Winchester, Aug. 7,
1858.
My dear Sir:—
Your letter of the 28th of July, communicating to me the
fact that there is a rumor in circulation in Galena, supposed to have come from
Gen. Jones, of Iowa, that pending the Illinois Central Railroad Grant in the
Senate of the United States, an arrangement was made between him and me, by
which the interests of Galena were sacrificed to those of Dubuque is received.
I have a distinct recollection of the facts of the case, and they are in
substance as follows: — The bill, as drawn and introduced into Congress by
myself, provided for a railroad from the southern terminus of the Illinois and
Michigan Canal to the mouth of the Ohio River, with a branch to Chicago and
another to Galena, the northwestern terminus of the road. General Jones, his
colleague, and perhaps some others, objected to Galena as a terminus on the
ground that the road would not connect with the Mississippi River, and thus a
hiatus would be created between the east and west side of the river. I
endeavored to dissuade them from their objections, and to induce them to
allow the bill to pass in the shape I had introduced it, but they were
immovable, AND INSISTED ON DEFEATING THE BILL unless we would extend the
road to Dubuque. Upon full consultation with my colleagues in both houses of
Congress, it was determined to permit the alteration to be made, under the
belief that the whole bill would be defeated unless we consented to the change,
and we thought it better to allow the change to be made than to lose the bill
altogether, although we did not think that our Iowa friends were treating us
kindly by attempting to defeat a great measure for our State on a point of the
kind. Under these circumstances, I did cheerfully acquiesce and concur in the
determination of the united delegation of the State, to agree to the change by
which the road should be extended to Dubuque, but carefully omitting to provide
at what point the crossing should be, whether at Dubuque, at Tete des Morts, or
at any intermediate point. I will only add that any insinuation or intimation
on the part of Gen. Jones, or any of his friends, that I had any collusion with
him, and was willing to sacrifice the interests of Galena to those of Dubuque,
or any other point, is basely and infamously false. Very respectfully,
Your friend,
S. A. Douglas.
H. G. Crouch,
Esq. Galena, Illinois.
SOURCE: John Carl Parish, George Wallace Jones, p. 195-7
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