Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1845-10-28
Far The Enquirer.
STATE IMPRovEMETT.-No. Ill.

II is not | believe, any preference OF Foreign
10 State market. other things being equal %
even a natural identity OF interests between lhem
aud Baltimore, which has caused Tins temporary
eslrangement from their counlrymen but only an
impatience of commercial secluslon, ana an
eagerness 10 seize the>opportunity which they say
is now offered them, Of getting an outlet 70 mar
ket withou, any cost 10 themselves. When you
talk TO them of The superior claims OF Virginia
mart over one in Maryland, they only reply tha
they want choice OF markets, and wish TO be lied
10 neither. Now on This very ground rests The
other side OF the question: they have The BALI
more market nor, and We want 10 give them a
Virginia one; while if the Maryland improve
ment be extended on the proposed pan their trail
fc will be forever forced 10 II, or al least unli
such lime as long commercial intimacy sliaii nave
done away with all hope oil It's diversion 10 Rich-
mond The line which may oe CONSTRUCTED now,
whether the one or he other, will have The mono
poly for an indefinite period. The advantages Of
The Baltimore road have been greatly overrated.
How is il 10 be completed? Where is The money
10 come lrom2 The Company moi able 10 COM
mence immediately; and before The work could be
finished. other avenues could readily be opened.
The James River and Kanawha improvement, re-
viled as it has been, has advanced more rapidly
than either of the Maryland works, and at less
cost than either. But The Parkersburg people al
low their hopes 10 be dimmed by no financial
clouds; they rely on Providence and Baltimore
capital to bring The road 10 their doors, with no
deiriment to their own pockets, and, folding their
arms sill quietly down in blisslul anticipation OF
the day when, through the benign charity and dis
interested benevolence OF the Baltimore mer-
chants, they shall be able 10 transport their cattle
10 marker, by railroad, al one dollar more per head
than il now costs 10 drive them over road run
ming Tor lwo.lhirds of the distance parallel 10 me
identical railway this latter work being supported
partly by the transport OF the produce, which they
say will not enable them TO build II Tor themselves,
and partly by trade drawn BY some inscruIable
leoerdeinain from the Ohio below the kanawha,
without iniuring the traffic Of the kanawha.-
They care not for the dividend or The profits oihe
work, only seeking its benefits in the enhanced
value Of their land and its produce overlooking
The fact, that the interests on The capital invested
ii moi The capital ITSELF must come from their
own purses, and that the Tolls on their commodi-
ties will be raised until that interest be cleared.
The prompt development Of the mineral resour-
ce. of the North West has been alleged as an in
ducement 10 the extension; and the results at Cum
berland and the Allegheny coal region adduced
in support Of it, Now all coal and iron from
Virginia would have 10 pass by The latter point
10 reach market, and having 10 go from 50 10 POO
miles farther would bear at The place OF delivery
an increased cost equal 10 the cost transport Tor
that distance and further, The supply oil The way
demand would be closed 10 il below Cumberland
for il could be filled more cheaply from that
place; while on The Richmond ronle, il would mol
only traverse country in want oithose minerals
and unable 10 procure them elsewhere, but on lis
arrival al market, would have only 10 compete
with that brought from distance fully as ert a.
Add 10 this, that the interests of The Virginia
miners would be, without appeal, subject 10 the
MARYLAND Company, Supervised as il is by
The MARYLAND Stale Governmrnt) and that
they would thereby be kept entirely subscrvlenl 10
those OF The Cumberland capilalsl>-an end
which the conduct OF The company, in the choice
of It's route West OF Harpers Ferry, as indeed in
everything else, shows would be unscrupnlousy
sought and used. In such case, no assistance from
their own State could avail them, even had they
The etfrontrry 10 ask II. There is prospect that
those interested in the introduction Of the Bali
more road will apply al the coming session, Tor
an incorporation entirely independent, with the
view of dispusing Of nearly all The stock OF that
company: but prior restrictions As 10 The applica.
lion of its funds will most likely prevent its avail
ing itself OF aid from The hand thus thrust 10 il
through the meshes Of legislation. Maryland
having made her subscription 10 The stock OF that
road without any view 10 such future course oT
contingency, will not il is quite certain allow 40
ruinous q diversion Of her investment. But |
scarcely think The Northwest will seek this, 10
say the least OF it, indirect means of gaining its
end II that section afford trade enough 10 sup
port a railway, why do not the people build il
themselves Indeed, the ornale Grafton, which
now seems TO be their, shibboleth. says that the
stock would I've as valuable, perhaps more so,
as any in The United States. Perhaps il would;
and for that very reason should be most pleased
10 see il in their own hands.
But 10 dismiss, as do gladly, this unpleasant
branch Of my theme, the observation will suffice,
that, had one half the time, labor and thought,
spent in The advocacy oil foreign scheme, been
devoted 10 the investigation u commercial con-
neclion with the Virginia shore oil The Chesa-
peake, the deliberations OF The Clarksburg dele
gates might have brought results 10 their fellow
citizens generally more palalahle and locally
more promising. Nor would their dignity have
suffered much, in that case, from The loss OF aid
ffon their Cincinnati allies, whose newspaper
suulbs, fred al uur Legislature, and The popular
maionly which supports il, remind one OF The
Eastern practice of throwing pebbles al monkeys
in the trees, by way oil provoking them TO hurl
eocoa-Ruts in revenge. And this most loyal,
but hitherto neglected, portion OF her (Virsnia's)
children" would, We ought 10 expect, be the last
10 prove Iccreanl; Tor she has done more Tor them,
propoIlionally, and with less recompense, than for
any other part of her lamily-lhe Two ParkeIs
burg lurnpikes, tie only purely Stale works we
have, having been built wholly al her expense,
and a subscription ol more than million OF dol
lars having been made 10 the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad.
With infinitely more justice can the Soafh-west
demand an increase OF attention IN The disiribu-
lion Of State iavors-for, not only are her unde-
veloped resources far more considerable, and the
unaided enterprise with which she has attempted
their improvement more respectable, hut her
claims have ever been urged with less peinIance,
and she has never once swerved Gin spite OF the
insane and ephemeral proposal originated some
years ago in Tennessee, 10 form on ihe Holston
The new Stale OF Frankand) from her allegiance
10 The Old Dominion. For her. loo, The parent
Government has done nothing whatever, beyond
subscribing 10 Two or three litile iurnpikes, the
two-iiths which are offered 10 all. She now asks
for an improvement which will make tributary to
our ports one half OF Tennessee, and open, be-
sides itch deposies of lead, the finest beds OF
gypsum and salt in the Union, and The metal OF
civilization in such abundance as TO have obtain
ed for The Blue Ridge, through more than one hun
dred miles oil its length, the name OF "the Iron
Mountains" This railway, together with The ex-
tension OF the Louisa road 10 Harrisonburg and
Moorefed, an outlet TO be offered the North
west 10 lieu OF the one 10 Maryland. shall men,
lon in another place, as iateral members ora sys-
tenn OF State works.
Oilhis proposed system, the James & Kanawha
line should, as submitted before, be the nuclensA
It is Virsnlas jorlorn dope. Every interruption
and delay it meets with, breed new interruptions
and delays: and its mos, serious opposition il
has encountered in those who were considered lis
most natural friends. II would not be to The pur-
pose 10 specify invidiously but it irks one 10
read calmly such wild assumptions as, that j! IS
cheaper 10 carry Ton Of goods from Gin
cinnati TO New Orleans, than 10 Point Plea
SAINT; that the Canal is impracticable along the
route already located and partially executed; or
that the work, if il has been successful below
Lynehburs, would not be so above that point, and