The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1866-01-05
Lynchburg Against the Field-Echpse
First. and the Rest Nowhere.

The I.ynchburg Republican, in an article
which we publish elsewhere, INDUCES In
strain of prophecy which is decidedly anu
sing. and almost cdifying. Ii seems that when
a railroad shall have been made from Lynch
hnrc To Danyille and another 10 Corington,
and the canal 20 the Ohio, Lynchbnrg is TO
he the centre of trade TO the Ohio, and, OF
course n city of super-eminent grandeur and
importance The Republican, leaves out one
essential which is absolutely requisite to the
contamination of Lynchburg's grandeur. 1t
must positively be made port of entry by
act of Congress, and the harbor improved
that ships of the largest size-such, for in
stance, as the Great Eastern-can lie 1T its
wharvcs and be loaded from the shore. With
out that. it can never reach the acme of It's
glory. The canal alone--to say nothing OF the
railroads-win bring, in the course of time, al
least ten millions of tonnage 10 its wharVes'
Well what is she TO do with it? She does not
mean certainly to let it lie there and accumu-
late She cannot use it allupat home, and, we
n-esume would not if she could. Now, II snip
pers from kanawha wish 10 ship direct TO Eu-
rope. they will hardly send their produce to
Lvnchburg to be shipped TO Baltimore. 1t
would be cheaper for them 10 send 1t nj once by
the Baltimore and Ohio road If agents should
be established at Lynchburg, perhaps they
might take il into their heads that transporta-
ton is much cheaper by the canal, or can De
made So than it ever can be made by railroad
Perhaps, again, produce seeking the sea by the
canal will not falt 1T Lynchburg. In fact,
there are n thousand holes TO be stopped Ill the
Iynchburg dam before the commerce can all
be confined there unless, as we have hlntea'
the place be declared a port OF entry. ana
whynot? Senator Upton, i'll JACKsoN's time,
tried 10 have a place on the head-Waters OF
the Wabash five hundred miles above the
mouth, to which n skif had never penetrated
made a port of entry, Now LynchburS Is
not more than two hundred and fifty miles
from the mouth of James river, and we can
aver that batteauX of quite respectable size
can ascend thus far without the aid of the
canal for we have seen them there before the
canal was made. When such ships rs the
Great Eastern shall be seen lying 1T the wharf,
ready 10 transport, direct, the enormous Ton
mage, then Lynchburg will have become what
n State Government official calls "a Big
Thing" Until then, it must be content
with its present position; that OF Il spirited
little country town, not greatly Astounding
"in eggs and butter, but well enough TO
pass the interval between the arrival OF
one train ana the departure Oh aHothei
Ii is true, Baltimore has already taken of
much of the trade that formerly came 10 Rich
mond but, under the circumstances, ii was
unavoidable The war left our railroads i'll Il
ruinous condition, and there was no money TO
repair them. Baltimore had money, and a
plenty of it, and, by means of it, pushed her
commerce to North Carolina and Tennessee.
II is 10 be hoped that our people Will do all
they can TO rectify their position. Of that
hereafter. What is to save Richmond and the
lower part of Virginia is the James River and
kanhawa improvement. That will not have
its terminus nj Lynchburg, as the Republican
seems 10 imagine. 1t will continue TO come to
Richmond, it does now. Its aim is Nor
folk, not Lynchburg. When it shall have
been completed, it will turn all the railroads
in this direction, because in this direction will
lie the wealth of the country and the means of
transit TO Europe and all the ports of the
world. Nevertheless, our people should arouse
from their lethargy and make struggle for
the trade they are losing.