Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1868-03-19
From the Richmond Whigl
The WeAlth of Virginia.

When one reflects upon the resources
of Virginia-commercia agricultural,
mineral, and manufacturing-thei inquiry
comes up, is there any thing in her eli
mate, any weird and sinister influence
over her destiny, that always checks hei
advance and clouds her prospects Rich
in every attitude of nature, an adverse
fate makes her and keeps her poor. With
soil whose fertility shamas tho feeble
feoundity of the Nile-with geld and
precious stones that dim the splendor OF
0phir-a climate that surpasses the glo-
ries of Italy, favored beyond all lands in
bountiful provisions of water, whether In
profound depths that give safe navigation
to burdened keels, or in placid havens,
or in swift streams whose thunders drown
the roar of ponderous wheels, baneful
influence seems to brood upon the land
Whence comes il Z Is it the genius OF
her people: Are they ignorant, indolent,
intolerant of strangers, untutored in the
arts of development and PROGRESSES
ages Has it risen from the system OF
labor
We will shock the amour propre of our
readers by the asserting, that our tardiness
of advance has resulted from each and
every one of these causes in some degree.
An agricultural people-every farmer pos
sessed of twice as much land as he could
properly cultivate, with a labor-system
where the affections restrained, nay, pre-
vented the forcing and grinding the op-
eratives by capital we were necessarily
ignorant because inexperienced i'll the
l., g l., ,pr,ltuAnt laga1i 100
supplied with means to meet every want.
/ Taught with the tampering with our me-
groes, and the incitement to insnrrection,
which fends in human shape had but too
successfully tried, we have looked with
jealousy and suspicion upon strangers
and, finally, if we boast the virtues most
common among savages, of boundless and
lavish hospitality, physical courage, forti'
tude and devotion, high sense OF honor
and self-respect, shared their vices OF
quick anger, harsh rcsentmcnts, ana un.
reasonable prejudices.
Chief among the causes we lave emu
merated was the ignorance of the usages
and inexorablc laws of trade. Our capi'
! ital did not make the most out of the la
/ Dor. This law of trade is as those of the
Medes and Persians. Humanity may
roll its eyes, throw up its hands, and pro
test with all the eloquence that delight,
lecture rooms and starts subscriptions
poets may chant songs of the shirt !
and politicians and political econ
omists may wall over the woes of the
poor laborers but the Juggernant oi
trade will grind the bones of labor as long
] -, 20 aud IN, g ~
Did proof of Holy Writ" rest solely on
Solomon's dictum, that "the love of money
is the root of all evil it would need nc
Uthher Ihut root has been planted here
and doubtless we will gather full crop
From the time the Colonists sent from
jamestown their famous cargo of pyrites
TO England, suspicion and distrust have
rested on the gold wealth of Virginia. II
is hard to make any one believe in any
statement regarding it. A large belt Of
country is rich in auriferous deposits, and
seam of gold-bearing quartz traverses
the State. For hundred years and
more, mines have been worked; and al
this day washings are made, and are pay
| ing the law hands that dread the corn
field. Gold miners, the world over, are
gamblers, and must have enormous gains
or none. Any investment in this busi
ness in Virginia will return from fifteer
to twenty per cent. with ordinary indus
try and intelligence. But that has beer
always regarded as too insignificant to at
tract attention. Every one who ha,
touched the matter desire to feed his ho-s
es from gold troughs in a year, or to make
somebody else believe that he could
Mines were therefore worked without th'
slightest regard to future requirement
without system and with great vigor-
enough TO show that there were dazzling
prospects, and to sell, occasionally, to tn
very great discomfort of the purchaser
"Caveat emptor," says the law-the ech
is unfortunately, not in the hills.
Coal is everywhere il one would lool
for it. A belt commencing on the Poto
; mac runs through this State, through
North Carolina, and South Carolina 4
Georgia, developing the finest beds in tn.
/ world in Chesterfield. There they worl