Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1851-04-15
rron,;n,,J trou Fourth Pags.

was "SAN~'
the lanes rives and kanawha company was meorpofa'
ted the state becoming copartner WIN
- Tuanty years have well nigh elapsed since tha time
and the work of this company has no. yct
.ha mountain barrier which separates the eastern div
of the State from the western division This com
naoy is without the means credit to accomplish the
.Treat work, with which it has been charged When, \
er the canal dragging its slow length along, will reach
Inc Allegheny range, prophet forete Certain
liz no reasonable hope be entertained of ITS union
~ Ii the Ohio, in our day, unless aided by the ssr
We yet without means to communicate VIII U
icow-citizens Of the east, and as efectuaJ cur o
separated from them, as we were not hore
same state In the county of my residences .Gie ..
manufactured annually, some three inlon
SALT and of this quantity not hundred 'houSanu ouSie',
are yended east OF US.
Mr., SMITH Not fifty thousand &C.
" SWIMMERS Nv colleague says, not fifty thou
ID Orr ant commercial and business relations arc
9Th the western States. MY 1renus iro ufeeuoi'e
,srd Monroe Mr. PRICE and Mr. CApRsToS) IN front o.
ae stworse Oft TOR sneE nave no nv tbe
own They are land bound and mountalnlocked. They
come from the home of the mineral waters and OF the
nountan breezeof healing fountains, and rosy health
:. region which other States would have filed up val
Ieys and tunneed mountains to approach
Beyond us lay the great producing States OF tn'
Union resting the Ohio and stretching to the north
crn lakes begging TO open up channels of intercourse
to our cities and seaports that they may pour through
the heart of this Commonwealth their multiplied com
We have refused to do it. Unmindful of tho promise:
aud obligations made to own citizens and equally
uu,nndful of the true glory aud prosperity ofh ate
that governmental majority which denied 10 "saei
channel has hitherto neglected and refused to perform
the work itself And now that the people of this Com
,npnweath are assembled in fn and free Convention
to amend the organic law, the apprehension that tEe
political power of the State be equally distributed you
will be compelled to pay the debt you owe, and TO dls
charge the obligation you contracted BY the passage OF
some act for the construction of this improvements 10
made the foundation OF denial on your part y, tue
equality which claim at your hands 1ou are At"i
full the appropriating power, II transferred " yUu
,atern brethren will be exercised to your injury, by
tho construction of works of internal improvement Con-
cssedv the central connection ia the only great State
line left unprovided for Ought the execution OF that
work. especially under the circumstances adverted to-
be made the cause of difficulty now, in the apporton
ment of political power Is this in the spirit of fair
dealing and justice Can it be proper to make past
omissions of duty and obligation preteSt for present
wrong and injustice
Gentlemen demand guarantees against appropriations
for internal Improvement Nay they unwilling t.
take ANYTHING in the form of guarantees which
devise Nothing short of the legislative power in their
own hands can satisfy them.
Now, sir in relation to this great work of which
have been speaking Propose to terminate all difficulty
propose that By mandatory clause of the consttu
ton itself you require be provided for and COM
pleted.
II is of sufficient magnitude and importance to ustf,
constitutional conservation Upon the execution OF
great east and west line binding your people udis
souby together by the ties of intercourse and interest
and connecting Norfolk and Richmond with the mighty
regions upon the Ohio and beyond it, verify beev,
depends the future position and prosperity of the Com
monwealth The other Atlantic States have been, ana
are now stretching every nerve, and taxing all the,
means to participate in the trade and commerce Of that
exhaust . BASIN extending from the western base
the AL .hany to the Rocky Mountains, and watereG
by the Mississippi and it's tributaries. Here lies Fir
GINA with her territory nteposed between this grana
of the continent this storehousc for woodland her
port The shortest and most direct line the Atlantic
Is across that territory and the best point for expur
tatiou is her own city OF Norfolk. Will she longer
idle and upon the vasGness OF her resources
without putting forth arm to wake them into life:
Shall we continue in dreamy repose while all the worlo
is astir around usi
You speak Of the comparative poverty of western
Virgins. Why sir, her very geographical position
capital straight line across the North American con
tuent from the Pacific the Atlantic passes through
her borders. All eyes except own are open to The
exatation of her future destiny AN open charter for
railroad from point on the Baltimore and Ohio rail
road in the county Of Taylor to Parkersburg passed @
ring the present session Of the general assembly without
q dollar subscribed by the State-a permission &
pass through Virgnia-lght have been sold for mil
lion of dollars. 1t is work Of incaiculabe value to
Of the fairest and most prosperous PORTIONS OF the
State Philadelphia too, Is casting her eyes and reach
railroad bill passed few days since. connects Wheeling
with the metropolis of the Keystone State Virginia,
in the mun6cenc2 OF her bounty, gave away the North
lest Territory to cement the union of these States
nd to aid in the defayng the expenses of our war Of
,pendence. Shall she not seek to participate, Al
t. in the benefit Of commercial relations with the
..a. Commonwealth which have been carved out and
-. now hourishiug upon the soil which was once her
80 owni
,Ir Chairman, l am not here to indulge in crimna
oring behalf of section of the State against
other section. Nor I, on the other hand,
gentlemen to ayow unwilling to any thing out
{ Virginia worthy of imitation worthy of posses
,n The wish Of my heart is, that our own State
lie foremost and most prosperous of ALL she might
=. and ought to be. But cannot follow the example
ii hose who to erect themselves amid the arches
81 he temple, did the selfsatis6ed Pharisee, and
% King down upon Kentucky Ohio Illinois, and the
ner growing States Of the west thank God that they
are not as those poor publicans Remember that the
publican went down justified rather than the other.
But sir this family council convened for the very
purpose of examining household affairs-of profit
ng by past errors and ordering our action as to
avoid them future, it is duty to speak frankly to
each other Can disguise it from ourselves that
have not done our duty and whole duty to this old
Commonwealth. What was her rank and condition
among the States OF this confedaracy the beginning
and what is it now What have done to improve
the talent committed to our keeping2 We have had
entrusted to care of the rest and best pcrcns
of earthly heritage which has been vouchsat by
benifcent Providence to errng Washed Tor
two hundred and fifty miles on her western border BY
that great inland highway of associated States the Ohio
riverher eastern frontier resting upon the Chesapeake
Astounding in safe aud commodous harbors and whose
bosom should be whitened with the of every
nation penetrated by navigable rivers aording water
power to almost any imaginable extent-possessed of
kindly SOIL a salubrous climate, having and min
erals every variety and possessed Of every material Of
weath-tEere lies Virginia in the very centre of the
confederacy and with territory large enough for
empire
With all these capabilities and resources what have
we made of her Look at her she s, and oh think
what she might havo been Her bay city shorn of ts
commerce. Her Captol-stuated at water power suf-
fcent to have made it the manufacturing city for the
Uniun-presentng after a lapse of more than hun
drcd years-a white population of fifteen thousand!
Our eastern fields in counties grown up IN pine,
and large portions of the vest standing in primeval
forrest Her adventurous sons have been driven
to other States quest of that which they unable
to find at home while many of those who have re.
NAMED are content to live upon recoections of the
past-to chaunt the praises Of by.gone generation
and to boast of the might dead who lie buried beneath
SOIL without the energy to profit by their precep
or to follow their example.
What have re done e tha common mind--hog have