Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1866-11-08

Raleigh Sentinel IN the urgent necessities OF
completing our railroad connections with
the West If North Carolina is ever to be
benefited by the vast mines of mineral
wealth that abounds in the mountains OF
her Western counties and derive the advan-
tage of the development of the rich agri'
cultural lands that mark the valleys of he1
mountain streams, it must be done by the
completion of our railroads intended to
connect that country with our own seaports.
It is useless to talk of building manufacto-
ries to any great extent, unless by the de-
veIopment of the agricultural resources OF
the State and providing outlets for the
mineral wealth of our mines, we create an
ability to sustain them, anditis follyto waste
time in urging direct export and import
trade until we have real foundation 20
base it upon.
There is no other way Of unlocking the
vast wealth of the soil of our western counties
for the benefit of North Carolina than by
pushing forward to completion as fast as
we are able, under the circumstances, the
great lines of railroad intended to connect
Tennessee with the ocean.
There are now two lines contemplated
and in progress Of construction with this
object. The one--the Western North Car
DINA Railroad-above referred to by the
Sentinel and the other, the Wilmington,
Charlotte and Rutherford Railroad. Both
of these works have made some progress,
but are now brought nearly to IL stand-stlll
for want of means. The former, we be-
licve, confesses its inability to go on with
their extension without direct aid from the
State, and the latter. witho 1T indirect assls-
lance from the same quarter by such legls-
lation as will enable it to borrow money by a
mortgage of the road. The objects of these
two works and the Western terninl are
quite or nearly the same, and the routes
from point in Catawba county on the one,
and from Lincolnton on the other, are
nearly parallel, and seldom over twenty
miles apart. The country formed by the
angle, should the roads meet at Asheville,
which seems the common point aimed at,
is very rugged and barren, giving but little
employment to either.
It would seeAl, from this view, that in the
impoverished state of both roads, and the
straitened financial condition of the State,
that at present, at least, it is bad policy to
urge the separate completion of each, but
that by the joint efforts of both, the most
economical and available route should be
finished, the two being united at some con-
venient point in Lincoln or Catawba coun-
ties Which of the proposed lines is most
available and economical we are not pre-
pared to say, and it is a question which
does not require speculation, as it can be
demonstrated by actual surveys, which, on
one route, and probably on both, have al
ready been made Nor do we suppose this
question would long divide the representa-
tives Of these routes, as they are all anxious
to push forward the great aim of both, to
unite our seaboard with our mountains
The subject of the completion of our rail
roads is one in which we feel great inter-
est, and orr readers may think we devote
too much space to the discussion Of facts
relating to them, as the impoverished con-
dition Of our people will not Justify the
State in rendering aid, it being impractical
BILE even to lay the taxes necessary to iqui
date the accruing interest on the present
of the State We also recog-
nize the force Of these unpleasant facts, but
so certain are we that every man in the
State would be materially benefited by the
of these roads; that the wealth
CT the State would be SO vastly augmented,
and the taxes proportionably decreased OF
our ability to pay them more than proper
tionably increased, that we shall not cease
to urge their claims upon the consideration
of the people or their representatives. 1t
is not the increase of the burdens CT the
people We advocate, but by developing the
resources of the State and enhancing the
value OF its property We desire to amclio-
rate their condition, and renew and surpass
their former prosperity.