The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-12-20
Don't Croak-Do Your Duty.

seems to afford those employed in 1t some
sort Of satisfaction, or we suppose they
would abandon it. Yet we doubt whether
It does not make them even more restless
than they would be were they TO seek othei
means Of employment. There are some
neonIo whose career in life has been SO be-
set With disappointmcnts that they nave a'
last despaired Of earthly bliss, and, giving
Nh longer pursuit, End their chief pleasure
in making other people as despondent as
themselves.
These people are in every community.
Rut inst now in this, owing to the turning
point we have reached, they have q field OF
considerable activity and success. We don't
mean to draw down upon them any unkind
sentiment. Among our best friends are
croakers-excellcnt fellows. They have no
rrcmeditated or unkind purposes. They
are the creatures Of circumstances, and
have no ill-win towards society. They, IN
deed, deserve sympathy, and we naturally
cling to the respondent as the vine to the
wall that's waveriug and should be held
UP and sustained, in the hope that 1t VIII
settle down and be ccmented firmly and du-
rably if thus detained from falling away
into rubbish.
A main subject Of croaking just now is
that every railroad has purpose hostile TO
Richmond-that termini are to be ut York
town, West Point, Deep Bottom, Hanover
town, Piankatank, and the devil knows
how many other places. We beg the peo'
pie of Richmond not to be frightened from
their propriety. Richmond Is remarkably
well fortified by nature, as our very wise
ancestors discovered. They made no mis-
take, and we shall find that she can triumph
over great many things which some peo-
pie think are very much fraught with disas-
ter for US.
Suppose Mr.. AsPISwALL has bought six
thousand acres of land at Yorktown. What
Of that? We suppose he got it very low,
and will make money on it, whether York
town ever becomes terminus ofthe Chesa-
peake and Ohio railroad or not. Will it be-
come such terminus? We do not know.
But we do know that it has nothing to re-
commend it for such purpose. The
United States Government many years
ago. inspired by a patriotic feeling for the
place-hallowed as it was by the most pre-
cious memories Of the revolutionary strug-
ele-cauSed q thorough examination to be
made of Its port and position with refer
ence to making it a naval depot. The re-
suit was that it was considered utterly i'm
practicable for any such purpose. There
was thorough investigation of its qualifi-
cations as terminus of the York River rail-
road, and the engineer reported emphati-
cally against il. The unanimous judgment
in both cases was that the harbor of York
town was unsafe and the locality unhealthy.
Yorktown is therefore not fit for har-
Dor, and can never become populous
town. 1t is at the point of very narrow
peninsula, and cannot be approached from
the interior by lateral line. The great
rivers on the south and north of it pro.
hibit approaches from the north and the
south, and exclude the probability that
there can be any great accumulation of
produce there to call for large amount of
shipping.
Indeed it was this peculiararity Of the
locality that squelehed CORVALLIS. The
river was too rough for him to escape north
wardly, and he had to make an inglorious
surrender.
But why look about for alarm and appre-
hensionf Would we not do better to study
the advantages Of our own locality, and
f,if ~ n1,,,11y
consider these, and look upon the utter
paucity Of the claims of any Of the places
named for commercial points east of us,
we cannot see bow men can for moment
feel any anxiety for Richmond. With such
assurances of safety from these COMPETE
tors, the occupation Of distilling alarm
from any schemes concerning them is as
idle RS that of extracting sunbeams from Gu.
cumbers.
What have we? We have beautiful
city; we have fine water-power; we have
delightful temperature we have plenti
full supply of pure water; we have salu
b brious atmosphere, and healthfulness no
81 surpassed by that of any city in tn,
= Union. What have any of the cities in EN-
bryo which have occasioned so much croak
ingy They have fevers, mosquitoes, ant
exhausting temperatures, and they have nc
water for the purposes of large communi.
ties, no hill and dale, no outcropping rocks,
no salubrious atmosphere. and, indeed, no.
thing that can invite large population to
gather about them, save fish and oysters,
which can be transported cheaply to places
where men are happier and healthier than
they possibly could be at the termini OF the
sandy plains. We say what we are sure no
man will feel justified in denying, that a
man here in Richmond in midsummer Is
one-third more Of man than he would be
in any Of these places east of US that are
spoken Of as great shipping points, and we
say that all the operations of shipping and
of commerce can be conducted here with
greatly more energy and expedition than
they can possibly be at these places, which
now have neither towns nor shipping, and
which never can have them except at great
lossto those who build the houses and make
the futile attempt to build cities in spite o!
the DEGREES of Providence.
Let us look at Richmond further. She Is
the lowest point Of crossing James river.
Here the railroads are bound to concen.
trate. Here the staple exports and coastwlse