The Shasta courier., 1865-03-18
COURIER,
California and Oregon Railroad.

NoHSress has passed q Dill, which only
failed year ago for lack of time extending
National and to the California and Oregon
Railroad. 1t has been stated that the same
grants of bonds and land are accorded this
project which are allowed the Pacific Rail
road but this is mistake As the enter
prise is more local than national in its char
acter, though it will be an important adjunct
of the continental road, Congress was indis-
posed to do more for it than for anv of the
local roads of the Western States, and that
was merely to make liberal grants of land
The bill. as introduced, granted every alter
nate section of public land Except mineral
land, of course, for ten miles ON each side
OF the road The Amendments to the Pacific
Railroad Act that were passed last wear give
double this amount of land to the Central
faclhc Railroad Company, while the recent
amendments give the company the further
privilege OF going forty miles on either side
OF the road, and taking up even sections in
lieu OF odd sections pre-empted, sold or re-
served. Whether the same increase of grant
and privilege is extended to the Oregon Rail.
road in the bill as it finally passed, we do not
know; but if only every alternate section
within ten miles on each side of the road is
given, thatis munifcent grant, and is alone
sufficient to give vitality to the enterprises
1t would secure to the stockholders 6. 400
acres for each mile of the road, which would
amount to 4, 100, 900 acres for the whole dis
tance of $50 miles, that being the length of
the proposed road. Some idea of the immen-
slty of the tract thus donated to encourage
the construction of a great internal improve
ment, may be gained by rejecting that the
area of the whole State of Massachusetts is
only 4,640.OO0 acres, that of Connecticut
only 3,040, 900 acres, that of New Jersey
1881, $40 acres, of Delaware ,356. 800 acres.
and of Rhode Island 7S6, 900 acres. 1t will
be remembered that the lands granted lie
mostly in the valley regions of California and
Oregon, and will eventually be as valuable
for agricultural purposes as the prairie lands
of Illinois, which were so lavishly granted to
the Illinois Central Railroad Company, and
which have made that company the wealth
lest railroad corporation in the Union At
the Government price of 81 % per acre. the
Oregon Railroad grant is worth to-day So,
200, 200. IF the franchise is managed by
liberal and sagacious minds, this great pro-
perty can be made Immediately available in
aiding the construction of the road and in
creasing the way traffic for its support as it
is completed. The sale of alternate plats in
particular districts to actual settlers at low
prices and on easy terms will induce settle |
ment and bring the adjoining plats into mar
ket ut greatly enhanced rates; thus making
the grant basis of credit which, in addition
to private and public subscriptions to the
stock, will enable the managers of the road
to push it steadily and rapidly ahead.
The California and Oregon Railroad pro-
.iect is in the hands of two corporations,
organized in the two States respectively
The California and Oregon Railroad Company
was organized at Marysvile, in December |
1868, after a preliminary survey for a rail
road route from Marvsville to Portland had
been made by S. G.. Elliott. at the instance of
an informal association comprising many
citizens of Northern California and Oregon
This survey, the cost of which was borne by
the people along the route, established the
practicablity of the project, and excited
great interest on the subject, especially in
Oregon, where the matter has been favorably
considered at public meetings, in Executive
messages and before the Legislature. Our
own State Legislature passed resolutions
urging Congress to extend the National
assistance which has lately been granted.
The California company proposes to build
the road from the terminus ofthe Marysville
and Oroville Railroad (already in operation,
to the Siskiyou Mountains, on the Oregon
border, ria Red Bluff, Shasta and Yreka.-
The Oregon Company. known as the Calfor
mia and Columbia River Railroad Company,
will continue it through the Rogue river
Umpqua and Wallamet valleys to Portland.
The whole length of the road is 650 miles,
and it is estimated to cost about $50, 900, 900
Many years must elapse, perhaps, before the
entire completion of such an extensive work,
the length and cost of which are nearly one
IA III 80 >, d. u Al
it will be built there is no doubt, while
important sections of it, at either end, will
be commenced during the present year.
Apart from the need for it as connection
between the Central Pacific Eailroad and
the Columbia river and Puget Sound, it is
made local necessity by the peculiar topo-
graphy of the region that it will traverse.
The productive valley lands of northern
California and Oregon lie in a trough between
two mountain chains-the Sierra Nevada or
Cascades and Coast Range A line of rail-
road connecting these lands with tide water
can alone give the inhabitants quick access
to the best markets for their products. and
invite the immigration of an apricultu-
raj character which is so essential TO the
solid prosperity of State. To the farmers
OF both northern California and Orepon. the
cost OF transportation, by the slow and devi.
Gus modes In vogue, is so great as to amount
to an almost complete embargo. Direct
railroad communication to Portland at the
north, thence by steamboat to the ocean.
and to Marysville at the south, thence by
railroads already in operation or progress to
the Bay OF San Francisco, would remove
existing difficult es and burdens. and enable
the farmers of the region thus opened to
furnish for expectation large quantities of
yrhIph M thnV- oo,,il
ket at remunerative rates.
Besides these considerations. there are
others even more striking in favor of the
road. 1t is located on the direct line of the
great coastwlse trade and travel that ;s
springing up under the stimulus of northern
mining discovery. 1t will be the great HIGH
way In preference to the roundabout Sea
route for much of the freight and travel
flowing from California to Oraron- III