The Texas State Times (Austin, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 6, Ed. 1 Saturday, January 7, 1854 Page: 1 of 4
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THE TEXAS STATE TIMES.
"N
CITY OF AUSTIN, TEXAS, SATURDAY, JANUARY
T
NUMBER <>.
*
■
V-:
m
T. BPTlEa KEtC, I York—a state which stands out promi-
94,1858, at I nently, as the most enterprising member of
CngMrtj AMtto. 1 the confederacy, in agricultural, mechan-
0^ Gentlemen, j iaa] an(j commercial enterprise. And she
jj: jretmrio-ditens of the State of Texas: j ^ perhaps, been more successful, or at
' i«Afeel myself highly .honored in being j jeast her enterprises have beeu underta-
jggpg&ad to address you upon a subject j ken an(| carried through on a more gigan-
so SBjportant to you and to the #holena- j scaie than those of Massachusetts,
tipo, as thatJrocently and now attracting
s&auchjtttention in this State, to-wit:
tjwkenlyct of railway undertaking.
^£se before me many who have achieved
She has been regarded as the most j Now, in the Northern States and Eu
(renown, both in the Senate and in
i,—who have aided to establish the
__ of our common Union, and
thaimperishable renown of their ownState,
hg.their gallantry on the field of battle,
^ their wisdom in council. I there-
fore feel much diffidence, ladies and gen-
* tlemen, in coming before you to say any-
thing on a subject whicn has attracted
. careful consideration and close exam-
beat minds, not only in our
QW& country, hut in all the nations of
modern Europe,—and which has 4)een so
thoroughly investigated that it is almost
inqpnynM* to present any thing new, and
aay one may consider himself fortnn-
■ate if he can combine any facts well known
to most persons, which will illustrate it in
yiy degree, or make it interesting to any
one in this assembly. I shall, therefore, fel-
iie, «afihe my*etf to ^pfe«H^^v!lte
practical, two and two make four, mathe-
matieal sortof aspeech, if it be a speech—
for I dent intend it shall be—it will be
rather a neighborhood talk. I desire, if
I CMX, to aay any something that may tend
i^gnoowrage those who have participated
inthe important steps recently taken in
tha legislation of this State, and enable
tSjtqpto justify themselves to their constit-
Ttyln st to encourage those who may
a little in the support of measures
r jn progress, or which may hereafter
it before them for their eonsider-
fot however, that you are to
s that I claim to bo better inform-
relation to these great measures,
^ian the assembly I see before me. Yet
you have asked me to say something
{ja the subject, I will proceed to do it.
, I suppose, fellow-citizens, that when a
.State or an individual undertakes any im-
/ matter, any great work, it is very
. that the individual or the State
i look abroad and see what has been
(bne by others in similar circumstances,
~ ,|Uid what results-have followed the efforts
States or individuals—whether favor-
ed or unfavorable, and judge if this ex-
ition points to hopeful results, or in-
Jcates caution in making the attempt
out to be hazarded.
The system of railway improvements,
you are well aware, commenced in Eng-
id some twenty-five years ago, and rap-
extended to the United States. The
_ . fer and north-eastern States first com-
inenceS them, and then the west, south-
; and south. followed in rapid succes-
1>een at-
In wisch they hay®
been carried on most economically, to
st extent, and probably to the
* *'an, will form the subject
I snail, in my remarks, skip about from
one State to another, selecting my data
from two or three northern and as many
southern States, in order to show conclu-
sively the influence which these railways
have had in promoting their own progress
and the prosperity of the Union; because
it would fatigue you, and detain you too
long, were I to speak of every State.
The State of New York has expended,
according to the best authorities upon this
subject, the sum of one hundred an ten
millions of dollars in all her works of in-
ternal improvement, comprising canals,
railways, etc.,—including those which are
finished and those still in progress.
The taxable value of the property in
that State in 1840 was about six hundred
millions of dollars; and in 1850. after ten
years of progress on her public works, it
amounted to about eleven hundred and fif-
ty millions, showing an increasa of almost
one hundred per cent, during tereyears.
The ver% ^intelligent President of the
ana Chattanooga railroad co:;F
pany in Tennessee, has been more active
than almost any statist of whom I have
any knowledge in collecting facts in
our/examinations. .We wish to ascer-
if the investments thus made justified
Jwho made them, and the results proV-
■tae&ctory to the. people at large. - I
i there is no difficulty in proving these
ons,—none whatever.
ft is no matter in what aspect we view
theseimportant undertakings, whether as
promoting the increase of population, the
mechanic arts, manufactures, commerce
of agriculture, the. great instruments' of '■
Jodeftt civilisation, tne results are equal-
favorable.
The State of Massachusetts was one of
i earliest in the Union which undertook
> construction of railways.
about the same time,
ts' has been regarded and
met with perhaps
undertaken under
but producing as
of any other por-
u
ha'
in woe]
ctKadvaz*
greis remits, as
tion of the Union.
