The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1853-05-13
THE CENTRAL RAILROAD.

THE CENTRAL RAILROAD
The time for taking the cote on the PROPOSE
80, "a subscribe $500, 900 TO this road, Is rapid
" approaching. We have no doa0' .ha' .ne
.,,hs.r;,,;on will be mad, and maze cheef'u'-
~ How dali soever Jour citizens may nave
bsan in times past, TO their own true interest,
thew begin now to be sufficiently awake TO IT.
They see, and i, becomes clearer TO them eve
~ day, that the growth OF the city is in exact
nropor,ion to the progress of the Improvements
which centre in il. The Central railroad has
already contributed its share-the Dsnville
railroad has, perhaps, done even more, aud the
u,;l;ty of the James river canal, is becoming
more and more apparent every day. In the
same ratio that these improvements progress,
the civ increases in wealth and population
and thus it will continue TO progress, unless
something shall intervene to turn the tide of
travel from this direction.
There are powerful efforts making to effect
this objecs Richmond has to contend with
overwhelming odds-odds beneath which she
must inevitably sink, unless she prove true
TO herself 1t is no time TO stand looking up
into the sky, or TO call on the Legislature or
anybody else for assistance. Richmond must
put her own shoulders TO the wheel-she
must depend on herself-she must resolve,
and see that her resolution is carried out
1t is no time now to talk about running
in debt, and to sing jeremiads over the debt
already due. Her present prosperity, her fu
L.
stake. Savannah taxed herself to the value of
every dollar of real estate in the city, and the
apprecia tion of real estate has already covered
the expenditure. So it viii! be here, in much
shorter time than it was there.
Let US not fear to look our situation calmly
in the face. 1t has been favorite object with
Richmond, even before the revolution, TO con-
meet the waters of the James and the Ohio
1t was one of the ideas which was most parti'
cuarly cherished by Washington. AS long
ago, at least, as 1916, plan was laid to make
this connection but the Incidence of our leg
islature and our people has thus far kept it in
allegiance. In the meantime, most unwisely,
and, as we believe, by means of corruption,
Baltimore has been allowed TO penetrate our
State, and to take from us a large part of the
trade which ought to have belonged exclu-
sively to us-which tcould have belonged ex-
clusiveIy to us, but for the folly and parsmo.
ny of our legislatures and our people. She
has not yet ,tten all, however. She has ta-
ken ore large slice of the Ohio trade, and the
Northwestern Railroad gives her another. Not
Ca ~ ,t,ot he -, pIu
Railroad, which will sweep the Ohio. Even
this is not all. The State has been at enor-
nous expense TO construct a railroad from
Lynchburg to the Tennessee line, and this city
had the folly to subscribe $4,000 to it, under
the hope that it would bring the trade to the
lower part of Virginia. BY connecting it with
the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, an at
tempt has been made to transfer it all TO Bal.
timore, under the preposterous pretext ofbuild-
ing up Alexandria.
Thus we see that we are cut off on all sides.
There is but one hope for us. five can push
through the Central Railroad, we shall place,
by it, Cincinnati and Lexington one hundred
miles nearer the sea than they can be made TO
approach by any other route. We shall place
the lower portion Of the Ohio even compares
lively nearer than that By means of the Cen.
trail Road, then, we may still hope to obtain,
not all the Ohio trade that we are entitled to,
but still very large proportion oft.
We as confidently belev that up on the sue.
cess of this road and the Danville depends, in
great measure, the very existence of this
city. as we are that we are writing this para.
graph at this moment. Nor are we alone in
this opinion. There are hundreds of business
men here who believe the same thing. Cut US
Off from this trade, and our business will de
clioe, our population diminish, our energy de
cay, and we shall follow in the footsteps o
Williamsburg and York. Business will &C
where it finds people always doing business
twill travel off 10 Baltimore if it finds not in
ducements here. =.
1t is useless to disguiSe the fact.S We have
n powerful combination fdstruggle against-a
combination which it will require all oul
strength to overcome. OuT citizens are be
coming every day more intelligent. They
have already felt the benefit of the tax they
have laid upon themselves in the case of the
.Danvile Railroad. 1t has already raised the
value of property twenty per cent. Let then
60 on in a career so wisely begun.
This much by way of commencement. We
have in possession some very important intel
iigence, which we shall lay before our readers
tomorrow, and which we feel assured will
leave doubt upon not single mind as to the
propriety of giving the proposed sum.
THE CHINESE MISSION.
From a letter published in the New Yor
Herald Of Sunday, there seems to be lid