BANCROFT 
 
 LIBRARY 
 < 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
SPEECH 
 
 OF 
 
 HON. AARON A. SARGENT, 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA, 
 
 ON THE 
 
 PACIFIC EAILEOAD 
 
 AS A MILITARY NECESSITY. 
 
 DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 
 JANUARY 31, 1862. 
 
 WASHINGTON: 
 
 PRESS OF GEO. C. RAND & AVERY. 
 1862. 
 
JL9J- o c, 8 
 
 BANCROFT LIBR 
 
 SPEECH 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 HON, AARON A, SARGENT, 
 
 The House being in Committee ,of the Whole on the State of the Union, 
 MR. SARGENT, of California, arose and said : 
 
 MR. CHAIRMAN : 
 
 I did not rise for the purpose of discussing the slavery question in any 
 of its aspects. Sufficient time has been abstracted from the deliberations 
 of the House, on both sides of this chamber, to lead to results upon that 
 matter. Although I have settled convictions upon the duty of Congress 
 and the Executive in the disposal of that question which has disturbed 
 our international relations for half a century, and finally involved us in a 
 disastrous war, I prefer to express those convictions by my votes upon 
 the pending measures, and to use the hour accorded to me by the cour- 
 tesy of the committee in the presentation of my views of a matter which 
 has heretofore, at this session, been neglected in both Houses, and in 
 which the interests and safety of my constituents, the continuance of 
 our Pacific Empire, and the good name of the nation are involved. I 
 shall treat the question as not one of local importance, for the whole coun- 
 try is interested in our action upon it, and the whole country must suffer 
 by our supineness. 
 
 Sir, one year ago this House, after full consideration, passed a bill for 
 the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the valley of the 
 Mississippi to the Pacific, for the reasons, as indicated in the title of the 
 bill, that military and other purposes of public interest were subserved 
 thereby. The vote by which that bill was passed was the consummation 
 of a long struggle in this House, upon one side of which were arrayed the 
 progressive, far-seeing men of the country, representing constituencies con- 
 trolling large capital, and anxious for the inauguration of this great na- 
 tional measure. Energy, wisdom, and patriotism distinguished the ef- 
 forts of the men who fought for this great object through many stormy 
 debates in Congress. Upon the other side were ranged in stolid oppo- 
 
 HE. 
 
sition the men who ever hang upon the wheels of progress ; those who delay 
 enterprises of great pith and moment by scruples concerning powers and 
 minor expediencies ; the men who could discern constitutional power to 
 indefinitely expand the territory of the Union, but none for its improve- 
 ment; the men who were governed by local prejudices more than by 
 considerations of general good. Sectional prejudice, rival routes and 
 schemes, timidity, indifference, all weighed in the scale, and delayed the 
 consummation for many a weary year achieved by that vote passing a Pa- 
 cific railroad bill. 
 
 Sir, the result was hailed with delight in my own State, and in the 
 great commercial centers generally, too soon turned to disappointment by 
 the ultimate failure of the measure through the less progressive action of 
 the Senate. To-day this great work is not further advanced, so far as 
 Congress is concerned, than it was at the date of the passage of that bill. 
 Although both Houses are now filled with the avowed friends of the 
 measure, it almost seems as if its fate would be to be betrayed with a 
 kiss. I now conceive it my duty representing, as I do, a people whose 
 safety, perhaps their power to remain a part of this Union, depends upon 
 it to speak plainly upon it, to arouse this House from its inaction, and 
 convince it, if I am able, that this railroad is a necessity of the times 
 a great war measure to be inaugurated now, if regard is to be paid 
 to the most vital interests of the country. I would that this task had 
 fallen to abler hands. I have waited patiently for nearly two months for 
 some experienced member to rise in his place and resume the discussion, 
 and urge action. I have waited in vain, and must, perforce, undertake 
 the onerous task. 
 
 Before, however, I proceed to speak upon the necessity of the imme- 
 diate action of Congress in favor of this great work, I wish to direct the 
 attention of the House to the pledges that have heretofore been made for 
 its speedy construction. The Pacific railroad has been a subject of so great 
 interest and such acknowledged importance, that it has been incorporated 
 into the platform of each party at every Presidential election since 1852, 
 and has often been the subject of special recommendations from the Pres- 
 idents to Congress. Does this mean nothing ? Is it a settled policy to 
 acknowledge its necessity before and ignore its usefulness after a Presiden- 
 tial election? Are our Presidents insincere in their recommendations? 
 our party platforms ingenious deceptions? our pledges to the people 
 studied falsehoods ? Are not the promises under which a great paity 
 seeks to assume the reins of power made in good faith ? A pledge made 
 under these circumstances becomes a responsibility when that party 
 succeeds to power. The Democratic party, which long administered the 
 Government, the cardinal doctrines of whose creed were opposed to works 
 of internal improvement, were compelled by the justice and great impor- 
 tance of this measure, and by the demands of the people, to change their 
 views, and find authority within the Constitution whereby this Grovern- 
 ment could legally extend its aid toward the construction of this work. 
 The Republican party has always asserted such authority, and been fore- 
 most in its declarations in favor of its immediate inauguration by the di- 
 
rect aid of the national Treasury. And, to my mind, there is no question 
 of constitutional right involved in this case. The Constitution speaks 
 plainly. It confers upon Congress the power to declare war, to raise and 
 support armies, and to repel invasion. 
 
