Washington telegraph., 1855-08-22
Great Pacific Railway Route.
OF THE QUESTION.
RESULTS OF SURVEYS.

The Congress of the United States is a
Iody, which, in Its general action. does what
!, ought not to do, and leaves undone what
]. ought to do. Accordingly some of the
greatest questions which concern the repub-
lie have been left unsettled, while laws have
beeu passed. whose only effect is to disturb
the public peace. or debauch the public
morals The Pacific Railway question is
one Of those left unsettled if, indeed. it be
20. decided 10 30 nothiDg A wise and sa-
gasvus Iegislz;ure, would have commenced
Surveys for railway to the Pacific imme-
da' i afer tbe acquisition of California,
and long before this, would have had the
work IN actual construction. But precious
time has been allowed 10 escape, and the
contemplate jealousies about routes. have
prevented the accomplishment of anything.
Il Is not probable now, that Congress will
do ANYTHING; and hence, this noble work,
if eve. done. is left to private enterprise
We shall now see who, among the men of
action and capital. will seize upon the great
est opportunity ever offered for a gigantic,
financial and commercial speculation
There are men Of all kinds of intelligence,
especially In that wisdom which springs from
cOnceit, who affirm with prophetic boldness,
that a 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 Nicaragua routes, prove conclusively
that Pacific railway will pay well, if it
does not cost much over one hundred mil
lions; and it can certainly be construct
ed for that The government, during the
last year, has had all the routes between
the Mississippi valley and the Pacific sur
veyed, and the probable cost estimated
We give below the results, with such COM
meuts as viii enable the reader to observe
the differences in the elements and proper
comparison
l. The ROUrEs-There were routes
proposed, viz 3:
The route from St. Pauls to Vancouver,
near the parallel Of 4S deg.
. The route from Council Bluffs to
Benicia, via the South West Pass, near y
deg
). Route from WeStport to San Francis
co, via the Tah-e-chsypah Passes, near the
SSth deg.
/ The same via the Madeleine Pass.
), From Fort Smith to San Pedro. near
the 35.b deg
6 From Fulton to San Pedro, near The
39d p.ralIe..
Ihethjrd and fourth routes were found
to cost 50 much as to be really impractical
be The summit levels were over ten
thousand fte-, and enormous tunnels had 10
be cnt on mountain tops. The question is.
therefore, really confined to the other four
or, more properly to three-the extreme
Northern, the Middle and the Southern.
The fifth route above is only a modification
OF the sixth and he last may, therefore. be
put for both
The examination and comparison, there
fore. may b. confined to the first, the sec
0nds and JHe sixth routes. The elements
Of comparison are the equated length lat
equal cost)-,be amount of arabic land on
LHe TOu'e-tbc amount Cf sterile land-the
amount Of medirm lsnd-the summit level
the Climate marked by latitude-the points
q Atlantic connection. and frally the ulti-
iL4te cost.
We snail sudeavor to make all these
points Pia'n, By reference to the govern
ment surveys geographical maps, and the
--'iWay routes IA the East.
: HE Ictl.gt and Eguated Eeusths
Strlieht Ac. Eq.
iiue- distance. level iiue
lfjkes- IIILes. IitLes.
st route On
Ash parallel 1876 1861 2,2O7
IA parallel 1,4lO 2032 1883
9th route GA
sd parallel LOO 1.6IS 2.239
10 understand this better, however. We
must adj on the distance east to New York
Is central point on the Atlantic. and the
distance west to Seattle. tie port of Vancou
Ver, and TO San Francisco, the central poin
y california.
Actual distance Equoted.
Miles Niles.
lst route, 4Sth
parallel 2SO6 3577
ID rOute, 42d
parallel 42S2 3.S25
Sd route, 32d
parallel 1854 4,2O5
1he route Of the 32d parallel will, @
course, be much nearer New Orleans, an,
even Charleston but, it would be unfair t
sooht the distance to these places only, 70
We" I ork has, unquestionably. become th
IOllneIclal centre of the United States.
N point of fact, therefore, the extrem
'Oflhern is the shortest, the extreme South
.ia sIu 'ne longest. But as length is only on
..eIieht IN the construction, let us procee,
to the others.