The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1883-04-15
FLOR the Dispatch.I
r,hssm TpanspOrtatfon.
THE IMPROVEMENT OF RIVERS AND THE 'oN
anar.1xrxa,. On CANALS. 40.

Chsan TRANSPORTATION.
THE IMPROVEMENT OF RIVERS AND THE coN'
sTaUcTIOS or CANALS, AZ.
II we look over the history OF .ne LA o,r
nations OF the past we shall see ina. sno'
civilization and grandeur came IRON, oo Nv.
merce. What il commerce but ,he "a,
change Of products. and the desire ior ' .ui'
exchange Is the secret spring OF all cNn'.
cation. The camels Of the desert are nov
and have been from the beginning .ne
means OF transportation there. But Io'
them there would have been no commerce
over the vast plains OF Asia ana Africa
The rulers OF these peoples, 1 suppose,
fostercd and encouraged the raising OF
camels. In other words, did what they
could to facilitate and cheaper commerce.
The utilizing of rivers for navigation
and for irrigating and fertiizing the sol
was science among the ancients, ano
from this grew up great empires where Du'
for this there would have been barbarous
tribes and barren wastes. The cost was
vast. perbaps incalculable. The construc-
ton OF canals for commerce, particularly
i'm India and the Chinese Empire, was
on vast scale, and gave to those nations
a teaming population, and grand civiliza-
tions, unity, and peace, unsurpassed any,
where. The protection OF the alluvial
riyer-bottoms from overflow in every con-
ceiyable manner and regardless OF cost,
with facilities of navigating those rivers,
was another distinguishing feature OF the
wisdom of those great civilizations ana
the great minds that constructed them.
| Western Asia Is to-day in state OF BAR
barism. Her great cities, her vast produc-
tiops. her teaming population, her wealth
and glory. are gone. Would you see and
know the cause? Her rivers are filled with
sand. her canals are buried beneath the al
luyial soil, her system OF irrigation, once
so vast, is all under the sand. and her cities
| and empires are buried with them. I'M
cover the one and the other appears. we
propose to initiate the example OF the grand
and wise peoples OF the ancient days. We
propose to construct canals, improve
rivers with outlets for irrigation, &C., and,
| II necessary. to make railroads from tine
lakes to the sea. from ocean to ocean. But
whenever and wherever we move in this
direction we hear howl from the hire
| lings OF railroad corporations. from the
:. penny-wise and pound foolish" from the
pharisees OF constitutional law. from the
"truck-patch statesmen" OF New Eng
| land, and the selfish and narrow
minded press and politicians OF the East,
representing their temporary, favored COM
mercial centres that have grown rich and
arrogant on the cheap transportation routes
now reaching them, and propose TO be-
come richer and still more powerful at our
expense-I say we hear howl that we
are "thieves and robbers and pilierers of
the treasury" What treasury! Why, our
treasury, forsooth; for without us there
would be no treasury. | suppose in these
grand civilizations OF the past the same
howl was raised by like class of knayes
against the great " schemers " who planned
and carried forward the works OF those
DAYS. But the work went on nevertheless,
and il will 20 on here. This howl comes
mainly from the States and cities north OF
the Potomac and east OF Pittsburgh. and
In part from newspapers subsidies every
where by our railroad kings. particularly
from the press OF New York. that per-
,uades itself that New York is America.
These States and cities may be called a
population OF 12,000,0O0. This howl l.
raised against people now 4O,00O,0O0. and
i'm ten years To be over j0.0OO,OO0. A. one
Of them. saw to the factious knayes who
pretend 10 represent this l2.0O0,0O0.
III your country were sunk into
the sea The world would be the great
gamer in this it would bring
our vast country, with its mountains OF
iron-oar. its ineXhaustibe coal-iields and
forest. ITS fertile fields. nearer to the sea.
1t would annihilate your little seams of
coal, your lifteen-inch veins Of iron-oar,
&c, which cannot sustain your costly
manufacturing investments otherwise than
by fltchng from this 40,00G,000 fully
$3.50 10000 year 10y S0-called protective
tariff. We. however, with our vast coal
fields. our mountains Of iron-oar, our cheap
food, our inimitable climate, need no pro-
lection, but can and would compete with
the world if YOU were sunk deep enough
into the sea to bring us nearer to tide
water. or il we had our rivers improved,
our fertile bottom, as Incidental thereto,
protected from overilows and properly
drained and irrigated. our canals con-
structed. &c. These things We mean To see
to. We will look to this. And As your
senate has but lately insulted our too
modest demands, we will provide Caesar
for that senate. That Caesar will be the
genius of the Mississippi Valley.
What gave Rome her splendor? Cheap
transportation, canals, improved rivers,
roads constructed all over her empire.
Constructed by whom! BY her Senate !!
Nay. truly, they were too busy plundering
the provinces and counting their usuriOus
gains. Constructed 10y her emperors. In
time the barbarous hordes OF Europe and
Asia overthrow her empire. Her rivers
became filed up with sand. her canals
4 l.. txrttI mud do tpaVaI 1..p
irrigated plains went back TO the desert
or to the forest, her roads to decay.
Cheap transportation was no more, and
barbarism reigned one thousand years. As
consequence petty chiefs, petty kings,
petty everything, had their day Of
bloody rule-the butchers and Slay-
ers Of man-save here and there
a Venice. In time the genius OF
commerce began 10 return in Europe,
and it killed the petty kings and chiefs and
all other petty kings, built up great States,
and then began the improvement OF rivers,
the construction of canals and roads. ,rri-
CATION, &C., and with them peace, science,
law, order. a more rational religion, the
arts-in word, civilization. In the twelfth
century the people of the Netherlands be-
gan their great system OF canals. They
Kept il up without counting the cost. until
now they connect every town. village, and
city. From this came dense. wealthy,
and enlightened population on soil once
barren and inh6spitable. The Langue-
doe canal. Canal du Midi. uniting
the Atlantic with the Mediterranean,
planned ana constructed by the genius OF
France, $50 miles long, with III locks and
and at the highest elevation 600
feet above sea-leyel, costing 100000
puncks equivalent to some l00.000,OO0
now. and other canals, together with inn |