We are so accustomed to look at the connection of New
York with the West by her canal, and Virginia with no such union, that
it is difficult to realize the great change if Virginia had been
connected by her progressing work with the Ohio and Mississippi, and
thence, by the present canals, with the lakes.
It is apparent, then, that, as regards easy access to the West, the
natural advantages of Virginia surpass New York, and with greater
facilities for artificial works. How many decades would be required,
after emancipation, to bring the superior natural advantages of Virginia
into practical operation, is not the question; nor do I believe that the
city of New York will ever cease to be the centre of our own trade, and
ultimately of the commerce of the world. But although Virginia, in
adhering to slavery, has lost her supremacy in the Union, it is quite
certain that, as a Free State, she would commence a new career of
wonderful prosperity, that capital and population from the North and
from Europe would flow there with a mighty current, her lands be doubled
in value, and her town and city property far more than quadrupled.
MINES.--Virginia has vast mines of coal, the great element of
modern progress. New York has none. It is coal that has made Great
Britain a mighty empire, giving her power, by land and sea, equal to
the manual force of all mankind.
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