The do tire cost of therailways of Mas-
set down by Mr. Andrews,
in lijj}. report made to the Secretary of the
TripS^tif the last session of Congress,
atod^Rzonshed by order of the Senate.—
entire eostof her system of railroads,
' those leading into adjoining
[ undertaken "by her, is estima-
at ?46,843 951.
lib#, fellow-citizens, let us see what ef-
the investment of this amount of cap-
ital has had upon the industrial pursuits
the people of Massachusetts, and the
taxable value of their property. That tax-
fete value in the year 1840, before her
pn of roads had become a system.—
had then a road, perhaps, extending
fitf as Worcester—but none of that
•& of branch roads leading to her
arcial emporium-—that taxable val-
*as then Btated to be §290,000,000.
at is the period at which her railway
g^fetem commenced as a system. But you
will remark that it has been in progrees
ever since, and been improving constant-
ly, and, therefore, the increase in the
taxable value of the property of that
"noTprobably be much greater from
$50 tr, I860, when this system shall have
jeen a whole decade in successful opera-
lion, than it has been from 1840 to 1850,
/ 4
■*?hen it was in an inchoate State. That
able value, then, at the first mention-
>eri<ki. was 290,000,00 of dollars.—
850 it had increased to the enormous
'urn of $580,000,000—an increase pre-
te the same amount as the entire
>le value was at the first period,—
',000,000: and this enormous in-
rease within the period of ten years, and
rhen her public works were not all com-
peted.
It" has also had its effect upon the pop-
rtion of Massachusetts. The increase
the population of that State from 1880
1840 was twenty per cent., as will be
by reference to the census. From
.840 to 1850 it has been over twenty-six
par cent. This increase is attributable in
no s<all degree, to the fact that her rail-
1 ive given profitable' .aployment to
>ple at home, and by stimulating all
tents of industry, have pre#Vuted
and invited settlement within
j irious other items are referred to by
Ita&ief with respect to the improvement
tht condition of the people, their more
tona&rtahla dwellings and mode of living,
fo educate their children,
and school houses, and
|vaneement in all the arts
civilization. But these
[>t deem it necessary to dwell
11 have to say will, I dare say,
je all safficiently, without going into
iminatiae.
_ T "5rill BQxt refeprto the State of New
relation tQ the increase of value of prop*
erty caused by these improvements, and
he has attached his name, which carries
great weight with it, to h is estimate. —
He states that §1,50 per acre for ten
mile3 on each side of that railway, is the
least possible estimate of the increased val-
ue of even that small portion of property
through which the road runs; to say noth-
ing of the great increase of value of prop-
erty of other descriptions and farther
from the route.
In the State of New York this increase
would amount to §327,028,000 on an in-
vestment of one hundred and ten millions,
or a profit over and above the investment
of §217,028,000. You will perceive that
this applies to a very small portion of the
area of the State, only ten miles on each
side of her canals and railways and fixing
on the moderate sum of §7,50 per acre,
which is said to be under the true esti-
mate.
The population of the State has increas-
ed during the period from 1840 to 1850,
1,171,414, or it has very nearly doubled in
population, which has kept up pari pas-
su with the taxable value of the property
in the State—and this, notwithstanding
it was so numerously peopled before.
The States of Virginia, North Carolina,
and South Carolina, with the exception of
South Carolina, wliich had a single line
of railway running along the border of
Georgia, were the latest among the South-
ern Atlantic States to come into a sys-
tem of railway improvements.
From 1830 to 1840 the population of
Virginia, North Carolina and South Car-
olina increased but two per cent. Since
1840, after the partial adoption of a sys-
tem of railways, the population of Vir-
ginia has increased sixteen per cent., that
of South Carolina, twelve, and that x>f
North Carolina fourteen per cent. Such
is the effect produced by these improve-
ments. But in Georgia they have been
attended with the greatest results. And
I refer to Georgia as having been, many
j years ago, in a position very similar to
that of Texas at the present time. Geor-
gia had a very large public domain, em-
bracing more than two-thirds of the en-
tire area of the State. Sometime about
1823 or 1825, she adopted the policy of
giving it away by lottery. When lands
were acquired from the Indians, as fast as
the treaties were made, and the Indian
title extinguished, she distributed the
land by lottery to her citizens, who sold
out at a very low rate.
Her last lottery for this purpose was
drawn in 1832, giving away the lands ac-
quired from the Cherokees, who were af-
terwards removed west of the Arkansas.
This policy attracted to that State a very
numerous immigration. So that whilst
Virginia, North Carolina and South Car-
olina from 1830 to 1840 increased but
two per cent, Georgia increased twenty
per cent in her population. Geergia was
the earliest of the Southern Atlantic
States to adopt a system of internal im-
provements. She commenced it in 1836,
and it has been in progress ever since.
Her lands were almost literally given
away, as those to whom they were distrib-
uted only paid the office fees for their pa-
tents, and then sold out to actual set-
tlers at a small price.
But this system expired before 1840,
and we must attribute the increase of the
population of Georgia from 1840 to 1850,
mainly, if not entirely, to her railways.
During that period she has increased thir-
ty-three per cent, being thirteen per cent,
greater than it was during the very peri-
od when she was giving away a public do-
main not inferior to that in any State,
unless it be that of Texas, which I think
goes ahead of them all,
The taxable value of her property has
kept up pari passu with her population,
having more than quadrupled since 1830.
Ohio has achieved a great deal in her
railway improvements. She has invested
a large amount of State capital in- rail-
ways and canals. I refer to Ohio as one
of the Northern States in which trans-
portation was very expensive as it now is
in Texas. The canals of Ohio are 827
miles in length, and have ceen construct-
ed at a cost of §15,359,995, and she has
finished and in progress about three thou-
sand miles of railway, costing over §60,-
000,000. From 1830 to 1850, her pop-
ulation increased from 937,903 to 1,980,-
408, notwithstanding the emigration from
her to the new western States. The in-
crease in the value of property caused by
her improvements is estimated at §300,"-
000,000.
It has been asserted that these invest-
ments by the States have uniformly proved
unprofitable. In reply to this assump- j
tion, I was about to point you to the States
of Ohio and New York, but I will first
take Pennsylvania:. that State, which has
been so often referred to, as the most
wasteful in her investments in public
works, and charged with throwing her
money away—Pennsylvania has expend-
ed §30,067,077 56, and after deducting
the annnal expenses, they are producing
an interest of more than fifteen per cent,
net income upon this enormous invest-
ment.
