New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-02-17
A VIRGyNIAN 10 THE RESCUE.

T.
Russia, only, has the power to say Yes OF No.
VIRGyNI4N 10 THE RESCUE.
The great Virginian who became our first
President procured in IVA the passage OF
law by which q corporation was empowered to
extend the navigation of the Potomac 40
miles from tide water. He was summoned to
Cambridge during the next year, and it was
not until the close of the war that his interest
in the project revived. He then predicted the
construction of the Eric Canal, and impressed
upOn Mr.. Jefferson and Gov. Harrison the I'M
portance of a chain of internal Improvements
from the Potomac to the navigable waters OF
the Ohio. The public policy which the first
of the Virginia Presidents outlined did
not commend itself to the changing mind
of his ninth SUCCESSOR As Wing and Demo-
Graf. as President of the United States, Chair
man of the Peace Convention, and member
of the Confederate House, John Tyler had
facie genius for reversing his opinions on pub
lie questions. Early in his career he was
bitter opponent of public works, but during
his later years his views were changed to suit
the complexion of the times. The son, how
ever, as will be seen from the remarkable let
ter which we publish this morning, makes
amends for his fathers lullewarmness. He be-
ieves in the system of internal improvements
of which Washington was the founder. Ay !
his faith is of kind to move all the noun
tains on the continent.
This is an era of magnificent projects. Since
the completion of the Suez Canal, engineers
have regarded all things as possible. Ships
Il 81 ia Col 70 thn
mouth of the Rhone; tho Rhine and the
Scheldt are to be bound together; the Pelo-
ponneslls is to be made an island; the Malay
peninsula is to be pierced by ater-way !;
continents are to be torn asunder at Panama,
and the Desert of Sahara is to be
converted into green fields and smiling pas
lures. But the brain of this Virginian teens
with ideas more magnificent than these. The
conception of national progress rises before
his eyes stately az st. Peters in the mind OF
Michel Angelo. 1t is a conception of monu-
mental subsidy crowned with statue OF
Aouarus. Only let the beneicent arm of the
Government be outstretched and there will be
water, water everywhere. The Ohio and the
Chesapeake, the Atlantic and the Gulf, the
Mississippi and the northern lakes, will ex-
change waters; ship canal will cncircle Nj
agara; an inland coast canal will sweep from
Texas to Florida; there will be levees on
the Mississippi from Itasca to the jetties !;
and IA Southern railroad will stretch from the
Mississippi to the Pacific These, together
with other great enterprises OF national I'M
sport and uudoubted national frlitiOn" Will
not, he assumes, require more than $500. OOO,-
600 of capital, and the Government need not
do more than pay the interest-a heggarly
$50, 900, 900 annually. With the rapt enthu-
sasm of Sellers himself this Virginan tells
us that the millions pent up in New-York and
other commercial centers will find ga monetary
"cQuibrilm throughout the country" that the
present estimate of values will be doubled
if not Quadrupled, that the nation will be
raised from the slough of dependency to the
master nights of commercial prosperity, that
everybody will find work to do and will
"bless the Government with all the feryOr of
"a Jealous PATRIOTISM" and that "past differ
"ences and present anxicties will be allayed
ain harmonious union under the imperial
flag of the Republic"
"Impera THAT is the word As Mr.. Tyler
significantly remarks, our statesmen, If they
hope to master the problems of our financial
and industrial situation, must study the grand
policy of Napoleon Ill, the wisest and
greatest civil ruler of modern times" who
drought to bear the whole power and credit
"of the Government in aid of the people"
The world has evidently done scant Justice to
the patriotism and sagacity of Napoleon ILL.,
His policy was too large to be appreciated by
his own generation. To be seen i'll its true
proportions it must he outlined against back
ground of a century or two. And 1t Is much
the same with Mr.. Tyler's schemes. While we
are willing for his own as well as for his
fathers sake to give the public glimpse OF
his policy, we feel that we cannot do justice to
it, We have only vague sense OF its I'M
perial vastness. TO be cOmprehended Alright
it must have behind it as many centuries as
the Big Pyramid. Dazzled by the brilliance of
his rhetoric, we scarcely have the hardihOOd to
suggest that all these waterways and improve
ments would cost a good deal OF money,
and that liberal Government expenditures in
times past have demoralized the public service,
and at this time might lead to national bank
ruptcy.
TIE FREQUENCY OF FEL0 DE Sc.
Recently, at SchroOn Lake, an old lady,