The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1858-04-23

y,
Al rates given in another place. freshts were without
charge Of moment in rsses, while there was rather more
ofiein ing, but engagements were moderate
The Great Pacific Railroad Treasury Rob
birg, Land Jobbapg and Stock Gambling
Scheme.
We perceive that the Pacific Railroad pro-
iect, which the Senate had agreed to postpone
till next December, has been opened again,
under reconsideration of that vote, to the &C.
ton of the Senate during the present session.
We presume, too, that this reconsideration has
been conceded with the intention Of taking
soundings at some early day, and under an Inn
preston among the friends Of the measure
that some bill may possibly be passed even be-
fore the 9TH of June the day when, by appoint
ment, the present session is to close
We apprehend, however, that all attempts at
this session or the next to bring majority Of
the two houses to an agreement upon any Pa
cific railway bill will signally fail To be sure,
the spoils involved in the scheme are equal to
almost any ordinary requirements of log rolling
and lobby corruption but then the sectional
and political considerations involved in this
business are of a magnitude which cannot fail
to stir up stout resistance to any Pacific rail-
road bill whatsoever. Already we see enough
in the ground taken by Southern members of
Congress, and by leading Southern journals,
to satisfy us that no Pacific railroad bill can
be made safe plank in the general policy of
Mr.. Buehansn's administration. And we are
glad to believe this, because the policy chalked
out by the President in his annual message en-
braces quite enough of really useful and prac-
teal measures of legislation to occupy the
closest attention of Congress for several years
to come.
With regard to this project of an overland
railroad from the Mississippi valley to the Pa
cific ocean, whether by a northern, central or
southern route we do not hesitate to pronounce
it the most visionary scheme, and the most bare
faced and stupendous plot for plundering the
treasury, land jobbing and stock gambling that
human ingenuity and cupidity have ever In
vented. Let us see. road connecting the
great artery of the Mississippi valley with the
Pacific ocean, by any route can hardly be less
than two thousand miles in length. And what
by any route is the character Of the country to
be traversed. Is it populous-abounding in
cities and villages: or is il fertile and rich in
its mineral and manufacturing resources No.
Nothing Of the kind.
The Grst eigh! hundred miles of the road,
starting from the inhabited western frontiers Of
Nebraska, Kansas, or Arkansas, would be over
timberlcss and comparatively waterless plains
and the next twelve or fifteen hundred miles by
a northern or central route would be over the
intricacies of two or three of the greatest noun
tain chains on the continent, the intervals being
mostly filed up with deserts as blank and desc
late as those Of Arabia. The extreme southern
route, (Which is the shortest and most available
in every sense,) from the western frontiers of
Arkansas TO the Pacific ocean, passes over a re-
gion which may be aptly described as "a God
forsaken country blank and bowling wilder
ness unfit for anything except wild Indians and
wild beasts.
Excepting the Mormon city at the Great Salt
Lake, and the poverty stricken towns OF Santa
Fe and Paso del Norte in New Mexico, there is
scarcely, by any route, white settlement Of
dozen shanties between the inhabited frontiers
Of the Mississippi valley and the narrow Pacific
slope of Oregon and California. Nor do we
suppose that within these limits, by any route,
even with a railroad completed, could there be
more than a dozen settlements, exceeding a
thousand souls, for one hundred years
to come. And why: Because arid
plains, sterile mountains and sandy de-
serts without flowing water or rains for elk
or nine months in the year, "can never be made
to pay" except with the discovery therein Of
rich deposits Of precious acknowledgements
which here have yet 10 be made.
Suppose, however, We agree to build Pacific
railroad OF two thousand miles in length what
will IL cost Including the transportation
from the two ends Of the timber iron, men, ami
mails, provisions, and including fraudulent con-
tracts, &c, il will average not less than a hun
dred thousand dollars a mile for a single track
The road then, single track, with its necessary
turn out, stations &c., will cost the nice little
sum Of two hundred millions of dollars. Close
calculating engineers put it down at one hun
bred millions, but experience has shown that
their estimates may in almost any case be safely
doubled And where is this sum Of two hun
dred millions to come FROM The lands on the
route are good for nothing except little mar
gin at both ends. Other public lands that are
good will be absorbed, or the treasury will be
drained to meet deficiencies, or the road will
fail. and the paying subscribers and stockbold-
ers will be swindled with grand explosion, as
Of another South Sea bubble.
Pass a bill, however and the spplsmen,
land jobbers and stock gamblers concerned
will soon reap South Sea harvest from a
credulous and speculative community. And as
this, we suppose, is the whole intent Of the
parties actively concerned in the enterprise, we
hope the swindle may never be contaminated
Proved that the road will never begin to pay