32D CONG.....2D SESS. fore the passage of such a bill as that reported by the Select Committee, or any other projects which have been reported, further explorations and surveys should be made and laid before Congress. It is said that we do not even know that the proposed road is practicable, and that it is preposterous to legislate upon a subject in regard to which we have so little knowledge. In reply to that, I have to repeat what I said the other day-that we have the report of six or seven exploring parties, composed of men of science, who have examined as many different routes from between the Mississippi valley westward to the mountains that intervene between that and the Pacific ocean, and crossing those mountains at several different passes. Every square mile of the immense slope from the Sierra Madre and the Rocky Mountains, which are only an extension of the Sierra Madre, to the Mississippi, has been explored and examined-not surveyed by the chain and level, for that is not necessary in this stage of the enterprise; but the whole of the extensive plain, some seven or eight hundred miles from the base of these mountains to the western boundary of the States bordering the west bank of the Mississippi, has been carefully examined. Then, what surveys and reconnoissances may yet be properly demanded before the President, or any one else who may be authorized to locate the route of this road, shall proceed to the performance of that duty? Merely surveys of the comparative character and fitness of the various depressions or passes in the two distinct mountain ranges that intervene between the Mississippi valley and the Pacific-one called the Sierra Madre, west of the Rio Grande, and merged as you go north in what are ordinarily called the Rocky Mountain range, the other, the Sierra Nevada, still further to the west. There are thus two distinct mountain ranges and formations which constitute the proper range of the only future examinations or surveys required, before the President will be qualified to designate the route of the road. The survey of the different passes in these two mountain ranges, with the information we already possess, will be amply sufficient to enable the proper authority to establish the general route of the road. For example, if the valley of the Nebraska or Platte river shall be regarded as the most desirable route for that part of the road which is to be constructed east of the Sierra Madre or Rocky Mountains, then some more particular examination and survey of the South Pass may be necessary to be made to show what will be the grade and probable cost of a railroad carried over the Rocky Mountains at that point. If the South Pass should be found to present no serious obstacle, either in the elevation to be obercome, and the snows shall be found to be no serious obstruction in winter, then it would become proper to examine whether a road carried through that pass could be extended by a branch road from that point into Oregon, but that, I apprehend, would be found impracticable; but the new surveys and examinations on this route would have to be extended through the Sierra Nevada, to ascertain whether there is any practicable pass in that mountain towards the head of the Sacramento valley. If such a pass can be found, and the snows of winter shall be no impediment, and the South Pass likewise being found in every respect practicable, then I should say that these passes might be properly regarded as indicating a proper route for this great work. But, if the South Pass should be found practicable only by very heavy grades, or if the snow in winter shall, upon inquiry, be found to be a formidable objection to that pass, then surveys may very properly be ordered, to see whether some other pass on the Sierra Madre may not be discovered between the head-waters of the Arkansas and the Colorado of the West, which may be free from these objections. I am aware that Colonel Fremont and his party were very near perishing, and I believe some of them did perish, in attempting an exploration of this pass, and that there is not much hope to be indulged of its practicability. The next pass on the Sierra Madre, as you proceed south, which will require a more particular examination or survey, is that through which a railroad up the Canadian or Red river would lead. This is the pass already explored by Captain Sitgreaves, passing near Alburquerque, in the valley of the Rio Grande, and proceeding westward to NEW SERIES.-No. 15. Railroad to the Pacific-Mr. Bell. Zuni, and across the great valley of the Colorado of the West. Then there remains the passes on the route recommended by Major Emory, and a part of which was surveyed by the officers belonging to the Commission of Mr. Bartlett, and part by Colonel Graham. We have these three or or four different passes in the Sierra Madre range of mountains to survey, and then all that remains to be done in making preliminary examinations and surveys, will be confined to the passes in the Sierra Nevada range. Walker's Pass has already been pronounced practicable, and some affirm that it is the only one that is so in that large mountain range; but some further and more careful survey may be necessary of that pass. When the surveys of the several points or passes in the two great mountain ranges which intervene between the Mississippi and the Pacific shall be completed, then the President will have all the information, in addition to that which is already supplied in the reports of the several exploring parties before alluded to, which he will require to enable him to designate the termini and general route of the road. Do Senators mean by examinations and surveys that you must have such surveys as would enable the contractors to commence their work the work of excavation, embankment, the laying down the substratum, the timbers, &c., for the road? No such survey as that is necessary or even required before the general direction of a road is determined upon and established. SENATE. Another suggestion is, that if such a scientific board were to report to Congress, which, in its opinion, would be the best route, it would be a safer plan. In regard to that, I repeat that there would probably appear to be so little difference between some two or three of the projected routes, that individual members of Congress would say, "Here is not so great a difference between the several routes examined that I should be called upon to surrender my own private judgment upon the subject, and the interests of my constituents." We all know that the whole interest of the Northwest is in favor of a northern route; the middle States of the West are in favor of some intermediate route; and the most southern and southwestern States must naturally