Alabama state intelligencer., 1831-06-04

400 900 acIe of land to accomplish the wOrk.- That donatih it was expected, would yield suifi-
 cient amourf for the purposes of the Tennessee and
 leave considerable surplus to be applied to other
 objects of Improvement in the State. That expec-
 tation it is unnecessary to state, proved illusory- The cost oithe work, now commenced and pro-
 gressing, isestmated at $2, 100000, by the Uni
 ted States Geographical Engineers under whose
 auspices andrection the plan of improvement has
 been projeesd; while to accomplish it, only $600,-
 000 has beo realized from this splendid donaton.-
 This sum, roperly expended would have proved
 adequate tohe noble purpose for which il was in-
 tended. Ityould have lald down Rail Road from
 the head tdhe foot of the shoals on tbofh sides Cf the ri1er. 70 attempt 10 change the mode of appli-
 cation, il is DIV too late And according to the pre-
 sent sys,en by the time the work is well underway
 their funds yill be exhausted, without prospect of further assiiance from the general government, at
 least whileur present worthy Chief Magistrate con
 tinues to mkage the helm of State. The work must
 therefore cine to d stand, until the ways and means
 can be devIed for its completion. What then is to
 be done} lfe those who have been so long patiently
 awaiting Il consummalion, to have their hores de- luced7 Fokears to come, to be deprived of its ad
 vantages No. Let the citizens of the Valley put forth their fength, and they will find that they pos
 sess within Themselves the means of eifecting an impfovemdt that will prove more valuable than the Canal it.alI even granting il to be completed. Ma ture in he merriest mood. formed the Tennessee Valley, an designated it particularly for the con- structon oda Rail Road. The surface of the ground along the ehtire length of the line from one end to the other nay almost be called dead level Few or no depatures from perfect .tne would be ne. cessary and if at all, but very slight. The noun tans contiguous 10 the liac, abound with all mate rials eisenia to a construction, except the article of Iron which can be obtained from Pittsburgh, on ve- " moderate t,rms, prepared for the purpose; from Whiclplace thcgc is at all times water conveyance
 No dfp cutting or expensive enbankment would be nedssary, and but few water to cross and those iuconsiderable importance. Win such a comb9'ton of favorable circumstances, the cost of the cppest work of the kind executed in this coun- try, ny be assumed as the estimate of this. The Guinf Railway in Massachusetts, cost little over. the Mhch Chunk Railway in Pennsylvania a little under f3, 0G0 per mile for single set oi tracks, Ii willbe borne in mind that these were the first roads lid in this country, at Il time when the sys- tenn ws in it's incipiency, since when much expe- rencolas greatly tended to lessen the expense of constrftion. Tine trade on the Muscle Shoals Rail Road Foud require double set of tracks; we will thereite set it down at $6,000 per mile; an esli- mate SIich all acquainted with the subject will ad- init 10 be sufficient, If not extrdvagant. From an acqual lance with the country through which it woudbass. we would designate Decatur above and Tuscubbia below, as the most advantageous points to comec il with the river, running in its route IilfOugntOu III IaNTGnCe county, we would make dis selection account of the favorable al- proach D both those towns, convenience of landing, and tbe regard to the different interests to be ac- commoated The distance beiwe cen those two points is staett to be forty miles; which at $6,000 per mile would live an amount of SS2IG, ,0G0; to which add for vi9ucts, crossing places, &c, Ss40,0G0 more and to lover all contingencies compensation 10 En- gineers tSc. say 800 900 more, making round sum of S3D GOO; which under any and every circum- ionpId fail tf ba to Il, the uHertaking. Having shown what would be the cos of such work, we will now endeavor to point dlt fc,o of it's advantages, promising howe yer, tl.t we did not commence this essay with view olliscussng al its mers not having the abili- ty mterias requisite to the task but merely to attempto convince those most interested that it can be easif accomplished by the means they can bring to bear In it, and to show them certain prospect of remunehtio for the labor and expense thus Destow- ed. TIe commissioners for the improvement of the navigation of Tennessee in their report to the Ie- gisatur in 1826 to which beg particularly to re- fer the sttention of the public went into lengthy calculation, in which they took up the matter in de- tail and hOwed in the most satisfactory manner that the saviig to the country, in the ascending feieht alone. afer paying handsome toll to the Canal, would amount to $510,000 annually; on the single article O salt, they clearly demonstrate q saving of $50,00Cper annnm to that section lying above the shoals. After enumerating the population of the country to be affected by it, and stating their pro- ducts and consumption, the commissioners make the tolls to the canal at very moderate rate, amount to $I37 ,50 per annum. We know that the popuIa- ton ha greatly increased since that calculation was made; heir production and consumption, and conse- quently ytbeir commerce, has increased in propor- tiOnabl, ratio, which go to swell the tolls to an amounHboye that stated But it is sufficient for our pufpos, to take their computation as our basis. On Rail load, commodities of all kinds, can be trans ported or one half the amount of toll they have charge, for the canal; which at their calculation would mount to $G8,750 per amman; q sufficient interes one would think, on S300 0o0. But to bring the mater nearer home, to the inhabitants of the Vaileywe will show how their interests would be af fected " the proposed work The counties of Nor gan, Iiwrence and Franklin, bordering on the south side the river, produce annually, 22000 bags of cotton the average wei sht of which may be stated 1t 400 lbs. to the ebag-amounting to $500, GOO lbs. which cost the planter on average GO cents per hundred to transport to shipping point on the rer below the shoals, making the enormous sum of ss52 800. On | Rail Road the rate oftrans- portatDn may be reduced from 60 to 25 cents per hundred which would give aggregate of $22- GOO astoll to the Road, after eiiecng to the plan ters O these three counties an annual saving of $30, ,Si0 on the single article of cotton alone, and without taking into consideration their upward fregh. This, it is well known, would constitute bu very nconsiderable portion of the trade that woull be done the road yet il is alone sufficient
 to yidd an interest of more than seven per centum per a,num, on the capital requisite for its construc- ton. Having, as we believe, clearly demonstrated the importance of Rail Road around the Muscle Shoas, and placed its practicability beyond the shadow of doubt, it only remains for to point out the means by which it is to be accomplished and the object of this communication is attained. Let the Legislature incorporate stock company, with all the chariered privileges usually given to such bo dies, api the whole stock will immediately be taken up by he citizens of the Valley, who have ever been ditinguished for their enterprise, magnanimy and lbrality, as they for wealth and opulence.- Or thy should remain bndto their own interests
 open be books in New York or Philadelphia, and the whe amount of stock would be subscribed in half hour. It is thus that the great works of the middleand naatnrn States 1arr,inn q nr IL 2