The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1870-12-17
ST CRoIX & SUPERIOR LAND GRANT
CONGRESS- POSTPONES TT UNTIL THE
TENTH OF JANUARY

The following dispatches viii be reat
with great interest:
WASHINGTON Dec IS, 1870
Editors ST. Pnd Press The St Crox & Bav6el,
abroad bill was postponed to day, against the wishe
o il friends, TO the second Tuesday of January by
vote 81 eighty-nne to eighty tour. II D. BARRON.
Special Dispatch 0 the St Paul Pioneer
WASHINGTON, Dec l3-The bill for the extension o
the Land Grant TO the Hudson & Superior and Bay
field \ =. Croix Railroads was before the House to
day, and postponed until thl 10th day of January
The friends of the bill here are quite hopeful of it
passage after tie holidays.
Associated Press Telegram
WASHINGTON, Dec. I3-Thc postponement of tn,
Lake Superior St Croix Railroad bill is butabl,
to the members from the South who seem determined
oppose all railroad grants for the purpose of forcing
concessions to some Southern Pacific railroad.
It is useless to disguise from our readers
the fact that the above dispatches are ON
nous. Taken III whatever light we please,
it is clear that there exists 4 powerful OPP
position @ the extension Of those grants so
vital to the interests Of Northwestern Wis
consin, and We can only look for an expla-
nation to the determined hostility of those
capitalists who are determined to build up
rival points, to the destruction of the inter
t,l, Of this State. The general government
loses nothing by granting lands to railroad
enterprises, the contrary it is a direct
gain in every respect Not only is the
minimum price upon the alternate sections
ut the pabc domain not granted to the
railroads, doubled, SO as thereby to secure
the government from any pecuniary loss
not only does the influx. of emigration to-
wards the region which the railroad trav-
erSes ensure the prompt purchase of all
those sections at the enhanced price but
beyond al this, the spread of civilization
throughout the wilderness, the fostering Of
manufactures, commerce and agriculture
which are the direct consequences of open
ing rev avenues to trade, is of far greater
benefit to wise and far-seeing admiuistra-
tion Of public affairs, than the mere pecun-
iary advantages arising from ready sale
.I government lands
. Between Lake Superior and its harborS
n the North and the head Of navigation Of
the $. Croix and Chippewa rivers to the
s,erncs~, rich in minerals and the various
hinds Of TIMBER equal to any in the quality
of its soil, abounding in facilities for the
manufacture Of all the products which skill
ard industry have invented for the conve
nienre Of civilized man; but all those gifts
Of nature are lying idle and unoccupicd
for want OF access to a market. More than
one-third Of the State of Wisconsin is an
almost utter wilderness, for want of the
necessary communications with the great
marts Of commerce. Let this grant pass,
Ut tie railroads be built, and his very
wilderness will by reason of its natural, but
aow undeveloped, wealth, become one Of
the richest and most important portions OF
cur State.
Il is therefore impossible to conceive
1t mere prudential motives, that genuine
zeaI for tie common good, should induce
Congress to refuse to Wisconsin, a mere
Justice which that body has not hesltated
to grant to all other western states, and
which has enabled Kansas, Iowa. Illinois,
and especially Minnesota, to deveIope their
natural advantages at a rate unknown until
that policy was introduced.
While by q parity of reasoning we see
no objections 10 land grants for railroads
through the Southern States = however
much We may deprecate a repetition of the
policy adopted in the ease of the Union
Pacific road-yet it would be suicidal to
attach such grant to ours. Each should
stand upon its own merits. All enterprises
which have for their obiects the opening of
channels of commerce through wilder
ness should be endowed with portions of
the lands which the enterprise tends to
make valuable, under such restrictions as
sill ensure the proper completion of such
enterprise. But the fashion which has
, lately obtained of log rolling through Con-
greSS or Legislature grants and immuni-
ties, is evidence of the corruption of our
public men, and Of their disregard for the
claims Of patriotism. If measure is cal
cuated 10 promote the public good it should
ha supported for itself, if not, then it should
not be used to hamper other beneficial
measures, or be carried through, not on its
own merits, but because it is associated
with more deserving objects.
l'HE newspapers of one of the mammo 9th
y9untr cities In tho ,-nc. oro ,l;vi1a1 nv,