Daily American telegraph., 1852-03-25
AMERICAN TELEGRAPH.
Affairs IN Georgetown.

Affairs In Georgetown.
rive were compelled to omit the following pas
sage in our Georgetown letter of yesterday for
want Of room:
In a former article we endeayored to show that
the many years of adversely through which
Georgetown has passed was mainly owing to cir
cumstances over which her citizens could exercise
no control, and not, some persons have erro-
neously asserted, to want of industry and en-
terprise upon the part Of our business men. But
all such assertions as these we shall pass by Dc
ieving, as we do, that candid individual VINO
has the slightest knowledge of the character y
our people viii give credence to thenl-emaha1ihs'
as they generally do from class Of individuals
who do but little, if anything, to promote the
common weal; who find sufficient employment
il no;pt;nc ont what ought to be done, finding
fault with their neighbors, or in calling on Her
cules (Congress) to assist, but are never found
with their own shoulders to the wheel.
But it is a cause for rejoicing that we have
weathered the storm, passed the breakers, and
once moro our skies begin to brighten, and in
every direction there are signs of returning
prosperity.
But may not a combination of circumstances,
such as has heretofore shorn us of our prosperity
and crippled our energies, again interrupt our
present comparative prosperous condition y a
question which we may well ask ourselves
We have already seen that neighbors of
Baltimore have completely hemmed US III, IN
our rear, with the Baltimore and Ohio railroad,
which furnishes thom with an uninterrupted
communication with the rich and fertile region
If country lying north and west OF US, and with
the coal-felds Of the Allegany, from which we
once expected to derive great benefits. Then,
again, if we turn our eyes to our still nearer
neighbors Of Alexandria, we shall see that they,
too have already commenced to connect them
selves with these great fountains of trade in like
manner Already we hear the heavy tread of
her iron horses, as they go driving westward.
Soon they will have passed the mountains and
reached the rich valley beyond, and for aught
VIC know, have formed junction with the Balti-
more and Ohio railroad; and we shall find our
selves in an angle between the two, exposed to
the CALLING fire Of each, with other depend
ence than the Chesapeake and Ohio canal
and even in this, to use the language Of another,
our Alexandria friends caught us mapping,
and tapped right in our teeth, and thereby de-
spoiled US of large portion Of its trade.
While we are candid to acknowledge that this
noble work has done and continues to do much for
US and that we are mainly indebted to it for much
Of our present prosperity, still we insist that,
under present circumstances, we should not de- |
pend upon it alone, for the very reason that We
are all aware Of the fact that from either breaks
or freezes, navigation upon it is frequently sus-
pended for months at time, and most frequently |
when farmers and others have most leisure time
to transport their produce to market and then |
we are left with no other dependence than |
the small amount Of wagon trade to the District
and even this has to be divided between US and |
our sister city of Washington. So that we must
all see the actual necessity Of connecting our
town with our only sources Of inland trade Ivy
some other means than the canal. If we do not.
, may not our neighbors Of Baltimore and Aexau-
dria, during suspension Of navigation upon I,
draw off from large portion of the trade
upon which we mainly depend, viz -four and
grain? Aud if once il is diverted from this its
proper channel, we shall not be able TO get it
back without much expense AMI trouble, if at all.
As some Of the many readers Of the Tele-
graph may wish to know what other system Of
communication we would propose, We will make
it the subject Of another letter.