Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1866-02-22
Railroads in the Valley.

ha1lrOaQS III bQo tdlleys
The Richmond Enquirer of the 9th instant has ar
able article on the subject Of Railroads in the Val
ley. 1t says:
!" The people of the Valley Of Virginia, rep
resenting largely more than one-fourth of the
white population of the State, and nearly a
third of its agricultural wealth, are petitioner
to the General Assembly of Virginia, for q
charter for railroad from Salem to Harrison
burg. The great Valley Is somewhat over
three hundred miles long over one hundred
and eighty miles of this distance has broken
links, and the people-the active, thrifty, mo-
ney-making, tax-paying people Of this section
ask that these broken links may be welded
into one long iron bond along Virginias border. "
After dilating upon the rich agricultural produc-
tions of the Valley but little of which reaches Rich
mond, the writer says:
"Wc still have TO eat New York butter and
Connecticut cheese, drink New Jersey cider,
and feed our horses on Hudson River hay, be-
cause we cannot get enough of these articles
from your highly praised valley" to supply
our needs.
"The whole county of Rockingham nearer
to Richmond than it is to Baltimore, and yet
Richmond is inaccessible for the want of twen-
| tv-fye miles of railroad, which is now offered
to her without the expenditure of dollar, and
she can then reap a share of the profits of the
agriculture of that county that in 1860 amount
ed to million and half of dollars. Harri-
sonburg will be one hundred and eighty-two
miles from Baltimore by the lines of railroads
that como by the way of Harper's Ferry and
Winchester. or one-hundred and eighty-five
miles by the way of the Manassas Gap Rail
road and Washington city, while it is only one
hundred and fifty-cight miles from Richmond
by the Central Railroad and Staunton; in fact
nearly therwhole of the counties Of Shenandoah
and Page are nearer to Richmond than they
are to Baltimore; for Harrisonburg is twenty
seven miles nearer to Richmond than it is to
Baltimore. and that distance will take us into
the heart of Shenandoah county.
"But that is not all the county of Pendle-
ton, good portion of Highland, and the nor
tbern part of Augusta even, usually find the
outlet for their trade at Harrisonburg. And,
though the Manassas Gap railroad was in ope-
ration only to Mount jackson, everybody
knows that the trade from the region we have
named went that way, following the water
And did Richmond ever get anything that pass
ed over the Manassas Gap railroad? Ofcoursc
not for it must go within twenty-seven miles
of Alexandria before it even looked towards
Richmond, and then it is one hundred and
thirty-seven miles to Richmond. Hence it is
conclusive that Richmond and its dependen-
cies is wholly excluded from the trade of eight
tenths of the Shenandoah Valley, to say no.
thing of the counties that lie to the west of it
and yet the watershed, the dividing line of
trade. as between Baltimore and Richmond lies
far down in the heart of that Valley.
"When asked to graciously permit twenty
five miles of railroad to be built that will ena-
bic her to Law tribute on the farms of Rocking
ham. Shenandoah and Page that are only worth
sixteen millions in solid gold, and only produce
some two million bushels of wheat, rye, corn and
oats, sixty thousand pounds of wool and six
hundred and fifty thousand pounds of butter
yearly. not to mention the hundreds of other
articles that find their way to market; wesay,
when asked that all this trade may be laid at
her feet, the cry goes up in despair, Baltimore
Baltimore
"While the work Of Constructing a railroad
is going on, everything that is raised any ways
near. finds ready market, and when it done,
the fruits that would otherwise rot upon the
trees, as well as the grain that is stored in gar
ners, can find consumers.
"But there are other reasons: The State has
granted charter to the Alexandra, Loudoun
and Hampshire Railroad Company to construct
road to the coal fields of Northeastern Viz
ginia. A portion of that road is already built,
and the rest of it is located. 1t is to pass thro
the town of Winchester. The Legislature has
chartered a road from Strasburg to Winchester,
and these people of the Valley I'VE rejoice t.
know it, who have had so much of their fine
timber cut down, can soon have plenty ofex-
cellent fuel more than that, they can burn all
the lime they wish, lfor this coal will be cheap
and so enrich their lands; and, more than that
the immense beds Of iron ore that extend
throughout the Valley can be made available
and take the places of the exhausted ones oi
Pennsylvania.
Itisn now found that the opposition to Railroad
along the va,leS, which in days past we encounter
ed, was illjudged and illiberal, and that the mos
prominent men in the State have come to the con
cuson to let trade regulate itself under generous
competition, by which the bOundless resources o
the State can be properly and fully developed.
4 -------->-S <>--------------