Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1851-09-18
[PROPRIETORS.
voice, and that he was suffering at the time
from a wound or two received in his last
skrmish with the Spaniards.
Commercial Convention.
Speech Of Ex-Governor Jones,
OF TENNESSEE.


me to-day, beg 10 tender you my hearty
and sincere thanks. am not a son Of Vir-
gina, but although not native Of this
venerable and ime-honorcd commonwealth
feel that am as much identified with it
as you arc. tGreat applause.l 1t is the
land of my fathers, il is the birthplace of
Washington. Renewed applause. 1t
constitutes part ofthis great and glorious
conlederacy, and that is sufficient for me.
The stars and stripes Of the Union foat
from the flag staff of your Capitol, and al
though | WAS not born upon your soih !
cannot, am not, | viii hot hc indifferent
TO any thing that pertains to Your interest
or 10 your iutarc prosperity. 1t has long
been an object of deep sohcitudc with me
to meet and minglc whit the ircemrn of this
commonwealth aud now am herr to-day
by accident and good fortune. On my
way home from a visIi to the north on bust
ness. was not advised otyour asscmblagc
until reached Washington. IL was my
purpose simply to pass through tins city
on my way torsc, and not to stays bat
hen learned that you were to assemble
here TO deliberate upon measures calculat-
ed advance the best interests of Virginia,
being kindly invited to participate in your
proceedings, could hot fini il in my heart
10 decline an honor so grateful to my feel
ings.
II must be grateful and refreshing to the
feelings of every gentleman in attendance,
that at last WE have found one common
platform upon which we may all stand, and
mngle and confer together. There are no
political gladiators, there ure no dissen-
sons here. Loud applause. You meet
together as band of brethren for the pnr.
pose Of dcvisihg measures which are cal
culated in their nature and tendency to
advance your interests, and the interests
of Virginia. You occupy platform broad
enough for all, aud strong enough in all Its
proportions to maintain all that choose TO
step upon it.
Mr. President, this is n bright and gori-
Gus day. 1t is green spot in the history
of Virginia. and sincerely do hope thai,
the result Of the action Of this body here
assembled, may be alike beIetcent and
conducive to her best interests. | have to
regret the little ability bring to the fulfill
ment of the task before me, but If can
only demonstrate to you with few prscti-
cal reasons in favor Of the project you have
in view, shall have fully accomplished
the purl,o,c had in view in appearing be-
fore you.
III understand the object of this assem-
bly,, it is to devise measures for the extern
son of the commercial relationships of Vir-
gina. know not whcthcrany dissensions
exist among you upon this subject. know
not whether your feelings are enlisted IN
favor ofthis or that particular point, whcih-
er you desire to constitute this or the other
the recipient of the benefits to be derived
from the creation of n line of packets to
Europe If such, however, be your feel
ing., permit me TO say to you that such an
object is unworthy Of your consideration.
The great question is, shall the prosperi-
ty of Virginia be augmented! All loyal,
true hearted Virginians are bound TO unite
and cooperate in order to secure the ac-
complishmcnt Of the great purpose con
templated You desire to extend your
commercial relations, which is proper and
right One thing nstonishes me, and that
is, that you have slumbcred so long over
this subject, and given so little considera-
ton to it. Ifthe story of Rip Van Win
| klc's trance were not a fiction, 1t would be
fully realized IN the history and progress
the ancient commonwealth Of Virginia.
Her commercial interests have too long
suffered, because of apathy and rglcct.--
| Upon looking back over the history Of this
State. we wall find that the time was when
Virginia was first and foremost in tho great
struggle for commercial nsccndancy. Once
she stood up prc-cmincntly glorious-thc
leader OF her sister States. How does she
stand nowl She occupies now fourth,
yes a lifih-rate position. The secret Of this
supineness ! rejoice to know, you have
learned and are now learning. The great
secret of success with your ncighboring
States, is to be found iuthcir union, energy,
and enterprise. This is the secret Of snc-
cess, and you would adyancein CONNER
cia dignity and prosperity, you must ox-
ercisc your energy and discrcetly appro-
| pirate your capital You have the elements
of greatness within yourselves, and yon
| need but to direct them aTght in order to
command that division Of the commerce of
the world 10 which your geographical po-
sition SO emincntly entities you. Great
applause.
In regard to the commercial relation
ships which you seek with other nations of
the eartll and with the different portions 81
our own continent, have nothing to say.
Suppose the entire marine Of the Arctic,
Baltic, and Pacific seas were yours; ofwhat
! avail would it be, unless ycu had some in
ternal communication whereby freight
could be furnished for your vesseIsi But,
gentlemen, ! say TO you, that before your
vessels can be launched, the enemy will
be upon you, you regard US as enemies.
[Applausc,l The lines Of communication
now stretching out in the far distant west
are of an extent which, to some Of you,
would appear fabulous. Are you aware
of the progress Of improvements beyond
you? Without attempting to exaggera;e,
in the slightest degree, declare to you
that, in FIVE ycars from this day. you may
start from the crescent city of Louisiana-
New OrIeans-and in sixty y-four hours find
yourselves in the city Of Richmond. [Grcat
applause.l Thisis not "a mere ideality, it
is substantial matter Of fact reality
Commence with the beginning Of the line
which have endeavored to foreshadow
to your minds; and where is;t' Begin at
Memphis. From Memphis to the interscc-
lion ofthe Nashville and Chattanooga Rail
road there is now in progress Of construc-
ton "a railroad extending 2sl mi.es. A
large portion Of this road is under contract,
and without any exaggeration, can truly
say, that il will be completed within three
years from this time. At the intersection
of this Nashville and Chattanooga Rail-
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