The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1866-04-23
that It Suggests.
having failed in the

Roads reported bill to construct ship
o,no, around the Falls of Niagara. The
,ro,mble to the bill makes the work sort
of military necessity" for the protection
Of the commerce and the cities of the
Lakes and the Northern frontier in time of
war. The bill proposes a loan of six mil
lions of dollars to company to construct
the work. Government vessels and num-
lions to pass free, and tolls on other ves-
sells and transportation to be regulated
under prescribed rules, and ten per cent.
of them to be paid to the Government, to
90 to the payment of the loan and interest
upon it. The dimensions of the canal
were to bc one hundred and five feet wide
at the surface, ninety feet wide at bottom,
with fourteen feet water, and the locks to
be forty-six feet wide and two hundred
and scvcnty-ivc long.
To us this ship canal appears to he a very
proper thing. We should not depend upon
the British Wclland Canal i'll an cmer-
ccncv. especially as that emergency might
he even difficulty with Great Britain.
Such a canal would be in keeping with
the present magnitude and power OF the
Government under which we llvc-whch
are so expansive and great that 1t Is very
nearly truc that we should be styled, III
the slang of the day, "Thc greatest ma
tion in all creation" To dwell somewhat
upon the point of the foregoing remark
as TO the power of this nation and the
perfect keeping in which the proposed
grand Improvement would present itself III
reference to that powcr-and adding to
this the further remark that the present
Congress not only seems impressed WIN
this particular idea, but that they are en-
tircly alive to the demand for improvements
to keep pace with the vigor and potency
OF the Government throughout the whole
Lake border and in all the Northern States,
we take occasion to suggest that the present
nation includes eleven very large States
one of them very nearly equal in area to
all the New England Statcs-and that the
werand glory ofthc Government absolute
" demands that the hand of Improvement
should be at work in these eleven to keep
up the nation in its unity, symmetry, and
harmony. 1t will--if these States are ut
tcrly ncglcctcd-bc inevitably very much
"down ut the heel" 1t will he, after all, a
hobbling national half living, half dead
nation. \ nation half Of which is only
taxed, all the benefits of national improve
mcnt, by the fostering, shcltcring, and nour-
ishing hand of the Federal Government,
being devoted to the benefit and advantage
of the other half. 1t may be asked whether
nation thus partially improved can reach
the highest degree of prosperity ?-it may
be asked whether TO neglect entirely one
half and pet and lavish gifts upon the
other, is the way to make people happy,
contcntcd, and prosperous, and Il govern
ment truly great! 1t may be asked
whether il can be expected that the Scntl-
mcnt of devotion to the Government and
kind and ncighborly feelings for the favored
part Of the nation are best fostcrcd and
stimulated by such policy as this Let
those who arc making this ill-judgcd dis
elimination answer.
In a land of the Empire and the Empe-
ror, the whole nation is the object of the |
Solicitudc and attention of Government.
The Empcror'S policy is to increase the
power and grandeur of his government.
He can only do this by encouraging the
energies and developing the resources OF
every part of his dominons. This is evil
IDENTITY the true policy of all nations. But
We have seen how, in a Representative Re
publican Government, a powerful sec
tional majority may take into its hands lhe
DISPOSITION of the beneficencc OF the 10
vcrnmcnt and appropriate it entirely 10
dividing with the minority
IN tie present instance, the WrepreSe"'ed
,oinorit,-only the burthcnS OF Govern
ment, 1t is in this respect that we may
behold how wise King may be an inf
nitely better ruler than an unprincIplcd
majority of Numbers of men. Even an IN
different King would be preferable to an
INSCRIPTIONS tyranny of many men; Tor
he would be at least impartial in his
tyranny, imposing it on all alike.
How truly did ANDREW JOHNSON, IN one |
of his speeches, speak of himself as the
representative of the people of the nation
and later, as the "tribune Of the people !"
But for his protecting arm there Is no eA-
treme of persecution and oppression 10
Dsycrished South