Daily Iowa State Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1859, 1859-02-03


Az our readers have previously been
informed BY telegraph, the, or rather
a, Pacific Rail Road Bill has passed
the Senate of the United States. The
bill. since its introduction into the
Senate, has been so altered, modliiea
and amended, "a TO be scarcely recog-
pixsble as the hanliwork of its author.
Nothing remains of it except the
determination to build three roads, il
any, that the prejudces Of all sections,
Northern, Central and Southern, may
be deferred to.
The bill amounts simply to this =
The advertisement, through two news
papers in each State, Of proposals for
the building Of railroad across to the
Pacific ocean from the " -issippi val
ley, along Northern route, Central
route, and q Southern route-blds for
each and all of those several routes to
be submitted to the next Congress.
As we have before remarked we
cannot !ut regard this project AS too
gigantic and expensive to be carried
out. Three roads would unqnestion-
ably to an unparalleled extent increase
the settlement Of the vast, unoccnpied
territory lyi ing between the Mississippi
and the Poetic Ocean: ont if the ne
cessity existed for the opening up of so
many new avenues for emigration, 1t
would in due time be accomplished by
private enterprise, without mourning
for the government the enormous ex
pense Of assisting in their construction.
In the good pol cy Of rendering stiff
cient government assistance to one
single line Of road, to insure its speedy
complexion, all will agree. One road,
even If it is not vet absolutely required
by the wants Of commerce, is needed
for government pnrposes-to carry It's
mails. to transport troops in case OF
war, and to streng hen the bonds of
union between its Atlantic and Pacific
possession s-but unless some cxtraor-
binary event occurs, to give new I'M
precedented impulse to European emf
grafton, unless there shall he almost
total exodus of the inhabitants of Eu
rope, three roads can never be made
to pay expenses, and will require con
tinual assistance from the government
to keep them alive.
IN the consideration of the question,
Congress should have laid aside all
sectional prejudiccs, and have passed
= bill providing for but one road from
the Mississippi to the Pacific, leaving
the route to be selected AS he interests
of the contractors should suggest. The
best and most feasible route would
thus have been selected, and all bickcr
ing and contention, in Congress at
least, between the different sections,
would have been avoided. 1t mus,
not, no xever, be considered settled
that We are to have three roads, or in
deed even one, to the Pacific. The bill
has not yet passed the House of Re
representatives., and If as much Inference
there exists, as in the Senate among
members of the same parties, tspassage
10 exceedingly doubtful. Neither does
the bill itself provide for the accept
ance Of the proposed bids. On the
contrary after they have been re-
ceived, all may be rejected by Con
gress.
One great step towards the carrying
out Of the great project has, however,
been taken. If passed 10y the House,
the approximate cost of building the
ROAD by each of the proposed routes,
will be ascertaincd, and the great pre-
ponderance of the advantages of some
single one, may induce Congress to
select that alone.