Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1844-12-19

Sneu. Al no former peIiou cas any HduoH-
al struggle brought ,he masses Of our PEG.
Pile into more thorough conflict than the
one through which We have passed ne.
yer were they more radically distinguish
ed from each other by opposition OF sym
paihy and opinion, or urged forward TO
the object Of their wishes under deeper
or more distempered inflammation OF party
feelings; vet the great result is no soon
er announced by the will which settles
il, than the commotion is over--the excl
ted millions retire in 1cquiesenee and
peace to their common occupations, and
our whole system goes on just as at first,
without Jar, hinderapce or disorder in its
uncomfortable and beneicient movement.
This result, so decisive of the most per-
feet SUBMISSION to the great principles OF
our admirable Government, is a now
proof that whatever is the iemposry and
the party issues ia which national con.
tests may end, American government,
American institutions and American lib
erty are safe.
Rejoicing with you that the recent
contes, has brought into still clearer
light than before, the sound and sell sup
porting capacities of our system, and has
justified more than ever the anticipatons
which are founded upon it, invoke you
to employ tie repose which has followed,
in building up with diligence and vlgour
the enduring and practical interests Of
that part OF the system which rests upon
you. There is 70 work WHICH could be
better commended to your hands-no one
which is more needluI 10 be done. apd
there is no time for doing it, which is
more propitous than the present one OF
political relaxation Under this view OF
The advantages Of the moment, ! deem il
my duty to speak of nothing, aud recon.
mend nothing which is not directly con.
nected with the IMMIGRATION Of our do.
nestle policy, and TO that end, shall in.
yte your attention, chiefly. to those lead.
ing interests whose sound condition is in
dispensable to every wel'-administered and
and we'll doing commonwealth.
Ofthese interests, "the Internal imQrove
ment" interest Of the commonwealth is
one--a principal, and to some considera.
BILE extent, suffering one. Having adj
vertsd to this subject in my former ms
sage, though in q particular connexion
only, would not recur 10 II now, bM for
the conviction long and hab tnelly enter
tanned, that the in,erna Improvement of
the State, by suitable highways for mar.
ket is State necessity, which, however
deferred; is absolute and inevitable at
last. Let the geographical situation Of
large and fertile districts beyond the All
Ieghsuy, aud the many circumstances al-
feeling their population be considered, and
this necessity becomes apparent. II i'm
pfovemenis are not TO 60 there, IN usands
of their people are oil once subjected 10
the alternative, Tor themselves and Their
children, Of hardship, poverty and lgno-
rance, or immediate emigration. Such a
consequence as this might, indeed be
borne upon a smoll scale without any Sc
rious loss, but it cannot be risktd upon
the territory and population OF these i'm
mense districts, without risklng, at the
same lime, and to a fatal extent, the pros
perity and power Of the State itself. The
portions of the State which are most d. sti
tute, At present, of commercial highways
and most dependent upon them, compre-
bend, together with small parts Of the
Valley, the whole tfaus-A lleghany coun
try which do.s not border upon and en-
Joy the trade Of The Ohio, and form uni
ted whole which is greater in territory
than that OF half of the States; greater IN
fertility of soil than any equal arena ol
our own State, rich in mineral, water
power and heal,h-in every physic Al ee-
ment of wealth which human industry
can use, and wanting nothing 10 render II
prosperous and happy, except facilities OF
intercourse aud trade. But in this vita
and comprehensive want, itstlf the parent
of so many others, it wants almost every
thing else.
Throughout the whole extent oftbi'
country, from Harper's Ferry, TO thf
State of Tennessee, distance OF more
than four hundred miles upon he A H. gha
ny, it is penetrated by a few earthen turn
pixies only, Of wide intervals from one
another; and OF these few, one is unfiu.
ished-one jus, finished, and the oldcsl %
them all, has been scarcely twenty years
in use. Perceptibly and advantageouslyt
however, as these turnpikes have aided
the purposes of settlement and social IN
tercourse, they have been so inadequately
supported, if supported at all, by means Of
lateral and tributary connexions with the
vast tracts of country intervening between
them, that except at their eastern and
western ends, they have rever been used,
or used but little, for the transportation OF
agricultural products. The whole of its
agriculture, therefore, instead OF being
diversified as it might be, continues TO
depend, as it has always depended, upon
one solitary source-that ofgrazng alone
for all of its profits.
In spite, however, of every d'sadvant'
age, and ir spite even Of the dlshearten.
ing difficulties which have been entailed,
for generations, upon the titles of It's land
ed estates under the operation oil our own
laws. such have been the irrepresslSle
enereies of both country and people, that
thew have gone on steadily increasing in
numbers and resources. In twenty years,
the trans Alleghany district Exceeding
somewhat the country here spoken OF
has added hundred thousand to its mum
bers. and has thereby changed its popula-