35TH CONG.... 1ST SESS. American Congress a broad and comprehensive olicy worthy of a great Republic, and of an enightened age. A great battle is to be fought, and great victory to be won. There will be no rush f adverse battalions, nor the booming of artilery; nor will there be seen the "pomp and cirumstance" of war. The victory will be noiseess and sublime. The rapid increase of popution, the superior mobility of the free race, the migration of the Old World, and the emigraon of the New World, the steam-engine, and hat power which flashes thought from mind to ind, are considerations that the slave power must counter on this continent. Who will cherish doubt as to the result? What reflecting mind nnot discern in the future a complete vindicaon of those great principles which impelled the roes of the Revolution, and the founders of the overnment? The intelligence of the age is on e side of freedom; and so is the moral power the age. SOLDIERS OF 1812. Soldiers of 1812—Mr. Maynard. under the provisions of this act, from and after the 1st day SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the moneys Mr. Chairman, this amendment contains the substance of a bill introduced by me at an early period of the session, in the House, and referred to the Committee on Invalid Pensions, who have thought proper to report the bill now before this PEECH OF HON. H. MAYNARD, committee; and it embodies my own views of the OF TENNESSEE, IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, The House being in the Committee of the Whole on the Mr. MAYNARD said: Mr. CHAIRMAN: There is a bill before the comttee in which those whom I have the honor to resent on this floor feel a much deeper interest in they do either in the Kansas or Minnesota I; and to that bill I propose to address myself for hort time. I refer to the bill providing pensions the soldiers of the war of 1812. As the posi a of that bill is such in the committee that it y be difficult for me to obtain the floor when bill shall again be considered, to present to the amittee the views I entertain upon the subject, ave sought this occasion, and adopted this de, to bring to the notice of the committee an endment to the bill which is there pending, of ich amendment I gave notice on a former day. at amendment, which is in the nature of a stitute, is as follows: e it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives e United States of America in Congress assembled, That of the surviving officers, non-commissioned officers, icians, and privates, who may have been in the military ice of the United States, either in the regular Army, e troops, volunteers, or militia, in the conduct and prosion of any war in which the Government of the United es may have been engaged prior to the 1st day of July, be year 1818, for a period of six months, or longer, or > may have been engaged in active battle with an enemy ehalf of the United States prior to that date, or who may e been wounded while in the actual service of the UniStates prior to that date, though not in battle; and each e officers, non-commissioned officers, and marines, who have been in the naval service of the United States in conduct and prosecution of any war in which the Govnent of the United States may have been engaged for a period, or who may have been engaged in active battle i an enemy in behalf of the United States; or who may e been wounded while in the actual service of the UniStates (though not in battle) prior to the same date, shall uthorized to receive, payable semi annually, out of any ey in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, an unt equal to his full pay in said service according to his , but not to exceed in any case the pay of a captain of ntry; such pay to cominence from and after the 1st day uly, 1858, and to continue during his natural life; and 1 of the said officers, non-commissioned officers, musiis, and privates, in the military service, and each of the officers, non-commissioned officers, and marines, in the al service, who may have served as aforesaid, prior to date aforesaid, for any period less than six months, shall uthorized to receive in like manner an amount equal to pay, according to his rank in said service, to commence and after the 1st day of July, 1858, and to continue ng his natural life: Provided, That the benefits of this shall in nowise extend to any one still in the military or al service and pay of the United States: And provided, et the benefits of this act shall not extend to any one reing a pension from the United States by virtue of any now in force, unless such person shall relinquish all m to any other pension except such as is granted by this c. 2. And be it further enacted, That if any such offinon-commissioned officer, or private, or musician, in military service of the United States, as aforesaid, or any er, non-commissioned officer, or marine, in the naval ice of the United States, as aforesaid, may have died, hall hereafter die, leaving a widow surviving him, widow shall be authorized to receive from the Treasin like manner, the same amount of money that her and, if living, would have been authorized to receive policy we ought to adopt towards the men who Ho. OF REPS. and fireside, and the loved ones there, with even chance that he shall see them no more, and rallying in cheerful obedience to the call of his country; since such are its happy effects, extend its beneficent provisions; remember my gallant compatriots and cotemporaries, the men who served their country with Lawrence, with Perry, with Harrison, and with Jackson." Such, I am sure, would be his language, could he now speak to us. Such is a fair deduction from the words he has left on record, interpreted by the glossary of subsequent events. One of the very few instructions (if, indeed, it be not the only one,) with which my constituents have thought proper to "trammel the conscience" of their Representative, relates to this subject of pensions. After my election I can say safely that hundreds came to me, and addressing me very often in kind familiarity by my Christian name, said: "Whatever else you do, try and do something for the old soldier." They are a numerous and highly deserving, though, I am sorry to say, in general, a needy class of my constituents. The men who volunteer to do battle for their country are not apt to be of the thrifty, penny-wise class. The rollicking, free-and-easy habits of camp and forecastle life are not the habits by which estates are accumulated. Hence, where you find an old soldier or an old sailor, you almost always find a poor man. But poverty is not their only nor their greatest misfortune. Disease, broken constitutions, premature decay, mutilated and dismembered bodies, are a portion of their ordinary lot. I am reminded, however, that the law already provides for the invalid soldier. I know the letter of the law does; its practical administration, I am sorry to say, does not. All of us who have had business with the Pension Office-and most of us have, at some time or other-know very well that its affairs have been conducted upon the principle of granting nothing that could be avoided. Whenever a doubt as to a matter of fact was left by the proof, the practice is to give the Government the benefit of the doubt, and