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as to ability to resist further applications. Help less, absolutely helpless; tied hand and foot, and driven perforce to all such expenditures as may be necessary to the completion of the road. This temptation, as my friend from Connecticut called it-and it was an admirable word-in the shape of $20,000,000 in money, and $20,000,000 in land, with the profits in the distance, will glitter in their eyes, and great companies will be congregated for the purpose of carrying out this vast project. All portions of the country will rival each other in endeavoring to reap the advantages of this magnificent temptation which is held out. And, sir, when Maine and Florida-when Pennsylvania and the other sea-board States unite with the far West, through those who will embark in this enterprise, in pressing Congress to make new appropriations, do you think Congress will have the power to stop it? No, sir.

I say, then, that there is no certain limit to the expenditure in this bill. There is no knowing, according to it, what expenditure Congress may not be called upon to make. Then, when it is probable that in the end all will be shouldered upon us, ought we not to know in advance, from a preliminary survey, what is the probable amount which we shall be finally compelled to pay? It seems to me that statesmanship, the commonest wisdom that actuates individuals even in relation to their domestic economy, should induce us to look at least for information to satisfy us upon this point. I do not know what others think, but I know that is my impression.

I have stated that there has been no corporation in any country which would possess such powers as these under this bill. Gentlemen have told us not to deal in round assertions, and I will try to deal as little as possible in them. I said in the course of the remarks which I formerly submitted--and they were exceedingly brief-that Fox's East India Company did not possess powers and influence so enormous as would be conferred by this vast amount of money and appropriation of lands upon this company. I was somewhat called to task about my historical knowledge on that point. The Senator from Massachusetts [Mr. DAVIS] told me there was no similitude between the one and the other-between that corporation and this. I did not say they were alike. I should have been a fool to have said so. Their objects were entirely different; they were not at all the same; nor did I say that they were the same. I only spoke of the character of the powers, and said that the powers here given were greater, and that the influence which the company would be able to exert would be greater than that company, under the provisions of Fox's bill, would have been able to exert. The gentleman himself, or from the promptings, I believe, of a gentleman who sat by him at the time, said that Fox's bill gave to the East India Company the power to make war and conclude peace. Sir, the Senator was entirely mistaken; Fox's bill did no such thing. Long before Fox's bill was thought of war had been made by the company, and it had conquered provinces extending from Cape Comorin to the Himalaya mountains an extent of territory larger than all the British possessions elsewhere in the world up to that moment. Originally the East India Company was a mere company of traders; but powers were conferred upon it from time to time, and it made war, conquered provinces, and when it was called to an account for it by Parliament-and that was why I produced this measure for the purpose of comparison -it had power and influence enough in the country to scout at the objections which had been made to the policy which it had pursued. Warren Hastings was impeached, as you, sir, very well know, for his conduct; and although he had violated all the laws of his country and humanity, the company had influence enough to screen him from punishment. I believe he deserved well of England in many respects, and I never found fault with the British House of Lords for their decision in that case. I was only referring to the great powers that such great companies possess. It was with this view that I referred to Fox's East India bill. The East India Company had extravagant powers conferred upon it by the act of 1773. It has gone on under those powers making war, until finally it has become clothed-or, if not the

Railroad to the Pacific-Mr. Cooper.

company, those who are under the control of the company, and who have managed in India all the concerns of the British Government-with power to make war at their pleasure, always dictated by the company, and also to establish the terms of peace. That is what I alluded to.

These were my principal objections: first, that a preparatory survey ought to be made; in the second place, that the powers conferred upon this company were of a character to induce apprehension in the eyes of those who have looked to history to see how such power has been exercised and abused. We have been asked to point out how a power of this kind could be abused. Sir, it would be very hard to point to the specific measures that a corporation might pursue; that would be very difficult, but it is not difficult to see that, having such a power as this, it would exercise it, as all companies founded upon pecuniary considerations do. Is it not natural, that possessing power to coerce the Government into such measures as would be necessary for the increase of its grandeur, its wealth, and its dignity, it should exercise it? All other companies that have existed in the world have done so.

Sir, our friends on the other side of the Chamber used to be terrified by a monster which had its den in my own good State-the bank of the United States-and they supposed that with its capital of $35,000,000 it had it in its power to break down and trample under foot the liberties of the country. Have men grown better than they formerly were? Are there any indications in the moral world that men would now be less likely to abuse great power conferred upon them than they would ten, fifteen, or twenty years ago? No, sir; I see no signs abroad, in the political or moral heavens, that indicate a change for the better in that respect. Sir, are the powers that are conferred here of a character which would be likely to permit of an unwholesome exercise, such as in the case of a bank? In my judgment they permit of greater abuse. I have seen, in a neighboring State, the influence of these railroad corporations. There are two or three railroads, not, perhaps, more than four hundred or five hundred miles in extent, and yet they control, politically, socially, and morally, the whole population of that State. They make and they unmake at pleasure. And let a railroad of this kind be built across the continent; let the company have at its command the transportation of the commodities of the whole eastern world, as you are told it will-supposing that fuel and everything else can be found in sufficient abundance to make the communication between the East and the West in this way practicable and easy-and what kind of powers will it possess? Unexampled in the history of the world. I repeat, I cannot particularize in what way it might affect the public interests; how it might eventually be used to the danger of the public liberties. There are things in the future which wisdom cannot foresee. It is not necessary that I should particularize, that I should, in short, do that which is impossible to be done; but it is enough to repeat, that possessing such powers as it will possess, and such vast pecuniary resources, it will use them as other corporations have used theirs, and it will abuse them as other corporations have abused them. There is nothing more certain than this.

