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Show 6 tinent is now nearly done. N_ow is the pr~~~~ time Mr. President, to locate thJs road. At p . enti~O uestions can arise. Th~ who!~ count•y, from th~ frontier o~ th~ State of Mlssoun :o t.i}e K:d cific Ocean, is terntonal. It belo~g3 to t le .~, States. There a re neither Stat_e ngh~s nor pt 'We rio-hts to rise up and oppose lmp~dlments. . ! at once tal{e our own course wtthout stoppmb cnn . f e to make terms or inquiry o any on . T t the The only thing to be done Js to conct Ia: Indians-to get their·consent? and for that pul pose the bill prop~ses to appropnate ~sum of !11on~y to be expended by the President m r:ocu~·tng t e assent of the Indians, and to the extmgulshment of such titles as may be necessary ~.)r the purposes of the road' for the stations and settlement~ to protect Rnd support it. We have now ~ll_the tnfo.rma~ tion that is necessary to fix the tcnm.?tt of ~he t oadd the reRt is matter of detail. ~'he n~ost direct an best route between the terrninatl ng points, of course, is to be taken; and for tha~ ~e ho. ve, and Rl~~ll ha v~, when the present exped_ltton o_f l":lr. F temont IS finished, all the- informatwn .which 1s. neces_sary to fix upon the detni_ls o~ th_e tntcrmedJUte d_1stance~ His work is puuhc; h1s .JOurnals o.re public prop erty· his mars arc public property: H~ to?k no copyrio-ht for anythin~ which he d1d while 111 the scn·ice0 of the United Stales; and we now have_ all the information wanted for the purpose or locatJ_ng this great road. It may be as~umed that ~o 111- formution wns ever more v~ned, more m_mute, more accurate, than that wh1ch he hns furntsh_ed. The topographical map of two _tho~sand m_lles which he hns made is replete wtth mformatJ?n; his whole exploratio11s of twenty thousand mtles can be lt~id down in the same manner. . The means of the United States for th1s construction are ample. The length of ~he ro~d appals so~e prrsons. Sir, it is a case 111 whJCI~ th: length 1n reference to the_ mean_s makes n? ddfeience. It is not a case 111 which money IS to be raised from another source in order to defray the expenses ofthe road. It makes itself. Th~ whole country belongs to the Ur~ited. States,_ savmg t~e mere extinction of the lnd1an tttle. It IS all public land-a o-reat belt of public land, equal to ~he whole le~o-th of the Mis~issippi ri\'er, covenng seventeen deo-rees on the Pacific coast, and as much in the valle/ of the Mississippi. 011t of that the bill proposes that a per centum shall be t!\ken fr?m all the sales, and that per centum shall b~ apphe_d to the con~lruction of the road. Now, s1r, m th:s point of view, the whole country being pu~lic land from the frontier of Missouri to the Par.tfic Oce~n, every mile provides for itself. The distance of five or six hundred miles, right and left, is public land, and. this is put into contribution for the construction of the road. All the sales are to ...contribute. It is, therefore, no more to make a long road than a short 0nc. I propo~e, Mr. P~·esic~ent, in view or t~~ magnitude of th1s work; In v1ew of our- dom11110n over the public land throughout its whole extent; in view of the uses to which this road may be Applied, not only in our day, but by our children, and for unnumbered centuries to come-to have it projected at once, and upon a scale commensurate to its future destiny, be that as great as it may. The proposition in the bill is, that there be reserved a bret\dth or one mile from the frontier of Missouri to the Pacific Ocean-a breadth of one entire mile for the purpose o~ laying down, at once one track, one road, re:servmg enough for as mnny tracks, and independent of each oth~r, _as :shall be necessary, in all time, for a~ I the vanelles of roads thnt are now in use, or w~uch mR_Y come into 11se in the unnumbered generat!ons wh1ch thllt r<rad is to benefit. I begin with ra!l w~y, as far ~s practicable and advantageous, lea v m_g It to prn~tical men to say where it is not. The dtfficulty wh~ch presents itself to my mind is the deep !'=now whtch continues for so many months in the year, nn_d lies so deep among the Rocky M~nntn~n~. It IS for practical men to say whether tne ratltond can go there, or whether it will be_ necessary to find some other conveyance-the sletgh, for examplefor that reo-ion, in ~he time of the snows. 