Mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado Co., Cal.) 1854-1860, 1858-03-13
From the stnte Journal Of Tuesday.
The Wagon Road.

tcIuaE, were VI pOSluNc CHHT'NtCIi vi
the Wagon Road Bill. The objections Of
the Governor were ovcrrulcd and the bill
is now the law of the land. 1t has seemed
to us that there was mistake about this
matter, somewhere. The Governor deem
cd that the people, after having acted in
their sovereign capacity, should not be
overslaughed, while the Legislature were
claiming that the building of the road de-
pended upon the passage Ofthe bill. We
do not understand that any constitutional
question is involved, but simply the Kan
SaS-Ncbraska question, of hdring the
rOad to be built in the peoples O~M 'ray.
We are not disposed to look behind; the
question is now decided, and it is duty
to acquieScc. Let us now see in what
manner VIC may best Subscrve the public
interests.
judging from past calculations, tho sum
proposed to be raised from the counties
of FL Dorado and Sacramento, will be in.
sufficient for a good and efficient 1'crmG-
nent wagon road. 1t may make u pasSd-
bic road, but it will not, it cannot make
such road as is required by the great
wants of the travel across the continent.
More money is required, and in this con-
ncction we would suggest that the two
counties above mentioned arc not alone
interested in this road. 1t is State, as
we'll as q county affair.
The Legislature of 1855 voted an ap-
preparation of 800, 900 for this road, but
the appropriation was ineffective, because
there was no money in the Treasury
Even this sum has been deemed made
quatc to q first class road, by gentlemen
of experience, and estimates have been
made by practical men, adding another
fifty thousand to the figure, as necessary
for its perfect completion. All will agree
that wagon road across the Sierra Neva-
das is necessary, and there can be found
none to deny that the State at large,
would act wisely in accepting donation
of fifty thousand dollars from two cOun-
ties, to aid them in carrying out work
of so much general importance.
The State Treasury is now plcthOric
and we can discover no better mode of
depicting it than by making good road,
the tendency Of which will be to attract
travel across the continent. 1t is this
class of immigrants that confcr the most
benefit upon the State. They bring with
them their wives and children, their tiocks
and their herds, in short, they bring with
them their household gods, and when
thus coming amongst us, they make 10
calculation for returning.
We want this class Of population. We
desire, il VIC would have our State pros
per, that the hardy pioneers, thctrontie s.
men of the west, should seek our fair and
sunny shores. There is rich virgin soil
for them to till, there is an abundance Of
gold for them in the mountains. They
may come in numbers as great aS they
please, and there are no fears that the
supply will becxhaustcd, hut the pc,ldlcrS
and spectators generally, those who pro-
,lucc nothing and consume everything
they can lay hands on, arc not wanted,
the market is gluttcd with them. They
have proved the greatest banc to the
country, and they all come by sea, for il
is supposed to be the easiest mode of con-
vcyOncc.
These are thoughts worthy the consid-
Grafton of the members Of the Legislature.
They are not idle words merely thrown
in to ill up a column, but tend, Improperly
regarded, to the permanent building up OF
the State. This road is MT for Sacramcn-
to and II Dorado counties, but for cali.
.torMm. If properly constructed, and ex
tended on the other side, as it will be, by
government aid, it will benefit tho State
more permanently than all the steamers
for the population that come over it will
be q permanent population, and as before
remarked, they will bring with them al
that pertains to home. Now that the
road, the plan Of building, and the COM
miSSioncrS are decided upon, we trust that
n liberal appropriation will be made by
the State to MD in constructing the work
so that it may he placed on footing com
mensuratc with its magnitude and import
ancc.