But let us look at the question in another aspect; and in this view there is a strong objection in my mind. Let the eastern terminus of this road be Texas; let it commence in Texas, and be made across Texas. Let the other end commence, as the bill requires it shall commence, in California. Let it run eastward across California. You have then a road made through these two States, at the expense of the General Government. Sir, is that to be doubted? What good would the forfeiture be? You are told that if the road be not completed there will be a forfeiture; yet there is nothing in the bill providing for the way or the means in which this forfeiture is to be brought about. But, sir, forfeiture or no forfeiture, the road would be there, and the States through which it passed would have the advantage of this great outlay of money. Now, I call the attention of my southern friends, those gentlemen who are strict in their construction of the Constitution, to this. I do not think, I must say in all candor, that it forms a con

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stitutional objection; but it certainly does give to those States advantages which the other States cannot enjoy. By the provisions of the bill, as you are aware, you are to commence the road at each end; and when fifty miles are completed, so much money and so much land are to be delivered over to those who have built it. We may very well suppose that they will proceed at any rate until the money and the land, or the principal part of the money and the land is exhausted; and by that time they will have finished the road through Texas, and finished it through California. Thus those two States will have this magnificent boon accorded to them at the expense of the other States, and without the slightest benefit to any of them. Now, sir, that, if not unconstitutional, is unequal and unjust, and I trust that Senators all around me will see it in that point of view. This, sir, is the third objection to the bill in my mind.

Sir, I shall not detain the Senate much longer; and I will only advert now to some of the arguments used by the various Senators who are advocates of the bill.

The Senator from Tennessee [Mr. BELL] tells us that there can be no difficulty about this road at all that there are some twenty-five passes, through each of which a road might be constructed. If there be so many, we ought certainly to select the best. We ought to send out companies for the purposes of exploration, and to ascertain which of those twenty-five passes is the best. That I think would be the part of wisdom and judicious statesmanship; certainly we ought not to go blindfold into a work of such immense magnitude as this. My honorable friend from Connecticut [Mr. SMITH] told us yesterday that he did not apprehend there was any difficulty from the snowsthat he had learned that on the route between this and California, the snows were not much deeper, and the winter not much longer than in corresponding latitudes in the States. That is true, to a very considerable extent; but in the gorges of those mountains through which the road must pass, in all the northern latitudes, there will be found in those snows an insurmountable barrier during six or seven months of the year. I have it from authority not to be questioned at all, that very often, during the winter and spring months, the snows are found in those gorges and valleys between the mountains, to a depth of fifty or sixty feet, and lie to a very great depth until the latter end of May or June. That is not true of the southern latitudes; and in all probability this road will take a southern route. I will state here that I do not care a fig which way the road goes, or rather from what point it starts, north or south. It is entirely immaterial to me. I only desire that the best route shall be selected, and that over that route, if found practicable, and to contain all the conditions necessary to the safety of such an enterprise, in advance, a road shall be constructed.

Now, Mr. President, I think the arguments. made use of against my colleague's amendment are not just, and that they condemn themselves. Yesterday, we were told by the Senator from Connecticut, that a hundred thousand dollars was nothing like sufficient for the purpose-that even a million of dollars would not be sufficient for this reconnoissance, and that it would take as long to make the reconnoissance as to make the road. It seems to me that that is no good argument against my colleague's amendment. If $100,000 be not sufficient, amend it and make it sufficient by increasing the sum.

We have been asked over and over again, if we were afraid to intrust the incoming President with the selection of the route? No, sir, I am not. I was not a supporter of that gentleman for the distinguished seat which he is soon to fill, but, sir, I never doubted his integrity; and thank God, I never, without doubting, assail the integrity of anybody. I believe his integrity would be sufficient for this, and I trust, for all the exigencies of the public service which he will be called upon to perform. But, sir, he has other duties than those of a surveyor. He has his Executive functions, which will require all his time and all his attention. And, sir, how is he to judge? Is he to traverse those inhospitable wastes which exist between the States of the Mississippi valley and the Pacific ocean? It must be done through the medium of engineers sent out for the purpose,

32D CONG....2D SESS.

He cannot guess at it. He would not do it if he could. No, sir. I have confidence in him, if it were a duty pertinent to his position, and if he had information to enable him to act judiciously on the subject; but he has not. The mere books of travels, of which we have published so many in this body, form very poor criteria for the commencement of such a work as this. To acquire the information necessary to the commencement of such a work as this, he must have something more certain than these books, by which he will be enabled to judge as to which route to select. We are told that he must indicate the points in the mountains. All require the same kind of examination and exploration precedently by engineers, whether you begin at El Paso, or further north. It would not be very convenient to change, if it should be found out afterwards to be wrong. You ought, as is the case in every wisely-managed enterprise of the kind, to have a complete survey from one point to the other before commencing the work. Then, sir, if any incidental advantages which due experience furnishes during the progress of the work occurred, they can be made use of. But, sir, it cannot be that a work of this magnitude is to be commenced in this way in the dark.

I agree in many of the suggestions which have been made as to the value of this great enterprise of the Pacific railroad. I think it will be one of the most magnificent that human genius and human skill have carried out and perfected. But this is nothing to the purpose. It can only be thus magnificent, it can only add to the character and the grandeur of this country, by being what it ought to be as perfect as possible. I therefore, in view of the character of the country, desire that this enterprise shall be undertaken upon such principles as will insure as much perfection as possible. If it be completed, it will be, as has been stated by my honorable friend from Connecticut, a grand and magnificent project-not a project, for it will have ceased to be a project-but a grand and magnificent work, placing us in that respect above all nations which have preceded, or which exist with us at present. I admit it; but I desire that we shall not disgrace American genius by hurrying forward into a great enterprise of this kind, and making it a miserable patchwork thing, when it ought to be one grand and magnificent whole, honorable to the skill and genius of the country, as it will be beneficent to the world.

