New-York tribune., 1869-05-10

number to whom Grant owed his nomination. Last
Winter q venerable fossil appeared in Washington
while the question of subsidies for Pacific Ralroaus
was before Congress, and was for time inVeS'eu
with the glory of being the first to advocate ran
road to the Pacific All this was duly chrohlcicu ~
The TRIBUNE at the time but his name ike 'Ia' y,
the rash youth who fired the Epheslan DOME ~oui
better not be told lest the mere telling Oh IL snouiu
provoke new claimants for long-dlspu'eu uis'i"I
tion. Anybody can remember II anypouS oH o'i
happen to remember anything at all upon tue SUP
iac+ how Mr. limited States Senator Gwin, when DC
was Give Californian" in the days before ne De
came q Mexican. and thought OF becoming duke'
alvavs parnished his speeches upon every subject
With annsiops TO the Pacific Railroad. To an Older
and better statesman than Gwin-tO no nameless ad-
venturer. must this distinction be accorded
COL BENTON THE FIRST TO OFFICIALLY FSoFooE
PACIFIC RAILROAD
pofore the acduisition of California, and when our
only possessions on the Pacific Coast were the Terri
tory of Oregon. Col. Benton proposed in the United
states Senate that the Government should construct
n road. to be of iron wherever practicable which
sbould bring that distant region into communication
with the other parts of the country Soon after Cal
ifornia was added to our territory Col. Benton re-
tired from public life and his energetic cOunsels In
the Senate no longer served to forward project
which that acquisition had made necessity. The
development of the resources of the great West and
the preservation of the unity of the nation alike re-
quired the construction of the road The brilliant
promise of the China and Japan trade had not yet
dawned upon the country, and even when ITS i'm
pOrtance became manifest it was only another argu
ment in favor of the enterprise. When the Union
Pacific Railroad Company within few years went
begging for the capital with which 10 complete their
undertaking, they used to urge the necessity of a
ro;l,. tba tip
as one of the great facts that the late war demon
strated We had States, they SAID, the Pacific
that were practically more remote than the capital
of Russia and that could take part in the common
defense. Ambitious spirits were not wanting who
advocated the establishment of an independent Pa
cifc empire, and it was evident that the continued
and prosperous unity of the country required that
the two extremes should be brought more closely to-
gether The new States and Territories on the Paci
ic and among the Rocky Mountain valleys needed
only ready means of ingress and egress TO command
great population The Pacific soil was fertile, and
its climate delightful but immigration was unwill-
ing to incur the risk defray the cost of navigating
two oceans TO secure these advantages. The gold
mines rich, but comparatively few even OF our
adventurous people would brave the perils in the
way of reaching them, or the difficulties of exist
ence among them. Notwithstanding all these oh
stacles the population of the Pacific coast had
reached half million in 1860 and the country could
no longer afford TO do without Pacific Railroad.
THE PRELIMINARY GOVERNMENT SURVEYS.
But long before company which had the work in
the course of construction urged upon the people the
fact that the country could no longer afford to do
without Pacific Railroad the people were alive to
It's importance, and anxious for It's contamination.
Individual enterprise it felt, however could do
little to forward a design of such immense maeni-
tude, and requiring so much knowledge, skill. and
foresight as well as capital. To make the work
a successful and feasible undertaking there was
general feeling of the necessity of Congress doing
something in behalf of the project The country
through which the Iroad mnst of necessity pass was
uninhabited save by savages, and it was essentially
unexplored and unknown. Even if road TO the
Pacific sbould prove impracticable, many persons
predicted it would it plain enough that the cost
of the surveys and explorations would be more than
repaid by the knowledge we should acquire In rela-
ton to our own territory. With this object in view.
as well as to test the practicabiy of the projects Of
the railroad vsionaries Congress made provision in
the Army Appropriation Act Of March 81 1853 for ex-
plorations and surveys Of railroad route from the
Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean under the d-
rection of tho War Department Jefferson Davis
was then Secretary of War; and beside his references
to the progress of the work in his annual reports be
made an elaborate report to Congress upOn the COM
petion of the work This report was dated Feb. q,
1855 and was published by authority Of Congress- the
accompanying documents maps aud plates swelling
the publication to 10 folio volumes. Congress has
directed the printing of many bulky tones to little
purpose. and Congressional publications generally
held in little Tepute by either booksellers or book
buyers. This work. however is sometimes sought
and some of the Volumes the first especially. are
scarce enough 10 bring a fair price III the market
bookseller III this city even went 80 FAR IN his cata-
lOgue to mention II as among his stock Tor tile ln
formation of his customers.
In CARRYING ont the design which Congress had in
view in making the appropriation. as many ms nine
routes explored by the officers Of the War De-
partnent between the years 1853 and 1879. One
of these routes TO extend from ST. Paul to Puget
Sound between the 47th and 49th parallels of North
latitude; another from Council Bluffs tO Benica,
via South Pass, between the 4lst and 42d parailcs
q third, between the 3Sth and 39th parallels; a
fourth 10 extend from Fort Smith 0 San Pedro, near
the 3jth parallel: aud iifth, near the sd parallel,
from Fulton to San Pedro. IlLe first, known as the
Northern Pacific the TOute most abOrately eX-
amined the last the one that received the favorable
consideration Of the Secretary Of War; aud was most
desired by the people Of the South. Neither was
adopted III the end, but instead more central route
received the favorable consideration Of cap'taliSs
and the country. When one looks back at the
preparations made for these expeditions, and con-
trasts their objects with the practical results
bTaced III the following table he cannot help feeling
pursuit Of science went hand in hand with the
march Of improvement. The servants of the
and an artist, entered the wilderness to
survey a route for a railroad, aud provided
their outfit with portfolio for collecting plants,
with small bottles for preserving insects. with a
butcher knife scissors. needles and thread for skin
ming and sewing MP animals. and with even " pcC.
logical hammer" When their labOrs were finished
and their reports published to the country we read
long essays natural history and geology, and were
treated to splendid engraying5 of animals, birds,
fishes and insects. As q mere picture book the
Explorations cannot be easily surpassed, but how
,ro1r he ma b1y in