The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-05-12
G II A r L E S ON.
WEDNESDAY MORNING, MAY 12, 1869.
The Completion OF tho Paciao Ralroad

The Completion OF tho Pacific Railroad
There was q smack Of theatrical effect in
the announcement that the Pauifc Railroad
would be completed By driving 3 spike CT
gold into o sleeper Of laurel, each blow of
the sledge being simultaneously recorded
in the telegraph Offices of New York and
San Francisco; but there is an excuse for
flourish and display, and it will be hard for
the most bombastio speaker to exaggerate
the importance Of the iron band which con-
nects the Atlantic and the Pacifcy and as it
is the nobtest work which Western oivili-
cation has successfully accomplished, must
hold the fret place in the material achieve
ments Of the century. 1t matters but little
whether there has been stealing and plum
dering during the building Of the road;
whether ten men or q thousand have been
enriched by contraots or place. ,Au that
we need remember is that the Pacifio Rail.
road is completed, that eleven hundred
miles of road are added to our gigantic rail
way system, and that the locomotive which
pants in the streets of the cities of the East,
is never silent until it reaches the'shores
Of the Golden State. -''' '''''r
Every day has impressed more profound
ly on the popular mind the practical utility
of the trans continental railroad. AS it ad,
vanced mile by mile, 1t created towns which
must soon enjoy an enduring Importance.
1t has already carried on army Of farmers
to the fertile lands and pleasant climates of
the West, whore they will build up new
cities, construct new roads, and in turn,
attract another tide Of settlers. RI has
drawn immigrants" from Europe and from
Asia. 1t has placed the mines of gold and
silver within easy reach Of every Quarter.
1t has made Pennsylvania the neighbor Of
California, and has brought the whole Pa
ciic coast one hundred years nearer to the
van of practicalprogress.
The Pacific Railroad will populate and
develope the territory lying between the
great river and the great sea---a territory
vast Ill area and rich in every element of
greatness.1 And then it's Office is but begun
BY means of this now completed railroad
the commerce Of Eastern Asia viii be
poured into the lap of Eastern North Amer
ica This trade will be ours, because by
this route it can most easily find market,
and because Europe. can draw her supplies
moro quickly through our ports by the rail-
road than by the uncertain ways Of the sea-
The commerce Of Japan and Australia must
also be ours, and the islands of the Pacific
are brought within our grasp.
And with the opening Of the road of which
we speak, the Pacific railroad system is still
in its infancy. Even if the route of the
Pacific Railroad permitted it to be operated
without interruption throughout the year,
it could not for long meet the demands Of
the trade which will pour over it with
steadily increasing force. = Every immigrant
who settles on the lime ofthe road, every ton
Of quartz and ounce Of precious metal, every
bushel Of corn and wheat, will be an addi-
ion to the business Of the line, and the
time must and will come when not one Pa
oifio Railroad but many will traverse the
continent, and bring the wealth Of Asia and
Of the whole United States, west of the great
river, to the seaports Of the East. First
will come the Southern Pscifo Railroad,
which will build up Charleston and Norfolk
and Savannah into metropolitan cities, and
others. will follow in it's train until eyery
demand Of commerce shall be satisfied, and
its every want fulfilled, &, -
The course Of years alone can show what
will be the extent Of the effect produced by
the Pacific Railroad upon the pros perity Of
the country. 1t must tend 70 make the
whole Union more homogeneous in oharac-
ter, to draw the people sore nearly to-
gether, and, we hope, to destroy that SEQ.
tional. feeling which bids. New England
thrive though all else pine and perish. II
should give the people larger and broader
Ideas, and 8 catholicity OF sentiment which
now is wholly wanting. There win b
enough for us all. It win not
be needful to cut the throat 81 another To
save our own commercial life. But as Che
South is now far. behind in the race. she
should all herself with new energy snd
force, and never tire until, side by sids
with'ths foremost States in the Union, she
may press on to that goal Of fortune which
will reward her, as well as power and riohes
may, for all that she has suffered and all
that she has lost. b, IN 54f.i.as1 ss
sr, ~ - - :: y. 80 = : : 1000 Fl.
THE New YoaK HERALD is hammering as hard
for war as it did for the nomination OF Admi-
raj Farragut for President, and viii succeed
about as we'll. 1t says: t4
ION the Alabama claims the upshot OF SEN
ator Summers exhaustive and conclusive expo- 4
sitlon OF the case for The United States has
been put into nutshell by Wendell Phillips.
in this deraand-a full pecuniary recompense
TOR the damages suffered by our commerce
from Anglo-rebel cruisers and q Distinct dis
avowsl Of Lord Russell's neutrality and bel
ligerent rights Of 1861 as precedent for shs
futurA RTidanca cR Ennlas,1s