refuse, or, in the more delicate phraseology of the office, suspend" the application; and in matters of legal construction, to adopt that which bears hardest upon the pensioner. The principle which obtains in other cases, in determining other issues between the Government and the citizen, in this is reversed. This course may be necessary for the prevention of frauds, the reason generally assigned for it, though I do not believe it. Fraudulent claimants will prepare their cases in view of departmental rules, so as exactly to "fill the bill." Honest claimants will present such proofs, and only such, as they are able fairly to make, oftentimes not coming up to the requirements of official regulations. The former is allowed; the latter "suspended." It is due to the present officials to add that these remarks are not made with a special reference to them, but rather to the general official usage long since established. Were it at all important to illustrate the inadequacy of the present invalid pension laws to ac No system of governmental policy is better established with the people. It appeals to their sympathies as being generous; it commends itself to their patriotism as being just; it commands their solemn, deliberate judgment, as politic and wise. It is too late in the day to reason about it, as about a new and untried measure, whose operation and effect rest merely on conjecture; it is too late in the day for statesmen to repeat objections made forty years ago by Nathaniel Macon, who, during his public life, if I am not mistaken in his record, rarely voted a dollar to pay, and of course not to pension, the soldier; it is too late in the day to deal in arguments based upon English regal pensions, and Roman popular largesses. These arguments and objections have already been made, and repeated again and again, and have as often been met and refuted. The question is now no longer an open one. Time, the great progenitrix of truth, has settled it, and settled it forever. The pension system is established as a part of our military policy, and must be accepted as such. Indeed, during all the present discussion, I have not heard it seriously assailed. Even the gentleman from Alabama, [Mr. CURRY, whose ungen-complish the purpose of their enactment, I could erous logic carried him quite as far as he who has gone furthest against this measure, did not, I believe, venture to suggest that a single name now on the pension roll should be stricken from it. The only question for us to consider, is whether we will, by formal legislation, uphold the system, and extend it so as to include within its operation a class of soldiers every way as meritorious as those who now partake of its benefits. The time has now come, when, according to the incorruptible Macon, "as much may be said in favor of the army engaged in the second war of independence," as forty years ago was said about the first. Though he then stood opposed to the adoption of the pension system, I have no doubt, were he now alive to speak, he would say, "since you have established the system, and since I see, contrary to my expectations, that in its operation it is most excellent and benign, not only in cheering and sustaining the veteran soldier now in the twilight of his day, and her, the noble spirit, who fought the battle of life by his side, but also in inspiring with patriotic confidence the youthful soldier, not dragged into the ranks by a press-gang, not the victim of an unrelenting conscription, but leaving field easily do so by the citation of many cases, within my personal knowledge, of men who were crippled, or otherwise disabled in the service, as I have good reason to believe; yet all those who once had a personal knowledge of the fact are either dead, or in their dotage, or have removed so far away that it is practically impossible to procure their testimony. Hence they have never thought it worth while to apply for a pension; or if they did, their applications remain "suspended" in the office. A general pension law is the only measure of relief for this class of persons. Moreover, there are many disabled old soldiers, whose disability is the result, not of wounds, nor of any specific instance of suffering; but of exposure, hardship, and privation; withstood, indeed, for many years, by the vigor of an originally good constitution, and until the infirmity of age disclosed the lurking mischief. Of course these men could derive no benefit from the invalid pension laws; nor from any other except a general pension law, making their title to a pension depend upon the fact of their service. This class of old soldiers will be found to be very numerous. War, at best, is, I take it, a very hard business. It makes sad havoc 35TH CONG....1ST SESS. The Triumphs of the Administration-Mr. Purviance. with the soldiers. The gentleman from Alabama, [Mr. CURRY,] in his remarks the other day, left us to infer that the soldiers of the war of 1812 had a rather comfortable time of it than otherwise. He says: "It was a regular war between two independent nations, conducted, for the most part, according to the recognized rules of modern warfare. The soldier, when discharged from service, or before, received his pay in good money, and one hundred and sixty acres of land besides." My friend certainly takes a very easy view of the subject, though I am afraid it will not be universally considered a very just one. To talk of eight dollars a month as "pay," in the sense of adequate compensation-" a fair day's wages for a fair day's work"-to the man who labors in" the trade of war," as a simple business transaction, is, I suspect, a waste of words. And as to the lands, located at that early day in Illinois and Arkansas, it is a matter of history that in numberless cases they did not yield the soldier as much as Esau got for his birthright. But, sir, I have never looked upon the condition of the soldiers of 1812 as quite as enviable as it appears to the eye of the gentleman from Alabama. I have, unfortunately, perhaps, seen too much of those old men to indulge in such views of their military life. Like the gentleman from Ohio, [Mr. CAMPBELL,] I was in arms in that war, and from my youth up I have seen a good deal of the soldiers who were engaged in it. My father was one of them. Even now, as in my earlier years, I delight to meet, as I often do, with one of those aged men, and listen to his "oft-told tale," and see him "Weep o'er his wounds, or, tales of sorrows done, Shoulder his crutch and show how fields were won;" sighing, as he concludes, "but things were not then like they are now. Time would fail me to recount the tenth of the personal narratives that come thronging upon my memory in this connection, each, in itself, a little history, homely in its details, but refuting the idea of much comfort, least of all luxury. Two or three instances I will refer to, even at the risk of being tedious, and violating the proprieties of the place and the time. Said one, "after we had marched through the Indian country for four days without food, and were almost famished, one of our detachment killed a rattlesnake. We stewed it up in a camp-kettle, and then divided out the meat and the broth." Another said that, on a march, they found a cow lying sick, or, in local