 The admission of new States or Territories into the Union necessarily 
 involves new duties and responsibilities upon the parent Government. All 
 are mutually interested in the welfare, protection, and perpetuity of the 
 Union. No distinctions or preferences can be shown ; no duties or re- 
 sponsibilities evaded on account of locality. The States and Territories 
 are each and all entitled alike to the support and protection of that Union 
 of which they form a part, and whose perpetuity they guaranty to defend 
 and uphold. It is clearly the imperative duty of the Congress of the 
 United States, therefore, to assume the responsibilities imposed by the Con- 
 stitution, and grant to the several States the protection they need, and 
 which they justly claim as a constitutional right. Under the authority to 
 declare war and repel invasion, Congress has the undisputed power to 
 assume the construction of any work of public utility or necessity which 
 the exigencies of war may demand. We may build fortifications or mili- 
 tary roads ; we may authorize the raising of an army, and must provide 
 for the support of that army. We have power to transport that army, 
 and hence to provide the means for its transportation ; and if this trans- 
 portation involves the necessity of cutting, making, or building roads of 
 any description, it is not only our right but our duty to build them. 
 
 Then, sir, if there be no question as to the powers of Congress, let us 
 inquire as to its duties in relation to this matter. 
 
 Between the Atlantic coast and the western verge of the valley of the 
 Mississippi was but lately contained the wealth, power, and influence of 
 this great Republic. Until after the Mexican war, the entire country ly- 
 ing still further west to the Pacific was a vast territory, nearly uninter- 
 rupted wilderness, sparsely settled, and of which little was known. Our 
 only possession on the Pacific coast was Oregon Territory, the home of a 
 few thousand of our citizens, and the trade of which was comparatively 
 unimportant. British America and the Russian possessions occupied the 
 territory north to Behring Straits, while Mexico and a few minor states 
 were in the possession of the coast to the Isthmus of Panama. As a 
 result of that war the new territory of California and New Mexico was 
 added to our possessions, comprehending a line of sea-coast extending 
 from the thirty-fifth to the forty-second parallel of north latitude, equal in 
 extent to the entire Atlantic sea-board from Maine to Florida. Almost 
 simultaneously with the acquisition of this territory were discovered the 
 extensive gold regions of the Sierra Nevadas, the result of which has been 
 the influx of population into this new country unparalleled in the annals 
 of history. Within the past twelve years a steady stream of immigration 
 has poured into those new possessions by every available route. Steam- 
 ers and sailing vessels have left our commercial marts crowded with our 
 fellow-citizens seeking a new home on the furthest confines of our western 
 possessions ; long trains of emigrant wagons, accompanied by the wives 
 and children of hardy pioneers of the Western States, have taken up the 
 
line of march for a home still further west, until, at the present time, a 
 population of over half a million souls are pursuing their daily avocations 
 upon the shores of the Pacific. Cities, towns, and villages have sprung into 
 existence as if by magic. Steamers plow our seas, and shipping from 
 every part of the world crowd our ports and line our wharves. The 
 steady tide of gold of over $500,000,000 which has during the past 
 twelve years flowed from thence to benefit the older States of the Atlan- 
 tic slope, fully attests the energy and industry of the citizens of the Pa- 
 cific. 
 
 Sir, it is these people who earnestly demand, through us, their con- 
 gressional Representatives, to be heard upon the great questions which 
 affect their welfare. The States of California and Oregon are realities. 
 They are legitimate members of this great family. They are ever ready 
 and willing to fulfill their duties and obligations to the parent Government. 
 They are true, loyal, and patriotic. They will lay down their lives and 
 pour out their treasure in support of this glorious Union. In the State 
 which I have the honor in part to represent, they have battled nobly to 
 overthrow the chivalric dynasty which has so long sat like an incubus 
 upon the breast of their Government that factious oligarchy, whose 
 Southern sympathies and secession tendencies were the more dangerous 
 as they were sought to be concealed under the specious names of anti-co- 
 ercion, peace policy, Pacific Republic, &c. They have bravely vindi- 
 cated their love for the Union by striking down, as I believe, forever, 
 that insidious foe, at the late election. And they claim to be heard at 
 this Congress upon the subject of their necessities by the mouth of their 
 chosen and honored Representatives. Their great want is action ; action 
 on the subject of a railroad communication with the Atlantic States. 
 
 The position of the people of California, and of the whole Pacific coast, 
 in the event of a war with any maritime power, is an unenviable one. 
 We are not situated as are our sister States of the Atlantic slope. The 
 Eastern States possess within themselves elements of power and self-reli- 
 ance which will enable them to sustain themselves in time of either peace 
 or war. Their line of sea-coast, their lakes and maritime cities, are pro- 
 tected by defensive fortifications, which can secure them from invasion. 
 Their fields of mineral wealth, of iron and coal, are already developed, 
 and they will find their usual markets through the channels of communica- 
 tion which have already been made, and which a foreign war cannot close. 
 Their manufacturing establishments are sufficiently extensive and varied 
 to enable them to manufacture within themselves every article which their 
 necessities may require. The great garden and storehouse of the West, 
 which has hitherto supplied food not only for the consumption of the At- 
 lantic States, but for the needy millions of foreign countries, will be open 
 still, and will be drawn upon only for the support of the people of those 
 States. The network of railroads and canals, whose ramifications per- 
 vade and extend to every part of the country, will still continue in oper- 
 ation, and afford their customary facilities for the transportation of public 
 and private stores and goods, still be available for the purposes of Govern- 
 ment, in rapidly concentrating its troops at any required point. 
 
But how is it with us ? Members of the same Confederation, we are 
 more distant from our mother land than is India from the British Isles. 
 In case of a foreign war, we possess neither the power nor means to suc- 
 cessfully defend ourselves from the assaults of our foes. The Isthmus 
 route, now available and open, will then be closed. Our only water 
 communication will be via Cape Horn, a journey of over fifteen thou- 
 sand miles, requiring from four to five months to make the passage in 
 clipper ships, and this assailable by the enemy's vessels its whole length. 
 Even supposing a vessel fortunate enough to escape the attentions of the 
 enemy's cruisers on the Atlantic, she must then run the gauntlet of the 
 Pacific ; and on arriving at San Francisco, how will she pass the ene- 
 my's blockading fleet ? No, sir ; the first result of a foreign war will be 
 the entire destruction of our commerce. We are confined like the fox in 
 his hole, unable to advance or retreat. 
 
