The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1878-05-25
4 ,n,I,alrI.sl,s g, rr 4 Z, 81 YIrgInia.

North IN his arrival on the early morning
train at Richmond The advanced condition
OF vegetation and the presence o. the one
,nfpresent negro. The bedlam OF hack-dri-
:yers around the depot would be squelched;
out fin tWenty -fotlr hours IN any nortnern
city, but here they fairly make the quarter Oh
an. hour following train arrivals htdeous
with their wh0oping OF the merits % tne
respective hotels which they represent.
Richmond is a fine city, possessing all adj
ya1,tages In geographical way, and, sas far
ns the city proper goes, it very much resem-
bles many d more northern corporation.
One very noticeable feature is the absence
OF any fine suburban residences. You pitch.
right into the city, and from it into green
fields, with mo gradual merging from one to
the other, which In many parts OF the coun-
try is the case for miles around a city.
The facilities for navigation are good, and,
with her several railroads and canal, inter-
communication is easy. The James-RiYer
canal starts from the city, and, however ex-
.celleTt it may seem in the eyes OF the resi-
dent Of Virginia, it lisa drag on Virginia's
prosperity.
A line OF packet-boats start regularly
from the city, and what Is called the day
tboatO gets tifty-seyen miles up the river
from Z O'Clock A. NJ. to $50 p. NJ. The
charges unreasonable. Toa man from the
North the canal Is an institution. The APP
pointed time having arrived for departure
the sable driver winds his horn, mellow
and clear" and away you go. The boat
moves off like thing Of life-a terrapin,
fer instance.
The scenery is picturesque, and II the
weather permits you can go on deck and
view the landscape o'er, lodging the
bridges in the mean time by way OF yari-
ETY.. II bibulously inclined, Skipper !"
will dispense encouragement with never a
solo serenade on Motfett to greet your ears.
I talked to good many residents along
the line OF the canal, and have yet to find
one man who unquaIitiedly favors railroad
in its stead. 1t is a big mistake on their
part; for il the tobacco crop costs more in
The transportation the increased value Of the
land would thousandfold compensate for
it. Under the old regime perhaps the canal
was as good q thing as was needed, but the
present demands q great deal more eXpedI-
tion than can be got out OF three horses, a
negro. and a tin horn. The land along " de
Jeems" is as good as can be found any
where, as cheap and as plenty for sale as
black berries on the bernie OF the canal.
Here are wide river bottoms on which not an
ounce of manure has been used, and which
in many northern localities would be worth
$500 an acre for farming purposes alone. 1t
can be bought here from $50 upwards.
Northern people know OF this in places,
but they are afraid to go South in many or
most cases. They have vivid recollection
Of unpleasant associations on all sides OF
Richmond, and, from the reports Of scala
wag newspapers, imagine that the first week
or two would result in being kukluxed Off
the face of the earth.
Every man I met to whom / mentioned
this fact laughed heartily at the idea OF any
trouble. and feel assured that every man
along the James river would treat we'll
behaved newcomer with great deal more
courtesy than he would find characterzing
the North or West. Every able-bodied resi-
dent was identified actively with his side OF
the unpleasantness, and the more he saw OF
it the surer he IS to welcome his Yankee
neighbor who has the whereWith to buy his
surplus acres and the ability to Seach him
improved agriculture. The idea, on either
side, of holding an individual responsible
for the acts of millions is prep0stprous. The
patriotic Virsinian might hurrah for JEFF.
Davis in the North and only get laughed
H for his trouble; and so South. You can
Safely whoop for any one you please, and
only be called fool for your pains, or at
least 80 it is in the heart OF Virginia. at
the same time no sensible person would
care to intrude any unpleasant sentiment
among people who came near thrashing
him, and with whom he casts his lot.
The evidences OF a total wreck OF fortune
are numerous all along the line. In ante
bellum times Virginia must have been
pleasant place for those who didn't have to
do the work. Now the scrub underground,
the bad fences, the quilted fields, and the
lank mule, all show how great the change
from the old to the new order OF things.
The average Virginian has very sensible
view of the case, and goes. to work. When
the South gets into the correct line OF
thought in regard to the dignity which
attaches to any honorable labor and puts
her hand to the plough, never looking
back. prosperity is not far ahead.
The South has few or no towns. Along
the canal, from Richmond up, are two or
three Struggling little villages that could
hardly be duplicated North for general
broken-down looks. The man who owned
a thousand acres and a hundred slaves could
afford to allow everything outside OF bis
immediate surroundings to go to the dogs,
and now that the slaves are no more, and
the wide acres get miserable culture, as
matter Of consequence the whole country
is in state OF bankruptcy OF everything
but honor and good intentions. The peo-
pie Of Virginia seem waiting for something
to turn up, Micawber-like; but the writer,
not claiming to be Solomon, will venture
the suggestion that the remedy does not lie
in politics or legislation, but in close and
improved cultivation Of the soil and having
something to sell which people must buy;
ergo, 60 to work!
The planters put their time in on tobac-
Goa crop utterly ruinous and exhaustive
TO land-and their money into guano. and
similar fertilizers, which acts Oh the plant
as whiskey does to a man. l don't know
Just what Special merits guano has, but
equally well I do know that IN the North,
where clover is three feet high, and corn
something wonderful to behold, the natu--
rally unproductive hills are as innocent OF
it as a tield-hand South is Of Chinese litera-
ture.
And the colored gentleman, thesman and
brother. the freedman, the niSSer-Wcll, ne
is everywhere, and where nobody else Is.
He is OF all shades from Upright navy"
TO us black-black enough to make a white
mark on him with charcoal.
that the war settled the case OF the colored
population he is vastly mistaken. The
only result aside from their emancipation is
to leave them worse off than before in all
except personal liberty. They cannot have
had worse shoes or clothes, or less to eat,
under the old regime than they now have;
and although many wise men have predict
ed fair future for them, without the sha-
dow of an unkind feeling for them, or for
anybody that bears the human form, it is
thn WRITER'S humble opinion that they are