The Portland daily press., 1869-05-01
7 he Completieu or tbe Pacific RaiIron

he Completion of the Pacific Railroad
When the work of building the Pacific Rail-
road was begun, about five years ago, the as
surance that it would have been completed in
ren years would have been a gratifying one to
the country. Yet the last rail was laid yester-
day afternoon at o'clock, the Central q
Union Pacific uniting at Promontory POINT.
Thursday, the telegraph tells us that the track
was laid on the Central Pacific at the rate OF
mile an hour. ten miles being laid in the course
of the day-probably the greatest achievement
in railroad history. On the same day the 1als
,vare down ON the Union Pacific to within eight
n,ilas Of promontory Point 1t is no doubt the
wiser and more philosophical course to forget
in the exultation of the moment that the COM
pletion is hard ly more than nominal, and that
the construction pushed with the mavelous
speed arising from the rivaly of two powerful
corporations and from the stimulating pros
pect Of immense government subsidies due
upon the completion of the sections, cannot be
in all respects perfect, One Government
Commission, of which Gen. Warren is chair
man, is on the point of making report touch
ing the fidelity with which the work has been
pCTtOrtuCd, anu duOtuSL OOAiAAAASs.''-
the same functions has just been appointed Dy
the President. 1t is well to forget, too, for tne
moment, the dangers that threaten from tne
creation of two gigantic monopolles, Win IN
definite but immense possibilities for the pur-
chase of Legislatures and Congresses, and the
faint of fraud and downright swindling at
taches to the doings of one of the companies.
For though these are serious matters calling
for correction and enforced amendment, the
fact that all the great difficulties have been sur
mounted and that the continent is really span
ned by railroad, reducing the time from New
York to San Francisco TO seven days, is too
gratifying to be observed by any unfavorable
circumstances of secondary Importance.
The distance from New York to San Fran
cisco by rail is 3, 800 miles, and from New York
to Omaha, the Eastern terminus of the Pacific
road, ,45O miles. The length of the road built
in the last five years is nearly 1850 miles. The
two companies have averaged, therefore, con-
siderably more than mile of completed road
for every working day since they began, cross
ing the two most formidable mountain ranges
on the continent In view of this achievement
it can hardly be said by the traducers of the
American people that they have lost anything
of the vigor Of their earlier history
The opening of the Pacific Railroad is not an
event to be looked upon with open mouthed,
passive wonder, as if it were some astronomi-
cal phenomenon in which man has no agency,
but it is something that men who are alive to
their own interests, will make prompt use of
for their own advantage 1t is not an extrava-
CANT expectation that European commerce will
avail itself of the now available trans-conti-
neutal route, since several thousand miles of
transportation may be saved by going West
instead of East to China and Japan. There is
no doubt but the opening of this road, by di-
verting commerce into new channels, will
work the most important change that ever oc-
CURED in the business intercourse of the ma
tions. The most active competition will spring
up between Atlantic seaports in the matter Of
making the anticipated increase of traffic re-
dound to their benefit Those that have the
best natural facilities for the reception and the
forwarding of merchandise and are the most
vigorous in improving them and in opening
direct lines of railroad to the Vest will -four
ish and enlarge their borders; the rest will be
left far behind in the race.