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


ile iuture glowth and prosperity of the agricul
tuIal, tne manufacturing and the commeycia in
tefes's OF this Commonwealth, than can possibly
s Ihe passage OF this bill to place in the han5s of
10 slpk IN ocean steamers
eH' may be allowed to express my opinion
nsre, would say, that Virginia has already lost too
much BY this ever-beeinnirg and nevsr-endins
| poIcy OF Eers. She scarcely conmeDess on.,a
tons on some one work of improvement of great
an. acknowledged Importance to the best interests
OF ner people than it is dropped suffered to drag
us slow length along, tor the want of means t0
complete 1t, and all of her energies are directed to-
and means expended upon some new enterprise in
iike m amer to be dropped as soon some other
ne" thihg attracts her attention. In this way mil
Mons upon millions of dollars have been lost TO the
com cree of the State by cor not tapping the OHIO
river 10 years ago. Most OF the trade and produc-
Hons OF that rich country the great valleys OF the
oG ana tne mississippi rivers have been lost to a.,
anu lear lost forever for it has passed all around
our ooIders and gone to enrich our Northern neigh
oofs' sun, much OF this trade may get be recoy
ereo and secured to US hereafter, if we will now
oniy act promptly and speedily complete our great
STATE Works-and to accomplish this, am disposed
TO hold every dollar OF the Commonwealth and its
credit too' as sacred trust to be expended in that
way.
6ut II gentlemen advocating this measure are
TeeI!y oeslrous OF doing something ore than what
nave pointed out, to resuscitate, to revive and to
onlid up The now decayed and waning commercial
interests OF the State and thereby make it indepen.
liberal
appropriatlons OF money TO deepen the waters of
the James and Appomattox rivers, as the eastern
continuation OF these great lines of internal i'm
proVement stretching westward from the head of
tue water on tnose TWO rivers, and which must
soon become absolutely necessary as an outlet fox
the produce that will pass over those lines of i'm
proVement centerlng here and in Petersburg And
would suggest to my friend from Elizabeth City a
| very Material modification OF our existing pilot
laws, as measure that would help the cause not
little. Sir, this is of the heavy taxes TO which
| our commerce is subjected, and one | would ike
| much to see repealed greatly modified Let
these measures OF encouragement and re!iet be vo
ted by geLt!enen, and then remove the oppressive
| tax now imposed on the commerce of the State in
the shape OF licenses to merchants, and which op.
| era@es as bounty to the Northern importer and
| JJ5ber, and having done these things they will
have done more to encourage and build UP direct
foreign trade tor Virginia, than will ever be accom-.
| p!shed by Ambrose w. Thompson's line of steam.
| ships to Antwerp.
| Sir in my humble judgment the time his not vet
arrived tor US to embark in steamship line, either
to Great Britain or on the Continent of Europe 1t
| Will not pay; 1t cannot be supported not because
| there Is not even now produce enough shipped
abroad from Virginia to support two such lines OF
| steamers as the one projected in that bill, if this
| produce could be shipped by these steamers-and
in this opinion differ with Mr.. Thompson when
he says, at present the produce shipped direct from
Virginia TO foreign countries is net sufficient to sus
| tain his line OF steamers-but say these steamers
| caznot be supported because the exporters of our
productions will not ship by steamers at the rates
| OF freight they will be compelled to charge to pay
| even expenses.
Seeng, then, Mr. Speaker, that if this bill passes
and these steamships are cons ucted according to
| Its provisions and placed on the line, the whole
scheme must in the end fail and prove loss to the
State what ask, what think you will be the effects
of that failure on the puollc mind hereafter there.
| afler, when our internal Improvements are all com
| pleted and the greatly increased and increasing
| commerce of the State will taen justify the intro
| ducton OF steamships IL our trade with fole;gn
| cOuntries-and with every reasonable certainty Of
it's then successful inuroduction bat individual en-
terprise, and above all individual capital being in
| sufficient for undertaking uf such magnitude
an applicatonis made to the General Assembly for
| State aid either in money or the bonds Of the
| Commonwealth to carry out the enterprise And
| what think you, sir, would be the reception such
| aa application would meet with at the hands of
Legislature having in lis minds eye the failure of
| this scheme We are now discussn Why, that
| body would turn its back upon the petitioners and
| with the ready response say no, we were deceived
once before unintentlonaliy no doubt, his part,
for it seems he WIS himself deceived, but we were
nevertheless deceived, sometime ago, by the repre-.
| sensations of one Ambrose w. Thompso and were
| induced to grant to him charter for an Ocean
| Steamship Company to run steamers between the
ports Of Virginia and the city of fAntwerp. We not
only granted charter TO this company, but from the
glowing descriptions given and brilliant pros poets
held out to US by said Thompson and the friends of
his schena, of the grea. and lasting benefit 1t wou
confer on the fore direct trade OF the State We
were induced further to loan one million OF dollars
of the State bonds to Thompson and his associates
to aid the enterprise. That enterprise failed for the
bubble bursted and proved TO be as transparent as
air; there was nothing IN 1t, at all events We got
| Jthing back out of it. Others could see and told
US of the emptiness of its pretentons, but we did
no, beleiye-we were conhding; we were trusting
we loaned the bonds and they are lost. We hare
| no more State bonds TO sink in Ocean TeAmers
| One word, Mr.. Speaker, to our Western friends;
| IN
| that when their improvements are hnIshed, and
| their produce reaches tide water there will be no
| adequate means at hand 10 take that produce to
| foreign markets They need entertain no fears on
| this head, if the Improvements have suggested be-
| low the head Of tide water are made Deepen
| your rivers below here, ard when your productions
reach tide water Individual enterprise will furnish
ships enough to carry those productions WHITTIER
| soever you may desire Think you that the State
or city of New York, own one 1.-THE OF the thousands
of ships that annually arrive at and depart from
that city No, they are owned by the nations OF the
| earth, IS well as BY our own people These SHIPS
| seek that port because they know that the great
trade aud commerce of the city will at all times
secure to them cargo tor some part OF the world
! Let US then, have the trade, and good nayigable
rivers, and these ships will seek our ports too.
| And now in conclusion, let say, that If, as
gentlemen have la5ored to impress upon our minds,
| other States and other cities are now anxiously
awaiting the issue of DIR. Thompsons proposition
before to-day and in the event OF It's rejection
here they viii gladly avail themselves of the gol
| den opportunity and secure this prize OF great
| price-why, if lais be SO. Mr.. Thompson can lose
but little if respectfully decline Ma proposition
Be this, however, as i. may, Of one thing am
perfectly well assured 10 nay mind, and It is
this the State OF Virginia will be a.ey the gamer
il we reject the bill pending before this Dody
-
| The Po.es in London celebrated, by tune-
| raj service, the 22nd anniversary Of tie Polish
| Revolution Of IS30-3I.
| MAGNIFICENT TEsTIMoSIAL The British
| government has presented u Captain Joseph