Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1842-12-02
COMMUNICATION.
Iron Ia Bay-b. ieqrssLJ
JAMES pIyEI Am kSSSH;fA COMPANY.

JAMES RIVER AND KANAniiA COMPANY.
propose bringing to the notice OF the CITIZENS OF The
State al Virginia and particularly to the notice
Of the stockholders of this company its management
from the Of the canal 10 the present
tme not only with .egs.d TO its construction, but With
regard, aiso 10 the management OF its financial con-
Germs. liz this attempt, am not prompted by any hos
Tile feelings towards tie preaiden. any OF The drec.
tors; b.. interested scckhclier aud Us citizen.
vino for The welfare aud prosperity c his State
urged 10 this exposition Every CITIZEN of Virginia
! is greatly interested, because OF the great interest
whchthe Stale bears III this work Her stock ana la
biltiea together, amount nearly about the sum ci
5000 088; and. in addition to this, the interest which
her citizens have i'll completing it, ateast TO the valley
country For The above reasons, have considered IT
my du,y to coll the attention Of the Stockholders, and
citizens, generally, OF this Commonwealth 10 Toe unfit
ness Of the gentleman WHO guides aud presilss o:er
the desniea of this company, for the Office he holds
do not deny that this officer has ZEAL energy, and
general intelligence and deserves great credit for his
exerlons 10 bring tiis company into exis.enca but
DO deny his capacity, his fitness rather, to carry on this
grea, work am friendly to the canal. and wish it
success aud would be delighted il the anlicp ations
yes and the very promises o the president TO the pco
pie ha! IL they would take stock, they would be bene
fitted both as stockholders and as citizens could be
realized but, am sorry TO say that il my belief un
der its present bad management, will Eeser be com
p!eteo even far North river. can earthly
chance tor it.
4: its commencement, and that the was.eu sya
tenn has been continued up to this tme-irst, in the
rery unnecessary number Of engineers The Directors
a. first appointed principal engineer and principal
assisting ngneeTs, and assisting engineers. The
Of so many grades oil engineers, | never could dis.
cover /. always appeared 10 me, that principal en-
gneer with assistant engineers, were ell that could
be possibly required and having another grade only
served 10 divide the responsibility, and doubtless,
Of the Of the imperfect manner after which
much Of the work CT the canal was done. But even
these three grades did not suffer end the second year.
another officer at high salsry employed
sailing engineer and, subsequently, apdrawing en-
GINGER This system Of extravaganza IS atll continued
and carried out in the superntendants. There Is
a principal superintendent, three principal assisting
superne ndants and overscers aIH the same extrava
gance characterized in various other departments
The selection Of engineers the next fault find with
the directory. Judge Wright appointed principal
| engineer in 1885, and resigned his appointment IN
SO on the ground Of his inability, arising from ms
advanced age and Mr. Charles Elicit appointed
chief engineer in Judge Wright's place. MIR. Elicit
was young gentleman, of great promise yet he Ger
;anly did not have tie necessary experience when APP
pointed this important cf:ics, which was requisite
shut any how, after he Ind acted chei engineer
about three years, ard had acquired all the necessary
exrerience which he wanted when he was first ap
pointed TO make him capable of performing the dnes
of his Office, he then, aud not until then, turned
out of Office and Judge Wright elected III lcJ not
gitllsinnding his advanced age and bodily innrmIty
were his only reasons for resIgnng in $50 ask 1t
iis in the name OF common sense, can oe considered
wise course Of policy when, 81 this time hundred
ard forty seven mcs Of the canal i'll length, required
all the attention; which man, in the prime OF life,
could have gwen and yet, chief engineer was elected
10 discharge this duty, who had, three yedr-
previous sncd is Office, because I'll his inability IT,
perform the dotes CT the o!:ice, Arising from lis aa
vanc d gre.
