This related to the
proposed Tehuantepec canal. Ah! but England had already got an interest
in this route. So Whitney proposed a railroad from Lake Michigan through
the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific. He had laid this plan before the
Senate in 1845, showing that if a railroad were built the journey from
New York to the mouth of the Columbia River could be made in eight days,
and to China in thirty days. A naval station on the Columbia River, but
eight days from Washington city, and the Pacific could be commanded;
next, the Indian Ocean and the South Seas. Oregon would become a great
state at once. The commerce of China, Japan, Manila, Australia, Java,
Calcutta, and Bombay would be ours. What would England say to this? Oh,
yes, the Abolitionists might object! Freedom for the negro at any
sacrifice. "Let us have a drink," said Douglas, with a laugh.
"I am for this plan," said Douglas. "True, he wants $65,000,000--that
is, he wants to raise that much and has asked Congress for a grant of
land sixty miles wide across the continent with which to get the money.
He is on a lecture tour now, I hear, and has got the Boards of Trade of
New York, Cincinnati, Louisville, and some others to favor his plan. As
usual, like all other things, the rivalry between the North and the
South will affect the route.
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