Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1857-01-10
apMchburN 2'irniutaM.
Morning. January 10. 1851.


industry and forming principal material in the
construction of those gigantic means OF commu-
nica,ion and transport, through whore existence
and agency the commercial and social reforms OF
the age have been accomplished. has been calico
by a recent writer the mechanical lever OF the
civilization of the 10 century. Far from having
attained its highest degree of usefulness, it gains
with every passing year wider scope of appli-
cation, and is destined 10 assume in the fu.
ture a significance completely eclipsing that al
ready attached 10 il. This important fact in
connection with tho superabundance Of ore, coal
and fuxing stone, found in every section of the
Union, Of surprising excellence, and under geo
logical circumstances infinitely more favorable
than elsewhere. argues, the same author says,he
brightest prospect for our iron mannfaoiures,pro-
vided only We know how to avail ourselves OF
these advantages. While the coal and ore de-
posts of the most prominent iron producing coun-
tries of Europe have given for years past, un-
mistakable signs of exhaustion; and the constant
ly increasing difficulty of mining at depths of
several thousand feet, and that of mastering the
immense quantities of water. excite there the
most anxious and well founded approximations, we
take these crude materials above water level, in
the easiest manner, and every new survey adds
new discoveries to the already vast expanse of
oar coal and iron fields.
According to Taylor's able geological work,
the coal area of Great Britain and ireland ttho
largest of any European country embraces $3.50,
while that of the United States extends over 49,
132 square miles. England, it is true, possesses
in British America $4,000 square miles of coal
c.Jl. h,t fro, hat tay to faor
her compe.itionas she meets there with the same
difficulties we have TO encounter. The greater
abundance of capital would of course, be in her
favor. but this advantage is counterbaanced by
the higher state Of development of our section Of
the continent. As to iron ores, our natural re-
sources are even more extensive in proportion
than those Of coal. To facilitate the transpor,a-
ton of the pondorous masses of coal and iron,and
to reduce the cost TO a minimum rate, il is Of the
greatest Importance that ore beds aud coal de-
posts should exist in valleys Of navigablo rivers
or in the ncighborhood of the latter; aud in this
respect, with us, the most sanguine desire could
not surpass the reality. The Snsquehanna the
Delaware, the Schuylkill,ihe Hudson,the Potomac
the Mississippi the Ohio, the Missouri,a and the ka-
nawha are equally favored. In the last geograp
survey Of Missouri, It is stated that the coal beds
of that State can furnish one hundred million tons
per annum for the next 1900 years; and that
there is iron ore enough, of the very hest quail
ty, within few miles OF Pilot Knob and Iron
Mountain, above the level of the valley, Il furnish
one hundred million tons per annum OF mauufao.
tured iron for the next two hundred years. II has
been predicted that at some future date, the L.
,,,tad Ctatos o1a 4. raut ann
plying the world with iron manufactures us we
have already commenced To do with cotton
fabrics nor is this prediction visionary, as is
shown by the solid facts above referred to-
II depends entirely upon ourselves either 10 re-
tard or accelerate the realization of this proph-
ecy. While the annual production of iron
is at present, in England, 3,5s59D5 tons or 2O7
lbs. per head of the population, TINT of the Uni
ted States is 900 600 tons, or only 81 lbs. per
head, yet we consume in proportion to the rcla-
tive number Of inhabitants, nearly as much us the
former country Great Britain consumes IL:
lbs. per head; we, III. Great Britain exports
one half of her production. converting it into
money, while wo import enc half of our consump-
ton, paying for it in gold, the very article whose
scarcity is the main cause of tho baokwardnoss
of our iron trade and our dependence upon Brit
ish industry generally. In 1854 our importa-
ton of iron and steel, and the manufactures of
these materials, amounted ia round numbers to
over twenty five and half millions of dollars
And as pig iron constitutes but small item of
this Importation, the bulk being manufactures
representing, in over two thirds of their value,
foreign labor the fact tells much the moro
strongly against our national interests.
In connection with this subject, we may ex-
press doubt as to the policy which levies the
same rate of import duty Thirty per cent? upon
pig iron or raw material, and, for instance, mus
kets and rifles, fire arms, side arms, scale beams
wood screws, needles, nails, cutlery, and in fact
every imaginable kind of manufactured article
The British Quarterly states that bar of iron
valued at S. worked into horse shoes is worth
$40 So needles, $55; pen knife blades, S3,2S5
shirt buttons. 800 4s0; balance 81 rings of watch
es, $250.000" This statement needs no COM
squanderng the means which would give employ.
ment TO American labor, and in so doing stimulate
the home market and home production of the raw
material.
Republic tremarks contemporary has boon
defined as government for men and Monarchy
as a government for children. The one demands
the thought Of the many; the other the almost to-
tai absence Of it among the multitude: thus men
of a mature age In Paris may be found taking
part in silly games of play that American chill