Republican vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1857, 1856-09-13
Virginia..

In his late speech st the Altm Springs,
Gov. Wise said: Virginia was laid out by
Natures God on such d grand scale. that It
took time to deyeiope her resources. Her
present works of internal improvement
were ..,ut dwarfsh pioneers to grander no.
oler works to follow. She would pass every
rival State faster than they have passed her
in the last fifty years. He preceded to
show that his views were not Utopian.
lie was no true Virginian who did not be-
lieve it. 1t can be DONE 1t shall be tl6,i@ ;"
This language has about it the ring of the
true metal. If the spirit Of the speaker
pervaded the public mind of Virginia, the
thing would not only be done, but it would
be done soon. This long anticipated mil
lenium would gladden. the eyes of thousands
Of men of middleage who, having given4he
prime of their life to the cause of internal
improvements, would feel rewarded. for all
their abors, if their. evening CT existence
could be cheere1 by the advent star of Vir-
ginia's redemption. 1t is glorious to be-
lrsfe that at some future day, this good old
State will stand first in power and 7pros1pri-
ty among the States Of America, but we
confess to selfshncss that would enjoy that
spectacle vastly more if we could behold it
through our own eyes of -posterity We
don't like the idea of finishing our own ex-
istence whilst the public works of Virginia
are in an unfinished condition whilst the
Covington Railroad is not constructed, nor
even the noble Central completed nor the
great james River and Ohio Canal pushed
to its termination. Ifspirits are permitted
to revisit the earth, the old internal I'M
proVdnent party of Virginia will be bo,tnd
to watch at Covington for the first excursion
train from Richmond to the Ohio We'll
s'wait for the wagon and all take a ride"
until which happy event occurs, we shall
haunt the anti-internal Improvement party
till they can find no reast for their souls.
But cannot the noble triumph of Virginia
be achieved in the present day and genera
ton? Is it not possible that the Coyington
Railroad and Canal at least should ba,com-
pleted in ten years? Ten years. Why
that amount of time nov is equal to ceutu-
ry in former ages. Tn ten years Western
wilderness becomes tlourishing city and a
few thinly populated settlements a mighty
State In ten years New York, Pennsyi-
yania. Maryland, will have ten or dozen
more railroads to the West than they have
now. If, all that time, we stand still, trade
will become so accustomed to Other channels
that we may be unable to change It's course.
With railroads r,iaNihg all about us, North,
South, East and West, we shall be left like
a rocky island, in the midst of streams that
refresh and fertalize every part of the world
but ourselves.
Go9efuor wise has truly said that vir-
ginia was slaid out by Natures God on
such n grand scale that it took time to de-
yelope her resources Alas, it takes too
much time! IfNature's God had not laid
oft the people of Virginia on as grand
scale as their State, we should cease to Won
der at the slowness of their operations.
But they have energies capable Of sitrmoun-
ting all the difficulties Of their situation, yet
they viii not concentrate those energies ON
the development Of tie resources Of their
State A race of men which has produced
Washington, a Jefferson, Henry, a Mar
shall, a Mason, Madison, Scott a Taylor,
cannot be lacking in either tie intellect or
the energy necessary to overcome all the
obstacles which retard her material progress.
The grand error has been that her sons have
given tkeir talents and powers to federal
concerns, instead Of finding the tr5e and no.
Bile theatre of ambition and Of effort in the
domestic affairs of their own State. And
what has been the result :? The Union has
become strong and Virginia weak What
might she be now if Washington's plan of
connecting the waters of the Ohio and the
James by continuous water line had been
promptly carried out, and if the great men
of Virginia instead Of going to Congress
ana ehdeaYorihg to promote the strength of
the South by wordy warfare, had devoted
their time and energies to the development
of the resources of the State? Why, the
glorious Future, pictured by Coy. Wise,
and which is to occur fifty years hence,
when it will come too late for the salvation
of Southern society, would be the grand and
protecting Present Virginia would now
be the first of American States. The James
River Canal would be the avenue of as vast
an amount of trade as the Erie Canal; Vir-
ginia would have as many railroads to the
Ohio, as New York to the West; Richmond,
Petersburg, Norfolk, Fredericksburg, Al
exandria and Lynchburg would all be large
cities; tie James river, York river, and the
harbor of Norfolk, would be filled with the
shipping of the world. The State would
now have population of three millions. In
short, Virginia. instead of New York,
would at this moment be the Empire State
Of the American Union And what
would have been the result upon that slave
ry question which now threatens to shake
the Union to its foundations The result
would have been an infinitely more perfect
and iiyiolable guarantee Of the security of
Southern institutions than any constitutional
compact which we ever have obtained, or
ever could obtain, from the North With
superior wealth, power and population on
our side, who believes that .aboltionism
could ever have dhrea to menace the insti-
tutions of the South? 1t is our weakness
that invites aggression. 1t is because
Southern statesmen have mistaken their
true field of action, that Virginia lags behind
her sisters in prosperity, and, the whole
South, whose shield and bulxark she should
be, is left exposed to insult and humiliation.
--Dispatch.
Stage Accident.
On Monday, the LIST inst. when starting
down "Morris HILL" Allegheny county,