 It is true that we now raise breadstuff's enough to supply our wants. 
 But if the enemy once obtain a foothold upon our soil, from the peculiar 
 position of our agricultural lands, which lie within the great inland val- 
 leys of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin, the operations of the hus- 
 bandman would soon be destroyed. The physical formation of the State 
 of California is peculiar. Its western shore is washed by the waters of the 
 Pacific ocean, and presents, with but few exceptions, a rugged, rock- 
 bound coast. Two ranges of mountains traverse the State parallel with 
 the general line of coast the Sierra Nevada on the east, and the Coast 
 Range on the west, which borders upon and forms a barrier to the Pa- 
 cific ocean. These ranges run together in the northern and southern 
 portions of the State, leaving between them a large valley from thirty to 
 fifty miles in width, and about four hundred miles long, called the Sacra- 
 mento valley on the north, and the San Joaquin valley on the south. 
 The Coast Range is pierced about midway by the Golden Gate, immedi- 
 ately within which lies the harbor or bay of San Francisco, upon which 
 is situated the city and port of San Francisco, the commercial center 
 of California, and of the Pacific coast, where all ships come, and 
 where all cargoes are unloaded. The Sacramento river flowing 
 southwardly, and the- San Joaquin flowing northwardly, are the grand 
 avenues of communication with the interior of the State ; and all goods, 
 merchandise, &c., arriving at, and not consumed in, San Francisco, find 
 their way to the interior through these channels. 
 
 These two rivers are connected at a point about fifty miles above San 
 Francisco, and flowing through a single channel, enter the head of the 
 bay of San Francisco through Carquines straits, about twenty-five miles 
 north of San Francisco. The bay of San Francisco is about sixty miles 
 long, by ten miles in width, extending southerly about forty, and north- 
 erly about twenty, miles from San Francisco. 
 
 The agricultural lands lie in this great valley of the Sacramento and 
 San Joaquin, pierced by the rivers thus named, while on the western 
 slope of the Sierra Nevada is carried on tHe mining operations, and there 
 reside three fourths of the population of California, all of whom are de- 
 pendent upon San Francisco and the valleys for their supplies. 
 
It will be well to bear in mind that the Sierra Nevadas are in winter 
 time uninhabited above an elevation of about four thousand feet above 
 the sea, on account of the snow. 
 
 Now, what would be the position of California in the event of a war 
 with a foreign maritime power ? The first stroke would be a blockade of 
 the harbor of San Francisco, the result of which would be the entire de- 
 struction of our commerce, and consequently a complete paralyzation of 
 business. Our commerical intercourse with the outward world would be 
 completely annihilated. What follows ? The prices of every article of 
 food, clothing, usefulness, or luxury, would leap suddenly upwards to 
 starvation rates. Sir, the people of the Atlantic States do not under- 
 stand what high prices mean with us. Prices with us depend upon the 
 foreign supply ; and many a needy man, in the early days of Califor- 
 nia, when the ocean was free, and ships were arriving day by day with 
 full cargoes of provisions, has had to pay his two hundred dollars per 
 barrel for flour, and a dollar a pound for bacon ! How will it be when a 
 blockade of San Francisco shuts the door to all future supplies ? when 
 every holder knows that his stock on hand cannot be replenished ? God 
 forbid that I shall ever live to see that day ! You of the Atlantic States 
 will never be compelled, by the exigencies of war, to cry out for bread. 
 You will never realize the miseries of Antwerp, for your granary is at 
 hand, and will always be full and inaccessible to your enemies. But 
 where are the half million of California to procure their bread? We 
 have sent relief to the suffering, starving poor of Ireland. Who will send 
 relief to the starving men, women, and children of California? Be your 
 intentions ever so good, be your sympathies ever so great, be your sup- 
 plies ever so adequate, who will undertake to convey those supplies to 
 them, and how will they reach them ? 
 
 It may be said that a blockade of the harbor of San Francisco will 
 not prevent the agriculturist from pursuing his labors in the fields and 
 valleys, and that there we must look for supplies. Let no one deceive 
 himself with that idea. I have spoken of this blockade as the first blow 
 which will probably be struck. The next will be a forced entrance into 
 San Francisco bay. It is not to be conceived that a powerful enemy 
 will be content with simply blockading the port of San Francisco. Cal- 
 ifornia is too rich a prize to lose by inaction, and history teaches that the 
 first-class powers of Europe do not despise the acquisition of valuable ter- 
 ritory. They are not neglectful of any favorable opportunity to add to 
 those wide dominions on which the sun never sets. 
 
 Let us see what are the inducements to a campaign for conquest. We 
 have there in the center of the Pacific coast a port and harbor hardly 
 equaled by that of any other country on the globe ; a noble bay, stretch- 
 ing away, as I have said, forty miles to the southward, and twenty to the 
 northward, completely land-locked, in which the navies of the world 
 might ride in safety. This harbor, accessible only by a narrow entrance, 
 and forming the key which unlocks or locks the inland navigation to a 
 rich valley four hundred miles in length and fifty in width the key 
 which holds possession of the richest mining territory of gold and silver 
 
in the known world, whose annual yield of the precious metals is not far 
 short of $100,000,000 a territory which employs a half a million of 
 people in its development ; a magnificent city of nearly one hundred 
 thousand inhabitants lying at its entrance, with its wharves and docks, 
 its custom-house and mint, its costly public buildings and private dwell- 
 ings ; commanding this entrance are a system of fortifications on which 
 millions of dollars have been expended, and which, when fully completed, 
 under the supervision of a great Power which was determined to make 
 them such, could be made as impregnable as the rock of Gibraltar. 
 
