The independent press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.) 1853-1860, 1858-04-30
The Pacific Railroad.

The Senate seems to have given n urietus to
this measure for the present, hy cfrrriny the
consideration If Senator Gwin's bill till o.c.m
bcr next. The proje appears to be generally
popular, hut various considerations seem to
have ind iced the Admins. ration to evade tie
responsibility of undertaking the enterprise
now. The most prominent: seerns to- be the
deficiency nj pre.ent in the treasury owing to
the diminmtion of the revenue. Tn. road will
o"st ut least f5O, ,00D. 200 one third more than
the original estimate. aud whilst involving
nm immense outlay in its co,,s,ruc, ion nuI ,rrs-
rrrn''"n, could make no immediate return. in
profits: We make the following extract from
the debate on the measure A:
MIR. Polk. (n.lm.,) of Missouri. spoken in f-
vor of his amendment Of the hill in relation l.,
It's eastern t"rrninn lie said TINT If the rnumtl,
oi the Big Sionx be the terminus, twenty-five"
states would hc entirely south of that parallel
"f latitude. and only four north of I while
the parallel carried to the Atlantic would in.
tersect pnrt Of Canada. and he as near Mon
trtnl AS Baltimore. lie elaborated ut great
length upon the advantages Of the thIrtv.tif fth
parallel over all other routes. There is no tun.
melting to be done. and no grade so steep rs on
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad for IL thou.
sand miles the grade is nt the rate of twenty
feet per mile. an, the average grade Of the
whole road Is "nl thirty three and third feet
per mile. There are tni"r aud wafer. and
pr"bab!y coal. on the route. H.. hclrrvcL TINT
the completion of this work would tax the ut.
most "nrrycs of hv country IT, transccrds in
magnitude the Chinese wall. The entire coun-
Try wants 1t. aud believes that the tullncss Of
time has now come for its commencement.
Mr.. Mason ('s'ln,..) Of Virginia, argued against
tn" Govcrnrirn' Inmliyuraiiny Il new system
"fb"nntirs Pntabi in advance. with the view
of inviting labor aud caritnl to undertake the
work. The expectations held ont to the con.
tractors. he said. are ilnSnrv. The road will
cost trm one l." two hundred millions, .: which
the Government gives twenty-five millions in
money an,i twenty-five millions of acres of
laEd Will any substantial contractor tnk.
such risk lie was inrciblv impressed with
the conviction TINT fthe Government can be
induced I" touch this thing with its lit, lc fin.
ger IL will have l." pay for it all in time. 1t
wa- fortunate. however. TINT tl"sc lands wc.e
worthless, else system of fraudulent credit
would hr built on them that world result in
an"'h"r national bankruptcy. lie would OPP
l'"s'. every hill III every shape that proposes
|" bring an Unsuitable swarm Of spectators to
the '!""rs of the Treasury 10y donations of mo
ncv ar lnn,ls.
Mr.. Hale ("pp.) ofNew Hampshire. was in
favor Of a Partic Railroad, without saving
when or how it shall hc constructed. He hal
learned that there will so"n l- II bill offered
t" h"rrow thirty millions Of dollars OF twenty
millions NJ the least. 1t was also mentioned
in MIR. Sl'lslrs recent speech that Cuba NAV
lr had hy nrg"tiat ion. lie wished to know il
this is the settled purpose Of the n.lninis, IN.
,ion h"cnnsr after rmring two hundred mill
lions for Cnha it may not have enough To pay
! hundred millions for the Pacific Railroad
Although he hal admit, ell tho energy Of the
country. he did not think it WAS competent to
both.