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- - i: :3 1 J i., Ami mj n tr - - -.... .. i . i . ., - " '-k -t .. " ' . ' - - - by J. w. ALSPAUGH.S A Democratic Journal Devoted to National and State Politics, Literature, Foreign and Domestic Newsf ete. i (two dollars a yeaiI Vol. iv. wxNSTOirsr, No. 25. c ? . Si-" THE PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY J. W. ALSPAUGH, Editor and Proprietor. -- Terms of Subscription. " The Westerx Sextixel" is published every Friday morning, and mailed to subscribers at two dollars a year, in ad vance; two dollars and a italf after six months, or three dollars after the close of the subscription year. To any one procuring six subscribers, and paying the cash in advance, the paper will be furnished one year, gratis. Terms of Advertising in the Sentinel. Our regular rates of advertising are as follow One s;iuare(14 linesor less) first insertion $1 00 Eicb. subsequent insertion, ------ 25 For one spire three months, - - - - 3 50 For six months, - -- -- -- -- 5 50 For twelve months, - - - - - - 8 50 &3l? Liberal deductions in favor of regular ad vertisers. Professional or Business Cards, not exceeding five lines in length, five dollars a year longer ones in proportion. W Postmasters are required by law to notify publishers when papers are not taken from their o.ii j and those failing to do so become respon sible tor the subscription-money. Ojieeon Went Street, below 'the M. E. Church. aaIHHag9agawia ADDRESS OF W. W. K0LDEN, Esq., AT THE CUMBERLAND FAIR Nov. 3d, ISo'J. Jlft: President and Gentlemen oj the Cumberland Agricultural Society: "When I accepted the invitation of your Committee to address you on this occasion, it was with much distrust of my ability Jo meet your just expectations. Nor has subsequent reflection, ami some investiga tion of the subject usually treated in such address, served to diminish this distrust. So wide and so varied is the iield before me so intimately connected with sciences of which I know but little, and so. small is my practical knowledge of agriculture itseif, that I might well relinquish all hope, if indeed such hope could exist, that it will be in my power to instruct and inform the large and intelligent audi ence here assembled. Yet, I could not resist the invitation, because I agree my self to what I maintain in regard to others, that every public man is under obligations to respond to such calls ; and since, also, X felt sure you would make full allowance fur the numerous detects and the lack of knowledge which would be so appar ent. Though not myself a tiller of the soil, I take a deep interest in this employ ment, and regard it, as we all should do, as of primary importance. Every thing . beautiful, and useful, and durable upon the earth ; Every object of art which de corates the landscape or floats upon the deen, has had its origin in the soil. Eve ery comfort and convenience of life ev ery luxury that solaces or enervates us every gratification based i-pon material things, and every physicial improvement, which, while it dignities humanity, at the same time attests the superiority of ment al power, may be traced directly or indi rectly to the soil. Since, then, agriculture is so important, and so many interests depend upon an en lightened prosecution of ir, it is natural that we should resort to every means in our power to add to our information on ihe subject, and to give to it still greater prominence as a practical science. And what, a change has been effected in this respect within the last ten years. Then we had no agricultural associations of any kind ; now we have a State Society and numerous County Societies, dispensing their benefits not merely at stated periods, but from year to year. Then our farmers, manufacturers, and mephanies insolate from each other, knew but little ot the progress which was being made in their respective departments of industry, and the stimulus of -a general and enlightened emulation was wanting-; but now they as . semble together at least once a year, to ex hibit and compare their productions,' the -evidence of their intelligence, thrift, expe rience, and perserverauce ; to take note of, and take heart from, the success of others in special fields of labor; to investigate and compare the processes by which cer tain results have been attained ; to encour age each other by precept and example ; to knit more firmly the tiesot brotherhood and interest between different and distant localities ; and to rouse up and keep warm those noble sentiments of patriotism and fraternal regard which so much be ' come the citizens of one common State. It is not the premiums offered and ob tained on an occasion like thig, which constitute the chief attraction to exhibi tors. .-.