 At the head of this noble bay our enemy would find to tempt him a 
 capacious navy-yard, replete with every modern convenience and appli- 
 ance necessary for his purposes ; a dry-dock within which to repair his 
 ships ; an arsenal ; barracks for his soldiers ; in short, everything neces- 
 sary to enable him to maintain his position, all built and ready fitted to 
 his hand. Holding these, he holds California ; he holds the Pacific coast ; 
 he holds the gold and silver of the mountains ; he holds the commercial 
 center of the Pacific the great mart of trade, the growing, glorious 
 empire of the West, the pride of the Union, and its earnest, faithful ad- 
 herent. Are these advantages which a grasping, powerful enemy would 
 scorn to possess himself of? Is not this a prize worthy ambition? Will 
 you expose your jewels to every thief, and then stupidly wonder that they 
 are stolen? 
 
 But I hear it said that our fortifications will protect this entrance. 
 They will protect it against any ordinary assailant ; but let me warn the 
 gentlemen who lay that flattering unction to their souls that it was also 
 said that Sebastopol could not be taken, and yet it fell. A mistaken 
 economy in refusing to purchase a strip of ground has prevented the com- 
 pletion of the full system of fortifications designed to protect the entrance, 
 and they are yet incomplete. Alcatraz and Fort Point cannot protect 
 that harbor. You may pile Ossa on Pelion at those points ; as long as 
 a fort of commensurate strength is wanting on Lime Point the harbor is 
 indefensible. But the best fortifications would avail nothing if the gar- 
 risons were cut off from supplies of ammunition or food. 
 
 Our enemy in possession of this harbor, of these fortifications, of the 
 navy-yard, of the dry-dock, and arsenal, and in command of the inland 
 navigation, what could the people of California do without cannon or am- 
 munition, and without the means of procuring them ? How could they 
 protect themselves ? Sir, they would have a choice of evils starvation, 
 surrender to foreign domination, or an exodus across the Sierras. I am 
 no alarmist, nor do I desire to add one jot or tittle to the embarrassments 
 under which our beloved country is now laboring. But I believe I speak 
 the words of sober truth when I say that had the late Trent imbroglio not 
 admitted of a peaceful solution ; had the views and convictions of many 
 of my friends and associates on this floor been sustained by a warlike 
 answer to the demands of Great Britain, or a refusal to deliver up the per- 
 sons of the confederate embassadors, that to-day, even as we sit here, 
 this first blow would have been struck, and the harbor of San Francisco 
 sealed. 
 
8 
 
 Sir, I have said that three evils would present themselves to the peo- 
 ple of California. I cannot bear to think of the deep disgrace and dis- 
 aster to our country implied in the loss of its Pacific States, to think 
 that my noble State may be the appendage of a distant monarchy. I 
 believe the other alternative would be accepted by my people that they 
 would flee from such disgrace ; and if the time does ever come and finds 
 us all unprepared, as now we are unprepared, to meet the emergency, 
 there will be witnessed an exodus from the Pacific coast which will be ever 
 memorable in the history of nations such an emigrant train as never be- 
 fore wended its way across this continent. It will travel eastward, and its 
 course will be marked for centuries to come by the whitened bones of 
 thousands of men, women, and children, whose last earthly cry was bread. 
 Fleeing from a war against which they had no defense, from starvation 
 amid inhospitable mountains, they would fall and die in the wilderness. 
 Would you bid them submit? Sir, I know the gallant hearts of my 
 people. I know that many thousands would contest inch by inch with 
 the invading foe ; that they would fight and conquer could they but be 
 fed and be supplied with weapons. You need no standing army in Cal- 
 ifornia, aside from small trained garrisons in the forts, if you can furnish 
 its hardy sons with the means of war. But these not to be obtained, 
 they would be driven back and starved out till they surrendered or fled, 
 and California be lost to the Union. Think you a treaty would restore 
 it ? Go make a treaty with the vulture ! But even if a treaty would 
 restore it, would you deserve the adhesion of California when you left it 
 a defenceless prey to covetous enemies? No, sir; once lost, it is lost 
 forever. 
 
 Sir, I have said that it is the duty of wise statesmanship to legislate 
 for the future as well as for the present. We cannot lift the veil which 
 shrouds the events of another year ; but it is our duty to use the experi- 
 ence of the past in determining our course in the future. 
 
 But a little over a year ago all was sunshine with us. If any member 
 of this House had risen in his seat only two short years ago and predicted 
 the events of the now past year as they have occurred, he would have 
 been deemed a visionary or a madman. Had he told us that a rebellion 
 would be inaugurated so powerful as to require the organization of an army 
 of half a million of men to quell it, would he have been believed ? Had 
 he told us that our capital would be beleaguered by an armed rebel force 
 of two hundred thousand men; that brother would be arrayed against 
 brother, and father against son; that all the terrible implements and 
 enginery of warfare would be brought into requisition for purposes of 
 destruction ; that fleets more powerful than ever sailed the seas before would 
 depart from our shores to assail our then fellow-citizens had he told us of 
 bloody battles, and disgraceful retreats, and recounted the sufferings of 
 prisoners had he told us that two of our then honorable Senators would 
 become traitors and rebels to this Government, and as such would be 
 taken by a war vessel belonging to this Government as they were pro- 
 ceeding on their way as emissaries and embassadors of a rebel govern- 
 ment to purchase vessels, arms, and munitions of war, and to invoke the 
 
9 
 
 aid of foreign Governments to assist in our overthrow ; that their deten- 
 tion by us would result in a war with England, would he not have been 
 suspected of idle dreaming or willful folly? Yet all this, and more, has 
 occurred ; and to-day we are trying to provide means to pay or secure to 
 be paid a debt of $1,000,000,000 on account of this war, of which we 
 have but just commenced the first campaign. 
 
 This is why, I repeat, it is the duty of wise statesmanship to provide 
 for the future. We know that we are passing through a fiery ordeal. 
 We have just escaped the brink of a precipice, the' horrors of a war with 
 the most powerful nation on the earth ; a war which, while it would af- 
 fect the Atlantic States disastrously, would have brought total ruin and 
 desolation to the inhabitants of the Pacific coast, unless they threw them- 
 selves without resistance into the arms of the foreign foe. 
 