phrase, "on the lift." They killed her, and appeased their hunger upon the diseased carcase. Another said that he and his companions killed and subsisted as they best could upon crows and other unclean birds. And another, that, one day, one of his company shot an Indian brave, and they prepared his body for food. One mouthful sufficed him; for, hungry as he was, he sickened at the thought of feeding on human flesh. Eight dollars a month even in "good money," and one hundred and sixty acres of Illinois or Arkansas lands, was small compensation for privations like these. Yet these were of the men who fought at the Horseshoe, Emuckfau, and Talladega; who sustained these privations in the very region now represented with such signal ability by the gentleman from Alabama; the bones of whose companions in arms, perchance, may even now fertilize his own plantation. Would it be strange if they should complain that he has turned against them his high mental endowments? From the many letters that, during this session, I have received in reference to this subject, I beg permission, in this connection, to read an extract from a single one, written by a constituent, a gentleman who was himself in the service, and upon whose statements we may place implicit reliance: Of "I served some twenty months, or more, as an officer in the thirty-ninth regiment, commanded by Colonel John Williams. There were two detachments left Knoxville, in the fall of 1814, two companies of the thirty-ninth and three of the twenty-fourth regiment, under the command of Major Francis W. Armstrong. Of the officers belonging to the detachment, numbering about thirty, only three survive. those belonging to the two companies of the thirty-ninth, I am the only survivor. I do not think that more than one tenth survive of those who entered the service. I have been conversing with several who were in the service, and they are of the opinion that not more than about one tenth are alive. The privates being more exposed than the officers, fewer privates survive; and my opinion is, that it would be right to place them on the same footing with those who served in the revolutionary war. The war of 1812, with Great Britain, was called the second war of independence, and I know that great suffering was endured in the Creek nation, where I served; and many of the survivors, the largest After all, the great argument urged against this HO. OF REPS. commence the great work of "economy, retrench- SPEECH OF HON. S. A. PURVIANCE, ment, and reform," at the expense of the old sol- I shall make no invidious allusions to other ex- not undertake to inform the committee how. And I am in favor of amending the present bill, and I can. I have no wish, at this late period of the ses- past, no less than the hopes for the future, would APPENDIX. The following table will show how the amounts paid for pensions at different periods compare with the general expenses of the Government. At no OF PENNSYLVANIA, IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, May 25, 1858. The House being in the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union- ap. Mr. PURVIANCE said: MR. CHAIRMAN: In the discussion of the a propriation bill, my colleague from the Berks dis trict [Mr. J. GLANCY JONES] made an allusion to the President's dinners, which was as unwarranted as it was ungentlemanly and indiscreet. If James Buchanan, either through parsimony or partisan feeling, chooses to depart from the established custom, and set at defiance the courtesies and amenities which have hitherto, from Washington | down to Pierce, inclusive, been observed by the occupants of the White House, my colleague shame. My colleague may feast and fatten at the should be the last man to proclaim the President's President's crib until the cravings of a voracious appetite have been appeased and quieted, but he must not, when gorged with presidential viands, assail the motives of members acting under the obligations of an oath, merely because they may desire a reduction of the expenses of this Administration, now becoming so enormous as to beget a very general want of confidence in the administrative talents of those who have it under their control. But it is not my purpose to deal with presidential dinners, but to notice more in extenso a most unfortunate flourish made by my colleague in connection with the allusion to which I have referred. He expressed the belief that we were chagrined is to this that I desire to turn the attention of the at the triumphs of this Administration, and it House and the country. The triumphs of this Administration! Was my colleague in earnest, or was he disposed to join in ridiculing the superlative folly and imbecility of his own and favorite Administration? The first great triumph of Mr. Buchanan has been over a gold and silver currency, which he professed to favor, but which he has completely broken down, and inaugurated in its place a pa per currency, in the shape of Treasury notes, to the amount of $20,000,000, now floating through the country, bought and sold as any other mar ketable commodity, and subject to fluctuation, and subject also to all the objections to which pa per currency is generally liable. This, then, is the first great triumph of the Administration. Now for the second. With a Delegate sitting in the House from Utah, with whom we have not even heard that the President ever had a confer political favorites, to buy up broken-down horses ence, a war is undertaken against the Mormons, at an expense of millions; contracts given out to pod males, provisions at most exorbitant prices, in a few weeks; the Army increased, and a parte out of which magnificent fortunes have been made san President enabled thereby to distribute more effectually the spoils of office; and in the midstof all this, and before a blow had been struck, commissioners of peace are sent, who, if report be true, have settled this mighty affair without the interposition of an armed force. to thus disgrace ourselves in the eyes of the civ brations and vacillations of an Executive whose ilized world, by exhibiting to public gaze the vi mind to-day is for war, to-morrow for peace, and What a farce, 35TH CONG....1ST SESS. the next day for both. Thus has ended this second triumph of the Administration, costing the people many millions of dollars, now conceded to have been uselessly thrown away. The third great triumph of the Administration deserves more than a passing notice. The public is familiar with the fact that a constitution was framed at Lecompton in open defiance of the will of the people of Kansas. This constitution the President submitted to Congress, accompanied by a most extraordinary message, urging the admission by reasons and arguments unworthy the source from whence they came, and exhibiting a partisan character, which were subsequently attempted to be enforced by the use and abuse of the patronage intrusted to him as the executive officer of the Government, which deserved, as it has received, the execrations of honest men of all parties, resulting in a total disruption of the Democratic party, which must inevitably bring into the Thirty-Sixth Congress a majority opposed to the repetition of outrages which the worst of monarchs would scarcely dare to perpetrate with