The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1874-01-30
Improvement of the City.

That this city must be Improved Il ne
cess;ty that cannot be avoided. Improve
nents to protect her from injury-trom
steadily accommodating Obstacles TO COM
merce-are demanded. And other improve
ments must be forced upon her rs a CITY
amongst cities competing for trade and pros
peri.y. Her ways must be easy, her signt>
pleasant her means of enjoyment ana reese-
alton in keeping with tue times if"blch we
live. ...-
Our river Is nearly spanned by n bar That
stretches out from the Richmond shoEe-"e
have grades that are inadutssible tor com
merce-and for public enjoyment we have
cemetery. These are points that lmmedi-
ately attract the observation Of every practi-
cal-minded stranger. Aud it is not uncom-
mon to hear the remark that God has douc
everything for Richmond, and her people
very little. 1t has been called "a one-horSe
town with battle-ground" The sarcasm
might well be suggested by the fact that the
citizens chief recourse for the entertainment
of O friend is to take him to Hollywood.
There, indeed, lie some good people, and 1t
may be that we may now, like the potato
family, claim that the hest of our race are
under the ground. But that does not help
us along much. We have the opportunity
Of selecting the finest site for a park. 1t
would in natural beauty excel any park in
the Union, we believe. Sooner or later q
park will be owned by Richmond, and in
our opinion the sooner it is owned by hei
the better.
We are gratifed to learn that the City
Council is looking to Shockoe creek with
view to restraining its ravages and its stead.
action in piling up the bar 10 the river
which 80 disfgures it and which threaten
our commerce with so much Inconvenience
The object is to wall that stream in, and put
check upon the immense flow of debris froI
city improvements and washing hills. w
beg the Council to make the work complet
at once to put up with no halfway measure
but to continue the work up to poir
above which there is no danger.
We are glad that the Council is about t
recognize the mac datory law Of improve
ment in che of the points we have enumc
rated. We have no doubt the City Euginee
will present that mltter to them in its pro
per light. When that is once attended t
In the spirit of liberality and forecast, "
cannot but think it will lead to further mea
sures that wise and comprehensive spiri
Of administration will discover TO be de
mauded by the public convenience and thu
prosperity of Richmond.
q city like Richmond cannot ignore i'm
provements. Unjust keepup with the times
and emulate the examples around her. TIM
she must incur debt in pursuing this unav old
able policy is uuquestionable. 1t is but RICH
that she should: The present generation ba
no right to deprive itself Of improvements
and it has less rIghtto deprive the succeediu
ones Of them. We must remit to our sue
cessors the improvements and the debt in
Cured by then. 1t is the only way to max
city improvements. They are too vast 70
one age, and their cost scattered over gene
rations falls lightly upon them, while the in
estimabie blessings Of the public works ar
never-ending sources Of health aud JOY tc
them all.
Let the city authorities go to work upol
this principle. They will inspire genera
respect and confidence for Richmond. PEG
pie will say Now Richmond is going 10 bs
. city indeed" and the stream of new -comers
will steadily increase.
A city debt Is nothing If you have the i'm,
proyements which 1t represents. The fact
is, the wealth and power Of cities may be
generally estimated In proportion to their
debt.