 It is the right of those people to ask, it is the duty of Congress to pro- 
 vide, means of protection ; and we believe that protection is best afforded, 
 can, in fact, be only afforded by the immediate construction of a railroad 
 connecting the Atlantic States with those of the Pacific. If we are 
 expected to repel invasion, we must be provided with the necessary means. 
 We must have vast storehouses in which to gather grain, food, and cloth- 
 ing sufficient for many years. We must have an accumulation of ordnance, 
 ammunition, and materiel of war sufficient to maintain a five-years' war 
 if necessary, or we must have a railroad over which to transport these 
 supplies. I believe it is conceded that any attempt to undertake the 
 transportation of these supplies and stores by wagons across the Territo- 
 ries is idle. In support of this statement I may be permitted to quote 
 from the report of the Secretary of War upon the Pacific railroad sur- 
 veys during the administration of Mr. Pierce the then honorable Jeffer- 
 son Davis now the military commander of the forces in armed rebellion 
 against this Government. While I, in common with all lovers of the Union, 
 can scarcely find words to express my abhorrence of the recent acts of this 
 rebel chief, yet, in the present disposition of his armies and forces, we find 
 abundant proof of his military sagacity and of the truth of his observations 
 that I shall quote. He is now maintaining positions which but for railroads 
 would be utterly untenable. He is practically illustrating the general 
 truth of his argument upon the necessity of railroad facilities for military 
 transportation ; and I call upon gentlemen here to controvert the truth of 
 these statements and arguments if they can. He says : RQFT UBR AY 
 
 " The facts developed by these surveys, added to other information which we possess, 
 suggest some considerations of great interest with regard to our territory on the Pacific. 
 They exhibit it as a narrow slope of an average width of less than one hundred and fifty 
 miles of cultivable land, skirting the ocean for a distance of a thousand miles, rich in 
 those mineral productions which are tempting even beyond their value, and which would 
 be most readily turned to the use of an invader ; drained by two rivers of wide-spread 
 branches, and with seaports lying so directly upon the ocean that a hostile fleet could 
 commence an attack upon any one of them within a few hours after being descried from 
 land ; or, if fortified against attack, so few in number that comparatively few ships would 
 suffice to blockade them. 
 
 " This territory is not more remote from the principal European States than from those 
 
10 
 
 parts of our own country whence it would derive its military supplies ; and some of 
 those States have colonies and possessions on the Pacific, which would greatly facilitate 
 their operations against it. With these advantages, and those which the attacking force 
 always has of choice of time and place, an enemy possessing a considerable military 
 marine could, with comparatively little cost to himself, subject us to enormous expenses 
 in giving to our Pacific frontier that protection which it is the duty of the General Gov- 
 ernment to afford. 
 
 " In the first years of a war with any great maritime Power the communication by sea 
 could not be relied upon for the transportation of supplies from the Atlantic to the Pa- 
 cific States. Our naval peace establishment would not furnish adequate convoys for the 
 number of store-ships which it would be necessary to employ ; and store-ships alone, 
 laden with supplies, could not undertake a voyage of twenty thousand miles, passing 
 numerous neutral ports, where an enemy's armed vessels, even of the smallest size, 
 might lie in wait to intercept them. 
 
 " The only line of communication, then, would be overland ; and by this it would be 
 impracticable, with any means heretofore used, to furnish thp amount of supplies re- 
 quired for the defense of the Pacific frontier. At the present prices over the best part 
 of this route, the expense of land transportation alone, for the annual supplies of pro- 
 visions, clothing, camp equipage, and ammunition for such an army as it would be neces- 
 sary to maintain there, would exceed $20,000,000; and to maintain troops and carry on 
 defensive operations under those circumstances, the expense per man would be six times 
 greater than it is now ; the land transportation of each field twelve-pounder, with a due 
 supply of ammunition for one year, would cost $2,500 ; of each twenty-four-pounder and 
 ammunition, 9,000; and of a sea-coast gun and ammunition, $12,000. The transporta- 
 tion of ammunition for a year for a thousand sea-coast guns would cost $10,000,000. But 
 the cost of transportation would be vastly increased by a war ; and at the rates that were 
 paid on the northern frontier during the last war with Great Britain, the above estimates 
 would be trebled. The time required for the overland journey would be from four to 
 six months. In point of fact, however, supplies for such an army could not be trans- 
 ported across the continent. On the arid and barren belts to be crossed the limited quan- 
 tities of water and grass would soon be exhausted by the numerous draught animals 
 required for heavy trains, and over such distances forage could not be carried for their 
 subsistence. 
 
 " On the other hand, the enemy would send out his supplies at from one seventh to one 
 twentieth the above rates, and in less time perhaps in one fourth the time if he could 
 obtain command of the Isthmus route. 
 
 " Any reliance, therefore, upon furnishing that part of our frontier with means of de- 
 fense from the Atlantic and interior States, after the commencement of hostilities, would 
 be vain ; and the next resource would be to accumulate there such amount of stores and 
 supplies as would suffice during the continuance of the contest, or until we could obtain 
 command of the sea. Assigning but a moderate limit to this period, the expense would 
 yet be enormous. The fortifications, depots, and storehouses would necessarily be on 
 the largest scale, and the cost of placing supplies there for five years would amount to 
 nearly one hundred million dollars. 
 
 " In many respects, the cost during peace would be equivalent to that during Avar. 
 The perishable character of many articles would render it perhaps impracticable to put 
 provisions in depot for a such length of time ; and, in any case, there would be deterio- 
 ration amounting to some million dollars per year. 
 
