Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-11-02
The StObe OF Clues
tFor the Dispatchl

I VI VI tiLs us itEN.l
| Just now Charleston. S c.. is n ~.
throes of commercial revival r.a,4.,.
| citizens have undertaken to probe n, -.
| canker-worm that is gnawtne at har
dustral vitals. and the trend taken hy -.
| knife Is in the direction OF the son,sr.,,.
familiar subject OF freight traffic discr,r,,
I; nation. War has been opened an -.
Southern railway. which recently Absorb
| ed the old South Carolina railroad Tho,
time out of mind was know. "a ",,.
Charleston Line" and elimination and
ecrim.nation are being INDUCED IN Wit,
gloves OF. Yet the Ills Charleston com.
plains OF are no new thing. but had fully
developed while the South Carolina rail.
road was still an independent line.
We have not kept up with
the merits Of this particular con-
| troversy. but we opne that Charles.
tons trouble is the result OF n,
laws of nature and of conditions that are
the product and evolution OF the cent?.
ries rather than the effect of any ona
temporary cause or eff The injustice and
wrongs Of any one corporation or sci d,
corporations
Charleston Is fine old conservatives
city. whose pride and heart and hope-gl
moSt-are IN the past Sac is the Mob,
OF American cities. She cannot tear her
sell away. yet awhile. from the grave Of
her youth and prine-so sweet is the lux
ury OF grief. Her commerce. like her
great names, teloEgs 10 tradition Il d,
emphasized by the commodious but abaa
dc1ed warehouses that cover her walsr
front. once the busy marts of trade: bg
her great harhor. ,unmarke by the spec
tacle Of ships. once crowded with rich
argosies from every quarter drupplnE
their costly bales into her lap. In ina,
beautiful time before the war" and in
deed. reaching back to the Revolutionary
period. when the great majority CT Ger
Younger sisters, who now Haunt aud eer
her. were unconceived. as when clvillza-
ton itself on the American continent was
confined to narrow strip along the At
!antic seaboard, OF which she was The
PRINCIPAL Southern city; wnen her lil
zens " ere feudal lords. rich in some hun
dred slaves: when she held the gateway Of
all that Southern region and all the ar.
teries Of trade converged to her as theil
central heart and all tbs white winss
or the sea few TO her for haven. she was
indeed the Queen City of the South. and
her men of business were known a. ner-
chant princes That was her pristine Pc
rlod. Nature had done much for her, and
he. citizens did the rest
Ellt conditions have changed. The rail-
roads. of which her Haynes, and her 9TH
er great men were among the first most
zealol:s promoters. have come They have
covered the continent with Il network OF
ia. ~
talns and spanned rivers and gone in a
bee-;ine direct TO the objective points. Cit
les have bloomed IN the wilderness. The
mountain has como 20 MaEoret. The
man-made locomotive has forced old
Neptune to lay down his trident All
roads lead 40 more to the CITY BY the
Sea
But amidst change Charleston remains
irnrnutahle. She cIirgs 10 her old WAYS
and customs ard other thiEgs. St2rr.ed
at with shot and she'll devastated By nrs'
rdvaged by cyclones and rackad by earth
luake--the target OF every shaft In me
CULVER OF fate-there she stands. 10
staunch and unfnoved as old St Stchaela
spire, and there. apparently. she VIII
staud forever. The d Snity and serenity
Of a bygone age enveIop her as with
cloak TIE modern tendency TO hustle Is
fof eign 70 her ways and offensive to her
taste. The pert seif-sufflciency and Tip
pancy OF her younger sisters does not
coClpoTt with her ideas of proper tram
ing and Ct the respect due TO age and
precedence.
These are conu.,-ons. we say. winch
cannot be Blown away with breath tFo1n
the lips. They are Inherited the result OK
agas OF commercial prestige and rra'nths
aIong lines which were par excellence ID
their day and time. Like the stain g
-tncan's blood on Lady Macbeth haHaS
they VIII not out
And. yet Charleston has a future when
the corservat sn in iler bood-'T we ny
properly term that conservatism Nl!Vn
is nj indisr osition TO adapt ore $!
Few ways ard conditiors-cannoi f1ets"'
of fruitiou. which the Younger g9nera',oi
which is now taking hold, or ne" oiooH'
perchance. will develop the adVan'2Es
ser fertile sea islands her truck taFH.s
her pIos ohates ha- splendid sea 2saeA
her noble rivers her great har5or ass
substantial hIrssEnss of which nothing c"1
aive st her. The government 5 about
begin the construction CT drF-7oSs
there and soon srs9t naval stas'o1
VIII be added 20 her other advances
Any Iac,. O. disposition on the part o. 4s,
people to ts!-e advantage OF these '".I7~
will open the door or opportunity foF '.+
ers 70 do so. and In this wtSe-awaNe ~,
'erprisirs age such invitations are SEE
dom long disresarded
According to sfnlireuN-