Hannibal journal and western union. (Hannibal, Mo.) 1851-1852, 1851-11-06
JOURNAL AND UNIoN-HANNIBAI, MO- NOVEMBER 6, 1851

39lIcit cOlutht advantages % dicSC bAh-
not and will not be overlooked by those
in search of homes. The tide Of popu-
lation will pour in with rapidity which
will astonish the most sanguine amongst
you. With this increase Of population,
will come corresponding increase of
wealth, OF comfort, of social enjoyment,
and of alb tie arts and refnements Of
civilized life. Towns and villages will
spring up as il by magic, aloRy the line
OF the road; school houses and churches
will multiply with astonishing r1pidity,
new farms will be rapidly opened, and
the older ones enlarged; log cabins will
speedily give place TO splendid mansions;
extensive manufactures will very soon
grow up, and along the entire route will
be heard the hum Of industry, and the
blithesome songs of happy and thrifty
! population. Believe me, my friends,
this is no delusive picture of morbid
Imagination, conjured up to quiet your
doubts; or to sooth your vanity. On the
contrary, il Is but a feeble delineation, in
no exaggerated terms, of results which
VII be more than realized, -visibly,
practically realized, should THIS naSai6-
cent enterprise be successfully consume
ted. Such have been the results of rail-
road enterprise throughout the world;
but more especially in the United States,
where our republican institutions allow
the widest scope for the expansion Of
industry, and furnish the richie st rewas,is
to energy and talent, in all inc walks OF
life. For a Tina, the opinion prevailed,
that railroads would only answer on short
routes and between large commercial
cities. That opinion, however, is now
completely exploded, andcexperience has
demonstrated, that the most profitable
roads, are those which traverse rich. ay-
ricultural regions, remote from other
means OF transportation. have airea iy
endeavored to demonstrate that the road
will create wealth, attract population,
foster agriculture, encourage manufac-
lures and stimulate industry in all its null
Ntiplied forms. Ii it shall produce these
results, il will have conferred incalcuhble
benefits uponthe community, even though
1t should pay very meagre dividenis to
Its stockholders. The occasion does not
demand and perhaps wilnot justify efforts
to prove that the stockholders may an
ticipate large dividends upon their in
vestments. But if it were proper to do so,
| think il could be easily demonstrated
that the stock Of this road will be not
only paying, but a profitable invest
ment. If, however, it should turn out
Otherwise, and if the stockholders should
never receive a dollar IN the shape OF
dividends, it will by no means follow
that they have made an inu iicious in
vestmenl Of their money. On the con-
trary, they will he doubly compensated,
by the enhanced value of real estate, the
iIhpuise winch 1t viii give 10 Trade, ;lle
increased value of agricultural products
on the line of the rold, and the energy
which it will infuse into every dep IT.
ment Of business. Those who have not
carefully examined the statistics, and are
not practically familiar with the results,
OF railroad enterprise, would scarcely
credit the statements which the plain,
.unvarnished truth would justify, on this
branch Of the subject. But some ilea
may be formed of the vast changes in the
existing order OF things, which this road
will accomplish, by supposing that Divine
Omnipo.ence for some purpose Of its
own, should suddenly stretch out from
Hannibal to st. Joseph, magnfcen.
river, such as that before us. Llnls,
which are comparatively yalueless, be-
cause of their remoteness from market,
would at once advice a hundred, 200
and perhaps 800 per cent in value; pop
ulation would pour in from all directions;
towns and cities would grow up almost
in day; and all the results which have
endeavored to depict would speedily en-
sue. If, then, it be conceded, that the
opening of a navigable river would pro-
duce this marvellous change, twill be
easy to demonstrate that the construction
OF this road will produce even more ex-
lraordinary results, for it is most salts |
faetorily established that rivers cannot /
compete with railroads as general thing.
Rivers are only valuable as affording
cheap and speedy medium of transporta-
lion. In both respects, railroads are
superior to them. The transportation is
cheaper, quicker, and FAR less hazardous.
Hence, we find that the people of New
I ork have jus put into operation Rail
Road $50 miles in length, and at.a cost
II over six millions OF dollars, from Al
'any TO the CITY of New York, and which
vas for the whole distance inme lately
IN the banks 81 the Hudson-the finest
tream on the Continent FOR navigable
purposes. On tais river, the magnifi- I
cnt vessels which navigate it, run at the
ate o. % miles an hoar; but this was al |
,ge,lS, er too slow, and hence the railroad !
,as constr cted, over which a large par
, from New Yo:k were recently con- ,
eyed to Albany ,oI9H ml!es' IN three 4
ours and forty minutes, or IT. the rate of s
ore than forty miles an hour. Yes, to
y friends, incredible as il would have b
'emed thirty years ago, the time has ar il
we'd, when the finest navigable streams R
nj the fleetest vessels that ever turned Il
wheel, are to be in great measure SUI al
ereeded by their powerful rivals, the y
abroad and the steam Car. Nor is il "
fhcult to comprehend why this is so, - >,
n although the steamboat ~
"Walks the water like thing of lire," G
e iron horse almost outstrips the wind 81