Washington telegraph., 1851-03-12
INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

| States, respectively. i'll whict the i'm
eral Government should coufine lis ope-
rations to works of national charac-
ter, alone. Tie reason assigned is the
! fear of encroachment nron the rights Of
/ the States, and of consolidation Of pow
er ir the Federal head The Whig doc
trine discards these apprehensiens. as
contracted and groundIess, and regards
every Improvement made ia any State by
the General Government rs conducive
to the prosperity of all. The tendency
of this more enlarged policy is obvious.
1t tends to strengthen the bonds of union
by creating a general interest which
/ would otherwise be limited to State. or
to individual enterprise. In the battles
fought for freedom, Kentucky or len
nessee did not claim the exclusive right
of rejoicing for victories won upon their
soil. All shared the glory of them-all
rea ped the benefits. And why is not an
| Improvement in one State, benefit
/ equally to all? AS nation do we not
consist Of many parts; and does not any
thing added to the wealth and happiness
of one portion contribute to the prosperl-
| ty of the whole?
Mr. Calhoun who, upon this subject
is questionable Democratic authority,
delivered speech in the liouse OF Rep
resentatives of the United States Oh the
18th Of February, 1917, on "blll to set
apart and pledge. as a permanent fund
for Internal improvements, the bonus OF
the National Bank and the United States
share of its dividends (which contains
Just as good doctrine on the subject as
the wings want. The following extract
speaks for itself.
After abiding TO the peaceful condi-
ton and the augmented resources .of the
country, Mr. Calhoun continues:
Thus sitnate6, to what can we direct
our resources and attention more impor-
tant than Iatersaal da1proueneents?-
What eau add more to the wealth, the
strength and the political prosperity OF
the country? The manner in which ia
cil,y and cheapress of intercourse adds
to the wealth of a nation has been so
often aud ably discussed, by writers on
political economy, that | presume the
House to he perfectly acquainted with the
subject. 1t is sufficient to observe that
.every branch Of ssutio,sal aaQustfy Ggrt-
cMltura9, manufacturing, oas@ coHAntcr-
ciaL, IS greatly stinaelote1, and 1ende1-
Ell on 1t more 2oroauct1re. The result
is that it tends to diffuse u11rerSdI 0pa-
lence. 1t gives to the interior the advan-
tages possessed by the parts most ellig:-
bly situated for trade. 1T makes the
country prices, whether i'll the sale of
raw products, or in the purchase of arti-
cles for consumption, approximate to
that of the commercial towns. In fact,
if we look into the nature of wealth. We
will find that nothing can he more favor
able to it's growth chan good roads and
canals. An article to command a price
must not only be useful, but must be the
subject of demand; and the better the
means Of commercial intercourse the lar
ger is the sphere of demand. The truth
of the position is obvious, and has been
tested by all countries where the expert
ment has been made. 1t has particularly
been strikingly exempl;fied III England;
and if the result there, in country SO
limited and so similar in its products, has
been to produce a most HncOntn2O1 de-
<,f hot
pect from the same cause in our country, |
aboundng as it does in the greatest va
riety of products and presenting the !
greatest facility for improvement Let
1T not be SAIL tAett internal improvement !
may be sc]solly left to the enterprise Of
tie States and Of andividuaIs. | know
that much may be justly expected to be
done by them; but in q country so new |
and so extensive as ours. there is room
enough for all the general and State gov
ernments and individuals in which 10 eX- !
ert their resources. But many Of the i'm |
provements contemplated are on too great
a scale for the resources OF the States, or /
of individuals, and many of such a ma
ture that the rival jealousy of the States,
if left alone, might prevent. They re-
auire the resources and the general SUI
perintendence of this Government to
effect and complete them. * I'm
influenced by any otlte! considerations
than love of country aud duty, let US add
this to the many useful measures already |
adopted. The money cannot be appro-
griateol TO q more .eg0lted use. Every |
portion of the comm unity-the farmer, !
the mechanic, and merchant, will feel its |
good effects, and, what is of the greatest |
importance, the strength of the cotnmu-
nifty will be augmented, and its political
prosperity rendered more secare.