The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1843-04-08
INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS IN


INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS IN
VIEW OF MILITARY OPERATIONS
III the locllllies OF transportation now
existing in the Union be compared with
the best that were available during the
last war, the contrast cannot but strike
the mind in a very fotoible manner. There
were then no rail road nor canals, and
the use of steam was only beginning to be
appreciated in the way of practical appl-
cation to river navigation. The cellec-
ton Of troops, the movements of armies,
the !fansPorlat on of artillery, baggage
and stores, were slow operations, aud
very expensive. Twenty miles a day
would be a great march for infantry.
Over bad roads, in wet weather, the half
Of could not be accomplished The
conveyance of cannon from New Y OH to
Buffalo, in the last war. was q serious
business, and cost more money than
would now be required for the Transport
tation Of all army.
Let the eye glance over the map of The
Union and see the extent Of our system
OF lnlercommunication. From Portland
ig Maine TO Charleston in South Carroll
ma there are but few intervals in a con-
tlnuous line of rail roads Through
Georgia an inland connection bctwe cen
the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico is
nearly completed, and the system will no
doubt soon extend itself into the interior
OF Tennessee. The facilities thus afford
ed Tor concentrating troops in time of
war are obvious at once. There could
be no point OF military operations in this
country TO which an overwhelming force
might not be brought almost with the ra-
pidlty CT an avalanche. How could a
foreign army hold position in the land?
The men Of the West could be poured by
thousands upon the Atlantic scaboard bv
the Baltimore and Ohio rail road. Tie
swift steamers on the Mississippi and
ONO might convey a mullludlnous army
TO New Orleans by the time that an enemy
could effect a landing. The forces of
New FORK and Of NeU England could
be concentrated at Buffalo, al Boston, the
city of New York, or any other point
where danger might threaten nor would
II be IN the power Of an enemy 10 inter-
rlpt the interior communications which
traverse that vast section and unite the
Lakes with the Atlantic.
This gigantic system, pervadng the
whole Union, and connecting the most
remote parts, has grown u, under the i'm
pulse Of peaceful spirit, and without
Interior reference to the uses of war. II
has grown up, too, without the help of
the National Government.-Yet in its
tendencies, III its real character, in its
inevitable results, is il not National? LIE,
those WHO would set themselves agains,
the spirit of nationaitv-who would
cling to sectional interests with exclusive
lenaci!y-who would barricade lie several
Salcs each within its own isolaion-let
all such consider tho irresistible forces
which they are valnly striving against,
and learn now lmpotent are their efforts
What can imaginary State lines oppose
to the progress Of that mighty tide which
urges its own circulation through the
veins and arteries of our gigantic system,
causing one common pulsaIlon, even to
the remotest extremltes, 10 attest the
unity of the whole body? The REruB-
Lie. one and indivisible, is not only the
hope of the patriot, as something 10 be
dearly guarded; it is an existing fact, fixed
by irrcpressble tendencies, and make
sure by an identity Of being whereof
UNITY is an essential principle.
IN view of these considerations the
propriety Of extending national assistance
to the States whose individual energies
have achieved the grea, system Of inter-
communication which binds together all
parts of the county, cannot be reas ona-
bly, denied. If the several portions of
the system are sectional, and pertain to
particular States. the aggregate is national
and belongs to the Union. What is done
cannot be undone; if it were, it would be
done over again. The impulses of an
undying activity, quickening cur people
and stirring them to enterprise in al! the
pursuits Of productions and trade, must of
necessity give existence to a system of
internal Improvement lfthose impulses
have gone too lar-il heavy responsible
tiles have been incurred, which, now, in
the reaction of excess are painfully OPP
prcssive, still the results actually achiev-
ed are permanent; they stand fixed in iron,
or indenured in the earth. The benefits
resulting from them are national. What
matters ltby what agency they have been
Accomplished If the machinery of the
State Governments was left TO operate I'M
der influence Of impulses which were
generated by the spirit of the age, it was
because the machinery of the National
Government was Withdrawn from the
work. Ifnow the machinery Of the Ma
tional Government can be used to advan-
tage in remedying the evils produced by
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