-.These are but "small dnst in. ihe balance,". compared with the triumphs of .'..intelligence and industry, of skill, or of genius, of which the premiums ana diplo , mas awarded are but exterior evidence. Looking over tins large assemblage, one wonld conclude that if all yonr people ; were not here, they were: at least well represented in the strength of their : man - hood," in the innocence antf candor of their " youth, and in the loveliness ' which is a part of the birthright of the daughters of this favored region. . Truly it may be said of ns, as of Israel " of old, 'The Lord thy God hath brought thee into a good land ; a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land ot wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig-trees, and pomgranates; a land wherein we eat bread without scarceness ; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills we may dig brass." This goodly heritage is impaired by no laws ot descent or primo geniture. No oppressive system of land lord and tenant no burdens imposed for the benefit of privileged order, retard our industrial pursuits, or restrict the hand of honest labor. Every man in this country may be a freeholder. Every man may improve. his condition on a solid basis, and count with certainty on transmitting the fruits of Ins industry, in such modes as he may designate,, to his decendants. Our governments,unlike those of the old world, are felt mainly, if not only, in the bene fits and blessings they bestow. Industry, genius, skill, are as unrestricted as the sun and air; while the government itself, in stead -of reoressimj the energies of its cit izens by unjust exactions, has become the patron and promoter of agriculture, me chanics, and the industrial arts. If, therefore, we do not prosper as agri culturists, as mechanics, as manufactur ers, as artizans, we must look elsewhere for the caise than to our political and so ci institutions. The primary pursuit of our people, as I have already intimated, and indeed of ev ery people who have attained, or who may hope to attain permanent prosperity, is that of agriculture. I know it mav be said that some of the most powerful na tions of antiquity were commercial in their character, and that England furnish es a striking example in modern times of a prosperous commercial empire. But, after all, agricultural labor and agricultur al production constitute the basis of English prosperity and power. In no country on earth has agriculture, chemistry, the na ture and application of soils, climathology, animal and vegitable phkiolngy, botany, comparative anatomy of animals, natural history and geology, been so thoroughly understood and so generally practiced as in Great. Britain. A good farmer has been defined to be, one who raises the largest quantity of the most valuable pro duce, at the least expense, in the shortest time, and with the smallest injury to the land. According to this '.est, the English, the Scotch, and the Irish are among the befartlirmei xiieir cattle and live stock, instead of being a burden, are a benefit toJ their lands. Diversified as are the pur suits of the English people,' and excelling as they do in manufacturers, yet. the latter are of comparatively modern origin, de pending mainly for existance on our great staple, Cotton; while all their pursuits and interests would languish if their agricul tural operations should decline. They have availed themselves not only of the atmosphere, light, heat, the rains and dews, in culrivating their fields and in ad ding uniformity and beauty to their laud scapes, but they have sought out inven tions with which to till the earth, to light en ihe labor of man and beast, and, bv thorough pulverization and cultivation of the soil, to draw from it the largest quan tity of produce with the least injury ti. the soil itself. Whenever the business ot cultivating the earth begins to decline in Great Britian ; when her people come, if they ever should come, to attach more importance to commerce than to the means of commerce; when they come to think more of their ships than of that in terest which feeds the people and freights the ships, then may it be said of her, as of other nations in w hich the commercial feat u re predoin i nated "That trade's proud empire hastes to swift decay, As ocean sweeps the 1 'bored mole away; While self-dependent power can rime defy, As rocks resist the billows and the sky." This "self dependent power" belongs pre-eminently, to North Carolina. About the same area of Great Britain, North Carolina has as good lands as hers were originally ; as 'many minerals and in as great abundance ; a latitude better suited to the grape and other fruits; as many, it not more facilities for manufacturing; and four great staples foreign to British soil, to-wit, rice, tobacco, indiau corn, and cot ton. - England is an old, ours is a new country. Our population about twenty to the. square mile ; if equal to that of England, sixteen millions of human beings would swarm upon our surface. . Only about one-sixth of our entire erea is in cultivation; every square yard of England serves some purpose of adornment, profit, or utilit3-. Comparing the two countries their na ura! resources, the advantages we have over her in climate, in the tour great staples, in; our species of labor, in our ex emption from rental charges, from the burdens of Church and State, and. from the. blight of alsenteeishi and privileged orders what a great and 'glorious. 