The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-05-12
CHARLES TON.
WEDNESDAY MORNING. MAY 70, 1859.
The completion Of tho Pacific Railroad.

WOuiu 10 CVuPioso~ W ~A6 eef' W
gold into 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 twill be hard for
the most bombsstic speaker to exaggerate
the Importance Of tho iron band which con-
nects the Atlantic and the Pacific, and as it
| il, the noblsst work. which Western, civili-
sstien has successfully accomplished, must
hold the first place in the material Achieve
ments Of the century: It'matters but little
whether there has been stealing and plum
dering during the building Of the road;
whether ten men or thousand have been
enriched BY contracts or place. All that
we need remember is that the Pacific Rail
road is completed, that eleven hundred
miles of road arc added to our gigantic rail
way system, and that the looomotivsiwhioh
pants In the streets Of the cities Of hsEsst,
is never silent until it reaches the shores
Of the Golden State. ~
Every day has impressed more profound
" on the popular mind the practical utility
of the trans continental railroad. As it ad-
vanced mile by mile, it created towns which
must soon enjoy an enduring importance.
It has already carried an army Of farmers
to the fertile lands and pleasant climates Of
the West, where they will build up new
cities, construct new roads, and in turn,
attract another tide Of settlers. 1t has
drawn immigrants from Europe and from
Asias Il has placed the mines Of gold and
silver within easy reach Of every quarter.
It has made Pennsylvania the neighbor of
California, and has brought the whole Pa
cifc coast one hundred years nearer to the
van Of practical progress.
The PaoiR6 Railrosd. will populate and
develope the territory lying between the
great river and the great sea-a territory
vast in area and rich in every element of
greatness. Aud then its Office is but begun.
By means Of this now completed railroad
the commerce Of Eastern Asia will 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
more quickly through our ports by the rail-
road than by The uncertain ways ofthe 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 line Of the road, every ton
Of quartz and ounce Of precious metal, every
bushel Of corn and wheat, will be an addi-
tion to the business Of the line, and the
time must and will come when not one Pa
ci6o Railroad but many viii traverse the
continent, and bring the wealth Of Asia and
of the whole ,Upited States, west Of the great
river TO 1the sssports' Of the Esst. First
will come the Southern Pacific Railroad,
which will build up Charleston and Norfolk
and Savannah into metropolitan cities, and
others will follow In its train until every
demand of commerce shall DO Satisfied, and
its every want fulfilled. az So:
The course Of years alone can show what
will be the extent of the effect produced BY
the Pacific Railroad upon the prosperity Of
tie country It nust tend to make the
whole Union more homogeneous in charsc-
ter, to draw the people more nearly to-
gether, and, we hope, to destroy that Sec
tional feeling which bids New England
thrive though all else pine and perish. It
should gize the people larger and broader
ideas, and q ostholioity of sentiment which
now is wholly wanting. There will be-
prosperity enough for US all. It will not
be needful to cut the throat Of another to
save our own commercial life. But as the
South is now far behind in the race, she
should fill herself with new energy and
force, and never tire until, side by side
with the foremost States in the Union, she
may press on to that goal Of fortune which
wiltrewsrd her, as well as power and riches
may, for all that she has suffered and all
that she has lost.
THE New YORK HERALD is hammerng as hard
for war as it did for the nomination Of Admi-
raj Farragut for President, and will succeed
about as well. It says:
"On the Alabama claims the upshot Of Sem
ator Summers exhaustive and conclusive expo
sition Of the case for the United States has
been put into nutshell by Wendell Phillips,
in this demand-a full pecuniary recompenss
for the damages suffered by our commerce
from Anglo-rebel cruisers. and distinct dis
avowal Of Lord RusselPs neutrality and bel
ligorent rights OF 1861 as precedent for the
future guidance Of England. Now, as with
the acceptance of this ultimatum the most