Staunton spectator, and general advertiser. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 183?-1849, 1847-12-15

I,
within single year ID such he the magnitude {
ITS operations in its presen, unfinished state, it wi
be difficult TO estimate it when il shall reach TN
Ohio. Aud yet we have a more favorable route
with the immense advantage of touching that ri
yer ut 4 more Southern point.
AS TO the route TO be selected, that is of grea,
but yet of secondary importance. In illustration @
this subject, respectfully submit for your considc
ration, Doc No. IL, embracing seven dfleren
routes from this city To the falls of Kanawha com
piled from actual surveys and other data i'm Tn
substantial accuracy of which confidence may b.
reposcd.
1t will not. gentlemen, escape your observation
that the three first named routes pass up the val
ley of james River to pattonsburg Whilst it il
your great duty promptly 10 bcgiu and vigorousl,
TO prosecute our connection with the Ohio river i
Is equally your duty To secure all local advantage:
not inconsistent with the main design. In loca
ting this route, we ought to have an eve to the
country 1t will deveope, and are bound by every
consideration of public duty to give that the prefer
ehce which Will secure TO State the largest
good. Happily, the invention of railroads has re-
licVed us OF all dependence upon water for our in.
communications, and can now prosecute
them in almost any direction that our interests or
our policy may prescribe.
The James River valley has long been regard.
cd as me natural channel of connection with the
great w est. In the prosecution of this DESIGN we
have been engaged 63 years, and have expended
already about SS,O00,0OO. The canal has been
completed to Lynchburg, and soon will be to Pat
tonsburg, afording this noble valley and the con-
tguous country improvement Of unsurpassed
cheapness and safety. Shall then additional mil
lions be expended in the construction of n r,ilro,d
along this valley! Should other sections of the
State, now langushing for facilities, be overlooked.
and their wants disregarded! Would il be lust
or wise, or polite? For these important considc-
rations, respectfully recommend the rejection of
this route. Route No. 4. by Staunton is also OBJ
jectionable. 1t will annihatc the Rivanna Navi-
CATION Company, and the Staunton and James Ri
yer Turnpike Company from each of which tho
State is deriving annual dividends of about ) per
cent. Ii will also destroy them as important ri-
butarles TO the James River and Kanawha Com
pany. Nor is this all. BY act CT March LIST
1917. the State agreed 10 loan to the James River
and kanawha Company her bonds To the amount
OF 81 GOO, upon condition, however that the
SAID Company should give security conditioned
that IT the gross amount OF tolls upon THE WHOLE
line OF the canal between Richmond and Buchan-
an, alter particular period and event. for five
years, 'shall fall below the average amount of 300
OJO dollars per annum," then said securities shall
make good such deficiency. These securities have
Deen given, and VIII, IN my opinion, be discharged
II your legislation should deprive this company of
any OF their usual sources of revenue This route
moreover Is without peculiar local advantages from
which to Increase the wealth and business OF the
State. For these considerations | recommend its
rejection. Route No. 5, to which ask your at
tenton, is the one which passes by Harrisonburg,
Covlngton, SC. 1t is precisely of the same length
with Its predecessor, free from all the objections
which attach to those have considered, enters at
once into country suffering for such improvements,
increases the wealth and business of the State by
retaining valuable trade, which now fosters a
distant city, approaches important section OF our
State, which should be kept constantly and steadi-
" n VIZ and f,r,l- e.
ing the Western waters as any route that has been
named. difficulty in tho passage of the Blue
Ridge has been recently stated but as it is conce-
dcd that 1t can be overcome by an expenditure of
o9O,OOO dollars, do not regard the objection as en-
titled to the smallest considerations
The two next routes, covering the same ground
for about 300 miles, will be regarded together
They possess the same ground as No. 5, as far as
larrisonburg, and, of course, have all the advan-
tageS to this point of that route. This route then
passes to the headwaters Of the Greenbrer, at
which point the line will divide, one branch pro
ceedlng to Guyandotto and the other to Parkers-
burg.
In opening the great arteries of the State, high
political considerations cannot, with proprety, be
overlooked. This route, in that aspect, addresses
itself with irresistible force TO every Virginian,
while 1t is powerfully sustained by all other consi-
deratlons proper to be regarded. Ii is our duty to
afford TO distant sections of our State those i'm.
proyements requisite 10 deveOpe their internal
wealth, which would otherwise remain forever I'M
availing. This is especially duty when, by SO
doing, we can also secure great political object,
that of attaching to the mass of the State an i'm
portant section by the ties of interest. BY the pro-
posed route you press far into the North West, and
give assurance that, at early day, this great i'm
Provement will penetrate that region, and repose
upon the shores OF the Ohio.
This route is recommended also, by the considc-
| tl,,,t,
improvement TO Guyandotte, thus afiordng COM
mon stem to two great objects, and saving a large
expenditure to the State. This scheme will eflec-
tually secure Virginia to herself, and realize our
long cherished hopes and expectations
The adoption Of this route, 50 highly commend
ed by the feelings, Inc pride, the duties and inter
ess OF Virginia, is resisted upon the ground Of its
assumed impractcabity. Physical difficulties, in
suTmountable in character, are alleged to intervene
That these difficulties are great will not be denied
but that they insurmOuntable is not the fact.
am thoroughly satisfied that they can be overcome
| at reasonable cost, and that that cost should be
| incurred. An eye to our Northern neighbors will
dissipato all doubt. The Baltimore and Ohio Rail
road Company are prosecuting similar work with
energy and zeal. They have already expended,
in the completion of l7S miles of their road, s.
91S 800 dollars and the residue thereof, about 20s
miles, will cost it is estimated, about 5000 ,OOO
dollars making an aggregate of about 100000
dollars for the completion of their work. inferior in
many great and important advantages to the ono
I proposed. Massachusetts has connected Boston
and Lowell by railroad only 25i miles in extent
at an expense Of H5,336 Oh per mile, though thes,
cities were previously connected through the Mid
! dlesex canal. She has connected Boston with Pro
! violence by railroad, at a cost of Sjl 440 IS pc
mule, and also with Albany by railroad, Az miles 0
which cost &78 $40 50, and l56 miles. 52,473 dol
lars per mile. N. Y. is connecting Albany with he
great city by two railroads, one throughout its who'll
extent, coterminOus with her noble Hudson, encoun
teTlng enormous difficulties in its construction
which dwlndlc before her enterprise and will. Sh