148 
STATE AGRICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 
be economical. Suppose congress should erect a department 
to be called The Department of Internal Commerce,” with 
a secretary, assistants and clerks, as the interior department is 
now organized ; and should then proceed with this \^ork, as it 
does through the interior department in building court houses 
and post offices. There are plenty of officers in the engineer 
corps of the army who could be spared from doing nothing in 
the eastern cities, to do something in the country ; to survey, 
locate and superintend the building of such a road. Fifty 
thousand Chinamen could be employed for three or ten years 
to grade the road, at one-third what the grading of any other 
road in the country has cost. Ties, and all other materials re¬ 
quired could be procured by contract, as the government gets 
materials for harbors and other public improvements. The 
only thing needed for the work which would cost the govern¬ 
ment what it would cost, a private party, would be the iron. 
In every other respect the government would have an advan¬ 
tage. What has made the building of our railroads so ex¬ 
pensive, has been the poverty of the companies, and the noto¬ 
rious stealing of all parties employed by the companies. Tho 
company has usually been compelled to mortgage its road be¬ 
fore it was completed ; sell its bonds at a fearful discount; 
give contracts in which directors were interested, agreeing to 
pay twice what the work was worth. But the objector will 
say, the stealing from the government would be much greater. 
I do not believe this. I have heard no complaints lately that 
the money which has been appropriated to build post offices 
and court houses, and improve our rivers and harbors, has not 
been honestly applied. If the government cannot find among 
our people honest men enough to administer its affairs, men 
who will disburse its funds without stealing, then it should 
stop, and pronounce free institutions and government by the 
people a failure and an impossibility. (Applause.) 
(3.) It will also be said that the government is already bur- 
thened with a heavy debt, that it would be madness to enter 
into so gigantic a scheme of internal improvement in our 
present condition. 
