The Davenport daily gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1869, 1856-06-28

sRc0 Nm CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.
Fsr Representative.
TIMOTHY DAvIS, 81 Clayton csuaty.
IOWA 1AILRoADs.
The Chicago Trsbxxs publishes q letter
IRON I correspondent In Aarshall county.
in this State, in reference to the Iowa Land
Grant, aad the wrong which the writer as-
serts is threatened to be done the central
and western counties, in the application Of
the lands to the purposes contemplated BY
the act Of Congress. The writer fears
thst the central and western counties win
Be Aeeced by certain nominal, and perhaps
bogus corporations, and what he demands
i, that the lsnds lying in particular coan-
ties shah be applied to building roads in
shose counties, and not in the counties
where thsre are no lands subject to be sp-
psopfiated for railroad purposes.
This would seem at the first blush to be
altogether . Just and correct way of con.
sidering the subject, though il must be APP
parent to any one who takes an extended
view Of the matter, tina, it 10 very possible
70 say something on the other side Of the
question. For instance-this writer says
that he is interested on the line of the Ma.
auoketa and 42d parallel road, and he illus-
trates the wrong which be supposes 10 Be
neditated sgainst the central and western
counties on that line. BY stating that there
are no vacant lands on thai line Of road, for
over Z hundred miles vest of Lyons: and
he asks if the Railroad Company thst 10
working from Lyons 20 Asquoketa. shall
sell the vacant lands in Msrshall and other
interior counties, for the purpose Of con-
struchng the road in the counties further
est. We quote that part Of the writer's
rem.rks which il devoted to this point
aShail the western counties be robbed Of
their iapds TO build . railroad for the rich
esssera~ countes, and then be selhshly told
that they must subscribe stock and pay
monet, If they ever get the Railroad bull,
tofheir borderss In the counties OF Gin
ron. Jackson, Jones, Linn and Benton, o.
the eastern portion Of the Lyons road, it is
veil known there ID not o acre Of and
In the next counties on the line, lama
NarshalL. Story, Boone and Greene. stretch
inc hspSkir1s he distance across che Stat, il
Is equally well known that there il not va
can't land enough to build . road from Ly.
oas 10 Naquoketa, or say thirty miles west
Of The Mississippi river. Shall we, of the
poor and sparsely settled counties of the
vest. be robbed Of our lands to build . road
for LYONS and Maquoketa, where the coun'
try i thickiy settled and the people rich
What right has any Lyons and Nsquokets
Rairosd Company 70 touch one acre Of
the lands of the western countiess II
would be decided impudenc e for them 10 ask
for Il: and the State would betyay her trust,
and guardianship Of the rights Of the people
Of me western counties and defeat the OBJ
iect Of the grant of lands BY Congress, to
Jake them out Of the hands Of the western
counties"
This oil seems plain enough but the
question arise., how would Marshall and tbs
other counties in that par, Of the State b
benefited, II none Of the proceeds of the va
cant lsndswere to be appropriated otherwise
than to the building ofroads in the counties
in which they are respectively situated
The great object il to establish a railroad
commnnica alton with points on the Missis.
sippi, and thence with the different roads
which connect Iowa with the eastern mar.
kets. We apprehend no mi is foolish
enough TO suggest the construction of a
road in The interior. before the arrange
ments had been perfected for lis extension
to the Mississippi river. We believe it is
generally conceded, that any road passing
through our State will be beneficial to the
counties which it traserses, ia proportion
to the facilities which it may open for con.
mnnication with the commercial marta OF
the east. Hereafter, the benefits to be de-
rived from railroad communications with
the Pacific may be Of equal Importance
but At present. the gres, object simed at is
. communication with the east.-and it
seems to US that il the policy Of this writer
could be successfully carried out, the cen
frsi and western counties would be standing
very much in their own light. and would be
pursuing q dogin-the-manger policy more
detrimental 10 their own development than
10 thar Of the river counties. The writer
thus concludes:
aMy plan for the protection of the ceptr-a
and western counties, IL this; ins'--s OF the
State giving over the i--e.is any haiiroad
Comnsnv ifhat~-ay have been fussing for
y.,,s sd never built q mile of road and
- viii use the land for speculation, and to
build Z few miles of road into Lyons, let the
counties Of the 42d parallel west of Linn
county, 70 wit: Benton, Tsms, Marshall,
Story, Boone, Greene, Carroll, Crawford and
1onors-let these counties, on the line of
the road, and that have the vacant lands,
form their own Railroad Company of their
own citixen s, and build their own part of
The road. according 10 the intention Of Con-
gress thsf it should be bgilt. lfLyons and
Alquoketa build a road TO Marion 10 meet
the western division, well and good. If
they do not, some other company will,
and without taking our lands 10 do H."
We are certainly no further concerned in
this question, than ss it bears upon the il
terests Of the State At large. The eon,in
e@IDh NJ - AARooiSLPPs &AleSOuii fSAil.
road westward, 10 comparatively but little
dependent on the situation of the vacant
lands Its importance both as 4 State and
a National Road Is so clearly undersiood
and it Is SO well known that il win be . pay
ing Constitution, !" that it is bound to be COM |
pletsd, and that shortly, whether the amount
of money which it derives from the sppro- |
priated lands be great or small.
We do not fully understand the whole
extent of the power which the Legislature
VII possess in the matter OF perfeciipg the
grant Of Congress, but all thst We desire lie
that il win use The power with which it |
may be vested, for the purpose OF forward
ing the best interests of the State. There
are certain designated points in The son-
tsmplsted roads which cannot he overlook.
ed or set aside, and tina, being admitted, it is
70 be hoped that the settlement Of the de.
tails can be safely entrusted TO the good
sense, rs well as the justice and honesty Of
the Legislature.