34 HISTORY OF THE GRANGE MOVEMENT; OR, 



In 1850, however, it occurred to certain of our pub- 

 lic men that the public lands might be advantageously 

 used for the purpose of defraying the cost of the various 

 railways which were then in contemplation. Who first 

 conceived the idea is not known, but it was caught up 

 by the Illinois Central Railroad Company, and they suc- 

 ceeded in interesting the late Stephen A. Douglas, 

 Senator from Illinois, in the scheme. Mr. Douglas was 

 captivated by the idea of the great railway intersecting 

 the entire State, and bringing Northern and Southern 

 Illinois into rapid and direct communication with 

 Chicago and Cairo. He saw the importance of the 

 undertaking, recognized the magnitude of the expense 

 attending it, and, in an evil hour for the country, 

 adopted the opinion that the General Government 

 should aid the construction of the road by bestowing 

 upon the company a portion of the public lands, since 

 the successful accomplishment of the undertaking 

 would result in building up the population and increas- 

 ing the wealth of Illinois. Mr. Douglas, with all his 

 great genius, did not seem to recognize the fact that he 

 was really asking the people of the United States to 

 build a road for a corporation in his own State, or that 

 he was opening a way for a systematic fleecing of the 

 nation for the benefit of private individuals. 



In 1850, the application of the Illinois Central Com- 

 pany for assistance from the Government was presented 

 in Congress. It was hotly opposed, but supported by 

 the persuasive eloquence of Senator Douglas, the peti- 

 tion was granted. An Act of Congress, approved Sep- 

 tember 20th, 1850, granted to the State of Illinois six 

 sections of land per mile of road -in aid of the construc- 

 tion of a railroad from Cairo^to Chicago and Dunleith. 