1 propo:e to reserve grou~d fot· all sorts of roads -railway, plank, macadamized; more than t~wtroom for a track by magnetic power-accord mg to the idea started, I believe, by Professot· Henry, and to me plausibly pursued by_ Prof~ssor Pag~, of' d1e Pate 1 nt Office, if that idea npens mto practicability- and who can u~derta~e to say that an~ idea will not become practicable m_the present age. But, Mr. President, the uill cont~tns another provision, that there shall be a ma_rgtn reserv~d out of this breadth of a mile for a plum old English_ road, such a~ we have Lcen accusto!l1ed _to all our ]J~esa road in which the farmer 111 hts wagon 0_1 carriao- e on horse or on foot, may travel w1th?ut fea~, 'and wilhout tax-with none to run over hun, or make him jump out of the war. I l~ok forwnrd to the time when this whole contment IS to be settled from one end to the other-when ther~ are to be towns and villages upon it-when ne1ghbors will want a convenient road. They may t~ere find a space for them in w~ich they shall not gtve way to the cars or anythmg else-a road not to be interfered with. The leading idea, th~n, i~, that we reserve. a breadth of land upon whtch we may lay down different tracks or road, independent of each other; to be kept unconnected with each other; to be adR.pted to the different means of conveyance; and to be reserved for all time to come. It is a wonderful circumstance in the history of the world that th?re should be a nation whose domain is so cxtenstv that she is able to lay down as she choo~es, by law n road across a continent, the whole d1.·tance und~r one flag and one law. lt is a wo~1derful contingency happened to us, and one whtch we. should avail ourselves of. A part of the plnn, ~r. President is that ther~ shall be military statwns along the 1ro~d for its protection an_d support. It would be in vain to have a road wtthout tt. We want protection and ~e want support. Settle:s will immediately estabhsh the!flselves abou~ evety one of these stations, and will soon rurlltsh th_e means of support to them all. Then, Mr. Pres_ldcnt the wires can be stretched. As soon as th1s rout~ is established and this protection given, the wires can be stretched upon the whole rou~e. Then standing upon the shores of the Atlantic, you shall hold converse with him who stands upon the shores of the Pacific Ocean. You shnlltalk to one another three thousand miles distant. . N othint)" Mr. President, is more essential than roads. It~is an old theme, sir; but it w.ill l,e~r the snggestion that no civilized peo_rle can l1ve w1thou} roads and that it is the m<hspensable duty o every' nation which has acquired any new posses~ • 7 si .ms to open communieation with it. We know that the Romans-from whom we borrow ~o many of our ideas, useful or grand-never con~tdered a conquered _te:ritory added to the re~ubltc or th_e empire until It \':as pert'or~te~ by a I?ad. Thete was no annexatiOn 111 _thetr Idea unttl there w!l~ communication. The 1dea_was well founded, s1r, and one which we can practtcally carry out. Large and grand ~s our proje_ct of roads ~cen:a, f1:om the Mississippi to the Pac1fic,_a~d a mtle !n ~v1d_th reserved for many tracks-It Js almost ms~gntficant compared to the roads of the Roman emptre. Her territory was not greater than ours-not so cornpact- her population not so homogene~us' as. ours, nor at the greatest as great as ours Will be 111 the lifetime of the child now born; and yet her ro~ds far transcended in l e11~~h a~d numbe_r anyth111g that we now propose. tlere IS what G:1~bon says. 1 After enumerating the f~ur ~housand ctllcs ~elong- , ing to the Roman emptre m Europe, Asm, and Africa, he goes on to say: uals_ and comp~nies, but communities and nation!! are Ill commotiOn, all bound to the settino- sun- ' to the gilded horiz?n of \V estern Americ~. For want of an Amencan road, they seek foreign ~outes, far_rou~d, by ~ea and land, to reach by an 1mn:ense c1rcu1t what ts a part of their own land. Until we can get u _road of our own, we must u<::e and support a fore1gn route; but that is a tempor~ ry resource,. demanded by the exigency of the tJ_mes, and unttl w~ can get oUJ: own ready. Never dtd so ~reat ~n obJect present Itself to the accept· ance of a nntton. We own the country from sea to sea-from the Atlantic to the Pacific-and u_po~ a breadth equal to the length of the Mississ1pp1- and embra~ing the whole temperate zone. Three thousand miles acrosS', and half that breadth is the magnificent pnrallelogram of our domain: We can run a national central road throuo-h and throug h, the whole distance, under our ll~o- and under. out· laws. Military reasons require "'us to mal_<~ tt: for troop5 and munitions must go there. "All tltr:::c citirs \Wre con11cctetl with rnch other, und with Pohttcal reasons reqnire us to make it: it will ue a tt1e capiwl; by the public higll\vays, which, i ·suiug fro111 the furUJII of Rome traversed ltaly, pervaded the proVJIICe ·, aud were tl'rllllllatc'd o11ly by the froutiers of I he e111111re. 11" we cartfully trace the distance from Lite wall of Autoninu~ tn Route and from theuce to Jerusalem, it will Ire loull(l that the l!r~at chaiu of communication, from the uorJIHvc t to the southca~t poi lit of the empire, was drawn out to I he length of four thousand and ei~rhty Roman miles. The public roads we1e accurately divided by lllile-stonPs, aud ran in a direct line from one city to another, with \'ery little rcspt·ct for the oh~tacle;O cithu or nature or pnvatc property. !