But this statement does not include the
vast effect of her improvements on the
productiveness of her coal mines and iron
mines, which have been rendered valua-
crade,
it is not "at
pi V/vtuuvu UVl 'it VUU J ■
industrial pursuits, an amount annually they will have a low
greater than her investments. j all extravagant to say, that it need not
I hold in my hand a statement of the j exceed one cent per ton per mile. And
amount thus expended "by several States j I conceive they can transport our produce
of the Union. It will not take me long j at this rate with as much profit as they
to show the vast expenditures that have ! can in the Northern States for a cent and
been made for the purposes of internal! a-half. This is admitted in Georgia,
improvement, and then I could show, i Then if we take 150 miles as the aver-
I had time to refer to the facts, that these age distance, and estimate the present
investments have all been profitable. I crop at two hundred thousand bales, and
The amounts here stated were applied j the cost of transportation at §5 50 per
by the State to private and public works;
they do not show the extent to which the
people of the State have invested their
capital in them.
Massachusetts has aided private com-
panies to the amount of §5,049,555 56.
[That she did by issuing her bonds.] New
York to the amount of §22,530,802 48;
Pennsylvania, §29,204,787 33; Mary-
land, §4,300,000; Virginia, §3,947,-
894; North Carolina, §977,000 ; Geor-
gia, §1,828,472; (that was for a State
work) Kentucky, §,681,709 47; Ohio,
§15,359,995, for canals; Illinois, §8,-
112,117 08. Thi^states the appropria-
tions made up to the war 1850.
Missouri m 1851 passed an act grant-
ing two
millions of dollars to the West-
ern Pacific Railroad, and a million and
a half to the St. Joseph's road, as soon
as actual subscriptions of stock could be
obtained to such amount—the aggregate
amount of §99,492,342 92. There are
doubtless appropriations by other States,
but these are sufficient to illustrate my ar-
gument.
I should suppose, fellow-eitizens, that
this statement will be sufficient, if any-
thing were necessary—and I am satisfied
that nothing is necessary, judging from
the measures recently adopted by the in-
telligent legislature of your State, and
those now in progress—I should think it
would be sufficient to convince any man,
however skeptical, that Texas is adopting
a wise policy if she desires to meet
promptly the necessities of her own posi-
tion, or to enjoy equal advantages with
her sister States. That her success will
be commensurate with the wisdom and
liberality of her legislation, no man of
common sense can doubt.
Texas, as you are all aware, has an
area of 276,000 square miles.
Since the battle of Sanjacinto, under
all the discouraging circumstances which
have surl-ounded her—in spite of Indian
hostilities, and her early struggles after
the war—notwithstanding the impression
which prevailed so extensively abroad,
that it was not safe to settle here—yet the
population of Texas, according to the
best estimate I have been able to make,
has increased 1200 per cent.
And if the railway improvements she
is now about to adopt, should be carried
into successful operation, there can be no
question that during another period of
the same number of years, the increase
of her population will go on with equal
rapidity; and that will give her three
millions six hundred and odd thousand
people. If we suppose then her contem-
plated. improvements successfully prose-,
cuted, together with a peaceful condition
of her borders, and the impossibility of
molestation from an enemy, we may safe-
ly conclude that the ratio of increase du-
ring the next seventeen years, will be
quite equal to that since the battle of San
Jacinto, and then Texas will have a pop-
ulation equal to that which the State of
New York now possesses. And this re-
sult would not be at all surprising, consid-
ering the extent of her territory, the fer-
tility of her soil, and the system of improve-
ments she is about to adopt—a system
which I consider the grandest and most
magnificent (if I may be allowed to use such
strong terms) which has ever been con-
ceived for the advancement of the inter-
ests of any section of the Union.
I do not think that any portion of the i
world holds a position like that now held
by Texas.
Her commercial position on the Gulf
of Mexico has been overlooked, and the
Eastern and North Eastern States have
believed that when the great railway
should be extended to the Pacific, all the
commerce of Europe, destined for the
Pacific must necessarily pass over their
line. My own opinion is quite different.
I have no doubt that the Gulf border
of Texas will become, in twenty years
from this time, the most important point
accessible to navigation upon the face of
the globe. And therefore it is, that I
have felt so much anxiety to see Texas
adopt a system of public improvements
applicable to her situation—that she may
show to "all the world and the rest of
mankind," as was said on a particular
occasion, that she is wide awake—that
she understands what she is about, and is
resolved to pursue such a course as will
meet all the exigencies of her natural po-
sition.
But before going into the commercial
question, permit me to refer for a mo-
ment to her present condition. I have
obtained from some gentleman here min-
utes of the cost of transportation of the
produce of Texas at the present time. I
understand that the average cost of the
transportation of cotton from this and
the adjoining counties to the city of Hous-
ton, is now six dollars per bale, and from
Houston to Galveston fifty cents, mak-
ing §6 50 to Galveston. Of course in
making these estimates, we are obliged to
make averages, to strike as nearly the
true line as circumstances and a know-
lenge of the facts will permit. To take
cotton then from this section of the coun-
try to the gulf coast, the grower has to
pay §6 50 per bale, or twenty-two dollars
per ton.
From Fulton and above Fulton on Red
River to New Orleans, it costs from two
to three dollars per bale, and the insur-
ance from points above Fulton is about
four or four and a-half per cent. Allow-
ing cotton to be worth §50 00 per bale,
the insurance at this rate will make §2 00
per bag—making §4 50 as the average
cost of transportation from Fulton and
above to the market of New Orleans.
