, 1854-02-11

there Would few difficulties he enco1Bttist
until the great desert belt was reached. ruu.
ming parallel With mountains at their cas.
tern base, and almost $50 miles wide, Pass.
ing this desert, the sterile country Of thu
mountainous region would be croSsad, and
that from thence to the Pacific, the conn.
try would present fewer obstacles TO the
construction Of the road He thinks the
work one Of vast magnitude and import.
ance, but ifupracticable or impossible Its
value as means Of national defence is al.
lnded to. lie says the reports Of the sur.
veyors were returned, according 10 the
terms of the resolution aathOrisfng tbe,
same, by the first of February, lie thinks
the only cases upon which the Government
can safely act as to the preference Of routes
will be upon careful Instrumental suFpess
Mere observation, without instrumentaf
survey, must prove fallacious, and caienla-
ted to mislead the judgment As on in.
stance of this, he cites the Walker Pass.
which was conceded by travellers to be "a.
vorable for n railroad, on actual survey.
with instruments, was found. by the eneF
ncer to be impractieabe for any such pur-
pose.
Gov. Stevens survey being earliest in the
field, he alludes to it quite fully; but odds
little to that already known. He also al
ludes to the surveys of Capt. Guhnison.
Lieuts. Whipple and Williamson, adding
little to facts previously published Re.
garding the movement of troops for interi-
or stations, to keep the Indians in check
and to guard the MEXICAN frontier, he
thinks great Pacific railroad will but par
TALLY meet the object in view. There must
be extensive lateral tracts of country to be
traversed, over which, on account Of scar
city of water and vegetation, the move
ments would necessarily be very slow As
a valuable means Of easy and rapid com
munication over the plains and sandy des.
erts, he recommends the employment Of
camels. ..I s. f.t..f LUI.t.,N
In another part Of his report he recon-
mcnds retired list for army officers and an
increase of pay. AT the conclusion of the
war with Mexico the strength of the or.
my was fixed at lO,l2O. In 1850, it was
increased by sliding scale to the extent,
when full, of l4,73l; but owing to the way
they are now posted, the limit is only ly,-
83l; but the actual number, for reasons
given, is less by 1896 men. He urges an
increase Of the army in some degree to cor.
respond with the vast increase in the ter
ritOry and population Of the United States,
and the extent Of frontier lines to be guar
ded. alHf ~ Do
You will find that several members ID
Congress have already moved in regard 10
the Pacific railroad, Dr. Gwin, at the
opening of the session, gave notice Of o bin
in favor Of granting lands in California IN
aid Of the construction Of the link Of the
Pacific railroad in that State. He has al
so given notice of bill comprehending .
Government mail contract by steamships,
to run between California aud Shanghae,
China. Mr.. Weller, and other members
have also given notice Of important bills
touching the railroad question. A rcsolu-
tion, in substance, declaring it to be the
constitutional duty Of the Government to
build the road out and out was voted down.
Col. Benton has had letter published
in the National Intelligencer, in opposition
to Lieut.. Williamsons report on the i'm
practicability of Walkers Pass, and de-
fends the central route; Of which this pass
was to be link. He disputes the correct
ness Of the report, and Induces the report
Of the pass made by Col, Fremont, before
California was acquired, and of other par
ties who had gone through it. He states
that Col. Fremont intended to make an
other survey Of the pass the present win
ter. Tl Ie91i
At meeting of the Geographical and
Statistical Society Of this city last week. a
resolution was adopted in favor of urging
upon Congress the necessity of having sall
the proposed railway routes to the Pacific,
duly mapped and printed. This Of course
cannot be done until after the first Of Feb.
ruary, as the reports win not all be in 4.
Texas has again taken up the subject Of
the Pacific Railroad, and that, too, with
much spirit and unanimity Bills inrefer-
ence to it were before committees in both
the Senate and House. In the former il
was said the committee would report in fa-
vor of reserving lands for its construction
sixty miles wide along the road; to extend
the time to eighteen months for its con-
struction by the company.Qf the first fifty
miles Of the road, aud designating the
twentysecond degree Of latitude at which
the road should strike the Trinity river;
and to give twenty, instead Of fifteen sec-
tions of land to the mile, to the company
who shall construct the road. In the House
the committee had agreed to extend the
grant Of land from fifteen to twenty sec
tions and that the road might enter the
State at any point sou. a of Fulton, on Red
| River in Arkansas and to cross Trinity
'iver near the twenty-seeond degree Of
north latitude, rnd thence to pursue the
nearest practice route on that parallel.
The invasion Of Lower California, and
the taking of La Paz bv Walker. has ex-