Sir, for this reason, as well as for others, I am for having light before we act. Sir, I am sorry that I have detained the Senate so long as I have done; but I believed it was due to the vindication of the views which I had casually thrown out that I should state my opinions at length; and having done so, I yield the floor.

RAILROAD TO THE PACIFIC.

SPEECH OF HON. H. S. GEYER, OF MISSOURI,

IN THE SENATE, February 18, 1853, On the bill for the protection of the emigrant route and a telegraphic line, and for an overland mail between the Missouri river and the settlements in California and Oregon.

Railroad to the Pacific-Mr. Geyer.

tial to their highest interests, political, social, and religious. Had Congress then seconded the voice of the people, one road would now be nearly or quite completed, and we should be ready to commence a second instead of spending our time in debating how long it shall be postponed.

With the acquisition of California came upon us new difficulties. Our line was extended to near the thirty-second degree of latitude. Several passes were ascertained to exist that were perfectly practicable, and then came up the difficulty which stands in the way of the execution of the work to this hour. Difference of opinion arose as to the pass that should be selected. The South Pass, which before had been approved by the almost unanimous voice of the people, is now in the judgment of some gentlemen unfit; and we are divided in opinion, according to the section of country in which we happen to reside, and from which we come. Every town on the Mississippi, from St. Paul to the Gulf, is contending for the terminus of the road. Every principal town supposes that it is entitled to that favor, and imagines that the evidences are conclusive in favor of its point as a terminus. The Senator from California [Mr. GWIN] attempted to meet these difficulties by furnishing a branch to each one of the States on the west of the Mississippi. That did not appear to find favor with the Senate. A Select Committee was appointed to take into consideration the whole subject. It had before it the various plans that had been suggested. One of them, which seems to find favor with the Senator from Pennsylvania, looked towards the construction of this road out of the National Treasury, under the superintendence of the National Government; another proposed to make a road by the intervention of a private company, to whom was to be granted a bonus in money; and still another proposed to make a road entirely out of the public lands. The committee has reconciled these difficulties by the proposition now before the Senate.

It proposes not to increase the patronage of the Government, or the duties which now devolve upon it, by committing to it the management of this railroad, organizing the Government into a sort of railroad corporation, for the purpose of the transportation of merchandise across the continent. That plan rejected. At the same time the committee was aware that the work could not be executed exclusively by private enterprise and private means. It has, therefore, combined lands and money, by way of assisting any company that may undertake it; and although I do not entirely approve this bill, and it is not the plan which 1 would be disposed to favor, the experience of many years has shown me that a member must not always hope to succeed in carrying a favorite plan. There must be compromise on this as upon any other subject.

The multiplication of the difficulties has not decreased in the least the intense anxiety of the public that the road should be built; and now that it seems to be admitted on all hands that it is practicable, that it is essential to the public interests, that it is necessary to the national defenses, and indispensable in the time of war, I cannot forbear sition before us to postpone the execution of the to express my astonishment that there is a propowork until some future day. If this work is found to be impracticable, it is because of the impracti

cannot be accomplished.

But it is said to be indispensably necessary that we should have preliminary surveys. The honorable Senator from Ohio tells us that the bill itself provides for that; and he states, and states truly, the question to be whether the location of the termini and general route of the road shall be made by the President or by Congress; but he says that by transferring it to the President, we abdicate the power of Congress. I was at a loss to understand his meaning until I heard the speech of the honorable Senator from Pennsylvania. He requires a survey in order that the grades of the road may be ascertained, and its exact line laid down, and then that there shall be a specific direction as to the mode of construction; and unless Congress maintains its power over that subject, we shall be held to have abdicated it. Sir, I would ask that honorable Senator whether Congress abdicated its

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power when it intrusted to the President of the United States the selection of the plan for the additions to the Capitol? Whether Congress abdicates its power to raise and support a Navy when it commits to the President the construction of vessels for the public service under his superintend ence? Are we, under the power to authorize the construction of this road, to superintend as a body of contractors composed of two branches, the entire operations on the road?

But it is said we cannot proceed without a preliminary survey; that we have not knowledge enough upon the subject; that it is necessary that a detailed survey of the line and grades of the road should be reported to Congress, and that Congress should then fix the termini and locate the route by an act. The honorable Senator inquires if Congress cannot now locate the road how shall the President do it? Sir, if Congress has not been able to locate the road in ten years, is it to be expected that it would be very prompt, when the bone of contention will be presented to them in the form of surveys of the different passes of the mountains and the grades of the road, to the different points on the river? Shall we not encounter the same difficulties that we have encountered all along? Do we not see it apparent now, that one of the sources of opposition to this bill is an apprehension that the President may select a point which is not the first choice of honorable Senators? Is there not a trembling anxiety upon that subject to which much of this opposition may be traced?

It is said that we propose the same sort of survey and examination by the bill that is proposed in the amendment. That may or may not be. What we propose is, that there shall be a sufficient examination, and that sufficient information shall be obtained by the President to enable him to fix the termini and the passage through the mountains. That is all the survey that is required. The amendment does not propose to limit the survey or the inquiry to particular points, but it asks for a survey and an examination which shall enable Congress to exercise its power so as to control the location of the road. But suppose that the surveys are to be of the same character and require the same time; we shall by the bill gain this advantage: that a question which we have found ourselves unequal to, will be decided. On all hands it is said that the incoming President may be trusted with a subject so momentous as this; and in my judgment-without intending any disrespect to either House of Congress he would be more apt to decide it correctly than the two Houses of Congress will, when the. surveys are brought in.

