The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1853-02-23

As,,,mne Should ~ prove 10 nave oeen stone even Oh
aars vsxht cast To-, however unntenonaly, 10 turn
~ .ss against our State, shall never coye Tie honors
49,, The reflections OF any man ot whom ~ may DC SAID
III, al it, Add should all lear OF TINS unto ward
slt "A pray Heaven nmay. prove groundless, shall
Iii nave the conscious Satisfaction OF having stood al
~. bv my own Stale, aud conended 10 the last 10 good
ih for the interests che sent me here 10 pfoecl not
hsaass those interests in conflict with other States
49, b.l,sye IN Others, aud particularly IN this Case, they
you'd be 10 perfect harmony with the interests OF other
States A., !; q.
hcads Tor tn. bill provides that additional terminus
an lhe mississippi. within the limits OF Arkansas may
be made But where made. aud by whom determined
Nov Air. great desde atuIn perhaps the greatest IN
his scheme d road building, was fix. and fix at
AZ the great centIc point OF operations, the terminus ~
10 be but one and all Of them II to be more Than one on
The rivsr But how il in this case The bill provides
for two lermn But the bxes at ITS own date aud
makes permanent as q basis OF immediate operations
while The other il leaves loose, floating and contingent
alike = 70 time and oeay Ane local babi,a,on and
nsunes in the very instant OF It's creation why, sr'
10 Cairo point Tar beyond The limits OF arkansas 10
Uhich her people feel special interest and win which
,hsv hsvs no natural commercial relations. And which
IA ieIt floating aud unsettled Why, sir, the terminus
which may be in Arkansas, within our own borders.
where alone people ever asked LOT ~ ana where ey
deem il vital 10 their interests At should be,
repeat sir, this terminus. so important 10 U.s. aud so
desired by us. is BY he Terms OF inns e' so vaguely
,nvded ior a. 10 be left floating along the whole coast
=, The Missis spp river, between latitude 80 deg 80 min
md "a deg the norlhen and southern boundaries oil Al
kansas. distance BY The meanderng OF The river OF
nearly four hundred miles And by what authority is
NJ - ID floating point to be fixed AS provided
u ne S ,S,s is TO be done =, 's Arkansas isg,sa,ute
W. INA, body has recently adjourned, sAd wn, o' nse'
again for Two tesss What IN the mean tine-whai
during two whole years. in this era ct stirring eyenls.
whs ,he spirit OF progress and Improvement 10 moving
in the heart OF our country and working is wonders OF
JsysIoOmen, in all the other States Of this Unon-what,
ssk ia to do, thus tanalized with TINS noml.
nal Grant which she 80 much needs, and which, liked
40 6at she could take hold Of it, might without delay be
made Of ncalculabe practical value 70 very true inter
e., Of her people unable 10 ael Let those
Butt may be told that the Arkansas legislature aniie
pa,sd this contingency, and PROVIDED lot ~ =, Msmnhs
BY What authoiity ID this said Ihere are more Sopa
MES than one chartered BY the eane ioi na
king railroad to the Mississippi anu ~ 70 he
OF ali others tcouId il have besn IN an " iue
LEGISLATION or Congress- 10 nix and determine .ne location
~ .nv varne and boating grant of land which Congress
m;shf su6seuuently make TO the State at large. In
ihis oonnsron there especially occurs to me the Mis-
sssppi Ouachita. and Red diver Company lor building
thr road from Gainess Landing to Fulton. They have
charter and the name Of the alered and interchangeable
John Dockery, their president, is guarantee that
whatever human energy wel-drec'ed, can 40 20 insure
active PROCESS They say that all they now want to
make their sompete such grant OF land as we
made them in the bull the Senate passed last session. bul
which vet sleeps in the other House Suppose that com
many should claim the right to fix for their road the only
smnus IN Arkansas which this bill grants, who should
dispute their claiml Upon the ground that charter
from the legislature confers that power they surely nave
il as much As any other company can
With regard to this Cairo road, for which have the
charter OF the legislature IN my hand, says nolhing
abou terminus opposite Memphis, on the Mississippi
river and fixes no other point except at Caro- II hxes
the point on the Red river at Fulton and xes the point
on the Arkansas river the western border al foIh smith,
but IL fixes the point on the Mississippi at Cairo. II
fxss no other point the Mississippi within the limits
OF Arkansas Its only alluson to any other terminus is
in these general terms
said may also branch and extend their said
road any other point or points within ibis state
No sllusion even is here made to Memphis, or any
other fixed point; but, said the whole question is
left unhxed and floating all the way from the Missouri
10 the louisiana line And IN no part OF that charter
or OF any other granted by the Arkansas legislature is
ANYTHING said about giving the land which Congress might
thereafter grant for railroads TO any one oil the companies
SO chartered Certainly it is not so granted TO thus Cairo
company nor is there anywhere any authority gwen 10
or possessed by this any other company 10 seize upon
and convert to their any portion OF the land so
granted, except-mafk this except the right OF way
hundred feet IN width and The right 10 use ma
teras of construction Sc Or if this be objected to- and
any one contend that the land tax be taken and used
by any Of these chartered companies, ask which
Of them shall it be claimed BY aud conceded 10 If
any one OF them do this insist that one OF them has
a much right and Is as competent as the other.
There is road chartered from Gainess landing across
the State to Fulton, and one IRON Napoleon at the mouth
OF the Arkan river TO Little Rock Now, ask how
shall the Cairo company, without authority OF law, take
tbs grant TO the exclusion OF all others No special
powers have been in this way and TO this efec given, or
in my opinion could rghuly have been given, by this
legislature. mention this 10 show how, and wherein
the delay Arkansas roads OF which have spoken, is
likely 10 result from this bill may be IN error IN all
this shall rejoice il the result shall prove me so, for
then shall be more than consoledl shall rejoice under
the failure OF my predictions, in the relief IRON ainu
sociiude for the welfare OF my Siae which her pros
perly will AFFORD me-
Now sir, in the Senate bills OF which have spoken,
every road asked for by the people OF Arkansas pro-
yided and the temini OF each fixed the peo
pie had requested they should be- And, although consu
iu,ins series system OF roads, all more or less con-
nected together, yet they arranged that each is
complete and capable OF construction by nself and II
only one Of them could be built that one, no matter
which, would be valuable horoughfare entirely across
the State and terminating at good point for trade and
travel, and always accessible from every quarter at all
seasons OF the year The addition OF single line from
81 Louis 10 Little Rock, which the three States OF Mis-
souri, Arkansas, and Louisiana desire, would make the
series or system symmetrical and complete.
And yet, sir, this symmetry has been mutlaied, these
values Impaired these memorials rejected these hopes
disappointed and for what Why, sir for the project OF
a road from Cairo! scheme, repeat, which is i'm
practicable in itself and by its own terms and even II
practicable yet valuelsss in its results Mr. President,
lei EAU no longer be the exempla par eIcelene, OF
the notable wsdom Of selling noble birthrght "ior
mess OF pottase"
STILL sir il had been here on Saturday, would not
have opposed the passage OF this bill. would not have
embarrassed il with amendments, for had learned from
my colleagues that il would be useless, and though
not very old yet too old 10 waste time IN doing
what know 10 be useless acts
before sad. although il falls short have ai,emp-
ed to show OF what II ought to have been, and Is cal
culated 10 do 10 little good, yet have learned 10
"dcspiss not the day Of small things" would take IT