The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1871-03-16
TIE 18TH OF MARCH.

pie of Augusta will be called upon to deter
mine, at the polls, whether or not they are
to have constructed through the county the
Valley Railroad. We have heretofore ad
duccd figures and conclusions to show that
the subscription of 100000 to the capital
stock of the Valley Railroad Company will
be paying Investment. We have also sta
ted it to be our honest belief that if the
present opportunity is not avallcd of, to Sc
cure this much needed improvement, it will
be many years before the work will be under
taken. This latter fact--for fact We arc
compelled to res ard it, whether agreeable or
not-is enc which is too lightly considered
By the producers of the county. We stated,
iast::w eS, thu: the entire subscription of three
millions Of dollars would only be secured by
the addition of $29o,o0o by tie county Of
Augusta The subscription of Roanoke,
BotetoaEt, Rockbrdge, Lexington, Staunton
Baltimore city, and the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad, and private subscriptions-consti-
tutipg, in the aggregate, the S3,O00000-f
d2pend upon the subscription Of 100000
by the county Of Augusta. We have shown
that the building of the Road through Au-
gusta-32 miles-will cause the expenditure,
within the limits of the county, of 81 $780,
600. OF course, large amount OF the mon
ely necessary to construct the road through
the adjacent territory Of Rockingham and
Rockbridge, on the Northern and Southern
boundaries of the county will fnd circulation
and investment for supplies with our people.
We have exhibited, by the production of the
rates of frcights on lines where railroad CON-
petition exists, that the construction of the
road to Staunton, by which means choice of
markets will be given our people, that upon
exports and imports saving must be effected
in reduced charges Of at least 500, 900 annu-
ally We have shown that the interest upon
the Investment of $500, 600, in county bonds,
bearing six per cent interest, amounting to
$4,000 annually-aborc which it cannot
get-wll be met by the interest on 81 $780,
600 Of actual cash expended in the county,
amounting to SIG 800, or over six times as
much as the interest on the county bonds
The amount to be expended, it should be re-
membercd, too, will be that much new crea-
ted circulating medium ctive, working
capital, having the effect to unlock many
other sources of traffic and prolific case up
the business Of the county, emancipate the
minds of many from the tyranny of debt,
and thus enable the active cash capital really
expended among us, to realize, in many in
stances, largely over the 6 per cent. paid on
the county bonds. What the people of the
county the Valley and the State most want,
is larger circulating medium Not money
borrowed out of the banks, at one per cent.
per month, but money thrown into general
circulation and drawn into the county and
difused among the people, for the supplies
necessary for, and incidental to, the opera
tons of the Railroad contractors. 1t will be
that much new created wealth, active and
alive, converting into a means Of relieving
thcgeneral wants of the people articles now
useless and proftless. It is not because the
inherent elements Of wealth do not exist with
us, that the complaint of "hard times" is
wrung into the ear whenever the question of
railroad subscription is mentioned, but it is
for the reason that the sources of wealth are
locked up-that much dead aud cumbrous cap
ital Let the two millions of cash subscribed
by Baltimore city and the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad, and the proceeds Of the nc
gotiations of the $l,2oO0O0 Of county and
corporation bonds, which the subscription of
100000 by Augusta county will secure, be
brought in contact with this dead capital, and
it will, as if by magic.a quickly be con
verified into an active agent tor the relief of
the people, enliven trade. stimulate produc-
ton, instgate manufactures, invite emigra-
ton, enhance the price and saleability Of
lands, and throw us forward, in the path of
progress, a decade.
1t is estimated that it will require 81 000,-
900 to complete the road from Harrisonburg
to Salem. Of course, in whatever portion
OF the Valley any part of this money is ex
pended, it must necessarily have a reflective
influence on every other portion. Its circu-
lation will be general, and its effect be uni.
form in enfiching and rc-enlvenng the en-
tire valley This $4,000 900, to be ezpenl
ed in the construction of this work, and
(which would have SO healthy an effect upon
every branch Of industry, is suspended on
the action of Augusta county on the 18th Of
March We can determine whether it is to
be expended here in the Valley, or we have
it in cur power to say it shall not be expend-
cd. We can iaaugurate a new era of pros
perity aad progress in this magnificent belt of
country, invite emigration and capital, secure
manufactures, direct attention to our unpro-
ductiye mineral beds, to the utilization of
our water power, or We can protest them
1t is for the intelligent and substantial citi-
zcns of Augusta county to say, whether these
muitiarious benefits shall be diffused through
IL I'll. L III. &c