prefer the most southern route. Where is there a route which has so great an ascendency over all others in reference to the great questions of practicability, economy, and speed, and a due regard to the commercial interests, the protection, and defense of the whole country, as to command the assent of a majority of either House of Congress? Such a thing need not be expected. Gentlemen say, Why should we trust the President in designating the route of this great national work? I answer, because we cannot agree among ourselves. It is said that it is too great a subject to trust to any man, no matter how high in authority. But we can do nothing without putting our trust in man. We trust the President with the great and important duties connected with the execution of the laws and the executive power of Government, and why should we not trust him with this? He has a higher responsibility, and we may, with more confidence, trust him than any one else. Then, when the question who should designate the termini and general route of the road was settled, another question was: Shall the road be built; shall the work be done by the employees of the Government, or be handed over to individual enterprise? I will not repeat my argument on that subject. As to the patronage and influences which are to grow out of it, the opinion of the committee, and I think it will be the opinion of every sensible member of this body, was, that it would be far more dangerous to give the construction of such a road as this, that may not be completed even in twenty years, for anything we know, to the Executive than to private individuals or companies. The vast number of Government agents and superintendents, and other employees, required in carry I say, then, that it is not true that we have no sufficient lights upon the subject to justify a legislative enactment providing for the construction of this road. Three of the passes in the Sierra Madre I have mentioned are confidently pronounced practicable by able and skillful engineers, so far as the construction of the road is concerned. One of them, upon further investigation, may not be considered so on account of the snows which accumulate in winter. Walker's Pass, in the Sierra Nevada, is pronounced practicable by the same authority, and there may be yet another found which will be so likewise. How is it, then, that Senators, in the face of all this evidence, persist in arguing that we do not yet know that it is possible to make this road that any route has been discovered which is practicable? The point which I wish to make is, that the only additional examinations and surveys that we went are such as are necessary to determine which of the several practicable passes known to exist will admit of the easiest grading and the least cost; and when these poinsting on such a work; the vast amount of money to are settled, all that ought to be required or expected before the road is located will be accomplished, and all such necessary examinations and surveys are provided for in this bill. Provision is made in the bill for the appointment of ten civil engineers, should they be necessary, by the President, in addition to the whole corps of Topographical Engineers, which are placed at his disposal to make these very explorations and surveys. Another objection to the bill was, that when we shall have all these additional surveys and examinations, Congress ought to make the designation of the termini and general route of the road. will only repeat, in reply to this objection, what I stated on a former day-that every gentleman of any experience in Congress, must and does know, that upon a line of a thousand miles, from Texas to the lakes on the western frontiers, there are so many points having pretty strong, plausible grounds of preference, so many conflicting and local interests and jealousies will exist, that we need never expect the members of the two Houses of Congress to agree upon the termini-the eastern terminus, at all events, of this great road. It has been suggested to leave it to a scientific board-a board of engineers and geologists-to designate what would be the best route for the public interest, the one which could be constructed with the greatest economy, and would admit of the greatest speed. In the judgment of the committee which framed this bill, the answer to that was, that such a board would have great difficulty in agreeing among themselves; that its members would be liable to the imputation of being influenced by capitalists and their local interests and partialities; and that the public would not have so much confidence in it as they would have in the President of the United States. be disbursed and expended would, in themselves, constitute an amount of patronage equivalent to that of many independent Governments of the earth. By committing the execution of the work to private enterprise, we avoid the wasteful expenditure always attending the construction of public works under Government direction and control, and at the same time escape the corrupting influences of increased patronage in the hands of the Executive. But we are told that any company of contractors for the construction of such a gigantic work, will have a vast and dangerous influence. In reply to this, I say, that the chief and greatest interest of the private capitalists who may undertake to build this road, according to the provisions of this bill, will be to construct the road in the most perfect and durable manner; and all the influences they can exercise will naturally be employed in having the work completed in the shortest time, and with the greatest economy. It is said that we propose to incorporate the contractors, and all the prejudices usually entertained against corporations and monopolies, and the dangerous influences which they sometimes wield, are appealed to and exaggerated in order to drive members from the support of this measure. But here again the interest of the corporation or company, if any there shall be, will happily, under the checks and limitations provided in this bill, all be concentrated in the successful completion of the road, and the prosperous operation and skillful management of it. Their interest and the interest of the public will be identical. We need have no fear that they will waste the funds granted by the Government, for they will be under bonds to supply all deficiencies out of their own pockets. But if corporations are objectionable, strike out that part of the bill which 32D CONG....2D SESS. grants such privileges. Incorporated companies would undoubtedly possess greater advantages and facilities in the prosecution of such an undertaking, than private individuals; but corporate privileges are not essential, and may be