The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1872-11-09
SATURDAY EvE'G, NOV. 8, 1872.
rxpu>TRI,L RESOURCES OF VIRGINIA..

w
wihiro rout s connecting agricultural and mine
raj resions with shiupng ports, people VIII brpin
to undel stand The hidden wealth OF the tounry
Something has al eady been done in various di-
ioctions, whereof in official report eisewhere
printed makes me ton. The 20 Il trade of Nir-
gin and Vest ylr, ini is just on the e'e OF de
ye,opment itpromises great things.
We clip the above from yesterday s New
York Tribune, and only wish we had room
for the entire article which it publishes on
the industrial resources of Virginia, and
the prospect of wealth to the State and
country from the completion Of the Chesa-
peakc and Ohio Railroad. The article
referred to is made up from the second
annual report of Messrs. Fisk Hatch, OF
that city who are the financial agents of the
company, and whose statements have been
very carefully prepared and are conse-
quently of great value, in the way OF lnior-
nation to the public.
The opening of this new east and west
line of communication is an event, says the
Tribune article, of the highest Importance
to the producing regions of the great West,
and is destined to exert marked influence
upon the solution of the problem, so much
discussed, of the cheaper transportation Of
western products to the sea. The great
significance of through line of railroad,
leading directly from the best harbor and
the most westerly mdentation of deep water
on the North Atlantic coast line into the very
heart of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys,
their II 900 miles of connected and constant
navigations, having grades lighter than
those between New York and Philadelphia,
and with an abundance Of cheap fuel along
its route, must be apparent to those who
produce and those who trade in or consume
tue great staples Of commerce. The virtual
monopoly hitherto enjoyed by the three or
four lines of communication penetrating
the West, has added to the cost of its pro-
duets the highest rate for transportation
which they could be made to bear, and
limited the area and extent of pro-
duction to degree that has at
tracted the attention of all classes interested
more than almost any other question in
our times. The closing of the lake navi-
CATION by storms and ice during four
months Of the year, and the limited capacity
of the Erie canal at its best, have hitherto
left so large surplus Of produce subject to
rail transportation over long distances, that
high rates have inevitably followed, profits
have been swept away, and production and
shipment discouraged.
Nothing can be more certain, therefore,
continues the writer. than that line OF
railroad affordng short, economical, and
reliable portage between cheap river trans
portation, which is available at all seasons,
and an Atlantic port favorable for distrbu.
ton and shipment, will command a freight
ing business limited only by the capacity.
The Chesapeake and Ohio railroad reach
ing the cheap navigation of these Western
streams at the head of navigation on the
Kanawha river during the season at which
this river is navgable) only 342 miles
from Underwater, and at the head Of continue
Gus navigation at low water on the Ohio
river, only 420 miles from Underwater, is
the shortest portage between uninterrupted
water-carriage at the West and an Atlantic
port, while it enjoys all the conditions Of
economical, continuous and profitable ope-
ration.
Tho advantages of this great central
route are dwelt upon at considerable
length, and its economy for transportation of
western products to the Atlantic is set
forth in most confident and glowing terms.
Aside from the immense stimulus it will
impart to the coal and iron industries of
the country, and the various branches of
manufactures associated Herewith, 1t will
offer far greater inducements to immigra-
ton and settlement in Virginia than have
ever before existed to invite agricultural
industry to our State.
Many months ago we urged the heavier
capitalists of our city not to let the splen-
did opportunity of securing some of the
finer coal lands in the kanawha and New
River region, in view Of the early compile
ton of this great road. How far they lave
availed themselves OF the advantages thus
offered we do not know, but we are assured
that parties now operating these mines have
already made contracts for the transporta-
ton of large amounts of coal over the road
to Richmond, the effect of which will be to
largely stimulate business in our city, aud
draw hither no small addition to our
already rapidly increasing population.
A new era of prosperity is already dawn
ing upon our State. Let US take hope and
courage, and rest our faith in that future of
Virginia which only Bourbonism may
dread as more glorious than the dead past
in which it still delights to live.
The Secretary of the Treasury has
directed the Inspector General of Steam
boats to invite manufacturers to submit de-