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Show PORTLAND, DALLES AivD SALT LAKE RAILROAD. Sail l.aU tlio Kiy to the Rail road System of 1 ho Pneillc Const. To the people of America them is no mibject of greater inUiot ihau that of railroads. It hsis ht conic Ilie synonym of civilization, and embrnccM in tho broadest sensfl the deviilopmcnt of the national resources; tho fnnl.'r-in fnnl.'r-in - of inland and foreign conuiH'ive, and of providing homes for uuliioiiti , of people from every nation and c Hiutry ol the earth. The llceta that once ao proudly rode upon the bow. in of "old ocean," bearing tho dmimerce of the world, havo now becoaiu niero COuoecling links in the great railrmu system of the world. Tho lloatint paluccs th.it ply between Calais aiic Dover will soon bo thingH of the pat for sotm the echo of the whistle ol the locomotive as it enters the tunnel al Calais will scarcely have died awy beforo the iron horse will omerge from beneath the homo of Neptune and stand panting on "old England's" Eng-land's" shore. Fifty years ago peopltf wen cun tented to plod along in si-1" euaches or wagons, at tho rato ol thirty or fotty miles a day, but now wo travel at the rate ol forty miles per hour in palaco cars, and bitterly complaiu because wo caunot ;o faster. This is certainly in age of improvement, and to none can thii Iia mnra ann:rent than to the people of Salt Jake city, who have snatched an empire from the iron grasp of th savage and transformed trans-formed it into fields of waving grain, dotted hero aud thero with beautiful cities whose spires seem c intending to catch the rays of tho ruorhing turn; slowly the smoke rises from the mining min-ing camps where the "rork-rihVud mountains" are made to surren !er their long-hidden wealth; and Circ ti Silt Lake, whose waters fur eenluiies wero disturbed only by the wild foftl or Indian canoe, now be-irs upon its bosom one of the great inventions American genius tiie" siainbiut Railroads have become the cur-dinal cur-dinal directory of Utah, while S.h Lake city tc-d;iy holds the k.-y to the commerce of the Pacific slope. To-day we stand agh:istat tin: Announcement of some grand engineering engi-neering or mechauical enterprise; id-morrow id-morrow we admire and apohiud the ease and simplicity with which it bus beeu accomplished. Indeed, fiction has lost its attraction in the contemplation contem-plation ol reality. Let us view tho situation and determine de-termine how best to avail ourselves of the many advantages that tend to make Salt Lake city the railroad ocntre o'f the Pacific slope. The people peo-ple of the great northwest and southwest south-west are now reaching out their hands and asking for direct railroad communication com-munication with Salt Lake, as being the shortest and most practicable route to the east. They will pay iribute no longer to San Francisco. Sau Diego, San Francisco and Portland, Oregon, are geographically situated on the arc of a circle ol which Silt Lake city is the centre. But San Diego or Portland have a decided advantage over San Francisco, as a railroad from Salt Lake to eitber of them would be much shorter than ciu the Central Pacific to San Francisco, Fran-cisco, the grade would be lighter, aud the natural resources of the country through which the road would pass , are far greater . While the Central Pacific traverses a route through a sandy desert and mountain devoid of ad agricultural resources, the pro-Dosed pro-Dosed route to Portland is through the great valleys of the Columbia and Snake rivers a country unsurpassed in agricultural ana mineral resources by any other portion of America, and capable of lurnishing homes and employment for millions of peopls. In Oregon, Idaho and Washington territory, near the proposed route of the Portland, Dalles and Salt Lake railroad, there are gold, silver, copper cop-per and iron mines that wheu developed de-veloped will add millions to the wealth of the nation. But it is not to the mineral resources re-sources alone that we wish to invite attention. It is to that branch of American industry which is truly the source of our national existence, prosperity and greatness agricul ture! Along this route there are millions of acres of the richest agricultural agri-cultural land in the United States awaiting only the honest husbandman. husband-man. Of the Columbia river there need be but little said as fisheries along its banks and the grainfields of the Willamette valley have made it known to the commerce of the world. What has been said of the route to Portland is true of the proposed route to San Diego via southern Utah. Both are nearer Asia than San Francisco, Fran-cisco, and vessels en route from San Francisco to Japan or China are (wtmelled to oass in 6icht of Sun Diego or Columbia river. From Salt Lake to China or Japan it is 3,500 miles nearer via. Portland than via San Francisco and the Sandwich Islands. While Pugct Sound and Oregon are destined to furnish the lumber and spars to the commercial fleets of the worid, there is a growing necessity for a railroad connecting Portland with the eastern states. The Northern Pacific railroad can never supply the commercial wants of tho northwest if built, and it its not probable that it will ever be completed. com-pleted. That portion of the road now constructed in Minnesota and Dakota is useless for more than five months in each year ou account of deep snows and the very cold weather. The Northern Pacific was conceived in lraud, its best dayB wero spent in debauching every sense of morality, aud lew Uere will be to mourn its death, except those to whose pockets the money aud bonds of the company have surreptitiously found their way. The agents of the company are now I busily engaged in congress to secure the passage of au act extending the time provided tor in the charter for completing the road uutil July, 1SS5, which would give them eight years additional time, ag their present charter expires the 1st- of July, 1877. The Northern Pacific company are willing all claim to the land subsidy on their prepared branch road from Lake Pond d'Orielle, Idaho, to Puet Sound, a tract each alternate section of land five hundred miles in length and eighty miles wide, or about 13,-000.000 13,-000.000 acres. . The fioger of destiny unerringly points to the true course to be pursued pur-sued by the people ot Salt Lake efty and Utah, and with the energy they generally bestow upon all mat ten that aflect the interest or growth o the territory, success is certun to follow. fol-low. Let the people of Salt Lake city call a mass meeting for th pur pus- of giving BUi'h encouragement' an. I pnilor.-ii inent 11s will aid in the; iiinKhne of tlm I'orlluiiu, Dalles A Halt . nku riiilroiul; also tu direct our di'leg'ilr in I'diiKretw lo iirt" all honorable honor-able me:inr. tu ai cure an ano'iuhneiit to the bill now hi-Ion-1 the hi'U nf r. pre entutivftt, extending- tun timo lorcMinp'o iiig the. Noitlum Pacific of such a ualiuu that in lit-n of the lands granted lo tho Northern Pacific upon their branch road, other lauds alum; the proposed route Irom Suit Lake to Portland shall bo given tho IWllaud, D.illes it Salt Lnko railroad tor tlm purpose of aiding in the building of that road. |