does not condescend to
inform us how, when, or where this road is to
be constructed! He does not say whether it
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