Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-03-09

former mode of transportation b,
, wagons, has been 75 per cent, ant
} that for two years preceding Jun
! 80, 1874, this saving amounted t
| about $2,000,0 900 per annum. Now
when the fact is taken into accoun
; that between thirty and forty mill
tary posts, and eleven regiments o
; United States soldiers, nearly hal
the entire Army, would draw thei
supplies from the TeXas-Pacifi,
Railway; and the further fact tina
during the years 1S65-'66-'67 the
Government actually paid SIG, ,627, +,
go. Al, or more than five and hal
millions annually, for maintaining
military force in Arizona and
New Mexico-not including the ex
pense of Indian agencies, supplies
or transportation of mails and stores
the conclusion is irresistible and
unanswerable that the Government
would save more than the maxi
mum liability to be assumed under
the provisions of this bill. If this
be true-and the committee submit.
that it cannot be controverted sue
cessfully-the argument against thu
enterprise, based on the idea that it
is raid on the Treasury, disappears.
The building of the proposed road
would in all probability, at no very
distant day, change the heavy ex-
pense of a military establishment in
Western Texas, New Mexico, and
| Arizona into absolute revenue from
a prosperous and wealth-creating
people. Late discoveries and eX-
plorations in these Territories indi-
cate an amount of mineral wealth
equal to that of any section in the
Western country, treasures that
would be rapidly developed through
| the presence and agency of rail-
road. The proximity of this line of
railway to the States of Old Mexico
should not be overlooked. Our
manufacturers of woolen and cotton
goods, machinery, agricultural inn
plements, &C., ought naturally to
supply the Mexican population of
between seven and eight millions
with those articles, and would, be-
fore a great while, do so, if this line
of road should be constructed. The
opened up to the enterprise and
energy of the American people
would prove a most prolific source
of wealth. AT present, English
merchants from the coast supply
the people of Mexico and enjoy a
monopoly of the trade. The influ-
ence which this great line of rail-
way would exert in promoting
peaceful relations with our sister
Republic, in solving the Indian
question, and the protection Ii would
afford to our Mexican frontier and
the Pacific coast in case of a foreign
war can hardly be overestimated.
1t is now apparent that, with ade-
quate facilities for transportation,
the American continent must be-
come the great highway between the
countries of Europe and China and
Japan. The distance between San
Diego, on the Pacific coast, and the
Southern ports of the Atlantic, is
nearly one thousand miles less than
the distance between San Francisco
and New York on existing lines.
But for our unfortunate civil dis
turbances, there can be little doubt
that the first transcOntinental line
of railway constructed would have
been on or near the 32d parallel.
This was the Zine ON which public
opinion had settled as the one to be
constructed. 1t was the shortest
route between the two oceans; there
was less elevation to be overcome
the material for construction was of
easy access, and abundant the
climate was far more favorable than
on any other route, being free from
distractions of snow and ice which
must always form serious obstacles
on more Northern lines. The de-
bates in Congress. .on the "Gadsden
purchase" by which the United
States, in 1853, acquired from Mex
leo 100,0 900 square miles of territory,
at the large price Of$l0, ,0O0, 900, show
that one of the main considerations |
that induced the Government to |
make the purchase was the fact that |
through this territory the cheapest |
and most practicable route for a
great transcOptinental line of rail- |
way could be obtained. The loss of |
this great highway, which would |
haveopened to the whole Mississippi |
Valley the trade of India, China, |
Japan, Australia, and the markets |
of Mexico, may be set down to-day |
as not the least item of loss which |
the South and Southwest, and in !
deed the whole country, sustained
by the war. The great superiority |
of this route over all other transcOn-
tinental lines of railway has, with
the return of peace, again attracted
public attention to it, Your COM
mittee, surveying the demands Of
commerce, foreign and domestic, at
no distant day, and the superior ad-
vantages of this route, can come TO
no other conclusion than its con-
struction is only question Of time.
II must and lCiU be bull. There
never was more OppOrtune time
than the present for Congress TO lend
the needed assistance to push Ii to a
speedy completion. The practical
influence of such an agency In re-
viVing industry and stimulating set
tlement, in a time of such great and |
general depression as the present,
should not be overlooked or under
1t cannot be denied that i
the vigorous prosecution Of so great
a national work would do much
to relieve the labor and financial
famine OF the country by giving
to multitudes and put
ting large amounts of idle capital
into active circulation.
But your committee must not fail
to call more special attention to one
of the securities provided to save
the Government from loss, The en-
tire net earnings Of the road, as has
been seen, are To be applied, If
necessary, to the payment Of the
interest. Notwithstand-
ing the great cost of the line on the
AID parallel, and its threatened or
actual obstruction several months in
the year, its net earnings for eight
years ending June 80, 1877, were i'm
round numbers $S7 7,000,0O0, the
greater portion of which was derived
from its local traffic. The amount
per mile guaranteed by the Govern
ment under this bill is less than one
third the amount Of net earnings
per mile on the Union Pacific line.
The whole Of the land-grant, as has
been seen, given by former legisla-
tion to this road, IL TecOnVeyed TO
the Government, and One-half the
proceeds Of the sale of said lands
Is to be applied to the payment Of
the guaranteed interest. So ii will
be observed that the guarantee Of