Arkansas true Democrat., 1858-11-24
Cairo a Fn,,on Railroad & Branches.

To be entitled An act concern'hg We CdtFo and Fulton Railroad and its ttco brarches."
 SEC. l. Be tt enacted by the General Assem- Uy of the State of Arkansas, That section SIX o "an act TO amend an act to aid in the con- structon of the Cairo and Fulton Railroad,' ap- nroved January 18th, 1855" approved 26th November. 1856, be, and the same IS hereby renealed and the Cairo and Fulton Railroad Comnanv and the companies of the Little Rock and Fort Smith branch of the Cairo and Fulton railroad. be. and they are hereby released from that mart and condition of their respective bonds to the State. by which they were required to comply with the said section six of the said act of the 26th of November, 1856, and the said bonds shall be and remain good and valid m all other respects, and all the objects lntehdeo to be attained by the execution of the said bonus by the Presidents of the respective companles shall be as fully and effectually accomplished from and after the passage of this act as II 'ae said section six had never constituted Paf' ., the said act of the 26th November, looo, ana as fully as if each of said companies haa com piled with the said section of the sad ac'.
 SEC. 2. Belt further enacted, That the Mem, phis and Little Rock railroad company aoa snail have until the first day of December, looA' 10 complete the second division oi the me',l ,lP'iS and Little Rock railroad, between tne o', T all cis river and White river, and shali suiief no forfeiture for not completing sad oiV,S'om o,, oi the road at an searlier period; Pr0Vasea' iat said company will on or before me hiS' uay oi January, 1861, complete the division oi Sad railroad from Devalrs bluff to the AakanSaS river, at point opposite Little Rock' ana pro- vided that the road shall be constructed as near as practicable upon the line of the roao hAeo by law and designated on the ofhclal map on file in the office the Secretary oi o'a'e ol thlS state. ~
 SEC. 3. Re it further enacted, That all laws and narts of laws contrary to this act, be and the same are hereby repealed, and thls act shall take effect and be in force from and aiter Its passage.
 This bill,:as we understand it, carries out the recommendations of the Governor on the sub feet contained in his message to the present General Assembly. On calm and patient view of the question, no one, we apprehend' can arrive at any other conclusion than that some thing of the kind proposed and recommended must be done.
 Thes construction of the Cairo and Fulton railroad and it's branches overrides..in importance all other public questions that can possibly be brought up before the present session ot the legislature Past legislation has been unirend y to the object of the rich grant of lands made by Congress, to the State for railroad purposes. The additional conditions and restrictions thrown around it by the legislature, has so tied 1t up as utterly to cripple the-companies who based their hopes and calculations of building the roads:upon its application. Instead of enabling them to use the lands to build the roads con- templated by the grant, the policy has been sought to be established to require the compa- nies who have undertaken the work to build the roads, first, and then to apply the lands to reimburse themselves afterwards. The views of Congress, as expressed in the act making the grant, were widely different. Congress, while it threw restrictions enough around the grant to prevent the squandering of any material part of it. still gave in absolute fee simple to whom soever undertook to build the road a certain quantity of land to build certain portion of the road. It gave one hundred and twenty sections or ldiQ tO bC ucCNi III Soho1iuN'i' ~ 'i1''NS SA road, and when the first 20 miles of road were finished, it gave 120 sections more to construct the next 20 miles, and so.on to the completion of the work.
 This was the policy of Congress, adopted not orly in our own State, but in every other State where grants of land were madesfo railroad purposes. In Mississippi, Alabama, Missouri and Illinois, where this policy was faithfully carried out, the objects of the grants were ac- compished and roads were built. But in Ar kansas, where different policy was adopted, the result has been, so far, nothing but defeat and disappointment Instead of passing the grant of land to the various companies, who have undertaken the work, upon the terms set forth by Congress, Arkansas have so restricted it bv additional conditions that the companies have been utterly unable to apply single acre of the land to the object for which it was granted, and consequently have been able to accomplish but little.
 Something must now be done to remedy, as far as possible, the evil of past legislation, and to carry out the generous design of the federal government in making us the grant. Much of the time allowed in which to avail ourselves oi the munifcent donation has already elapsed.- Longer delay or another misstep will be our ruin | With the reversion back to the general govern ment of the grant of lands to build the Cairo and Fulton railroad and its branches will pass | away for the next quarter of a century the last hope for railroads in Arkansas.
 The bill which we have quoted above is all that is required to carry into execution the law | of Congress Enable the companies to apply the lands, under the restrictions imposed by | the congressional act and we have not the sha- l dow of doubt but that the Cairo and Fulton railroad and its branches will be built.
 The whole subject rests with the present General Assembly. We conjure the members to consider the matter carefully-to weigh it well-and then act with an eye single to the | interest and honor of our State. It is fact that in not single other State where Congress has made similar grant to aid in building a rail- road. has there been failure on the part oi General Assembly to make provision for ap plying the lands in accordance with the design of Congress, nor has there been failure tc construct road thus aided by Congress. Shal it be said that the General Assembly of the State of Arkansas have refused to permit the lands granted by the federal government to be used for the construction of the roads proposed in our State?
 Democracy at the North.
 nal t,i kfrr tho