\fountains were perforated, aud hold arches thrown 0\'<::r the broaded aud uro:;t rapid streams. The· tniddle part of the road was rai ell iuto a terrace which cotumaudcd the adjact·nt coJmtry con~i:<tt d of several strata of saud, gravel, and ce11tent, nod was paved with la rge stont•s, or in t>Oute plnce:;, 11<'ar the capital, with grani te. Such was the solid cou~trucJion ofthe llo111an hi!!hways, whose firmne~ s has 110t cutirely yielded to the effort or fiflten ceuturil!s. They united the !'uhject.;; of the rno:::t distant provinces hy au easy and faJJliliar intercoursv; but their primary object had bet' II to facilitate the nmrchb: of the lel!iOIJ:<; nor was any cou 11try t•onsiderl'd a3 subdued, till it had been re11dcred, in all it.-; part:-:, pervious to the ann:; and authority of the conqueror. Tl1e atlvantagr> of rt·ceivi11g the carlic~>t intelligeuce, and ofconveyinl! their orders with ce:crity, induced the Emperors to t•stahlish throughout their exten::.ivc dominions tile regular institULion of posts. llou~es were everywhere erected at the di~ta11ce only of five or !-iX mile:-;; each of them was comtanlly provided with forty hor,e~, turd hy the help ofthesc rl'lays, it was ea,;y to travel an huurlred mile, in a day aloug 1hc Ho111an roads. The use of the posts was allo\ved to those wiJO ~! aimed it by an in1perinl mandate; l,>ut, though oJigiHally Jntendcc:H(lr the pulrlic s•~ rvi ce~ it wa;; SOII Jetillles iudulg~..d to the business or couvcniency of private CJti~cns." Such was the extent and solidity of the Roman roads-a single line oi road above 4,000 Roman, and equal to _3,140 English miles-and the 4,000 cities of the_empu·eallconnected wi'th roads of equal soliditY' besides. The road which we propose is only half the length of one chain of theirs. I mention them for the}r magnificence-their grandeur-and as presenting an example worthy of our imitation. The road I propose .is necessary to us, and now. We wa~t it now. Tlfe state of our possessions on the Pacific demands it. The time to becrin has arrived. All the necessary information is o~ hand. The means are ready. The title to Oreo-on is settled! an~ a gove~nment established there~ and populatiOn IS growmg up. California is acquired: people at1! there: and a government must follow. W.e have a fleet on that coast-troops there, and gomg. ~treams o~ population are concentrating there. Smcc the discovery of the New World by Columbus t~ere has not been such an unsettling of the foundat10ns of society. Not merely individ-chain of union l>etween the Atlnntic nnd Pacific States. Commercial reasQns demand it from u ·: and. her~ 1 toucl: a boundless field, dazzling and ~e'<vlldermg t!.e Imagination from its vastness aud Importance. The trade of the Pacific Ocean, of the western coast of North America, and of Eastern Asia, will all take its track; and not only for oursel~ es, but for posterity. That trade of India wh1ch has been shifting its channels from the timo of_ the Phrenicians to the present, is destined to sh1ft once more, and to realize the grand idea of Columbus. The Ame1·ican road to Indin will also become the European track to that region. The European merchant, as well as the American, will fly across our continent on a straight line to China. The rich commerce of Asia will flow through our centre. And where has that commerce ever flowed without carrying wealth and dominion with it? Look at i1s ancient channels, and the cities which it raised into kingdoms, and the populations which upon its treasures became resplendent in science, learning, and the arts. Tyre, Sidon, Bull>ec, Pal· myra, Alexandria, among its ancient emporiums, attest the power of this commerce to enrich, to ag, grandize, and to enlighten nations. Constantinople, in the middle ages, nnd in the time of the crusades, was the wonder of Western Europe; and all, because she wo.s then n thoroughfare of Asiatic commerce. Genoa and Venice, mere cities, in later time, uecame the mntclt of kingdoms, and the envy of kings, from the mere divided streams of this trade of which they became the thorough· I are. Lisbon had her great day, and Portugal her preeminence during the fitrle whlle that the discovery of' the Cape of Good Hope put her in communication with the East. Amsterdam, the city of a little territory re~cued from the seu, and the Seven United Provinces, not equal in extent to one o( our lesser Stntes, became great in arms, in letters, in wealth, and in power; and all upon the East India trade. And London, what makes her the commercial mistress of the world-what makes an island no lar,.,.er than one of our first cli\ss States 0 -the mistress of possessions in the four quarters of the globe-a match for hnlf of Europe-and dominant in Asit1? What makes all this, or con· tributes most to make it, but this sA.me Asiatic trade? In no instance has it failed to carry the nation, or the people which possessed it, to the • |