dispensed with. The honorable Senator from South Carolina says, that Congress has no power to create a corporation. I suppose he means within the limits of a State. But no such thing is proposed; and whether Congress has that power or not, the friends of the bill do not mean to insist upon it. The bill contemplates that the States through which the road may run, will grant corporate privileges to the contractors. But limit the exercise of corporate privileges to the territory of the United States, if that be the sentiment of the Senate. But I understand the Senator to question even whether we have the power to incorporate a company in the Territories for the purpose of constructing this road. He argues that if it is the duty of the Government to make this road, and it has the power to do so, it is a trust, and it cannot delegate it to a corporation. Whence, then, have we found it proper and it has been practiced without objection from the foundation of the Government to erect territorial governments? They are corporations of the very highest class, and we delegate to them the most important powers that we have powers of legislation, powers of government. We in some instances govern the people of a territory without representation or a territorial legislature. Our powers are sovereign and plenary in the Territories. But, I repeat, that if an incorporated company is distasteful, strike out the clause which proposes to create one. There are sufficient inducements for private capitalists without any corporate privileges, we trust, to engage in this enterprise. Railroad to the Pacific-Mr. Bell. teen millions of acres of land to become home- annum. Another objection made to this bill is, the gigantic scale of the projected enterprise. A grand idea it is. A continent of three thousand miles in extent from east to west, reaching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, is to be connected by a railway! Honorable Senators will remember, that over one thousand miles-one third of this whole expanse of the continent-the work is already accomplished, and that chiefly by private enterprise. I may, as a safe estimate, say, that a thousand miles of said railroad leading from the Atlantic to the West, upon the line of the lakes, and nearly as much upon a line further south, are either com pleted, or nearly so. We have two thousand miles yet to compass, in the execution of a work which it said has no parallel in the history of the world. No, sir; it has no parallel in the history of the world, ancient or modern, either as to its extent and magnitude, or to its consequences, beneficent and benignant in all its bearings on the interests of all mankind. It is in these aspects, and in the contemplation of these consequences, that it has no parallel in the history of the world-changing the course of the commerce of the world-bringing the West almost in contact, by reversing the ancient line of communication, with the gorgeous East, and all its riches, the stories of which, in our earlier days, we regarded as fabulous; but now, sir, what was held to be merely fictions of the brain in former times, in regard to the riches of Eastern Asia, is almost realized on our own western shores. Sir, these are some of the inducements to the construction of this great road, besides its importance to the military defenses of the country, and its mail communications. Sir, it is a magnificent and splendid project in every aspect in which you can view it. One third of this great railway connection is accomplished; two thirds remain to be. Shall we hesitate to go forward with the work? Now, with regard to the means provided for the construction of the road. It is said, here is an enormous expenditure of the public money proposed. We propose to give twenty millions of dollars, in the bonds of the Government, bearing five per cent. interest, and fifteen millions of acres of land, supposed to be worth as much more, on the part of the Government. This is said to be enormous, and we are reminded that we ought to look at what the people will say, and how they will feel when they come to the knowledge that twenty millions in money and twenty millions in land have been given for the construction of a railway! Some I have said that this road, when completed, will doubtless there are in this Chamber, who are cost the Government an annual expenditure of two ready to contend that we had better give these fif-millions of dollars. I have said that one of the ob What are the objects to be accomplished? A daily mail from the valley of the Mississippi to the Pacific; the free transportation of all troops and munitions of war required for the protection and defense of our possessions on the Pacific; which we could not hold three months in a war either with England or France, without such a road. By building this road we accomplish this further object: This road will be the most effective and powerful check that can be interposed by the Government upon Indian depredations and aggressions upon our frontiers or upon each other; the northern tribes upon the southern, and the southern upon the northern. You cut them in two. You will be constantly in their midst, and cut off their intercommunication and hostile depredations. You will have a line of quasi fortifications, a line of posts and stations, with settlements on each side of the road. Every few miles you will thus have settlements strong enough to defend themselves against inroads of the Indians, and so constituting a wall of separation between the Indian tribes, composed of a white population, with arms in their hands. This object alone would, perhaps, be worth as much as the road will cost; and when I speak of what the road will be worth in this respect, I mean to say, that besides the prevention of savage warfare, the effusion of blood, it will save millions of dollars to the Treasury annually, in the greater economy attained in moving troops and military supplies and preventing hostilities. SENATE. jects secured by this road, will be a daily mail be- I I have been thus particular in noting these things because I want to show where or on which side the balance will be found in the adjustment of the responsibility account between the friends and the opponents of this measure-which will have the heaviest account to settle with the country. For myself, I am not wedded to this particular scheme. Rather than have no road, I would prefer to adopt other projects. I am now advocating one which I supposed would meet the views of a greater number of Senators than any other. I think great honor is due to Mr. Whitney for having originated the scheme, and having obtained the sanction of the Legislatures of seventeen or eighteen States of the Union. Rather than have