Iowa capitol reporter. [volume] (Iowa City, Iowa) 1841-1855, 1853-07-20


ed for charter. She set the example, a glorious
one it was for common country :her sister states
were not long in seizing upon the great object
others soon followed in the work, petition
after petition crowded the halls of Eastern
Legislatures for charters to construc. roads Of
a similar nature. The wise Legislatures feel
ing the benefits that Massachusetts was reap
ing. readily granted them. The people lent
their mind and energy to the enterprise. Need
stop here to say that they spent their labor
and toll in vain? no my countrymen, look to
the east, and the question will answer itself,
Railroads, Canals and Telegraphs are the great
secrets Of our countrys progress. 1t is by
these great internal Improvements that other
states east of the Mississippi surpass US. They
do in nothing else. Railr Dads can now be found
seen and heard vending its way from the
interior Of those states, bearing after him long
trains Of cars, heavily laden with the fruits Of
her soil, and the labor of her honest yeomanry
They of the east surpass us in this respect
The bone and sinew of our country there Il
mean the farmers) are highly compensated for
the labor of their worn out hands, and the
sweat of their sunburnt brows, you of Iowa
are not. But ere long the Locomotive shall
have crossed the Mississippi Then it will be
that the golden era shall burst upon our beau
tiful west. Then it will be, that We shall hold
close communication with eastern brothers -
Then it will be, that you the noble yeomanry
Of the west will receive fair remuneration for
your produce, your corn which now only brings
two bits per bushel. will command in the
eastern markets from FIVE to six, your other
produce in the same ratio; is not this matter
Of deep consideration to every man west of the
Mississippi. Then my fellow citizens cease
not with this work until it shall be completed;
if it be necessary offer inducements to it's ener.
getic contractors. Though nature has seemed
to supercede you: the Mississippi has been
| navigated from its source to its mouth. many
places have been examined but this alone
seems to have been intended by an all wise
Providence to be bridged by the railroad pic.
neer See yonder-two bluffs opposite, lifting
their majestic heads one hundred feet above
tue Eoole stream az tueiT UdslS nest arr tnt
ones that will meet the eye Of the traveller pass
ing up or down the river. Tis fact and q
noted one, that this is the only point on the
Mississippi that could be bridged without ob
s,ructing the navigation. Before FIVE year.
shall be numbered with the past, a suspension
bridge of two thousand feet in length, and
eighty feet above high water will be seer
stretching across the Mississippi, connecting
the two great states of Illinois and Iowa, thu
demonstrating to the world that the iron bands
which now bind US as one people. are daily
growing stronger. Can anything be pictured
more beautifully to the mind of man than THU
suspension bridge 1t will surpass in gran
deur skill and beauty the Colossus at Rhodes
1t will be regarded as the greatest curiosit!
of the age. The world will want to know
and see the place of its location. Thousands
will visit us to look upon the greatest of GU
human works.
We venture the assertion that the cost o
building road through our state will no
cost half as much as it does to construct on
of the same length in the east Here our coun
try is comparatively level. there they have u
cut and dig through vast mountains and hill