The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1871-04-12
S P F &c II
HON. ]. PROCTOR KNOTT,
OF KENTUCKY,
In Congress, January q, 1871.

"Know'st thou the land where the lemon
trees bloom,
Where the gold orange sto~s in the deep
thickets gloom;
Where = wind ever soft from the blue hca-
y ven blows,
AaI the groves arc Of laurel, and myrtle,
and rose"
GGoethe's IVllhelm MeiSter.
The House having under con
sideration the joint resolution (S-
r. No. H. extending the time to
construct railroad from the st.
.Croix river or lake to the west
end Of Lake Superior and to Bay
field
Mr. Knott said:
Mr.. Speaker-lf l could be &C
tuated By any conceivable induce
ment to betray the sacred trust
reposed in mo by those to whose
generous confidence | am indebted
:Se1 the honor OF a seat on this
floor; if I could be Influenced by
any possible consideration to be-
come instrumental in giving away,
In violation Of their known wish
cs, any portion Of their interest
an the public domain for the mere
promot,on of any railroad enter
prise whatever, [ should certainly
feel strong inclination to give
this measure my most earnest and
hearty support !; for | am assured
that its success would materially
enhance the pecuniary prosperity
of some OF the most valued friends
l have on earth friends for whose
accommodation [ would be willing
to make almost any sacrifice not
involving my personal homer, or
my fidelity as the trustee of
an express trust. And that fact
of itself would be sufficient tc
countervail almost any objection
I might entertain to the passage
Of this bill, not inspired by an i'm
peratire and incxorable sense Of
public duty.
But, independent of the seduc-
tive influences Of private friend
ship, to which | admit am, per-
.haps, as susceptible rs any of the
gentlemen I see around me, and
the intrinsic merits of the meas
ure itself are of such an eXtraor-
Ginary character as to commend
it most strongly to the favorable
consideration Of every member OF
this House, myself not excepted !;
Notwithstanding my constituents,
in whose behalf alone [ am acting
here. would not be benefited by
it's passage one particle more than
they would be by project to cuI-
tivatc an orange grove on vne
hleakest summit OF Green!and's 5
icy mountains. Laughter.]
Now, sir, as to those great
trunk lines Of railway, spanning
the continent from ocean to ocean,
/ confess my mind has never been
fully made NJ. 1t is true they
may afford some trifiing advan-
taye to local traifi:, and they may
even in time become the channels
of + more extended commerce.
Yet have never been thoroughly
satisfied either Of the necessity or
expcdiency Of projects promising
such ,nearer results to the great
body Of our people. But with re-
gard to the transcendent merits
OF the gigantic enterprise contem-
plated in this bill, never entertain
edthe shadow OF doubt. Laugh
teri
Years ago, when first heard
that there was somewhere in the
vast terra inc2gni'a, somewhere in
the bleak regions Of the great
Northwest, a stream Of water
known to tie nomadic Inhabitants
of the nei:hborhood as the river
St. Croix, I became satisfied that
the construction Of a railroad from
that raging torrent to some point
in the civilized world, was essen
:tial to the happiness and prosper
.ity of the American people, if not
absolutely indispensable to the
,perpetuity of republican institu-
tions on this continent. Great
laughter.] l felt instinctively that
the boundless resources Of that pro-
li6c region Of sand and pine shrub
berry would never be fully devel-
.opcd without railroad construct
cd and equipped at the expense of
the government, and perhaps not
ahcn. [Laaghter] | had an abid-
Il 9 presentimenu that, some day
.oc other, the people Of this whole
country, irrespective Of party at
filiAtions, regardless of sectional
.prejudice, and without distinction
of race, color or previous condi-
tion of scrvitude,' would rise in
their majesty and demand an out
let for the enormous agricultural
productions Of those vast and fer
tile pine barrens, drained in the
rainy season by the raging waters
of the turbid St. Croix. (Great
laughter.)
These impressions, derived sim.
ply and solely from the eternal
fitness Of things were not only
strengthened by the interesting
and eloquent debate on this bill,
TO which l listened with so much
pleasure the other day, but inten-