The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1805-09-20

| "nrtion to-the ium ne&efarv forthcir conitruc-
! tio9, than what is required to The repairing of
| roads. A canal will it for IN nd, flute period,
or we'll built at fritz Ivy merely cleaning il and
, repairing the woodwork rom time to time
| but road requires 70 i've new made aiter the
| lapi;- of certain nuinher of years, or the ex-
| pence of repairing it amounts, in that period,
! 10 that of making it crtirc!y anew. This con-
Giant recurrence OF expence, mua, in time, make
the latter as eXpeTive To nation, nay, va!tiy
more 10 than the former can poihb!y be; and 4
century in the eXiitence Of na.ios, is not more
than year or two in the life of an Individual.
, Thus frppof- that road requires TO be new
! made, (or that tbe expcnce OF repairs is equa
to that az making it aDew,) every ten years -
after five repetitions of this operation, that is,
in so years, it COTS the nation as much as a
canal would at firi. And though the compound
inttreit Of the orieioai fun expended on the
canal would, no douht, keep it above the iIms
laid out ON the road, after five fuch operations,
| yet, extend the number of thefe operations TO
twice FIVE, and 10 on, and the compound in
terett Of the various fums they cot, fuperadded
to each original eXpence, would 1T lat exceed,
! an any proportion .vba.eVer, the total amount
! ot the cXpence of the canal. II may therefore,
With tafety, be affirmed, that in so years time,
every mile of road iha really have colt the pub
| lie much greater FUN than each mile of canal,
though it he near thirty times lets ulcful for the
carriage Of goods than the cana! would be; and
that IN two or three hundred years, (Which are
tcarceiy equivalent, in the duration of fate, to
! 10 many weeks in the life of man, fun 10 i'm
roenfeiy greater, AS almoft TO battle calculation.
the advanfageJ that would accrue to this
country, from the execution of flch plan as
the foregoing. are 10 numerous and various, and
IN fome degree obvious, that one is altogether at
a lois where to begin in the enumeration of
Misunderstanding, however, would be the
Hrit to feel its beneficial effects; and for fqvo
reafonS, the encouragement and increafe of TIL
iage is, of all other Improvements, of the mott
vital Importance. The frlt is, that the number
OF herpeople being comparatively fmall in pro-
portion to her extent of territory, all attempts
to introduce among them the finer kinds of
manufacture NUT fail the coarfer ones only
can iucceed and the rafting of corn is an en-
ployment to which alone the greater part of
them are accufomed, and in which, therefore,
! they can fooneit, and mott caiily be improved
! Whatever manufactures depend imme diately on
the foil of the country for their byimu,1, ought
no doubt along with agriculture to form an OBJ
Ject, yet It'll tecondary one; thofe finer fpe-
| oIes OF fabrics, when the country becomes more
populous. BY thefe regular gradations, and in
this very order IT is that the circumstances of a
country are gradually, and entirely changed
that indu,try, wealth and population are en-
created, capitals and iiill created, and the in
habitants infenGbly converted into A perfectly
well employed and productive community
Yet fill is agriculture the firft ftep in this pro-
cefs, the foundation of all commercial great
neis; and in this country, in ITS prefeut uniyn-
proved fate, the mott inpera.iqe object OF pub
lie attention.
! But to enumerate thefe other benefits and I'd
! vantages, is really talk of the mott difficult
and Iaborouo kind, entirely ariling from the un-
bounded extent of the fubiett. Befides corn
for export, how many other fpecies of heavy and
/ bulky commodities, both native and foreign
muit, the native be carried out of, and the for
eisn brought into the very heart of this country;
on all of which, reduction of the rate of car
I riage to onc-iiXth of what it COTS at prefent,
would afford the latter exceedingly cheeper to
the confumer at home, and encreafe the demand
for the former abroad, by lefening their price
| in the foreign market Would not the exchange
of the products and manufactures of the differ
! ent parts of the country with each other be ex-
tended and promoted, in till higher proper
ton than its intercourfe with other countries
and that mOft beneficial of all the branches of
commerce, the inland trade of the country, be
thus quickened and increafed in amoft eminent
degree, and in thoufands of inGances, newly
created, where it never exited before Would
not the American farmer multiply his produce,
acquire much cheaper the materials, upon which
hs lnduftry is eXertcd, and the price of his pro-
duce encreafc |? Would not his application to
his bulinets be thereby excited, and his gains en-
create? Would not the circumstance of our be-
ing able 70 frppy other countries more cheaply
with the native articles we fend to them, while
the foreign price continues nearly the fame, en-
able us either TO put the difference in our own
pockets and thus enlarge our profits, TO en-
create the quantity produced, by the growing
competition for thefe profits ? In Mort, it would
be endlefS labour TO enter fully into particulars
on this fruitful fubiect, which embraces amoft
the entire circle of intercourse that man holds
with man. The following flort fummary or
heads of argument, mutt for the preient fuffce,
to enable the reader to form fome idea, however
Imperie6t, refpe6ing it.
BY an eXtenhon efinland navigation, the price
OF provifons aud produce of all kinds would be
kept at all times auloh on level throughout
the United States From The borders of The ri
yer st. Lawrence to the Floridas, an extent Of
above fourteen degrees Of latitude, the produc-
tons of the north would in hot and dry feaCons
iupply the Deficiencies OF the fouth, and the
countries Of the fouth in return afford TO the
north thofe articles of neCeiiity and comfort of
which in fea(ons of uncommon cold or noiRure,
It can obtain but fpariug or inadequate fuDply
from its own internal produce. Thus iudci-
Gus application Of human art and nduftry would
be the means Of diffuing over all rarts of theft.