the project altogether fail, I would be willing to adopt his plan. It may not offer the same ad vantages for a speedy consummation of the work; but still, we would have a road in prospect, and that would be a great deal. But if gentlemen are to rise here in their places year after year-and this is the fifth year from the time we ought to have undertaken this work-and tell us it is just time to commence a survey, we will never have a road. The honorable Senator from South Carolina [Mr. BUTLER] says there ought to be some limitation in this idea of progress, when regarded as a spur to great activity and energy, as to what we shall do in our day. He says we have acquired California; we have opened up those rich regions on our western borders, which promise such magnificent results; and he asks, is not that enough for the present generation? Leave it to the next generation to construct a work of such magnitude as this-requiring forty millions of dollars from the Government. Mr. President, I have said that if the condition was a road or no road, I would regard one hundred and fifty millions of dollars as well laid out by the Government for the work; though I have no idea that it will take such an amount. Eighty or one hundred millions of dollars will build the road. But with regard to what is due from this generation to itself, or what may be left to the next 32D CONG.....2D Sess. generation, I say it is for the present generation that we want the road. As to our having acquired California, and opened this new world of commerce, and enterprise, and as to what we shall leave to the next generation, I say that, after we of this generation shall have constructed this road, we will, perhaps, not even leave to the next generation the construction of a second one. The present generation, in my opinion, will not pass away until it shall have seen two great lines of railroads in prosperous operation between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and within our own territory, and still leave quite enough to the next generation the third and fourth great lines of communication between the two extremes of the continent. One, at least, is due to ourselves, and to the present generation; and I hope there are many within the sound of my voice who will live to see it accomplished. We want that new Dorado, the new Ophir of America, to be thrown open and placed within the reach of the whole people. We want the great cost, the delays, as well as the privations and risks of a passage to California, by the malarious Isthmus of Panama, or any other of the routes now in use, to be mitigated, or done away with. There will be some greater equality in the enjoyment and advantages of these new acquisitions upon the Pacific coast when this road shall be constructed. The inexhaustible gold mines, or placers of California, will no longer be accessible only to the more robust, resolute, or desperate part of our population, and who may be already well enough off to pay their passage by sea, or provide an outfit for an overland travel of two and three thousand miles. Enterprising young men all over the country, who can command the pittance of forty or fifty dollars to pay their railroad fare; heads of families who have the misfortune to be poor, but spirit and energy enough to seek comfort and independence by labor, will no longer be restrained by the necessity of separating themselves from their families, but have it in their power, with such small means as they may readily command, in eight or ten days, to find themselves with their whole households transported and set down in the midst of the gold regions of the West, at full liberty to possess and enjoy whatever of the rich harvest spread out before him his industry and energy shall entitle him to. It will be theirs by as good a title as any can boast who have had the means to precede them. We hear much said of late of the justice and policy of providing a homestead, a quarter section of the public land, to every poor and landless family in the country. Make this road, and you enable every poor man in the country to buy a much better homestead, and retain all the pride and spirit of independence. Gentlemen here may say that the region of California, so inviting, and abundant in gold now, will soon be exhausted, and all these bright prospects for the enterprising poor pass away. No, sir, centuries will pass-ages and ages must roll away before those gold-bearing mountains shall all have been excavated-those auriferous sands and alluvial deposits shall give out all their wealth; and even after all these shall have failed, the beds of the rivers will yield a generous return to the toil of the laborer. But however great the importance of this road, indispensable as it is to the safety and defense of the country in a military point of view; however advantageous to the commerce of the country, and however desirable it may be to the whole population, and especially to the enterprising poor man, I am not encouraged to believe that this measure will receive the sanction of this Congress or of the next. Gentlemen were perfectly right when they suggested that it is very difficult to keep the influence of capitalists out of the consideration of these measures. Capitalists get into our legislative halls, it is suggested. I know of no such influence in the Senate. But capitalists without have an influence. How many and how great are the influences at work against this project, or any other that we could devise for the object? I do not remember to have seen a paragraph in the Washington correspondence of a leading public journal in any one of the large cities, favorable to this bill. The general intelligence conveyed to the country through the leading newspapers, is that it is an impracticable one; that nothing can be done with it; that such and such a project of a I want one, commence it where you will, northwest, or at the intermediate point looking towards Memphis, or some southern point. Give us one, and you will satisfy me for the present, not doubting that in time all these various sections will be gratified. different complexion is preferable; and that it is only a waste of time to consider this. This is significant. The honorable Senator from Virginia [Mr. HUNTER] chimes in, and says it is only a waste of time, and we can do nothing with it. I know that he is under no improper influences in his course, except that I feel pretty sure that he is against the road in any shape. I am sorry to see an advantage taken of the interest excited by other business and questions before the Senate to defeat this measure. The resolutions in relation to Cuba, Central America, to the Clayton and Bulwer treaty, British Honduras, the Bay Islands, the