Now I have taken as the basis of my
calculations the assumption that about
150 miles of distance would cover the ex-
tent of transporting the present cotton
crop to market; that is to say, that it is
on an average 150 miles to the Gulf or to
Red River. Then taking the average
cost at §4 50 from Fulton and above to
New Orleans, and §5 50 from Austin and
parts adjacent ro the coast; the mean
§6 50 per bale, or §22 00 per ton, is a-
bout the cost of transporting the present
crop to market.
bale, or §22 00 per ton, avc have the
enormous sum of §1,100,000 as the cost
of transporting the present crop to mar-
ket.
The cost of transportation of this crop,
at one cent per ton per mile would amount
to §75,000 : leaving a difference between
the cost of transporting it on railroads
and what is now paid, of §1,025,000.
Then if we proceed and allow for the
advance of her population during the next
seventeen years-, to three and a-half mil-
lions. Texas can produce two millions of
bales of cotton; and we should be justi-
fied ia supposing that she will produpe
three millions' in place of two, because
she now produces, on an average, one bale
per capita—and two millions of bales
would be less than two-thirds of what she
now produces to the head of her popula-
tion. But if we suppose that seventeen
years hence she will produce two mil-
lions of bales, the immense saving of the
transportation on railways as contrasted
with wagon—I was going to say wagon-
navigation, for it amounts to that on
some of your prairies, almost—amounts
to the siim of §10,350,000 pet annum.
If we suppose, gentlemen, that your
present legislation, embracing the meas-
ures already adopted and those in pro-
gress, shall cause the construction of two
thousand miles of railway, and I have no
doubt it will cause a much greater length
to be constructed, taking the estimate for
Tennessee, and which I have applied to
New York, of §7 50 per acre for ten
miles on each side of the track, as the in-
crease in value of the land in the imme-
diate vicinity of the railways, and say-
ing nothing of the great increase in the
value of all other lands, which must ne-
cessarily take place in consequence of
their construction, we h°vc as the in-
crease in the value of that small portion
of the lands of the State, the sum of
192,000,000 of dollars, to which we may
add the vast commercial and other ad-
vantages which must necessarily follow
the construction of these important
works.
My own impression is that the value
of land in Texas at this moment, as es-
timated by those who hold it, is far above
what it was a year ago. I do not believe
if any parties were to come here now and
offer to purchase your whole public do-
maid, that they could get it within fifty
millions of dollars of what they could
have obtained it for some twelve months
since. I think the impression has gone
abroad, and I believe it is well understood
that parties would not now be willing to
take less than double the price for their
lands which they have heretofore and not
long since demanded for them.
Not only are such the result^ which
must necessarily flow from the construc-
tion of these works, but such is the im-
petus given to public opinion and the in-
vestment of money even by talking about
railroads. And these great results will
be produced by the appropriation of 22,-
576,000 acres of land. You give the
central road about ten millions eight hun-
dred and eighty thousand acres, and if
your local roads have an extent of 1150
miles, they will receive eleven millions
seven hundred and seventy-six thousand
acres.
So that you will probably save an-
nually in the cost, of transportation to
market the amount of 10,350,000 dollars,
and in the actual increase of the value
of the land itself 192 millions of dollars,
for a donation of the above quantity of
laud, besides other inestimable advanta-
ges, which I should think a very hand-
some return for the investment.
In Georgia we tried the experiment of
making lotteries of our land. The land
belonging to the State was not taxable
or in any way productive, and it was
thought the best disposition which could
be made of it, to distribute it in such
a way as to iuduce people to come
and settle upon it, and raise corn and po-
tatoes and families of children, establish
schools and erect churches. A vigorous
tax paying population was regarded as of
more value than uncultivated territory.
That was the idea in that policy, and no
doubt that is the idea which has induced
your legislature to commence the mag-
nificient system now in'progress, and I
cannot doubt its adoption will be attend-
ed with equal success here, and bring
within your borders a tide of population
far greater than has flowed into any of
the other states. It mii3t necessarily be
the case, for you thus hold forth the
most powerful allurements to the people
of the Atlantic and central states of the
Union to come and settle upon your fer-
tile lands.
I have brought with me a map, show-
ing the railwas which have been comple-
ted in the United States. You will see
that those leading from the Atlantic to
the Mississippi, form a perfect web, con-
ducting to this great outlet. So that when
you shall have procured the construction
through Texas of this artery, or this
iron Mississippi, if I may be allowed
the expression, a tide of pouplation
will flow in that no man can esti-
mate, for it will come in upon all
those lines of improvements, and spread
from tne Gulf cosat to 36° 30" and from
the Sabine to El Paso. Here lies Texas,
with all her prairies and fertile plains,
now almost uninhabitd, as you might say,
but capable of sustaining a population of
a hundred millions of people, and offer-
ing more inducements than any other
state in the L nion to our fellow-citizens
to come and improve this vast domain.
I have brought with me a map of the
United States, with a view of illustrating
in some degree the position of Texas.
