The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-07-17

end for the river an harbor bill, II they should
be finally acted upon between the two houses.
How much of the existing twenty millions sur
plus will beleft in the Treasury after meet ny the
bills of this session, IL i. difficult to ecturs.
The people will be fortunate if we are not re-
ducea 10 o loan to meet our current engage
ments before the next fourth March.
Altogether, more c Muse :, irregular, ex-
bausiing, money wasting and Improbable ses
sion OF Conere than this, has not occurred
sipce the (irst term of the Van Buren, spells.
the admnstratiou-except the spoils the alb
sepce on its part, OF any definite public policy,
foreign or dom, site; the sin ular and disor-
ganizing spoils coalition in the matter Of the
Cabinet; the dislocation Of parties and parti
sans in Congress; the humiliating subservien-
cy, notwithsta ndiag, of . large proportion OF
both houses to the demands OF the Executive,
are among the anomalies of this most extraor-
binary, unsatisfactory and disorganizing SEES
sion. Unwittingy, however, the adminstra-
ton has laid the train on the Nebraska bill, for
such general explosion among the corrupt
spoils organizations Of the day, as may result
in complete and wholesome political revolu-
ton. This Congress, this administration, and
the spoils democracy, must be swamped in the
ground. swell-and other parties will rise into
power. In this light, though utterly discredit
able in other respects, this long session is des-
tined to be marked as memorable epoch in
the history Of the country.
The Roposed Pacific Railroad and tho Isth-
mus Route to the Pacific.
We publish elsewhere o letter from Lieut..
Maury, in relation to the distances between
New York and San Francisco ria the various
actual and proposed routes across the Central
American Isthmus. The table presented by
Lieut. Maury may be regarded as exact and
impartial, and is peculiarly interesting when
taken in conjunction with the diagram recently
published by Mr.. Steiger, Of the General Land
Office, showing the various routes which have
been proposed for the great "Pacifc Railroad"
These two documents will serve to correct some
decided errors which have found place in the
public mind on the subject Of communication
between the Atlantic and Pacific. They show
that many of the assumed advantages Of the
proposed Pacific railway are illusory, and that
the saving Of time and distance which would
follow from it's construction, will fall much
below what has hitherto been supposed.
Adding to Lieut.. Maury's table the distanc IS
across the continent, ct the various Isthm1s
crossings, we have the following results =
From New York to San Francisco, via Panama
" d" g Honduras. 80 4, 500
g &c g Tehuantepec. 4, 500
And according to Mr.. Steiger, we have the fol-
lowing distances for the various routes pro-
posed for the Pacific railway =
Miles.
From New York to San Francisco NOrhen route
I" Southern q ....3,06f
1t thus appears that the saving in distance
which would be effected by the proposed south
ern, or shortest, route of the Pacific railway
over the Honduras, or shortest Isthmus route
is but 1859 miles. II will, of course, be al
legged that although the saving in distance
will not be SO decided, yet that the saving IN
time will be very great. This we also conceive
to be an error, for the following good reasons
In the first place, few persons could support
the fatigue of acontinuous railway ride of three
thousand miles, Let any one who has travellci
four OF FIVE hundred miles consecutively, in
railway car, recall the fatigue and exhaustion
which he felt at the CLOSE Of his journey, and
then ask himself if he could support its pro
longation across the entire continent. We en-
oocn1 I've hot ho INN 10 far
passengers, as a whole, to make the journey
without stopping for food and rest. This being
the case, we cannot count upon an average of
more than three hundred miles day. for pas
senger trains. 1t cannot be assumed that
greater average speed could be kept up than
between here and Washington, distance of but
220 miles, and which it occupies an entire day
to overcome.
Making, therefore, the necessary stoppages
iof rest and food, and supposing that the dis
tances across the central deserts could be made
in corresponding time with equal distances in
settled portions of the country it follows tina.
it would require ten days, at the least, for
passengers to reach San Francisco from New
York HS1
Now, the Honduras Company propose to make
their eastern point of departure at Mobile, Pen
sacola, Tampa Bay, or Charlotte Harbor, to be
reached by express trains over existing and
proposed railways, thereby entirely avoiding
the navigation Of the turbulent Atlantic. The
Tehuantepec Company proposes to make New
Orleans their point of departure. The Hondu-
ras Company can easily reach Puerto Cabillos,
their northern Isthmus port, in two days and a
half from either of the places named, tranship,
and in twelve hours after, be under way on the