Tehuantepec grant, and the Texas debt bill, have each and all of them been magnified into subjects of far greater public interest than the construction of a railroad to the Pacific. In the midsting of so many more interesting and exciting questions, it is difficult to get Senators to give any attention to such a project as this. The truth is, that this subject has not the advantage of the outside pressure of personal and individual interest and solicitude, as some other measures have. All the influences of this kind are decidedly against it. What are these outside influences? It is said that some $30,000,000 or $40,000,000 will be required to complete the Panama railroad. I have heard that a much larger amount than that will be vested in that road. There is the large capital said to be vested in the interoceanic ship-canal project on the route of the San Juan and Lake Nicaragua; there is the Tehuantepec railroad project, which enlists the influence of its millions of capital against this road. Although I do not think those interested in these various enterprises ought to look with any jealousy upon the project of a railroad within our own territory between the Mississippi and the Pacific, yet it is in perfect keeping with human nature that they should do so. There are also several lines of splendid and costly steamers employed in carrying the mails and passengers on both sides of the continent, and forming a communication between the ports of the Atlantic and the Pacific. The proprietors of these lines are all likely to feel some jealousy of the railroad project to connect the valley of the Mississippi and the Pacific, and their influence will be thrown into the scale against it. Not content with the profits of the present, nor with those of the ten years to come before this road can be completed, still, such is the timidity and farreaching calculations of capital, that there can be no project, however far in the future, but excites some distrust and alarm. We thus have the combined influence of all these great interests to con. tend against. The Senator from Virginia [Mr. MASON] says that however important this road may be, it will take twenty years to complete it, and he therefore concludes that the Tehuantepec contract question|| is more important and a more practical one at this time. I concede a good deal of importance to the Tehuantepec question. We must have the right. It is of great importance that a right of way through the Mexican territory, by the Tehuantepec bay, should be secured to this country; but how does that prove that the road contemplated by this bill should be delayed? If twenty years will be required to complete it, according to his estimate, it is of more importance that it should be commenced at once. I believe it can easily be accomplished in ten years. Four years have already passed since this road should have been commenced. But there are impediments to the passage of this bill of a different nature from those influences of which I have spoken. There are some gentlemen who are not content with any bill which leaves the eastern terminus of the road unsettled. Some gentlemen of the Northwest want such provisions as will secure the point of terminus at St Louis, or at some point north of that city. We have seen the evidences of this influence in the progress of this discussion. Some gentlemen of the South and Southwest would prefer never to have a road unless it shall have its eastern terminus pointing to their own section of the country. I think they are both wrong. I think the time will come when they will have a road leading from the Southwest to the Pacific, and one from the Northwest, if they do not get it now; and I also think the intermediate position will be occupied in due time. The great and the general interest of the country demands that we shall have a road commenced at some point or other; looking forward with confidence to the growth and increased resources of the country as a guarantee that we will have a second road very soon, or at least branches communicating with the main trunk of any one we may now resolve to construct. There can be no doubt that the main trunk will have branches in five years from the time of its construction, lookto all the important points northwest, southwest, and to intermediate points. That is my view of the subject. On a former occasion, Mr. President, I alluded to the importance of having a communication by railway between the Mississippi river and the Pacific ocean, in the event of war with any great maritime Power. I confess that the debates upon the subject of our foreign relations within the last few weeks, if all that was said had commanded my full assent, would have dissipated very much the force of any argument which thought might be fairly urged in favor of this road as a necessary work for the protection and security of our possessions on the Pacific coast. We now hear it stated, and reiterated by grave and respectable and intelligent Senators, that there is no reason that any one should apprehend a war with either Great Britain or France. Not now, nor at any time in the future; at all events, unless there shall be a total change in the condition, social, political, and economical, of those Powers, and especially as regards Great Britain. All who have spoken agree that there is no prospect of war. None at all. I agree that I can see nothing in the signs of the times which is indicative of immediate and certain war. Several gentlemen have thrown out the idea that we hold the bond of Great Britain to keep the peace, with ample guarantees and sureties, not only for the present time, but for an indefinite time; and as long as Great Britain stands as an independent monarchy. These sureties and guarantees are said to consist in the discontented and destitute class of her population, of her operatives and laborers, and the indispensable necessity of the cotton crop of the United States in furnishing them with employment and subsistence, without which it is said she would be torn with internal strife. I could tell gentlemen who argue in that way, that we have another guarantee that Great Britain will not break with the United States for any trivial cause, which they have not thought proper to raise. We may threaten and denounce and bluster as much as we please about British violations of the Clayton and Bulwer treaty, and the Mosquito protectorate, about the assumption of territorial dominion over the Balize or British Honduras, and the new colony of the Bay Islands; and Great Britain will negotiate, explain, treat, and transgress, and negotiate again, and resort to any device, before she will go to war with us, as long as she can hope to prolong the advantages to herself of the free-trade