But the honorable Senator says the President of the United States will have enough to do in the discharge of his high functions without attending to the location of railroads; he will not have time to make an examination for himself, and he must depend upon the reports which are made by the engineers. And, I pray you, Mr. President, will Congress have time to examine the road for themselves? Will the members of either House feel it a part of their duty, or consistent with their high obligations, to absent themselves for the purpose of making a personal inspection? Congress will have to rely, as the President must, upon the surveys and reports that are made. Congress, then, will have more to do than the President. Congress will be embarrassed, as I have already remarked, by the conflicting interests of various sections of the country bordering on the Mississippi, nay, sir, the conflicting interests on the seaboard, and those who are interested in the lines of roads which now take a particular direction, whether north or south.

Another objection taken by the honorable Senator from Pennsylvania, is to the cost, which he estimates at $40,000,000. It is not $40,000,000 given away without an interest in, or control over the road; but it is $40,000,000 advanced in lands and money, to execute the work, retaining a control over the use of the road for public purposes. But, Mr. President, I imagine that the honorable Senator is entirely mistaken. He has described the country through which the road will probably pass, as a sterile waste, and yet he estimates it at a price for which choice lands will not sell within the organized States. He estimates it, at least, at

32D CONG.....2D SESS.

$125 per acre. Permit me to tell him if the land is worth anything to the Treasury, its value will be given to it by the construction of the road, by the outlay of the capital of the company to make it, and it will not yield a dollar until the road is made. As the road progresses there will be settlements, and demand for the lands; but if you abandon the road, you have the lands worth nothing at all to the Treasury. But twenty millions, it is said, are to be appropriated. Twenty millions is the maximum. No more can be given under - the bill. I would inquire of the honorable Senator whether he has ever estimated what is the cost of the transportation of troops and supplies in time of peace? It appears by the report of the Quartermaster General, that there were expended during the last fiscal year more than $2,500,000 in his Department. If he will compare that expenditure with that of years before the Mexican war, he will find that an addition is made in consequence of the posts that are not accessible by the ordinary means of transportation. Sir, before that war, all our posts on the frontiers were either upon navigable streams, on which transportation was easy, or within very short distances of them. Now, that which was a point of delivery before the war, is the point of shipment inland for eight hundred, or one thousand, and sometimes fifteen hundred miles. If we estimate the expenses of transportation in time of peace, we find that the Government will be indemnified for its money, if the road shall be completed, by the facilities of transportation. One million of dollars may be saved per annum, and a much larger sum in time of war, when you will have the regulation of the transportation by the terms of the bill. The bonds are to be at five per cent., yielding an annual income of $1,000,000. That sum, I will venture to say, will be saved in the single article of the transportation of troops and supplies. To that must be added, as was said by the Senator from Tennessee, [Mr. BELL,] the transportation of the mail, which can by this means be afforded daily for a much less sum than it is now afforded semimonthly.

But the Senator from Pennsylvania is mistaken in another view of the bill. He supposes that it either contains no limitation, or if it does, that Congress may be practiced upon at some future day to abrogate it. That argument does not cohere very well with that of the honorable Senator from Ohio, for he has informed us that there is more danger, in regard to that point, in the President than in Congress. We have the counter argument of the Senator from Pennsylvania, that although Congress can be trusted in the location of the road, and in the bargain which it will make for the construction of it, when it is made, influences may be brought to bear upon them hereafter, by which a much larger and unlimited expenditure may be made. If the Senator had looked at the bill carefully he would have seen that that contingency was not likely to arise, because the bonds are to be issued as the road is built by sections; and if there is a failure to construct any section of fifty miles, there is a forfeiture of all the work that has been done, and not another dollar, or another acre of land will go into the hands of the company.

Mr. COOPER. The Senator misconstrues my argument. My argument is, that although the amount of twenty millions was fixed in the bill, and the number of acres, though not fixed, is ascertainable by calculation, yet, if it became necessary, this company would have it in its power, by its pressure upon Congress, to obtain as much more as was necessary. It does not matter at all whether Congress is subject to such influences or not; it does not affect my argument at all. I may have been wrong, but if I was right in supposing that Congress was subject to such influences, my argument was good.

Mr. GEYER. The argument is one in favor of a dissolution of this Union, or at least of the incompetency of Congress. If a great and beneficent measure cannot be compassed, because we cannot trust Congress, we had better cease to legislate. Sir, I do not believe that any influences can be brought to bear upon a future Congress which cannot be brought to bear upon this. There are influences adverse to this measure. There are the

Railroad to the Pacific-Mr. Geyer.

roads across the Isthmus. There is the influence of the Atlantic cities, which want the ocean transportation, and which would be somewhat reluctant to erect a rival road. Why, even now we are so very solicitous to get a means of transportation across Tehuantepec that there is a threat of war. We are to seize it per fas et nefas, to get a line of transportation between the Atlantic sea-ports and the Pacific. We would prefer to go to war, and hazard all the expenditure of blood and money to which it would lead, and the calamities which it would bring upon us, than to give it up.

Another objection is, that we have not knowledge enough to commence the work; that we do not know enough of the country through which the road will pass. Sir, we know to a certainty that on this side of the Rocky Mountains there is no difficulty in the way. You may pass upon the line of the Red river, or the Canadian, or the Arkansas, or the Kansas, or the Platte, and that either of them will afford an easy grade is ascertained beyond all doubt. The only difficulty, and the only important fact to inquire into, is as to the passage of the Rocky Mountains, for the Sierra Madre is merely an extension of the Rocky Mountains or the Sierra Nevada. We have to ascertain that, and when that is ascertained, we know that the road is practicable. We know that it can be made of easy grade, except at the points I have mentioned; and therefore we are under no necessity for further information upon the subject, except to know what passes shall be taken, and where shall be the termini of the road, neither of which Congress is prepared to decide, or will be prepared to decide when they have the surveys.

