of contradiction, that no section of country in the Union, of equal extent, would furnish, in the quantity and variety of its mineral, agricultural and manufacturing products, more business for a railroad than this same central portion of Virginia.

No State of the Union should, at this time, be more densely inhabited than Virginia; and yet, a few facts will show how far short of her rank the Old Dominion falls in this respect. As compared with New York and the country north and west of the Ohio, the following shows the census at different periods, viz:

Thus it will be seen that, while Virginia, during fifty years, from 1790 to 1840, did not double her population, New York increased her population more than eight times, and the West more than thirty-seven times!

Had the ratio of increase been the same between New York and Virginia, the latter in 1840 would have contained more than 5,000,000 inhabitants, or more than four times her present number!

These are startling facts; and when it is considered that a large portion of the State lies west of the mountains, and in 1790 was mostly an unbroken wilderness, and to a great extent still remains so; and that, still farther west, in what was then a wilderness, have arisen new States, teeming with their millions of inhabitants, and more densely inhabited than this oldest State in the Union, it becomes matter of sober inquiry why Virginia falls so far behind her goal. New York, since she entered upon her great works of internal improvements, has nearly tripled her population; and it is highly probable that, had the Old Dominion entered upon the same policy with equal zeal, she would at this time number at least 3,000,000 inhabitants. Nor should the facilities of Virginia for manufacturing purposes be here overlooked. The falls of the James River at Richmond, and of the Great Kanawha and Cole rivers in the west along the line of this improvement, as well as the Grand Falls of the Potomac, and many others of less note, give to Virginia a pre-eminence in her natural advantages for a great manufacturing state.

Her immense mineral wealth is almost boundless. Gold, copper, lead, iron, coal, salt, limestone, marble, granite, alum-earths, soapstone, freestones, &c., abound within the State. These treasures of wealth would all be developed by the construction of the great work under consideration, but are now mostly buried in the bowels of the earth.

*

From the valuable statistics collected in Professor Tucker's excellent work, originally published in the Merchants' Magazine, it is shown that Virginia holds a high rank as an agricultural State.

Her agricultural products in 1840 amounted to...

Those of New York were estimated at........

$59,085,821

108,275,241

68,480,924

Showing that Virginia holds the third rank among the States of the Union in the aggregate amount of her agricultural products.

* The Progress of Population in the United States in Fifty Years, as exhibited by the Decennial Census.

In reference to some of the great staples of agriculture, her rank is as follows:

Thus it appears Virginia sustains the first rank in e Union in the production of tobacco, flax, and hemp; the third in relation to Indian corn, and the fourth in relation to wheat.

Virginia in 1840 raised 10,622,345 bushels of bituminous coal, and Pennsylvania 11,620,654 bushels. Of salt, Virginia produced 1,745,618 bushels, and New York 2,867,884 bushels; thus holding the second rank in the production of coal and salt.

In the production of wool, the order of the States is this: New York, Vermont, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. In the products of the orchard, they rank thus: New York, Maine, Virginia.

Of wine, there was made in Virginia more than twice as much as in any other State; and there is no doubt that for wine and silk, her climate and soil are equal, if not superior, to any portion of the Union. These statistics are given to show not only the quantity, but also the variety of the productions of this great State, and as some earnest of what would be the wealth of Virginia when once aroused to the development of her im

mense resources.

In the interior and western portions of the State are extensive forests of pine, oak, white-wood, cherry, walnut, and other valuable timber, which would also find a ready market, and add greatly to the wealth of the Commonwealth. Nor should the famous and unrivalled thermal, chalybeate, and sulphuritted springs of Virginia, be overlooked in this connection. These delightful watering-places, with their sublime and beautiful scenery, would all be thrown open to hundreds of thousands of visiters, and become sources of immense income to the railroad, and of wealth and refinement to the interior of the State.