policy now established with the United States. It is not only the cotton crop of America which she covets, but it is the rich market for the products of her manufacturing industry, which she finds in the United States; and this has contributed as much as any other cause to improve the condition of her operatives, and impart increased prosperity to her trade and revenue. As long as we think proper to hold to our present commercial regulations, I repeat that it will require very great provocation on our part to force Great Britain into a war with the United States. One gentleman [Mr. DOUGLAS] has told us that we are in no danger of a war with Great Britain, for another reason. He informs us that she is under bond to keep the peace with us, because she has large territories on this continent, and on our immediate borders, which she would be sure to lose in the event of a war with us. But, Great Britain is under a stronger bond to keep the peace with us just now than any I have yet mentioned. As long as Louis Napoleon shall maintain his 32D CONG.....2D SESS. present imposing attitude in Europe-as long as the French Empire stands, with the strong antiEnglish feeling known to pervade France-Great Britain will not venture to provoke a war with the United States, nor be over sensitive or pugnacious in resisting our pretensions to exclusive control in America. The late debates in the Senate of the United States have tended to allay the apprehension which existed in this country that the advent of the new Administration would be distinguished by hostile movements in reference to Cuba. It was feared, and not without some show of reason, that the temper and policy of the new Administration, but more especially of that portion of the Democracy which it was supposed would be apt to control its counsels, were decidedly of the annexation type, and adverse to the prospect of peace. We all know that such apprehensions were felt. The Senators from Virginia [Mr. MASON] and Michigan [Mr. CASS] contributed to allay those apprehensions in a good degree, by the unexpected moderation of the tone, especially of one of those Senators, [Mr. CASS;] and, at a later day, we have the views of other Senators, which may be supposed to furnish a clew to the policy of the incoming Administration on questions connected with our foreign relations, and the preservation of peace. That we are to have no difficulty-no war with any foreign Power, growing out of our relations with Spain and Cuba, is strongly supported by the views of several southern Senators, who have avowed not only their opposition to any movement of questionable propriety towards the acquisition of Cuba, but regard its annexation as of questionable advantage to the interests of the South, or of the country generally. One Senator took the ground that the annexation of Cuba would be decidedly injurious to the planting interest of the South, and I can hardly suppose that the North will be disposed to force the annexation of Cuba against the wishes of the South. The argument has also been advanced that it is better for the interests of this country that Cuba should remain in the hands of a foreign Power, especially one that would be likely to be neutral in any war in which the United States may be engaged. We would then have the advantage of neutral ports near our own shores. It has been further contended that one of the inducements to the annexation of Cuba is founded on a mistake. It is confidently stated that the relative position of Cuba, no matter into whose hands it may fall, does not give it the command of the Gulf trade--that it is not the key to the Gulf-but that the Tortugas and Key West are the true keys to that trade. These views in relation to the policy of annexing Cuba to the United States may be well founded. I do not propose to go into these inquiries. My object has been to array the several arguments which have been employed to give the country assurances of continued peace. Still further to strengthen and confirm the expectations of uninterrupted peace of this country, it has been declared that France, the only other great maritime Power besides Great Britain, has not only no motive to go to war with the United States, but that she dare not, so dependent is she, in the straitened condition of her revenue and finances, upon her foreign commerce, which, it is supposed, would be swept from the ocean in a trice, should she engage in a war with us. We hold, it is said, France as well as England under bonds to keep the peace. I beg to say, with the greatest respect for all the honorable Senators whose views I have alluded to on this subject, that I have not the fullest confidence in their arguments, or the conclusions founded upon them. I fear, sir, that many of them are delusive, and by no means safely to be relied upon by the country. I beg honorable Senators who have spoken so confidently of the insuperable obstacles to a war against the United States, which they suppose exist in the internal condition of Great Britain, in respect to the destitution and discontents of her population, that at no time within a very long period has the laboring population of Great Britain been in a more prosperous and satisfactory condition. The wages of labor has advanced in every branch of industry, and there is no longer any difficulty in finding employment. Some danger, indeed, has been apprehended that there would before long be a deficiency of labor in the United the Senate; but it is impossible to shut our eyes to the fact, that notwithstanding the profuse professions of amity, of kind and fraternal feeling, by some of the leading public journals of England, and by many of her statesmen-notwithstanding the unqualified terms in which a war with this country is deprecated, and the blessings and advantages of peace commended, there is a growing jealousy and an ill-suppressed hostility to our institutions felt by the whole governing class of Great Britain. The same may be affirmed of all the great Monarchies. These feelings have been in active operation since the events of 1848 to 1852. We have no friends among them. France, isolated as she is, from all the old dynastic Powers, still, with her present political organization, will find employment for her army and navy in America, if she can find no better field in Europe. We fancy that we hold the bonds of both England and France, with ample securities, to keep the peace with us; and under this delusion we suppose that we may bluster and menace, and assume what doctrines and policy we please in relation to the control of the affairs of this continent, and still involve no risk of war. But let me tell the members of the Senate, and the people of the whole country, if my voice can reach them, that