The Beginnings of the Texas Railroad System. 49 
were likewise built at a cost of over $40,000,000. Indiana and Illi- 
nois expended $15,000,000 each on similar projects. Michigan under- 
took State works at first. In Georgia, the Western Railroad, 130 
miles in length, cost the people $5, 000, 000. 15 It was not until the 
profitableness of works of internal improvement was demonstrated in 
these States, that private capital sought them. 
( b ) Earlier Proposals for a State System. 
There had been since the earliest times a faction in Texas that 
had contended for public works. In 1842 a railroad convention was 
held at Houston, and recommended the adoption of the State 
system. 16 
In 1850 John W. Dancy, who afterwards represented Fayette, 
Bastrop and Travis Counties in the Sixth Legislature, proposed the 
following plan: By means of the public domain and $5,000,000 then 
in the treasury, the State was to construct trunk roads running from 
Galveston and Matagorda Bays, and intersecting roads running east 
and west. This system would give direct connection with New Or- 
leans, Vicksburg and Memphis. Slaves were to be used on these 
roads, and a permanent advantage would thus be gained, thought 
Mr. Dancy, in opening a new field for slave labor in the South. 17 
The advocates of public works, at first few, increased in numbers 
as the true state of affairs became apparent. 18 The futility of the 
attempts to attract private capital was beginning to be appreciated. 
The failure of the corporations gave force to the arguments. The 
Mississippi & Pacific fiasco in 1855 drove the lesson home. Says Gov- 
ernor Pease : 
“The active capital in the hands of our citizens is insufficient to 
insure their (railroad) construction. * * * It can not be disguised 
that the population and business of the State are not such at this 
time as to promise the return of an immediate profit on the amount 
that may be invested in such enterprises.” 19 
The men who espoused the cause of public works contended that 
no transportation system could be secured at any time within the 
near future unless the example of the East was followed, and the 
machinery of the State was used. 
In 1855 and 1856 the agitation for internal improvements became 
especially violent. Railroads were the chief issue in the gubernatorial 
election of 1855. More liberal legislation was urged by the public 
press and public men. Conventions were held in many counties, and 
recommended liberal aid. In many communities it was warmly urged 
that the State plan be adopted. 20 
