Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1858-02-13
PIcKENs COURT HOUSE, S SATURDAY. FEBRUARY 49, 1s5a
I The Pacific Railroad,


The following is u synopsis of the Bill
introduced by Mr. Gwin into the Senate
of the United States for the construction
of Railroad to the Pacific:
The first section authorizes the President
to make contracts for the transportation by
Railroad of mails, troops, munitions of war, !
supplies, &c, from point on the Missouri
river, between the mouths of the Big Sioux
and Kansas rivers to San Francisco on the
most eligible routc-~refcrencc being had
to feasibility, shortness and economy.
The second directs the eadvertscmohtf for
proposals for constructing the road and pcr-
forming the service required.
The third section provides that the CON
tracting party shall denosite 100000 with
the Secretary of the T .asury as a guaran-
tee for the fulflmcnt of the contract.
The fourth section provides for the APP
preparation of a quantity of public lands
equal to the alternate sections, for twenty
miles on either side of said road through
out its entire length.
The fifth and sixth sections relate to the
location of the route and it's division into
sections, together with compensation of
carrying the mails.
The next section authorizes the issuing
to the contracting party on the completion
of the first twenty-five miles of the road,
United States bonds, to the amount of SILL
500 per mile, which arc to bear interest,
payable semi-annually, not exceeding five
pper cent, and are to he payable nineteen
years after date of said contract. On the
completion of the second section of the
road, similar AMOUNT of bonds arc to be
issued, and so with each succeeding sec
ton until the road is finished providing
the aggregate amount shall not exceed S25,-
100000. These payments are declared to
be advances made to the contracting party,
and together with interest, they are to be
repaid in transportation and service, as pro-
yidcd for in the act, before any compensa-
ton besides the lands appropriated, is to
be given for such transportation and ser
vice. This section also provides that the
contracting parry shall pay duty on all iron
imported for the road, and shall give the
preference to American railroad iron if the
latter of equal quality can be obtained at a
cost not exceeding that from foreign coun-
tries.
The eighth section enacts that in case
the contracting party fails to prosecute the
work so as to secure it's completion in com
pliance with the terms of the agreement,
all thor rights to the said road, right of
way, lands or other property pertaining
thereto, together with the unexpendcd
amount of stocks deposited, shall be for
feited. In the event of such forfeiture,
the President is authorized to relet the UNI
| completed portions of the work, on terms
NO Il Al,
act, aud SO as to secure its earliest compile
tion.
The other sections make directions in
regard to the selling of the lands along the
route, the establishment of an Electric Tel
| egraph, and some matters of detail not nee
essary for us to repeat. The Bill has evil
IDENTIFY been prepared with great care and
should enlist careful scrutiny.
Caroltna Times.
Kansas Policy of the Administration.
We copy the following letter of the Hon. j.
CLANCY Jones, of Pa, to Democratic meet
ing in Philadelphia, as containing remark
ably clear and forcible exposition of the poll
icy of the Administration in reference to Kan
| sas
WAsHINoToN, Dec. 26, 1857 7.--.Gentlemen
/ have the honor to acknowledge the receipt
of your invitation to attend n meeting of the
Democracy of Philadelphia, to be held on
! Monday next, for the purpose of sustaining
the message OF the President. regret that
my duties here compel me to forego thcpleas-
! ure it would afford me to accept your invita-
| ton. The message is one which has my
| hearty and cordial approval The doctrine
| of popular sovereignty is now settled and
integral part of the Democratic creed SO,
also, is it's correlative, that of non.interven-
| ton by Congress in the domestic affairs of
the Territories. AT ours is a government of
law and order, the popular will of the Terri
| tory can only be known through it's legal rep
| resentatives. rE ~ fras ~ tHSe ~
The mode and manner of conveying that
will to tho Federal Government belongs cx-
| clusiYely to the people of the Territory. If
| they direct that it shall be made known only
through the popular suffrage, ratifying the
acts of their Representatives, it can be receiy-
| cd in no other form. Ifthey authorize their
| representatives toSspeak for them without
submission, or Impartial submission to their
| popplarvote, itisalike binding; for while, in
each and every case, wo have no right to die
tate, suggest, or intervene, T Econsidef 1.-THE,
! highest attribute of popular Sovereignty to
allow the people of a Territory not only to
| form and control their own domestic institu-
tions, but to do shis in their own way, and
not the way that Congress may suggest
Kansas has done this. The President has
mo legal knowledge of thepoputarwill there,
except through its own chosen reproscDta-
tives. Ifho were torejector disregard this.
it would not only nulhfy the acts Of popular
sovereignty, communicated TO him through
Legitimate channels, but it would be inter
ifVenti0n with u {fi,fh hand md nm Fxoctsf;vo