Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1854-07-14

etween her and some Of the great ys
European communities, and specu- m
ting what might have been the n,
esult in them had the same we'll
ERECTED enterprise been called into 7"
Take as one of these "
Russia. with her sixty or eighty g
Millions of population and vast ex- n
ent of territory, capable of produce !
ng every commodity requisite for ,
nsurine the greatness of nation. d
Had her government and landown- l
ers, instead Of expanding the whole /
Of her revenue and capital in bar
barrie pomp and wars Of aggression
jim studding her shores and her
frontiers with fortresses and batter
their attention to the
improvement of her navigable rivers,
and to the construction of a system
of railroads; had the appliances of
science and machinery been brought |
TO aid in the cultivation of her soil
and in her domestic manufactures,
what height Of greatness and pros
perity might she not have been en-
joying at the present moment, in
stead Of being, what she has made
herself, the plague and the pest of
Europe Her southern provinces
might have supplied food sufficient,
Of every kind, to have maintained
a population treble in extent to what
she now possesses. She has with
in her territory minerals almost in
exhaustible in extent She has vast
forests of excellent timber, which
invite the axe of the enterprising
laborer fisheries, which might be
prosecuted with eminent success /;
and other sources Of wealth, which
amore practical and sensible people
would long ago have turned TO use
full and profitable account. She has
had in her possession the means OF
forming a powerful mercantile ma
rine, which would have been by
this time vigorous competitor for
a share in the commerce and the
carrying trade of the world whilst
by an improved system of roads and
inland navigation, she might have
made herself the connecting link
between western Europe and the
interior of Asia. But Russia has
preferred the path of ambition. She
has aimed at grasping new terrific
ry, and neglected the more peaceful
and the wiser policy of developing
the resources of that which she al
ready possessed ; and, as the result,
her fall from high position amongst
the nations is probably close at hand.
But we turn once more, before
concluding, to the great country of
the West, with a view to inquire
whether its institutions, and their
past working, afford guarantee of
its permanence and continued pros
perity. There was period-in
1928, if we remember aright-when
disruption threatened the integrity
of the Union, and it was prophesi-
ed that interests so different as those
of the Southern States and the N.
England and Western States must
ultimately bring about their separa-
ton. Even now the slavery ques-
ton is provoking serious discord,
and may have, to those who have
not studied the position of the coun-
try, a somewhat menacing aspect.
But since 1928 much has been eff
fcc,ed to cement and strengthen the
entire confederation. The various
lines of railway and other commu-
nications running from north to
south on the Atlantic seabcard, and
along the valley between the Ale
ghany and the Rocky Mountains
through every variety of climate
and of soil, from the temperate
nearly to the tropic, have created I
vast interchange of the products
both of agriculture and of manufac
turing industry, which no section o
the great republic can now afford t.
forego, or to see diminished. TIL
importance of maintaining the con
dition of mutual dependence be
tween the various states is becom
ing day by day more acknowlede
ed. The manufacturing and Yves
tern states especially feel the advan
tages afforded to domestic industr
by an increasing crop of the ray
material, cotton, and the sources {
national wealth, in the shape of e,
ports, which the produce of III
southern states provides whilst tn
latter, from tariff reductions, and ii
great advance made in domest
manufactures of every description
have ceased to feel that they al
taxed for the exclusive benefit
the other states of the Union
These considerations induce us
believe, and indeed to hope, tn
the progress Of the entire people
the American republic will conti
ne, that the political compact of u
various states which compose il W
remain unbroken, and that a hig
destiny for it amongst nations is
the future.