The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-04-22
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC RAIL-
t.-... ROAD ..

In spite of the opposition of afew Senators who
are either controlled by sectional jealousies or
habitually swayed by contracted views, the
United States Senate yesterday passed by the
decisive vote of forty to eleven, or very nearly
four to one, joint resolution conferring
upon the Northern Pacific Railroad the addi-
tional powers and privileges which have ex-
cited the ire of our jaundiced contemporary.
If the House of Representatives also approves
this resolution, as we presume it will, the
American people will speedily have the
satisfaction of witnessing the completion of
another great highway across the continent,
over route that teens with the most valu-
able agricultural and mineral resources, and
that is evidently destined to form one of the
most productive portions of the Union. A
vast empire will thus be opened up for occu-
patton and settlement, leading to the enrich
ment of the hardy pioneers who first aid in
its development, and the replenishment of
the National Treasury from thousand
sources now lying dormant This is no vain
dream, no speculative calculation, for no man
who has kept pace with the progress
of the times, and watched the miraculous ra-
pidity with which Wisconsin and Minnesota
have been changed from rude wastes to the
best of grain-growing States, the celebrity with
which Montana and Idaho have been made to
contribute tens of millions of dollars to the
annual product of bullion, and the steady
growth of Oregon, can doubt, since SO much
has been already done without the aid of
railway transportation, that the new line will
make this immense district bloom and bios
som as the rose The day is near at
hand when the States and Territories adjacent
to our northern boundary which lie west of
the Mississippi will be fair counterpart of
the fruitful and teeming Northern States
located east of that great river, and the
Northern Pacific Railroad will be the active
agent in fastening this benefcent change.
To promote an object which is so eminently
worthy of national solicitude Congress has
given large grant of land to that company,
and authority to mortgage it to procure the
money necessary to construct the railway.
To the Union Pacific not only land but
large sums of money were bestowed.
In this instance, land only is
donated, with the distinct understanding
that the Government still reserves alternate
sections, and thus immediate value is given
to hundreds of millions of the public
domain which would otherwise remain for a
long period practically worthless. If Con.
gress committed no greater sins and made no
worse bargains than this, voters and taxpayers
might well rejoice, for the operation in ques-
ton virtually puts vast sums into the Trea-
sury and can in no event take single penny
out of it. The railroads of this country have
enhanced the price of real estate to
an amount vastly exceeding their total cost,
and every mile of the new railway will give to
the adjacent Government land more than
ten times as much intrinsic value as it now
possesses. In equity and justice, company
which undertakes to span the continent has
right to receive from the nation aid similar
to that bestowed in this instance, and every
sagacious private landowner would gladly
embrace a similar opportunity, under like
conditions. uG
But this project has local as we'll as q
national interest that deeply concerns the
citizens of Philadelphia. We do not speal
now of the capitalists of the city and State
who have already advanced large sums tC
ensure its success, but of the workingmeI
and mechanics to whom it will furnish an i'm
mense amount of remunerative employment
The Law which passed the Senate yesterday