impunity. Upon Congress, and Congress alone, the power is conferred to admit new States. The President has no right to interfere; and sworn as he is to support the Constitution, which instrument gives to Congress alone the power of admission, the President violates his oath of office when he dares to invade our exclusive right in this particular. For such invasion, followed by the use and abuse of patronage, a President ought to be impeached; and nothing, in such a case, but the tyranny of party could save him. A President of my own choice who would dare to press the admission of a State by the control- || ling power of his patronage, so far as I am concerned, should be treated in this way as readily as one of opposite political faith; and an experiment of the kind would be most likely to prevent a recurrence of the evil in the future. Unjustifiable as it was for the President to interfere, aside from this, his reasons are as specious and futile as might have been expected from one who has attained no distinction since his elevation to the Presidency, than that of a violent partisan and bitter politician. One of his reasons was, that the people of Kansas had had a fair chance to vote upon their constitution, and that, therefore, they should not be permitted to vote again. Now, how was this? The vote was "For the constitution with slavery," "For the constitution without slavery." All who voted were compelled to vote for the constitution-were compelled to vote that John Calhoun should be the regent, and have a controlling power over the returns of elections, so as to declare who were and who were not elected to fill the offices; but, worse than all, those who voted were compelled to vote in favor of the continuance of slavery within the Territory till 1864, and for a schedule and saving clause which prevented any interference with slavery as it then existed. The unfairness of this mode of submission is the more apparent when you suppose a constitution filled with objectionable features, all of which the voter would be compelled to swallow if he voted at all. A constitution containing a clause declaring that the Legislature should never incorporate a bank, a manufacturing company, or create a system of common schools, or internal improvements; with a clause of submission, such as that of Lecompton, on slavery, would necessarily drive from the polls every voter who desired to consider these as favorite topics of legislation. If he voted for the constitution without slavery, he was, in order to be entitled to this privilege, compelled to vote against schools, banks, manufacturing companies, and internal improvements. But I can suppose a case in which I can readily invoke the opposition of our bachelor President himself. Pacific Railroad-Mr. Otero. his traps, and take them to some other locality where he would find greater equality in the principles of taxation. What is right for the President SPEECH ought to be right for the people of Kansas, and yet the President was bent upon establishing a different rule for this unfortunate people from that which he would be willing to apply to himself. Ho. OF REPS. PACIFIC RAILROAD. OF HON. M. A. OTERO, IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, May 25, 1858. The House being in the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union Mr. OTERO said: Another illustration which shows the unfair character of the submission. Supposing the votters of Kansas to consist of fifteen thousand, one third of whom are in favor of the constitution, and two thirds against it. One third vote-two thousand six hundred-for the constitution with slavery, and two thousand four hundred for the constitution without slavery; what is the result? Slavery is fixed upon the people by two thousand six hundred votes, while there are twelve thousand four hundred against it; and yet this is the popular sovereignty which constitutes, in the opinion of my colleague, one of the tri-naturally to have in the matter; for no other quesumphs of the Administration. This infamous burlesque upon popular rights,|| sustained and urged by the President, was pressed for five long months upon Congress, and triumphed. How? In breaking it down, by a vote of one hundred and twenty against it, to one hundred and twelve for it. The Administration then presented another and still greater monstrosity in what is known as the English dodge, intended for different interpretations-one for the North and the other for the South. In the North, it is intended to say that the constitution is submitted; whilst in the South, the reverse is to be the case. What is this singular production, this political nondescript, about which even those who gave it paternity materially differ? It is a bribe and a threat to the people of Kansas-and is this: if you come in as a slave State now, you shall do so without objection to your population, and you shall have salt springs, lands for schools and internal improvement purposes; but, if you refuse to take slavery, you shall not be admitted as a free State until you have more than double your present population. Thus, the Democratic party has inaugurated the new doctrine that the admission of a slave State is to receive double the favor that is to be extended to a free State. Heretofore, that party claimed that it was not sectional; but how does it now stand before the American people? It stands upon the record the avowed friend of slavery, having enacted a law which gives a premium to slavery and inflicts a punishment upon freedom. The passage of this most iniquitous law was heralded at this metropolis as a triumph! Cannons were fired, drums and fifes were called into requisition, the President serenaded and called out to respond to a rejoicing over the passage of a law which, like the assassin, took Kansas by the throat, demanding her consent, and threatening, if she refused, to punish her for her obstinacy, by keeping her out of the Union until she should have at least double her present population. Mr. CHAIRMAN: I desire to call the attention of the committee, for a brief space of time, to some remarks which I propose to submit upon the subject of the Pacific railroad. In entering upon the discussion of this topic, important and comprehensive as it is, I need hardly say that I will endeavor to divest myself of any personal feeling, interest, or prejudice, such as I might be supposed tion involves, equally with this, the hopes and calculations and future welfare of the Territory I have the honor to represent. I design, sir, to bring forward only those reasons in behalf of the great enterprise contemplated, and in support of the particular line of construction of an iron road to the Pacific coast, which, in my humble judgment, I think ought to control the action of Congress, and govern national opinions, in prosecuting so vast a work to final achieve ment. I will say, sir, for I intend to speak frankly, that apart from a consideration of this subject in its bearings on the general prosperity of our common country, I am more especially interested in those immediate benefits and advantages that in the completion of this great proposed highway are to accrue to my own people and the Territory of New Mexico. My constituents, sir, send me here to represent their direct