The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1874-09-10
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! q, oH,sspsASg AMI ONO RAILRoAp AT CLIFTON
4 poRt,g BIZ RartaoAD TwEkTY. SEVEN NILS.
4 Delegation should at Once be Appointed 20
ths Convention NJ Buchanan on tass latn.s.
Iittors of the Dispatch ~.
50. Never before bins desponde sank deeper
an the hearts of RiehH,eed. msD .as 70 tbe4a.
tnre of their city than at present. Eoi
twenty FIVE years past the present perioo
ftsT4j75) has been held up to our aIx l(pl
saze as one that would constitute q new
enoch In the commercial and manufacturing
IA yeIopment of this beautiful! city on Tue
James - when the long-loo ked-for Chesa-
neake and Ohio railroad would be competed,
a p 4 tho VAST tonnage. or the Mississippi and
Ohio basins would be passing along Its line,
sending healtF.oiying streams to our eastern
cities and especially to, this. Why are these
results. SO confidently looked forward TO,
now f,lsifiei TO our expectations? They can
ho. stored ia brief to be: In the embarrass.
mont of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad
.1,omnany before the completieH Of their
western connections the apprehension lest
This most valuable road west OF Staunton
should fall into the hands OF the Baltimore
and Ohio railroad; the extension OF the
Orange aud Alexandria railroad from Lyncn
burg, so as to tap the North Carolina trace
at Danyilp; theeXteDsion OF the valley road
to Salem, looking! ultimately to an extension
from that point down the Ciinch valley into
Tennessee IA convention with this object is
to-day ia session in StauntoD), thus enabling
Baltimore to throw her Briarian arms into
every part Of our State and pertecting its an.
aconda grasp on this, It's capital city; and,
moreover; converting a system Of internal
improvements for which the State piled up
heavy and now oppressive public debt into
grand cuilender. straining the fat Of this
great State into her limits, leaving only the
cracklins behind for Virginia cities.
Can this sad fate for Virginia cities be now
arerted, in view of the fact that on their de.
yelopment greater proportion Of this pub
lie debt is to rest? II so, the stake Is SO
great that the whole power OF the State
should be invoked to prevent it; unfortun'
utely, however, a constitutional inhibition
prevents ber from embarking further into
Internal improvements. The cities, there.
fore, must come TO the rescue; and Rich.
mond, with her great stake in this matter,
should take the lead with all her available
resources. economizi0g every dollar from,
her internal expenditure, such as streets.
sc, until she has effec,ually defeated the
grasIing schemes of Baltimore, and estab-
lished thoroughly her trade relations With
the great Central and Southwest.
How is this to be doue ? 1t may be briefly
stated, in her giving such aid as she can, with
the twelve counties, in constructing the Mar.
row.Gauge railroadfrom this point to Pound
GAP. Ky.-in her aiding in the extension
,rl,s 10 nd
the Danyille railroad intothe heart Of Cen.
tra North Carolina; but last, and most es.
pecially, should she extend helping hand
in the proposed road Of twenty-seVen mites.
from Clifton Forge to Buchanan, which, by
an iuconsiderabIe expenditure of $4,000 on
her part, would connect the head OF the Gu.
nal with thenChe,apeake and Ohio railroad
at the former point. Thus constituting two
hundred and 'twenty-one miles of the easy
grade portion of this great road, feeder
with its bulky tonnage of splint and bltumi-
nous Goals to the canal. For S350,OO0 to
$4,000 this road-0rd for twenLy-seven
miles could be graded, which could then be
rnortgaged, and like sum could be raised
to place the SuperStructure and rails on 1t.
With this inconsderable sum the vast eX-
penditure OF Sl3,400, 900 on the canal would
be utilized to the State, giving 1t new and
higher functions, and enabling it to throw
500, 900 tons of cheap Goals in our basin,
which would find ready market here on
English and French account for their coal
iug stations in the West Indies, and contri.
butte to wonderful iron development IN the
rich counties of Rockbridge, Botetourt
Campbell, Bedford, Amherst, Nelson. and
Buckingham.
Il would clearly be to the interest of the
Chesapeake and Ohio Company to enter isto
the arrangement, for it would enable its pres
ent coal trains to bring four times the amount
of those cheap Goals from the kanawha, and
thus relieve it Of the responsibility of their
transportation east of Clifton Forge, where
it has 10 encounter seventy-eigdt feet to the
mile, along which it cannot pay the COM
plny to haul them.
But suppose that company, miscoDceiviDg
it's true interest, should refuse, the 7th sec
ton of the act of March, 1867, requires it at
their hands, and could and would be enforced
by appropriate legislation on the part of the
State. ae
Richmond would thus be enabled to check.
mate Baltimore completely in her aggressive
schemes in her western and southwestern
trade, besides constituting herself the great
depot for cheap coal on the Atlantic slope.
In addition, this connection would place
the cheap coal measures OF the great Kama
wha coai-felds slde-by-side with the cheap
ores of the Valley, which would make Wiz.
ginia the great iron-producing district of the
continent. With cheap transportation of
cheap coal to the ore, and cheap ores to the
Goals, we have the advantage of making pig
iron for SIG per ton, while in the famous
Lchigh Wiley, Pa, it cannot be made for
less than $3.50. The cheaper, therefore,
iron becomes, the higher the development in
this State. Tomorrow, if the present tariff
duty for protection, Of 1925 per ton, were
removed, the effect would be the transfer of
considerable portion Of the capital engaged
In this Industry in Pennsylvania to Virginia,
where we need no such bounty on the part
of the National Government to foster the
highest iron development ON this continent.
The question recurs. Will Richmond hesl-
tate to incur an expenditure for this con.
nection of her canal with the Chesapeake
and Ohio railroad at Clifton Forge, when
such results will certainly follow and when
this can be done without increasing the tax
on her people, by little greater activity on
the part Of her Retrenchment and Reform
Committee in the Council?
As this connection is to be prominently
brought before convention to assemble at
Buchanan on the 17tb, there should be q
meeting of her citizens, in conjunction with
her Chamber OF Commerce and the Corn
and Tobacco Exchanges, on the 18th, Satur.
day next, at the rooms of the Chamber o.
Commerce, to appoint suitable delegation
/ w. P. B.
Chase's Conscience.
A NOTABLE LETTER FROM THE LATE CHIEF
rusnIcr To 1Av nnnEp nArrn IIrNp 1909