Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1869-10-02
yiudication Of virginia


been too much devoted to tie study OF fedora!
politics and the pursuit oil the distractions OF
thc federal constitutions and that her attention
| has thus been always CULPABLY diverted from
her own local concerns and the development
| of her vast natural resources.
| The allegation Is WHOLLY DEVOID 0FTRUTH.
Measured by her white population, or meas
ured by the aggregate population ofboth coors'
| Virginia has expended moro public money on
internal improvements than any other state OF
the Union, north or south. Her debt OF forty
| millions. incurred almost entirely tor the con-
struction OF roads, railways and canals at once
| nroyes this. Her standing rule was to sub,
| scribe threc.flths OF the capital stock OF all
chartered works Of this kind. Having done
| that, she frequently went further, and aided
! them either with a direct loan or the guarantee
of their bonds; both loan and guarantee, as
| she has found TO her cost often falling on heI
own shoulders. The Blue Ridge rail road
and tunnel, costing, il We remember right
| ". millions and half, was thus executed
| and she spent three millions on the Coylngton
and Ohio railroad. That theSc expenditures
we're not as effective % they might have been
under Il more judicious system may be true;
Lut that is not at all to the point. And II 1t
were. she would find abundant example IN
| PENNSYLVANIA, Ohio, Indiana, &c These
States dug, at great expense, hundreds OF
miles Of canal, nearly all OF which is now aban
doned or useless Western Virginia com
| planned of neglect in this matter; but sho re
ceivcd more than her share in proportion to
taxes paid in, and more than the tidewater re-
eon. The State works OF New York pene-
trate hardly 1.-THE OF her counties; and there
are sections of that State and OF Pennsylvania
nearly as extensive as our northwestern coun.
ties wherein no public money has ever been
| expended for this purpose.
| Her greatest men. those most eminent in
the councils Of the Union, were Warmly aad ua
! tirngy devoted 10 this cause. Jefferson and
| Washington were not less improvement enthu-
siasts than Dewitt Clinton. And, unlikc him,
| they did not limit their efforts 10 behalf OF
| home interests to the digging of canals. jeff
crson created the University and Washington
| endowed in part the college which bears his
name Many lesser lights We might name to
the same effect.
If our State has fallen short of her duty in
the promotion of popular education, that Is
| the establishment of common schools and com
puls0ry attendance at them, it is not for want
of iuc appreciation OF the importance OF 10.
structing every child Of her soil. \ sparse
| population, and other Obstacles We need not
point out, stand in the way. She has, how
ever, framed an admirable system OF common
schools This system was laid tetorc the
| voters Of the scvcra! cnuut,s, To be adopted,
with the necessary self taxation, by such OF
them as might find their circumstances suit
able. 1t was rapidly extending at the out
break OF the war.
Nor did the commo nweal;h neglect the de.
mands of agriculture. \ large proportion OF
the legislature we're always farmers Land
was lightly taxed, and it was cheap
Neither the laws now the land owners opposed
Immigration. Lard tides were much confused
| in the trans Allegheny district but 1t was
thjthcr that most of the new corners went
mainly. we take it, because they liked the
climate and did not like the blacks. II, in
Eastern Va, wealthy proprietor, here and
there, bought up adjoining tracts, 1t was be.
cause he thought it to his interest to do So
Finally to Judge by results, farming has been
better conducted than in the most northern
States. Not one of them has so well kept up,
year ty yyar. lis average yield OF wheat per
acre. And ~ WITT wheat 81 with other staples.
Her surplus for CXry,t has been more Uniform
~ maintained
There is not particle of evidence that fed
eral politics are. or ever have been, 4 more ab.
sorbing topic wiki southeners than with north
crneGs. Take UP a score OF newspapers at
random, bali from either section. You will
find a. much political matter, editorial and
Clipped, in the northern as in the southern
batch. And 50 it has been always Nor has
! federal office fewer charms on one side OF Ma.
son $ and Dixon line than on the other. At
| the present day, there arc no southern Office
hold crs at all, not even in the South. This
period is exceptional, certainly; but the bulk
of the federal revenue always was expended at
| ,or,I ,p6 tho covcrrmont pOull NOT lut
be there n more pa pabie and immediate object
| OF concern.
One of the reasons for the ascendancy of
southern statesmen was precisely their greater
indcponlencc Of the central power. They stood
in no need of office They had their share of
ambition; but it was not OF the pecuniary kind.
| MANY of them-onough to give tone to the
rest-werc men at once Of culture, habltuated
to the art OF governing by daily experience
en- large plantations, and trained like Darius,
| TO draw the Row and speak the truth. They
did not 90 into Congress to get contract tor
navy beans or protection Tor a cotton mill
They went to do their duty, and therefore un
erring instinct made them the favorltes OF the
| masses, north and south
What our people required Of Their public
men nay be briefly illustrated by negative
example Such men as Butler and Sumner,
the metropolitan delegates Of Massachusetts,,
and tic Ultimate results of her moral and intel
lcctual progress, could not possibly have OBJ
tanned The votes OF Virginia constituency.
II Virginians ever do regain the rcins Of
power at Washington, it cannot possibly be
Tor am other reason than that they.deserve
| them.
We're there 10 other inducoment than this
fact, it would be enough to convince all her
citizens OF the importance of keeping w the
old standard OF fitness. Then, heirs of the
| old heroic strain, will not fail US, more than
they did in 81, when Lee came from the low
lands and jackson from the mountains. Lee
was first class engineer and a large laudhold
er. Jackson was teacher, as Lee is now
We need not fear that railroad building, farm
ing or education will fail in Virginia because OF
| her producing such men.
| The A., j. IL II. r. R.-With the progress
Of exact survey the prospect improves of
| route between Washington and Cincinnati
which will place this work beyond competition
on the part of roads north Of it. 1t is now an
tcipated thai the whole distance to the Ohio
river can be cut down to three hundred and
. thirty 1rilnC rooohipp that stream NJ mint