Another objection to the bill is, that the work is to be committed to individuals, who, in consequence of its magnitude, will have a fearful power. Sir, when we look at the thirteenth section of the bill-which is all that it contains about a corporation-we shall see that its powers are very limited; more so than those of any railroad corporation in the State of Pennsylvania. The thirteenth section of the bill provides:

"That for the purpose of this act, the contractors, their associates and successors, are hereby created and constituted a body-politic and corporate by the name of 'The Pacific Railroad and Telegraph Company,' by which name they may sue and be sued "

That, I take it, is not among the fearful powers which are so much apprehended

"plead and be impleaded, and have and enjoy all proper reinedies at law, and in equity, may organize and elect such officers as they may deem necessary, and have and use a common seal; they may also open books and issue certificates of stock "

These are the specific powers; then comes a general one

and perform all other acts necessary to carry into effect the provisions herein contained."

There is the limitaton of the power of the corporation. To contend that that power may be abused, is to contend that no corporation should ever be created; nay, sir, that no trust shall be confided to any individual, for it is liable to be abused. But in this country we have no reason to apprehend any great abuse of power. If the corporation should exceed its powers, we have a judicial tribunal that will rebuke it. Its powers may be tested by the same law and by the same tribunal that our rights of property are inquired into. But it is to have these general powers only to carry into effect the provisions of the act. What are they? To construct a railroad of a gauge to be approved by the President of the United States; to construct it from one point fixed on the Pacific to another point on the Mississippi, it having not even the power conclusively to locate the road between the points. The location of the road is to be with the approval of the President of the United States. It is then limited as to the mode of construction, and the weight of the iron that it is to use. It is limited by the act itself to the objects contemplated by that act, and it has no powers but those which are necessary to carry the provisions of the act into effect.

But the alarm is in the name "corporation." The honorable Senator from South Carolina [Mr. BUTLER] intimated that within the States it was clearly unconstitutional, though with their consent, and of doubtful constitutionality, to say the

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least of it, within the Territories. I will not enter at large into the argument of the power of Congress to incorporate a body of men employed by them to do a work, under an acknowledged power under the Constitution; but I would ask the honorable Senator what is a territorial government but a municipal corporation? You have two bills now on your table, one to incorporate the inhabitants of the Territory of Washington, so called, and the other of Nebraska-municipal corporations with general legislative powers-an "abdication," in the language of the Senator from Ohio, of the power of Congress to legislate. Sir, if it be an "abdication" to intrust any person with the execution of a work for which it is in the power of Congress to provide, the Constitution has been broken at almost every session of Congress, from the time it was first signed down to the present day.

Mr. President, I did intend, when the subject was first introduced into the Senate, to have gone somewhat at large into the question; but I regret that we have spent so much time in the discussion of measures of less importance, that we have very little time to bestow upon this. I will not, therefore, at this late period of the session, trespass further upon the time and attention of the Senate but to explain some amendments which I intend to offer when I shall have the opportunity.

I propose to confine the operation of the bill, except as to the survey of the road and the termini, to the Territories; in other words, if the bill is amended, as I propose, the termini will be fixed by the President of the United States; but the provisions of the bill for the construction of the road shall be confined to the Territories. I then propose, that where the road is located through any State, there shall be a grant of alternate sections of land for the purposes of the construction, under the authority of the State, by some persons, or corporation if you please, authorized by the State. I propose to subject that road to the same conditions as are in the bill in relation to the gauge of the road, and to the regulations contained in the eighth section of the bill, which secures for the United States the transportation of its supplies upon the road. If this amendment shall prevail, it will strip the bill of the difficulties which have been made by some honorable Senators, and I hope will facilitate its passage. I propose to strike out all that part which relates to the action of a corporation within the States, and leave therein the management to the States. I will own here, Mr. President, that in making this proposition, there may be a little difficulty in that part of the State of Texas which projects west of Arkansas, but there will be no greater difficulty under the amendment than is under the bill. The bill provides for a grant of the alternate sections of the United States lands, of course, but there are three degrees of longitude belonging to Texas through which the southern route will pass, as it is laid down upon the map furnished by the Senator from California, [Mr. GWIN.] Under the provisions of the bill, the company can get no land there. They must apply the money to the construction of that road unless they obtain a grant from the State of Texas; and so it will be if the amendment is adopted. The road there must be constructed by the means of the State of Texas. She will provide for her own grant of land, for she owns it, and the benefits resulting from the construction of the road will be hers, so far as it operates in an augmentation of the value of the land. But in a State through which the road may pass where there are United States lands, I propose to increase the appropriation, as some compensation for the burdens which will be imposed upon those who construct the road by the terms of the bill. They must conform their gauge to that which is approved by the President. They must use iron of the same weight, and they must be regulated by the general rules which are adopted for the regulation of the road through the Territories.

When I have the proper opportunity I will present my amendments. I have made these few remarks now to present my views upon the subject, and shall not occupy further the attention of

the Senate.

32D CONG.....2D SESS.

LANDS TO RAILROADS.

SPEECH OF HON. H. H. SIBLEY,

OF MINNESOTA,

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
February 10, 1853,

In favor of the policy of grants of land for railroad purposes in the West.

Mr. SIBLEY said:

I have made several attempts, Mr. Chairman, during the last few weeks to introduce for proper reference and examination, "A bill granting the 'right of way and a portion of the public lands, to 'the States of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, and Iowa, and to the Territory of Minnesota, to aid in the construction of a railroad from a point op'posite the city of New Orleans, to the northern boundary of Minnesota, with a branch to the Falls of St. Anthony." Owing to the arbitrary rules of this body, I have as yet been unsuccessful in my endeavors to place that bill in a position where it could be reported upon by the Committee on Public Lands, and it is with a view to

discuss the merits of the proposition, and others of a kindred character, that I now ask the attention of the House.

