Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1860-02-14
VOLUME LVI.-NUMBER 81.

every hand went far Of itself to show the pro.
pricty of the measure That county. nearly
forty miles in width, is much in the shape of q
sheet of letter paper on which the Richmond
and Danvilic Railroad, running L distance OF
nine and a half miles on its eNtrcsle Southern
border, would he represented BY about one
fourth of the bottom line. 1t WAS time that
srglnian$ knew something OF county which
has wlthni its borders more than 33,uIo m
hab'tantS including nearly $1,000 slaves, which
pays taxes on more than COO 000 acres OF land,
and whlch produces tuore than one third rs
much tobacco as the whole State Of North
Carolina, and about one eleventh. of the entire
crop Of this State. So far from being duly &C.
cnmuodatcd by the Richmond and DanvlIc
Railroad, this great county might Lc haved
by an east and west line, and then its northern
half alone would furnish two counties which
would conrpare iavorabiy in size, resources and
population with very large number Of the
counties ST Eastern Virginia, counti,s 90 miles
in width, by nearly 80 il length, and which at
their respective centres would each he distant
about 80 miles from the nearest point Of the
Richmond and Danvillc Railroad
To show that the appropriation asked for
would prove judcious investment on the part
OF the State, it was only necessary 10 refer TO
the public records showing the effect produced
on the revenue Of P:ttsylvana by the Rich
moId and Danvi.le Railroad, notwithstanding,
AS has been already said that improvement as
at present existing, does not develop the re-
sources Of more than oac.third Of the county.
Those records show that in the year lo14, tho
revenue derived from PittSyvania. including
the town OF Danrillc, amounted 10 Sl1, 1,3t3.4l.
Since that time the taxes have been increased
one hundred per cent. But even after doubling
the amount derived in 1851, you have sum
which falls short OF the revenue OF 1859 by
$lG,9l2 56. Il, now, 4 corresponding effect
shall be produced by developing properly the
resources Of the other two.lhlrdS OF the county,
rs yet unaffected By the Richmond and DAN
vile Railroad, how and when could 100000
be so invested rs to bring larger return to the
| Treasury?
| If modeSty was virtue in 4 scheme of this
kind, might he not expect for this lill the ia-
vor Of the House? II only asked orc-third Of
the amount necessary for the construction Of
the proposed improvement, whilst no other was
content with less than th-ce.lilths. How did
the internal Improvement bills recently passed
by tho House scvcraly compare with the ono
under consideration? The appropriation to the
Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire road is
about eight times the revenue Of the county OF
Ioudoun that made TO the Virginia Central
Railroad about eight times the revenue Of tho
4, county Of. Augusta; that made 10 the Coving-
ton and Ohio Railroad nearly Ole hundred
times the revenue Of the county Of kanawha,
and that made to the Rivanna Navigation Com.
pany nearly equal to the cntira revenue Of the
! county Of Albemai ic-aIh this though tha.
county has more than 60 miles Of railroad, d:.
ridng it into three parts not very unequal in
size, and has also many mics Of canal along
| its border. The bill before the House asked for
! Pittsylvania county. which has not ten miles Of
railroad within its borders, less I!lan the revc.
nue. Of that county for two years! lie meant
not TO draw invidiouS comparisons between the
improvement he advocated and 9th, RS. He had
nothing to say against the bills which had al.
ready passed; but he alluded to these facts in
order to Show the claims Of the pending Glll on
every ground Of justice and fair play.
lie hud cndcarorrd 10 show That this bill
ought to pass, even If it were considered TO al.
feet no part Of the Commonwealth but the
county Of Pittsyvania; but it would not Ie
| proper to overlook in the estimate Of lis merits,
though he had said nothing Of them, the vast
resources of the county OF Franklin, which
would be greatly developed by the work plo.
| posed
Redeeming his promise not to weary the
House, he now submitted the fate Of the bill
! to the judgment of members, and especially TO
! their sense of justice.