Daily national Democrat., 1860-02-17
To the Legislature of California.

cation, through the columns OF tue NATIONAL
DrNocnAr. which have been kindly opened
to us for the purpose, deem it proper to pre-
sent to you, for your consideration certain
Ncts in connection with this matter, which
are of great Importance and which cannot
be gainsayed The great point to be deter
mined is that time, is the question Us to which
is the best route for the Pnciic Railroad, all
persons agreeing that the best energies OF
the State and the people should he directed
to the immediate construction Of the Road
We call your especial attention to the fol
lowing letter which one of our number has
received from Mr.. 5. NJ FELTON,, President of
the Philadelphia. Wilmington and Baltimore
Railroad, and one of the most distinguished
railroad engineers and railroad managers in
the United States He expresses as you will
see decided preference for the S2d parallel,
to wit: the Southern Route. Being north
ern man, and having been appointed as Pres
ident of the Railroad Company above men
toned 10y Boston capitalists, lie cannot be
hccuseu u OelhS lnhuVhCeu " Sou'H0An Pi'
| udice. The letter is as follows:
PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 8. 1859.
DEAR II duly received your kind ia
vor # October Sd, aud am much obliged to
| yon for it,
have always regarded the Southern Pa
cihc Route as preferable to any other, be-
cause the climate is such as to impose no diff.
| tculty in its OF Grafton at all seasons Of the
year.
ID Because greater portion of the soil is
fertile, and the way business will be much
larger.
3D. Because being accessible at many points
by water, the materials can be furnished to
many gangs at the same time and the Road
can be built much more exreditiously than
on either of the other routes where the nate
rials will have to be supplied from the end
only. over the track as it is laid.
4th. Because it will form a connection
with all the Southern as well as all the North
ern Roads, and will thus form a more firm
Bond Of Union for the whole country. A
Southern route will be common Trunk for
all the Roads, whereas IL Middle or Northern
route would be considered by the South Sec
tionnl
shall he happy to hear from you again.
Truly yours, S. M FELToN.
Being struck with the decided tone of the
above propositions, we have examined the
authorities on the sui jeCt aud find Mr.. Eel
toms views wholly confirmed by the Govern
mental surveys in 1854 L. regard to the
first proposition of the foregoing letter. it is
amply demonstrated that so far as climate is
concerned, the Southern route presents ad-
vatages with which the other routes can hold
no comparison. The climate on this route, .
says the Report, "is such as to cause less in
terruption to the work than on any other
route" an this dry climate the decay Of
cross ties and other timber would be very
Glow. and the absence Of severe frost would
have most important influence upon the
permanenee Of the road.bed. and heavier
grades could he adopted than in a climate
where ice and snow prevail" There will
be more snow and ice in Tah-ee ebay pah pass
than in any other on the route of the S2d
parallel; but there is no probability of their
being found in sufficient quantity to obstruct,
in the least, the working of the Road"
AS to the second proposition Of the letter,
the Reports show that the belt of land known
to lie along the whole length of the west side
of the Mississippi extends to the 99th meri-
dian and according to Captain Popes Re-
port, to the lO2d degree of ongitude-that is
about degrees further west than on the
more northern routes. Add to this the rich
lands in the valleys of the Rio Grande and
The Road will pass. says the Report, "near
the northern borders of the Mexican States,
or departments Of chihuahua and Sonora.
They extend northward from latitude q or
% de. rees 10 our boundary. The surface is
generally table lands, affording good graz
ing the climate is agreeable. The soil
Of the river valleys is fertile, capable of pro.
ducing, when irrigated, wheat, cotton. dc.
Their wealth is principally in cattle farms
and mines of gold and silver The area is
2so,0o0 square miles. The population ex-
ceeds 100000" New Mexico in 1854 had
already population of $4,000, and must now
have much larger.
As to the Sd proposition, the explorations
fully sustain it. In the first place, the navi-
gable streams are there for transporting the
materials to the line of the Road, and in the
next place the materials themselves are not
wanting. Ties and lumber, according to the
Reports, can be obtained from the Guadalupe
and Hueco Mountains, from the headwaters
of the Rio Mimbres, from the Pinal Lleno,
from the Salinas river. tributary of the Slim
and hendwaters of the San Francisco and
from the San Bernardino Mountains Of the
Coast Range"
From the Guadalupe Mountains to the Rio
Grande excellent building stone is found,
Lime and sand are also found at many con-
venent points along the route. B'tuminous
coal is abundant on the Brazos. Referring to
this the Report says; "ln regard to trans
porting wood for fuel for locomotives, as l.
300 pounds of coal make as much steam as
1880 pounds of pine wood, coal can be
transported three and half times as far as
wood, other things being equal The cost of
fuel on railroads is about one-fifth of the
yearly expenses of maintaining and working
the Road"
As to the fourth proposition. it is well
known that railroads from many of the prin.
cipal cities of the Atlantic States converge in
the direction of New Orleans. The main
Trunk of this connection may be said to be
the line of Road now completed between
MIME and Louisiana Tie PAcific Rnilrnnd