The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1855-03-03

M. n Nsport H. therefore.
~ nm navigation to the
II the rivers Of the West.
g - here yon propose to start,
g xHSt provide such means as
&arc 4 ds. What is it going to cost
tH- Ahble the sum which it will
ssasssioa N cs at the port Of entry or
S.5'l surmount this difficulty.
how are you to grade the road. to blast the
rocks. to fill up the holows, and raise the
embankncnts witch will be nect ssary? How
siil vuu support the muititudes of men who
must be Engaged in making the road. who
mnst he fed and lodged far from the settle
SCENTS. where food and lodging are to he
found How sustain the horses and mules
ahicl are indispensable on such work. which
cannot live on sterile sands or barren rocks !
You must buy food at distance. transport
it at immense cost. and protect it as you
would the snpl les Of an army.
did not mention one other circumstance
which should properly have been stated in
advance Of what have Just mentioned, and
that is, that you have not yet acquired
complete title to these lands. You have not
rx;mguiShcd the Indian claim. When YOU
are going to effect that at what cost will it
he? Arc YOU sure that you can effect it by
money? May it not be necessary to resort
to force for that purpose? How will you &c,
rid of those four hundred thousand predatory
savagcs, who, it is said. dwell within the
borders of the ClAted States, beyond the
Alississippi many of whom roam over the
tracts ofland through which it is proposed
to run these railroads hostile to yol--rcaly
to tear up your rails and burn up your wood
tn sills Where will you get your wooden
slls and ties? do not know whether YOU
will be able 10 find them on the southern
,,utn uplncc Won ,ool IN tho rrn,ly Il al =,
mesquite answer the purpose; and in the
northern division, though you may, indeed,
find wood, it is not such wood as will answer
the purpose; and that will havcto be bought
at an immense cost, from distant sources Of
supply. | take it, that when you consider
tho sc grt at and numerous difficulties, the cost
of these roads will exceed that of any known
road in the United States and what are thcy2
had the curiosity to look at the cost of
some of the principal RAILROADS in the United
States. and confess was quite aStonishcd
? ut the result of my examination. | find that
I the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore
4 railroad, made through a well settled coun
p try between two great commercial cities.
IS through region Astounding i'll everything
necessary for the construction of Il railroad
and only ninety eight miles in length, has
cost SIS CO. 600; being an average of more
Man $50. 900 mile. l find that the New
York and Erie railroad, four hundred and
sixty four miles in length. has cost 1913 ,070,
LOO being an average of about $4,000 Per
6lile. The PENNSYLVANIA Central railroad
,vo hundred and fifty miles long has cost
$500 COO: an average of over SOL 600 Il
gsAe. The Baltimore and Ohio railroad, 3Sl
Is long. has cost 500 ,254 900, as report
"a the Railroad journal of May last; an
.sge of about 100000 mile. The Bos-
Esnd Worcester railroad, sixty nine miles
cost $3.50 900; being an average Of
sAOa mile. The Reading railroad 95
N iong, and pursuing gentle decline to-
Aglsthe city of Philadelphia. has cost up
~ ds of ST. 600 600: being about $4,000
a lille. OF course, in giving these figures, !
seak of the whole expense Of construction
md equipment.
3& Now, sir think it exceedingly doubtful
81 whether, under any circumstances, these rail
Z reads to the Pacific can be completed at less
rates than the average cost Of the railroads
which have here mentioned. Suppose they
should require $50 600 mile; then you have
$3.50 100000 as the cost of these works.
which you are asked, without any adequate
information, to enter upon at once: or to in
vi,cindividnals to enter upon with the INDUCE
mcnt OlJONCTntlCllt la1lu RTantSa as lullT alu.
ii does seem to me to be monstlous.
Consider. sir, the character of the regions
through which these roads will have to pass.
The mighty West is to be crossed, in all its
breadth from the borders of the States which
line the Mississippi to the Pacific. That
portion Of our continent, to say nothing OF
the mountains, is marked by Il vast plat,au
running nearly north and south, which divides
this wide region into two portions. The very
:, lowest point OF the water shed of this region
is about four thousand five hundred feet
above the tide: that is between the waters OF
the Rio Grande and the San Pedro which
flows into ella. Further north, in about lati-
tude SO deg, it is eight thousand feet in
I height. and above the latitude of az dog. it
still has an elevation of seven thousand feet.
These are the heights of the lowest passes of
IA Inc water Shed of this great plateau, as |
earn from the Secretary of Wars report OF
asst year. Then, sir, your roads must renc-
rate, not single mountain, or chain of
fountains, but mountain system, which,
in latitude 40 deg. is nine hundred miles
B. lade, and where it is narrowest is still five
Il Hundred miles in width.
The least difficulty Of these routes, it seems
A 10 lne, is that which lies in the south be,
~ fa'lSc, III tlat quarter UcllefS tile Hloiil-
s tans are more isolated and scattered about,
with intervening plains over which the road
quay be more easily passed. Even there we
I \ lind great and almost insurmountablc difficult
Tics. There is the difficulty of a want of
water, which, | suppose no one will pretend
W can be supplied unless by Artcsian wells, and
how do we know that Artersan wells will
nnord a sufficient supply! Then there is the
difficulty of insufficient and unsuitable wood,
in any line which the road can take, and the
sterile belts of lands, in one case two hun
drcd and fifty miles in width, which physical
geography tells us is sterile from natural and
constant causes.
Then, sir, it is proposed to keep up these
roads, or to contribute to their support by
employing them all to take the mails between
different points in the valley of the MISSISSIPPI
vi and the Pacific. One railroad will be am
Fly sufficient to take the mail from the Mis-
Sssippi region 10 the Pacific coast; but we
must have three roads, and we must provide
that they shall all take the mails, and we
propose ~ this bill to give them $500 milo