while we indulge the delusion that we hold the bonds of those two great Powers to keep the peace with us, and while we openly boast that they dare not make war upon us; they, on the other hand, more secretly, and therefore more prudently, indulge a similar delusion in regard to bonds which they suppose they hold of ours, and with more ample securities, by which we are bound to keep the peace with them. Kingdom. This great and striking change in the||ject of sectional agitation, or one not agreeable to tion for the United States would be, whether the I have said, Mr. President, that the conclusions That This delusion on their part is not founded upon our inconsiderable pretense of a Navy. could easily be remedied. That is not the idea. Nor is it the defenseless condition of the Atlantic coast, and of our harbors and navy yards, nor the absolute want of any defenses whatever on the Pacific coast, though that would be something to be considered. Some English statesman is said to have stated in Parliament, that Great Britain in possession of the Island of Cuba could, in the event of a war with the United States, cut our commerce in two-as doubtless she could, so far as regards our coastwise trade between the Gulf and Lower Mississippi States and the States on the Atlantic. But Great Britain looks to a more effective mode of warfare than the breaking up of our coastwise trade. If the United States shall attempt to enforce the Monroe doctrine to an offensive extreme -should they go beyond mere menace and bravado, and attempt by force to drive her out of Central America, or in any other way or under any pretext provoke a war, she considers that she holds in her hands a key with which she can unlock an element of war of such potency as to cut the Union in two. Great Britain supposes that she holds a key with which she can at pleasure unlock an element of public sentiment by which she can stir the blood of her own subjects to such a feeling of hostility to the United States as will reconcile them all to the consequences of interrupted trade and industry, incident to war. I think, sir, that we must be a little blind if we do not already perceive that the initiatory steps have already been taken to prepare the people of England for any future contingency which may possibly give rise to a war between the two countries-however sincere British statesmen may be in desiring that no such a contingency may ever happen. I repeat, that it is impossible that any sagacious American statesman can look on and consider the current of things, not only in England, but on the continent, in reference to American affairs and institutions, and not be impressed with the idea that there is as much of State policy as of sentiment at the bottom. Whence the obstinate persistence of Great Britain? Whence the increased sensibilities of English statesmen to the atrocities of the slave trade? Whence the more than usual tenacity, not only of the two late cabinets, but the present one also, in enforcing the treaty obligation of Spain, in regard to the slave trade? Does any one believe that it is a philanthropic impulse only which prompts Great Britain to menace Spain, and send her dozen ships-of-war to prevent the landing of slaves in Cuba? Or does any one now doubt that it has become a settled 32D CONG.....2D SESS. Reciprocal Trade with the British Provinces-Mr. Fuller, of Maine. point of English policy, since the correspondence of Lord Palmerston and Lord Howden has come to light, that Cuba shall become like Jamaica? that there shall be no slave-grown sugar in the islands? that Cuba, with the abolition of slavery, shall become worthless, and a burden to Spain? and then we know the sequel. It is for these reasons, in part, Mr. President, that I regard the idea of an exemption from wars in future, either with England or France, delusive. Not, I repeat, that I see any immediate prospect of war; but I would not, in considering the temper of our own people and the present unsettled condition of Europe, and of our relations with Great Britain and Spain, (to say nothing of France,) be surprised if we should be involved in a war at any time. As for this road, we are told at every turn that it is ridiculous to talk of war in connection with it; for we will have no wars except those with the Indians. Both England and France dare not go to war with us. I say this course of argument is not only unwise and delusive, but if such sentiments take hold on the country, they will be mischievous; they will almost to a certainty lead to a daring and reckless policy on our part; and as each Government labors under a similar delusion as to what the other will not dare to do, what is more probable than that both may get into such a position-the result of a mutual mistake-that war must ensue? It is worth while to reflect upon the difference between the policy of Great Britain and this country in her diplomatic correspondence and debates in Parliament. When we make a threat, Great Britain does not threaten in turn. We hear of no gasconade on her part. If we declare that we have a just fight to latitude 540 | 40', and will maintain our right at all hazard, she does not bluster, and threaten, and declare what the will do, if we dare to carry out our threat. When we talk about the Musquito king, and the Balize, of the Bay Islands, and declare our determination to drive her from her policy and purposes in regard to them, we do not hear of an angry form of expression from her. We employed very strong language last year in regard to the rights of American fishermen; but the reply of Great Britain scarcely assumed the tone of remon strance against the intemperate tone of our debates. Her policy upon all such occasions is one of wisdom. Her strong and stern purpose is seldom to be seen in her diplomatic intercourse, or in the debates of her leading statesmen; but if you were about her dock-yards, or in her foundries, or her timber-yards, and her great engine manufactories, and her armories, you would find some bustle and stir. There, all is life and motion. I have always thought that the proper policy of this country is to make no threats-to make no parade of what we intend to do. Let us put the country in a condition to defend its honor and interests; to maintain them successfully whenever they may be assailed; no matter by what Power, whether by Great Britain, or France, or both combined. Make this road; complete the defenses of the country, of your harbors, and navy-yards; strengthen your Navy-put it upon an efficient footing; appropriate ample means for making experiments to ascertain the best model of ships-ofwar, to be driven by steam or any other motive power; the best models of the engines to be employed in them; to