Staunton vindicator and general advertiser. (Staunton, Augusta County, Va.) 1858-1860, 1858-04-10
From the Enquirer.
IIUHI JIIc I1HHu
LETTER ON THE IMPROVEMENTS
RESOURCES AND OONtMERCEsOF
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS..


! RESOURCES AND DONiNERCEsOF
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS..
! No great enterprise was ever successfully
carried through by ha!f measures. When
the'cost of a design has been counted, and
its practicability ensured; when we know
we are right, and have determined to com.
mence and to execute, how foolish and ruin.
Gus, if not wicked, it would then be, te
doubt and fear and work without confidence
or zeal. How insignificant and unworthy
is that spirit which shrinks before Difficult
ties and is elated only with success. But
on the contrary, how much to be admired
that nature which rises above doubt and un.
certainty and sees only the end. Tits early
enough to despair when we are met by i'm
possibilities But when we are 'ssure We
are right" it will never do to grow faint
hearted under temporary difficulties which
exist more il the imagination than in real
Eity.
Therefore weeay that no great enterprise.
no private or public undertaking, was ever
successfully carried out and completed, BY
dilatory action or half measures This, we
are sorry to say, applies forcibly to the
State works, so miserably neglected by ou1
Legislative body. Indeed they seem to
have grown tired Of the business, and ready
to abandon it, after having spent millions
Of the peoples money and decades of time;
and that too, at the most critical moment,
when the work is more than half finished
and the objects to be gained still more de-
sirable and valuable, than when those works
were first projected. The results are no.
s uncertain, for others are realizing that
which we have only anticipated.
! Not a single one of the many irnpertan nj
works of the State is yet actually completed
and connected, according to the ultimate
and in many cases the original intention,
and yet they have realized more than many
anticipated, and as much as any practical
man could hope for.
This paper will be TOO short to review the
whole set Of internal improvements we
will therefore confne ouFeelf for the present,
to these which are seeking the Western
trade as an ultimatum, and the Ohio as q
.termini.
The Virginia Central and the Coving-
ton and Ohio Rail Roads forming one con-
! tinuous line, are the first which We will
consider.
This may justly be considered one of the
greatest rail road enterprises in the Union,
and will take rank, when completed, with
the chief reil roads of the age. It passes
through or drains, nearly one-6fth ef the
whole State, and not only opens way to
the celebrated and fertile valley of Virginia,
but penetratos a new region where the
sound Of the iron horse" has never been
heard, aud terminates on one of the great
highways Of Western trade aud travel and
near one Of its greatest centres Of commerce.
We may safely calculate that on the COM
,pletion of this line, 5000, 600 Of acres,
which now return but little revenue to the
State and but little profit to the proprietors,
would be equally as valuable as the lands
along the recently built Virginia and Ten
nessee line-whieh now range from 10 to
300 per acre. But say their aggregate
value would be increased 10 dollars per
acre, ard we have an increase of assessed
value equal to $50, 900, 900, or more than
all the proposed State Improvements will
cess, when completed, if judicious means
are taken to advance the work.
Through the mountains, and consequent
/ ~, the most important mineral regions, the
James River and Kanawha Canal, will ira
verse the country parallel with the railroad.
Here it is eyidsnt.these improvements will
aid each other. Canals dc not afford the
means Of rapid communication end travel,
now so indispensable to communities; there
fore, thcagh the Canal could convey the
heavy freight to market, cheaper, than the
railroad could dc it, It would not be likely
to induce the rapid growth Of towns upon
its banks, as would and will be the case
under their combined influence.
For the Canal, we claim the capability Of
taking and retaining much Of the heavy and
cheaper products Of the West, and we must
and do still unhesitating.y state, that with
Quit, tise.saost vital object to be obtained
il pushing our works Westward, would
never be realized. Still it does not follow
that the railroad will not have its mission to
perform. / think we do not hazard much
lin saying that one will be as indispensable
as, tie ether ia promoting and securing a
ouCOCo"iul "a Au0. w UClc tlCIG lS d CEuUe,
there must be traders, and both producers and
consumers. Between those there must be
10 constant and rapid communication With
out it, in these days Of steam and electrici-
Ity, when fortunes are made or lost by the
fast or the slow, it would be Impossible to
maintain trade between Richmond and
cincinnati, on tie Canal alone, without the
raid of railroad connections.
But it is not alone the produce Of the
I'N est that re wanttopass through our hands
ve want also to sell them our merchandise
, Shat which they now get from Baltimore,
Philadelphia end New York but this We
cannot be sure Of doing without conmun-
ication by rail, for articles of value will
generally take the rail road routes, since
time. with them, is Of more importance than
freights; yet probably the most important
}item on our central line of rails will be the
ftravel between the West and the Atlantic
cities.
All the yiuer travJ coming, East viii fnd
it to their advantage to take the Central
route through Virginia, since in would be
the shortest way tosW ashington by 90 miles
and to Baltimore, Philadelphia and New
York by 81 miles. Between Cincinnati
and Washington, Richmond and Charleston,
the distance by rail is also in favor Of the
Central route.