Here you will preceive ladies and gen-
tlemen, the position which Texas holds
among the States of the Union with re-
gard to our Pacific and Atlantic States and
the commercial states of Europe. Here
lies her border on the north-west angle
of the Gulf of Mexico, offering the shor-
test communication with the'Pacific by
San Diego, or perhaps by the Gulf of
California, to be found anv where with-
railway communication were estab- j
Texas, as a
iition to
to the
and most
of that seeking the gold region of Aus-
tralia would pass over this railway. There
is a fact, not generally thought of. The
gold fields of New Holland lie fourteen
hundred and fifty miles nearer the coast
of California, than to the Isthmus of Pan-
ama. You will therefore perceive that
the safe and speedy transit across the
continent, from your gulf ports to the
ports of California, will bring the pas-
senger trafic between the Atlantic States
and Europe and all parts of the Pacific;
and all the gold from Australia destined
for Europe, or the Atlantic States over
this railway; because it will be the near-
est and cheapest and the safest line of
transportation. Then you have the gold
field of California, capable of giving em-
ployment to millions of people almost
adjoining your western border, and af-
fording a most valuable market for a vast
amount of your produce, The soil in
the gold region of California, which has
been partially explored, seems to be
mixed with gold, and it is impossible to
say where the discoveries will cease or
■what will be the amount produced. So
will see that we have here these
gold fields, yielding gold amounting
to two hundred millions of dollars per
annum, to furnish with all necessary sup-
plies.
I will state one or two facts connec-
you
two
settled without dissolving the Union, or
accepting the conditions which Texas
proposed, the conditions were accepted.
That is about the history of the matter.
And why were those conditions complied
with? Perhaps nobody analysed the
subject, but every body felt that Texas
could do without the Union, but that the.
Union could not do without Texas. And
you will see why there are attempts now
being made to rival you by other lines of
improvement across the continent. Yon
will perceive that, none of the northern
lines have the commercial advantages
possessed by this through Texas. The
commerce between Europe, the Atlan-
tic States and the 1 acifie would not
go np to a line running by Albuqerque,
and certainly not to one further north.—
It would go round Cape Horn, c-
across the Isthmus of Panama, and we
should never receive it, and bo it would
from the Atlantic States to Austra-
lia. The nearer the line dips to the gulf,
in its passage through Texas, the more
commercial it will be in its character
and important in its effect on the indus-
trial pursuits of the people of the whole
Uuion. Therefore the whole Union, in-
a commercial point of view, has a much
deeper interest in this line than any oth-
er. Since I have considered this matter*
I have felt the greatest solicitude for the
location of this great national railway
through Texas, because I perceive it has
advantages over all other routes of a
most important nature.
Yet the advocates of other lin
sons in our sister states of the North, the whole State; that which will
who believe that no railway oughtever to | dound to the prosperity of every portion
be constructed to the Pacific, unless it of it. Gentlemen have spoken of pledg-
goes through the free states, if it goes to ; es that have boen made to support a Bye-
the North Pole. tem that will enable the coast to make all
Since it has been proposed to make this necessary connections with the Pacific
railway through Texas, an engineer of road, if pledges have been made, I
very great celebrity, residing, I believe, know nothing of them; I ask pledges
in Hartford in the State of Connecticut, j from nobody. I do not ask whether gen-
has come out with a most labored docu- ; tleiuen are willing to vote 20 or 50 sec-
ment, which has been published with a tions to the mile, for each mile of 'toad
map in the Railroad Journal, in several j constructed. All I ask is for them to
numbers, making almost a volume. Mr. put upon the records now what they are
Johnson. I believe, deserves the high re- j willing to do, which they have an oppor-
putation he lias attained in his profession, tunity of dging by voting for the amend-
In this document he has undertaken to : mcnts which I have offered. They now
show, and has proved it I will admit, that j have an opportunity of sustaining a meas-
a. railway is practicable from Chicago, j arc which will enable them to attain the
north of the Great Bend of the Missouri j very object which they have in view,
river, in latitude 48° 30" to Pnget's ' Will gentlemen embraoe the opportunity,
sound in latitude 49° 51": that the
road will cost on this line, a hundred
millions of dollars; and that through Tex.
as, not more than forty-five millions. Yet
he advocates that route, and a very large
amount of pnhlic opinion at the North
has been concentrated in favor of it.
Yon are aware, ladies and gentlemtn,
that there are five lines or routes which
or risk the uncertain changes of justice
being done after the contraction of -the
havtvi>ee;i proposed for railway commu-
rn^tion to the Pacific. To commonce
over-
ted with the transportation of merehan- looking or not appreciating these impor-
dise to California. In the month of No-! tant considerations, are making every
vember, 1850, it cost six hundred dollars j possible effort to defeat or postpone the
per ton to take merchandise by steamer construction of your road, for the purpose
from New York by way of charges,
across the Isthmus, and up the coast to
San Francisco.
At that period the cost of conveying
the same freight round Cape Horn to
San Francisco was forty dollars per ton.
The saving in time was from sixty to
ninety days. That is to say the aver-
age voyage of clipper ships was one
hundred and twenty days—and the short-
est time that goods could possiby be car-
ried over by way of the Ithsmus, was that
of the mail, thirty days. And the ad-
vantage according to the ideas of mer-
chants, of getting goods in sixty days,
was such that they could afford to pay
this enormous difference in freight. They
were willing to pay this increased rate,
and such was the quantity of merchan-
dise waiting to be shipped by the Steam-
ers from Panama, that they could not
carry it off.
From Europe to this angle of the Gulf
—the coast of Texas, the voyage would be
made, say in double the time it is made to
New York, or 22 days, by steamers. It
would not take double the time. But sup-
pose it were to take double the-time from
Europe to Galveston or to any other point
on this coast that is required to go to
New York—then it is 1600 miles from
San Diego to New Orleans in a right
line, it will not be over 1500 miles from
San Diego to the Gulf of Mexico by the
route of the Pacific railway through Tex-
as. Suppose that it should take three
days to cross over, 22 and 3 are 25—in
twenty-five days after leaving Europe you
reach the Pacific coast, and you are then
within twenty days of Australia. Then
it would take about forty-five days tf> go
by way of this railway from Europe to
Australia, whilst the least it takes now
by the Isthmus is from 60 to 70 days,
making at least a saving of twenty days.
