New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-01-16
VIRGINIA CITIES.
PROGRESS OF RICHMOND AND NORFOLK.


MONUMENTAL crrY-wHoLEsoME RIVAL
RIEs-crTY PROSPERITY AND AGRI
CULTURAL POVERTY.
FROM A STAFF CORRESPONDENT or TIE rRtnussl
Richmond Va Jan. 12-The wealth ana
fashion OF Richmond live In palaces NO inner
residences can be found in the South than are
to be seen here in the West End. shade Is lack.
ing except in the parks, and the houses stand
close to the street. but they are elegant and
ornate in design and show signs OF iuAurious
living The best residence section OF RICHMOND
rivals in ostentatious spendor that OF Atianta,
and Is occupied almost exclusively py VIZ
unians The tobacco princes and the merchant
miIlionaires were born and bred on the home
soil and have made their fortunes since the
war They were with few exceptions so.diers In
the Southern Army and they emerged from the
war ruined men, without capital ana witnout
mercantile industrial training Tney haw
not only acquired wealth and distinction In oua-
ness but they have rebuilt Richmond and con.
verted it into one Of me centres OF southern
enterprise. Northern and Western men have
had little to do with promoting the prosperity OF
tho town. 1t is triumph Of Southern energy
and recuperitive power
william L. Royal. enc Of the most accom-
p,ished men in Virginia. gives me the following
account OF the pitiabe condition OF the people
Of the State when Richmond was burned and
well-nigh DESTROYED: Before the war Virginia
was save State. The cities and towns were
small: the population mainly agricultural
and not AT all Dense but rather sparse The
great bulk Of the labor WAS slave labor. Ihere
were many small farmers. who did their own
work. and some white men hired themselves lot
wages; but these furnished comparatively
small part OF the labor. The bulk OF 1t was done
by the negro slaves The great body OF slave
owners was unused to manual or In fact 10 any
other labor 1t was an easy-gJins, good-natureo.
cultivated population, that lived indolently on
the produce Of the soil developed by the labor OF
slaves. When the ended. this population
found itself confronted suddenly and without
preparation with the fact that Its labor system
was wholly dlsorganlzed and blotted out. Men
who had never done hours work with their
hands learned that they must Till their fields
with their own hands see their families starve
before their eyes. Not only so, but in large dis
tricts the means witt wIicA land was titled were
goao Virginia had beea the battlefield OF the
war In almost ever county the horses cattle.
sheep and hogs had gone to satisfy the demands
OF one army or the other The white people were
converted as II ny magic from prosperous ana
contented people into one without means or sub
sistence except from heir naked fields. II Is
hard for one wh, did lot live in Virginia TO
understand how completely the situation Of the
people had been changed by the war from one OF
prosperity and even wealth To one of the most
AFFECT and grinding poverty"
ono generation has sufficed for the introduce
ton ~ this new workaday fashion. In 1863 the
city was I'm ruins business was psralyzed. no.
body knew how to work and everybody was poor.
~ irA
tries self-respectng LABOR is badge Of dis
tinction AMI the social atmosphere promotes
business activity With the same courage and
gaiantry with which many NJ their COM
ranlons marched 10 their graves in Cemetery
HILL these Virginians who had been brought
up In idleness and leisure with slaves to work
for them triumphed over inexperience. poverty
and privation. and restored their fortunes and
influence Richmond Is city consecrated to the
memory OF a Lost Cause. but not the least among
Its monuments the splendid houses In
Frank.in-st.. Monroe Park and the other wealthy
sections which bear witness to the pluck.
endurance sagacity and unconquerable will OF
the best fighting stock in Virginia.
The business quarter of the town offers similar
testimony to the enterprise and resources of the
people. The largest tobacco factories In the
world are to he found here. and business which
is nlghly intricate IL managed Win tnf'it, ecpn-
omy and practical ability. There great
manufacturing enterprises. iron works with
remarkably fine plant. -four mills with brands
known all over the world and many other in
dustrles. A jobbing trade. which has been
steadily increasing year by year owing TO the
painstaking care with which it has been con-
Quoted has acquired very great proportions
There is an air Of hustle and orderly business In
the streets. Richmond is pusating with mer-
camille energy from end to end, and is vitalized
with all the currents Ct enterprise which are now
coursing through the new South. At the same
time it is stronghold Of conservatism. II
cherishes memories OF its heroic period. No other
Southern city suffered much as Richmond
during the storm and stress period OF civil war.
Nowhere else have the heroic figures OF Southern
history been honored with memorials equally
noble and artistic.
The Lee statue. the soldiers monument on
Libby Hill. the great pyramid In Hollywood and
the Stonewal Jackson statue are the most con-
spicuous OF the new works OF art. and each In
It's own way Is remarkably effective. The Lee
statue now suffers from the baroness and bar
renness OF the surroundings. but when the spa
cious circle around the pedestal is thanked with
costly residences and encompassed with verdant
levels II will be generally recognized as one OF
the best artistic works In the country. sood
landscape gardener could do much 10 oeautfy
the city and to improve the public parks and the
monument sites but so great are the natural ad-
vantages Of the city the James that even
with much that Is inartistic in treatment 1t 10
OF the most picturesque cities In America
The newest architecture. notably the City HAN
is markedly good and as for the old. the Stsse
House IS one Of the most chaste and beautifw
buildings on the Atlantic seaboard.
With the single reservation OF picturesque ana
artistic qualities. all that has been said OF Rich
mond may be repeated Of Norfolk. That. too
was a city practically destroyed during the civil
war. with a population impoverished and with