Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-02-04
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[From the Washington Republic. !
The Pasf0c RuSIroad,

Yesterday will be Remembered asa white
day in the history of the Republic. The
President signed the bill for the admission
of Kansas, the thirty. fourth State in our
glorious sndperpetusl Union and the SEN
ate, BY the imposing majority of thirty-seven
to fourteen, passed the Pacific Railroad Bill
sent up from the House, but amended, so as
to provide for three roads, instead OF two,
from the Valley Of the Mississippi 10 the Pa
ciic Ocean. The bill, as passed by the SEN
ate, was amended in many of its details but
under the pressure of the great public neces-
stiles which call for its passage, the disagree
ing votes of the two branches Of Congress
will be brought into accord by Committees
of Conference or in some other of the par.
lamentary modes. 1t is impossible that
measure should fail, which is urged forward
by such an overwhelming public sentiment,
and which is enforced by such pressing mo.
tives Of national policy.
The progress Of this discussion has, we be-
ieve, satisfied the country, that the idea Of
single road to the Pacific is Inadequate and
imperfect. Our coast upon that ocean is so
long, and we are so advancing upon il, not
in column, but by our whole latitudinal line
of empire, that one road must be partial and
unsatisfactory. The true idea is, not that of
a bridge to the Pacific, but of a complete oc-
cupation, from the North to the South, of the
whole territory which separates US from it.
The two-road bill of the House was a good
one, but the three-road bill of the Senate is
better still. The magnitude of the measure,
instead of being an objection to it, is, at this
juncture, its best recommendation. 1t is
Just what is needed to steady mems minds
and attach them to the Government, by a
stroke of energy and vigor, at great crisis.
1t illustrates and enforces, to the dullest ap-
prehension, the beneficial power of a united
national Government, in contrast with the
sof- TA
invigorates the sentiment of American ma
tionality, inspires pride in the resources of
the country, and diverts the public attention
from baleful discords, by the contemplation
of great achievements of peace and civiliza-
tion which better befit this new continent
and this new age.
But while in this sense, and for such pur-
poses, the bill, as passed by the Senate, is a
large one, it is not of a magnitude which
need inspire alarm. The total maximum
money appropriation of the bill is only $l2l,-
0OO 900, mere bagatelle, when it is consid-
cred that it is to be spread over term Of
fifteen years at the least, and that it is not q
gift, but loan, or an investment, paying
abuDdantly in direct postal and military
| services to the Government, in addition to
| its indirect development of national re-
sources. 1t is not quite the fourth part OF
the sum xIended by the English in the Cri-
| mean war, to avert danger to their East
Indian possessions which was contingent,
and, at all events, remote. 1t does not com.
pare with the sum paid for Louisiana, max.
ing allowance for our increase of wealth
within sixty years.
1t is less than the sum which its conspicu.
Gus opposers have repeatedly offered within
the last thirteen years to pay for Cuba, which
was only desired for sectional aggrandize-
ment, but which would be for the nation an
apple of discord, and source Of weakness
rather than of strength. 1t is not quite
double the amount which has been invested
in railroads by the single State of Massachu.
sets. 1t is only an eighth part of what tht
whole country has already invested in thi
greatest of modern improvements.
The final passage of this bill will be hailet
with acclamation. 1t will stimulate bust
ness, by making market for iron, for ma
chinery, for labor, and for the food and cloth
ing of laborers. 1t will restore confidence
and revive the dropping industrial energies
of the country. The scheme of development
which it effectuates has been long maturei
in the public mind, and has been adopted il
the platforms of all the national parties. l
is now the fullness of time for its realization