We will suppose merchandise to come
from the Atlantic states round Cape Flo-
rida, the time from New York to Galves-
ton, by steamer, say eight days, and five
days for freight trains to California, we
have thirteen days against thirty to sixty
days via the Isthmus and one hundred and
twenty round Cape Horn. For all light
package goods the time would be much
They would go with the mail, not
of securing the completion of one on a
more northern route. This is called the
southern line, and so it is; yet it is nearer
the center of the population of the United
States than the one proposed from Chica-
go. The latter passes north of the great
bend of the Missouri, in latitude 48 J, and
terminates in latitude 49° or o0°, on
Pugets Sound, several hundred miles
north of the populous portions of Califor-
nia and Oregon. Now, if we assume that
the 40° parallel of latitude Is about in the
centre of the population of the United
States, your line being on 32° will, of
course, be nearer that centre than the ex>
treme northern line, which must go up to
or
Pacific road ? What will be the effect of
your Pacific Bill f You require that fifty
miles of it shall be constructed in eigh-
teen mouths" from the time the contract
for its construction is made, and in order
to do- tha t, the road has to be commended
beyond the bounds of the Statf, and to
that point a ^reapportion of your trade
necessarily wdl go. Shreveport in Loo-
with the most northern, or Mr. Johnson'?, isiana will necessarily beoorae th$ „ v_
running from Chicago to Puget's sound; commercial imporihm of the interior, ano
Mr. Whitney's from Green Bay to As- j what trade will be the means of building
toria; the route from St. Louis, via Taos - i it up ! The trade of the State of Texas,
the route from St. Louis via Albuqucr- ! So by fliat policy your trade will pass be-
que, and the Texas route. The first and * yoml the State to another portion of the
the two last are believed to be practica- j Union, regardless of your own interests
hie. All of them, except the Texas or the claims upon you for the establish-
route, are too long and remote from the ' incnt of a great State policy. If that is
Gulf of Mexico to command the commerce I g°°d policy, I do not understand what
between the Atlantic and Pacific. When | we owe to the State.
your railways shall be completed to the j I would have those amendments be-
Pacific, and" those from the Gulf connect- s come a part of the bill; because I cos-
ing with it, the steamers which now run i sider the proposition made in them as a
from New York to the Isthmus of Pana- | part of the great project of the Pacific
ma and Nicaragua, will come to the ports j road, and that it ought to be carried out
of Texas; and those which are employed j a* the same time. That the effect ipoti
in the transportation of passengers on the ; the prosperity of Texas consequent upon
Pacific will ply between the ports of Cali- j building the sections from Galveston and
fornia and those of Australia: and thus i Matagorda or Lavaca Bays would not be
will the railways of Texas become the I second to that produced by the construc-
great highways for the commerce and
passenger traffic between the Atlantic
States of the Union and Europe, and the
two great gold fields of the world.
And now, with regard to the measure
pending before your legislative body, I
48° -30' or ;>0°. The practicability of j am afraid I am talking too much; but as
the intermediate lines, except that by Al- \ I have been asked my opinion on the
bequerque, has not yet been ascertained, j subject, I may be allowed to make a sng
It is to be hoped that the inducements
which Texas holds out will cause her line
to be selected, in preference to all others;
yet promptness of action is absolutely ne-
cessary to her success,—delay will en-
courage and strengthen her adversaries,
and enable them to form combinations fa-
tal to her prosperity and the best inter-
ests of the whole Union. Then action,
speedy action, is now required to secure
to yon the great natural advantages of
your position.
Among the many benefits which the
construction of your great lines of im-
provement will bring to Texas, is the tide
of immigration which will flow in from all
gestion with respect to the great measure
now in progress. I have thought it would
be best, if you will allow me to say so, to
place all your local roads on the same
footing with the great leading artery,—
giving them all the same number of sec-
tions of land to the mile. But with a
view of securing the certain and rapid
progress of these works, in the present
state of the money morket and the dis-
turbed condition of the world, I am in-
clined to think you have adopted a wise
course in proposing a moderate loan to
companies constructing Jthese roads, in
addition to the donation of lands.
I am not certain that the State .of Eu-
quarters, and the knowledge wliich will j rope would admit of raising money there,
necessarily be acquired by the vastnum- ' even for tills magnificent road of yours,
ber of travellers who will pass over them, j We know not as yet what may be the con-
of the fertility of your soil, and the salu- ! sequences of the difficulties between Tur-
brity of your climate. The planter from | key and Russia. It may become imprac-
the slaveholding States, the merchant, I ticable for any company to construct that
mechanic, manufacturer and fanner from road, notwithstanding your munificent
tlfe northeastern States, and the gold dig- j donation.
ger from California and Australia, will j When I left New York, Ohio bonds
all spread themselves over the sugar, cot- drawing six per cent., were sold at 76
ton, corn, wheat and mineral lands of j cents on the dollar. I don't speak of
Texas. Wliile your cotton finds its way j that as a discouraging circumstance; but
to the ports on both sides of the Atlantic, j I allude to it for the purpose of present-
and your sugar to the interior of the val- | ing my views respecting the bill now in
ley of the Mississippi, your live stock and progress. If that should pass, I am sat-
bread stuffs of all descriptions will sup-
isfied that those who undertake the con-
less. ^
only for the supply of California but of! sending supplies to the laborers who will
Australia. Thus you will perceive the j produce two hundred millions of dollars
commerce which will be attracted to this in gold per annum.
ply the markets of California and Aus- struction of your local roads will have no
tralia. You are nearer to them than any difficulty in commencing and carrying
them on to completion.
any
other producers, and will consequently
have a decided advantage over them in
line of improvement, and to your ports
on the Gulf will probably far exceed
anv estimate it would be prudent for me
to "make. Here it will come by sea, and
freight will be much less than by taking
the lines of railway from the Atlantic
states across the continent. Passengers
also from Europe and the Atlantic states
will in all probability take this line. Be-
cause, when they emigrate to such a dis-
tance, with their families and their house-
hold goods, they will naturally avoid trou-
ble as much as possible, and will regard
the three days by railway on this route
as a comparatively light inconvenience.
