The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1866-10-25

alou9 our pft1clpN S0vep0s5Oe - - :
t~ssn cur Two pr}ttipol town mt ni4ety
me apart). AID Nkfck i Fpad q perhaps
100 miIes would fully a16l cheaply accom-
modate, can now alone be effected over
one or other Of three Distinct, inconve-.
nient, and expensive routes; First, the
canal Of lac miles, then by two indepen-
dent and inhssmouious roads (resching
Lynchburg BY detour TO the SOUTH Of
ia miles; and Lastly, By two other indie
pendent lines lmaking stu greater de-
tour northward) Of l5S miles. =
lido not feel competent 10 decide whe-
ther these gigantic and deplorablc blum
deYs, % lonE ifnbSddsd In our system, are
or not within tho reach Of remedy. But a
am persuaded that II ever again Virginia
Il to shine as Of yore, % one OF the CHIEF
consultations of q prosperous Union, then
Richmond shall and must be the "bright
particu lar star In the field. Of 1t; Nor
folk, Petersburg, Fredericksburg, and
Alexandria, Lynchburg, Danville, and
Charlottesville again shining with their diff
ferent and appropriate gldtos according to
their various positions-all affording local
markets that shall cause our whole State to
TEEN with people andwith productions, and
ell continually preparing that great interior
market which shall call Norfolk finally to
fulfil her high ultimate destiny as on i'm
portant entrep3t Of foreign trade but
which, In no no other way, repeat, will It
be possible for her, In my opinion, ever
to attain. But let our principal railroads
come to be the mere conduits for the rapid
transit of our productions from the inte-
rior TO the extremities, then indeed will not
only fade to our eyes and to our hearts the
splendors of our capital, but all our other
towns by the same cause, "pale, too, their
Intellectual fires" nor Norfolk herself
reap Q higher future than may belong to
q way station to New York. i
Your projected airline road, then, Is, IN
my opinion, the only means, If any, of re-
pairing these blunders and Of refnstating
the policy Of State system Of trade, with
the important attendant benefits 1t was ex-
pected to secure. j. that policy be
cherished again by the favor of the State,
and by the frank and general cooperation
of the people at large, and by the towns
recognizing in its success their OWN, !
should not despair of Virginia still finally
accomplishing her true economical destiny
as State. ),
But if it shall be thwarted by petty and
short.sighted jealousies, or faint support,
or by powerful adverse combinations, then,
indeed, though respectable share OF pros
perity may still be enjoyed by two large
portions of the State, as trade provinces,
respectively, of Baltimore and OF New
York, transferring by degrees the support
and sympathies which should rightfuiiy
cling and cluster around our own capital,
to those cities, yet all hope OF State
system Of trade uniting, blending, ana
harmonizing all interests, energies, sympa-
thies, and resources of our people within
the State for the power, honor, independ-
ence, and safety of the State, is gone, !
fear, forever. Gr -.
/ have been led to write on by the SUBJ
ject, dragged against my will as it were,
and my purpose when began. Yet |
send what have written because you ask
ed it, and because no longer citizen Of
nor having any property there,
l feel the freer to express my feelings Of
the part she is entitled, by her position, to
play in the internal economy Of the State ;
and because, further, believe her pros
perity so intimately and indissolubly con-
nected with that of the State that You
shall read hereafter as heretofore in the
advancing or declining fortunes Of the one
full surely the rise or fall Of the fortunes
of the other. !,
With my best wishes, therefore, for the
success of an enterprise whose success can
but be SO full of benefits to city which |
am bound to by the strongest ties Of at
tachment and gratitude, and to State the
reparation of whose fortunes is the strong
est wish of my heart, allow me to sub
scribe myself, dear sir, yours, most re-
spectfully, WYNDHAM ROBERTSON.