Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1844-02-09


corduroy roads in the Maumee swamps.
la the first settlement of a country, men
choose the banks of the rivers, or the shore
of the sea; and one Of the marks Of thrift
and progress in settlement, is, the degree
Of convenience and perfection in their
means Of communication by land and water
Without roads or navignbe streams, com
merce and society are impossible Hence,
islands and countries bordering on the sea,
and indented with bays and rivers, have al
ways been the seats of the highest civiliza-
ton aud most perfect character. Greece
was as remarkable for It's island features
as for its intellectual and social pre-emi-
nence in the East England and Holland
the richest countries Of modern Europe, are
also the best watered and most abundantly
supplied with all the facilities of internal
communication
On the general subject Of safe and con-
venient channels Of intercourse, the public
sentiment has hardly been divided From
the settlement Of the country, the improve
ment Of harbors and rivers, the erection OF
lighthouses, the construction of locks and
canals, and the opening Of direct and easy
ton and expenditure. Ii is not TO be sup
posed, that all this care and expense have
been idle and mischievous that it has all
gone upon mistaken ideas OF policy. But
if not, on what ground is Railroad TO be
condemnedl If modes of conveyance are
desirable in proportion as they are perfect
in proportion as they diminish distance and
facilitate iransport,-if the more we carry
and the quicker we can carry it, the better
the road, because the better it answers the
very end of all roads, on what principle can
we oppose that which comes SO near to an
Initiating distance and friction altogether
One of the most remarkable features OF
our country. and indeed, of the surface OF
our globe. is the valley Of the Mississippi
river No adequate estimate can be formed
of its extent and resources; figures eau
hardly calculate them. But what would
all that expanse of fertile and blooming in
tervale be without the river itselfl what the
river, without the steam engine siemming
its mighty tide 2 Is a nayigable river. then,
a blessing TO country? Is a vessel, pro-
PEELED by steam upon its waters, useful p
And why not Railroad blessing why
not vessel propelled by steam upon the
land useful? IL it carry US along with
equal safety, and equal rapidty, and equal
cheapness, what makes the difference? II
il convey as securely and smoothly over
tracts of earth, where nature has cut no
channels for the rivers, is it any the less u
blessing for that! Hw
There is yet living in Hanover, lady,
who FIVE times travelled from that place to
Boston, on horseback, before a wheel had
passed There are merchants in Montpe-
ller, who have transported goods from Bos-
ton, by ORLEANS, taking four weeks for
a trip, at an expense Of sixty dollars ton.
Has nothing been added TO the prosperity
and improvement Of the country, by all tina,
has been laid out upon the roads since p
Have our increased facilities for travelling
and transportation injured the farmer, or the
mechanic Would real estate in Vermont
rise, if the public roads were neglected for
five years! Would business flourish all the
more, If stage coaches were disused? II
past Improvements in transportation have
not been evils, why should further improve
ments be SO? But, admitting the general
advantage of good roads, is it not manifest
ly impossible to deny the utility of the most
perfect and cheapest of all roads? Still
there are objections to them, which it re-
quires no great ingenuity TO state with some
appearance of argument, but which are, GER
lainly, groundIess.
1t is objected that the very greatness Of
the amount of transportation required by
the business of the country, is itself proof,
that the country cannot be benefited by the
substitution of Railways for the common
roads, For, it is said, this vast transpcrta-
ton calls for corresponding amount of the
means of transportation, horses, carriages,
and public houses These, again, open a
market for our country produce, and fur
nish work for mechanics, harness-makers,
wheel-wrights, painters, blacksmiths, car
riage-makers. &c. This is all very true,
and the inference, at first sight, not unnaiu-
raj, that upon the discontimuance of the
present modes of conveyance, the produce,
now necessary to sustain them, would be
left without market in the hands Of the
producers.
Perhaps the best reply to the reasoning
is fairly to state the whole case Here,
then, is community requiring vast a
mount of transportation, and paying very
great sum for it. Who pays this great sum
Not the particular men, who drive, or who
own the teams; not the merchants, who en-
ploy them but the producers of what is
carried to the ports, aud the buyers of what
is brought from the ports; the men, who
travel themselves, or pay others for travel
ling in their stead. When farmer offers
his pork or his cheese TO a merchant, the
merchant considers what the pork or cheese
is bringing in the market, and what il will
cost him to transport it. He deducts the
cost of transportation and shrnkage from
the Boston price, and allows The farmer the
balance When this farmer buys goods Of
this nlerchant in return for his nork or