While the new States lying east of the Mississippi have received more or less aid from the General Government in land grants for the construction of railroads, the immense region on the west

of that river has been comparatively neglected. I am aware that Arkansas, Missouri, and Iowa, have severally been assisted in the same manner; but when the remote position of those States from the Atlantic is taken into consideration, as well as the fact that these newly-settled regions are necessarily less able than older and more wealthy communities to open great lines of communication unaided, it must be conceded that these grants are not commensurate with the requirements, either of the people themselves, or of the Government.

I shall very briefly advert to the argument so often and so triumphantly advanced, as well by eastern as by western men, in support of the general policy of granting lands for building railroads and canals through the public domain, as my principal object is to attempt to show that artificial lines of commerce in the distant west are absolutely requisite, not only to develop the wealth of those vast mineral and agricultural regions, but as a measure of strict economy on the part of the General Government itself, taking into view the state of the frontier, which it is the duty of that Government to protect and defend.

It is not only in the power of Congress under the Constitution, but it is binding on that body, as the custodian of the public property, to dispose of the public lands in such a manner as may directly or indirectly inure to the benefit of the greatest number of its citizens, so far as that can be accomplished without injury to any portion of the country. Mr. Calhoun gave the weight of his great authority in favor of grants of land by the Government to aid in works of internal improvement through the public domain in these words, in a debate in the Senate in 1848:

"And I doubt whether, in any case, either of a canal or railroad through the public lands, the United States would not be a gainer. To that extent I am prepared to go, be the road long or short. If it be long, you gain the more; if it be short, you gain the less; and you contribute in proportion to your gain." "Long since it was agreed that the grant of alternate sections was a fair contribution on the part of the United States, considered as a proprietor, and from which the United States would be a very great gainer."

Again:

"The Government, in my opinion, ought to be ashamed to allow their lands to be enhanced in value by the exertions and at the cost of a State, without contributing in some degree to bring about this result."

Lands to Railroads-Mr. Sibley.

and others of the older States, towards the West in the early days of the Republic? Then there were no apprehensions expressed lest the great valley of the Mississippi should advance too rapidly in all the elements of wealth and power. With expanded and patriotic views that embraced all portions of the country, every concession that could reasonably be required to enable the sparse settlements west of the Alleganies, to work out the high destinies of that rich and fertile region, was cheerfully granted. Under the benign influences of so liberal a policy, those infant settlements have extended and increased, until more than ten millions of freemen now inhabit the land which three quarters of a century since was a wilderness. It has been left for the older States in these latter times to discover that the General Government has heretofore manifested too liberal a spirit towards the West. Now the fiat seems to have gone forth, that henceforward Congress must not aid in making roads through its own domain, unless the Atlantic States receive an equivalent for their votes in favor of such measure, in the shape of public lands. Now, if a new State asks that the proprietor of

large tracts of untaxed land within its limits shall contribute a fair proportion of the expense to make them accessible to the settler, it is met with the cry of "more land stealing.' Now, if a grant of land is perchance obtained for purposes formerly admitted as right and proper in themselves, it must undergo the ordeal of the most bitter and unre

lenting opposition from the Representatives not only of the original thirteen, but of other States which have heretofore profited by cessions of a like kind.

Have the members from the land States at any time banded themselves together to defeat appropriations from the public Treasury for the benefit of the Atlantic sea board? Have they refused to vote for measures because they had reason to bein their success? No one, Mr. Chairman, can lieve that the old States were particularly interested justly charge any such ungenerous proceeding on the part of western Representatives. If they oppose the tariff system, which eastern manufacturers so fervently advocate, it is because the democratic sentiment of the agricultural States is overwhelmingly in favor of the doctrines of free trade. When they record their votes against the system of coast fortifications, they but act in accordance with the public sentiment of the country, which has emphatically pronounced against further great expenditures for such purposes, as antiquated and absurd. In short, you do not find them opposed to any measure introduced into Congress, simply because their own particular constituencies are not immediately interested.

This land question bids fair to create serious difficulties between the East and the West, unless Congress shall devise some equitable and just

method for its settlement. The embarrassments involved in this subject should be met in a manner satisfactory to both parties or sections, by wise legislation, before they become, as they certainly will, if not disposed of, more aggravated and embittered in their character. The West will now be satisfied with grants of the alternate sections upon the great thoroughfares through the public domain to aid in the construction of railways and other works of internal improvement. Should these be denied, it needs no prophetic spirit to foretell, that in a very few years that concession will not be received as a sufficient indemnification to the people of the West, for all the toils and sacrifices they have endured in reclaiming the wilderness, and converting it into a fruitful field, and for protecting and rendering valuable your lands, without imposing any tax upon them. They will then insist upon more, and they will have the power, in both branches of Congress, to make good their demands. As a matter of public policy, therefore, no less than of justice, this vexed question of the public lands should be definitely disposed of by enactment of a law by Congress, embodying the main features of those railroad grants which have lately been made, and which shall have a general application, whenever, in the opinion of the constituted authorities of a State or Territory, the wants of the people require new avenues of communication therein.

The financial affairs of the country are in a flourishing condition, and the present time pecu

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liarly auspicious for railroad enterprises. Capital will seek investments in the great lines of communication between the remote points in our Confederacy. California and Australia continue to pour their golden tribute into the money circulation of the world, until there threatens to be a plethora of wealth everywhere. All kinds of stocks are unprecedentedly high in the market, and millions of treasure lies dormant in the banking establishments of the large cities, ready to be employed whenever opportunity offers. I repeat, therefore, that the present time is most propitious for originating the great railroad projects which are to bind together the different portions of the Union.

