The Continental Monthly , Vol. 2 No. 5, November 1862

gns. The navigation of the great Mississippi river, the imperial highway of the continent, could not be improved, because every impediment taken away, and every facility given to commerce on its bosom, were so much strength added to the bonds of the Union. The harbors of the great lakes and of the Atlantic coast could not be rendered secure by the agency of the Federal Government, because every beneficent act of this nature fixed it more firmly in the affections of the people, and gave it additional influence at home and abroad. The great Pacific railroad--a measure of infinite importance to the unity of the nation, to the development of the country, and to the general prosperity, as well as to the public defence--a work so grand in its proportions, and so universal in its benefits, that only the power of a great nation was equal to its accomplishment or capable and worthy of its proper control--this great and indispensable measure was defeated from year to year, so long as the conspirators remained in Congre