The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1853-12-20
THE DAILY DISPATCH.
TUESDAY MoaNING. DECEMBER 20, ltss.
g,,,c rovINcroN Ann ONO RAILROAD.

q,se CONVICTION AND OHIO kAibhoAD,
bill, appropriating Ave millions of dollar'
e., Tho construction of this road, has beer
submitted to the Legislature IL Is uhoef
stood, that a proposition viii be made t.
armand the hill so as to require that the gaug'
az This road shall be different from the on'
adonted on the Central Railroad
The Legislature viii be called upon to de
eide the question, as to the merits of the vari
Gus gauges for railroads which has divided
the engineering profession in both menus
pheres. We do not pretend to kno" "h"'
amount Of engineering talent may DC ia'o,''
in the present Legislature; Int we sre conn
dent that continuous, unhroken gauge is IN
dispensable to the complete success OF any
line OF railway extending aeress the State
The expense attendant on the fransn'pineh'
af nrodnca from one railroad 10 another, st
any oint between the Ohio river ana the
oi,v of Richmond, must reduce the NUMBER
of articles that can bear the cost Of ;ranspor-
tstinn and increase the competition OF other
improvements. The railroads. connecting
with The Covington and Ohio road at It's East
ern and Western e1tremities, have adopted
the feet I-2 inches gauge, and the selec-
ton of any other gauge for this road viii re-
quire transhipment AZ each end. What In
torest is to he promoted by break in the
gausel Win the travelling community DO
concii$;cd by the ch&nge7 Would they
prefer the roa:e where their baggage would
be subjected to = transfer from one set of
agents 70 another, and the charge for passage
increased by the additional expense of tran,
shipment! Would tho delay ard expense Of
transferring produce from one set of cars TO
another, be conducive to the interests of the
producer or of the consumer 7-Will tho in
terests even of the James River and Kama
wha Company be promoted by this plan! 1t
may be said, that if q tr3nshipment at Gov
ington be rendered necessary by change Of
gauge, the produce brought on the road TO
that point would be transferred to the canal.
Such Nigh: be the case, but it is equally Ger
tain, that the break in the gauge at the West
ern end the road would diminish in much
greater degsec, the amoant of tonnage trans
Portfolio the canal. The friends Of the canal
entertain no fears, if the canal be completed
to Covington, but, that the great buIk OF the
produce brought from the West viii be trans
ported On their Improvement The difference
IN cost CT transportation on the railroad and
canal, will more than c0unterbalance the cx-
penso oftranshipment The proximity Of the
railroad and canal, should the latter improve
laent ever be completed to the Ohio, las we
confidently believe ii WILL would be mutu-
al benefit, and the perfection of either i'm
proVement, rs = means of transit for persons
and produce, would enhance the profits OF
the other. Should an interruption, at any
time, occur in shc transportation of passen-
gers and freight on the railroad or canal 4
transfer to the one or the other could readily
be made, and the whole line would participate
IN the advantage.
1t Is a matter of much importance to tba
commonwealth, that the largest possible ton
mage should be brought to the canal at Gov
ington. ii, from any cause, the produce des
fnec for the Eastern markets should betrsns-
ieFred to the canal at Lynchburg instead Of
GoRlngton, TIE canal would lose the tolls
on ninety miles, and possibly on the whole
distance from CoVingtOn to Richmond. No
One can doubt the continuance OF the pro-
ouce on the canal after it has once been
transferred to it, until it reaches It's Eastern
tsrminus; but there is danger that the faciG
LIES afforded at Lynchburg may induce. a
large amount of the trade transported on the
Virginia and Tennessee Railroad to take q
northern direction. Lynchburg may posi-
Oily be benefited by the change in gauge,
but the great interests of the Commonwealth
and of the public would be injuriously af-
fected
We cannot believe that any combinations
could be formed in the Legislature between
the friends of rival lines Of Improvement, by
which this result can be accomplished. The
friends of the canal, we are confident, would
not be parties to such scheme They. at
least on this question, should display mas
terly inactivity" We have sufficient conf
dence In the intelligence and integrity of the
Legislature, to believe that they will be gov
erned in the decision of this question by the
great paramount interests of the State