The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-08-29
sympathising too deeply with either the
bulls or the bears of Wall street.
"We shall see what we shall sce."
A Few Prac teal Views.

notwithstanding the wide expanse OF Ter
tile country tributary to her-the I'M
nense area of mineral wealth whose de-
velopment must have enriched her-her
vast water power, and her unsurpassed
salubrity and beauty? Chiefly because
the profits Of labor have heretofore been
mainly diverted from commerce and
absorbed in labor and agriculture. La
borers were property, and represented
money. In the whole southern country
there were about s4,OOO,OOO,OO0 Of money
invested in negroes. If we suppose that
there had been no such property in ne
groes, then we may see that there should
have been s4,OOO,oOo,OO0 Of money; or
stocks, or manufactures, or improvements,
or all combined, to represent that amount.
So that it is clear that an immense amount
of capital would have been devoted to the
pursuits Of commerce and manufacturing
in this city had there been none invested
in negroes. Considering this fact, it is not
at all to be wondered at that commerce did
not flourish in the South and in Virginia.
The tendency was to swell the landed
estates and increase the number Of slaves.
Every old merchant will tell you that he
has been in times very much cramped by
long credits to planters who expended
their cash in land and negroes instead of
paying up their dry goods and grocery
bills. This system of accumulation OF
land and negroes was upon the anticipa-
ton of largely increased production and
increased ability to pay the next year.
But commercial community in the midst
of system of agriculture of this sort
could not be expected to grow or prosper
except in very slow way.
The system of slavery is dead. 1t had
it's blessings, which we all appreciated.
But, being dead, we must look to what
consolation we can find from its abolition.
1t was happy; but it was not economical.
It was wasteful. 1t did not tend to the
improvement Of the country, and it di-
verted the general means altogether from
commerce and manufactures.
Now, then, Richmond has new politi-
cal creation around it, and must feel its
influence. Every man is the owner of
himself, and must himself support. The
wants Of every man, independent as he is,
will be dictated by his own taste and his
own means; and the aggregated needs of
all will produce a change in trade and
commerce. At the same time, the agri-
culturist, not being compelled to buy his
labor for its lifetime-i. e., investing thou
sand dollars to-day in a negro, to be earn
ed and returned through long years, with
all their perils of death and disability
but paying it out only in advance for
crop whose sale brings back in few
months the principal invested and the pro-
fits, must be inspired to a greater energy
and more thrifty economy. His profits
he may invest in stocks or Improvement
of his lands. So that, whether we regard
commerce or agriculture, we may assured
IL anticipate greater amount Of energy,
improvement, and increase than under
slavery. Under slavery, as we have said,
there was little or no encouragement to
commerce-that was elbowed off to non
slaveholding communities. Increased pro-
duction; seemed more to benefit the
commercial communities out Of the State
than even the planters. who, after all,
made but little save by the increase of
their slaves, and these they were compelled
frequently to sell in order to make up de-
ficits in their cash account-their expendi-
lures exceeding their receipts from their
crops.
Richmond is the centre Of an immense
district rich in agricultural and mineral
resources. Under the changed condition
of society, the commerce and manufactu-
ring enterprise of Virginia must be stimu-
lated, and become very prosperous. Rich
mond will become the principal seat of
these interests. She is endowed richly in
every sense for that purpose. The lines Of
improvement made and projected will give
her command of unlimited supplies Of the
materials for manufacturing, and her ac-
cess to the ocean will be through several
outlets furnishing every advantage for sea-
going commerce that she can desire. Her
position is the healthiest in all the Atlantic
States, and the year round it will afford
more time for the active exercise of the
energies of man than any other place on
the Atlantic tide-water.
With these facts and views before us, let
us not despond in any sense. Present po-
litical difficulties will soon pass away. Let
US appreciate our noble city, with all its
glorious advantages of earth, of air, and of
water, as we'll as her geographical position.
Above all, let us appreciate the power,
energy, and character Of our people, and
believe that Richmond will be a great and
prosperous city. Believe, and 1t is done!
-
WATER TRANsPoRTATIoN.-It is stated
in the Central Pacific Railroad Company's
prospectus that iron and heavy treightS