Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1858-10-15

shout 2,UOU warriors. They are defiant, for wher
McLsne's party drew their arms they laughed IN the
peculiar fashion.
RAILROAD 1RON-SHOULD 1T BE MADE
AT HOME UNDER PRESENT CIRCUM.
STANCES1
We are aTsre that this question GENES up under un
favorable crcum,ances and tha no period in our po
litical history has presented general prostrs
ton of great mining and manufacturing interee.s
tbroughou, the whole country. Tne discussion o
the why and because" does not now pertain to the
! question. We would remark, however, that all pasi
experience proves business matters TO flourish bes
invariably alter ofgeperai dullDess. Indeed
the Very elements of SUCCESS tend to this. since II
encourages all the energy and enterprise OF specu
lave people, and the result must follow in the shape
OF depression II is too often supposed that egis-
la,on governmental policy could prevent such
disasters; but say Ii is as impossible for pro
tective tariffs to do so, the reverse to happen On
one side, prohibltory duties on iron would have the
effect encourage that proverbal enterprise of our
iron masters and ihus in the very spirit of oppos
tion, would that etsgnstioD BIZ brought on. Yet il
must be allowed, that such depression would not
have the effect crush the general prosperity Of the
would not be drained. Under the reverse, however,
when undue speculation and the balance OF trade are
sgans; I'D, all suer, since in that case foreign
nations gain by lose, instead OF our Immediate
friends or our ueighboring States One ia the pros
traon OF trades by over productloni the other, ID
the prostration OF communities by inadequate pro.
ductlon. or non production We did not intend
to devote attention those or effects in
this article and will, therefore, merely add, in con-
necon, that, "busness matters always flourish btst
after Of general duness now is the time for
capitalists to embark in those very trades or pur.
suits that are prostrated, since they must, as they
invariably do. revive in due 1t will be sp.
parent to all business that the tune for improve
ment is when materials and labor can be had at the
lowest prices, and when property is held reasonably
low. Men who 20 into mining or manufacturing sd.
ventures under such circumstances, require but little,
it any, more than half the capital that would be re-
quired, under the high rates tor labor, material and
property that invariably rule, when the pursuit or
business in which they embark ia fourshng. 1t
| frequently happens, too, that those who commence
under the most favorable auspices, scarcely get un-
der way before the crisis comes, as it must come,
when the mining business the manufacturing, or
any other branch, obtains long and fOurishlbg
season, and the result must e that they cannot COM
pete with those who commence under different cir
cums;snces and with much less capital. But those
who can afford, or who have confidence, or enter
prise enough to commence business at that judi
cious moment when it is at i'a lowest ebb take that
tide which generally leada TO fortune.
This preliminary brings TO the point: 1t has
been suggested to the different rail road companies
in Virginia and the South West to manufacture their
own rails, both for repairs and for new roads. This
| is practical move and one that would have been
udiciousy made many years ago. The question
} should not have been whether or not ws can MAKE
| iron az cheap as We can buy it, but whether
it would have been practicable to make it or buy it,
But now that question comes up With more force, 1t
urges itself on our practical consideration. Why
should Virginia buy foreign iron Why should
she spend S2 0O00OD or over, annually, for iron,
when che has a supersbundsnce OF it on every hand!
Why should the State of Virginia pay three hfths oi
ths, amount, even if few impractical individuals
should think proper 10 encourage foreign before
home industry Ia it not eminenty evident-ss plain
"a the most palpable truth could be-that the gold
che sends abroad ID os while that which she spends
at home is in reality not spenil Ii she collects II
from one citizen and pays 1t back to another, is she
not a. rich and as able if it neither collected
nor paid I The wealth of the State is the wealth o.
the people. II the 2OOO OOD tons of iron, with which
our rail roads built and equipped, were made ir
Virginia. the 2DOO00OO Of dollars which we spent fol
tha, iron would now he in circulation among u.s. or III
| eouvalenin mines manufactures and improvements
which would be yearly producing not only The pro-
ceeds of that vsst investment but its ncrease-anc
that would have doubled ere this.
But il il were folly in the commencement to drain
The county Of its currency, it would be the consnm
nation of that folly to perseyere in the came ruinou
policy. If the inducements ten years ago were cuff
cisnt on which to base the foregoing statements no
the inducement double now7 II il were better then
10 90 great an ex ent for Virginia to make, instead
buy. her iron, what sha we say nov il she continue
in her fatal pocy7 That very iron, for which sh
drained her treasury, was bought and laid down II
order to open out and develop those mountains o
Goals and ores for the purpose of producing the ma
teral at home. Thosa regions of mineral wealth ar
reached: the railroads are msde the money has beer
spent; but stiIl hesitate, and are undecided whe
ther it lie better +" TO buy or TO make" 10 vain ar
our splendid improvements completed; in vain on
vast expedtures, and il vain, too, the msgni6
cent gifts of Nature scattered profusely around u.s.
We do not wonder AT individuals, who are Away
aesh or soulless corporations, who little for
interest but their own. 1t does not astonsh US ihs
they should be blinded their true interest by thei
exclusive sel6shness. They would as aoon buy q
iron rail from Great Britain from Virginia, IL the
could save thereby penny for the moment. Bu
. that the State should spend her mions-that Virgi
MIA should give the peoples money to England-f 70
the material which they could produce Themselves
seems to ua unaccounabls. This is no small matter
1t does not merely involve the loss of few dollars
or few hundreds OF Thousands, but 1t ia MISTER
millions, which etill goes on How the resources c
the State can produce it, where the money is to com
from, we can scarcely comprehend unless som
change is medtaed. II is annual drain on the re
sources Of the State which our profits do not war
rant. How can We spend more than we make, with
ont contracting debts
II that money, however, was apent in the State 70
the productions OF our mountains and the labor {
our people, instead of being drain on the curreno
of the State it would the contrary, tend to lncrsaa
il. Even suppose should pay one third more fc
Virginia than for English iron and spend SO O0U 90
instead of 81 100000 yearly, would We not stl be h
gamer of s2,OOO,UOU by the operation ! As long
the money is in the State, it is not spent. Suppoi
the iron for the Virginia and Tennessee rail road We
made at Lynchburg-aud 1t could have been mad
with profit for less than its actual cost delivered
would not the millions of dollars of gold which wei
sent to England for that iron now be circulating
the mountans of Virginia, and would not our manl
fscturers there be Hourishing
But whati, done cannot be undone still that whic
is to come, and that which is still to be done, shou
be considered and done judciously aud understand
ingy; ard the question lie appropriately brougt
: before lie. As we before observed, 1t has bee