The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-04-21

over raiways-thc wars Oh '"o 40
l;nps-will be regarded rs aosuIu y . -
the wars of pigmies. SCOTT anu a a-Nn
u;l, he REGARDED nobodics, andsthe Wonuei
,r,n no that State was ever seriously a's-
turbed bv the strifes of such people. " BIS
y.ncx. as General MALONE styled GARRETT,
Of the Baltimore and. Ohio railroad, when
| no was at war with that prominent man,
will he looked upon as merely tolcrablc rail-
road official, and all the names of the kings
of this day will pass into contempt or tof-
gctfulncss.
The progress of railroads Is steady anu
irresistible. Narrow.mindcd communities
and sclishness aud inrompctcncy may 'e'ii-
porarily and partially obs'ruct TINS pFoS'eSs
but Intimately the wheels will run over anu
crush them all, anil the hentf's Oh 4u'NN
TRANSFORMATION and impartial Distribution o'
all the comforts, Injuries, and neccs>lrleS o.
life will be complete.
This is consummalion dcvoutly to be
wished for, and man, the poor, vain,
cphelneral creature, cannot prevent it.
Politically the agency Of railroads is in
favor of power, and power is good where
il is impartial. Continuing the idea, it is
naturally impartial whether it be good or
bad, when strong and undisputcd. So we
may argue that power is promotivc of peacc
and contentment where it is good, aud peace
and Subordinstion where it is bad :; and we
well know how much preferable is bad rule.
equally distributed. to one that is partial.
The railway is the greatest auxiliary OF
power ever invented. But for the railway
and It's adjunct, the telegraph, we have not
doubt that the Southern ConIcderacy would
have been established. Yet if it be indeed
strong enemy Of revolution. it would be al
instance Of the failure Of pIoTidential laws II
it were devoid of any compromising pTln'
ciple. imparting to man Il benefit otlSetilng
the injury that may be supposed to result
from cripplipg efforts at resistance to power.
Imbued to some extent with some of the
virtuous sentiments of old foSyism, we have
thus far thought we perceived great injury
to public morals from railroads-their unset
Ting of the people-giying new stimulus
to avarice and ambtion-infu>ing the vices
of dense populations into sparsely-scttled
and simple and yirtuous communities, &c.,
&c. But we console ourselves by our filth
that it is impossible, in the Providence oil
God. that so powerful All agent should not
he endowed with immense good to man.
It's distribulive power-its agency Is
an equalizer of the standard OF COM
fort-cannot be over-cstnatcd. And we may
reasonably suppose that the present bad ef-
fects arc more temporary than endurlnS:-
the manifestations of the jostllnS and the
disturbance of the equilibrium i'll passing
from one condition Of society to widely
different one. When society settles down to
The new condition things will go on i'll Il diff
tarent manner, and there will be vastly more
order and contcntment, both OF Which are so
favorable to public virtue.
The earnings of railways will he controlled
by the providential laws of supply and de-
mand and by competition just as every pllr-
suit vi llJ.tll IL -ONCi III liNcShS "''S va
those monopoitS-morc or less soruld In
their purposes are cheering to the people,
and assure them that railroads have 10 I'M
muuily from the laws which protect com.
munities from monopoles. The strategy
for those who represent the people should
always be to give a helping hand to loosen
the grip Of the monopolist and plume the
wings OF competition With Il fresh feather.
So we never cease to admire railroads, and
to wonder ut their great influences. We
cannot look upon a locomotive without feel
ing new surprise. is often is we have seen
them. That embodiment OF the force OF the
railway is its grand representative, and
man who can look upon It fer even the thou
sandih time without admiring it anew is dull!
and spiritleSs indeed.