Weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1858-1865, 1859-11-23

that the cultivation OF TINS plant Will Commune ~. e
profitable North Carolina produced in 1s49, about
twelve millions of pounds of tobacco and about sew
enty.five thousand bales of cotton. That both OF
these crops have doubled since that time, entertain
M doubt The demand then, for these staples must
increase; and this demand should operate as con-
slant stimulus to our farmers. 1t would be oetter
for Them and better for us ALL if they could reach
their own seaports with their produce and dispose
of it on advantageous terms but if they cannot 90
that let them make all they can, and sell all they
can, to whomsoever will buy.
The culture of the grape for table use ana 1or
wine, is a. present exciting attention IN NortnIar
lima. That a considerable portion of our territory
extending from the seaboard to the Cherokee noun
tains is adapted to the culture of the vine and that
this business will be profitable when judiciously
pursued, there can be no doubt. 1t common wines
were as cheap in this State as they are in France
and Germany, they would soon become the prevail
ing beverage and would Danish the vile compounds.
which, under the names of whskey, gin, rum and
brandy, are are now so productive OF drunkenness,
and so injurious to the souls and bodies of our PEG.
pie. The use of Irvine, that maketh glad the heart
of man" is not forbidden either by divine or human
law. In the language of DR.. Hooper, whose sobrle'
ty and piety no one will question, "what God gives
as tonic and stimulant along with the nutrimcnt
of man, cannot if sobery and prudently used, he
hurtfu either to body mind" He advises the
culture of the vine for wine. Referring to the
light gddy and impetuous" French people, he
says their "superor sobriety cannot be attributed
to any moral cause and is probably due to the fact
that cheap and innocuous beverage is accessible to
every body" Mr.. Jefferson expressed similar
opinion sixty years ago. It is the interest of all
classes to encourage the culture of the grape Let
us hope that the efforts which are in progress here
and elsewhere in the State, to produce grapes in
perfection, and to manufacture pure and cheap
beverage in the form of wine may be crowned with
success
Agriculture and the mechanic arts have been
greatly stimulated in this State during the last six
or seven years. by works of internal improvement.
No people can hope to prosper without means of
communication with the markets of the world. If
North Carolina began at late period to project and
establish these means of communication, and if large
and fertile portions of her surface still unfortu
nately cut off from markets. it cannot be said that
she has moved slowly since 1S4a. Ten years ago
the Raleigh & CASTOR Road was in languiShng
and almost worthless condition; the Wilmington &
Weldon Road was paying no dividends; we had no
Railroad directly touching the seashore, or west of
Raleigh Now, the Raleigh & CASTOR Road and the
Wilmington & Weldon Road are paying handsome
dividends; Road has been constructed from the
sea at Beaufort to the Catawba river westwardly;
the Manchester Road has been completed; portion
of the Road from Wilmington to Rutherfordton has
been constructed; ship channel has been opened
along our coast, connecting our seaboard by inland
navigation with the Chesapeake Bay; Road has
been projected, and is now nearly completed from
this place to the Coalfields Deep River: and
rious other enterprises designed to facilitate and
cheaper transportation and travel are engaging the
attention of our feow-citizens The day is not dis
tant when the iron horse with laundering hoof and
lungs of fame will dash through the Swanannoa
gap, and thus unite together and unite forever the
pc pie Of the East and West Let those who
Ln-., L. IL LII. Al.
courage. The State is pledged to the work. 1t
may be retarded postponed, but it will be done,
for North-Carolina has never yet pledged her faith
in vain.
Our State and County taxes are thought by some
to be heavy and almost oppressive; yet am sure
they not as heavy those of many other States
But what would be our condition if We had no pub
lie works IF our Railroads had never been con-
structed -or if they were now arrested in their OPP
crations? Are there any among us who would pre-
fer such condition Of things to the prosperity
which is apparent in almost every department of
industry. and which is the result in large degree
if not entirely of internal improvements? Emigra-
ton has nearly ceased, and our population is in
creasng. The next census will most probably show
that North Carolina contains one million of inhabit-
ants. One of our Railroads is paying thirty-two
thousand dollars per annum into our Common
School Fund while two of them are together con-
tributing about ninety thousand dollars to the Sink
ing Fund, which has been created to pay the prin-
cipal of the State debt as it falls due Why, gen.
tlcmen, the income of portion of our people west
of Raleigh-the fruit growers-is at least equal
every year to the interest on the whole of the pub
lie debt; and but for Railroads not one bushel pro-
badly of the article of commerce which yields this
income, would ever have reached the Northern mar
kets
This portion of the State fellow citizens, is at
length the recipient of justice long delayed. But
for your members of the Legislature in 1S4S the
appropriation for the North-C arona Railroad would
have failed But for the eloquence Of Mr.. Dobbin,
in the House. and the firmness with which your other
representatives in both Houses stood by him, the
friends of that great State work would have spoken
and lbored in vain. 1t is true, the same body,
moved by the earnest appeals of Mr.. Dobbin had
passed charter with appropriation for plank
road from Fayetteville to Salem; but it was fore
seen that the North Carolina Road which was char
tered afterwards would divert large portion of the
very trade which would otherwise seek the plank
road and its destination here,--yet your represen-
tativcs rising above all local and sectional considera
tions, voted for the bill. Cut off prematurely by
the hand of the Great Reaper, JAMES Cochran DOB
BIN has been called to higher scenes and nober re-
wards. He was, indeed, North Caronian. We
shall never more behold his pleasant and animated
countenance nor listen to the music of his winning
voice. Yet the mantle of his benevoence and liber-
anty-Ol MS enliShteneu Sprit vi pTOSTeSSlVeneSS-
of his unsullied integrity-of his devotion to the
| State, and especially to the spot that gave him
birth, fell when he assembled. The recollection of
his liberality, mingng with the and forcible
appeals Of your representatives, spoke for you in
the last Legislature Faithful you were to the
whole State in 1s4s you still faithful still lib
eral, still unselsh in 1858; and the representatives
of your brethren" bone Of your bone and flesh Of
your hesh"-though they made appropriations for
no other section could not find # in their udu.
me is or in their hearts to resist your appeal.
need not remind you, gentlemen of the rich and
varied treasures which you are stretching out your
arms, by land and by water, to gather in. need
not appeal to your State pride, or to your local
pride, for that is already aroused. Go on in the
good work Of developing your resources and I'M
proving your condition. Go on, until the blood o
thrift industry and commerce Providence has ia