| From the Richmond Dispatch |
| |
| May 18, 1861 |
| |
| An important matter |
| We call attention to the following article
from the Danville Register, and earnestly recommend it to the
attention of our readers: |
| A Suggestion to our Public
Authorities.--When the country is in danger, we are all apt to think
that we are capable of making suggestions to those in authority,
which, if carried out by them, would promote "the general
welfare." This is very excusable when it does not arise from the
ridiculous vanity of imagining ourselves wiser than they, but from an
earnest desire of contributing, in any and every way in our power to
the success of the noble cause in which we are embarked. |
| It is in this latter spirit, that we would
respectfully but earnestly invite the attention of the proper
authorities to the importance, in a military point of view, not merely
to our own State, but to the Southern Confederacy, of the immediate
completion of the line of railroad from Keysville, on the Richmond
& Danville Railroad, to Clarksville, at the junction of the Dan
and Staunton river {the extension of the Roanoke
Valley RR}. From this latter point there is now railroad
connections with the Raleigh &
Gaston Road, and by the completion of this, that link would give a connection by rail
between Richmond
and Branchville, on the road from Charleston
to Augusta, entirely independent of that by
Petersburg
and Weldon. |
| We understand that there remains only about
nineteen miles of moderate grading, with very little masonry, to be
done; that the bridge over the Roanoke is ready for the
superstructure; that the heavy embankments across the low land of that
river are nearly ready for the rail;
that a large portion of the cross-ties and rail
are on hand, and that the remainder of the iron can be readily
procured. |
| Now that labor is seeking employment at a
moderate rate of compensation, a large force may be speedily obtained,
and the work might be finished within six months. |
| No one can foresee how long this iniquitous
war which has been forced upon us will last. We hope and believe that
success will speedily crown the efforts of our gallant army; but it is
certainly the part of wisdom to prepare for a long and arduous
struggle. It we shall have to pass through such a trial, and any
calamity shall befall the road from
Richmond
to Weldon {the Richmond & Petersburg RR and
the Petersburg RR}, this short road would prove of incalculable
advantage, as it would be the route over which troops and munitions of
war between
Montgomery
and
Richmond
would be transported. Even without such accident to the other line,
this road would be of essential service in expediting the transit
between Virginia and the States South of her. |
| Unfortunately for the country, as well as
for the Company, the simson which has swept over the land, blighting
every branch of industry, has not spared this short but important
connecting link, and if left to depend entirely upon its own
resources, this work, like every other of like character, will have to
succumb. We think that, in view of its now National importance, such
should not be the case, but that the proper authorities should adopt
some plan to insure its speedy completion. |
| We do not imagine that our views on any
military point should carry any great weight, but we have the highest
authority in such matters for thinking that this is a vastly important
line of communication. |
| We again call the attention of the State
authorities to the subject, with the hope that they may deem it worthy
of being duty considered. |
|