Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1848-12-01

concluded, further that efforts were vain, as our
doom TO privation in this particular was hxed
fate. Mean while other States, have pushed !
forward their improvements (soRe OF them
with rash and ex.ravagant hand, It Is true,
but in the main with the most beneficial re-
suIts,) overcoming obstacles far greater than
any which impedes US, and obtaining tor
themselves. still greater advantages over US
in the competitions of the market. We are
therefore impeIled not only by all the more
obvious considerations which appealed to US
in former times. but by reasonable self de-
fence, to abandon further hesitation and adopt
at once system of Improvement co"imen-
surate with the wants and interest of the
State.
Too much should not be undertaken at once,
but what NAV be attempted, should be thor |
oughIy completed Asthe commencement of
such system, and basis, on which other
works may be engrafted, to any desirable ex-
tent, as our means may from time to time per-
nit, Railroad from Raleigh TO Charlotte by
way of Salisbury, appears TO me OF The hFst
moment. This scheme has not been much
considered heretofore, and derives much OF It's
Importance from a kindred work, now IN pro-
gress from Charlotte to Columbia, South Car
DINA Already from Raleigh Northward
continuous lines OF Railroad and Steamboat
transportation stretch thro' the towns Of Viz
gina and the great cities OF the North, TO
Portland in Maine and, Buffalo on Lake Erie.
. Similar works also exist, or are in progress,
with certainty OF completion in the course
of year or two, extending from Charlotte
r Southwark through Columbia 70, Charleston. ;
a., and again from the former OF these through
Augusta, and the inferior ..ot Georgia, and
Tennessee to Nashville as wei. as to Mis-
:. sssippi, at Memphis, and TO New Orleans, by
: way of Montgomery: and Mobile. =,
= Through part Of IN osth Carolina alone, a
: I-link is wanting, to complete the grand chain
!. Eof communication, froq, onc extremity of our
\, tCouutry to the other.. and 10 furaish to the
4 whole nation those facilities. of intercourse
>. which the inhabitants North and South of us,
: enjoy in their several sections The connex-
lion proposed therefore being as it were a
4 bridge. a space now impossible by steam
cars. having aLeiiher cad the great highways
o. the North and South, with their numerous
{ branches for thousand miles in both dIEec-
lions, promises a reasonable remuneration for
= the ouIly Of its construction, from "through'
n transportation: and in military and other
Y points of view, would he Of great national
# advantage. Had nature supplied us with
:. navigabIe rivers like the Mis- sissipP, flowing
!. New York and New Orleans, or even &c
r. Charleston, all would at once perceive the
r benefit Of the junction of the two, througf
the interior of the State, as clearly as did the
n genius Of Clinton that arising from the uhlor
# OF the Hudson with the great Lakes. The
. parallel may not be yet perfect in the Presen
- stale of Railroad conveyances, but Ia destined
v TO be so at no distant day.
!. But the foregoing are merely incidental in
:, ducements 10 undertake this work. 1t is com
70 mended to us a. great North Carolina i'm
IN provement, appealing 10 our interest and Stat
. pride, by arguments which II we've almost crl
?. mna to overlook. LIST. 1t would open 10 tn
,. market of the world an extensive region O
in the State, reaching from the Capitol almost Il
re- the Blue Ridge, of great fertility and capaclt.
nt for indefinite improvement, by reason OF II
:. Agricultural, Mineral and Manufacturing re
n sources: containing in the Counties within
al twenty five miles of the most direct route
l. more than 100000 souls: and within fit
n. miles, more than one hiatt OF our whole popu
" lation, who are far removed from places q
II trade and dependent entirely on the commo
to wagon and common road fer all their trans
70. porta.ion. The occasion will not permit m
H. 10 dwell on its numberess benefits in this re
ut gard, which will readily occur TO any one wh
z looks on the Map of the State with the eye c
lie 4 statesman and patriot. :: End. 1t would all
mr. Incidentally, to the business and value of on
~ at least, land ultimately OF bnth,( 81 our pres
n ent Railroads, in which the State has so dee
n. an interest, and make them productive Stock,
70. 3rd 1t would unite the middle and easter
RI with the western section of the State, in dc
II nestle trade, and exchange of productions 10
nj cumbersome for the present mode Of convey
of ance, besides facilitating travel for health an
he social intercourse 4lh. By running over tn
of most practicable route from Raleigh TO Sails
lv hurry, and thence turning soulhwestward
Charlotte, it would bsect the State for nor
,rt than hundred miles, bringing the most IT
lie mote on either side within fifty miles of Il
is. Railroad, and would be in favorable loo;
er, ton for being extended still farther west fro
of the former places, and 10 connect advantag
i'd ously by means Of Turnpike roads with a
wn the Northwestern part of our territory.
dv Whilst il would confer these benefits on II
Of interior country, now depressed and partial
all excluded from all profitable commerce, the O
ad lection has not been overlooked that 1t do
les not point Immediately to the seaboard of o.
pnt own State, and to an increase of the prosper
the ty Of our market towns. Let them howev
the not despair. Its advantages will be afford
ed to them in due season. After the complete
Of of the main track, branch TO Fayetteville
Ter. other point on the navigabe wafer OF the Ca
Ugh Fear River, will be OF easy Accomplishment
ORE Its extension from Raleigh 10 GoIdsboro won
'iI- be invited by the connection thus to be forr
ave ed between Wilmington and the upper con
Dts, try, and eventually it might realize that scher
on of central Railroad consecrated by the pat
wo otto labors of Caldwell, in an extension frc
ion Goldstoro to Beaufort. Whether thereto
OF we regard it as a sing lie work, or as the groun
am work of an extensive plan, the Road from R;
ion eigh TO Charlotte appears be the importa
and improvement which should first engage o
no attention and our energies. And accordln
ex- ly recommend j: 10 the patronage OF the l
to gislature, TO the amount OF half, or at lie;
an two-6fths of the capital, necessary for its co
OO' Structon. The distance is about one hundr
AIRY and sixty miles by the mail route and the c.
'eet of the Road and equipments over such rot
ned as may be selected, would probably not G
ex- coed sl,6OO,OOO- A. an indictment TO
the this scheme, it presents an opportunity
ger disposing Of the Raleigh and CASTOR Road,
has been intimated in the preceding remar
to on that topic A Company might be orga
e. zed to embrace the entire line from CASTOR
Nhar lotto md o.I 49,