The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1867-06-12
THE UNION NPAOIFIC RAILROAD
FROM OMAHA, NEBRASKA,

THE UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD
FROM OMAHA, NEBRASKA,
What has been done and when
IL Will be finished,
No great enterprise was ever begun
about which so little has been said and
so much has been done. The public
have vague idea that railroad is being
built from somewhere in the East to
somewhere in farther West than rail-
track has ever before been laid; but
where it begins, or what route it follows,
or where it is to end, we venture To as.
Sert, not one in thousand can tell
For dozen years we have heard that
great Pacific Railroad Das to be built,
and dozen names and dozen oompan.
les, and dozen routes-from the south.
crn boundary of Texas to the northern
boundary Of Lake Superior-have been
urged upon Congress as the greatest and
best means for uniting the Atlantic and
Pacific, shores Bubble after bubble was
blown, and each burst in turn when
touched by the sharp point of practical
experience.
| The absolute necessity for Pacific
Railroad to retain and bind more closely
together the eastern and western extrem es
Of the continent in one great United and
Pttc,fc country, the immense cost Of
government Transportation to its frontier
and Rocky Mountain posts, and the even
greater cost Of Indian wars, 10 0 region
that nothing but a railway could civiIizc,
and nothing but civilization could pacify
the great importance Of opening q
road to the rich gold and silver mines Of
the Rocky and Sierra Nevada Mountains,
so that tho way to the resumption Of spe
Gle payments might be made shorter and
essier,-all these prudential reasons f.
nally pressed with such weight upon
Congress, that it determined that the
road should bo made. There were, in
deed, many others; two thousand miles
Of additional territory would be opened
for settlement; vast bodies of land nov
valueless would be made productive thu
tide Of business aud travel that now winds
q tedious and dangerous way along tht
borders Of two oceans, would be increased
ten.fold and how would the father ii
the East strike hands with their sons and
daughters at the Golden Gate, if they
, , could only be bourne on the wings 9th,
locomotive F! I s.r, -.."yaf. y
The imperative need of the work wa
admitted, but it was too vast for individ
apl enterprise 10 attempt. No combina
tionlof private capitalists was willing I,
risk IA hundred million dollars In the con
, struction of2 900 milesof railroad througl
o wilderness. As the undertaking wa
; strictly national, SO no power less thai
that of the nation was sufficient to &C
complish it; and large as the cost necess
ariIy would be, the expenditure woul
> save a much greater cost to the country,
But the Government diduot wish to ante
, upon any new system Of internal in
}, provements on Its own account and il
only alternative was to grant its aid i
y the most careful manner to such respor
sible individuals Of suitable character an
l. energy as might bc willing to risk q pO
! ton of their private means in tho col
! struOtion of tho road. T1si
THE OOMPANY'S CHARTER AN
{, ,EGt9 ROUTE. e. :, t
q This charter was granted and perfe
tod by various acts Of Congress, and Il
r Company comprises men d the highe
d reputation for integrity, we,lth, and bus
ness experience. Among The officers al
= Gen. Jonn A, Dix, President, Thoml
r. Q. Durant, Vice President, and Hon,
j. Cisco, late Assistant Treasurer Of, h
s. U,s. 4Ttsppsprer. Iss a. s5fIt5oS1 ii5 I, d
ID Tho Capital authorised By the Chart
Is Ono Hundred Million Dollars,
r which il is estimated that'pbt' exoeedin
- Twenty-Five Millions villbe require
and Of which Five Millidns hive Bac
/. paid in. tit
n - l.
20 ut has been proved, alreldy, that Il
entire interest on the fftt millions
ir;S bonds advanced by the Government "
a- be saved more than twicj over in Il
Is. consequent diminutiou Of Governme
expenses in the region though viii,
,s, tho road passes.