, 1868-01-03

is Ia disparagement to the claims o. the hVlngI
to say that he was the ablest and most efficient
| Governor and Delegate that this or any other
territory ever had.
~rhe message ignores the "6lthy pool of polls
tics" almost entirely merely noting the fact that
national affairs are in complicated state, and
hoping that there soon may be harmony and fra
ternity prevailing among the people of all sec
tions of the country.
| Upon the subject of the Northern Pacific Rail-
roAd-the only remaining topic of the message
the Governors remarks considered of too
! much Importance to be dealt with briefly and we
therefore give them in full, as follows;
The grand enterprise of connecting by rali>
road Puget Sound with the upper Mississippi
and the great northern lakes-an enterprise pros
jected more than sixteen years ago, and Whlcn
| has been the cherished dream of those VINO nave
had the forecast to see the future destiny OF epr
| country-has at last assumed tangible shape,
and its speedy completion has become almost
certainty. The people OF the country nave come
to regard this road as necessty-as necessary
to give scope to the legitimate growth and exs
pansion of our Republic, and to open one OF the
| great natural channels of the commerce of the
| world: necessary to the Government for postal,
| and purposes of National defense, as well as to
| the opening to settlement and development an
area of public domain rich in agricultural, gra-
| zing and mineral resources ana equal IN eAIenS
| to all the Atlantic States.
| Since the first inception of this grand project,
| great changes have taken place in our country
| Changes the magnitude and effect of which
not generally appreciated. Within this period,
fifteen millions have been added to her population.
This vast accession has been thrown into the
Mississippi valley, on the Pacific slope and in
the intermediate country.
Out of thirty thousand miles of railroads
in the United States, twenty-eight thousand have
been built, fourteen thousand in the North
Western States. In the meantime, the system
of railroads, of which the Northern Pacific will
be continuation, has been extended fifteen hum
dred miles farther west thereby diminishing the
distance yet to be overcome by more than two
6fths. Other changes equally startling and sig
nifcant have occurred. The seat of empire of
our Republic has been transferred from the At
lantc States to the valley of the Mississippi.
Railroads have given to the cities of the Great
West the advantages of seaport towns, and
made them centres of manufactures and com>
merce.
1t is not alone true that an immense expanse
of territory, id what is termed 1.-The West" then
scarcely settled at all, now teens with popula'
ton but it is also true that the entire extent of
country between the Upper Mississippi and the
Pacific, has been largely settled.
The Territories ofDacotah, Montana and Idaho,
embracing all the country from Minnesota to
Washington Territory, have been organized, and
largely populated. Cities of considerable mag
nitude have grown up between the head of navi>
cation on the Missouri and that of the Columbia.
These changes haze paved the way for the Nor
thern Pacific Road, and rendered it not only in>
dispensable, but certain. 1t is not probable-it
is not possible that the westward tide of emigra-
ton and march Of empire shall be checked now,
IL. -
shall be stayed before they have spanned the
continent. Is it not probable, rather, is it not
certain, so far as regards our country's progress,
that toe future is pregnant with events more
wonderful and changes more important than
those to which the past few years have given
birth
The company which controls this road is the
strongest, both as representing apital and rail-
road interests, ever organized in the United
States. The present board of directors compri
ses the ablest and most prominent railroad men
in the country. Corps of engineers are engaged
on both sections of the road.
Congress has made liberal grant of lands to
aid in its construction. All that is now asked
or needed is the same aid from the general Gov,
ernment that was given to the Central road.
The Legislature of several States have instructed
their congressional delegations to vote for this
subsidy. The delegations, in whole part, of
other States, are known to be favorable to the
measure. The just claims of this road, the vide
spread interest that is felt in aud the great inu
ence that will be brought to bear upon it, leave
but little doubt but that the result will be as its
friends desire, in which event the work of con-
| struction will be commenced the ensuing year
and vigorously prosecuted.
Of the entire practibility of the Northern Road,
so far as both construction and working are con-
cerned, there is no question. The only question
heretofore has been the feasibility of cross,
|
nizauces made by Gen. Tilton in behalf of the
company have demonstrated that the transit of
this range ny railroad is practicable by, at
least, three of the Passes besides that via the
Columbia river. That through either of these
passes the grade would be much less than that
used in the Central road over the Sierra Neva.
das, and at a maxium altitude less by four thou
sand feet. By the Columbia river, the descent
to the ocean is so gradual as to be scarcely
perceptible.
The advantages of this, over any other pro-
posed road, may be briefly stated, as follows {:
1t is opposed by fewer obstacles, whether of cli-
mate or topography. An abundance of the best
material for constructions, is distributed along
the entire line.
The distance across the continent from the
Pacific to the great citeS of the east, or Of the
west, is less than by any other route The dis
tance from either New York Liverpool to the
principal cities of China aud Japan, using on
| oObu tue usual ana necessary track OF
ocean travel, is less by more than one thousand
miles. 1t is more directly on the great thorough.
fare of the worlds commerce, in both hemis-
pheres, on the Atlantic, and the Pacific. Almost
the entire region through which it will pass is
| well watered and we'll timbered-as rich in min
era, and by far richer in agricultural resourc es,
than that traversed by any other proposed road
| If we except one hundred and fifty miles occu-
pied by mountain ranges, this whole belt of
country has capacity for sustaining a heavy
population.
Lastly, Its western terminus will be on, by
far, the finest and most capacious tarbor on the
coast.
OF the effect Of this road upon this Territory,
no adequate conception can be formed. We
have seen that, iu the short space of a few years.
railroads have accomplished in our country what
would, without them, have been the work of
centuries. They have made the broad prairies
and boundless forests Of the great West TEEN
with population and wealth-and caused mighty
cities to spring up, as by magic. Wherever the
iron track has been laid, and the whistle heard,
"the wilderness has been made to bud and bios
som as the rose"
In this country, at this day, railroads are not