The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1858-07-14
From the st. Charles Intelligenccr.
Letter from I. f. Mack, Esq,
WASHINGTON CITY, May %, 1858.

From the st. Charles Intelligenccr. |
Letter from I. F. Mack, Esq,
WASHINGTON CIrr, May %, 1858.
MEssRs. HILDRErH e. CARVER:
Dear Ssrs II am this moment permitted to
road, in your issue Of the 18th inst. letter from
MIR. James Thorington, quite novel in its etylc
and possessing the merit of great length This
letter. occupying more than three and half
columns, rurports to be can answer" to one
written by myself on the Goth of March and
published in your issue of'he 18th ul,imo.
With Mr.. T. have no personal acquaintance
beyond mere introduction. am therefore
lett to estimate the man qy the records of the
state OF Iowa, and by his very original letter,
with such gleanings from his political history
chance to float within my reach. With moth
ing OF him, however, except what concerns me
and my associates in the McGregor Railroad
and the interests of that portion of Iowa in
which it is located, have / to do. A slight
analysis of those portions Of his letter which re-
fer to the McGregor Railroad and to the grant
OF land to Iowa, is due to all.
That 1.-The interests of Northern Iowa were
sacrificed in the passage of the bill of 1885," is
patent suppose to the whole State it seems
to be we'll understood in Congress. and is felt
with crushing weight through all the Northern
Counties OF your State:
In going into Congress, Mr.. Thorinston as.
sumed his share Of obeying the behests of the
GENERA! Assembly of Iowa, and of guard.
ing alike the interests of the entire State,
ana esl ecially OF his entire district. The
General Assembly had pctitioned for, and re.
quested him to use his ''best exertions to pro.
cure grant OF land from the General Govern.
ment' 10 aid in the construction of four certain
railroads" The Eastern termini of these were
uehnitely fixed to wit McGregor, Dubuque,
Davenport and Burlington.
Bills for these roads were introduced and re.
ferred to the Committee on Public Lands. con.
sistng of Messrs. Bennett of New York, Harlan
ofOhio, Cobb Of Alabsm, /, Lindley of Missouri,
Cullen of Delaware, Walbridge of Michigan,
Breton of indiana. Maxwell of Florida. and
Tho ington of Iowa.
AT that time several States had bills pending
before The same Committee for Land Grants.
No other member of the Committee than Mr..
L. seems to have had any interest, from his To-
cation. i'll Iowa Roads. 1t is usual to allow
each member of committee to direct the de-
| tails for his own locality. Soon after I came
TO Washington, / learned from not less than four
who we're members of that Committee, that
! TINS co rtesy was extended to Mr.. L. in sh lp-
| ing the Iowa bill.
"Only keep The quantity of land within prop.
er limits and satisfy 20 State" was all the di.
rectlOn the other members of the G. mmittee
were willing to assume. The bill was report.
| ed to the House by that Committee with the
McGregor road left ont, and the Lyons road,
| not asked for by the General assembly of lo,oa,
inserted in its stead.
Mr.. 7. further says that "Mr. Hall and Seua.
tor Harlan we're as free as new born babes in
the management and passage Of that Bill, fur
ther than their mere votes WENT
Now, confess this sentence, like other DOR.
tions of his letter, battles my philology yet
suppose he means TO divest those gentlemen of
az credit or blame except for their votes. If
Mr.. L. will have the credit, he must of course
take the blame.
He does not charge Mr.. Jones with any in
reference in getting up and shaping the bill,
or OF obtaining its passage in the House. His
quotations from the Senator'S speeches are only
cumulative of what have always understood
to be true. that the Senator knew little of the
tenor OF the bill. or what it in TACT was, when il
came to the Senate These facts learned
from several members of the Land Committee
OF the House soon after I came here, and upon
this information my letter of the Doth of March
was predicated.
| Both the Iowa Senators were surprised, on
the presentation of the bill from he House. and
onsulted as.to the course to be taken, but de-
cided to put it through the Senate in its oligi-
nal shape, fearing that an attempted amend
ment might finally leopard the measure. In
this they may have acted wisely but perhaps
| Gen. Jones confided too much to Mr. T. and
should have watched the bill in its incipient
stages. OF this, however, Mr.. Il. should be
the last to complain.
With regard to the s'interest" that Mr.. T. or
any one else might have had in the adjustment
OF the grant, leave for others to judge. 1t is
perhaps possible that a residence of Mr. T. at
McGregot, or at yaur young inland city, might
have induced him to "pause, hesitate" and
even "debate," before consenting to allow the
extreme Southern portion Of his district 10 mo.
nopolize the grant.
But as he thought proper to enter a general
disclaimer, it is but fair to consider him quite
0isinterested
When l came, which I did with much re.
luctance, as the Directors of the McGregor
Road well know, came with no hope of OBJ
tanning for that Road a grant of land. That
the other portions of Iowa had fully exhausted
all claim was we'll understood But it was
hoped that Congress might be induced to ex.
tend to Our road Presumption Right-giving
time to the Company to establish her lines,
and to select and pay for alternate sections Of
land for six miles on each side the line.
A bill of this description is now before Con-
gress, and ! am much inclined to hore for "a
vorable action as soon as the bill can be reached
Mr.. +. betrays his ignorance of my mission
to Washington in his "gratuitous" structures
and he does much injustice to Messrs Davis OF
Indiana, Montgomery of Pennsylvania, and
Mckibbin of California. They are indeed
democrats" but they are not opposed to grants
| OF land to aid other than their own States
They, together with Messrs Bennett and Wal
hri6 oharn nf tha
favorable to the McGregor bill. Mr.. Cobb also
informs me that he fayors the presumption bill.
Kansas has engrossed SO much time that little
else has been or can be done during this SEES
| sion. But unless our cause be damaged bv
some adverse influence from rival interests, l
believe our bill will pass Congress at an early
day during the next session; and thus some
slight reparation be made for the cruel injustice
heretofore melted out to your section of the
State, not BY Congress, for the grant to Iowa is
liberal indeed, but by those who have basely
aud cruelty sacrificed your interests.
Tee greatest obstacle have had to contend
with, is the enormous size of the grant made TO
your State, and was first met at every turn
| with the statement, "IOwa has had more than
her share already We admit that the McGreg.
| or road should have had her share, but we left
| it to yonr own man 10 manage, and we are not
| to blame"
Icame here ignorant of the manner in which
| the grant had been misunderstanding had no
acquaintance with either Gen. Jones or Mr..
Thorington, and no knowledge OF the relation
which either sustained to thai bill. shall not
be charged with being influenced by political
considerations-I have never acted with the
Democratic party since the election Of General
Jackson.
No motives Of personal consideration could
induce me to notice the remarkable letter Of
Mr. L. at length, or to trouble you with this
controversy. Duty only to my associates in the
/ McGregUr natiruar enterprise-to the citizens
of your section-to the stockholders of the road
and to- justice, is my apology.