'future', is before us, if 'we are only true to our selves?;. . ; " j .. - All soils, to bo productive, must possess certain properties or elements. Orga ic or vegitable matter must exist in due pro portions with earthly or inorganic matter. There tnust be wliat the chemist call phos phorus, sulphur, potash, soda, lime, -magnesia, iron, silica, and. alumina. A good fair soil, for example, contains seventy four per cent..or parts of silex or sand, five Tarts .of organic matter, fourteen of alum-s nia and peroxide ol iron, aDd not merely traces but small quantities of phosphoric acid, lime, magnesia, potash, and soda -making in all the one hundred parts of any given quantity- Different kinds of plants require these properties in different portions. The grains, cobs, husks skins, leaves, stalks, and tassles of corn, for ex ample, are made up in different proper ties, each one containing its own proper quantity. The grains and cob both con tain potash and soda, the grains bore of each than the cob, while the two contain the eatne.quantity of lime. The leaves take up soliba, potash and soda in large, and lime and magnesia in considerable potash, soda and phosphoric acid in large proportions ; the silica for the draw, and the other elements mentioned for the grain. The litVy-eighth part in one hun dred of the potato is potash and soda. The tobacco plant contains forty-eight parts of lime, fonr of potash, six of soda, nine of magnesia, fourteen of phosphates of lime and magnesia, eight of sulphuric acid, and four of solica. The cotton plant, with the seeds, abounds in lime, potash, soda, and magnesia. Now, these are hard names, and the practical farmer may be curious to know in what respect they affect his business; but they are not more difficult to the ag ricultural chemist thoroughly scientific farmer, than compasses and planes are to the carpenter, or chases or shooting-sticks to the printer, or advowsons, detinue, or trover to the lawyer. Every practical fanner, who has succeeded well in his vo cation, who has made good crops, mul at the same time preserved or increased the original fertility of his land, has availed himself of the elements or agencies just referred to. lie may not have known these agencies or elements by name, and he may have attached but little importance to what is called book, or-seientitic farm ing ; yet whenever he ditched, or drained, or horizontally ploughed, or thoroughly cultivated his land, and whenever he ap plied fertilizers to it, whether in the form of stable manures, lime, plaster, guano, or green crops turned in, he practiced the principles of agricultural chemistry, and was, to that extent, a ' scientific far mer. - In order to produce, as we have just stated, there must be, jirst, fertility, of soil for the seeds planted ; second, warmth; titra. moisture, lne air is a reservoir or holder and dispenser of substances which improve the soil, and water is the medirun ofcommunication. Earth, air, wa'er, light and heat ; these are the agents in the labo ratory of nature by which production is constantly maintained. Without the earthly inorganic matter without light or heat in due proportions without the ammonia and carbonic acid ot the atmos phere, and without water, which holds both ammonia and carbonic acid in solu tion, and, in descending, imparts it to veg etation, the husbandman would plant in vain. For example, the soil is ..prepared, and a grain of corn is deposited in the ground. Under the influence of warmth and moisture it expands aad manifests life. Gradually but surely, obeying the life-principle infused into it by the Crea tive hand, it first sends its root downwards and fastens it in the soil, while it shoots up its green bud to drink in the light and the richness of the air. Soon the tap-root, which steadies the stalk, sends out smaller roots in all directions, which feel for and absorb the nutrient properties of the earth. The plant now lives and breathes. Taking up substances from, the soil, by the aid of water and the combined action of air and light, it deposits them in the stalk