The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1873-07-17
BENEFITS OF RAILROADS.

BENEFITS OF RAILROADS.
Now that the different corporations and
counties which have subscribed to the Valley
Railroad, will be called upon to meet the OBJ
legations imposed by those subscriptions, the
conditions having been fully complied with,
we wish to call the attention of the people to
fact that has been too lightly passed over,
if considered at all. 1t is true that there
will not he paid down, in the aggregate at
any one particular time the amount of the
tax levied in the gross to each individual
But the operation of railroad through
country, to say nothing Of the expenditures
for construction, after it is completed, ne
cessitates continuous disbursement of mon
ey to employees, and for supplies of various
kinds, repairs, &c. This is diffused general
ly throughout the community. Every man
in active business is benegted. The large
number of laborers and employees engaged
along the line of the road are paid off, and
this is expended with the merchant, the
butcher, the farmer, &c., and thus business
is enlivened, a spirit Of enterprise stimulated,
new and innumerable sources Of barter, here.
tofore dead, are utilized, and the volume of
currency thus commanded and distribut
is almost incalculable. Had Augusta county
subscribed half million dollars to the Chesa-
peake and Ohio Railroad, no rejecting mind
can doubt but that the benefits accruing to
the people and to accrue, would literally
compensate them for it. These benefits. are
not confined to the immediate locality where
tae money is first paid. 1t creates there a
demand for every thing that enters into the
consumption of the people, and therefore es-
farm, it matters not what the distance may
be from the center of trade. Not only does
general prosperity flow directly from the ex-
pendtures Of the Railroad Company, but the
incidental and consequent results of railroad
are beyond the most extravagant calculation.
AS an illustration, we are indebted to the
easy access to our city, by rail, for the -four
ishing condition of our female schools. But
for the railroad, these would not receive
half the patronage that nourshes them. In
deed, what would Staunton be, in point of
business enterprise, without the railroad aud
the schools? And the prosperity of Staun-
ton is reflected all through Augusta, as we'll
as into adjoining counties. Rockingham,
Rcckbridge, Highland and Bath are in a
large degree benefited by the excellent mer-
ket for every description of produce offered
in Stanton and that market is created in
part by the Schools, and these by the rail-
road.
The construction of the Valley railroad
will va silly augment these advantages. Be
sides the employees necessarily attached to
the enterprise, additional facilities Of access
will be opened, and these will be followed by
enlarged accessiuns to our schools and resi-
dent nonulatinn- creating raArA ua
inviting greater enterprise and increased pro-
auctions on the part of our farmers. There
IS no fancy about this. 1t is tangible realiza-
ton.
Let Rockbridge and Lexington consider
this matter. We expect TO see Lexington
one Of the most Furnishing cities in the
South, when the Chinese wall that surrounds
her is penetrated by iron and steam. Her
Colleges will loom up in still greater impor-
lance and tie people of the county be bens-
fitted thereby as the people Of Augusta have
been by the Schools of Staunton.