The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1855-01-25
CONGRESS-.
rnlnrY-rnIRD coNcREss-sEcoyD SESSION.
Tuesday, January l6, 1855.
SEN ATE

IueSddy, January 10, 1900.
SENATE
Memorials and petitions were presented as
usual
The Indian appropriation bill was reported
back, with sundry amendments.
The bill to authorize the sale of Rock Island
TO the State of Illinois, was taken up, and pass
ed.
Several bills appropriating moneys for i'm
Proyements, were made the special order for
wednesday week.
The increase of compensation bill of Mr..
Badger being taken up, the motion of Mr..
Dodge, to strike out members of Congress"
was adopted, "a to l6.
Several amendments, increasing the salaries
OF the various judges, were then adopted.
A motion to substitute fixed salary of
S2,50O year for Senators and Representa-.
tives, for their per diem, was lost-yeas Is,
nays 30.
A motion to lay the bill on the table, was
lost-yeas 20, nays "a.
The Senate then proceeded to Executive
business.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
The House passed the Rock Island cession
bill from the Senate.
The House then went into Committee of the
Whole Or the state of the Union, and took up
the Pacific railroad bill. :
Mr.. Benton addressed the Committee on the
subject of the bill under consideration He re-
marked that he had long desired to withdraw
this subject from the forum of the National
Legislature, and to transfer it to forum of
business men. A private company and private
enterprise, using its own means, was in his
0pinion the proper tribunal to pass upon the
Practicability of the work, and also to under
take its construction. This was a case the is
sue of which might safely be left to private en-
terprise, or one in which private interest and
public interest must go hand in hand. That
which was best for the company was best for
public. The object being to accommodate the
the greatest possible number of persons, and
the greatest possible amount of business, the
public would thus be benefited.
He had put himself to some trouble to see
and converse with business men, with practi-
cal men, to ascertain the feasibility of his
project. He had reason to believe that it was
feasible, and that a private company of solid
men were now ready to enter into preliminary
arrangements for undertaking this work upon
their own resources, without money from the
United States, without grant of alternate Sec
tons of land, amounting to many millions of
acres, and without an army of regular troops
to protect the road, who themselves would need
protection. He believed that such company
would be willing now to enter into the prelimi-
nary arrangements upon the basis of right of
way through the public lands in the Territories
of Utah and Kansas, without limiting the road
to any route thereby steering clear of constitu-
tonal difficulties with respect to the States,
trusting to the States at the ends of the line
the State on this side and California on the
other-to make the functions which might be
rr,tbtp IL.
On these principles the company could con.
struct this road, asking from the Government
nothing but fair pay for fair service in the
transportation of the mails, troops, munitions
of war, and Government officials, without any
exclusive privilege but that protection upon
the route which they might select, which would
prevent the chartering of any new companies
which might interfere with them by laying
down track on the same ground. The COM
pany were now ready to commence this enter
prise, and were only waiting to mature their
plans, for, as business men, they would mature
everything which they were about to undertake.
After some further consideration, Mr.. Dun
bar offered substitute for the BILL The sub
stitute provided for three different roads and
telegraph lines-for Southern road, which was
to commence west of the State of Texas, and
to extend on the most practicable route to the
nearest point on the Pacific +; for middle road,
which was TO commence west of Missouri, and
to extend to San Francisco-the route which
the gentleman from Missouri considered the
best; and for Northern route, which the same
gentleman had termed the British route"
Mr.. Washburn, of Maine, indicated several
amendments, which were accepted by Mr.. Dun
bar.
Mr.. Letcher, Of Virginia, moved to strike
out the enacting clause of the-bill.
The Chairman decided the motion to be in
order; and Mr.. Campbell appealed from the
decision, when the House adjourned.