The Davenport daily gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1869, 1856-01-05


ductlon, capable Of sustaining az immense
amount Of sn,asI lie ; and il slreads yields
and demsnd- vast sG2plias Of the Haeessa.
ries Of sabs;stcnce. From Buffalo 70 CHI
cage there y tie chain cC thu great Lakes,
with az usiaterueted watet Communication
and with country bordering on them 50
nearly level As 10 afford the greatest sacii-
~ for cheap and expeditions trans portatioa
bv rsilroad. From Chioago--& city which
| 10 literally the prodigy Of The times, aud
which. as Il seems 10 me. 10 only vet in the
nrst stsye of i,s growth--fFom Chicago. !
| say, TO Rock Island there is the same even
aurface and If possible still higher powers
of production With this great line, indi-
| ana, Illinois, Ohio. PennsylYania, New jer.
.ey and Maryland are all directly connect
ed. You may reach Philadelphia and Bal.
! ,itnore by railroad as we'll as New York snd
| thus chs oss yeur own market on the Atlaatlc
coast. II is mere question OF economy OF
| yoft. The Icca! demands OF this vast ex-
tent Of country, through which continues
| ines Of railroads have been completed are
| # themselves sufficient, without the centri-
outlsn. of ether district. &c sustain the WORKS
! 4 i'm proyement constructed upon il. The
| population TO whose wants these works are
more or less tributary, cannot Al this no-
| meat fall short Of thirteen millions OF souls,
md il is multiplying in ratio faf exceed
M the rate of ;ta natural increase
Iowa presena great advantages tos the
continuation OF this line. 1t Is rolling
prairie of uncommon fertility, without Sc
rious obstruction from the Mississi pi to the
| Missouri. In ascending from the former a.
Davenport to the general plane Of elevation
1870 feet In miles) we have alre ady overcome
me Of the grestest obstacles between Rock
{ land and Council Bluffs. The country
or the first thirty miles in Nebraska. which
our engineers have explored, 10 much the
'sme-es.ily crossed by railroad ana ca
pable Of producing abundantly-and all the
plantations show that the valley OF the
4
10 the base of the Rocky mountains. is high
| " favorable for continuation OF the road.
You are ell aware that FIVE routes TO the
Pacific have been surveyed under the direc-
ton of the War Department. The route
west from ST. Louis near the 3sth and aetb
! parallels Of latitude. and the route near the
s5,h are virtually disposed of either as i'm
practicable or too cos ". The route near
the 47th and 4sth parallels. along our north
ern frontier, is MT only opsa To the objec.
ton Of expensiyensss, but 1t is too remote
from the centre Of cur TERRITORY and opuls-
ton. The last objection applies to the
route near the s2nd parallel, though it's be-
loved to be the least expensive one Of all.
FROM the surveys the choice would seem
to be bgtween the latter and the route near
the <lst and 42nd parallels west from Coun.
Gil Bluffs; and If on this the great elevation Of
q portion of the line exposesit to temporary
Interruptions. in winter, on the other, the
tord climate OF the Colorado desert renders
it necessary to suspend labor IN the ofen
air for several months in the year. Under
these circumstances it appears TO the that
it requires no power of prophecy to foreteli
the result. Missouri and our friends north
in Dubuque and in Minnesota must unite
their improvements with ours at sone point
east Of the Rocky Mountains and 20 with
US to the Pacific on great central route.
with several formations On the Mississip-
pi, and with those termini from st. Lsuis
to 81. Paul nearly all the States in the Un-
ion will BIS conveniently connected with
the great commercial centres Of tho ltisu-
tic and Pacific coasts. The Secretary Of
War states that the difficulties Of the line
already known to be less than on any other
route except that Of the 32nd parallel, and
he states further thai. after bis report to Con-
gress was made, the discovery Of still
more direct route from Great Salt Lake
TO San Francisco, practicable tn -oughout;for
wsgons,was announced by the officer COM
msndipg the troops 10 Utah, 4 route, which
ii found practicable for railroad. will not
only lessen the length Of this line. bu, ias!h
CT diminish its difficulties
Here Gen, DIX read the table. which 10
annexed)
The act OF Congress, under which these
routes were explored, required, fer obvious.
reasons, DO surveys east OF The Mississippi
river. But 1t would be great mistake to
regard railroad from the Pacific to The
Mississippi, as all that ia needed for thu
wants Of commerce, or to suppose that i,
was so regarded by Congress. When you
have reached the Mississippi from the Pa.
CHIC, the question arises, what % the cheap.
est and most expeditions route TO the At.
lahtic This Inquiry sugge,ts another
" hc. lies at the {, undation Of the whole
subject, What point on the Mississippi ought
you TO sch in order to obtain til, mosl d..
rect, economical and convenient access to the
centre OF Commerce on the Atlantic coasti