Nashville daily patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1855-1857, 1856-02-08

the House of Correction, was found with her
child, locked up 10 cellar crazy through lack
of food. She was reduced to a mere skeleton,
aud the Child emaciated to mere skin and
bone." Of course such cases always meet with
human sympathy; bot they serve to reveal the
extent of suffering in large city like this,
which escapes the public eye.
AUGUSTUS.
SPEECH OF MIR. ARMSTRONG,
Of Knor and Serisr, on the Bal to charter
the Knorcile, Serierrille and Paint Rock
Railroad COmpany-aad to ertead to said
company the beaeEts of the Acts of 1872
and lS53-4.-In the House Of Repyesea-
tatires, Jan. 80, 1856.
The Bill being upon its third reading in the
House,
Mr.. ARMSTRONG said: That it was with the con-
hdence incident to good cause that be solicited the
attention of the House while he attempted to pre-.
sent some of the considerations which, he hoped,
would induce members upon that floor to favor the
project proposed by his bill. He promised not to
trespass long upon the attention of members that
late in the afternoon, and he trusted they might
bear with him while he dwelt upon few facts
l~1ching the bill which had just been read Lest
had not paid that strict attention to the read
lug OF the bill which he had desired he asked TO
se-state in few words, the substance of it. 1t
was a bill he said, to charter Company to con
struct Railroad from Knoxville to PANT Rock, on
the line of North Carolina, TO some point inter>
sectng with the Cincinnati, CumberlandGaD and
Charleston Railroad, near Newport, the mouth of
Chucky River-or somewhere on the line OF said
road where the connection might be made with the
least expense TO said company. The route from
Knoxville to said connection might be distance
of about forty miles, up the valley of the French
Broad river. II would traverse portions of four
couuties,-Knox, Sewer, Jefferson and Cooke The
bill, after indicating the route, proposed to bring
the road under the provisions of the Acts of 1852
and 1858 4, and would obtain thereby ten thousand
dollars per mile Of State aid.
Mr. A advocated the passage OF the bif with no
hesitation distrust whatever He was one of
those who admired the enlightened policy of past
LEGISLATURES in presenting TO the State the Acts
just referred to, sometimes called the general In
ternal Improvement Acts" He envied the repu-
tation Of those men who had thus so materially
aided in advancing the State be would say, twenty
years With the ken Of tue statesmen, with the
foresight of men fully alive to the progress of the
age, they had adopted policy which, he was hap
py to state he did not believe had yet lost its i'm
portance or its friends upon that floor He
proud to grasp internal Improvement men by the
hanG aud Join, to their noble attempts, bis feeble
efforts to advance the interests of the people of the
State, and of the couNy. He had but to cite mem
bers to the effects Of "a system OF Turnpike Roads
upon Middle Tennessee, the result Of the labors of
the earlier internal Improvement men in the State,
to show the benefits OF such a system. Much more
were the benefits now flowing to the State, and
hereafter to accrue in thousand fold, manifested
by the system OF Railroads completed and in pros
gIess in the State. He believed Tennessee repudi-
ated the penny wse and pOt',d foolish" doctrine OF
old logysm aud that with the strength of a vigor-
Gus youth she was rapidly moving on to immortal
IL. He did not believe that few timorous indi-
viduals, anti-improvement men, could retard
her progress. II was therefore with perfect conf
dence that he asked Of Tennessee Legislature the
charter and the aid contemplated in the bill.
Continuing, Mr.. A. said He believed it necessa.
~ to call the attention OF members to but one or
two points bearing upon the subject before the
House, which he would proceed TO do in the brief
est possible manner. 1t was unnecessary, he said,
this day to speak of the importance OF Railroads.
They were the youngest born and the favorites Of
this age of steam and progression. Without them,
il was clearly demonstrable could scarcely now
exist. They bad become sine qua noa The
'iron horse, . in "bottom, speed" aud everything
Of no competitor. He alone was competent to ade-
quately serve his master. man. The great ciyizer,
he was the companion of improvement, and the
patient laborer in the field of sectional and national
prosperity
Much had been said upon that floor Mr. A. said,
about the "Pacifc Railroad He was aware tina.
the bare mention of that enterprise might pvbvoke
a smile from certain gentlemen, bat the fact must
be confessed that the Pacific Railroad project was
1l,.. ,xf
would distinguish the present century Early in
the session he bad had the honor OF introducing
resolution declaring the of the present Genes
raj Assembly as TO the route that road shall take
and instrucing our Senators and requesting our
Representatives in Congress to contribute their aid
by inducing proper action on the part OF Congress
to promote the building Of the same by route that
might pass directly through our State. This resoS
luton, he was happy TO know, had passed both
branches of the Legislature, perhaps without dis.
senting voice The Pacific Railway, he begged
leave TO say, was not chimerical--it was no "hum
bug" While he leti Mr. Benton, Mr. Fremont.
and others TO direct their mighty energies 10 the
task OF proving the northern route, by way OF
Independence, &c, the most practicable, he pre-
ferred bimSell 10 believe that the efforts Of Robert
J Walker and the efficient officers OF the Texas
Western Railroad Company were directed in the
right quarter. II had once been his fortune TO pass
over a portion OF the route near TO that surveyed
by said Company. and he had ocular demonstration
Of the entire feasibility Of building a ROAD over
part Of toe southern route if be had needed any
other than the testimony Of Col. A. b. GRAY, Uni.
ted States Boundary Commissioner, aud Engineer
IN chief Of the Texas Western and Ell Paso Railroad
Company. He invited The attention of members to
the route lately surveyed by that distinguished En-.
gineer - Making Memphis on the Mississippi, the
initial point, and gong westward, the route would
pass through Little Rock, Ark and Fulton or Pres.
on to Fort Sh4dboume in Texas; thence, slong
the 32t degree OF latitude, 10 San Diego on the
Pacific, running through FL Paso on the Rio GrAnde,
the Messilla Valley: the Gadsden Treaty Purchase,
the Pimos Villages on the. Rio ella, down that
stream to its mouth, crossing the Colorado, and
thence across the lower part Of California to san
Diego, whose harbor. for safety and accessibility
30 justly celebrated. OF the country thus ira
versed-its susceptibility OF cultivation, Its eli.
mate, free from the enerVaiing Influences Of tropi.
cal heat the eongealing effects OF more northern
attitudes; of the suad, lis easy gFsde--and Of the
general adaptation Of the region the construction
Of Railroad he also referred members TO the able
and mt resting Report ofCol Gray. lie regretted,
exceedingly, the 4ire 10 which he had limited HIM
self did not allow OF his speaking more fully Of Tie
locasion Of that Great Highway and It's effects un>
qsesiionably The greatest undertaking OF che age
Tor cur country Il for the rhoe civilized world
Il was q subject upon Which he should delight 70
dweli, no said, but be forcbcre. That the road