Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1830-11-04

10, IN. sake of even numbers, and 10
+n.Le some allowaaes for errors IN calculation
I.Id.,..eh he considar his estimates full high
-, eo,,rnitier will set this down at 81 y
ne, ton. which tao. taken from 30 y the pre-
900, ,.ts leaves n redac'io ion Of 50 per ton in
e.., oftransporiaiinn. Supposing 10 Increase
IN the rade of Lynchhurs, 10 he produced by
mi. Improvement. ihe following would be the
..,,I, of his reduction. viz
"a 10 in tolls would produce. in $4,000 tons
s.6a 900 or within 3 ,Ol0 oil the esiimai ed
/ income. necessary TO Justify The work.
al an deducted from the cost Of transportation
voald upon Is, 900 tons produce clear an
nusling saving 10 the trade Of aynchburg OF
S27, 900.
! Sdl leaving to the State her present rate Of
,olis 10 compensate her for the money erpen-
ded mon the lower section of the cHnni II,
then there were 20 other trade hut that OF
,vnrhburg 10 be affected by this Improvement,
!, xould seem TO your commune that they
have shown, that, even with view to the
dividends 10 he derived from il alone, i, might
p,,den,ly be undertaken. Blu. by reference
10 the Report of 1928 (page 1881 ii will be seen
that the whole amount OF produce and mer-
chand re paving tolls on the lower canal. in
1897 Exclusive Of coal was 40 800 tons, or
over lbs per cent more than the tonnage OF
i
portion of this was from the counties below
N,iden's Adventure, your committee have no
mrans of estimating. They presume, however,
that nm allowance OF 4, 800 tons would he more,
thsn sufficient to cover Il, leaving double the
amount OF the tonnage of Lynchburg "a large
proportion ii which is from The country above
Lynohburg) subject TO tolls upon this improve
m-ni. Your committee think il only necessary
20 advert to these facts, to convince the most
inc rednlons Of the ability OF the tonnage npon
The river TO pay for It's Improvement for, even
admitting m error Of 100 per cent 10 the esti-
mate Of It's cost the tolls would still Justify the
pendltnre, while, iftbe estimate turns out TO he
substantially correct (Which your committee do
MOI doubt instead OF n saving of$1 so per ton
in the st Of trans poriation,a as above estimated
il might be reduced 50 % per ton. or even more
and still leavr an income from tolls more than
suilicir Mt to pay for the work /; thus producing
an annual saving to the country trading down
James River of more fhan 100000 in the cost
Of transportation alone.
UpoR the subject OF the estimated cost Of this
Improvement, your committee will remark,
that much accuracy has been attained by
skiIful engineers lhrnue bout the United States,
that your committee not aware that there
is now in progress any work ofimporiance that
exceeds its estimated cosI. aud that; amongst
others. LynchDnrc has recently, in her water
works, undertaken anil completed work Of
novel and difficult character. M y cost within
the original estimate. Your COMMITTEE can
see no reason why the Improvement offhe
James River alone should hid defiance 10
the calculations OF science, talent aud expert
ence.
Your committee have thus far confined ihep'
selves 10 s'atemanrs founded upon existing and
clearly asceraned Caets II having mus as they
humbly conceI,e. proven that there can he
doubt of the propriety OF undertaking this work,
with reference 10 the present trade of the river H
lone, your cominiites viii now advert 10 some o.
Their views which. tho IN some degree less Ger
tain in their CHI Hact"r. seem 10 your committee
So reasonable. that they ought nj least to be con-
sicered AS adding much force aud weight 10
those already presented.
0ne of the first of the Sc that presents itself
j, The effect oil speed, safety and certainty of
arrival upon the trade. lhs need only he
mentioned to force itself Up"u the mind ot eve
nv man Upon an improved navigation, the
time necessary for the voyage from Lynchbure
10 Richmond could no. exceed two, or a, most
three DAYS The merchant the miller, or the
farmer would always be able To place his pro-
duce or merchandise IN market so as 10 avail
himself Of sudden deman IL, or avoid anHn-
ticinated fall ~ prices. How far This can b.
done in the present state Of The navigation, Can
easily be answered by reference TO the qnanti-
" of tobacco in our warehouses aud flour ia
our mills. that has been lying On hand tor weeks
! and months, BECAUSE OF the impossibility of
| shipping, except Al a cost amounting in many
instances 10 more than one fourth the value ul
the article Upon no articles are the effects OF
this state of things more felt than wheat and
hour II has been before remarked, that wheat
is always brought TO market at that season of
the year when the river is usually at its lowest
state, The consequence is, that IL is always
worth in Lynchburg % TO 30 cents less than
the Richmond price. Al this moment il is
worth 90 l2 TO 65 cents here, aud Ia Richmond
90 to 90 cents. This difference Is 10 be ascri-
bed in part To the cost of transportation but
! mainly TO its uD ceriainiy. The Richmond mil
Ter has the product OF his wheat IN market the
! moment il is converted int0 -four, ready TO a.
vail himself of the existing demand. The
Lynchburg miller aftrr he has veited his
into flour. has TO hold II for weeks, or perhaps,
months, subject TO all the fluctuations OF
market proverbially unsteady-and almost uni
formy declining az the season advances. aud
The northern crop is brought To market. Upon
an improved nasigah,n, the bushrl Of wheat
converted into flour at Lynchburg, would he
delivered in Richmond in three days, if. Reces-
say. TO meet deinand, aud at IA cost not ex-
| ceeding y TO 10 cents.
The capacity ofthe upper James river coun-
try 10 produce whrat, equal in quality TO any
IN Virgins, cannot he doubted and if We enn-
bic our mIlle,s - place thsir flour IN market AS
early as that Of Richmond, it may be- safely left
10 their industry, skill aud enterprise, to es,ab-
lsh Tor It "A reputation equal 10 any in the
world aud to their literally aud the competi.
ton that would bs produced by the increased
/ IN tn fho
price only so much les. than that paid in Rich
mond as would cover the cost OF transportation.
The effect OF this would he 10 divert portion
OF 'ne labor of tins section of country from the
cultivation of tobacco to that OF grain Ii
would be difficult to estimate the advantages
OF this change. Tn, farmer, who grows a crop
OF 1000 bushels Of whea, for market, may easily