Staunton spectator, and general advertiser. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 183?-1849, 1845-12-11

| $40. No. 3.
In order to carry these views into any Thin
: like corresponding effect, could not present
your consideration IA narrower range Of intern;
! improvement than that which l have heretofor
recommended. So long as the Western, North
western and Southwestern portions Of the Stat
) are without the commercial outlets which the,
ought TO have, neither one of them can be passe
oy without absolute injustice. Each one is il
need oil The helping hand Of the State-each ON
is entitled to receive it, and each one is capabl
OF making an ample requital for all it may yet
a main difficulty in relation TO them has alway.
been, how 10 provide for them all at the sam,
time, without haSarding too far the creation O
an oppressive debt; or how, on the other hand
TO apply the resources Of the State to each on,
I separately and IN turn, without exciting the die
trust and hostility of the rest! In Whatever wa,
this difficulty may be met, whether by Il success
sive or united provision, il is still certain that ne
measures can command the confidence and co
| operation which are indispensable to fina! sue
cess, that do not, in some form or other convey q
satisfactory assurance to each particular section
that 1t will not and cannot be neglected. The
nature and extent of that assurance, leave TO be
devised by yourselves. The Northwest shoult.
be satisfied, that if nothing more is given, the
million OF dollars at least, which has been con-
tin9enlly subscribed for its benefit, should not be
withdrawn; the W est. that the promised connex-
ION between the tide-water and the Ohio river
should be made good; and the South west, that
It's many and It's just claims, which nave been so
long and so lpjuriously denied, shall be denied
no longer, and that the request which it now
makes, 1t not substituted by something better
shall be fully, Immediately and heartily complied
with.
In relation TO the improvement entrusted to the
James River and kanawha Company, roget to
lnf tt,.,t. 4
lis progress, than it was year ago, nor likely to
be In any better one, in that respect, wear hence
man II is now, unless the Company shall be sup
Piled with other funds than its own TO 90 on with
lis woI6. 1t Is now upwards of three years
since ali operations upon this line above lynch
burg have ceased, and ceased for want of means
10 do more. These means, the Company cannot
raise upon Its own responsibility, nor out of any
property which belongs TO it. 1t is without
funds beyond its daily liabilities, without proper
ty to convert into funds, without credi, to borrow
Them upon, with Il hundred and forty-siX miles
only completed Of the four hundred and eighty
committed 10 lis charge, and with but single
year remaining OF its chartered time to complete
The residue; thus situated, it can hardly be
doubted that any further reliance upon il to pros
ecute and finish lis work is mere illusion, which
could end only In disappointment and delay
lhe whole dependence of this Company for
some time before it stopped its operations was,
IN some form or other, upon the aid OF the State;
It's whole dependence now, for the continuance of
these operations, is upon the same aid. If il is
granted, the Company becomes neither more nor
less than The agent Of the State for the manage
ment of It's money, and, in this light, consider
Ing That 1t Is mainly corporation of corporations
whose several functions have nothing in common
with railroads and canals, and that its response
bliues are only TO itself, it is, perhaps, as little
suited Tor the application of the public funds,
as any agent to which the Legislature could ever
think OF committing them. AS every dollar,
therefore, OF the money upon which this work is
10 be prosecuted, must come, if at all. from the
State 1t is the clear duty of the Legislature to
reserve to itself the direct and entire control of
all it may grant, and secure its due application /
under the most public and searching responsible !
lty II can establish.
Without adverting 10 the administration of
this Company for any purpose of criticism upon |
us expenditures or failures, but regarding ii only
In Its actual condition, and seeing that it has ac-
compshed all that il is able to accomplish, that |
1t Is poweress TO do any thing more, and that it !
Is radically unfit, by OF its peculiar struc-
ture, 10 act as agent Of the State in what remains
10 be done-seelng this, cannot recommend too
strongly the Immediate adoption of such mea-
sureS as shall be necessary TO repossess the State
with the consent OF the Company, either of the |
whole line of It's work, or of the unfinished part
OF IL, and TO the end that it may execute ii on lis
own account, with all the vgor and despatch at
It's command. Should this be declined by the |
Legislature, 1t is nearly certain, from any thing
lhat can now be seen, that an indefinite, ii not
permanent stop must be put to the extension of |
the work, and the large commercial interests de- /
pending upon 1t be thereby abandoned. Under |
the pressure oil this overriding necessity it NAV
well be expected, that all minor objections to the
plan OF State execution will be given up, and |
that the State will promptly inierpose to protect
and save herself. The work, in all its necessity |
magnitude and value, Is emphaicaly her own
work, and her utmost eXertons should be freely
given TO carry 1t through.
by what mode Of improvement, however,
whether by railroad, canal, or some other, this
object can be best accomplished, is question of
Some difficulty, and one upon which a few re-
marks may with proprlety be offered.
Having examined this question with good
deal oil care, am satisfied that a railway, all
things considered, is 10 be preferred that 1t will
cost the leaSt-pay the most in return-accom-
modate the best-have the most to gain by the
progress OF mechanical invention, and, when
completed, will best promote the general purpos-
e e,s OF moral as well as physical improvement
These general points, embracing substantially
all that Is wanted in any plan of Improvement,
submit to your judgment, in much confidence,
that the more they are examined the more they
VIII be verified. Without illustrating that of
cost upon comparative data il is evident, in the
hTst place, that, a railroad can accommodate
lseIi to the country which it is TO be taken,
In a way quite impossible TO a canal, it has, in
this circumstance far greater command than the
other over It's cost of construction. Besides this, it
Is undeniable, that the cost Of an improvement,
as financial question, or question of State econ
ony' depends more really and truly upon the Ca
paclly oil that Improvement to reimburse the en-
pendIture upon it than it does upon the amount
OF the expenditure itself. Judged, therefore, by
THIS deinltIye test, the true question of cost,
which is at ISRmp hei ,vcnn iInen rncnnrtirn