Wheeling times and advertiser. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1839-1849, 1845-10-04
VIRGINIA IMpRovEMENTs.-we find

NV HA.it NNN'iS VI Wis WFtttF WIFI much
qualification. Although not always asserting
tn his conclusions, we could not but commend
and admire his earnest and enlightened devo-
ton To the advancement of our noble Com
monwcalth. and his strenuous efforts To br;.iS
her people to appreciate and improve, for her
benefit, the boundless capacities with which
Nature has endowed her. We have already
laid before our readers his suggestion of a
Railroad from Richmond. through Staunton. To
farkersburg a project upon the propricty of
which We Ito not feel competent, without fur
Their information, To pronounce an unqualified
opinion. But, III the letter now transferred
TO our columns, the writer brings forward n
plan which has long been familiar To our
minds; and if. as he asserts, the means of its
accomplishment are noip ready. we hesitate
not To say that il is matter OF generalization
to all who have at heart the greatness and
glory of Virginia. We allude to the con-
struction ol a railroad TO connec, Richmond
with the Ohio river. Whether such a rail
road ought, at once, TO start from Richmond.
or from the head of the James River Canal
whistler II ought tn terminate at Guyando,te.
or Point Pleasant, or, for the present, at
Charleston-whethcr it ought in part to be
made on State account, or wholly by private
capiIal-these are all secondary questions
which must he submitted To the decision of
practical minds on mature consideration. Bu,
'hat The one grand enterprise Of Virginia ought
10 be d railroad communication between the
valleys i the Ohio and James river. appears to
us ralpable and indisputable. Ii is so easy
oil accomplishment, too, that nothing but the
most cuipable supinencss could ever cause il
TO iail, it attempted. In the first place. il
needs only a railroad from the James River
Canal TO the Great Kanawha, to furnish a
Virginia Improvement equal in capacity, con-
venicnce, an ~cheapness Of transport. to anv
other inc between the East and the West.
A canal navigation at the one end. and n
steamboat navigation at the other, already i'm
existence, would open a magnificent channel
Tor commerce between tide water and the
whole ilIimitablc West, the very moment that
this short and practicable railroad should be i'm
Operation. That once gained and accomplish
cd, the further prosecution of the railroad.
either castwardly To Richmond, or westward
" TO the Ohio, would be an enterprise of no
manner OF difficulty, if it should be found
necessary or advisable. 1t is said by South
erncr that $4,000 900 are now ready To be
invested IN a railroad from Richmond to Guy
andottc-all private capital. IL this be the
TACT when 1t comes to trial, so nylch the bet
20. ID, =
tcr. But III order To be- sure of accomplish
ing whatever Is undertaken, il is safest To un-
dcriake first that which is palpabIy of easy
accomplishment. Five or six millions at
most, would construct a railroad from the
alone would advance Virginia to a high rank
among the States which compete for the trade
OF the West. That alone would furnish n
basis for a system of Improvements that, with
little or no expense TO the Commonwealth,
would soon penetrate every portion of the
State and concentrate within Virginia the
eXhaustless wealth which they would deyel-
opc. The wise men who first projected the
James River x kanawha Canal NAV have
mistaken the true mode of Improvement; but
biaN WAS ntllnfT "A
biunder nor imprudence, but was far-sighted
wisdom; and this has been proved by the
experience of other States whose success. with
inferior facilities of nature, we are compelled
to envy or admire. Where are the ewes and
the ears of those Virginians who begin to
doubt whether any improvement between the
Atlantic and the Ohio (f it be of the right
kind) will be profitable?
Let us suggest Especially to the Richmond
Whig)the consideration of the question whetll-
or Virginia ought not first to give her attcn-
ton to this line of improvement. so easy of
completion AMI so beneficial in lis results
instead of expanding her energy upon a rail
road III another direction, against the wishes
OF the people in that quarter, and avowedly
with little hope of profit until it shall suit the
convenience of another St,te To construct a
long and expensive work which she has noa
cqnatc motive for undertaking at all. And if
it were completed. ought Virginia to prefer
The trade OF Tennessee and Mississippi, and
Arkansas, (knowing that cotton will still find
It's best market and cheapest transport by way
OF the Mississippi river,) to the commerce of
Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and other
parts OF the west where staples naturally tend
to an eastern rather than a southern market .
But these are suggestions by the way
While we are grateful for the policy which our
State so firmly and wisely maintains in regard
to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. and while
we hope to enjoy the benefits of that work
yet we know the West has wealth enough for
that to profit by, and that there will b. cnouub
to spare for the profit of Virginia also. And
with a sincere devotion TO her prosperity we
arc anxious thot her measures shall be taken
with such prudence AMI sagacity as shall Sc
cure TO her every advantage that Nature has
placed within her reach. Wcsympathihe with
every aspiration for her greatness ,vc .ro Ia