The Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1859-1865, 1862-06-26
Eesg Route 10 the East indies.

! new ksS&sG 40 tssc EaSs kSsQESS.
a bill for the construction Of . Pacific
railroad has passed one branch OF the
national Legislature, and Will in all proba-
biIity be adopted by the ether. Those
who live ten years longer, it is ROW more
than probable, viii be able TO travel from
New Aork to San Francisco IN four days,
over road nearl5 direct with grades. al
most lmpereeptlble The Government Is
asked to lend It's credit merely to the con-
StructinS company for forty millions
while private capital aud enterprise
propose to do the rest The bin provides
that the eastern terminus shall be = short
distance above Fort Leavenworth. it IS
said at St. Joseph, which has railroad
communication already with Chicago and
Toledo by two almost straight lines II
Is understood that the route will be a
combination of Beckwith's Survey and
Fremonrs route, running through the
Southwest Pass, touching Salt Lake CITY.
and thence to the head waters Of the
! humboldt river. The Sierra Nevada will
! be crossed at Mobiles Pass towards the
! sacramento, onward to Benicia or San
/ francisco, which are only thirty miles
apart. We have not seen the report OF
the Congressional committee On tie sub
! Ject, but We are assured that he best route
/ viii be adopted
| When we consider that from Chi /
| ca9o or St. Louis the length Of the road
TO Its western terminus viii be but about
two thousand miles, or four or FIVE davs' /
journey as We travel over cur own roads. /
and that parts OF the line are, in fact, /
already constructed IN our Northwestern
States, the practibihty Of the plan becomes
evident. 1t Is certainly no more difficult
OF execution than the railways already
completed, such as the Illinois Central.
seven hundred miles long, or as the Grand
Trunk OF Canada. Two such Grand Trunks 4
would reach to San Francisco.
When the present war terminates We
shall have not merely an army Of soldiers Y
seeking ne~ employment, but men iesareN
to fatigue, familiar with entTenching tooIs
the Plckaxe and shovel, aud who accas-
toned 10 new scenes and novel adventures.
will gladly furnish much Of the labor
necessary for the work. We can imagine
a hundred or two hundred thousand of
these hardy men spread along the route.
attacking the sections simultaneously, and
finishing the whole within the same time
that any single section could be completed.
We can imagine them finally settling
down IN environments or villages all alon,.
the line across the plains, or in the valleys
where the gold and silver crop out. at
once beneftting their own fortunes and ad-
equately protecting the road itself Yet
this result would be an inconsiderable part
OF the benefits to be achieved.
The establishment of ? line Of mail
hpE Ey-sa -,
and China now seems q certainty. If nris
Vate enterprise Is not quite ready, the
government has on hand twenty or more
new wooden steamers in the finest condi-
ton, which may be usefully employed in
commerce, Instead OF being laid up in our
navy yards to rot. These could be at
once used in the Post-ofiice service. and
four, or five, or six Of them placed On the
Pacific eiorthatpurpose. v hat they would
earn In carrying mails and specie would
be SO much towards keeping them in re-
palr, and saving TO the Treasury. This
line VIII bring adyices from China IN
twenty-three days, for even sailing vessels.
under favorable circumstances, have some
times done this. Four DAYS overland bv
the rails will bring them 10 New York
nat would be twenty-seven davs only
from China for 4 merchants letter. An c
the renlttances made from London. or
any other city Of Europe. TO the East.
take from sixty-fve to ninety davs for the '
transit For heavy goods by sea. three t
lnd four months are required by wav of I
he Cape. The renittances of the Amer Q
can China merchants require still longer t
lme, as they must be first sent to London ?
to meet the bills drawn upon them by T
louscs or agencies III Canton or Homo =
Kong. California gold is shipped to New
ork and reshipPed TO London to pay for s
eas consumed here. The British bank a
rs make large profit on these transac- 1
ions. 1t has been recently stated by Mr. I Il
'helps, Representative from Califorpi, Ia
hat our merchants lose twenty per cent
}. the present mo1es of exchau sc. He
aid r.
Our imports from China in the year |.
S5I amounted TO $685. ,932. and our d
omestic exports to China, 5000. .O0O Il
eaving balance against US oe s., 337- OF
-. In 1893 our imports were SI0,570,- E
90, and our exports 50. .467 .645. leaving h
balance against us Of SS, ,102. .S9I. In 7
6oo our imports from the same source rc
ere SI3, 3,566,64l, and our exports 81 "
Io,IS4, leaving a balance against us of HI
o,39o,SO These figures exclude tie b,
xport OF gold and silver. 1t will be oh d'
ervcd that our trade with this nation is h.
apIdiy increasing, our imports hayino ac
sen from 1897 to 1850 about sixty Der re
ant. J.,