Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1866-09-15

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century with which MIR. Douglas was
not in some degree identified. His
views were eminently conservative. He
opposed all useless expenditures, all
loose interpretations of organic or adj
ministrative laws, all attempts to evade
obligations resting upon legitimate com
pacts; and yet he was always one of the
foremost in advocating judicious inter-
nal improvements. He was particularly
conspicuous for his persevering efforts
to secure the grant of lands from the
United States for the Illinois Central
Railroad, to which so much of the pros
perity of the State is due. 1t is no in
Justice to the representatives IN Con
gress from Illinois, to whose active aud
zealous cooperation with him that
Invaluable grant was obtained, to say
that but for his determined opposition
it would have been made to a private
company, aud not, as he insisted it
should be, to the State.
You all remember his earnest and
long continued exertions, extending
through series of years, to procure the
passage of a bill by congress for the
construction of the Pacific railroad, the
most gigantic enterprise of this or any
other age. He addressed public meet
ings aud wrote papers to enforce upon
the Judgment of the country the neces-
sity Of executing a work which he re-
garded as destined to become one of
the strongest bonds of union between
the states aud the people ON the two
shores of this continent, and as essen
tial to the full development of our in
ternal resources and our commercial
capacity He did not live to see the
great enterprise commenced. But,
thanks To him and those who like him
toTesaw its importance without
being appalled, 10y its magnitude,
it is now IN course of rapid
execution. 1t was commenced year
ago; the track layers passed Fort Kear :
ney on the Goth of last mouth; they are
now more than 200 miles vest of Oma-
ha; they are more than half way across
the continent. On the lst of April
next this city viii reach, by one I'M
broken railway communication, into
I the heart of the great plains which
stretch from the Rocky Mountains east
ward, and he within 200 miles of Den
yer, in Colorado. OF the 3, 300 miles OF
railroad required in this parallel of lati-
: tude to cross the continent, only 300
will remain unfinished There AS every
, reason to believe, shOdld no unforeseen
event occur to retard it, that in five
years from this time the work will be
finished, the Atlantic and Pacific oceans
and The population on their respective
, shores will he united 10y bonds of iron
which no time can break, and "a large
portion of the trade with China will be
, turned from maritime into overland
channels. The results to which this
improvement must lead no human sa-
gacity can foresee and no human calcu-
latlon compute.
In connection with this subject, let
me recall TO your remembrance the gen
eral gloom which overspread the cOun-
try when the late civil war broke out.
, The stoutest hearts were not WITHOUT
their misgivings, and even those of us
who never doubted the lssae, and who
were determined from the beginning to
fight it out to the end, without rec ard
to conse quences, had our hours and
days of the deep St anxiety. While
calling out, like the psalmist, from the
depths of our distress, ''de pT0fundiS,
the gates of our valleys and our ever
lasting hills were unlocked, as If in re-
spouse to our cry. and treasures, which
had lain buried ia the darkness of ages,
were poured ont in bOnndless pTOfu-
sion to sustain Ia under the enormous
burdens cast upon rs by the war. To
these prolific fountains of wealth the
Pacific railroad ~ to convey us on
its way across the continent-tO
the Rocky mountains, the Sierra
Nevada, and the lower gold and silver
, bearing ranges. The auriferOus noun
tain chains of Europe and Asia have
been penetrated and ransacked for
thousands OF years for the precious met
ais they contain. Ours are, as yet, al
most untouched; and there is every rea-
son to believe IL had almost said to fear)
that the treasures that are to be devel-
oped and distributed among. us, will ex-
coed all that history has pictured of the
riches of the great oriental empires.
For let us bear IN our remembrance that
the administration of wealth by govern
ments is always a source of corruption
that communities grow less scrupulOus
as they grow more rich; that simplicity
of manners gives way to luxury, and
economy to extravaganza; and that
rivalry in industry is succeeded
by that worst and most demOralizing of
mpetitiOn-emulation in expenditure.
Social evils of this sort may be endured
and made comparatively innOcuous so
long as public legislation is pure. I
say To you, then, men of the west, look
to the purity of your representatives IN
your state legislatures and IN congress.
Let them be men of talent, if they are
also men of integrity. But let them,
first of all, be honest and incorruptible.
1t was the good fortune of Mr.. Doug
las to have borne his part in the nation
al councils when incorruptibility was
deemed as essential in a public legisla-
tor as chastity In a woman, and to have
gone through life, during the highest
MS reputation In his personal or public
relations. Impure legislation was the
evil, for WHICH above all others, the
founders of our government had the
deepest concern
"Quod nostri timuere pdtreS,"
and it is on you, as voters, holding in
your hands the power of selection, that
the responsibility rests of maintaining
the stability of the government by con-
fiding its administration, and especially
its Legislative functions, to pure men.
1t has pleased the Sovereign Rnler of
the universe to strengthen and uphold
us in the seasons of our adversely and
peril. Let US implore Him not to leave
us to ourselves in the more dangerous
ordeal of our prosperity.
The oratury of MIR. Douglas was mark
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