interests; and these will ever be my first thought; their good my highest object. To raise the condition of New Mexico to that which you, representing old and prosperous communities, enjoy; to secure them commercial advantages and facilities for trade; and to place its inhabitants, in these respects, on an equal footing with those of any of the States and Territories of our broad Confederacy; is my most ambitious aim, as I hope always to prove it my constant care. I felicitate myself, sir, that the discussion of this subject of a Pacific railroad gives me an opportunity to say something with regard to the resources of the Territory of New Mexico; and though in a measure a diversion from the main point in course of debate, I will respectfully ask the attention of the House to such facts as I propose to state. I desire, sir, briefly to consider in this connection the isolated condition and immense material wealth of New Mexico, at present comparatively abandoned and uncared for. Gentlemen may then know and properly appreciate the importance of constructing a national road through that Territory. And now, sir, what of the resources of New Mexico? In the acquisition of that Territory was acquired an area of two hundred and fifty thousand square miles, a large amount of which is of the finest agricultural soil; large mineral districts have been already discovered and known to contain The Crittenden amendment gave the people of Kansas a right to vote for or against the Lecompton constitution; and in the event of voting it down, then to elect delegates to a convention to frame a constitution to be voted on by the people. This reasonable proposition was voted down by the Democratic party, the pledged friends of pop-much of the precious metals; great deposits of iron, ular sovereignty, and voted for by those who are opposed to the Administration; and now my colleague adds this to the list of triumphs of the Administration. lead, and copper ore are found, and an incalculable abundance of coal; with a population of more than sixty thousand. Your scientific surveyors in that country, since its acquisition by this Government, as shown by their reports, estimate the Although our Treasury is bankrupt, and repeated efforts have been made to restore the tariff-amount of goods, wares, and merchandise, taken one by myself, another by my colleague from the Westmoreland district, [Mr. CovODE,] and another by my colleague from the Philadelphia district, [Mr. MORRIS]-all have been trampled upon by the Democratic party, the chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means himself among the number, and the million or more of miners and laborers in Pennsylvania, dependent upon the A constitution with a clause conferring upon the Legislature the power to tax the income of a bachelor, to the extent of one fifth, more or less, with a clause of submission like that of the Le-reinstatement of the tariff, left in hopeless despair; compton constitution, would greatly puzzle our President to appreciate its fairness. If he voted either for or against slavery, he would still be compelled to vote the power to tax unjustly his estate. Before he would submit to this, I will tell you what he would do. He would gather up and my colleague, after feasting at a presidential into that country from the States, at five or six million dollars, leaving in your Treasury at least one and a half million dollars of annual revenue. A million of stock sheep, producing, at a minimum calculation, three million pounds of wool, were herded and owned in the Territory when you first became its possessors; and they should have been, and with proper governmental protection would have been, rapidly increasing and swelling in numbers and value. And a due proportion of all other kinds of animal stock were raised in and distributed through the country. In point of mineral wealth, New Mexico, in my opinion, is inferior to no State or Territory in the Union. The first conquerors and explorers 35TH CONG.... 1ST SESS. of Mexico, the Spaniards, were early attracted to Sir, I desire to speak, not only from my own "The Spaniards, it seems, received the first information about it in 1581, from a party of adventurers under Captain Francisco de Leyra Bonillo, who, finding the aboriginal inhabitants, and the mineral wealth of the country, to be similar to those of Mexico, called it New Mexico." From the great lack of true and proper information about New Mexico, the consequence of an indifference heretofore felt in relation to it, and with a motive to awaken a lively and popular interest in a region so attractive-and one which I believe to see speedily opened up to an enterpris. ing and industrious immigration-I trust, sir, I may be pardoned in venturing to give a brief sketch of that Territory. It is now two hundred and seventy-seven years since the Spaniards first received any knowledge of the country; and two hundred and sixty-three since its first colonization under Don Juan de Oñate, who memorialized the Spanish Viceroy for the settlement of the country; and the identical memorial is now of record in the territorial archives at Santa Fé. Mr. Gregg, in his " Commerce of the Plains," thus refers to it: "In every part of this singular document there may be (found) traced the singular evidences of that sordid lust for gold which so disgraced all the Spanish conquests in America," &c. Showing clearly that they were fully satisfied of which lies about one hundred miles southward This appears to have been a considerable city, larger Mines of gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, and. "The annual production of gold in the two Placeres seems Not only do Mr. Gregg and Doctor Wislisenus speak highly of them, but also Lieutenant J. Pacific Railroad-Mr. Otero. J. Abert, United States topographical engineer, "The value of these mines cannot very well be estimated Dr. Wislisenus thus refers to the unfortunate neglect of this particular branch of industry at the present day in New Mexico. He says: "A great many deserted mining places in New Mexico prove that mining was pursued with greater zeal in the old Spanish times than at present, which may be accounted for in various ways-as the present want of capital, want of knowledge in mining, but specially the unsettled state of the country, and the avarice of its arbitrary rulers, [its former rulers, of course.] The mountainous parts of New Mexico are very rich in gold, copper, iron, and silver. Gold seems to be found to a large extent in all the mountains near Santa Fé; also, south of it for a distance of about one hundred miles, as far as Gran Quiviri; and north for about one hundred and twenty miles, up to the Sangre de Cristo. Throughout this whole region, gold dust has been abundantly found by the poorer classes of Mexicans, who occupy themselves with the washing of this metal out of the mountain streams." The principal points at which copper is to be found in great abundance, are at Las Tijeras, Jemes, Abiquin, Guadalupe de Mora, and what are commonly called "the copper mines," known by the Mexicans as "Santa Rita," and others in the different parts of the country. Coal is found in large beds, principally in the mountains near Santa Fé, in the Raton mountains, and on the Rio Puerco of