There is one other point of view in which the advantages of this work will most favorably compare with other lines of transportation from the West. From the most reliable sources of information, it appears that the present cost of transportation of a barrel of flour from Cincinnati to New York, via the Ohio and Erie Canal, Lake Erie, and the New York Canal, is $1 35. From the same place, via the Ohio River, Pittsburgh, and the Pennsylvania works, $1 40; and via New Orleans, $1 38. Besides this, there is usually an allowance of some ten or twelve cents to be made per barrel, for extra risk, and for soiling the barrel at New Orleans; which will make the cost in fact, by this route, about $1 50.

The cost of transporting via Richmond and Ohio Railroad, and the Delaware and Hudson Canal, would not exceed one dollar per barrel; and when the lines of transportation were fully established between New

York and Richmond, the expense would be still less. This consideration is of very great importance when we consider the vast quantities of flour, beef, pork, wool, hemp, and tobacco, which will pass over this road from the West, and particularly in view of the exportation of American produce to foreign markets. As it is now, it actually costs the planter residing within fifty miles of Richmond more to get a hogshead of tobacco to that market, than it does the planter on the banks of the Ohio, in Western Virginia, who ships his tobacco via New Orleans, or sends it up the Ohio via Pittsburgh and Baltimore.

Richmond and Norfolk will both become great commercial cities, and the centres of a large foreign trade. This is the true view which a Virginian, proud of the ancient renown of the Old Dominion, should take of this grand work. Disdaining a condition of commercial dependence upon the Northern cities, it should be his pride to contemplate the unbounded resources of his native State, and his grand aim to build up, on the waters of the noble Chesapeake, marts of commerce worthy of the Commonwealth.

If Virginia would be true to herself, Richmond and Norfolk would soon become powerful rivals to the other Atlantic cities, for the trade and commerce of the Mississippi Valley. As a convenient market for the products of that vast region, and an entrepot for its foreign merchandise, Norfolk would possess greater advantages than any other Atlantic city. A Virginian should calculate the distance from Cincinnati, the city of the West, not to New York, but to Norfolk and Richmond. Assuming, for the present, Cincinnati and New York as the great centres of trade in the East and West, the distance between them, by the great lines of communication already opened or in contemplation, will be seen by the following statement:

Wheeling to Baltimore, by Baltimore and Ohio Railroad,...

So that the Richmond and Ohio Railroad will open the shortest route between Cincinnati and New York. Besides, it has the preference in being the most southerly route, and free from obstructions of ice and snow -avoids the risk of lake navigation, and taps the Ohio River so low as to obviate the difficulties of shoals and low water in that river.

470

570

700 miles.

130

But the importance of this great thoroughfare as an outlet for the products of the Mississippi Valley, will appear in a stronger light when we compare the distance from Cincinnati to Norfolk with that from the former place to the other Atlantic cities.

By the above statement, it will be seen that the distance from Cincinnati to New York, upon the different routes, is as follows:

Showing a difference between Richmond route and the others of from 29 to 216 miles.

From Cincinnati to Philadelphia, the distance is, by the Pittsburgh route,
By the Wheeling route,.....

877 miles.

853

From Cincinnati to Baltimore,..

757

From Cincinnati to Norfolk,.........

700

Thus it will be seen that the shortest outlet from Cincinnati to the Atlantic cities is to Norfolk ;-that this distance is shorter than to N. York by 210 to 426 miles,..say 318 miles. Less than to Philadelphia by 153 to 177 miles,....... Less than to Baltimore by.........

.say 165
57

Now, if we add the distance from the two last cities to the capes, Norfolk will have the advantage over Philadelphia by 357 miles, and over Baltimore by 257 miles.

But we may fairly institute a comparison between Richmond and the other cities in reference to their distance from Cincinnati, and we shall find that Richmond has the advantage over New York by 340 to 556 miles, say 448 miles; over Philadelphia by 283 to 307 miles, say 295 miles; and Baltimore by 187 miles.