and blades. Now the tassel appears, and then the shoot, with its delicate silk; the pot len from the tassel, shaken by the winds, is showered on tke silk, and rhe grains are formed. The plant then matures, and lo, we have "the ripe corn in the ear." Thus, since the creation, has all vegetation been formed, varying only in the modes and periods peculiar to each plant. . Ir is obvious, then, that agriculture does not merely imply e'earing, plowing, di, ging and harrowing, but that it is a science; or art, and must be pursued with the same intelligence and perseverence whiclr are indispensable to success in other vocations, Tiie soil in its primitive state generalfy yields abundantly, and the first tiller en joys its productiveness without' thinking of the exhaustion ging on, or of the im portance of renovating measures. This lias been peculiarly the case in the old Atlantic States. Vast bodies of land have been cleared, scourged and exhausted by farmers, many. of-' whom entertained the erroneous opinion that land was made to be worn out ; and having, as they thought, accomplished their work as farmers in their first localities, they have removed to distant regions aud settled on new soil. "t This exhausting process was formerly as coinmou in tbeNorthern and Eastern States as in this ;;but their means of inter-, communication and of reaching the mar kets of the world, which were early estab lished, and the demands tor breadstnffs and life-sustaining food of ail kinds, creat ed by their rapidly, increasing population the result in a large degree of emigra tion from Europe gave an extraordinary impetus to agricultural production, which has been steadily kept up, and the fruits of which are seen in all directions in neat and almost perfect farms, and in a pros perity which no common depressisn or calamity can seriously impair, much less destroy. Large portions of New Jersey, for example, which were formerly barren and apparently untillable, have been re duced to cultivation, and are now yielding the most remunerating returns to agricul- tural labor The marls of New Jersey alone have added, millions to the income of her people, while the value ot the per manent body thus given to their hands cannot be estimated in dollars and cents. We have in abundance, along the Cape Fear, the Neuse, and throughout our eas tern plains, the same fertilizer, in as great variety as in any State, and quite equal to" any in rienness ana ntness ior me son. i I had time I could lay before yon numer ous examples of its profitable application to lands in this State. It is true, it requires labor and expense to get it out and apply :t ; but where it is in the neighborhood of the farmer, there can be no doubt that it will amply repay the labor, expense and care bestowed upon it. But it by no means follows, because ag riculture is a science or art, that, for prac tical purposes, it is difficult or abstruse. In the early ages of the world, when the leading orders were devoted to the chase or to war, and when the wants of mankind were few, agriculture was neglected, inso much that any prominent or learned citi zen or subject who turned his attention to it, became at once, from the novelty and singularity of his taste, a noted, and after wards an historical character. Cato and Cincinnatus were really veiy indifferent farmers, compared with those of the pres ent age. If they cultivated the earth at all, it was upon a small scale. The facili ties for successful farming in Egj'pt, Greece ami Rome proper, were noj, altogether, worthy to be compared with any one -modern improvement in the science. The plough, by horse and by steam the reap ing, the threshing, and the mowing ma chine the cotton-gin, separating the seed from the fibre with the rap-dity of light ning and the delicacy of the human touch the floniing-mill, receiving the rough receiving grain and bolting it out in snow white flour, worthy to have graced in its wheat en excellence, the tables of all the Phara ohs or of Solomon himself the corn-planter, dropping the seeds with the mathemat ical precision the various contrivances for draining, breaking, slicing, and pul verizing the soil, and the chemical knowl edge which separates, solves, and deter mines the nature of soils, these improve ments were unknown even to modern Eu rope, and are characteristic only of this the most advanced and most prosperous condition of mankind. The plough is a great civilizer. Withon" it the axe would be wielded in vain. Cultivation means the plow ; and the plow always does, or always should imply cultivation. But soil must be had or made, before it can be cul tivated. If it be already good, care must be taken to preserve and improve it. This can be done, by hillside ditching and horizontal ploughing, to