The Davenport gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Scott Co., Iowa) 1841-185?, 1854-05-25
CITY or DAVENPORT.
RACK ISLAND

classes acs+Fe - asS " LOT llt pa' f'Nss s9'
which ii was placed'there. to aid the good
people Of the lesh.eentury in bridging the
Father Of Waters. and connecting in iron
links the Atlantic ana Paeifs oceans -
Others seem disposed = have i lay an use
less waste
The Rock lsia;.i aud Chicago Railroad
terminates q, Rock Island Tie Missssip-
ri aud Missouri Railroad begins at Dayen.
port, The question is whether the goods
ana passengers passing over these roads
shall be respectively trsnshipped and feTried
over the Mississippi river, or whether they
shall pass over al ron road, cta the island
and the bridge. ii the mode Indicated in
the charter of The Bridge Company, without
any transhipmeut q any ferriage at ALL
Common sense decides a once how this
thing ought TO be done. and dcpreeates the
idea Of any break IN this great route TO the
Missouri. except u an overriding ncees-
slIy.
What IS the necessity in this case, Why,
Rock Island i a military reservation! Es-
erybody knows i Is lot wanted for any PuT-
pose Of dJaaoe in this stage Of Western
civilization. As long ago as when Nj.
Poinse,t was Secretary Of War. he made a
formal abandonment Of il 10 the land office,
on the ground that ii was no longer required
for military uses. When Mr. Marcy went
into the War Department he found Rock
Island still undispcsed of and an incum-
hrance, and Ne wrote TO the Commissioner
Of the Land 0Hce. telling him that il was
10 longer required for military site and he
wanted 10 have il sold. Mr.. Secretary
Crawford advertised il for sale, and il now
stands under the order of the War Depart
ment advertised for sale and the sale post.
poned And vet we are told that this
precious island is SO indispensable for mill
tary purposes, that the State Of Illinois can
not have Railroad track across it, and
that the great route to the Missouri river
must &c broken uP at this point that the
land may be saved inyiolate.
For purposes Of defsaos the island is o.
course unavailable, but il Is thought that
Congress may sometime establish an armo-
~ or an arsenal at this place, and that there
fore the Bridge Company should not be per-
in.tted to run across it. II is sad that
General JEssJF roeommen ded this use OF
the island. This is true, and il is equally
true that this very Intelligent and accom-
plished officer sees that, If II armory or
arsenal is established here, it IS all inpoF-
tan. that il should De as accessible as may
be to sll Railroad facilities. If military
manufeetory Or depot Of any kind should be
established on the Island. is il not very de-
sirsble that ali the raw material should be
delivered on the Island BY the ears, and that
the manufactured articles should be turned
out Of the manufactures directly into the
cars TO 60 10 any point Of the compass!
Hence, General Jessup has recommended
in a letter to the Secretary of War, that
the right Of way through Rock Isl4nl sh ouil
be granted to the Railroad or Bridge Com.
pany, because. '.trast5sr ttg yaEtc lands on
Roct TslanI b rst1ias4 tor militsrg purpose,
Or not. BE R4ilroa3 re.2 greatly 5ta.ft tIe p.t5,
lie ssru.oS :
AsWe understand the matter, there il
necessary for ,ha Railroad tracks contem-
plated some fifteen acres, leaving about 40
acres for government purposes, after exeiu,
ding the Davenport property and the lane
occupied by Mr. Sears. Half 9f that would
be ample FOR al armory or arsenal on the
biggest scale or Western magaif 3ence.
j, would then Be an arsenal - c2rraspon,
with the Mississippi river Itself The build
ings at the Springfield arsenal occupy a
level square Of twenty acres. Il we take
twenty times twenty acres, or four hundreC
acres, and appropriate them for an arsenal
why then we could spare the fifteen acre:
that the Railroads want. and should have
the public advantage Of al immediate r Ill.
road communication to and from the ar
senal.
II i not worth while for th7 government
10 make dog-in-the-manger matter Of thu
Island; neither use il themselves, nor per
nit anybody else 10 use it for the public
good. 1t stands just where it does for III,
very purpose OF enabling Us to bridge til,
Mississippi, and TO suppose that in the mid
die Of the 10Th century great public high
way from the Atlantic to the Missouri riyei
and ultimately to the Pacidc--:s u b.
arrested on the ground that government
wants for military purposes an Island which
j, has oyer and over again officially reported
and aYowed that il does not require for mill
tary Purposas--.s ell stuff and nonsense
The overriding necessity is the pabic con
yenience, the rapid transportation Of passeB
gers, merchandise aud the mails; Of Ter
thousand times more Importance in any
military exlgency than holding on 10 fvG
hundred acres which are not whit bottar
for proposed use than any other five hundred
equally accessible in any other portion O
the West
Dem 3eratie Nominee.
The Democrats Of this Congressional DIS
trict, assembled in Convention Ct Tptga @.