 " These considerations, and others of a strictly military character, cause the Department 
 to examine with interest all projects promising the accomplishment of a railroad commu- 
 nication between the navigable waters of the Mississippi and those of the Pacific ocean. 
 As military operations depend in a greater degree upon rapidity and certainty of move- 
 ment than upon any other circumstance, the introduction of railway transportation has 
 greatly improved the means of defending our Atlantic and inland frontiers ; and to give 
 us a sense of security from attack upon the most exposed portion of our territory, it is 
 requisite that the facility of railroad transportation should be extended to the Pacific 
 coast. Were such a road completed, our Pacific coast, in lieu of being further removed 
 
in time, and less accessible to us than to an enemy, would be brought within a few days 
 of easy communication, and the cost of supplying an army there, instead of being many 
 times greater to us than to him, would be about equal. We would be relieved of the 
 necessity of accumulating large supplies on that coast, to waste, perhaps, through long 
 years of peace ; and we could feel entire confidence that, let war come when and with 
 whom it may, before a hostile expedition could reach that exposed frontier, an ample 
 force could be placed there to repel any attempt at invasion." 
 
 Sir, I can add little to such an argument ; it is comprehensive and 
 conclusive. 
 
 It is said that the country is now struggling for existence ; that im- 
 mense debts are being incurred ; and that we cannot now go into further 
 debt until the present difficulties have been overcome ; and that even if 
 the construction of the road were commenced now it could not be com- 
 pleted within the next ten years. 
 
 Sir, if the position I have assumed is correct, to wit, that this work is 
 a military necessity, it is as properly the subject of immediate legislation 
 as are our forts and sea-board defenses. It cannot be commenced too 
 soon, and the length of time required to construct it should be the strong- 
 est argument in favor of immediate action. You may on this side be 
 able to wait ten or twenty years without feeling its necessity. But, sir, 
 we upon the other side will wait in silent suspense, in fear and trembling. 
 Why should you hesitate longer to perform this great act of justice to 
 your brethren of the Pacific ? Can you afford to lose California and your 
 Pacific possessions ? Are they not worth the cost of a railroad ? How 
 will your money market endure the deprivation of our gold ? How your 
 manufactories sustain the loss of our trade, as they would with a change 
 of tariff to suit foreign producers ? Would not your debt be lightened by 
 developing your intermediate Territories ? If a war should come, the 
 cost of keeping your Pacific States, even if you succeeded in the effort, 
 which would be impossible, would amount to treble the cost of this road. 
 Is the empire we have founded on the Pacific not worth protection ? If 
 not, why was it established? 
 
 It is said that the danger of a war with England is now past. Let us 
 not deceive ourselves. The hostile feeling towards this country which 
 seized upon the late trivial difficulty when we were in the midst of embar- 
 rassment and danger, and made it the occasion of a war, still exists ; and 
 I say to you here that the danger of a war is not past until the lion of 
 England has become a lamb, incapable of giving, or we sunk so low that 
 we are incapable of receiving, an insult. 
 
 Many obstacles which have heretofore delayed action on this measure 
 are now removed. The factious and determined opposition of the Repre- 
 sentatives from the Southern States is now withdrawn. The difficulty of 
 settling upon routes does not now exist, for the question of a Southern route 
 cannot enter into our discussions. The necessity of railroads for military 
 purposes has been demonstrated by practical experience. The danger of 
 a foreign war has aroused the public mind to the absolute necessity of a 
 railroad to the Pacific. The late interference of the New Granadian au- 
 thorities with the transit of our prisoners across the Isthmus of Panama 
 
12 
 
 warns us of the insecurity of that route. The only objection which I hear 
 urged is the inability of Government to assume new obligations, or to add 
 to the present large debt incurred in quelling the rebellion. 
 
 Sir, the argument that this Government is ever too poor to do equal 
 justice to all the members of its family is not a fair argument. But it 
 can be shown clearly that this assumed additional debt will not become a 
 burden upon the Treasury of the country. There are two methods by 
 which Government can consistently lend its aid, and by which that aid 
 will prove effectual, both of which contemplate a future reimbursement of 
 the sums advanced; while from the enhanced value of the lands along the 
 line, the development of mineral wealth, and from the rapid settlement of 
 the country, now a wilderness, through which the road will pass, the 
 Government will prove a grainer in. a business point of view. 
 
 The bill which I have had the honor to introduce in this House con- 
 templates the issuance of United States bonds to be loaned to the eom- 
 pany at a fixed amount per mile, being about one half the contemplated 
 cost of the road, upon the completion of continuous sections of twenty-five 
 and fifty miles ; also a grant of alternate sections of the public lands for 
 six miles upon either side of the road. 
 
 Although I have long been in favor of a different plan or mode of 
 granting aid, yet inasmuch as the scheme I have named appears to have 
 been the one adopted by the committee at their last or Thirty-Sixth ses- 
 sion, it having been thoroughly discussed and finally approved by the 
 House, I felt almost instructed to conform to the thus expressed ideas of 
 the House upon the subject, and accordingly introduced a bill in conform- 
 ity thereto. Under that bill I think it can be successfully demonstrated 
 that no great additional burden will be laid on the Treasury of the United 
 States for many years to come. 
 
