Staunton spectator, and general advertiser. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 183?-1849, 1838-11-15


to Virginia her fair proportion OF the foreign
commerce Of the country. Ist. Tha, the o.
verw helmiDg capital of the city OF New York
employed In foreign commerce., ha stiestroy.
ell the foreign commerce of Virginia. 81.
Tha. capital may he attracted aud indefinite,
iy accumulated at any point where an ade1
quaie demand for its employ ment either ma.
turaliy exists, or is artiticialiy created.
The third and mos, important point which
remains for consideration, is, is the situation
Of Virginia such, that she can now create,
al any one or mn:e points on her Atlantic
border, demand for capital, To he employ ed
in foreign commerce, equal or nearly 50, 10
that which exists in New York: Tshe can
produce such a demand, The supply and con.
sequent accumulation Of capital at that point
tciIi as surely foiio,c as any inraria6le effect
.foiiOrs lis cause.
A careful Investigation OF the facts will, I
am sure, convice any one, that the creation
OF such demand a, the ports of Norfolk and
Portsmouth is within our power. To illus
tra!e this matter, let US suppose Case. Let
us imagine that Virginia. long before N
YORK had dreamed of making cutie, for
western commerce, which would bring il
nearly all TO her own city, had been guided
by the counsel OF her profound, her lar see,
ing Marshall. and had, ~ her he recommend
ed II, tapped the great artery oi Western
Trade, The Ohio, through the James and the
Knnawha rivers. This convenient. easy
and nain,a al channel of communication once
opened, and all the riches of Western trade
would have Il sted upon the Hampton Roads
into Elizabeth Ii,er.--Wha would have
been the effect "f annually pouring into Nor
f"ik the bOunteous products of Western en-
,erprise and industry, aud demanding 10 ex.
change them Tor the fabrics anG the cnmmo.
d:ties oi fnreign cIines' Would not such
demand Tor capital TO he emrInved in this
immense trade, have necessarily been fol.
lowed by such an accumulation nt capital al
that point, as would long ago have made.
Norfolk and Portsmouth whit New York
now Is! d., not see how il is possible TO
doubt il, IL indeed the same causes In like
circumstances must produce like effects
IL this be so, then il follows, that the only
obstacle which can prevent The adoption Of a
similar policy how from producing the same
results, is the Tact that ~ York has already
secured this trade, and the apprehcns sion that
no rivalry OF ours can, AT this late period, de-
ptive her oi any considerable portion Of it,
This would, indeed, seem to he fnrmi,lable
Objection. and ii there are no other consider
atoms sufficient 10 neutraliZe or diminish IFS
iorce, il is calculated 10 paralyze all our ex.
erlions Ia recover the ground we have lost
But such considerations do exist. So great
- The profusion ewith which Nature has
showered upon us her bounii.s; such is the
extremely delicious graphical position of
NirSina-ihat even now, alter SO long dali
lying aud wasting away her time, she may
come IN, and al this eleventh hour. by a
vigorous cffurt, receive large and muniti,
cienI share of the rich products OF Western
commerce.
Ii is well known that the New York
Pennsylvania, aad Ohio canals, are closed
at least four months in each year by the ice
And The stoppase Of transportation which
thus occurs is at the lime most unfavorable
=" tho Ws"torn .narchani. II no. unfre
quenliy happens, tina, his fall purchase de-,
tanned ny the low waters of that season. are
entirely arrested 10y the ice And every
year the Spring purchasers are subject 10 a
detention OF from one 10 three months on ac.
count OF ice. For il must be remembered
that The breaking up OF the winter is not the
signal for the immediate forwarding of all
the commodities which had been stopped in
their course. The accumulation Of goods for
four months along the line of those improve
menIs can only he gradually worked off, and
sim repeated accesSions TO the amount TO be
transported, Often occasions delay of one
and two months after the breaking up oiihe
Ice before the wbulc Of The commodities pur.
chased before that time can he frcigh,ed
from Pittsburgh and other North western
ports And IL thus frequently happens that
the season tor sales has passed, when the
merchant has only received, in divided ,or-
tons, about one half of his goods. These
EMBELLISHMENTS to the trade with the North
are 'hc SUBJECT OF constant annoyance and of
serious losses 10 The Western merchants.
How different, and how much more ad
van!aseous would be The condition of trade
between The West and East, conducted
through line OF Intercourse ascending the
James River and connecting with The great
highway OF the West at the mouth of the
Great kana"ha. None of the embarrass.
ments which so materially injnre that trade
IN lis Northern channels would occur to inn
pede II on this route An interruption Of
three weeks from ice is as much as could e.
yer happen in the severes. season. An in
speciion Of 3 series of meteorological tables
very carefully made and preserved by Col
David Rutfner Of kanawha county, exhibits
the important fact that the average period
Tor The last 20 years, in which the Kanawba
river has been closed by ice, is only two and
hall days ier each year. This striking,
and most important advantage of the yir-
gina line OF Improvement, would at once
compel, as matter OF necessity, The transit
81 al least one half of all the subjects of the
commerce between the East and West, up
on this line. This result would occur AT
once, aad without effort Every Western
merchant who made his purchases in TIE
eastern Market, al any period between the
commencement OF low wafer in The upper o
mo, ana The re-oPening Of active intercourse
~ Tue i"IIowing spring, would perceive the
decded advantage in tcpard f., cert,;otv ne