Omaha daily bee., 1883-12-01

WOuIu enCDuTHge our thutT HIlsilS HlSh W
engage in this great Enterprises great,
sir, that the minds of our most courage
GUS capitalists were almost APPALLED, at
its magnitude; and its Importance was
still greater than its magnitude. But ]
have been over the ground, and as j
passed over it, sir, looking out of the car
windows and endeavoring to view every
acre of the ground we passed of the most
fertile character | have ever seen, | have
realized that there was nothing in the
east that at all compares with it. Its
capabilities exceed the imagination of
any man, and we can hardly arrive by
our imaginations to the importance of
this great and fertile country, when 1T
shall be covered with a dense and enter
prising population, and all those fertile
acres cultivated, even as the land is now
| cultivated i'm the Eastern States, and the
whole of its agricultural wealth is to find
its outlet through this great city. Jap
plause And that, sir, is only the COM
mencement of it. Its agricultural wealth
and productions are nothing compared
to the mineral wealth lying hidden now
in the mountains of that region. Why,
sir, to speak of the political necessity,
some men have talked about the disun.
ion of these states. l never was one
who believed in that, because | have
never seen where the Almighty had
erected a barrier sufficient to divide our
nation into parts. Applause. You
may look to the Gulf Of Mexico, and to
all our extreme southern boundary; you
may traverse that line up to Canada, and
even there you will find no adequate
boundary. [Great applause. You may
90 west from the Atlantic ocean, travers.
ing these vast fertile plains over which
we travelled, and you will find no place
for an international boundary line. No
secessionist nor disunionist can go over
the ground and designate the line where
disunion could possibly take place. Zap
plause. | never believed the thing pos
sible, and with a genial people, homo
geneous in all their sentiments, their
habits, their education, all, as it were,
one family, for any man to suppose that
there is anything that can finally rend
them asunder, is utterly preposterous.
mean to the crest of the Rocky Noun
tains, for there, in my judgement, is the
ONLY place where any separation could
by any possibility take place. And when
l contemplate that and see that vast
region beyond, rich as the other in agri-
cultural capabilities, and infinitely richer
in the material wealth, and peopled too
by the same class Of people, still, sir, l
might fear that ambition might conceive
the idea that beyond the Rocky Noun
tains, or the Pacific coast, a great and
prosperous nation, separate from US,
might be built up, and when l contem-
plate that, sir, | think | see the neces-
sity of intimate connections with that
people by commerce, by social relations,
and all those ties that bind nations to-
gether. [Applause] Not believing that
there is any danger of such a thing, for,
for the honor of that great people over
there be it said, they have given us no
intimation that there is auy design to
separate themselves from the rising and
prospective glories of this great republic.
Applause. But, sir, it is a dictate of
prudence politically to cultivate the most
intimate relations with that people, and
use every facility for connecting ourselves
most closely with them. How, sir, should
this be done2 Mans ingenuity has in
vented NJ other way except the all-efi-
cient instrumentality of the railway.
And that is sufficient to bind nations to-
gether this day infinitely stronger than
the people of the old time were capable
of. Therefore, sir, l do honor to all
those who, either through patriotism or
the far-reaching knowledge of their own
interests, are taking in hand to expend
their capital, their thought and their
labor on this great enterprise. And as
we proceeded west over those vast plains,
and found what the energy of those men
had done, it filled our minds with the
greatest degree of admiration. AS the
gentleman who proceeded me has said,
there was no man among us whose heart
did not warm toward the men who en-
gagged their fortunes in this great enter
prise. They have prosecuted it with an
energy that astonished me, whether it
did others or not. | had no idea that
this road was creeping along with such
facility toward its western termination:
and when / saw it | felt glad hat all the
votes l have ever given in congress, hav-
ing any connection with this
great enterprise, have been to
aid it. Applause / labored
to have it done, long before it was.
There was a time preceding the WARRIOR
this great work has been in contempla-
ton for a good many years-that we
fought this thing persistently, but without
success; we could not get it through con-
gress. We sent out surveyors to pros
pect and estimate the cost of the differ
ent roads through the Rocky mountains
and on to the Pacific coast, and they re-
ported that it would cost a hundred mil
lions of dollars to establish this road
there, and men thought this sum SO
great that no nation could afford to en-
gage in the enterprise. You all know
the arguments used in congress against
1t. 1t was extravaganza, it was enormous,
it would bankrupt the nation to under
take it, yet a private company of indi-
viduals, aided a little by the government,
have gone on and rendered it not only
possible, but have, in a great measure,
accomplished the work. Applause.
AS the gentleman who preceded me
stated, we traversed the road seven hun.
dred miles west of this place, into the
very heart and centre of the continent,
and there we found them going on almost
as fast as a man could walk. Indeed |
did not know at one time if we should be
able to get to the end of it, for 1 will say
that they are prosecuting it with an un
abated energy, and with a unity of pur,
pose that is perfectly amazing. Every
workmen knows his place-everyone is
as busy as he can be-the work goes per.
ceptibly on while you stand there view.
ing it; and, sir, this is most honorable to
those gentlemen who have this great
work in charge. l tell you that five