From the central states west of the
Allegany, immigrants of course would
come through Arkansas and the South-
ern States, striking this great trunk
by a hundred avenues. So that this
trunk with its branches will concentrate
upon your borders, not only your own
commerce, but that connected with the
two greatest gold producing countries in
the world, California and Australia.
As by reference to our previous calcu-
lations, it appears that railroads can car-
ry freight for one cent per ton per mile,
and we have seen what it costs from Ar-
kansas down to New Orleans, if you re-
flect that this railway is coming to Ful-
ton, from Cairo, and that freight can de-
scend to the Gulf coast of Texas at a
much less expense than that at which it
can reach New Orleans, it is evident, as
a matter of course, that it will come this
way.
And if we consider our Indian territo-
ry, Utah, and New Mexico, and that
probably we may want another bite from
Mexico, we shall have a vast territory,
all tributary to Texas, which will neces-
sarily disembarque its products upon her
gulf borders.
I was in favor of annexation; I have
always been a strong advocate of Texas.
And some years ago, when I heard my
friend here, iu the Senate, talking about
steamships, I thought I could perceive a
wise, far sighted policy, and Texas loom-
ing up in the distance. The vast impor-
tance of her position has gradually forc-
ed itself on the attention of her sister
states ; and nothing is wanting but the
completion of her railway system to
place her in the front rank of agricultur-
al and commercial communities. When
the excitement in relation to the ad-
mission of California was at its height,
there sat my friend as cool as a May mor-
ning, and whatever the confusion produc-
ed by the disunionists or others, he was
calm and immoveable, lie took his po-
sitionand with Spartan fidelity maintain-
ed it. Well as the mountain would not
go to Mahomet, Mahomet went to the
in the territory of the United States. 1 mountain. As the difficulty could not be
The miner who has encountered the
most trying hardships, has lived in tents
or cabins, slept on the ground, subsisted
on the coarsest food, and toiled as no other
man toils, will, on his return to his sweet
heart or his wife and family, pass over
the inviting prairies of your noble State,
select some favorite spot on wliich to
spend his gold and his life among you.
When I consider the long and bloody pe-
riod of your revolution, the embarrass-
ments of all sorts which attended the es-
tablishment and mamtainancc of your
Republic, your Indian wars and border
difficulties, I am astonished, I confess, at
your progress in population, wealth and
power. If you have accomplished so
much in such adverse circumstances,
what will be the measure of your advance-
ment when you shall have established
railway and telegraphic communications
in all directions, facilitating the trans-
mission of intelligence, the movements of
immigrants, the transportation of produce
and nierchandize. Hitherto, the difficul-
ties and dangers attending emigration to
P O B
Texas, have been of the most embarrass-
ing nature. If, for example, a planter in
my neighborhood, on the coast of Geor-
gia, desired to comc to Texas, he had be-
fore him, if he came by land, a journey
of some months, with all the dangers of
cholera and yellow fever by the way. If
he came By sea, the shoals of the West In-
dies, and the dangerous currents of the
Gulf stream, threatening shipwreck, were
staring him in the face. When your sys-
tem oj railways shall be extended over
your State, all these difficulties will dis
I have no doubt that the loan proposed
will be sufficient for the road-tracks and
bridges; and when that portion of the
work is done, I think the iron-masters will
be willing to furnish the iron. Therefore,
I think that the adoption of the measure,
as it now stands, will place those who may
undertake these works, on an independ-
ent footing, notwithstanding the present
state of the money-market abroad.
In conclusion, gentlemen, I look at
your system of railways with unfeigned
admiration, both as regards their location
and the means by which you propose to
complete them. With all my heart, i wish
you success.
prehension to see how the amendment
can embarrass the bill. How can it in-
terfere, when it does not require the Go-
vernor to make a contract for the sec-
tions of .road which are to be construct-
ed from Galveston and Matagorda or La-
vaca Bays until after the letting of the
contract for the Pacific—until the con-
tractors for the Pacific section should
wish to contract for other sections. If
it is so necessary to pass this bill, in such
haste, incorporate the amendment asked
for upon it, so as to do justice to all, and
then let it pass. It is strange to me,
when gentlemen say that the construc-
tion of the Pacific road is a State afad
national enterprise, that they should ob-
ject to laying down a Stafte System; a
appear, and a person from any part of i system which is to build up our towns
REMARKS of Mr. Potter, made Dec.
6th, upon an amendment offered by
himself to the Pacific Railroad Bill,
providing for the construction of sec-
tions of that road from Galveston. Ma- v. . j
•7 T ' t> . . i the policy of those amendments is carneu
tagorda, or Lavaca Bays to connect ^ ^ J, _
with it
Mr. President—It is beyond my com
tion of the main trunk of the Pacific
road itself.
The construction of that road is a great
plan, and the sections which those amend-
ments provide for are but a part of it.
I would have those amendments attached
to that bill, as it will be the means of cal-
ling the attention of capitalists to the
roads proposed to be constructed by them.
