Norfolk And Suffolk Rail-...
The Times, 1824-12-31T00:00:00

I / ' I I - . .. . . kd tuni tile Hilry aizn thewh Po^t. j / a rain.tne Lbndon paper;, a project formally apnounced fol t?ath br,irems to iihe metrporlis to Nertvich, by viwy of Ip. 6., rab brf(tches kl Harwich, Bury, Yarmouth, ard Lynn. 1sW) Alce that th nt is at length a chance of the prndigiooia tide of imn- /,emnent extn adip- its influence in this tdirection ; and if' we may -;rawanv ilterence lrom tthC expressios., of an advertisemcnt, the .nO*ce (tiat tenders nmay le made for " thie remaining sharce" (ta Inplete a ctItal ot 1,000,0001.), and a provision for 'the eveifit s , urp1us, would led us to puppose it probable that the plan wvill be '-lWrrted into CScfct. Wte do not, however, profeas a competency to v pinion a to the likelihood that the ' cheme will answer the |?urtposBe of the projectors; butof its cencral utility there cannot, we ~ncesv be a doubt. A contemporary; who fromn lhis situation in ;ecentre of tl nercantile dtistricts of the north js better able than utsee nsto speatkon suchi a subject, makes the following obser. la Easy and exneditious Internal cominunication is of great im. *,]7rtaace to every country. In niany cases, it makes all the difler. ~flnce between obtaining a market, and not obtaining one, for pro. .rnce and nuitifctures. A lew shillings expended in carriage or *ircight often nakes it impossib,le to brlng a comtmodity Into a domes. -tic or fdreigt nmarket, 1In competition with ether commodities of the > are'dnd, produced with no less labour and expense, but nearer at :alan(L The excellent internal communications of this kingdom were ~ti-,,4y insisted upor by several witnesses before the Artisans' W'emmittee of the fouse of Commons in the last session, as one of ".he e.ssential advantages which England posssesed over France for .ZMntfactures and commerce. Such communications enable a Coalntry to make the most of all its variotus and scattered -ources of wealth. Different listricts have peculiar advantages 'tor ditferert produces. One diztrict has mihes of tin and cop. rr; another has iron and coal; another, salt-minest; anotber, -lime; another is rich in agricultural products one ceuntry in fa- 'voturably situated for the cotton manifacture, another for the voollen, -another for pottery, another for hardware. It is of immense impor- tan,e to all these districts, to have such easy intercourse as will en- Witle each to avail itselfofthe resources of the others, and to sapply -them with Ats own productions. These sattered advantagesare thus practically concentrated. Several counties, though fertile, are thinly peojilcl, mnerely because tileir communications twil the busier parts of the island ffi difficult; and the most denstely. inhabited tbstricts are those which, either by nature or art, combine thp greateat number for trade. The woollen manu. ftctures of ur oawi district have coal and iron in their imme- diate neighb. .terhiob0, without which they could never have flou- rished; but tney derive their raw material, and inanv articles neces. ,ary to the rnanufacture. from vaTious, parts of this and other distant countries. The wool comes from Scotland, Lincolnshire, and the aouth, from Sacony and Spain ; thedyeing wares from America and the Indies; the brass.work ofthe niachinery from Birmingham, and Originallv frnm Cerawanl or Peru; the Provisioni, &c., which support nur population, from every quartur of the globe. Let arty man consi- derI ow entirely v;e shou.d be cut of r frora many of bhemostimport. ant ofthesesupplies, if tbeAire, the Ouse, and tle Humber were to be b.nc'ed up}; how many of oor manuf:fitarers naput o. uecessit -ci:nquisI toeir business; and how difticult the rcst wold find in send tleir goods to market, v,itho,ut this grand ,,rflt, and the ,ceds and LIiverpool Canal. IhmscaRah{e is atill obviously in- dehted to ith excellent'coallm-.,nication with differfit parrs of the kingdom and of the worla, for its manufacturitng gos1erity. iikn- chester, which is the centre of til greatest eanuf)cturing district f the world, receivea ita cotton, dye-wares, 8c., V the Aterieyjlom Liverpool; the iron of its niaehinerv from Sta/lbrdsh antt many of its tools, machines, &c., from Bimingham, with both of winct places it haj an excellent comumunication by canal. Fill up the canal and the Alerney, and all lancash{re would be starved. The Various co eries, potteries, andl manufacturing districts owe their Prfispeity, in a very great degree, to the excellent roads and the narVga *le rivera and canals which intersect be kingdom. There are lIo mnany tlourishing agricultural districts, where the land woul, he worth extremely little, it such modes of conninica. tion did no, enable farmers to receihv froto a dirtance tools, bricks, lime, ealt,intd manure, and to senid to marktet in return their grain, Yoocs, and Lattle. If, then, industry, wealth, and popniation, have been so greAtly promoted by the existing niothes of coi.nmmunicatton, It is obviou that improved modes wonlh eduse a still higher degreeof probpcritv. U e have not the least doubt that, writh railways inter. secting the whole kingildon, mdn( with a 'ree corn-trade, tngland nmii, receive a prodigious increase in the numberofits inhabitants and the anoutnt of Its wvealth. " Not only, however, woultl the country lhe rendered richler antl stronger bv this facility of traversing it, but knevwlelge and intelli- g nce wo-ild be at least as much promoted as wealth. The inhabit. arnts of towns are always bettet inforned tMmt those of vllages and hat ilets, wid th1 wpopulation of the mletropolis than ihatof the coutn- trv. This arises from the r-iore frequent intercourse of mind vi ith n-mind, as we!l as fro-n the greater abundance and caRier circulation o. boo,i, whlere the inhabit-ns are closely conKregated ; and this Ireqluent intercourne and easy circulatioin may soon be enjoyed, in a flcree at present ecarlelv to; be conceived, by the inhabltafnts of tbte .ricultaral dittricts.".5.eecds il'erCtrry. 5ucil are the advantages alisih'g ?from the facility of wimmunlca- fio' between place and place, or at least guch; aretlhe advantages which without that taoility canno' be ensoved. flow desirable. then, must he such an improvemtent i4 a district like this. To take, for instance, the town of Bury, whlere a population of 10,002 persons Jlave no o:her trade or occupation than that of supplving each other, -aid the inhabitants of the vicinity, with the articles of immediate consumption. Our wool_trade lias been taken fronm its by the ma. in%er of the north; bitt, once possessed of an easy conimuamication witth tne metr opolis, we might .soon have ottr revenge, or rather, to Iuse a more efltinitened sentiment, we mit,ht join with the tnanufac- tors of l osshire, ' ottinel. sn.2 and Lancashire, in the gratefuil nbour of ncreasing the wealth atnd prosperity of the community. 1-hcsubject e}plus n ...de field for speculation, nnd itt alnother O;pPIrtunity we 3hal' return to i-. /-,a ANVD SUPpOe I If V.AoAD C Y.