the West, near the thirty-fifth parallel of latitude, and is easily procurable. I will not leave this branch of my subject without referring to a traditionary and fabulous story with regard to the golden products of the rich mines of the wealthy and important Gran Quivira. In reference to this tradition, Dr. Wislisenus states that "At one time, when they [meaning the Spaniards] were making extraordinary preparations for transporting the precious metals, the Indians attacked them; whereupon the miners buried their treasures, worth fitty millions, and left the city together, but they were all killed except two, who went to Mexico, giving the particulars of the affair, and soliciting aid to return. But the distance being so great, and the Indians so numerous, nobody would advance, and the thing dropped. One of the two went to New Orleans, then under the dominion of Spain, raised five hundred men, and started by way of the Sabine, but was never heard of afterwards. Within the last few years several Americans and Frenchmen have visited the place; and although they have not found the treasure, they certify, at least, to the existence of an aqueduct, about ten miles in length, to the still standing walls of several churches, the sculpture of the Spanish coat of arms, and to many spacious pits, supposed to be silver mines. It was no doubt a Spanish mining town, and it is not unlikely that it was destroyed in 1680, in the general successful insurrection of the Indians in New Mexico against the Spaniards." A word more as to the general productiveness of our mines, so as to show the amount that one "Mr. Tournier (in the rude manner in which he worked I could detain the House upon this particular branch of my remarks much longer, but I have other points upon which I wish to invite its attention, and will only ask whether there can be ing the mineral wealth of New Mexico, who will any one, with a knowledge of these facts concernsay that that Territory is inferior to any State or Territory under this Government? All that we ask is an outlet for an imposing display before the world, of the prodigal treasures that at this moment lie hidden in her bosom. I shall next, sir, call your attention to the agricultural capacity of New Mexico. In regard to this particular branch of industry, there is indeed great misapprehension throughout the United States. I have not unfrequently, I am sorry to say, heard men venture the empty assertion that this really bounteous Territory is a desert waste, sterile and unproductive-a country which not even prowling wolves deign to inhabit. Such assertions, sir, so far as this topic is concerned, are HO. OF REPS. to my mind but the utterance of uninformed intelligence, not to say of ignorance. No country, I undertake to say, has better and richer soil than New Mexico. We raise all the products-ay, every one of them, and these, too, in great abund ance-that are produced in and common to the southern and middle States. Isolated as New Mexico is, and entirely self-dependent, she has always found in her own varied resources suicient means for support. True it is that we irrigate, by artificial canals, (acequias,) our soil, in order to raise our crops. This process has ever been resorted to by the Spaniards and Mexicans, and it is a time-honored custom, common among them. We do not place entire dependence in flying and uncertain, clouds for the fertilization of our land. It is upon ever-running and copious streams, that spring clear and pure from the bosom of the eternal mountains, that we put our faith. With such eternal elements of dependence we can well insure our crops. But, sir, I emphatically contradict the assertion that we can produce nothing without irrigation. I afirm this to be but an ancient custom of the people-a habit common, not only in New Mexico, but pe culiar to the entire Republic of which it was for merly a part. Irrigation was and is yet practiced in Texas and California. It is to a great extent abolished in those States; and many farmers in New Mexico do not now irrigate, and they produce from their lands equally as much as those who adhere to the old practice. No country in North America can, in my opinion, produce better grapes than New Mexico: and I venture to predict that the fertile banks of the Rio Grande will one day rival those of the vineclad Loire. In the abundance, variety, and qual ity of its grapes, and the perfection of its native wine, New Mexico will bear comparison even with any European State. There is, of course, as yet no very extensive manufacture of wine, that made being chiefly for home consumption. Lieutenant A. W. Whipple (Pacific Railroad Report, page 13) says: "The valley of the Rio Grande del Norte is well known. The bottom land that can be irrigated is very extensive. The soil and climate seem particularly adapted to the culture of grapes, which grow luxuriantly and to perfection. The wine produced is very finely flavored, and, with an easy communication with a market, may become an arucle of commerce, and a source of wealth to New Mexico. But the resources of this Territory are not confined to the belt which may be flooded by the waters of the Del Norte. Numerous springs and streams checker this region with ferule spots among the mountains." The same scientific gentleman, speaking of the character of the country and water of the Rio Pecos, on the thirty-fifth parallel route, in contrast with the kind of country and character of the parallel route, (Pacific Railroad Report, volume water of the same stream about the thirty-second 2, part four, page 4,) says: "The Pecos river here-i. e. on the thirty-fifth parallel route-is clear and rapid, and its waters pure and sweet, forming quite a contrast to those at the several crossings from San Antonio to El Paso, where they are always turbad, brackish, and disagreeable. Indeed, by some travelers on its borders, and on some maps, this river, from these circumstances, has acquired the name of Puerco, the Spanish ap pellation for muddy waters. There its valley, for hundreds of miles, is a blank and dreary waste, with scarcely a shrub to relieve the eye of the traveler; here its fertile banks are dotted with innumerable small plantations and towns, so characteristic of New Mexico." In the northern part of the Territory wheat is raised in great abundance-the soil yielding on an average of forty bushels to the acre; while in the southern part, through the Rio Abajo, and down to the Messilla valley, corn is produced and raised in equal abundance. It is my opinion that in no State or Territory in the Union can be raised finer corn, and more to the acre, than in the Messilla valley-being a part of the same valley of the Rio Grande. As a pastoral and grazing country, I believe New Mexico has already obtained considerable reputation abroad. I believe that in this respect passed. The evidence of the justness and supe her claims are generally conceded to be unsurriority of these claims is in the large amount of stock grazed in and spread over the whole country. Dr. Wislisenus, speaking of both Chihua hua and New Mexico, with regard to their merits as grazing countries, says: "Both States are unsurpassed by any in the Union. Millions of stock can be raised every year on the prairies of the 35TH