I shall consider them upon that bill worth
fifty per cent, in advance of the same en-
actments upon another bill; for they
would then go forth to the world as apart
of the Great Pacific Railroad scheme—a
great State policy—which it is said and
believed by all will bring within our bor-
ders the travel and commerce of the
world.
Would it not then be. acting the part of
statesmen for us to adopt that plan which
would retain to our State at least a por-
tion of the incalculable benefits whkfr *
would accrue to us from our position in
the line of transit between the east and
west, and around the world.
Why do gentlemen talk about sectional
feeling and patriotism? Am I not as
much divested of sectional feeling as gen-
tlemen who live cn the line of 32° nc
latitude? Am I not also quite as patri-
otic? Gentlemen who say that the east-
ern end of the road shall not coirateace
north of Fulton in the State of Arkansas,
are with as much justice chargxble with
entertaining scctional views as if I should
say that the road shall commcnce at (212-
veettffi: When we are giving thes&-k£g€ v
donations, I wish to w#ve such a policy
adopted as wilf result beneficially to the
whole State. I proposed in the amend-
ments the two most important sections
which I thought ought to be constructed
to connect with the main trunk road.—
The people in the eastern portion of Tex-
as are situated very differently from those
of the middle and "coast counties. xThey
are expecting the New Orleans and Ope-
lousas road will be run into the interior
of Texas, for the trade of the east. They-
can have no doubt as to the result of that
enterprise, for that road is bound in its
course to cross the country and connect
with the Pacific road as far west as pos-
sible. . . : ...
I have no desire to tie the Pacific road
down to any particular points in its course
west over the State, provided that the
middle and coast regions aw connected
with it. I am willing that it should go .
as far north as gentlemen are pleasad to
desire it; for I believe that it is the inte-
rest of the State that it should go far to
the north. There is a large and rapidly
increasing population in the northern part
of the State, occupying one of the best
grain growing countries in the world. If
Texas may visit any part of any State of
the Union in from one to five drys.—
Emigrants may come at small expense of
time and money, and in perfect safety.
It seems to me, therefore, that the
policy which Texas has adopted, of en-
couraging the construction of these lines
of railroad, is justified by its results in all
the other States of the Union to which I
have referred, and bv all the diflicnlties
which she has encountered, and by all
her hopes of the future, ller policy in
giving away not only a portion of her pub-
lic domain, but if she were to give the
whole of it for the purpose of inducing
people to settle upon it, is certainly wise
and judicious. And as one of the results of
its adoption, it will immortalize the men
connected, not only inside but outside of
the State House, with this magnificent
system of internal improvements.
I came very near forgetting to pay my
respects to Mr. Johnson, who has recent
and foster our commerce, instead of a po
licy which will send that commerce to
another State to build up other commer-
cial impprinms. If it is a State enter-
prise, why not put the stamp upon it ?
But if it is not, but merely a project to
out, it will open facilities for them to gpt
their small grains into the soixthern mar-
kets.
A few more words and I am done. I
apprehend that if this line of the mad
had been permitted to float, s<* tht«£ the
company which should undertak e the
work of its construction, could have • cho-
sen their own line for it, that it v r«*ld
have passed far to the aorth-, ittl jipn .
few years Texas would not have the. raa*
within her borders, because the new } * p-^
ulation which would have be£a dra-wnn
along its line would have formed a new .
State, comprising the populous district 4
which would have been settled up by the '
construction of the road. Again, you ;
construct that road high up in the State, .
without affording us the means of connec- j
tion with it, and you will draw a tide of
emigration to settle along its line, which
has probably never had its equal, and in-
to that tide will flow a large portion of
the populatian of the middle part of the
State, drawn away from their present
i homes bv the want of those facilities for
v communication and transpevtion wiiich
get a road across the State, to carry her j you wdl have refused to fnrii'sh if yon
trade beyond her limits, to build up oth- I pass this bill without the amenaTie-ntB.——
er commercial emporiums, at the expense I You will then have legislated to ttis.k'i tho
of her own: then that bill unamended ! wilderness blossom, to make it the'^*r-
will accomplish it.
effect of it, without ___________ . .
of connecting our Gidf coast with it. I die portions of it. You will have iegis-
Strange policv that! Gentlemen say j lated so as to sacrifice that portion of tfce
that 'if we only construct the Pacific ! State which has been watered by the
road, the time will come when all necessa- j hlood of the noble few who won ihishroa-*
ry connections will be made. Ye^, gen- ' and fair land for us. I have yet to 1®*
tlemen may trust to Providence; but I j that such a course would, in any por jjof j
tnat Dili unamended ; ""wiucao uiwwu., fe-
lt will verilv be the j den spot of your State, and that grsativ
we have the means ' at the expense of the southern and miff-"
was taught in my younger days that Pro-
vidence only smiles upon the vigilant, up-
on those who look out for themselves. I _ _ . , -
represent a constituency many of whom from believing that the amend
are engaged in commerce. Did I not seek fered by the benator from Crajy,
view, be good policy, or even-handr ^ ^
tice to the southern portion of the
Mr. McANELLY said, so far .
lv published a memoir and map 011 the to advance their interests, and protect ] would trammel the^ passage
railway route from Chicago J their rights, I should be recreant to the ' that he was ^satisn«4 f- • 1
subject of
to Puget's
low-citizens
sound.
that there
. ^ t # t 1 . •• 1 ||j;
You must know, lei- j trust reposed in me ; but in so doing 1 am j it support wtlieu it tOQtjh) rtm get otl
re certain per-' merely asking what is for the interest of1 wise.
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Ford, John S. The Texas State Times (Austin, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 6, Ed. 1 Saturday, January 7, 1854, newspaper, January 7, 1854; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth235722/m1/1/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.