Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1874-12-25
tron tLe Washing ten Kel uo.i
The Texas Pacific Road.

The memoir i presented to Congress
! yesterday in behalf of the Texas and
| Pacific and the Atlantic and Pacific
Hallway Companies Il 81 gned by IhOs.
| 4. Scott and y. Pierce as the repre-
| sentative Pres dents of those corpora
! tons, AMI SETS forth the following,
| among other Arguments, In favor of
| the enactment 81 fine bill, whose main
provisions were published last Mon
day: They say q Southern trunk line
of railroad TO the Pacific is neces-
sIty, aud its consti uction should be IT,
surei by the Government as a practi-
cal means of settling the Indian ques-
ton and enabling It's vast territories to
be safely inhabited and developed.
The completion of this line would, it
is claimed, enable the Government to
move troops cheaply and rapidly, dis
pense with probably three-fourths of
the escorts employed in Texas
and the Southern Territories, and
thus relieve the Government of an e2-
pendIture amounting to millions of
! dollars yearly; and it would moreover
be Of immense advantage to the nation
''by bringing into market hundreds Of
millions OF acres of good land which
are now dead property to the United
! States; by adding millions of popula-
| ton to the present number of produ-
| GERS and taxpayers of the country; by
more than doubling, or, indeed, in
definitely increasing the annual yield
! OF precious E1Lta.s ia the United
States: by vast increase of our reve-
nues to be derived from importations
| from Asiatic countries: by the general
! stimulus and trade in all the States
east Of the Mississippi to supply the
wants OF ;he settlers IN the near regions
to be traversed by the road; and 10y all
| that diversified good, In the pur-
suit of which England, France Belgi-
| um, Holland, Russia and Austria have
! spent such enormous sums of money
| pledged without stint to their public
credit, and found their reward in the
! control of the commerce and trade of
| the world. 1t is further argued that
the construction of this open highway,
unobstructed by SHOWS during the en-
| tire year, across the continent, would
| prove to be q practical measure of re-
construction for the South, and that
the increased yield of cotton and to-
bacco from the newly developed coun-
try would swell the value of our ex-
ports, and thus aid materially in the
retention of our gold and silver for
home circulation. The memorialists
assert it is conclusively established
that the saving in transportation alone
OF Government supplies has averaged
two thousand dollars per annum for
every mile of Pacific railroad hereto
fore built, and call attention to the
fact that the same amount of interest
which the Government is asked to
guarantee in order to secure the con-
struction of this Southern line is
81, $50 per mile per annum. No qua
ranty of the principal of the bonds is
solicited, and as security for the
guaranty of the interest OF the
bonds the Government is to have
a first mortgage on all the prop
erty, franchise and net earn
ings of the railroads; the entire
proceeds of sales of lands heretofore |
granted by the United States to the |
two companies; restoration to the |
Government of about 10000, 900 acres |
of land heretofore granted and reserv-
ed to aid the CONSTRUCTION of the two !
lines to the Pacific, some fifteen b..n- !
bred miles of Which are to be dispens- :
ed with under the plan proposed; and |
the retention in the United States
Treasury of one-eighth of all the bonds
issued, to be cold by the Government
if at any time during construction the