prevent wash ing, for the loss is often greater from wash ing than from the absorption , of plants; secondly, by ditching and draining where there is too much water; and thirdly by a proper rotation of crops, b7 fallowing, and by fertilizers, not thoughtlessly appli ed, but such as are needed. Stable ma nure contains in abundance nearly every element requisite for grain or other crops, and is, with wood ashes, the best fertilizer. But as these are not to be had in sufficient quantities, we must look for substitutes. Guano, which contains a large amount of phosphoric acid, ammonia and linie of all which enter in greater or less proportions into wheat, corn, tobacco, and cotton has been much used recently. I know the opinion is entertained by some that it only stimulates, and really impoverishes the soil; but this opinion is not sustained by the best farmers who have used it. It is true, if we depend on guano alone, and cultivate the land year after 3Tear for the same crop, itwill be exhausted, and the same result would follow any other fertili zer. 1 We must not expect too much from any one fertilizer, tor it can only bestow the peculiar properties it pessesses. When these are exhausted of course the fertilizer fails y but a rotation or change of crops, with now and then a green crop turned in, will pot only restore but improve the fer tility. ; Those crops, says Dr., Emmons, selected for enriching the soil, should be such as grow vigorously and 6end their roots deep to bring the fertilizing matter to the surface. That learned gentleman mentions clover and peas particularly, as best calculated to preserve or restore fer tility; and though he says "it is not per haps possible to estimate the real value of a clover crop as a fertilizer," yet, on ac count tf the heat of the suns and sands of this latitude, especially south of Raleigh, he inclines to think that the pea, from its composition and adaptation to climate, is the best crop to precede wheat and to act as a general fertilizer. The pea, he adds, after a "careful analysis of both plants, "is considerably richer in the expensive ele ments of nutrition" than clover, and will no doubt "take the place of rod clover, in this State."-. Experience," lie continues, "has. already proved its superiority. It is easily cultivated, and is not liable to so many accidents. It takes deep root, spreads widely, and is rich in valuable fer tilizers." . -i ' The improvement of his land should be a constant object with the,3 farmer. He should look not merely to the; present, but to the future. Whether his farm be large or small-and, as a general rule, the smal ler the better a prudent foresight should govern all his labors. If he cannot afford to pay for fertilizers, let him : make them by composting ; let him save all his ashes and apply them to his land;' let him re sort to green crops turned io, which never fail to remunerate for the labor and ex pense bestowed ; let him protect his soil by deep ploughing, where it is nesessary, and by a succession of grasses, which will afford nutriment for hisvstnck, and at the same time prevent the rami from washing Let hiin resolve, and always bear in mind that his home and the home of his children is just where he is ; that if this or that im provement, or fixture, or adornment, should not be profitable or needful this year, it may be next year, or years there after ; and that nothing valuable in its na ture which he may put in or put on his land, will be lost to him or his descend ants. It is this spirit of thorough cultiva tion, of permanent improvement, which can alone attach our people as they should be attached to the soil, and make the State what she deserves to be among her sisters. The farmer must labor intelligently, and with a well-defined object in view, or he will labor "to little profit. Knowledge is not only power, but it is money. We see this truth illustrated every where, in all human occupations. We must know be fore we can do; and he that knows most in puisuit or business, no matter in what way he may have acquired his knowledge, will be sure to excel the stupid and the unimformed. North Carolina may be divided into three parts, to wit : the plains of the east, the rolling lands of the interior or middle region, and the mountains and valleys of the west. She occupies the best latitudes on the surface of ihe globe, being shielded by her situation from the extreme cold of the North and the blasting heats of the South. Everyr cereal or grain, every species of grass, every leguminous plant, every berry, every fruit-tree, and every vine, common to the temperate zone, to gether -with rice, tobacco and cotton, at tain perfection in her 6oil. Her timber of various kinds, aud her naval stores, are more abundant than those of