He issued pamphlets, solicited favourable resolutions from commercial bodies, state legislatures, etc., and made a vigorous convass at Washington. "If I can get the grant of lands," said Whitney, "I can build the road. In a few months after the grant the work shall be commenced and far sooner than I had dared to hope it can be completed, when we shall have the whole world tributary to us—when the commerce of the whole would shall be tumbled into our lap."
In the summer of 1845 Whitney visited the great plains country and was more than ever convinced of the feasibility of his plan. But it does not appear that he made even a casual survey of the proposed route from the Missouri westward. All this, as well as the construction of the road, was left to be done after Congress should pass the land grant bill. For this he pressed with redoubled energy in 1845, being especially anxious to secure it before Wisconsin and Iowa territories should become states, which he foresaw would complicate his problem.
Objections to the Plan; Stephen A. Douglas. Whitney's project encountered several obstacles. For one thing, Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, who was chairman of the Committee on Territories of the House of Representatives, had a railroad plan of his own which differed materially from that of Mr. Whitney. Douglas proposed to organize at once two new territories, Oregon and Nebraska, which, with Iowa territory, would contain the railway route from the Mississippi to the Pacific. He would then grant to
