Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1852-12-23
fcondensed from tho baltimore Clipper.l
Southern and Western
COMMERCIAL CONVENTION,

This body, consisting of delegates from South
en- and Western statss, met on satufday morning,
lagreeablyto notice through the various papers, at
l11 O'Clock, The committee of2arrangsments and
reception we've present during The morning to re-
eeive the delegates and furnish them with tickets
Brautz Mayer, Esq, the part of the citizens oil
Baltimore, read the following address;
FslIO,O Citizens Of Tie Sosith,
We have invited you TO meet us, IN Inc cry z9h
\ Baltimore, in order to consider questions oil inter-
1 est to the sections of country whence you come,
as well as to ourselves. 1t IS our duty as wen as
pleasure to SeiSe the earliest moment % thank
Won forttheg alacity and good will with which you
have so cordially responded to our cali. -
Gentlemen, we have summoned you here to-oay
\ TO lay, with proper services; and to cement win
hearty feeling; The corner toneof great Nation
\ al Exchange. Many circumstances have !ateiy
combined TO direct pulic notice to the city OF Bal
timore as the most suitable mart tor me pt9uu u
tons in which your parts OF the Union are 30 osep
4 iy interested. When the census Of 1S6U was htSE
| published, and it was seen that the population Of
| Baltimore had augmented in q larger propotlon
within the succeeding len years than that OF any
other Atlantic citymen asked themselves tue queS
ton why this had occurred ana iouho no
save in the facts that there was jealous sur o.
enterprsing activity among our people, iosteIeo oy
the hopeful prospect of future progress, that our
| internal inprov ements weTe tending to develop
region fraught with wealth, not only to our olae
but to other sections, and that Baltimore, IN uutn
was the original and natural terminus of our great
internal trade indicated by nature herself IN the
geography of our county.
Andis not this true? It will be allowed by every
one who recalls the history of colonial and revolu-
lt;ono-ytimes and remembers that Baltimore Town,
in those days, was the spot whence the adventure
and the soldier set forth, vending their way west
ward by Fort Cumberland, until they peneuaI!eu
that wilderness which had been Subdued and clTlli-
1far0F anfV IL
cestors. TWAS from Baltimore Town, then already
place of significance at the head of the finest m
Hand navigation in the world, that the pioneer and
trader sailed forth with their train OF pack horses
10 bear their uxuries and necessarleS ihto 'he
derneSs in order to exchange them Tor the peltnes
which were, at that time, almost the only ''cncola
ting medium" of the region. Maryland, lying hke
a wedge between pennsylvania and virginia. ana
having in its centre another wedge, 1t It's magnlh-
cent bay and river, whose atluentS penetrated lts
most corner, afforded the easiest lew
els as a channel of trade passing the mountains ana
reaching the navigable waters of the Ohio; and
thus our State became the chief line of American
travel, and our city the chief depot between the
shores of the Atlantic and the valleys beyond the
lAlleghenies. Baltimore therefore, IS farley to be
regarded as the natural and historical friend
and commercial ally of the West 1t was so IN the
days when Washington and Braddock pursued the
line of travel have indicated:-and in periods
when the common interests and common sense OF
men pointed out trail for trade, independently OF
oil eXtraneouS influences.
But, gentlemen, it is not to be denied that al
though Baltimore, very soon after the adoptIon OF
the Constitution of the U. S., was acknowledged TO
be the greet flour and tobacco mart Of the country,
as well as perhaps, the best market for provisions
l-she still, in time, found that her commerce dI-
miniShed, while that of other sections, were not
entitled to such advantages, became proportonahIy
enlarged. This may be attributed to three causes
the opening of the navigation OF the MISSISSIPPI
which gave its mouth as vent for internal COM
merce;-the introduction OF steam on that rvef
and its tributaries as the most powerful Tor trade
and trayel;-and the construction OF the Erle "a
nal backed by the masterly system OF internal i'm
provementso of New York, which has tapped the
lakes and western waters, developed Its own nm
mense interior resources, and poured the wealth Of
the Northwest in:o the lap ofits thriving metropo
lis Thus, the old trade, which, IN earlier days
concentrated at Pittsburgh or Wheeling, and pur-
sued its slow journey over the mountains IN the
"Conestoga wagonS,"-which were the successors
of ''pack- horse caravans was gradually alb
sorbed and taken away by the ingenuity OF an opu-
lent rival. 1900. ~ ..r --E t...
But, you are aware, gentleman, that Baltimore
was no laggard in seizing the means OF reassertng
her natural supremacy in the internal commerce OF
North America. We perceive the CAUSE md we
Eendeavor to apply the remedy. We saw that art,
skill, and capital, had strven To overcome nature
and distance, and we resolved to make the same
| elements of success restore nature to her original
rights. '1n
Accordingly, about quarter of century ago,
many of our opulent and enterpnsing citizens de-
termined 10 make that gigantic internal improve
ment, which, the first Of JAM 1868, IS to signal
ize the opening of the new year by wedding the
Ohio and the Chesapeake, and securing an unln-
tenupted intercourse, which shall place the West
ern citizen and his valuable produce on the Allan
tic coast within fifteen hours!
This great work has been delayed. There were
many reasons. 1t was the pioneer railway OF tht
Union, as Baltimore Las been the pioneer port IL
Western intercourse. The art of construction had
risen from mere speculation to science during The
period of its building; and, besides, we had to en-
counter manifold impediments and financial diff
culties all of which it would be idle to recount
Nevertheless, so confident were we of the worth
of our enterprise that we have not suffered our
selves to be daunted by any obstacles. We have
mined our way through mountains, aud we have
taxed ourselves heavily, both rs BaltimoreanS nnd
Marylanders, until, with the sure labor of resolved
faith we have succeededin completing the enor-
nous task. n w
1t IS under such circumstances, fellow citizens
of the South aud West, that we ask you TO come
hither and tell us that our judgment was right
and that we Lave notlabored in vain torthe hIend-
ship Of those sections to which nature had orlgi-
InaIly allied us, and to which art has oEce more
happily restored us after so manyyeaTs OF unnatu-
raj infringement! j.. rs.af.y-
But, gentlemen, while in Baltimore, we have
been striving to make this work, by the expendi-
ture of private and public means, other cities have
not hesitated TO attempt outgenerang us IN our ell
forts to regain your favor. Boston, New HotK anu
Philadelphia, have all striven to grasp the whole,
or, at least, to gain considerable part, Of the
wealth that your industry produces. Yet, in this
instance all their art,-all their ingenuty,-ceuld
not effect two results without which their attempts
must be unavailing They could not destroy the
geographical facts that Baltimore was not only the
natural channel of trade, but that it was, also, the
central point of the seaboard Union, in lnstanta-
neous intercourse with the National Capital
and that its railway is the shortest. drectest and
most economical communication between the OHIO
and the Sea. Fs# .etFf1~
IN order to illustrate our position, let me ask you
to look, when you have time, at any skeleton mar
of the United States, on which the great lines o.
railway are laid down. You will instantly observe
that, while Boston, New York, and philadelphia
stretch out their iron arms with longing towards
the West, every grasp they make drags your pro-
duceover longer road, and, of course, at a high