inquire whether a large complement of guns, or a few guns of great calibre is the better plan. We may well, upon such quesAt a recent tions, take a lesson from England. period she has been making experiments of this nature, in order to give increased efficiency to her naval establishment. How did she set about it? Her Admiralty Board gave orders for eleven of the most perfect engines that could be built, by eleven of the most skillful and eminent enginebuilders in the United Kingdom, without limit as to the cost, or any other limitation, except as to class or size. At the same time orders were issued for the building of thirteen frigates of a medium class, by thirteen of the most skillful ship-builders in the kingdom, in order to ascertain the best models, the best running lines, and the best of every other quality desirable in a war vessel. This is the mode in which Great Britain prepares for any contingencies which may arise. She cannot tell when they may occur, yet she knows that she has no immunity from those RECIPROCAL TRADE. SENATE. investments in railroads and other means of transportation. This bill is emphatically, as its friends claim it to be, a measure to promote manufacturing and railroad interests, and its adoption is urged upon the ground of the especial benefits it will confer upon those interests. Now, sir, capital is always quick to scent out its own true interests, and never fails to exercise its full share of influence in the halls of legislation. This bill proposes to establish new rules of trade between the British North American Provinces and the United States, which trade, in the aggregate, the past year, amounted to over $18,000,000. By reference to the report of J. D. Andrews, Esq., communicated to Congress by the Secretary of the Treasury at the present session, and to which I wish to pay a deserved SPEECH OF HON. T. J. D. FULLER, compliment for the vast amount of valuable statist OF MAINE, IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, On the bill establishing Reciprocal Trade with the. Mr. FULLER said: Mr. SPEAKER: Being a member of the Com- The tariff in 1846 was revised, and its details The planters of Louisiana, the hemp-growers There is a law of the sea which quite appositely illustrates the bearing of this bill on my constituents. It is "the prerogative of the great fish to eat up the little ones;" and in no other light can I view the practical application of this bill in its operation upon my State. I desire to look fairly at all the different interests of this great and varied country. I am disposed to favor any proper measures which will so divide the common burdens of taxation that they may fall equally upon all. In this connection, I wish to invite the attention of the House to a few historical facts. In 1824, and prior thereto, the State of Massachusetts was eminently one of commerce and navigation. That State for a time opposed the protective policy, but her interests changed and she became a manufacturing State, and asked for protection. She obtained it. Under that system, notwithstanding its fluctuations, her manufactures have now obtained a firm foothold, and she now seeks a foreign market on the principle of mutual exchanges. That State, with others at the present time, has large As an ical information it affords, exhibiting not only method, but great industry and research, it appears that our gross amount of exports to the British North American Provinces for the last year, was $12,678,279; and the aggregate of imports from those Provinces was $6,218,660. Now, every one knows that under existing laws the industry of the country adapts itself to such laws, and that any material change thereof affects private interests to a very great extent. illustration: by our present tariff, gypsum in its crude state is admitted into our ports free of duty; and under my own observation on the frontier of my State, near tide-waters, large investments have been made in mills and machinery for calcining and grinding plaster. This bill proposes to admit plaster manufactured free of duty; the effect of which would be to transfer the process of manufacturing to the quarry, or place of shipment in Nova Scotia, and thereby save the expense of transhipment, and the result will follow of the entire abandonment of the present places of manufacturing, and the loss of the capital invested in the buildings and machinery. How stands it with lumber? It is affirmed by the friends of this measure that lumber is scarce; that our forests are fast disappearing, by reason of the great demand for it, and that it is, at the present time, «normously high in the markets; that lumber must be placed in the free list of articles, for the purpose of cheapening it to the manufacturing districts, which are great consumers of it. Admit it to be so. Are not the woolen shirts, the satinets, the cottons, the boots and shoes, iron, hemp, and cordage, produced in other sections of the country, quite as indispensable to the producers of lumber as is lumber to the producers of these articles? Any measure which partakes of incidental protection, in the shape of duties, to defray the expenses of the Government, should be so adjusted as to bear equally on all, and this is all I contend for. Any system which stops short of this must work unequally, and produce great discontent and dissatisfaction. Now, what are the facts in relation to lumber? Lumber, in its varied forms of manufacture, is at this time, and for many years will continue to be, an article of export from our country. By the annual report of commerce and navigation of the past year, it appears that the United States exported to foreign countries over three hundred millions feet of lumber, and of the approximate value of $3,000,000; while for the same | period of time we imported only about $800,000 worth, notwithstanding the long-extended line of frontier bordering on the British Provinces. Is there, then, any foundation in the allegation that lumber is becoming scarce in the markets of our own country, while our lumbermen are seeking a foreign market for their surplus? Our merchants export lumber largely to Spain on the Atlantic and Mediterranean, to France on the Atlantic and Mediterranean, and to the West India Islands. My friend from North Carolina [Mr. ASHE] laid upon my desk this morning a statement of the exports from the port of Wilmington, in his State, one of the items in which statement is seventeen millions feet of lumber exported the past year. Now, that this free-trade project with the North American British Provinces will operate, and is so intended, beneficially to the manufacturing interests, and to capital invested in railroads, I do not deny. On the other hand, it is just as evident |