GENERAL INDEX TO THE ELEVENTH VOLUME. A. Alton and New York Railroad Connec- Amazon River: Lieut. Herndon's Ex- Appleton, Samuel, Biographical Sketch, Debts of the States, and of Corpora- Capital invested in manufactures in the Cast Iron Rails for Railroads, 324. Cincinnati Iron Trade, Manufactures, Coal Trade of Pittsburg, 259. Commercial and Social Aspects, 157. Congress, List of Names of Members of tions of the U. S. owned in foreign E. Excessive Trading, 233. Export and Production of the Precious F. Flour. Vide Commerce of St. Louis, Flowers: Artificial Fecundation of, 408. Fort Wayne and Platte Valley Railroad, Freight: River, Coastwise and Foreign. Gold and Silver Deposited at the Mint, Gold and Silver produced by the Mines Henderson & Co., Grants of land from, I. Iron Mountain Railroad : right of way,| Iron trade of Great Britain, 131. Iron trade of Mo. at Ste. Genevieve, Iron: produced in Mo. Location of ores, Lake Erie, Wabash and St. Louis R. : Lead quantity produced at Galena; Manufactures vs. Land Speculation, Mapes, Professor, on the manufacture of wrought iron direct from the ore, Memphis and Charleston R. R., right| Mississippi Valley Exhibition, 41. Mississippi, The, An imaginary sketch, Missouri Railroad Iron, 442. My Heart, A Song, from the German, N. Natural History: Birds of Illinois, 397. 0. Ohio and Mississippi Railroad open to P. Railroad to the Pacific ocean, N. Y. Railroad meeting at Charleston, Mo.' Robinson, A P., New plan for con- St. Louis and New Orleans R. R., via St. Louis commerce, and commercial St. Louis & Iron Mountain R. R. let to Social and commercial aspects, 157. T. Tobacco Trade. Vide Commercial Re- Texas, Pacific R. R., charter, 331. V. Valley of the Ohio: Its conquest & set- 305, 379, 419. War: Its influence on prices, &c., 77. Western Border Railroad Convention at Railroad to the Pacific Ocean. The policy of connecting the shores of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by a railroad is so generally approved, and its consummation so universally desired, that it would be a useless waste of time to discuss the merits of the enterprise. This great project has been long before the people, and it is obvious that public sentiment in all parts of the Union demands the immediate commencement and vigorous prosecution of the work under the auspices of the General Government. But before it can be commenced, there are many important details to be settled by legislation; upon the adjustment of which the final success of the enterprise will, in a great measure, depend. The location of the route will present the first, the most important, and, withal, the most embarrassing point to be adjusted by the national legislature. Local interests, sectional prejudices and individual speculations, will all be brought to bear in full force upon this point; and hence we deem it our duty, as public journalists, to counteract as far as practicable, the influence of these adverse elements. As if resolved to repudiate the reports of the engineers now engaged in exploring the several routes ordered to be surveyed by the Executive, conductors of the press, in almost every section of the country, have engaged in advocating certain routes and in opposing others. Nearly every railroad running westwardly, which has been proposed between the Gulf of Mexico and the Falls of St. Anthony, is claimed by their projectors to be a section of the great trunk line which is to convey the commerce between Europe and Asia across our continent. One might suppose that the absurdity of some of these claims would make them ridiculous and harmless; but let us not be deceived: they have doubtless been set up and urged upon the people along the respective lines for the purpose of giving character and strength to local enterprises; and we are persuaded that most of the railroad schemes which have been devised within the last swo years for the construction of lines in a westerly direction, are based upon the idea of their ultimate connection with the shores of the Pacific. Hence it is to be apprehended that no route can be proposed which will not be met by strong and, perhaps, uncompromising opposition, that will prevent its adoption. This is a result anticipated by certain speculators who have been and are now actively engaged in bringing it about, with a view to obtain for their own benefit the control and emoluments of the most stupendous and important enterprise ever achieved or undertaken by any nation. And this they hope to accomplish, not by the investment of their own money, but by means to be obtained in part from the General Government, and in part from other resources than their own exchequers. The first overt movement looking to this object was made in Boston, in 1849; and though the originators of that scheme proposed to commence their road at St. Louis, we promptly objected to their plan, and, as we believe, success ully exposed the enormous speculations meditated by those who conceived the "Boston project."* It would seem that the Boston projectors had taken no steps to prepare the public mind for their movement; but based their expectation of success upon a sudden and bold proposition endorsed by the calculating talent and energy of that enterprising city. The New York company chartered with a capital of $100,000,000, have adopted a different system of tactics. They break ground so far from the point of attack, and operate at points apparently so disconnected, that few, except those initiated into the mysteries of the scheme, understand the main object designed to be accomplished by their movements. The New York Company, though but recently organized, may be traced back to the Memphis Convention, held in 1849, where it was shadowed forth by a resolution recommending the survey of a southern route. Disconnected from all views of speculation, this resolution was so reasonable that scarce any one who desired to • Vide Western Journal, vol. II, page 343. Vol. III, page 1 to 12. Ibid. 193 to 201. |