Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1859-01-27
MisteIlaneom.
The Pacific Railroad as a Com
mercial Project.


mercial Project.
Senator Wilson of Massachusetts, al
though one Of the prominent friends of th,
Pacific Road, abandons all attempt TO Civ,
it commercial character. He showed il
his recent speech in the Senate that, as {
carrier of freight or passengers the ROAD
would be worthless to the stockholders
He estimates the number of passengers
between California and the East as one
hundred thousand. If they all went ovel
a arailroad two thousand miles long, it would
be fifty to the mile yearly. The average
number of passengers over the Massachus
etts railroads according to Senator Wilson
"are eight thousand to the mile yearly, and
the roads divide only three and a half to
four per cent; they do not earn more than
five and half per cent. over expenses, and
some of them are in debt. The Eastern
Railroad carried one million three hundred
thousand passengers last year twenty
thousand to the mile; but its stock can be
bought to-day for forty-six dollars, and it
has not made dividend for several years
it is in debt, and uses its income TO dis
charge the debt"
"Again, as to freight, the same authori-
ty argues, the result would be similar
The lowest rate of carriage in the United
States, is that for the conveyance of coal
over some Of the Pennsylvania roads, which
is two cents per ton per mile; but the av-
erage rates are much higher than this and
yet let US take the lowest rate, for a COM
.parison, of the cost of conveyance of. two
thousand tons, s,-the usual cargo of clip
per ship-between this city and San Fran
cisco, which is three thousand miles dis
tant. By the clipper ship, it would be
twelve dollars per ton, or $4,000 for the
whole voyage, but by the railroad it would
cost sixty dollars per ton, $4,000 for the
whole voyage. In other words, it would
cost five times as much by railroad as by
sea, and Mr.. Wilson may well doubt wheth-
er the Californians, though dwelling in Ell
Dorado, would be willing to pay to pay
this increase to save few months time"
Mr.. Wilson might have added that a
read TO the Pacific, filled to its capacity
with freight at this rate, could not pay
running expenses. If the India trade is
taken into the account, and the commerce
of Europe with Asia is to be carried on
across our continent, the freight on the
two oceans, which would be equal to that
of the whole voyage by sea, is to be added
to railroad charges. The John Bulls would
be very good natured if they patronized
our road on such terms.
Any commercial use for the road being
out of the question, and being only a gov
ernment scheme, it would seem that the
most feasible and economical route should
be selected, which would answer the pur-
poses of the Government. This is un-
doubtedly the Northern. An article in
this paper few days ago, showed that
the Northern route connecting the grea:
Lakes with Puget's Sound was the shortest
by one thousand miles, and every way the
most feasible; but national uses are not the
object of the Southern supporters of this
project. fit is only for national objects,
it is unconstitutional. 1t is plainly declar-
ed that they will oppose the bill If there
is any restriction to prevent the extreme
Southern route being selected. Senator
Iverson of Georgia, wants it on Southern
route, SO that when the South leaves the
Union it will fall to its share, and this
seems to express the sentiments of the
Southern supporters of the road. Douglas,
as sop to the Southern Cerberus, opposes
any such restriction; he regard it as sec
tioaal to place any limitation that will pre-
vent its location on the Southern border.
The promising region through which the
road will pass for nearly thousand miles,
and the lands that are TO be sold to re-
deem the Government loans issued to build
it are thus described by Lieutenant Michler:
"Imagination cannot picture more
dreary, sterile country, and we named it
'Mal Pals The burnt-lime-like appear
ance of the soil is ever before you, the very
stones look like the sorie Of a furnace
There is DO grass, and but sickley vege-
tation, more unpleasant to the sight than
the barren earth itself; scarcely an animal
to be seen-not even the wolf or the bear
to attract the attention, and, save the liz
zard and the horned frog, naught to give
life and animation to this region"
A little further on he observes:
"The eye may watch in vain for the
flight of a bird; to add to all this is the
knowledge that there is not one drop of
water 10 be depended upon from the So
noyte to the Colorado or Gila. All traces
of the road are sometimes erased by the
high winds sweeping the unstable soil be-
fore them, but death has strewn contin-
uous line of bleached bones and withered
carcases of horses and cattle as monuments
to mark the way" ~. .-.
Ifthis bill was deprived of the support
which is now given for disunion purposes,
the. country would be relieved from any
danger of its being passed at this session.
We hardly know how to admire sufficient
ly the meekness of those northern Demo
ocratic Senators who are assisting to pro-
mote this object on the extreme Southern
route, when the disunion object of such a
location are so freely avowed. 1t is fash
ionable here at the North to toast the
Union, but, in the atmosphere of Washing
ton, the Union becomes sectional insti-
tuition, and it seems to be Democratic to
assist any assault upon it. Senator Iver-
son stated in the Senate, last week, that
professions of love to the Union were the
sure road to political death in the South.
We commend this to the Northern Democ-
racy, as coming from the South, where all
Democratic doctrine originates. II IS