The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1871-02-09
THE TRUE POLICY.

All other questions are subordlnated to those
growing out of applications for new Rail
road charters. Whether the direct cause, or
not, we are unable to state, yet we notice
that Mr. Alex. Mosely, who had positively
retired'' from the editorial charge OF the
Richmond Wh;y, has returned to that posi-
ton, and simultaneously a systematic, ANNA
ted and aggressive war is iLaugurated against
the Richmond and Washington Railroad
charter, the granting OF which had been, be-
fore Mr.. Mosely's resumption of editorial
duties, as actively supported by the Wig
The Enquirer, under Mr.. Barbour, had also
opposed the application for this charter, but
under the new editorial managem t, that
paper is active, pointed and convincing in its
support of the measure. The inference is
natural that the Railroad question has had
something to do with these radical changes
Our sympathies are with the position of
the Enquirer, as that which is moro in con-
sonanee with the progressive spirit Of The
age and the true interests of Virginia The
charge is that this charter is asked for in the
interest of the Pennsylvania Central Rail
road, and the Wing assails it with the e1plo-
ded and effete argument that the result will
be, if granted, the transfer to a foreign cor
poration of the control Of Virginia Railroad
interests To our mind, this is the fable of
the dog in the manger duplicated. The
Richmond, Fredericksburg aud Potomac
Railroad Company have been running that
road for over thirty years, chartered with
privileges never before granted to any corpo-
ration in the history Of the State They
have never risen to plane where they could
contemplate the interests of the State, nor of
the section the road was intended incidental
ly to benefit. It has been, and is now, a
sluggish, spawned concern. And now when
it is proposed to rcvolutionize the whole sys-
tenn, or want o! system, in the Railroad en-
terprise of Virginia-to break down the
chinese wall, which has kept US isolated from
the business wor!d-to inaugurate improve
ments whose aim is to rejuyenate tie State
invite emigration and capital-buiid up lac
tories, and develop our inexhaustible wealth,
now buried and dormant, the old song comes
grating upon the car, that foreign corpora
tons are seeking to control the Railroads of
Virginia Why what hope could Virginia
indulge for the future. if We are to depend
solely upon capital within our limits Where
now would be the prospect Of the Chesapeake
and Ohio Railroad, had it not been for foreign
capital and enterprise? Where would have
been the Manassas Gap Railroad. and to what
source can we Of the Valley look for the con-
struction of the Valley Railroad and the
Shenandoah Valley Railroad, if foreign cap
ltal had been, and is in the future to be ex-
cuded from our borders? 1t ia foreign cap
ital which is now seeking to resenerate Viz
ginia. to throw new life into every depart
ment Of trade, and raise the grand old State
from the slough Of Gespond, into which she
is now plunged. With resources 50 meagre
that it is Officially announced, We cannot pay
the interest on the State debt; stay laws. and
homestead laws, and bankrupt laws, by which
dishonest debtors swindle their creditors, and
the general prevalence and cry Of "hard
times" coming up from every section of the
State, where are Virginians to command the
means with which to carry out the cnlighten-
ed system Of internal improvement which is
seeking to be inauguratcd in our State p
We are helpless without foreign aid. Edi-
tors may write smoothly rounded sentences,
and crossroads legislative orators employ all
coptanduns arguments, to excite prejudice
against parties who are able and willing to
invest their means and their energies in the
internal improvement enterprises of the State,
but they can never convince rejecting men
that they are not stabbing the old mother of
US all to the very vitals. To suppose these
"foreign corporations" do not expect rich
return for their investments, is to suppose an
absurdty. They do expect it, and we are
willing that their expectations shall be rea-
lized But how vast will be the benefits
flowing to our State!
There is one fact to which we wish to call
especial attention, and that is, if Virginia is
ever to become prosperous, wealthy and pow
erful, it must be through the means of Rail-
roads traversing our entire territory, and the
consequent establishment of manufactures
Our minerals must be developed, and our
water power utilized. She is an intermedi-
ate State, and our paramount resource is the
soil. Every thing that is raised here and
that is converted into the circulating me dium
goes either North Or South We are. drain
ed OF our substance, solely from the fact that
We have no manufactures to keep our money
at home. Let foreign corporations construct
Railroads through every section of our terri
rltory; let emigration and capital flow in and
then, and not until then, will the great want
of the State be supplied furnaces, rolling
mills, colieries, cotton cloth and wooden fac
tories, &c-which will furnish home mar.
ket for everything produced, give employment