The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1876-03-07

&C. nom tho time they shpuld have been
given 80. Agreed to-aJ ea,b2; noes, Ao.
Adjourned at3 P. NJ. S1 E
-
rFor the Richmond Dispa chi =. r-s4a~-
Letter from Buckf1ghans
THE TEXAS PACIFIC RA1LRoAD--THE SPIRIT or
THE AaE-THE PIEDMONT DISTRICT AND THE
Hof. J. R. TUCKER.
6 Nh. Ie. ma hide above contracted riews-nsture
aid the laws of commerce dispense them Ike this
tieCowp before the wind" al s,l.sts 80 go
Such are the brave and manly words Of
your editorial of the Gath instant, aud they
touch responsive chord In the bosom OF
every man who can rise up out OF the rut. OF
The past and look beyond that wall OF prelu'
dice which has hedged in the people OF VIZ
ginia for the past twenty years. the IeXas
Pacific railroad will do more for the South
than the Suez canal has done for Englano
and the Iudies. Its early construction WIN
he of incalculable benefit to the, people o!
the United States, but most especlanY
to The peopIe OF the South. 1t IS empna.l.
callv one of those great national WORKS
(Which ought to be fos,ered and aided Dy tne
General Government. That this aid can" 3! 9e
cnnstitutiopally given cannot be successfully
controyerted. awe, the people OF the Un'ted
stotea. in order to- promote the gen.
oral welfare of ourselves and our peslerity,
do ordain and establish the Constitution OF
tho limited States" And again In the eighth
.ction of the Constitution Congress shall
hove power 10 provide for the general well
fare Of the United States and "to regulate
commerce with foreign nations, ana among
The seperal States, and with the Indian
tribes. and to establish poss-of1ees and post
roads," ,o,,.,.od
These are express grants Of delegated
mowers, and it must follow that the right OIL
the General Government to make internal
i'm nroyement5 is incident to them. l nave
not quoted the complete clause oil the Con
s,itutiop. because that would extend THIS
article too much but an Inspection Will snow
that I have quoted it fairly. How, ask,
can the General Government promote 10
higher degree the general welfare OF Inc PEG.
ple OF these United States than by opening
up great highway across this continent 10
a temperate latitude, giving 10 many millions
of people new objects Of enterprise aodlng
untold billions Of wealth to our common
country, and doubling the Intrinsic value OF
one half of the land from Virginia TO Calltor
MIA? What boots it whether southern man
BE- the head Of SUCH a corporation or not !?
n an, but the truth is We have no one equal
TO the great king of railroad men, Thomas
Scott. Brains are not always confined to
certain geographical limits. Upon examina.
ton Of the map St. Louis, the Queen City OF
the West, seems to me to be the most eligible
point at which the road should cross the
Mississippi. This southern city, the me-
tropols OF the West. growing like some ia
bled city of the Ara bian Nights, is connected
by network of railroads with the entire
South; and to say thati is In the power OF
any one corporation to divert the whole
western trade into northern channels
is idle and ridiculous. Trade and COM
merce will always flow where there is
enterprise and industry, and If the North
can defeat US in fair competition she
is entitled to the fruits of her victory. You
might as we'll attempt to-dan up the Nile
with bulrushes as to attempt to divert the
onward march of trade and commerce by
arbitrary regulations. II time and space
Dermitted ! could extend this article and
show the inestima BILE blessings which have
been reaped by a vast number OF mankind
from the completion Of the Union and Cen
trail Pacific railroad, in spite Of Cie1it-Mo-
bliers and other gross frauds. IL Is patent
to every thinking man that vast enterprises
of this sort can only be made by Govern.
meut aid. They arc too large for private en-
terprise, certainly in country so young as
ours and next to personal liberty, such I'M
dertakipgs on the Fart of the Government
confer the largest benefit which mankind
derive from modern civilization. Of course
we look TO our representatives to see that
this aid is given with cautious and watch
full hand. -. 80
The great trouble Is that 80 few Of the
representatives Of Virginia have caught the
spirit of the age. We have some noble and
true men, like the Hon. j. r. Tucker, who
are more than fifty years behind the limits
whose whole mind, heart, and soul is in the
past-who shuts his eyes to the moving,
bustling world which is around him, and If
only animated when speaking of political ab-
stractions which were RUe questions perhaps
twenty years before the writer Of this article
was born. Like Kossuth, he wants Hungary
as it Was-with so much liberty that one
single vote of foolish man could change the
fate of the entire kingdom. Unlike Francis
Desk, he cannot see the existing status OF
his country. Twelve years of war and sut-
feripg and hundred decisions of the highest
court of the land have, in his opinion. set
tied nothing. Had be lived until 1882 he
would never have altered the old "Articles
of Confederation" Like Diogenes, be sits in
his tub, and when Alexander the Great
comes 10 him and says, q" Can do anything
for you ?" be answers, eyes; get out Of my
sunshine" Does he or L. Q. C. Lamar
represent the spirit of the age: The
voice of the one .reechoes away down the
aisles and corridors of the sbadoWy> past and
shrouds us in gloom. The voice of the other
is alive and buoyant with hope aud enthus-
asm, and tie burning words Of the eloquent
Lamar represent the true sentiment OF the
people OF the South. Far be it from me to
say one word against MIR. Tucker. | admire
him as do Kossuth, as do the hero of Old
Mortality, whose selfinposed duty it was to
recarve the Inscriptions upon the tombsiones
of past generations. Pity it Is be Is not
member of our present Legislature. Side BY
side be would have stood with certain mem
bers buffeting and beating back all he could
the onward march Of progress. Like the
msjority of that body, he would have turned
the back of his tub to the Centennial and
preferred to brood over an irrecoyerable past
rather than mingle with the busy. hum of the
whole world, which will meet at Phiadel-
phia this year. We are bound to admire
such. men as we admire Diogenes, but in my
judgment our all is staked upon the success
Of the principles advocated By Lamar, the
Francis Deik Of the South. BUCKINGHAM.
March 6, 1876. ~,
MARRIAGES. ......
Married, on the lst Of March, 1875, In this city,
Mr.. G. P. COURTNEY, of this city. to Mrs. SA-
RAH A. MUNDIN, formerly Of Wales England.