Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1858-08-09
Highway to tho Pacific.

| We publish in another column article from
| the philadelphia Inquirer, in reference to con-
,emplated route to The Pacific, which the citizens
Of Minnesota are endcavoring to establish. 1t will
''be observed. from perusal Of The article, that
,hc whole route. with the exception of abou, three
! hundred miles, will he by water.
|, may hc rccolleccd by of our readers,
that we suggested few months ago, the feasible
i,y Of n continuous water line all TIE ray Mrough
from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans! The
completion of the james River and kauawha Ca
nal would give us uninterrupted water communi-
cation from the Atlantic Ia tho foot of the Rocky
Mountains. From this point, it is a short distance
only to the head Of the streams flowing in
10 the Pacific. The mountain barrier could 10
overcome there Just "a il has been elsewhere We
believe, still, in thc prneticabty Of the enterprise
and We believe further. that half century will
not clapsc before it is realised
Whether our su:gc~iion however was regarded
ns utterly Wild and Visionary. we know not--cer
tain it is, it fell sti!horn Notwithstanding that
il has received notice at the hands Of the press
We still claim the honor Of being the first in Amer
lea. or in TIE world, 10 suggest the idcn of grand
lntcr-Oceanic Canal between the Atlantic and Pa
cifc running right through the middle Of the
North American Continent, and uniting together
the waters of the two Oceans. which lave, respect
nclv. our Eastern and Western Coasts.
While nobody in this country has thought our
sug5 'stieu worthy of consideration although we
nae 1t several months ngo--we are glud Ia be
aide Ia say that lea ling statesman Of thu British
Pa Lament has advanced recently the identical
ilca. The only difference is. that his proposition
j. Ia run canal through the British passes ,ions.
while ours was la make it through the centre of
"ur own Territory. "" will MT undertake Ia say
that his lori-hip brr wed this idc, frorn the vr-
gilman Z but il rcrtanl, shows remarkable
coincidence # opinion. Here il extract from
-l,rech re'rr'l nn!r b, Lord Bury in the Brl-
titi !Iou.c Il { sln#u
",.. -, l. IL" opening mp of cpHrnuni
..,lun bct"c,u Ike superior and the Pa iii. h"
would suggcsi tha' tho system adopted by the
t.Jjel Sta, ~ - 'Hrniti N of IL certain ship
,a.i -. al Il ery e..iy applied. la that case
l>atnh acre orlaoa aare set asll. in the Stat"
Il Nf'h,gnn. and wee gwen in Trust for the per
sttl~ who mad" the canal. IN condition thai they
finished it: and n it advanced, and they wanted
money, par, of the nud was sold, and supplied
funds for prosecuting III" work 1t was found that
Tie sale bi titf~t lH -, maze lIHllteiN more VII
ua' lc hv the canal itself fully rcmuncga'ei the
s'nrchplicr, for their undertaking and h" III ,ueht
il would not lie difficult I" set aside rc,ervcs If
land along the line rum Lake Superior To the Ia
rlir, aud apply that to complete the cpmmnniea.
ton between ,i,~c two points. With the ex"cl-
ton of II single rapid. which might hc avoided
hy canal, navigation ui the Saskatchewan offer
"l difficulty. With this one exception y"u
could take u vessel It considerable -7" up to the
foot of the Rocky N"un:ains and at this punt
there was gan III III" III lunta,ns which would
in,crposc grra: eh>tnc" in tn, way at Il u'.r-
tion between the Columbia and the Saskatchewan,
whose sources were hi, a little distance apart
THUS "A communication would he established with
tho Pacific, aui lac hoped some day to see this
great work accom- H>hri."
Thus it will be soc! that the SANE design Is con-
tcmplacd by Great Es.tain "a was suggested by
us should be adopted iy this country. Let our
pc pie bear this suhie'' III mind. for 1t is ono If
incalculahlc Importance 10 the future interests Of
our commerce.