The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-06-27
To the Editors Of lie Richmond Dispqtcl

letter Tor publication on the subject of the
Chesapeake and Ohio railroad, now occu-
pying 50 much Of the public attention in
Virginia and West Virginia. This road is
designed to connect the tidc-watcr Of Viz
Ciua with the Ohio river at the mouth of
Sandy, at the Kentucky line. The navi-
CATION Of the Ohio river from this point TO
Cincinnati is about the same as the nayj-
CATION from Cincinnati to the mouth of the
Ohio, which is not much interrupted by
ice or low water at seasons in which heavy
commercial articles are handled.
Ny reluctance 10 write the letter asked
for grows ont Of the fact that | fear the
scheme for the railroad now contemplated
Is not commensurate with the great object
II ought 10 accomplish.
Nature has indicated the route from the
Atlantic 10y the courses of the James TO
the waters Of the kanawha, and thence to
the Ohio, as the natural and easy route for
conveying the commerce Ofthc Mississippi
valley 10 the Atlantic ocean. From the
mouth Of the Big Sandy, or Kentucky
line, 10 tidc-watcr in Virginia is about
400 miles. This whole distance can hc ira
vcrscd by a railroad from west to east with
maximum grade Of less than thirty feet to
the mile. No other passage can be found
IN the United States combining equal
shortncSS OF distance and easy grade from
hde-water 10 convenient navigation IN the
great western valley. IhiS ought to be
HdtioH0l MnrOHWjdre, created by the
nation for the accommodation Of the
commerce OF the great sections of the
country. ONO, kentucky, Indiana, West
ern Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, Hill
noIS, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas,
and Nebraska, have III fact as great intc-
rest in this work as Virginia and West
Virginia. These States are directly in
tcTcstcd in not having this work done
by a private corporation, . other roads
have been made from the east to the
west. The railroad system IS yet in its
infancy, and ! hazard nothing III saying
That our railroads. nave iMIcd 10 lutAi the
ahtc'patIcIS oi inc country III Inc chcap
transportation "I commodities from as
tant western Localities TO the Scaboa!d.
This failure results from two causes First,
they are owned cAclnSivcly y by private
corporations, that have not been content
with moderate dividends, or have increased
iLelr STOCKS i"I INC PurP"S" oi S'"CN-J"o-
T'ns' "u''l Wv nav
'd''IS u!o""PVhcS' SeC",i"N INC "hci""i
tlon, by "hIc" Llhc.lehlhN "i inc tonnage
power IS neulr&lIcd. Inc people OF me
great West demand cheap transportation
to the scab"ard for their productions, that
labor may be rcmuneratve. The charges
forircight on the existing raiiroaaS are 80
hI@h tLat 'hc FI'tc pau LOT thc l,rouuNe III
market Is nearly consumed ny inc cost o'
tIanSpoIaunl', iea'ihg lI''lS PIoIL' - "'c
PIO"uCC'' &C 10 !" ''"''IiO" - ~ o|'
Poi"'ioL" ''"' 'nCit me- coln'e'sr'Ioh - o%io cry
i'iIunc'"'I't' Int S''"S U.5'i''"u' S,,,l',
Is Cht"P "'"SP"',atIC"' wa. nc P'oN"1o'
my DC rem ii "u'; a'o" ~, MS 'o.i' c-,
Can r"llIo"u rom IT.. 'i.c MUM VI S"i"G
70 Underwater IN virginia, oe constructed
as q freight road so as TO afford the cheap
transportation which Is now so imperatlvely
dcmandcdi ! think ii can. 1t is believed
that this road may be built at a reasonable
cost, and worked on the freight principle
SO as to carry an amount OF freight annu-
ally equal 10 all that is now transported
hy the Erie canal, New York Central,
PENNSYLVANIA Central, and Baltimore and
Ohio railroad! combined, and at rate Of
less than one dollar per ton for 100 miles.
This proportion may seem startling at first
sight; but we can only arrive at correct
estimate as 10 what may he done by aSccr-
tanning WN&t has Deeh ""he. Inc NV
OK canals iof Ihc l%S' year ,,' carlieu
',!o'Zzo tons u IIe'sn'; ho L i''"u't- ,,'',,
Plla anu nta'a,, ia'''0r a' PoaJi Sdo aj
carrie" '',a''c', 'or' ai loa
was ""ihIu WIN "''I" ."'0o VI oP.0u
lor traNci ana 'i""SP'''"tioL, ~ WHICH,
more than nine -tenIhS OF ITS tonnage
power was proDao!y hGutraii|ed. ms
estimate shows what railroad mas done III
comparison with what canals nave done;
MY proposition IS 10 cohS'ruTt eouOle
track ralIIoad rom 1'uc-""tTI 'i,s'ni" "
the mouth oi Nanuy' on lIe ONO, anu
"ofN II Oh 'nu i',,sai pnincl.o,"li u, "tn" .
running Na! ';o' '"lAtIoo .i .S',
IH';eH per rod doy and n;rht ha,oni NV
~ ~ c''l"'' ,;,,. ,yr 9 oon nn6 t"ns f,;.
d ,on""sV 5sS,f. f"iN5 and balf Of the ycar being
S,,'an won ,ha reYiIrr or the vSor Thai
80 ooo GOO each wav: and this is based
,,,.a,, an a.sumutinp that each boat shall ne
moved one mile and half per hour. This
i liberal calculation in favor of the
canal.
Tbc %aw York Central railroad last wear
carried s02 Ig7 tons. the PENNSYLVANIA
Central and brancLc, carried 3I52.Tl8
TONS. the baltimore and Ohio about
p 0oo OOO TONS.
railroad Constructed On tbe p,an |
boyo obn,a indicated with double track