The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-06-04
richmond and Virginia.

a wholesale trade and any means OF corr,
pesing with outside cities In the trace -
countries west and south of us. Iheic.p :.
the railroads and the railroad p k,,aa.a,,,
do nos advance tho interests OF nisn aa..oa :,
or that give advantages to the eo'li'ns,s. -, :,
outside cities over that OF, Rlchhioh"' CIV
.a:..r,.r the welfare Of Virginia. we
n,r,hormore say that any sort OF tlanspor'
.s,;on prosessedly for the benefit OF VIZ
yin;a. whose advantages arc offered 10 com;
nounisies not able to make them asaiiae.e'
and. diverted from those who could MAKE
them available, does Virginia no sooa' o"'
ia waste Of the public treasure ana c 'l'e'
gies Of, the State.
Again !: any policy Of through freighcs
which robs Richmond OF the advantage u
has in distance by charging higher ireight'
upon her shipments thana-upon those o
outside cities with which she Is in compeu
ton is hostile as we'll to Virginia as TO her
and an abuse Of the chartered privileges
conferred by the State, and peryersion Q
her means used In building railroads TO hel
serious injury.
Every merchant In this city knows ina
these acts Of faithlessness and hostility haV'
been committed extensively, and disastrous
" TO our local interests. They are no"
daily committed.
what is the remedy? Every railroad char
ter has in its act Of incorporation prohlpi
fions of such acts. But what arc THESE pro
bibitions worth? Not the paper they arc
written upon. When we have men con
trolling public highways who will enter int
ARRANGEMENTS cutting the throat OF the Dusi
ness Of the chief city of the State, and doing
it with impunity, what hope have we tha'
there is remedy in printed law whici
there is no means of enforcing? If we can
not RELY upon the fidelity and patriotism o.
our own people, what ground of hope have
weY especially in transactions that may DC
kept so secret that they cannot be inVestl'
gated.
Every one will agree that no community
nearer Richmond than Baltimore and other
northern cities will 20 beyond Richmondto
buy goods of the same kind and quality
that we can furnish at the same price for,
being nearer points of consumption, the
time required for transportation would De
enough to insure us the trade, all things
else being equal. If Eve could furnish goods
a little cheaper, however (and being nearer
we can when we get the tade), we
would have another advantage over cities
further north. Generally speaking, COST OF
TRANSFORMATION and time required Tor trans
portation turn the tide OF trade to or from
a place until places rich and prosperous are
no longer made by, but make, Transports
ton companies.
AS long as Richmond is practically farther
from North Carolina, South Carolina, Gcor-
yis. and Tennessee, and even Southwest
Virginia, than New York and Baltimore,
let the cause be what 1t may, just so long
will Richmond remain tabooed and para
lived market, notwithstanding her facilities
for commerce and manufactures. 1t Is
manufactures that make prosperous cities.
Invest like amounts Of capital in commerce
and in manufactures, and that invested in
the latter will give employment to six or
eight times as many persons rs will that i'll
the former. But manufactures suffer a.
well as commerce from the disadvantage Of
the system of charges on freight, which in.
creases the distance of the city from the
place of consumption. This injury has
gone to the extreme of making the freight
from Baltimore to Petersburg less than from
Richmond to Petersburg!
Now, Richmond is sufferer in all direc-
tions from this disadvantage. In some cases
the active competition forced upon roads
leading out Of Richmond causes this injus-
tice where the disposition of the men who
control the roads is to favor us. In others
it grows out of a deliberate purpose to make
profit out of what is called local freight,
and to make that pay the losses on through
freight. This is the policy Of ripping open
the goose that lays the golden egg. asr,
What is the remedy for this evil, which is
SO subtle and covert that it is often hard, il
not impossible, to detect, and which is Sc
difficult to correct when detected
We have little faith in any until we car
establisha concentrated Virginia commerce
in its greatest city. There is "a wild and un
regulated condition of trade and transpor
tation at the present time. The lines tent
to scatter and weaken the commercial forces
of the State, and their competition is onl.
beneficial 10 the outside communities tina
are working against our own. TO checl
these Injurious causes there must be a com
pacting of ways and means: Richmond, TIN
true commercial centre Of Virginia. must b.
nut nearer the western and Southwestern
interior by shorter and more expedition
lines OF communication. This done, we shal
at once have Virginia power, and whel
that is established it will coerce the short
ening of the distance by equitable charge
for transportation upon pro rata prin
ciples. But until then how can Their.
be basis of operations? A base lin,
from which struggle offensive and defen
siye may be successfully carried onY l
railways have no trade to protect, no cit!
upon which they may concentrate becaus,
the only city that can detain trade is de
prived Of the direct lines that can enabl
them to do so, we shall have no such power
full interest in Virginia as may govern com
merce and regulate freights.
Richmond must now enter the arena ant
do what she left undone in the decade jus
before the war. She must make her con
nections westward to the Blue Ridge
straight, and must throw into them til,
vigor and expedition that will secure to he
all the advantages of nearncss to the point
of DrOfiuctiop and cnnsumnf;on e,;yop Z,