The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1868-03-11
The Paducah BPidge-EVansVllle In.
terosts In Danger.


| teFests In Danger.
Some weeks ago we directed atten-
ton to a movement which was being
made in Congress, in the interest of
certain parties at Paducah, which was
calculated to seriously jeopardize the
commercial interests of Evansville.
The Representative from the first
district of Kentucky, Judge TRIM
BILE, of Paducah, introduced into the
House. a bill for the construction of
a railroad bridge across the Ohio Riv-
er, at that point, which, without OBJ
lection, was referred to the Commit
tee on Roads and Canals. We not
only warned our citizens of the dan
ger which was threatening Evans
vile, but called the attention of
the Representative from this dis
trict, Mr.. NIBLAcK. the rest of
the Indiana delegation. and other
representatives along the Ohio to the
manifest objections to the measure,
and asked them to use their earnest
endeavors to prevent its passage. The
most effective place to have opposed
the bill was before the Committee to
which it had been referred; but it
seems that nothing was done in that
direction, as the bill was reported
back from the Committee, without
any dissent as to the construction Of
the bridge. The bill, as it came
from the Committee on the 18th ult.S
authorizes the New Orleans and Ohio
Railroad Company to construct and
maintain a bridge across the Ohio
River at Paducah upon the
same terms, in the same manner,
under the same restrictions, and with
the same privileges as are provided
for the construction Of the bridges at
Quincy, Illinois, by the Act Of July
25th, 1866. The bridge, when con
structed, is to be deemed and taken
to be a lawful construction, and a post
route of the United States. The re-
port was presented and strongly advo-
Gated by Mr.. Cook, of Illinois, who
represents the counties in the north
eastern part of that State. His earn
est support of the measure, In which
his constituents had no interest what
ever, is explained upon the fact that
his and their interests are centered
around Chicago, which city has been
exerting its powerful monied and
railroad influence to obstruct the
Mississippi by railroad bridges, in
order to reach and control the trade
and travel of the far West.
The bill was opposed in the deb ate
which followed the Committees re-
port, by General RAUM, 'of Illinois,
and our Representative, Mr.. NIB
LACK. General RAUM, in addition to
the broad aud controlling objection
that such a bridge will necessarily
obstruct the navigation of one of the
great navigable streams of the nation,
stated that there were no reasons to
justify the construction of this bridge
across the Ohio at Paducah. Paducah
was a small city of ten thousand in
habitants. with no great commercial
relations existing with the State of
Illinois; and that there was no town
on the opposite shore. no railroad
reaching the Ohio at that point, and
none in course of construction; neither
had the Company asking authority
for this bridge any control, present or
prospective, of a charter for a railroad
in Illinois to that point. Gen. RAUM
also stated that the guage of the uni
form system south of the Ohio was
FIVE feet, and that north of the Ohio
it was four feet eight aud a half
inches; that these guages were utterly
irreeoncilable, and that no kind of
cars can be so constructed with trucks
as to pass over these two conflicting
gauges of railroad, so that there was
not only no sufficient reason for OBJ
structing the navigation of the Ohio,
but that as a railroad measure the
project was both unnecessary and i'm
practicable.
| Mr.. NIBLAcK argued that all bridg-
es across navigable rivers were OBJ