 As before stated, the bill provides that upon the completion of sections 
 of a certain length, the United States shall issue their bonds at a certain 
 rate per mile to the company ; also issue to them the lands appertaining 
 to such completed section or division. At the rates proposed it is likely 
 that the total amount of bonds issued will be about sixty millions of dol- 
 lars. But it must be borne in mind that these bonds are not to be issued 
 at once. At least one year after the passage of the bill will be consumed 
 in making the necessary surveys, and in preparing for work ; and it will 
 not be until at the expiration of the second year that any bonds will be 
 called for. If we assume the length of the road to be two thousand miles, 
 to be completed in ten years, this will require the completion of an aver- 
 age length of two hundred miles per year. If we assume the whole cost 
 to be sixty millions, then there will be required the issuance of six mil- 
 lions of dollars per year the interest on which, at six per cent. , will be 
 $360,000 per year. At the expiration of the second year it is likely that 
 an issue of six millions in bonds will be called for. But inasmuch as the 
 interest is to be paid semi-annually, it follows that under the provisions of 
 this bill, for a period of two and a half years after its passage, no pay- 
 ment of interest from the United States Treasury is required. The pay- 
 ment then becoming due will be $180,000 ; and at the end of the third 
 
13 
 
 year it will be an additional $180,000, The total amount of payments 
 required at the close of the fifth year, inclusive, will have been 
 $5,400,000, and the annual payment of interest on the completion of the 
 road will be $3,600,000. Are these the fearful expenditures that frighten 
 gentlemen when they hear this subject mentioned ? The bill further pro- 
 vides that these sums shall be repaid the Government in transportation of 
 mails, military stores, troops, &c., and that Government may, in case of 
 war, take possession of and use the road for its purposes. Even if it 
 takes ten years to build the road, we do not wait so long for its benefits. 
 Every mile that is constructed bridges the gap between the two oceans, 
 and adds new security to our Pacific possessions, by increasing the fa- 
 cilities and diminishing the cost of defending and supplying them. 
 
 It is believed that the Government business, at the expiration of ten 
 years, between the Atlantic States and Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Ne- 
 vada, Washington, Oregon, and California, in addition to the mails, will 
 have increased sufficiently to compensate for this annual interest, while the 
 legitimate business of the road ought to be of sufficient magnitude to 
 afford a sinking fund for the repayment of the principal. 
 
 Under this arrangement, how can the United States become losers, or 
 how can this grant operate as a burden on the Treasury? As security 
 for the repayment of any funds loaned by the Government, the bonds 
 operate as a first mortgage upon a property which will have cost double 
 their amount. 
 
 In most of the details this bill is similar to the one passed by this 
 House at the last session of the Thirty-Sixth Congress ; which bill was so 
 thoroughly discussed and examined by the House during that and the 
 preceding session that I deem it unnecessary to enter into further ex- 
 planations in regard to its details. Quite an important alteration, how- 
 ever, in regard to the rates of appropriation per mile upon the western 
 end will be observed, which is thus explained. 
 
 It is well known that the surveys made by the Government engineers 
 were not close railroad surveys, but barometrical reconnoissances, which, 
 while affording data sufficiently accurate from which to deduce general 
 results, do not furnish information of the character necessary to deter- 
 mine with accuracy the cost of a line over a difficult country. The esti- 
 mates of distance and cost upon the central route entering California, in- 
 cluding the passage of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, were made upon 
 the line surveyed, by order of Government, by Lieutenant Beckwith, 
 whose line crossed these mountains in the extreme northern* part of the 
 State, via the headwaters of the Sacramento. 
 
 Since that time reconnoissances have been made of several routes 
 through central California, resulting in the discovery of an entirely new 
 route across the Sierra Nevada mountains, upon which an accurate, sci- 
 entific railroad survey has recently been made by T. D. Judah, Esq,, an 
 accomplished civil engineer, who has done more to advance the great 
 Pacific railroad work by years of labor and devotion than any other man 
 in the country. His surveys develop the fact that, with less maximum 
 grades than those employed on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, this route 
 
14 
 
 effects a saving in distance of nearly two hundred miles, and a saving in 
 cost of nearly fifteen millions of dollars no mean items in reclaming 
 the length and cost of a Pacific railroad. 
 
 From my personal knowledge of the manner in which those surveys 
 were prosecuted, and the recognized ability and professional skill of the 
 engineer, I place the utmost confidence in their results, and have there- 
 fore thought proper to avail myself of the estimates of cost of crossing 
 the Sierra Nevadas as presented by the report of the engineer, in deter- 
 mining the amount of relative appropriations per mile across the Sierras 
 to a connection with Lieutenant Beckwith's line at Lassen's Meadows or 
 crossing of the Humboldt river. For the information of those who may 
 feel interested in the matter, I will state that this report was printed by 
 order of the House, and has been laid on the tables of members at the 
 present session. 
 
 I have said that, in view of the previous action of this House, I felt 
 instructed to offer a bill of the nature I have described ; yet there was 
 another plan upon which the road might be successfully constructed, and 
 my judgment has long since inclined me to favor a plan of Government 
 guarantee as the surest and simplest plan of extending our aid. This 
 plan, after mature deliberation by two of the greatest Powers of Europe 
 England and Russia has been adopted by them in furtherance of the 
 prosecution of a system of railroads in British India and in Russia, as the 
 best system which could be devised for that purpose ; and in its admirable 
 workings we may learn a lesson of wisdom which will prove of practical 
 "benefit to ourselves in determining our future course upon this subject. 
 
 The length of lines sanctioned by the guarantee of Government, up to 
 1858, in British India, was four thousand eight hundred and forty-seven 
 miles, of which three thousand and thirty-eight miles were in the course of 
 construction, and would be completed during the year 1862. The capital 
 guarantied by Government was about two hundred millions of dollars, of 
 which one half had then been fully paid up in other words, the Govern- 
 ment guarantied upon the entire cost of the roads, amounting to about two 
 hundred millions of dollars, a per cent, profit. The theory of the guaran- 
 tee is, that the lines will pay the per cent, guarantied. If they fail to be 
 so profitable, the Government, under its guarantee, would make up the 
 deficiency for a period of years ; thus inducing capitalists to embark in the 
 enterprises. The balance the Government would supply would, of course, 
 be charged to the railroad company, to be refunded in transportation of 
 mails, troops? &c. The cost of the construction of those roads averages 
 $60,000 per mile. 
 
 From an interesting report to Parliament upon the construction of railways 
 in India, made in 1859, it appears that seven different companies were 
 engaged in constructing railroads in India, under the guarantee of the 
 Government. They are enumerated as follows : 
 
 The East India Company, extending from Calcutta to Delhi, with a 
 branch from Mirzapoor to the line of the Peninsula Company at Jubbul- 
 poor, the total length of which is fourteen hundred miles, and the cost of 
 which, already completed to Patna, has been about sixty thousand dollars 
 per mile. It is estimated to cost $70,000,000 completed. 
 