With these few remarks in connection with the general subject, I beg leave to dwell for a short time upon the features of a Pacific railway proposed to be constructed, also of the bill I seek to introduce, and of another upon your calendar, the three being intimately connected with each other. I have perused with much pleasure, Mr. Chairman, the details of the scheme introduced by an honorable Senator from California, [Mr. GWIN,] for uniting the waters of the Pacific ocean and the

Mississippi river by means of a railroad. That such a communication must be made very soon, no one can doubt who reflects upon the necessity that exists for its immediate construction, and the favor with which the project is received in all parts of the country. The integrity of the Republic may depend upon that great link in the chain which is now wanting to complete the union of our eastern and western extremes. There may well exist an honest difference of opinion in Congress as to the best mode to effect that desirable object, but it is to be hoped that the whole energies of the nation may be devoted to bring the work to a speedy conclusion, and in a manner the least calculated to entail future evils upon us, by the creation of huge landed monopolies.

The proposition of the Hon. Mr. GwIN embraces several branches of railroad connected with the main trunk from Memphis, Tennessee, to San Francisco; these branches to terminate severally at St. Louis, Missouri; Dubuque, Iowa; New Orleans, and at Matagorda Bay, Texas, and a western branch to terminate at Fort Nisqually, in Oregon. He estimates the distance from Memphis to San Francisco, by the valley of the Red river and Walker's Pass, at two thousand miles; and the aggregate length of the branches at three thousand one hundred and fifteen miles-in all, five thousand one hundred and fifteen miles; and that an appropriation of ninety-seven millions five hundred and thirty-six thousand acres of land, which, at the minimum price of the public lands, would be equal to $121,900,000, be made by the Government to construct these four thousand four hundred miles of railroad, (excluding the Texas branch,) assuming that the cost would not exceed $27,700 per mile, which, according to Mr. GWIN's statement, has hitherto been the average of the railways already built. This is indeed a gigantic project, and requires to be weighed well before it becomes a law should first be constructed, (the termini to be at the of the land. In my judgment, the main trunk most favorable and convenient points,) without embarrassing the scheme with the proposed lateral branches. These will follow in course of time, when the requirements of commerce and of travel shall demand these additional aids.

Another route to the Pacific, which seems not to have received much attention in the discussion of the question, and which must sooner or later be resorted to for a railway communication, is that from the head of Lake Superior to Puget's Sound, in Oregon. The distance between those places, diverging at one point to avoid the North Fork of the Missouri river, is only one thousand four hundred and ten miles, while the country, so far as it is known, is remarkably favorable for railroads. Two single ranges of mountains are alone to be traversed, and the passes through them are probably more practicable than those by any other route. The lower extremity of Puget's Sound, and the head of Lake Superior, are in almost precisely the same parallel of latitude, not far from 460 north, so that the course between them is directly east and west, save where the curve would be required, as I have before stated, to avoid two crossings of the North Fork of the Missouri river. The pas sage of the first mountains once effected, the val

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ley of Clark's Fork of the Columbia river preBents the most eligible track for a railroad, down to the defile through the western range nearest to Fort Nisqually, on Puget's Sound, which is doubtless the best terminus on the waters of the Pacific in the Territory of Oregon. It may be objected that the snow in those high latitudes will impede or prevent the passage of railroad cars for some months in the year. To what extent this is well founded, I do not pretend to know, but as the snow decreases as we proceed westward, there is, in my judgment, no more reason to apprehend difficulties from that source than on the other proposed routes to California, which must necessarily traverse the Rocky Mountains proper, the Sierra Nevada, and the Coast Range, some of which are covered with perpetual snows. Whatever may be the facts in the case, a glance at the map must convince every man that the route on the parallel of 4610 north is far less mountainous in its character, and the distance at least five hundred miles shorter, than by either of the others contemplated. It should be borne in mind, also, that ships bound from San Francisco to the East Indies run up the Oregon coast for several hundred miles, that being the most direct course, so that so much of distance would be saved by enabling those ships, on their return trips, to discharge their cargoes at Fort Nisqually. The overland trade will naturally seek the most direct route from New York, the commercial metropolis of the Union, to the Pacific ocean, and the one which will diminish the distance between that city and the great ports of commerce in Asia, a thousand miles or more, must eventually, if in anywise practicable, be preferred above all others. It is highly desirable that proper explorations of a scientific character should determine the relative merits and demerits of each of the proposed routes, and I trust that Congress will at this session authorize such to be made.

The line of railroad from Pembina, in Minnegota, to New Orleans, will, when constructed, bisect any or all of the contemplated routes from the Mississippi to the Pacific, and add much to the commerce which will be carried on by their instrumentality. The region to be traversed is, of all others on this continent, the most favorable for such an enterprise. There, you have neither mountains nor hills to penetrate, but a continuous, level prairie, with few interruptions, invites you to open a line of communication north and south, through nearly twenty degrees of latitude of your own territory, which, in point of fertility and mineral wealth, has no equal in the world. This immense region is now accessible to the settler only at a few points, remote from each other, where the western rivers pass through it to join the Mississippi. The distance from Pembina, in 490 north latitude, situated on the Red river of the north, to a point opposite New Orleans, by a direct course, is fifteen hundred miles. By adding twenty per cent. for necessary deviations and deflections, the length of the line of railroad between them would be increased to eighteen hundred miles, of which five hundred and ten would be in Minnesota, two hundred and seventy in Iowa, three hundred and fifty in Missouri, three hundred in Arkansas, and three hundred and seventy in Louisiana. The contemplated branch to St. Anthony may be safely estimated at eighty miles-thus making the course of the railroad in Minnesota five hundred and ninety miles long, and the whole distance one thousand eight hundred and eighty miles. To aid in the construction of this great work, my bill proposes that there shall be granted the alternate sections for ten miles on each side of the road, which would give to

Lands to Railroads-Mr. Sibley.

the soil through which the road must pass, it may safely be presumed that three dollars per acre would be received for the granted sections, as a general average, so that the sum of $36,096,000 would be the yield from that source. Thus far the cost of railroads in the United States has been

$27,300 per mile, which would make the whole cost of construction of the main trunk, and the St. Anthony branch, $51,324,000. But from this may well be deducted twenty-five per cent., if not more, in consideration of the peculiarly favorable character of the country, (precluding the necessity for deep and expensive excavations, unless at a very few points,) and the abundance of materials to be found everywhere along the line. It is true, that the item of bridges over the numerous tributaries of the Mississippi, should not be overlooked in the calculation of the cost.