CONG.... 1ST SESS. high table-lands, and in the mountains. Cattle, horses, mules, and sheep, increase very fast; and if more attention were paid to the improvement of the stock, the wool of the sheep alone could be made the exchange for the greater part of the present importation. But to accomplish this, (he adds,) the Indians, who, chiefly in the last ten years, have crippled all industry in stock-raising, will have first to be subdued." I have thus, sir, I trust, so far at least as the object I have in view demands, and in a general way, satisfactorily demonstrated the great material resources of the Territory of New Mexico. Much more I could, and, indeed, would desire to say on this topic, but I hurry to the practical application of my remarks. I must add, however, that in stating the facts just given, my object has been to comply with numerous requests, made by written communications from all parts of the country, as the Delegate of New Mexico, asking me for information about that Territory. I do this now in a public way for the general benefit, so that the country at large may know the wealth and resources of the region I represent, and the claims, under such state of facts, that New Mexico has upon governmental consideration for its future welfare. Such, sir, are the resources of the country through which the thirty-fifth parallel, or Albuquerque railroad route to the Pacific passes; and I ask, has not this Territory, with its abundant incitements to your interests, and its claims upon your care, been comparatively neglected and forsaken? Our advancement has been impeded, not only because of the want of necessary avenues for the development of the popular mind, but also on account of our want of outlets for an agricultural, mineral, and pastoral wealth, which, I am sincerely confident, no other State or Territory of the United States can boast to possess. Ten years, sir, have gone by since New Mexico became part and parcel of this, the greatest Republic that the world has ever seen. Ten years have rolled by since Federal power assumed the duty and responsibility of the protection of that people. Have our demands of right been met, and your duty fulfilled? History will show hereafter how the Government has discharged its trust towards New Mexico, in contrast with dispensations showered upon our sister Territories. Sir, it is a painful thing for me to be here and witness the partiality which is manifested in favor of some of your northwestern Territories. I regret to say this, but the truth must be told. It must go to the country. And now, sir, in regard to a Pacific railroad. I shall not attempt to enter into the discussion of the national importance of this iron way. It is conceded, I believe, by all, that is necessary, and ought to be constructed. There are various routes proposed and strongly advocated by their respective friends. It is my purpose, in the few remarks I have to submit in relation to this great enterprise, to advocate what is termed the thirty-fifth parallel, or Albuquerque route, and to give my reasons for doing so. While all other States and Territories of the Union have outlets for their wealth, natural and artificial, New Mexico is entirely isolated and cut off from proper commercial intercommunications. The Territory is surrounded on all sides by almost limitless regions, fertile, and, for the most part, cultural, yet uninhabited; and where the wandering and lawless Indian holds as of yore, in spite of your nominal subjection, imperial sway. We are from eight to nine hundred miles distant from any of your western States' frontiers. We are quite twelve hundred miles from your Pacific coast. The Rio Grande, the principal artery that traverses the Territory, is not navigable, and therefore affords us no avenue by which to reach the Gulf. We are, indeed, within a prairie-bound territorial isle; and we ask as right, fair, and just, the means for our outward development. the Albuquerque route, as being rigorous and in- to carry even an overland mail by that line-is wholly without support or foundation. I am aware that the Postmaster General is of that erroneous opinion, and I am told that even the President has been induced to believe that Albuquerque comprises an ice-bound region. Now, sir, it was my fortune to be born within a few miles from Albuquerque, and I have resided there for a considerable period of my life. I never found it extremely cold there, or remember to have seen snow fall to a depth or frequency to impede the usual travel and trade of that place. We never enjoyed sleighing there-and I'do not know but what gentlemen might, with equal propriety, assert, to a citizen of Nashville or Memphis, that a railroad could not be constructed through Tennessee, because of the rigor of the climate, as to say that New Mexico, or rather Albuquerque, is at a disadvantage in this respect; both ideas are simply ridiculous. And even though the climate of Albuquerque were middling cold, this could offer no objection, for, I believe, engineers prefer a mean temperature for the building of railroads, to all climatic extremes, whether hot or cold. But I speak of the climate of Albuquerque of my own personal knowledge, and this from a long residence there. Lieutenant E. F. Beale, the superintendent of the wagon road from Fort Defiance, New Mexico, to the Colorado river, has returned, in the mid winter, along the thirty-fifth parallel route, and he tells us that he experienced no inconvenience whatever, on his exploration back from Los Angeles, California, to Albuquerque, from the rigor of winter. On the other hand on the the forty-second parallel route, through the South Pass, you have had your Utah army detained, amid the gorges of the Rocky Mountains, in consequence of the snows that impede the travel through that region during the winter months of the year. The snow that falls on the thirty-fifth parallel route can never be an obstruction in the way, so as to impede, even in the most severe winter, railroad travel. But let us examine what Secretary Davis, Lieutenant Whipple, Mr. Campbell, and others, have to say of this route with regard to its advantages over any other one surveyed. Secretary Davis, speaking of this particular route, says, (see vol. 1, page 20:) "The general features which have determined the position of this route, the exploration of which was conducted by Lieutenant A. W. Whipple, topographical engineers, are the extension, west and east, of the interlocking tributaries of the Mississippi, the Rio Grande, and the Colorado of the West. It would appear to possess, also, a greater yearly amount of rain than the regions immediately north and south of it; and, as a consequence, a better supply of fuel and timber." He further says, on page 21: "The principal characteristics of this route, in comparison with others, are, probably, its passing through or near more numerous cultivable areas, its more abundant natural supply of water as far west as the Colorado, and the greater frequency and extent of forest growth on the route between the Rio Grande and the Colorado." Captain Whipple, the United States engineer, who surveyed the central or thirty-fifth parallel route, thus speaks of it, as he completed his labors as far as the Cajori, at which place his