Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1871-03-04

will, | have no doubt, Say that pin
I timber grows generally upon lh
most barren lands,
Mr.. Peters-As general thini
pine lanls are not worth much 10
cultivation,
And farther on fEd this preg
nant question the Join; production
Of these Two gentleman from Wis
consin
Mr.. palno-Do,s my friend from
Indiana suppose that IN any event
settlers well occupy and cultivate
those piae landsg
Mr.. Washburn- Particularly
withou. II railroad p r
Yes, Sir, particularly without 9
railrnal." Ii will be asked amer Z
while, am afraid, il settlers will
go anywhere unless the Govern
ment lnilds n railroad for them IA
go on. / Laughter.
dcsro to call attention to only
one mere statement, which / think
sufficient to settle the question. IL
is one made by the gentleman, from
Wincohsin. CIR. Paiac,) who says
"Th,so lands will be abandoned
for tho present. II may be ut some
remote period there will spring up
in that region Il new kind Of agri.
culture which will cause n demand
Tor those particular lands and they
may then come into use and be val
liable for agricultural purposes. But
| know, and cannot help thinking
that my friend from Indiana under
stands, that for the present, and for
many years to come, these pine
lands can have no possible value
other than that arising from the
pine timber which stands Oh them. ="
Now, sir, who, after listening TO
this emphatic and unequiyocal tes-
timony of thes" intelligent, compc-
tent, and able.bodied witnesses
laughter, who that is not as in
creduous as st. Thomas himself,
will doubt for moment the Gosh
en- of America is to be found in the
sandy valleys and upon the Pine
clad hills of the St. CroiX.
Who will have the hardihood to
rise in his seat on this floor and as
scrt that, excepting the pine bush
es, the entire region would not pro-
ducc vegetation enough in ten
years to fntten II grasshoppcr ?
Tgreat laughter. Where is the pa
Iriot who is willing thdt his coun-
try shall incur the penalty Of re-
naming another day without the
ampIest railroad connection with
such an inexhaustiblo mine of agri-
cultural wealth? Who will answer
for the consequences Of abandoning
u great and warike people, in pos
session ola country like that, to
brood over the Indifference and neg
lect of their Government? laugh
teri How long would it be before
they would take to studying the
Declaration of independence and
hatching cut the damnablc heresy
Of secession?
How long before the grim demon
of civil discord would rear again
his horrid head in our midst, 'gh4sh
loud his iron fangs and shake his
crest Of bristling bay onets?'
Then, sir, think Of the long and
painful. process Of reconstruction
that must follow, with its concoini-
tant amendments to the constitu-
ti)n: the seventeen, eighteenth and
nineteenth articles. The sixteenth,
it is of course understood is TO be
appropriated to tbosc blushlng dam
se!s who are, day after day, be
secching us to let them vote, hold
office, drink cocktails, ride astrad
die, and to- everything else the men
do. Roars Of laughter But
above all, sir, let me implore you to
reflect for moment the deplorable
condition of our country in case Of
a foreign war, with all our ports
blockadcd, all our cities in II state
of siege, the gaunt specter OF famine
broodng like a hungry vulture
over our staring land our commits
sary stores all exhausted, and our
furnishing armies withering away
in the field, helpless prey to the
insatia.e demon OF hunger our ma
w rctting in the docks tor want OF
provisions for our gallant seamen,
and we without any railroad COM
munication whatever with the pro-
life pine thickets of st. Crolx.
(Grcat laughter.)
All, sir, could very we'll under
stand why my amiable friends from
Pennsylvania, (Mr. Myers, Mr..
Kelley and Mr.. O'Neill,) should
be SO earnest in their support OF
this bill the other day, and if their
honorable colleague, my friend, Mr..
Randall, will pardon the remark, l
will say considered his criticism
of their action on that occasion as
not only unjust but ungenerous. /
knew they were looking forward
with the far-reaching ken Of en-
lightened craftsmanship TO the pitt
able condition in which Philadel-
phia will be left unless speedily
supplied with railroad connection
in some way or other with this gar
den-spot ofthe universe. laughter.
And besides. Sir. this discussion has
relieved my mind of a mystery that
has weighed upon it like an incu-
bus for years | could never under
stand before why tlcre was so much
excitement during the last Con-
eress over the acquisition of Alta
Vola. | could never understand
why it was that some of our ablesi
statesmen and most disinte- ested
patriots should entertain such dark
forebodings Of the untold calami
ties that we're 70 befai cur beloved
country unless we should take i'm.
mediate possession Ofthat desirable
island. But / see now that they
= 4 r.