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I know that many regard that as an almost impossible event. I am not one of that number, for I can well imagine that we may be forced to resort to that, so much to be deprecated, alternative, at any time, to defend the honor or the rights of the nation. Grave Senators have assured us that our foreign relations are in a delicate position; and I am bound to believe that they are not alarmists, or actuated by any vain spirit of boasting, when they make that declaration. I am not in favor of filibustering expeditions, but I do trust that the high position of this Republic will be sustained and vindicated, and the Monroe doctrine strictly adhered to, even at the hazard of a war with France, England, or any other Power. And I feel assured that the incoming Administration will enforce this cardinal policy of the Democratic party, indeed I might say, of the whole American people. Should hostilities follow, we ought to

of an enemy's force, with the whole power of the country. If the projected railway from north to south was completed, it would enable the Government to concentrate in a very few days thousands of the best marksmen in the world, at any point on our southern coast that might be threatened by a foreign foe.

There are other considerations involved, Mr. Chairman, in favor of the speedy completion of this contemplated work. The magnificent Mississippi and its principal western tributaries, are not to be depended on for purposes of navigation throughout the year. At the north, during the winter months, we are ice-bound, while in the summer, except in extraordinary seasons, the low stage of water embarrasses us in our intercourse with the southern Mississippi States. The obstructions in the Mississippi river, judging from the niggardly policy of the past, are not likely to be removed for many years to come. The tax annually levied upon the people of the States and Territory living above the rapids, in the shape of extra freight for the transportation of goods and provisons over them, is already enormous, and acts as a serious drawback upon the prosperity of that region; so much so, that unless a remedy is applied, the Upper Mississippi valley must abandon the present natural channel of commerce, and seek a market at the East for its products.

The average distance of the proposed northern and southern railroad from the Mississippi, is probably somewhat more than one hundred miles. I care little where the northern terminus may be designated, whether at Pembina, or some other point. I fixed upon that place in my bill, because its location is better known than any other spot on that part of the boundary of 490, and because it is in the valley of the Red river of the north, which is more favorable for a railroad than any other line in that region. The necessity for the completion of the work beyond the Falls of St. Anthony, will depend upon certain contingencies, one of which is the adoption of the parallel of 460 for a Pacific railway, the expediency of which I have already adverted to. Still, as the whole of that country is now comprised within the public domain, if a grant is to be made, it should be for the entire length, that it may be rendered available when required. You have now an extensive Indian frontier, which you are obliged to defend at a vast annual expense. If the longitudinal line of communication along that border was perfected by means of a railway, the Government might control the savage tribes with much greater facility than can now be done, and with less than one half the force at present requisite for that purpose. Troops could be transported rapidly to any point that was menaced. The same reasons might be urged as one of the necessary preparations against the occurrence of a foreign war.

Mr. Chairman, I have already trespassed too long upon the attention of the House, and yet I beg its indulgence while I bring before it the other railroad project to which I have previously alluded, upon which I hope to secure an affirmative vote to-day. There was a bill reported by the Committee on Public Lands at the last session, to grant to Minnesota alternate sections of lands for the construction of a railway from the Falls of St. Louis river, on Lake Superior, to St. Paul, on the Mississippi, with branches to St. Anthony and Stillwater. That bill is now on your calendar, and I wish to state very briefly the necessity that exists for its passage. The distance between the termini is about two hundred and sixty miles, and much of the country through which the road would pass is very favorable for settlement. The great object is, to open a communication between the waters of the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi, at the most eligible and proper points, and it is one of immediate interest to every State bordering upon the latter river, and upon the lakes. Congress granted seven hundred and fifty thousand acres to the State of Michigan, at the last session, to enable it to make a canal around the Falls of St. Mary, on the score that it was not a local benefit, but one in which several States would share, and that was true. I rejoice that the appropriation was made, especially as my own Territory will neces sarily profit by it. Complete the measure of your liberality, and I may say of your justice, by contributing to the infant but enterprising Minnesota, from your ample resources, your proportion of the means necessary to build a railway between the northern and southern portions of our Territory, through what is now but little better than a trackless wilderness.

Minnesota Territory comprises in its limits all the northern shore of Lake Superior up to the British line. We have reliable information that copper, interspersed with silver, abounds in that region. I have already mentioned the fisheries and pineries as of immense value, and that they must necessarily constitute a large item in the commerce with the Lower Mississippi valley. We who live on the waters of the Mississippi are now abso-. lutely cut off from communication with our own lake coast, for want of a railroad. To reach that part of our Territory, without resorting to the primitive mode of conveyance by bark canoes and portages, we must descend the Mississippi nearly four hundred miles to Galena, thence to Chicago, and through the whole length of Lakes Michigan and Superior, and a part of Lake Huron. In other words, we must travel more than fifteen hundred miles to visit a portion of our own Territory, not more than two hundred and fifty miles distant in a direct line. In the transportation of troops for frontier defense, the Government is put to the same inconvenience and expense. If the railroad was made, a very small force of regular troops would suffice for keeping the peace with the sav ages on that extensive border, as they could move with celerity to any place where their presence might be required. For supplying your garrisons