" Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall
find the way. The tendency to undue expansion is unquestionably the chief
difficulty.
How to do something, and still not do too much, is the desideratum. Let
each contribute his mite in the way of suggestion. The late Silas Wright,
in a letter to the Chicago convention, contributed his, which was worth
something; and I now contribute mine, which may be worth nothing. At all
events, it will mislead nobody, and therefore will do no harm. I would
not borrow money. I am against an overwhelming, crushing system. Suppose
that, at each session, Congress shall first determine how much money can,
for that year, be spared for improvements; then apportion that sum to the
most important objects. So far all is easy; but how shall we determine
which are the most important? On this question comes the collision of
interests. I shall be slow to acknowledge that your harbor or your river
is more important than mine, and vice versa. To clear this difficulty,
let us have that same statistical information which the gentleman from
Ohio [Mr. Vinton] suggested at the beginning of this session. In that
information we shall have a stern, unbending basis of facts--a basis in
no wise subject to whim, caprice, or local interest.
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