The union Democrat., 1871-02-25

Joint resolution Is. Il. No. III extending the
time to construct railroad from the st. Croix
river or lake to the west end of Lake Superb
or and to Bayfield,
Mr.. Knott said:
Mr.. SPEAKER: If I could be actuated by
any conceivable inducement to betray the sa-
cred trust renosed in me by those TO whose
generous confidence am indebted for the hon
or of a seat on this floor; il | coul1 be lntiu-
enced by any possible consideration to become
instrumental in giving away, in violation OF
their known wishes, any portion OF their In
terest in the public domain for the mere pro-
motion of any railroad enterprise whatever, |
should certainly feel a strong inclination to
give this measure my most earnest and bear
~ supoort: for | am assured that its success
would materially enhance the pecuniary pros
perity of some of the most valued friends l
have on earth; friends for whose acccmmoGa-
ton would be willing to make almost any
sacrifice not involving my personal honor OF
nv fidelity as the trustee of an express trust.
And that fact of itself would be sufficient to
countervail almost any objection might en-
terrain to the passage Of this bill not inspired
nv an imperative and memorable sense of cub
lie duty.
But. independent of the seductive influences
of private friendship. to which | admit | am,
perhaps, as susceptible as any of the gentle
men | see around me, the intrinsic merits of
the measure itself are of such an extraordina-
nv character as to command it most strongly
TO the favorable consideration of every MEM
her of this HOUSE, myself not excepted, not
withstanding my constituents, 10 whose be-
half alone | am acting here, would not be
benefited by it's passage one particle more
than they would be by project to cultivate
an orange grove on tho bleakest suLImit of
Green!and's icy mountains. Laughter.
Now, sir as to those great trunk lines of
railway, spanning the continent from ocean
to ocean, | confess my mind las never been
fully made up. 1t is true they may afford
some triiing advantages 10 local traffic, and
they may even in time become the channels
Of a more extended commerce. Yet | have
never been thoroughly satisfied either of the
necessity nr expediency of projects promising
such meager results to the great body of our
people. But with regard to the transcendent
merits Of the gigantic enterprise contemplate
Ell in this bill | never entertained the shadow
of doubt. Laughter.
Years ago, when | first heard that there
was somewhere in the vast terra iRcOgRitd,
somewhere in the bleak regions of the great
Northwest, a stream of water known to the
nomf die inhabitants of the heighborhood as
the river ST. Croix, | became satisfied that
the construction of a railroad from that rag
ing torrent &c some point in tie civilized world
was essential to the happiness and prosperity
Of the American people, if not absolutely in
dispensable to the perpetrity of republican in
situations on this continent. Great laugh
ter. felt instinctivelv that the boundless
resources of that prolific region Of sand and
pine shruhhe.v would never be fully develop
ed without a railroad constructed and equip
ped at the expense of the Government, and
perhaps not then. Laughter. | had an
abiding presentiment that, some day or other
the people Of this whole country, irrespective
of party affiliations. regardless of sectional
preiudiees, and 'without distinction of race.
color, or previous condition Ct servtude. "
would rise in their majesty and demand an
outlet for the enormous agricultural produc-
tions of those vast and fertile pine harrens,
drained m the rainv reason by the surgin Q
waters of the turbi6 St. Croix. Great laugh
ter
These Impressions, derived simnlv and sole.
" frcm the "e,arnal fitness of things. we're
not ONLY strengthened nv the interesting and
eloquent debate on this bill to which listen
81 with so mach pleasure the other dav, hut
intensified. If possible, as read over this
morning the lively coliequv which took place
on that occasion, as find it reported in last
Fridav's Glahe will ask the Indulgence OF
the House while I read a few short passages.
which nre sufficient. in my Judgment. to place
the merits of ihe great enterprise contemplate
ed in the measure now under discussion be-
yond all possible controversy.
The honorable gentleman from Minnesota.
Nv. Wilson. who 7 believe is managing this
hill, in speaking of the character Of the coun-
try through which this railroad is to pass,
savs this:
1--WE want to have the timber brought to
us as CLEARLY as possible. Now, if you tie
IN the lands in this way. so that no title can
he obtained to them-for no settler will 90 on
these lands, far he cannot makea living-you
DEPRIVE us of the benefit of that timber"
Now. sir, | would ncthave it bv any means
inferred from this that the gentleman from
Minnesota would insinuate that the people
out in his section desire this timber merely
for the purpose of fencing up their farms so
that tn cir stock may not wander off and die
of starvation among the bleak hills of the ST.
Croix. Laughter read il for no such
purpose. sir. and make no such comment on
it myself. In confederation of this statement
of the gentleman from Minnesota, I find
this testimony given by the honorable gentle
man from Wisconsin. Mr.. Washburn.
Speakinc of these same lands he says:
"Under the bill. as amended ny my friend
from Minnesota. nine-tenths of the land is
omen to actual settlers at 81 SO per acre; the
remaining one tenth is pipe-timhered land.
that is not fit for settlement, and never Will
be settled upon; hus the timber will be cut
off, I admit that it is the most valuable por-
tim Of the grant, for most Of the grant is not
valuable. 1t is quite valusless; AID it you
nut in this amendment of the gentleman from
Indiana you may as well just kill the bill, for
no man and no comnany will take the grant
and haild the road"
| simply pause here to ask some gentleman
better versed in the science of mathematics
than am to tell me If the t;mhered lands are
in fact the most valuable portion of that sec
ton of country. and they would be entirely
valueless without the timber that is on them.
what the remainder of the landis worth which
has no timber on it at all. Laughter
But further on find most entertaining
and Instructive interchange of views between
Al