Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1831-03-26

Virginia. though cutailsd Of her fair proportions. would
still maintain her rank among the surrounding ma
tons Of this confederacyLke the sturdy oak Of the
forest, she would still stand erect, although passing
whirlwnd may have torn from the parent stem one of
her stoutest branches But sir dig around s roots sap
its foundation and apply the lever now asked TO be pu,
into the hands OF rival, and il must will inevitably
opple to its faU
Mr.. Speaker, the people beyond the mountains are
prgiabtns - pTgin'dns TO the eore-The Green hill
locks, the borders OF your beautiful Borough of the
ocean, which had lately the pleasure of visiting with
you, attest their loyalty and patriotism many an acre
IN the envrons OF your town is o,ced the cranes
oil our brave ipountaneeIs who hocked the sandar,f
oil their country in her hour Of danger. But sir Pr
gmians are but men, beset by alt the infrn,ties Of
humanity. With them, as with all other that ever
lved interest is the ruling passion Pause then, be
seeen YOU before you grant privilege which will
yer Tue bond which now holds the East and the West
,ogether-a privilege that will tdenfyy interest and
~ Jetigs, one half aud the faires half Of this good
OLD Dominion, with stranger and rival State.
That, granting permission TO foreign company or
slate 10 sweep through the of your territory
ana to come into competition, advantageous terms,
Tor the rich commerce of the Western wod. will t,ost.
fohe II II do not entirely defeat the great State I'M
proyement recommended by your wisest statesmen
seems to me so obvious hardly TO require
10 proyeit what sir, are the inducements held out by
the advocates OF this Improve the
on which they rely for reimbursing the heavy expenJ
ture necessary for its competion! The first Is the
trade to be drawn from the South West by the Tennes
nessee and Hosion rivers-he other, aud main r,l-
ance. Is the to be carried ON with OH the
Western States, through the Kanawha roue-that very
commerce which you asked TO surrender to- or
az least to dictde, with rival If then, with these
FOO sources of prof,-if armed with this foofold ar.
unent, we have as yet been unable to induce the Lee
gsature seriously to embark in this grand enterprize
are likely be successful when one of them ia
cut OIL cal upon the friends of this great work Sc
riousiy to consider this question before they act
But shall be told sir, that should this company con-
suct their X Road from Saunton to the Ohio work
would DO auxiliary to our own western Improvement
and That we should be able to make II completely SUBJ
servent 10 our own purposes, by connecting our works
with theirs at CoviRgon Now, sir, If this be the ne
cessary consequence Of such connection II will pro-
badly strike the sagGcious and calculating eeople OF
Baltimore and of Maryland, with quite as much force as
does the gentlemen who are urging the argument on
this ioor-and If So we can hardly expect them 10 Law
out their money TO bring the trade of the West TO the
commercial cities IF pirgin 'a-they are anxious e.
nough God knows, to dirert it from them. II this arr
gumen be true, then, the work will never be done
| and to authorize private company to make an im-
provemen which it is obvious (accordng to this argu
meno they can have no adequate motive for comple-
ing is to tan,alze and to rif1e with your psopIe-to
grant monopoly always odous) which can benefit
nobody. Sir, such policy will not have even the ne
gauve merit OF the nostrum of the quack-you canno,
say OF II that "i II does good, il will do no harm
II will paraliZe the future efforts of the advocates
State Improvements. When they shall apply hereafter
Tor appropriations to complete this great line of wes-
tern communication, they will be told "why
the ourthens OF our people 10 raise the means of max
Ing an Improvement which private company is aIrea-
dy authorised to consructand of which we shall have
| mD
uehce ana dsStFuS oil your own government did not
permit you to await the change going on i'm public op
mon, in favor of the completion OF this great chain of
lnprovement-you chose rather to trust to the enter
prize and public spirit OF corporate conpanyto that
you must iook."
Mr. Speaker, this company either WILL or will not,
complete this Rail Road-Should they never complete
H. granting the privilege asked for i'm the section of the
Bill propose to strike out will be mis- -hieuous as
have just shewn-If they finish IT, ii will operate inu
ously on Virginia in two ways-lst, by drawing frem
a mart NOT f.a
The Western States, all of which We have now the
means OF securing to ourselves-and 2dly by compel
ing us to abandon, as utterly useless, the works here
tolore constructed James River-ot sinking lust as
efectuay as II you were to the money into the
ocean, the 81 ,2io0 900 expended on those works
SIR II Is proposition perfectly self-evident 10 every
one who has reflected the subject that no M 1t mode
OF transportation into competition with Uni
FORM and uninterrupted mode of Transportation
the latter be greatly inferior in character-that line
OF Improvement, part OF which is Locks and Dams
part Canal, and part Rail Road cannot compete ON a.
quail terms, with continuous Rail Rail or Canal The
delay and trouble OF frequent removals from one veh
Gle to another the increased expense of double or re
bic commissions, and the risk of passing property
through several hands instead of condng il to one
Known and responsible agent, give decided pre-
terence TO the continuous channel OF transportation
Shou d the Potomac and Ohio Rail- Road be conple,
ell, then II would drive you to the necessity of con-
strucng Rail Road IRON Covlnyton to Rcbmond
along 'he side OF your Canal which would thus he
rende'ei utterly useless Sir let me ser ousy ask the
friends OF lnernal Improvement eoasiier whe ther
to come before some future Legislature, with deca
ration that we must commence this great State work
de nouo-ihat every dollar heretofore expended mus,
be gwen up as iosi-tUtIly sunkwould be lik civ 10
make prosoiytes to our fah'o gain advocates to our
cause! ms most poen,ia argument urged 81
~ s The extravigant expenditure of the MONEY an
proPrited to this work. but how infinitely would this
argument be sreng ned, we TO place
in situation 10 which should be compelled 10 ac
knowledge, not only that This money had been iDiudi.
c'onsiy laid out but that il was ueesslv erpended
completely hroDn O,oay7
Now, sr, tbis necessity never exist, unless Won
au'horZe this fillmore imp 10 come into com.
| petition with you. The Rival work, Of he North
contending with you for this Western commerce. are
like our own, OF mixed character-eanaI and rail
10 carry on the competition with them we NAV still
avail ourselves, OF the canals have already con.
srueted, and OF The money they have cost-and exer
else sound discretion under al the ar
to our future oper atoms,
The Senator from Logan (Mr. MComas) seems TO
take Tor granted that Virginia Will never AXE this
gfeat western Improvement; and that, therefore we
ought to surreDde the m.ans OF making il into the
| hands of others. For one, Mr.. Speaker cannot az,
sent to an admission deroga ory the wisdom and
pubic spirit of the councils OF my naive ats sol,
not believe that shall continue 10 lock on in .l
apathy, upon the noble efforts nov uakIn, nv our
neighoor States, to insure tie wealth. happine,s ard
political safety of their people. -
81 TAR from dependency, in consequence of the fail
ure OF the effort lately made in the co.
OF the Lees allure TO obtain the means Of re-eommenc
ing ths work, consider the result OF that fort as
most encouraglng-as the presage OF future success
IL should be reeollected, Mr. Speaker that this jane
RIVER schems-l mean the entire connection of ,,de
~at-r with the 0hIo-hss beso for sometime in I'D
ntld nf o.,,di