The weekly Minnesotian., 1854-02-25

in certain quarters. which is we'll understood.
A part Of it proceeds from persons who know
nothing about the merits of the question; a
part from pcrsous who would not know II they
could; part from those under railroad inhu-
ences from other quarters; and part from
few would-be great men who are offended be-
cause they were not consulted at the outset.
But ne hare faith to believe that the calm and
disinterested Judgment of majority Of the
members will induce them 10 give their sup
port to measure which. from the day it is
secured, will place Minnesota and the property
of her citizens upon an equal footing with other
and older settled portions of the great West.
We are not disposed to waste time and argu-
ment in favor Of this great enterprise. We
take it for granted that its ultimate advantages
arc as we'll understood by others as by ourselves.
We will present, however, q few facts. and then
leave the matter with those in authority.
Some Of our citizens are dreaming Of riches
to themselves ont Of the immense this is the
word-grant of land which Mr.. Rices bill will
secure to this road. The bill is not yet law.
True, it is through the Senate, but by the influ-
cnce. to great extent, Of the very men who
propose to build this road for u.s. Its passage
through the House isno more certain than was
the possession Of the silk gown sure thing to
the milk-Znaid, while tossing her well-filled pail
SO ga:ly upon her head Let US look ont that
We do not caper too highly just now, and blast
all our prospects at single dash. But TO the
point. Granting that the donation of land is
carried, how much does it amount to: Wewill
say that the road Is three hundred miles in
length from Lake Superior TO the Iowa line.
Itis not a greater distance, certainly. The bill
sections six miles in width on either side. This
is six sections TO a mile. Six times three hum
dred is eighteen Misunderstanding that num-
ber of sections. Multiply this 10y 64O-the
number of acres in a scction-and you have
l,152000 acres Of land, only. Allowing that
every acre is susceptible of settlement, and
would sell to-day at the government price. and
you realize by the operation the enormous sum
of ofSl44O,OO0.
Now let us sec what the road will cost. We
will estimate it upon the basis of the Illinois
central, which, with hundreds Of miles over a
dead level prairie, is costing in the aggregate
S27 500 per mile. But this is scarcely a fair
estimate in our case. 1t should be higher. The
great item Of iron must be taken into consider
alton, to say nothing of the heavier grades and
higher prices of labor which must rule on our
route. The Illinois Central Company bought
their iron at S5J-the price now ranges at $50.
But no: to 60 too much into detail, suppose VIC
put the cost of our road at $2SOOO per mile.
This will make the entire cost Of constructing
the 800 miles amount to the sum of IS, 400, 600
say for contingencies Ss,5O0,000. Deduct the
nominal value of the whole lands granted,
ST. 440 900, and you still have 81. 100000 to
raise from other sources before you can COM
pletc the road To raise this deficit by the sale
or hypothecation of the lands, you must dis
pose of every acre of them at the advanced
price Of about seven dollars and forty cents per
acre. We think we see committee OF our
shrewd tiranciers' and crack politicians. hawk
settlement-through the money markets of
New York and London, at $40 per acre. cash
on the nail.
Aye, but says one, the prospects ofa railroad
through these lands will enhance their value
to this standard. Very good but the money
to build the road must first lie secured before
their value can be enhanced. 1t is this foreign
capital which is SO much feared by some. that
must first give the value before it exists. Men
do aot advance their money these days to ire
sponsiblc strangers, merely to help them make
a fortune out of d rise in wild lands, which rise
is created by this same money So the matter
all comes back TO where it started. We have
not the means to build the road. five get the
grant Of lands contemplated, it will not build
it. And, consequently, any light in which yoll
may view the question, the capital must come
from abroad and men abroad before they in
vest their means will take care that they retain
the full and practical control over the same.
The demagogical clap-trap in the newspa-
trolling Minnesota. is too absurd to require no
tice. All the capital here-and that does not
amount to sufficient to build five miles of rail
road-was foreign capital four years ago We
should rejoice to have an interest taken in our
unsettled Territory by foreign capitalists, who
will build our railroads and thus enhance the
value of our farms and town lots three or four
hundred per cent.
But our remarks are growing too extended
We conclude by copying an extract from let
ter written by one Of the corporators named in
the proposed charter, 10 a prominent citizen o
Minnesota. 1t explains some points in conncc
ton with this grant OF privileges, which have
befogged the minds Of a few citizens and mem
bers of the Legislature -
| The State of Illinois passed her lands to the
Central Company but required a per centage
to be paid into her treasury from the tolls col
lected on the road The reason assigned was
this The State, fourteen years since, survey
ed road from Galena to Cairo and expended
Sl.oOO, 900 in surveying. grading aud materials
towards its construction. The work was not
I tod off Co.., a..