15 
 
 The East India Peninsula Company, from Bombay northerly to the 
 East India line at Jubbulpoor, and southerly to meet the Madras line at 
 Bellary. This line was, at the time of the report, completed to Poonah. 
 Its estimated cost is $60,000,000. 
 
 The Madras Company, extending from Madras to Beypoor, on the 
 Malabar coast; estimated cost $30,000,000. 
 
 The Bombay, Paroda, and Central India line, extending from Bombay 
 to Ahmedabad ; costing $10,000,000. 
 
 The Scinde and Punjaub line, from Kurrachee to Kotree, and from 
 Mooltan to Lahore; costing $13,000,000. 
 
 The Bengal line, from Calcutta to Dacca, with a branch to Jessore ; 
 costing $5,000,000. 
 
 The Great Southern Company, from Salem to Negapatam and Madura ; 
 costing $10,000,000. 
 
 These seven lines alone, costing $200,000,000, or twice the cost of 
 the Pacific railroad, are at this moment nearly completed. There are 
 projected in British India, at the present time, twelve thousand miles of 
 railroad, which will cost $600,000,000. These roads are spread like a 
 network over India, and fully attest the foresight and sagacity of that 
 Government in thus early recognizing the absolute necessity of railroad 
 communication as a means of strengthening the power of the English Gov- 
 ernment in the exercise of her authority over these important possessions. 
 Had a railroad been at the command of Havelock, how much earlier would 
 Lucknow have been relieved from the distresses of that awful siege. 
 
 For the construction of all these lines it is stated that the Government 
 guarantee has been given. The companies have the power of surrender- 
 ing the works, at any time after their entire completion, upon giving six 
 months' notice to the Government, which undertakes to pay the amount 
 expended thereon by the companies. The Government has the power, 
 within six months after the expiration of twenty-five or thirty years, of 
 purchasing the railways at the mean market value in London of the 
 shares during the three previous years. In case of a failure to complete 
 these lines, or to work them satisfactorily, the Government is authorized 
 to assume possession of the same, and repay within six months the sum 
 expended. 
 
 The Russian Government has also adopted the same method of carrying 
 into execution the grand system of railroad improvements projected in 
 that empire. The building of these roads was undertaken by the society 
 of the Credit Mobilier, which assumes the construction of about thirty- 
 eight hundred versts equal to twenty-seven hundred miles of railroads. 
 The " concession " or franchise is for eighty-five years ; the capital of the 
 company is 270,000,000 silver roubles, or about $220,000,000 ; the 
 issue of shares not to exceed that amount ; a third of these shares are 
 allotted to the Russian Government ; the shares of the company are not to 
 be quoted on the Bourse ; the Government guarantees a minimum of five 
 per cent. By means of these lines, Russia will have obtained the power 
 to move her vast armies and their supplies, with the greatest rapidity, to 
 her frontiers. Notwithstanding the immense debt created by the Crimean 
 
16 
 
 war, the Russian Government did not falter in the prosecution of these 
 immense works, well knowing that the protection of the extremities was 
 as necessary to national honor and safety as that of the center of the 
 empire. And let me tell gentlemen who fear to grapple with this ques- 
 tion of a military road, which must be built to maintain the integrity of 
 our country, and who fear the debt thereby incurred, that they are in the 
 infancy of statesmanship, and unable to profit by the obvious lessons the 
 powerful nations of Europe are teaching us. The same idle security and 
 want of comprehension has left us without a Navy to encounter a maritime 
 war, when Europe was expending vast sums upon iron-clad steamers and 
 improved enginery of war, before which granite defences are as glass ; and 
 if there is not a change of sentiment, and some spirit infused into our 
 counsels, some profit seized from the example of the world, posterity will 
 have reason to reproach us that we allowed to slip from our grasp the 
 noblest land the sun ever shone upon, an empire capable of development 
 surpassing thought, a portion of our country that may be the center of 
 the greatest power and civilization the world shall ever see. 
 
 Had these railways of Russia been completed before the Crimean war, 
 the fiite of that war would have been differently decided. 
 
 One distinguishing characteristic of this immense Russian grant for 
 internal improvements, is, that commercial advantages are made only a 
 secondary consideration, the acknowledged primary object being the con- 
 struction of those roads for their importance as military roads. Thus, upon 
 the line between St. Petersburg and Moscow, about four hundred miles 
 hi length, the convenience of the intermediate country was not taken into 
 consideration. Without respect to intervening villages, towns, or cities, 
 or districts, the road was built in almost a straight line, having upon its 
 entire length only nineteen stations. All considerations of traffic were 
 spurned ; and the road was built at a cost scarcely exceeded by that of any 
 other railroad, of equal length, in the world. It was laid out and super- 
 intended by military engineers, was constructed chiefly by military labor, 
 and its workings are superintended by military officers. 
 
 If we can draw instruction from the experience of older nations as to 
 the best mode of advancing the prosecution of this to us great under- 
 taking, I respectfully submit if it is not the part of wisdom to give ear 
 to the teachings of that experience, though it may come from a foreign 
 country. 
 
 Sir, if fortunately I may be able by my efforts of this day to excite an 
 active interest in this great and necessary military work, I shall have 
 justified my consumption of the tune of the committee. Commercial con- 
 siderations I have not dwelt upon, although important. If the House 
 wills to aid this grand national measure, I may by and by crave its indul- 
 gence in further discussion of details. 
 
 I have spoken from a full heart, and from long and anxious study ; and 
 I beg that this session may not pass away without the inauguration of a 
 Pacific railroad upon one of the plans which I have presented, or some 
 other that shall commend itself to the wisdom of the House.