The true Democrat., 1855-08-14
The Great Pacific Railway Route Condition of the Question Ike Suits of Surveys.

mo Con,,ross of lhe United States IS body, ,,h;h ; ;t ,,eueral action, does what It ought .,ttnI I, and leaves undone what It ought to d. ,o,ordinglv some of the greatest ques-
 Lfob concern the republic have been irf. ,nsattIed while laws have been passed,
 .tase only effect is to disturb the pub lc peace, v, Gcbauch the public morals. The Pacihc ;l,,o,, ,,octiop is one of these left unsettled; if indeed it be not decided to do nothing. A wise and sagacious legislature, would have commenced surveys for d railway to the Pacl- fife. immediately after the acquisition ol Cali- f,r,io and }o,to hefore this would have had inc work in actual construction. But precious time has been allowed to escape, and the con- temntible icalouses about routes, have pre- vepled the Accomplishment of anything ltis not probable now that Congress will do any thing: and hence, this noble work If ever done, is Jeff to private enterprise. We shall now see who among the men of action and capital, will seize upon the greatest opportunity ever offer ed for a gigantic, financial and commercial speculation. There are men of all kinds of intelligence, especially m that wisdom which springs from conceit who affirm with prophet c boldness that Pacific railway will not pay. The same has been said of every enterprise, and of none more than those which have paid the best The fact IS that the statistics of the Pacific steamers, and of the Panama and Mica. ragua routes, prove exclusively, that Pacific railway will pay well, if 1t does not cost much over one hundred millions; and it can certainly be constructed for that. The government. dur ing the last year has had all the routes between the Mississippi valley and the Pacific surveyed and the probable cost estimated. We give be- low the results, with such comments as will en- abla tha raa1ar to ohcarvn tho q ffaranoee in tho elements and proper comparison:
 I-The Routes-T There were SIC routes pro- posed viz:
 The route from St Pauls to Vancouver, near the parallel of AS deg.
 2-The route from Council Bluffs to Beni- cia, via the Southwest Pass, near 42 deg
 3.-Route from West Port to San Francisco via the Tah-ee-chay- pah Passes, near the par allel of 38 deg.
 4.-The same via the Madeleine Pass.
 5.-From Fort Smith to San Pedro, near the 35th deg.
 6-From Fulton to San Pedro, near the 32d parallel.
 The third and tou,th routes were found to cost so much, as to be really impracticable. The summit levels were over ten thousand feet and enormous tunnels had to be cut on moun- tain tops. The question is, therefore, really confined to the other four; or, more properly to Mree-the extreme Northern, the Middle and the Southern. The fifth route above is only modification of the sixth, and the last may, therefore, be put for both.
 The examination and comparison, therefore, may be confined to the first the second and the sixth routes. The elements of comparison are; the equated length Cat equal cost)-the amount of arabic land on the route-the amount of sterile land-the amount of medium land- the summit level-the climate marked by lat- tude-the points Of Atlantic connection; and finally, the ultimate cost.
 We shall endeavor to make all these points plain, by reference to the government surveys, typographical maps, and the railway routes in the East.