The assistant IN giuaers generally selected from
young gentlemen, Just irum college, who, oi course,
could have no PRACTICAL knowledge OF their profession
and although few ri ibon have obtained enineacc,
ve, lley had To learn after they entered upon their
duties and their learning was, no doubt, very expen-
sve "a the work. Now, ask, il il were wise to make
such selections and AM certain that The manner in
which the work was done, ANSWERS ia.
Having touched upon thn number and selection OF
engineers, will now proceed 70 point out many OF tie
defects Of the canal, and unwise management OF tie
directors BIT, may he answered, "Do you blame The
president FOR the defective construction OF the canal
Certainly do For what purpose did you appoint hun
president and give hm $4,000 salary Wcslt That ne
might take the chair at the meeting n! tie directors,
and "act as the head Of b0Erau and let Ike officers
DO an. repor, what they pleased Certainly not. lie
was appointed president and bs salary given 10 him,
that he should hold "vigi!ant slpfrintendancc over
all the works OF the company IN progress, anu over all
the officers and agents OF the company. -tSec tenth
bye.law) Well If this be the case, it certainly IS,
is he he president; not bound directly, es the head
Of the company, for all the prodiga management car
RED in its ranks. both in the construction OF the canal
and in the management. Of ;ts financial concerns ?
That the president should be bound above MENTION
ed is the only conceivable intention OF the stockhold.
ers, when they adopted their tenth bye law.
ts location above and Iynchbuig, seems to me to
have been very unwi:e. II there had tccn continued
cana from the dam abou, miles above Lynchb1rg,
appears TO me that it would not have cost much more
than the towing path the first section second grand
division, the guard loch, and the DAMS and eGUank-
men,s of Daniels Island, By which LOCATION sutfi-
Gent water powc. would have been afforded 10 Lynch
burg Tor .ay purpose whatever, and The low aqueduct
across Black @a,er creek, which is obliged 10 be swept
away hy any great feehct that creek, whan Jamss
river il not correspondrgly high, would have been
avoided. And equsy unwse was the location of the
carc Or tie Go.th 9l,ie Tor the ~ miles below Lynch
burg by which Tho saucduct over Beaver, and the cal
verts over Opossum and Fishing creeIs were enoora.
tered: whereas If the canal had hare been continued
on the North side, hut fcS email creeks would have
been crossed no, more, is believed, than on the South
side exclusive Of those enumerated Tie aqueduct
over Beaver ana the cEveTl over Opossum, have
both been swept away, and the cost oi 3niding re-
building and repairing must 0e CONSIDERABLE ano "sh'
have been saved BY different location. The loca.
ton of the canal al Ru,heloords mill vas certainly
very improper
Ii this mill had been purchased III the first instance,
and the canal had been located differently, grest
amount of money would have been saved; bus the
the mill.house was so much injured that the Company
had 10 purchase it at high price, after eroun,ering
the great expense of the location Tbs vas certainly
unwise But thege errors in the ioeat2, only charac
,crize the wisdom of the Directory snI nothing in
conlparson 10 the defects ~ Che execution. Of this,
intend TO give plain statement, and will begin at
Lynchburg.-Just below Perez. ais, there was deep
cut and the earth thrown up in what is called
spoa Ians-and, year or two afterwards, another
tractor was hired to take this spoil bank and put it 10
tie river Now, if this Garth ought to have been put
in the river why have made the first contractor
put there and saved The expense Of the second re.
moval' Many of thp locks have been taken down and
rebuilt and several more have timber put across the
lower end q suppose 10 seep tie walls from nclinng
inwsrds) and dosbtes/, when the pankng rots, they
will likewise haye TO Sc taken down and rebuilt Many
othc culverts tive fen and the aGueduet at Beaver,
and that across Eocks river, have both partly fallen
down-the f,r ner, elyand the latter last year.-
And why bas all of this enormous expense been incur
red And low has ,be great injury which The public
has sustained, by having their produce kept from mar
To- cr - ahout all ha ppened, sImpiy the