From this hasty survey of Virginia, as connected with her great central improvement, the mind can hardly comprehend the future greatness and prosperity of the Old Dominion.

With the experience of the last twenty years, in which the other States have been schooled, she can construct this great work at a far less expense than works of a similar kind have cost. All the materials for the road are found in abundance along the contemplated route; and, as has been before remarked, the grade over the Alleghanies will be easier than at any more northerly point.

In view of all this, it is difficult to suppress a feeling of astonishment that the leading men of Virginia delay the construction of this great work. It is impossible, however, that it should much longer be delayed. An empire in territory in the very heart of the Republic, Virginia must soon yield to the pressure of causes from within and without, and enter upon a liberal system of internal improvement.

The unsettled state of our foreign relations, and the excitement of the public mind in relation to the Mexican war and the tariff policy, have hitherto retarded action under the late charter granted for the Richmond and Ohio Railroad. Yet the work will go forward; and then, and not till then, will Virginia assume her former rank among the States of the Union.

MERCANTILE LAW CASES.

ACTION TO RECOVER THE AMOUNT OF A CLEARANCE BOND.

In the United States District Court, (New York, June 20th, 1845,) Judge Betts presiding. This was a suit of the United States vs. James Mowt, to recover the amount of a clearance bond. The defendant is captain of the brig Poultney, and sailed from Baltimore for Lisbon; and, on leaving Baltimore, gave the usual clearance-bond for bringing back his crew to the first port he touched at, on his return to the United States. The bond contains a proviso that the captain shall be excused for not bringing back any of the crew, if he can give clear proof that the seamen not brought back had died, deserted, were imprisoned in a foreign port, or were discharged with the consent of an American consul. New York was the first port the Poultney touched at on her return from Lisbon, and the captain could not produce Charles Smith, who had been one of his crew when leaving Baltimore. The defence set up was, that Smith had contracted a certain disease at Lisbon, and that, in consequence, it was necessary to leave him there.

The Court charged that this excuse did not come within any of the provisos of the clearance bond, and the jury therefore brought in a verdict for the amount of the penalty, $400.

BRITISH ADMIRALTY COURT.-THE CONCORDIA.-SALVAGE.

This was an American vessel, laden with a valuable cargo, bound on a voyage from Liverpool to Boston, United States. About 3 o'clock, A. M., on the 26th of January last, she got on the north end of the Arklow bank, and there lay thumping heavily for some time. She made about four feet of water, but the master and crew, by throwing overboard a quantity of salt, constituting part of the cargo, got her off without any assistance. Having done so, they proceeded to the port of Holyhead, with various signals flying. These were observed from the telegraph station, when five pilots and ten men put off in two boats, and boarded her between the North and South Stack, and, by their exertions, aided by the crew, succeeded in bringing the vessel in safety to Holyhead. For these services, a tender was made of £100, which was refused, and an action brought for £640. The value of the property salved exceeded £21,000. The principal points in dispute were, the nature of the signals hoisted, the danger incurred by the salvors in boarding, and the propriety of anchoring the vessel outside the harbor. The learned judge (Lushington) said, that looking at the skill shown, and considering that among the salvors there were five pilots, and that a successful service had been rendered to a valuable cargo, he was of opinion that the tender was insufficient, and he should decree an additional £100.

SALVAGE.-THE AMERICAN SHIP CHARLES WILLIAM.

This American ship, of the value, with the cargo, of £4,970, got into difficulties in the month of November last, and was aided by the pilot-boat, and was placed in safety, passing through Nichol's Gap, and taken into Yarmouth. The salvors were the crew of the Caroline, fishing-smack, which sustained damage in rendering aid, to the extent of £45, and lost employment in her usual avocation. A tender of £75 had been made, and refused. The action was entered for £700. The British Admiralty Court went over the facts, and decided that the tender was not sufficient, and alloted £105. The learned judge (at the motion of the Queen's advocate) apportioned the amount to all parties interested.