The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-06-21
p;rer Towns and Seaports.


We have before called the reaaer l''eA-
.;,n +, comparison between river 'o"ns
y, Tho head, or near the head, oil uoe-"a'eI'
and seaports. The subject is one espec'a'iy
;,,tnrcst;nc at this tine to u.s. ana IL Is wen
70 rccur to it. ,,
Two locations for cities have been chosen
.;,s rctercncc TO all the considerations
,,,o-;nc mon health and comfort S"ch as
,>,,ro atmosphere. pleasant airs, a oouh''iu'
,.>,,t,, ,f fresh water, good drainage, con-
,.or;,rt WAYS ct shipment on sca-Soin@ Fes-
soils. water-powcr, etc. These ana asreeanie
scenery arc all combined in the site OF ken
,nond. They cannot all be found on the sea-
coast: but most Of them may be cuha on Ile
coast where mountain ranges strike II,
cars;uc springs Of fresh water, and eieva-
tions and unduiations. that purify ana cool
the air, to the great comfort oil man.
New York, for instance, has TINS
great advantage. Rare, indeed, Is IL thai
such 4 combination is presented for the
Use and benefit Of man. There arc the
mountain and the plsin-the fresh air from
the hills. the out-croppng rocks, the ircsh
water in ample supply deep watcrtor
ships, together With frontage Tor whl,Ves
al around the city. We do not believe
that another city in the world has so GEM
rletely these advantages. Norfolk mas hc'
deem water-dccper than New Iork-but
She has none of the other advantages.
Man must have pure air and pleasant
Temperature, and an abundant supply OF
fresh water, rs we'll as the hills and the out
cropping rocks, TO preserve his health, his
comfort, and his energy, to enable him TO
conduct the business of life With vlgor ana
success. These are seldom found on the
sea coast. And il they are not so found,
but are accessible within the range of naVi-
gable Underwater on the rivers, YOU Will In
yariahly iiud the great cities high up on the
rivers.
But this is not all. Water.carriagc Is
cheaper than land-carriasc. Hence the
place of meeting Of the frclShtS from the
interior and from the sea is generally as III
in the interior as the sea-going freight car
be carried. Now, in the case Of Ne"
York, If any explanation be needed, 1t Wi
be observed tina. the Hudson is perpendlcu
lar. north and south, and not IN the line O
the great stream OF commerce from the
West. 1t may be contcudcd that it rs, Oh
the ground that the Erie canal is the Creates
channel of all for the transportation o.
western produce, and that 1t emptics mean
the head of tide Oh the Hudson. Exactly
but. rs the Erie canal is 4 water conduit,
and as freishts are transported upon IL II!
vessels that easily and safely navigate Inc
Hudson to New York, there Is no question
between water and land transportation IN
the nsttcr. 1t i all tratcr transportation.
Look over the globe and we see every
where the general principles here Ht&ted
horne out. We find that the best harDors
on the coast are not chosen for The @rcal
cities. Portsmouth and Southampton, We
believe, are the hest harbCrs in England,
and the greatest British city is high up on
the river Thames, and the next greatest Is
on the river Mersey, which vessels can
ascend only with the rising tide, and they
remain pcnrcd up in the docks, unable to
.et out until the tide is full, when the
gates are opened to allow those about TO
set sail TO float out upon tie downward
tide.
Glasgow isan extraordinary illustration
some miles above Grecnoch, standing upon
the Firth Of Cly de, which is the same rs
being on the broad ocean itself, so fur as
any need of water for vessels is concerned.
The Clyde at Glasgow is Il very small affair
indeed, not third rs large IA james river,
ing H.
habitunts, and Greenoch not more, we
suppose, than 10000.
Glasgow is a manufacturing town, and
what other great city i not? London il
one of the greatest manufacturing cities IN
the world and it furthermore makes trib-
utary to its wealth many other manufacture
ing places. lis capitalists own everywhere
hundreds Of factories whose fabrics are sold
in London.
In short, nowhere do we lind such thing
rs a very great city, on the sea, at the
mouth OF Il great river, which affords good
navigation for any reasonable distance into
the lntcrior-eXccpt indeed in the case Of
New York. and places similarly circum.
stanced, if there arc any, which we doubt.
In savage lands the little settlements for
barter and sale of slaves and the peculiar
articles of bal barous traffic, are on the sea,
because it is perlous to take vessels into
the interior.
Norfolk is the best place on the Virginia
seaboard for a city, and that is far from
being freed from the difficulties in the way
of making Il great city to which we have
alluded, and is certainly in no respect tit
for manufacturing; and we repeat, no place
in this country ever can be great in num-
bers and wealth without manufacturing.
II there should he an attempt to make
any other place we know of on our coast a
city for foreign and domestic commerce, the
project will prove abortiye. In all the
Peninsula there would be great difficulty
in procuring q supply of fresh water, with
out which there would be neither comfort
nor health. Then owing to the breadth Of
the rivers il would be impossible to bridge
them, and thus to form lines of transporta-
ton directly northward or southwark !;
ani from north and south the route would
be by Richmond. Therefore it would be-
yond doubt be better to ship produce here
than to saddle it with charges upon the
roads to the sea which would exceed the
cost OF shipment from Richmond.
But people would not 90 to live in any
such pcninSuar place. They value too
highly their health and comfort, and their
ability To UlIrsuc their vacations The wear