The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1860-11-13

Itisa received idea In all parts Of The At
lantic seaboard that New York Is, CONNER.
ciaily, impregnable, and when any great and
comprehensive scheme Of Southern develop
ment is ggested, the general answer Is, that
ics no use--New York is the maelstrom which
swallows mp everything. That 1t has not al
ways been so, IL matter of history; that IL
may not always be so hereafter, even fnieii-
gent New Workers admit to be possible. Inc
leading Internal improvement men OF ne"
York admit that their city may lose lts Pies-
ent commanding position. They explicitly
con fess that tin nous water line TO the ONO
wonld nrove the most formidable rival that
New York can encounter. It's even admitted
that the railroads of Pennsy lvania aud Mary.
land are beginning to . fleet ths trade OF New
York. An able and intelligent New York
writer says:
New York. hitherto the undisputed CONNER
ciai emporium II our continent, has learned that
nsr vaudsed supremacy Is not beyond the reach
OF hi soa,nern rivals, rn,iadsiphia ana BATH
more. Notwithstanding her magnificent harbor,
imuaenae wealth, her enterprise and thrift,
facts have demonstra ted the existence OF elements
81 competition which have created new tenoen-
ctss oil trade, and which contribute to formlda
bic extent her supposed advantages. since the
openi ng OF the Penn lvania, and Baltimore and
OHIO railwa, $, she has just felt q ssnsibis diver
sion of her trade To those cities With the IN
creased iacinties afforded b, these new ilnes Of
communication, ana the consequent reduction of
The rates oil Transportation, they have been en-
bu s,ness than ~ any iorner period In proportion
as tncy have gained, New YORK has lost, and uh
iess deoisive measures DC TAKEN 10 overcoms the
rapidif dinlulsh.'
Now 1t is well known that neither of the rail-
roads about whose competition New York ma
nifssts some apprehepsions. have advantages
| - be compared with the great highways to
| the Atlantic which Virginia will present
| when The Covingt ton and Ohio Railroad and
| the James River aud Kanawha Canal are COM
| pleted. If a railroad as far north rs Philadel-
| phia, and another which has such heavy grades
| rs the Baltimore and Ohio, neither of them
| possessing at the Atlantic terminus a harbor
| worthy OF the name, can make an impression
| upon the New York Gibralter, what may we
| not expect from such an improvement as the
| CoviL.gton and Ohio Railroad, with it's easy
| grades and straight shoot to the heart of the
| Mississippi Valley, and from the James River
| and kanawha Canal, with q capacity of trans
| portatiou equal TO that of sixteen railroads,
and with every advantage over the Erie Ca
| nal, which has elevated New York to lis pres
ent pitch of wealth and prosperity There
| were many good patriots at the beginning OF
| the American Revolution who believed that
1t was the height of madness in infant and
| sparsely settled colonies, divided amongst
themselves, having tory enemies at their own
doors, threatened by numerous tribes Of In
dams, and having in their midst large SER
vile population, TO throw off the political do
minion of the most powerful empire OF the
world. But there were others who thought
differently, and resolved, al any rate that they
would TRY. Only by encouraging a similar
| spirit, can we ever hope to shake off our com
Inercial vassalage and fulfill the dest tiny which
nature seems to have MAJ ked out ia the mag
nificent harbor of Norfolk, and the mig atty
streams which pour their waters into Chesa-
peake Bay. 1t was by such spirit that New
York itself was built up from an inferior COM
nercial position, and, in great measure by the
genius and energy of one man, DEWITT CLIN-
TOM who against her own absurd prejudices
and stubborn opposition, succeeded at last i'll
| dragging her by the sheer force of his supe-
rior sagacity and will, into the construction
of the New York ard Erie Canal, and made
her rich and great in spite of herself. Would
that Virginia could see her destiny; that she
could believe in herself and in her fortunes.