The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1864-03-31


" agreeing with it, Havin. done this let
us now pass to his second proposition, that
those who favor resumption are the enemies
Of Railroads Nothing could be further from
the truth than this. I, Sir, viii not yield
even to the gentleman from Dubuque, in my
of the usefulness of Railroads.
regard them as the creates and most bene-
fetal accomplishment OF the wonderful pro-
gress,on Of this age ofwond ers; nor have /
anything to utter deprecatory Of Railroad
men whose genius ard capital have been d.
rected in these great enterprises Sir, it has
been my fortune twicein my life to cross the
Allegheny Mountains upon the Railroad
leading over them from Pittsburg to Phila
delphia, and as have sat in the car being
whirled along at the rate of forty miles an
hour, now along the rugged summit of a
rocky clf, and where I almost shuddeIed as
gazed down into the deep abyss below,
now pluneing along through an extended ra-
vine and looked up to the jagged rocks tow
ering away above me, and that seemed to
stand the grand and silent observers of mans
genius, now darting through that long and
dark tunnel, bored, as it were, through the
very bowels OF the mountainous mass, with
feelings of commingled awe and admiration,
have mentally exclaimed--"are these won
derful achievements the result of m ms ava
rice !? If so, what noble avarice, and by
what an exalted genius is it conducted. -
With similar reflections have been i'm
pressed when crossing that wiry structure
that spans the Niagara have gazed down
into the turbulent stream below with its
waters still foaming and frettul from the leap
they have taken over the great cataract seen
in the distance above. But the honorable
gentleman from the beginning to the end of
his discourse, has insisted and continued to
insist that those who favored Resumption
were opposed to Railroads, and in the warm
generosity, Of his feelings he has told of his
pcrambulations out upon the distant prairie,
where the iron horse had never jo,rneyed,
that there he had met the hardy pioneer and
partaken Of his hospitality ,eaten Of his scan.
ty meal and lain upon his bed of husks and
rags, seen his children barefooted and rag
ged and himself destitute and detected, and
- .-il- 49, tha, thar -nrared and prayed anc
prayed for Railroads. The gentleman then
presented the light side'o Of the picture. ID
tells us that he again visited this scene afte,
tho nraver had been answered, and the
p-:i.-yt.r, tat1 come, and 10 what change
| The little old cabin was no longer to be seen
but in its place arose an elegant and vel
furnished residence, the children were M
longer barefooted and ragged, but shine witt
new clothes and new leather, and in ths
place of the miserable bed Of husks and rags
the downy couch invites the weary traveel
to refreshing repose. @aa |i'- z@
| The gentleman tells US that we now pro
pose to destroy this felctous condition Of
which, ] submit he has drawn a most extrav.
agant picture-that we propose to take from
and deprive the Railroads Of every inch Of
land that has been granted to them in short
to rob, crush and ruin them. Now, sir,
most emphatically deny this. We only pro
pose to take from them something they nev.
er expected to get, something we never in.
tended to grant them, something thet they
claim by merely technical, and not by any
equitable right, and for which they paid nc
consideration, and give it to those grantees
of the State to whom the State intended to
grant it, who expected to receive it and who
paid consideration for it, leaving to the
Railroads all, every inch, of that munifcent
grant which they expected to get, aye and
more too, as will show before take my
seat. Now, then, let us pass to the facts in
the case. In August. 1916. Congress granted
to the State the lands in alternate sections,
for five miles in width, on each side of the
Des Moines river, for the Improvement Of its
navigation. January 9th, lS47, the State,
through the Legislature. accepted the grant.
and instituted Board of Public Works, and
undertook herself the work of the improve
ment of the river. aa '
From this date to Inne, 1854, a period Of
more than six years, the improvement was
carried on by the State by means Of con-
tracts with private individuals. She estab-
lished an Office for the sale Of the lands, sup
posed to be included in the grant, at one dol
lar and a quarter per acre, in order to raise
money to pay her contractors and to carry
on the work and also authorized the issue
of State Bonds upon the faitii Of the grant
which was supposed to include over mil
lion Of acres. After expending large sums
of money, amounting to over hundred
thousand dollars, absorbing large and
the most valuable portion Of the lands,
10000 acres, all lying below the Rae
coon Forks, except about $4,000 acres, in
curing heavy indebtedness, and withal
accomplishing but little, the State concluded
the Utopiau work of making the river navi
gable without water was rather an up hill
business. Accordingly the General Assem-
bly, OF 1853 appointed Commissioners to
make a contract with some company to car
ry on the work and pay the indebtedness Of
the State which remained unpaid, amount
ing to about $40, 900, and to convey to them
the entire grant of lands, and rent them their
tolls and water power - d
These Commissioners, after mitch fiuitfess
exertion and many endeavors, at last sue
ceeded on June 9th, 1884. in making such a