The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1876-06-01

THURSDAY ..'.' =
= r.,,, DOWN the. PauirsSula--.fsow TO
Make Virginia Prosperous.
fcorrcspcndence OF the Richmond pispa'ch.l
A recent excursion through some OF our
Peninsula counties suggested tram VI
j would be glad to submit to the thouehuu'
confederation OF their inhabitants.
After leaving Richmond the traveller sees
little 10 interest in scenery till he reaches Il
station on the York River railroad formerly
known as Fish Haul (not hdit, but which
now boasts the more euphonious ana aris'o-
cratic name of Lester Manor, which mas peeh
rescued from oblivion by the present owner
Of the property at that station--John g. Da-
Wis. the successful president OF the flahtets
Bank, OF this city. 1t bursts upon TIE en-
rap,r1red vision like an oasis amid the desert,
or AN emerald ilse amid the ocean; Tor II Is
oil bloom. and fruit, and verdure, and Is
literally living monument OF what may De-
come tangible to the hand OF patient Ill
dustry.
Mr.. Davis has thus practically demonstra-
ted how the poorest OF Virginia land may
be transformed into fields OF beauty ana
fruitfulness: and il the maxim, qua no
mo fecnhomo fdciat," possesses the virtues
which used TO be claimed for it by college
friend of other days, why, then, klng VIII
liam county can in ten years be converted
into very garden. Let her people emulate
the example OF Mr.. Davis-lct them be as
Industrious and as saving as our friends on
the other side OF the - bloody chasm ana
soon the wilderness will be made "to bios
som as the rose" and it will become the
abode. as crst it was, OF wealth, anu cut
ture, and power. On the other mana, lei
the fields remain untitled; let the forests en-
croach upon civilization and even the lana
which now Yields fair return to the nus
bandman, will, in another decade, cease 70
possess q market value. Vlrglnlas Srea!
need is popuation-each man the tilieI o.
his own soil till she has attalneu that sta'e
depicted by the poet:
ia time there was ere Enslann Sriei, H.. man
When every rood of ground maiiltilheo ite iii"i
IT is universally conceded that agriculture
js the basis OF all prosperity, and II we would
avoid de~eneracy from the virtues OF our
fathers the ycom0nry OF the country must
he preserved. As the same poet has truth
fully said:
princes and lords may lcnris and may fade,
But q bold pcasaniry. their country : prize,
When once destroyed can necer be supl'hea'
But TO return "to our mutton How
sba,I this great want he supplied? the
clamor OF the people and the debates OF legis-
lators alike attest the need OF labor ana OF
capital The negro, once the most prohta-
ble and reliable OF laborers, under the lnflu-
encc OF reconstruction has become the least
reliable: and in the seaboard counties,
where they can subsist from fishing ana oys-
tering. where the proceeds OF Gay LABOR
will support them in idleneSs Tor week.
they will become less and less valuable as
agricultural laborers. Without labor the
lands must remain untitled, and hna!ly De-
come yalueless: and it is the great problem
OF the age in Virginia how to avert TINS sau
result.
The following plan strikes your CORE
spondent as feasible, and it is respectfully
submitted to the consideration Of the lead
ing citizens OF the country: Let the proml-
nent men of each county procure chafteI
for the organization OF an dJrlcultmG ana
irnniqration society. with q capital OF not
less than $4,000. to be paid for in Land at
its assessed value. Let this land be laid OIL
into sections Of one hundred acres each as
nearly as possible, and let each atterndte
rection be sold ut Government price, OF
Sl.25 per acre, on credit or I'VE years. SUBJ
iect only to the condition that each purchaser
shall erect buildings on the land to the Vaiue
the OCCUPANT with the community in inter
est, and prevent him from abandoning his
engagement; and in five years the popula-
ton of the county would be doubled, and
the value of its lands enhanced fourfold.
But to give efficiency to this suggestion
il must be undertaken by some gentleman
of means and of character, Of intelligence
and OF enterprise-such one, for example,
as Judge Roger Gregory, of King William:
1t must be predicated with patience and
with energy, and have the cooperation OF
the leading citizens OF each county. 1hen,
and then alone, it will become grand sue
cess; and in less than ten years Lester
Manor will have many friendly rival to
contest its honors. 1t must be obvious to
the dullest intellect that the country cannot
prosper without an infusion OF fresh labor.
The young men Of means are deserving 1t
for the martS of trade; those ,rithou means
are still infatuated with the glamor OF the
far West and Southwest, and unless some
thing more be done another decade will lind
Virginia again an aboriginal wilderness. l
have barely time, Mcssrs. Editors, to sketch
an outline of the thought, but the rude
skeleton can be filled up by any hand. Let
the attempt be made, and success, grand
and glorious, will crown the effort.
The crops Of wheat generally, ! am glad
10 repeat, are very me; Dut the acfeaSe l.
probably not fourth Of what it was in
ante-beNum days.
West Point is emulating the example OF
the national metropolis as city "of mag
nificent distances; but the time must come
when, with lis magnificent roadstead ant
proximity to the ocean, 1t will become the
mart OF commerce and seat Of wealth. Sc
mote it be! Looking down the broad eX
panse of York river one can here witness
sight which it is said no other river on tn
continent afords-the gradual and indl dis
appearance Of vessel as if at sea.
CITIZEN.