The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1872-12-12

rlsEy Nj It's, and the case With which lands
arc transferred frosr one to another, possess
decided advantage ,ver US. am satisfied
however, chat plan can be adopted which,
even in this respect, will shift this advantage
IN our favor. have said nothing as to the
necessities Of immigration. They are SO
s.iaia and palpab!e that it would seem almost
al insult to the intelligence of our people to
discuss them. take it for granted that we
|! arprccistc its imp aTtance, and that the on
u branch of the subject open for discussion
Is as to the best meaas to bc adopted to Sc
cure it. I earnestly commend the subject to
your consideration
PUEL1cT Il pnovEMENTs.
Most c.! our railways have increased dur
ing the past year ia excellence Of manage
meat AID material, and in business. The AL
exandria and Fredericksburg road has been
completed thus connecting Richmond with
Washington by an sail rail' line. The Or
aiige, Alexandria and Manassas road has plr-
chased the stock held by the State therein,
and paid for it at par in State bonds | am
Informed that this company has consolidated
with the Lynchburg and Danvie Company,
latter with great energy, aud viii probably
complete this valuable improvement within
the uext twelve months Nor are these the
only commendable acts Of this company 1t
has wisely nauguraded the plan of purchasing
the marketable lands along its line. with the
view OF dividing them up into small farms
and settling thereon industrious and thrifty
immigrants. thus adding materially to the
wealth and development of the sections Of the
State through which it passes, and securing
the eyentual large increase of It's local bust
ness. This is wise policy, beneficial alike
to the company and the State, and | should
DC glad to see it adopted by all our railroad
companies
r. The Richmond and Danvile Railroad Com
pany has also purchased and paid for at par
in, State bonds the stock held by ths State 10
that that company. This company is rebuild
ing the road from Kepsvle to GAINESVILLE /;
and [ am informed that it has also leased the
North Carolina Railroad and is extending
its lines by the building Of 250 miles of new
and it is confidently expected that within the
next six months direct railway oommunica-
ton between Richmond and Atlanta will be
established by this line. When these new
roads are completed the Richmond and
Danville Company will have under its con-
troll more miles of railway chan any other
company in the State, and the importance OF
this lne with its branches and connexions,
to the commerce and development of our
State will be immense. 1t viii drain into the
lap of Virginia the surplus products of a vast
section Of the richest and most productive
portion of the South.
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad is
fast approaching completion, and in few
days trains Of cars will be running be-
tween Richmond on the James and Hunt
ington on the Ohio River. To the fore
sight and persistent energy of those hav-
ing charge OF this great work since the
war, together with the financial and com
prehensive ability of those whom they
succeeded in associating with them, is the
State indebted for the successful compile
ton of this great improvement, the bene-
fetal effects Of which cannot be over-esti-
mated. This road, by system of magnif-
icent engineering, pierces those mountain
barriers, the Blue Ridge and Alleghanies,
and taps the great producing regions of
the West, the vast commerce of which with
us will be measured only by our ability
and capacity to grasp and control it. The
opening of this great highway to COM
merce will be the beginning Of new era
in the development CT our State. For the
first time in her history, coal and iron,
those twin sisters Of modern material pro-
gross, will be united in an easy and prof
table relationship. Heretofore the public
improvement system Of Virginia has look
ed to the Development of her agricultu-
raj interests and resources, but hereafter,
operating upon broader and more COM
prehensive and useful basis, while nursing
andpromoting these interests, it will also
seek the development Of her real wealth
her mineral resources. Virginia must
inevitably become great manufacturing
State. From tidewauer to their. sources
her numerous rivers constitute innumera-
Bile and almost inexhaustible WATERPROOF
ers, capable Of turning the entire manu-
featuring machinery of the world, and in
her hills and mountains is deposited more
mineral wealth than lies within the bord-
and Ohio Railroad will bring the Goals of
West Virginia to our vast iron deposits
along it's line, and there viii spring up
throughout the country it penetrates furn-
aces and manufactures Of iron, which will
bring into eur borders wealth and popula-
ton to degree unprecedented in the past
history Of our State. The completion of
these great railway lines, and others in
process of construction, and the rapid re-
cuperaton of all our already constructed
roads, should inspire US all with renewed
hope and confidence in the future of the
Commonwealth. | firmly believe that we
have. entered upon an era of unexampled
prosperity, and that, cherishing the glori-
Gus past for the lessons of wisdom it teach
-es, we have but to discharge our full duty
in the living present. to realize the full
measure of the prosperity and develop
ment awaiting us.
One other great internal improvement,
aud upon which the State has expended
more money than upon any other, still re-
mains incomplete. No more conspicuous
monument Of the unwise internal improve
-ment policy of the State exists than the
James river and Kanawha Canal Not
that the grand idea Of uniting the waters
Of the James and Ohio rivers by great
internal water line was unwise, but rather
that the mode and manner Of working out