exploration seems to have ended: "Our field labors may now be considered as completed. It remains to develop in detail the results that may be gathered from the material that has been collected. Until this be accomplished, no definite or satisfactory evidence can be given to others of the success that has attended our operations; but to ourselves there is no doubt remaining that for the construction of a railway the route we have passed over is not only practicable, but in many respects eminently advantageous. The first six hundred and fifty miles, from the eastern border of the Choctaw territory to the river Pecos, possesses in the valley of the Canadian a natural highway, that establishes beyond question the superior advantages of this belt of country over any other that can be selected between the same degrees of longitude within the limits of our territory. The Canadian seems formed by nature for the special object in view. Its general course for the distance alluded to is nearly east. Its mean inclination is but nine feet to the mile; thus enabling us almost imperceptibly to attain the summit of the lofty table lands of New Mexico. Expensive embankments are entirely avoided; and, notwithstanding the numerous affluents that fertilize and enrich the adjacent country, few bridges are required, as most of the water courses sink beneath the surface as they approach the great valley. Upon the eastern portion valuable coal mines exist, and vast forests of oak may furnish an unfailing supply of timber and fuel. The Cross Timbers extend to the meridian of 90° west from Green throughout the whole distance. If the fertile valleys were thrown open to settlers, and an outlet secured for the produets of the soil, this region would form the nucleus of new States, and the roving tribes of Indians that now occupy it would give place to a flourishing population. It is believed that in climate, as well as soil, this country far surpasses that of Kansas." In the second part of the same volume, page 48, Captain Whipple says: "One of the most important of the advantages claimed for this route is the pleasant and salubrious climate of the region through which it passes. There is no long series of parched plains, rendering the summer heat intolerable, nor do those dreaded winds termed northers' reach this latitude. The mountain ranges that are crossed are not blocked up in winter by ice and snow sufficient to interrupt travel. From July to January, and for the whole year, this line may be traversed in safety. The different portions of our survey were performed at such seasons as to enable us to make observations upon the most unfavorable characteristics of the climate. In August we were upon the comparatively low and arid plains upon the head waters of the Canadian, and near the Llano Estacado. During the winter months we passed over the elevated regions, and through the mountain passes between the Rio Grande and Rio Colorado. "Upon the parallel of 35° snow cannot prove an obstruction to a railway." I have not the time now, sir, to discuss the merits of the other proposed routes, and compare. Mr. Campbell, who I believe has been upon the their disadvantages with this of Albuquerque. two surveys of the thirty-second and thirty-fifth parallel, says: (See Pacífic Railroad Report, volume three, page 24:) "The valley of the Canadian is the proper route, from its directness, gentle ascent, and ready supply of water. Its general course is nearly due west, to the mouth of Tecumcar creek, and the ascent of these (the one, I believe, the tributary of the other) is very gradual to the summit between them and the Pecos." I cite this gentleman's opinion, because of the especial respect in which I know it will be held by some gentlemen upon this floor, having occupied the position under Lieutenant Whipple of a railroad engineer. No one, so far as I am credibly informed, denies the practicability of the construction of a Pacific railroad from St. Louis, Missouri, through Springfield, or Neosho, to the Canadian, and thence to Albuquerque. I take St. Louis as the starting point, because, in my opinion, it is the most important commercial city on the Mississippi, and the most central in its locality. his minority report from the committee on the Pacific railroad, made to Congress at its last session, speaks thus as to what he thinks is the best route to the Pacific, if any should be built: Dr. Kidwell, who was hostile to all routes, in "A right line drawn between New York and Albuquerque would pass through St. Louis. And yet Baltimore is nearer to St. Louis than is New York, and Charleston is nearer than Baltimore. So are Richmond, and Savannah, and Pensacola. St. Louis is, therefore, eligibly situated. "A road from St. Louis, via Albuquerque, to San Francisco, would avoid, it was supposed, extreme heights, extreme heat, and the deep snows. A road from Albuquerque, via Fort Smith, to Memphis, and one from Albuquerque to St. Louis, would have a common stem a considerable distance; if one is built, both ought to be. The line of continental road most convenient to the fifteen southern States, taken as a unit, begins in Charleston, and runs to San Francisco through the towns of Memphis, Little Rock, Fort Smith, Anton Chico, and Albuquerque, and has a fork to St. Louis. "The mass of the population, business, and wealth, and the greater part of the geographical area of the fifteen southern States, lie north of a line drawn fifty miles south of, and parallel with, the Charleston, Memphis, Fort Smith, and Albuquerque road; that line of road is very accessible to each of the southern States, at some point or other, before it reaches the east line of New Mexico. "The extreme southern cities, even Galveston, can reach San Francisco as readily by the Albuquerque route as any other, or nearly so-in many cases more readily than by any other." I am of opinion that only one road ought to be constructed, and that the one which runs upon the thirty-fifth parallel. I think the Government ought not to undertake, with its money and its public domain, to build any more than one road. That should be as near the geographical center of the whole country as the practicability of the route will allow. Let us divest ourselves, gentlemen, of that sectional prejudice, interest, and rivalry, which seem to control many members, so far as the starting eastern point is concerned, but which, when we are considering a work that is to do credit to our common national pride, ought never to be entertained by national legislators. Let us look at the honor which our country is to derive abroad among the other nations of the The Albuquerque route passes through the center of New Mexico, and it is the most central route of all proposed, and one that would benefit the greatest number of people. It seems to me that upon the first sight of a map any impartial and disinterested person would decide in favor of that route. The country through which it runs is rich in soil, copious in water, and abundant in wood, timber, and fuel. It is the best adapted for farming purposes; the climate is genial and salubrious; and the objection to the climate along wich, and the wooded branches of the False Washita af-world, by the construction of this gigantic high NEW SERIES-No. 27. |