Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1853-01-07
s res 1)rcs s
The Pacific Railroad.
BURLINGTON, VI.
FRIDAY MORNING JAN. Z, 1852.

INO pToltCtGu CIpElSC W lIC udl IL eO Ici-
tain to be carried ont as the building of Rail
road from tic VALLEY of the Mississippi to the
Pacific Ocean, thus uniting the two great
Oceans and spanning a continent by the sure 1t
and speedlest method Of transportation in the
world, and furnishing to Commerce a great av- /
enuc for its transactions. A railroad TO the .
Pacific is as sure to be built, within the next SIX
or eight years. as the earth is sure TO last for
that period. The indications cannc. be mis-
taken. Such an avenue for trade is imperative
" demanded, no less by our increasing inter
course with California and Oregon, than by
reasonable considerations of lis great mpor
lance as respects our commercial Intercourse
with the East Indies. In fact, it is hardly pos
sible to ovcr-esmac the value of such a road.
As an agent Of civilization and chrisianlzaton,
j. would prove still more potent than as an agent
of Commerce. Commerce is the result, not the
cause, of civilization, 1tfo'lolcS as a legitimate
effect Of an organized christian community
The States of the Pacific can never be prop
cry connected with the States O! the Atlantic,
EXCEPT by means Of railroads. This every body
will admit. The long and circutous commu.
..-..;~~. - --~-.. "asi9huuu win our golden.
robed sister, California, and with our sturdy
colony of Oregon, will not answer. II ls obvi.
ousy impolHic, Ito say the least FOR this Coun.
try to be obliged to reach any portion Of what
constitutes "thc Union" by long. crcuitous,
anl tedious routes. The safety, iotogrtv, and
stability of the Union depend greatly upon its
homogeneity and compac,ness. The Union
must be togcther, or it will not exist. Clllfor-
MA and Oregon must feel their pride in md
their dependence on, the Union or they WI !
inevitably erect themselves into an independent
Republic. Nothing can be palmer land
nothing can he more obvious than that this
pride and this dependence cun be secured only
by means Of great line Of Railroad, which
shall bring the Atlantic and Pacific borders of
our Confectionery close together.
We are glad, therefore, to believe that pub
lie opinion is SO generally agreed that rail-
road mus, be forth,c III constructed from the
great Valley of the Mississippi to the Pacific
coast. There appears to be no two opinions as
to the necessity and demand for such IA public
work. Mcssrs. DorGLAss, GwiNN, RUSK,
and other members of Congress, have plans for
constructing a Railroad to California, each of
which doubtless possesses strong claims upon
the public favor. ut they are all defective,
radio lily and fatally defective, in one essential
respect. ! hey all contemplate building road
by means OF grants of the Public Lands, while
nothing is palmer than that Railroads can be
built with nothing but money. Excellent as
the projects of these gentlemen may be, on pa
per, we have no hesitation in pronouncing them
utterly visionary and inefficient on earth. CASH
Is what il required to build railroad, and not
f,nd Bv the plan of either Of the respectable
Senators to whom we have referred, the tGn
proposed to be granted would be FILTERED away
and wasted, by the very efforts necessary to be
used to convert them into the cash without
which railroads cannot be constructed. No
wilder or mo-e insane scheme for constructing
a railroad was ever conceived than that which
Contempdtes such construction by means Of
grants by the Genera! Government Of public
Lands. Whlt the General Government has to
~ 10 ~ 'Aht 10 "tJfe,y, VI It's t'Cult HlCiI
il The same thing, to secure the building of
such railroad. No railroad can be made
throug3 tine vast Wilderness Of oui public do
main with any thing but cAsu,--and Mr.. Rev
TON himself, (who |. understood to have land
scheme for such rallroa.l) cannot deny the
proposition.
We have recently seen bill providing for
the construction of a railroad from The Valley
Of the Mississippi to the Pacific, which strike,
MS as presenting the only feasible and sensible
plan for securing this great and indispensab
work. This bill, we learn, was drawn up by
Mr.. Attorney General CHATFIELp, of New
York, and Is supported, in its main provision
by Senators DOUGLASS, RUsx, GwiYN and
CAss, and by ERAsTUs CoRNING of Albany
Gen. CLiRKE. of Washington County anc
other prominent and influential men. II ap
pears TO us to be intrinscally Just and RICH,
and to present the only feasible and practica
bic method of connecting the Atlantic and Pa
cifc coasts by commercial ties. 1t sensibly
rejects the notion of building a railroad b,
wasting and throwing away an immense amour
ofpu5t'c Ian 5, and senslbly proposes to bullC
the Pacific railroad with cash, just as other rail
roads are built This is its peculiar and hes
feature. 1t is plain, practicable, common
sense project, and worthy the favor which W.
Doubt not it will receive from Congress.
1t means what 1t says, and says what 1t means
and with the potent advocacy of Senator's DOUG
LASS, CAss, RUsK, and GwlyN, can scarcel.
FIJI to pass. 1t ought to pass, and when Sem
tor DOUGLASS offers it as a substitute for tin
bill introduced by Mr. CIV Nh, "a synopsis o
which was given in our columns few day
ago. we unhesItatng believe it toiH pass,
The main features Of the bill are as follows
Section !. provides for the issuing by tn
Secretary of the reasury of S30000000 4
stoG -, to be denomnated "lhe Atlantic and Pa
cihc Post Road stock" on which the Govern
all nav Intprest semi Annually