The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1860-09-05
The Jamss River and kaHawha Improve.
ment.

We stated Ia our tssue Of yesterday, that the
amount Of coal consumed annually In France,
for all purposes, reached az high as 100000
tons, aud that OF this amount England FUR.
nishee two thirds, or 10 600, 900 tons. WesAted
also, that the kanawha coal was the best In
the world, and so 1t is for IT consists OF TWO
species. unrivalied for the several purposes to
which they are to be applied. The kanawha
camel coal is the best in the world for fur
naoes, for making gas, &c. There Is another
kind, the name of which we do not remember,
hut which has nothing like IL as crate coal
The two throw any description Of coal' that
can be produced by England, entirely in the
shade. What is TO prevent this American
coal from suppianting the English coal en-
tirely in France, when IL shsll have become
possible TO deliver IL on board French sesseis
at this port, or at Norfolk, or at City Fo'ns
for = fraction above five cents Tue ousne'
Suonese. no wever, we supply only one-nith
90 IN. nras.nt demand through the canal
tJ.r. ,ra have the 100000 tons of which we
.nohe As likely TO pass down the improvement,
an .sns,e article. The -four, wheat corn,
COTTON. cattle. fax, hemp, and other articles of
the great West, TO say nothing Of iron, are not
taken Ia TO the account 81 all. When the work
shall have gone fairly into operation, all these
will pour in In quantities which il is impos-
sibls to estimate. We cannot suppose that the
sum total will, twenty years from the date of
the opening of the canal, amount TO less than
loooa,U O0 tons per annun. But we will lay
an embargo upon our pen, and Will not allow
1t 10 write down greater figure than 3,0O0, 600.
What effect will the movement of this enor-
NOUS tonnage have upon Virginia prosperity
1t is = mistaken idea, that capital alone
makes trade. Ga the contrary, trade makes
capital. The city Of New York, in 1921, had a
population of 1900. BY the census OF this
wear, 1t has already been ascertained to have a
population of 9uO,Uo0 Its population has
thus increased a thousand fold in forty years,
and its capital, no doubt, has grown at the
same rate. How has this mighty result been
brought about Simply by bringing TO New
York the oouudless trade of the great West.
That once secured, capital and population fol-
low as II necessary oonseq uence. Let the
same thing be done for Virginia, and the
same results will follow. The trade brought
through the James River and kanawha i'm
provement, Will not Of course, be allowed 10
remain stationary. II will be sent on at once
TO foreign ports. And this creates a necessity
for ships ships create a necessity for dock
wards, 10 build and repair. and for wharves to
receive. These require workmen; workmen
require houses, shoes, hats, clothes, and food
houses require carpenters and bricklay ers
shoes require tanners, shoemakers, cuItiya-
tors OF flax; hats require matters, dealers in
furs manufacturers of felt, stitchers &c :;
food req aires farmers. But, above all, the
produce brought I'D requires merchants mer-
chants produce clerks, bankers and statesmen.
In a word il is impossible to estimate the
enormous amount OF industry which three
millions Of tons Of produce, received in any
city, sets in motion, from the sailors on the
vessels, and the armies OF laborers on the
wharyes 10 the boatmen employed in bring
ing 1t 10 market, and the workmen engaged In
preparing it. Passing across the ocean, it
arouses corresponding activity on the other
side. 1t is uEshipped, and the vessels whit h
bear tare lac an with the products Of the coun-
Try, TO be sent back and TO create fresh indus
Try and fresh sources OF trade ON this side
In this manner the channel OF trade never
siagnates. II is always at fiooG tide, and it
pours in golden stream throagh both hemis-
pheres. In q short time we shall see mighty
cities springing mp on our Atlantic coast
Capital will accumulate trade increases
and industry develops the resources of the
country. Virginia will be in position TO
command the trade of the world, as she is
her mighty bay; by the noble streams that
empty into il, and by the noble bays
which they form. Conventions TO stimu-
la,e Southern trade will have become no
longer necessary, when Virginia shall have
mastered all the mighty commerce that is
destined to pour through this great avenue,
which she is about to open 10 the industry of
the bouudless West. 1t will come of itself
Should The course OF trade be changed by the
introduction of vessels such as The Great
Eastern, as there is every probability that it
viii be should The James River and Kanawha
improvement succeed 10 the extent desired,
ms iead of supplying ourselves with European
goods from the North, the time will come
when the North Will come to Us for their
goods, in place of importing them from Europe
direct. Are we inoulging in an exIrayagant
dreaml Look at the recognized fact The Great
Eastern cannot load in the harbor OF New York
and get out 10 sea- In Hampton Roads, or at
Yorktown, or at Norfolk, she can. Now, let US
conceive mighty city at either one of these
points, and that a number of vessels as large
us the Great Eastern sufficient to supply that
city with a quantity of foreign goods quail 10
that which is imported annually in New
York, trade constantly 10 il. On account of
their immense size. their immense speed, and
the comparatively small cost of navigating
them, they will be able to put down freight to
a mere triie, and thus enable our mer-
chants TO undersell all competitors. The
Virginia port will then become the great
centre of trade to all the Union. 1t will
supply the great West, let it grow rs
rapidly as 1t may, even to the Pacific. II
will compel New York herself to become
her creditor for the goods which she now i'm
ports directly from Europe. In situation
perfectly accessible to the sea-never blocked
up by ice to endanger navigation-capable of
receiving ships five times as large as the G reat
Eastern, If it be necessary-the central point
for the trade of the North, of Europe, of the
West Indies, of South America, of India, Chi
ma, Japan, Australia and California. what is
10 pre- vent il from becoming the greatest city
that the sun ever shone uponl
The effect upon Virginia at large would be
magical. Her mountains would blaze with
furnaces TO the very top. Every acre of land
that could be spared from grazing would be
put In cultivation: Her towns would become
cities, her villages would grow into towns
The value OF her real estate would be enhanced
an hundred fold. She would shake off her
public debt with the ease that the lion shakes
off the dew from his name, when he rises from
his lair. This city would become the largest
manufacturing town In the world. Lynch.
burg, swollen TO ten times its present popula.
ton, would become that perfect hive of in
dustry which her manufacturi capabilities
entitle her TO be. Petersburg would rise to
mat greatness which she deserves from the
public spirit Of her citizens, and the peculiar
advantages Of her situation. Frederickshuro