The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1852-12-17

experienced IN The old.
The case above supposed is that Of charter
party, and is, by far, the most favorable that
can be presented. The charter requires that
the vessel shall be loaded and sent to sea with
the greatest possible dispatch, and the shipper
is amenable at law for not complying with the
terms. In the case of ship for general cargo,
the delay is far greater, extending sometimes
TO months instead of weeks or days. The diff.
icuty with which ships, under such circum-
stances can be obtained al all is notorious, and
not less natural than notorious. Put all these
things together, and the objection upon which
we are commenting vanishes at once.
This brings Is TO another objection that we
have not the means to furnish cargoes for the
steam line, should it even go irto operation
five have, why all this delay in getting
ssrso7 To this question we answer by ask.
ing another.
Would the present trade of this port justify
the immense sums already appropriated by the
State TO objects of internal Improvement? The
staunchest DryasdHst that ever sent his mill
boy to mill, with bushel Of corn in one end
because his father did SO before him, will al
ence answer in the negative. Thsn we say
that that same trade which will support the
James River and Ksnawha Canal, the Central
Railroad, the Danville Railroad, the Virginia
and Tennessee Railroad. the Richmond and
DanviIle Railroad, the South-Side Railroad,
the Seaboard Railroad, the Richmond and
Fredericksburg Railroad, the Richmond and
Petersburg Railroad, the Petersburg and Wei
don Railroad, the Manassas Gap Railroad,
will support likewise the ocean steam line
Are these roads expected to bring produce to
Underwater merely that it may be all consumed
at their Eastern termtai? Ii such be the fact,
then asssredly the forty or fifty millions which
these roads will cost, have been laid out to a
very poor purpose. Bat such is not their de-
sign, or the design of those who voted them
into existence. They are meant to bring the
produce OF the vast West and Southwest to
this market, here to be shipped. We stated
the other day, that 7GlS hhds. of tobacco had
been taken in Antwerp this year, against $40
last, and that the demand was growing contin-
udiiy. L HIS lODdCtO "CHl NUN 4tCN oIiCohcs
and, perhaps, if we were to say that it Dug ht to
have come here, we should be laughed ut
But, we ask, what are we pushing our railroads
out in the direction of the country where this
tobacco il raised for, if we do not expect TO
get at least portion of it? We find that eigh
or rem yeare ago, in spite of all obstacles, 5 or
5000 hhds. oft came here, and until the same
narrow spirit which is now at work to defeat
the Antwerp line, succeeded in laying sort of
prohibition upon it, it continued to grow III
quantity every year. With that prohibition ia
ken off, and ali our lines completed, what i.
there to prevent the much larger portion Of
it from seeking this market now ! 1t is the
best in the world. To say nothing of its an
cient and established reputation, it is in every
other essential partic ular, infinitely superior TO
New Orleans, to which this tobacco is now
sent. In this latter market, there are, if we
are correctly informed, but few persons who
make the tobacco trade regular business or
profession, and consequently, very few who
are good judges of tobacco. They generally
buy on speculation, and in large majority OF
instances unite the tobacco business with bu-
siness Of some other kind. They do not devote
their whole attention to it, and everybody here
knows that TO be thorough master Of it, it
requires all mans time and bis exclusive
devotion. Besides, the climate Of New Or
leans, always excessively damp, is the very
worst in the world for the preservation of to-
bacco The annual losses from that circ UNI
stance alone, are enormous but this is by no
means the most formidable difficulty. The
freight down the Western rivers is low, it is
true, but the insurance is enormous, as it
must be after so many cases of destruction by
fire, explosion of boilers, &C., to say nothing
ofsnags and sand bars, which have occurred
to steamboats,. To these must be added the
insurance upon the West India passage, the
detention by low water &c. AS a proof of
the Inconvenience TO which buyers are some
times subjected, we will mention a single case
that gentleman of this city, one Of the bit
tetest enemies of the Antwerp line. He has
forty thousand dollars invested in Western to-
bacc0, one-thrd of which is in New Orleans !;
the rest was detained in the upper country by
low water until it was too late to ship it. He
wrote to his agent not to send ii to Europe un-
I'll next August, and in the meantime, to save
the expense of storage, he keeps the two
thirds in the upper country. There is nine
months interest on $40, 1000 literally sunk in the
ocean. All these things show which way the
tobacco will tend as soon as we give it an OPP
portunty TO obey the laws of trade. Coming
here by means Of our improvements, it runs ro
risk from FIRE, snags, sand banks, or The dan
gerous passage arc und the Capes of Florida,
and Of course pays but small premium for
insurance. 1t comes here where the tobacco
business is regular trade, requiring the devo-
ton of whole life to its comprehension, not a
mere lottery for spectators or gamblers, who
deal in it as they would in the funds. As this
tobacco is said to be best for the continental