Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1845-11-20

81
State with the great Western Valley,
by means Of 2 line Of Improvement
extending from Richmond to the Ohio
river, through the Kanawha Valley;
and to direct the public mind to new
schemes Of Improvement which, If
practicable at all, in our deliberate
judgment would be comparatively fruit
less of public benefit; thus tending to
confuse, disunile and weaken the efforts
which should be put forth in COM
bined vigor, 10 secure to Virginia the
great advantages which belong to her
by nature, and which can only be
lost to her by continued slothful in
action, or BY weak and distracted
|counsels, and whereas, we believe it
Ito be the imperative duty Of the Leg
islature which viii assemble al Rich
mond on the first Monday in Deem
Der next, to put an end to all doubt
or delay in this matter, and 10 provide
at once for the completion Of the great
central line, SO long projected, but SO
unwisely and so ruinously postponed,
and that to the discharge of that high
duty, the Legislature should be lnvok-
ed and stimulated by the earnest en-
treaty of the people of all parts of the
State, by the expression of their opin-
ions and wishes in primary assembly.
Therefore, in order that the views and
sentiments Of the people of Kama
| wha, here assembled, may be fully
known TO their representatives and
to their fellow citizens having COM
mon interests with themselves, then
Resolue-
l. That the State of Virginia, by
her former legislation and repeated
declarations, stands pledged to the
continuation Of the line of improve
ment, terminating at Lynchburg, to
the Ohio river, and that this pledge so
solemnly and SO often given, is irrevo-
cable except by breech of public
faith and by consequence, State dishon-
or.
2. That this route has been demon
strated by competent Engineers, time
after time, to be perfectly susceptible
of Improvement, either by canal or
railroad, and that a difference of opin-
ion now, as TO the preference which
should be given to the one or the other
Of these two modes of improvement,
furnishes no ground for abandoning
it.
3. That this line of Improvement
would connect Virginia, more advan-
tageously, with the product and travels
of the Western and Southern rigions
of the United States, than any other
which has been or can be projected
through her territory. 1t is the chan
mel waters of the Chesapeake and the
Gulf Of Mexico, marked out by nature;
insisted upon in the infancy of the State
by her best and wisest Statesmen, uni
formly admitted, sanctioned and pre-
ferred from that time to the present,
and adopted and entered upon by the
State after the maturest elaboration,
as the true highway to the inexhaus-
tible resources of the Mississippi Val
ley.
4. That every years experience
serves but to convince US the more, that
large and enriching portion of west
ern commerce would be turned through
Virginia by means of this line, if COM
pIeted, while none can doubt that
the great body of The travel East
and West would be thrown upon
it.
5. That the opinion recently pro-
mulgated of the profit and advisability
of rail road to Memphis in the State
of Tennessee either in substitution for
the proposed line to the Ohio or its
connection with it, is in our own judg-
ment fanciful and unfounded. The
idea that commerce and passengers
would descend the Ohio and other tri-
butaries of the Mississippi, to such a
transit from Memphis, to Richmond
and Norfolk, can only be entertained
by those accustomed to act upon theo-
retical suggestions, rather than upon
known facts.
6. That we regard the proposition
of conducting railroad from Lynch
burg to the Horse Shoe on New River,
in the county of Montgomery, as a
common stem for the line to the Ohio,
and the proposed line to Memphis as
virtually proposition to abandon the
central route. IF the improvement
commenced, is ever to be completed,
it is only to be done, by adhering
steadily to the one line as originally
designed, pushing it on with united
efforts and means, and trearing all 9TH