other States and equal in quality to the best. From the county of Nash to the Tennessee liue, her hills and mountains are richly stored with minerals of all "kinds ; while nearer the ocean, and almost on its very shores, are elements of nutrition for the soil, and stone marl for building purposes, unexcell ed in other quarters, ller swamp lands, situated in the Eastern Counties, though they have long been a source of profit, and though at this time they are attracting more attention than heretofore, have never been sufficiently appreciated It is esti mated that at least one million of acres of these lands, capable of yielding ten barrels of corn to the acre, are still unreclaimed, and consequently unfitted for cultivation Estimating their yield at eight barrels to the acre, it would give eight millions of barrels, which exceeds the corn crop of the entire State in 1849, by two millions of barrels. In productiveness, and in the sustenance which they wTill afford to ani mal life, these lauds are destined to become the Egypt of the South. They are so rjch so well supplied with organic and inor ganic matter that they will wear as well as the best bottom lands of Arkansas or Texas. There are lands in Hyde which have been cultivated in corn for nearly a century, without any apparent diminution of their fertility. Lands like these, wheth er so naturally or rendered so by art, are really more valuable to the State than naval stores, or mines Of gold and silver. The best evidences of wealth always con sist in fat cattle and poultry, fine horses, good mules, handsome and well-construct- ed dwelling houses, stables and barns, and well-ted aud well-contented laborers ; and these evidences are generally seen on fer tile, well-eonducted farms. Gold and sil ver, and naval stores, though property in themsel ves, are only the means for obtain ing these results. Yet every pursuit is to be commended in its time and place, inas much as ajust distribution ot labor, creat ed by a diversity of pursuits, is indispensa ble to a high state of civilization and re finement. , - Our leading staples are rice, corn, wheat, tobacco and cotton. The value of the to bacco crop of the United States in 1858, was one hundred and seventy-eight mill ions; its value this year, at the generally received estimate of iour millions of bales, cannot be less than two hundred millious. The value of fonr Southern products -rice, sugar, tobacco anfl cotton rose from sixty-six millious of dollars in 1840, to two hundred and thirteen millions in 1858 ; and of this all but fourteen millions, were duetto cotton and tobacco." There is no prospect that the British and French gov ernments will succeed to any considerable extent in producing cotton in Asia and Africa. Even if the plant should mature, and yield as well there as here, involun tary or slave labor is wanting, without which this staple cannot be successfully cultivated. Experience : has shown ; that we can sell asmnch rice, wheat and corn as we can produce ; while the extension of j our cornuaerco to China, Japan and ottjef quarters, and the increased use of tobacco in our own country, give assurance that the cultivation of this plant will continue' to be profitable; North Carolina produc ed in 1849, about twelve millions of pounds of tobacco, and about seventy -fire thous and bales of cctton. That both these crops ' have doubled since that time, I entertain no doubt. The demand, then, for thesd staples must increase ; and this demand should operate as a constant stimulus td our farmers. It would be better for them and better for us all, if they could reach their own sea-ports with their produce and dispose of it on advantageous terms i but if they cannot do that, let them make all they "can, and sell all they Qau, to , whomsoever will buy The culture of the grape for table use' and for wine, is at present exciting atten tion in North Carolina! That a consider ble portion of our territory, extending from the seaboard to the Cherokee, moun tains, is adapted to the culture of the vine and that this business will be profitable when judiciously pursued there can be no doubt. It' common wines were as cheap in this Stats as they are in France and Germany, they would soon become the prevailing beverage, and would baii ish the vile compounds, which, nnder the names of whiskey, gin, rum and brandy, are now so"productive of drunkenness, and so injurious to the souls and bodies of our people. The use of "wine that maketh glad the heart of man," is not forbidden either by divine or human law In the language of Dr. Hooper, whose sobriety and piety no one will question, what " God gives as a tonic and stimulant, along with the nuitriment of man, cannot if so berly and prudently used, be hurtful eith er to body or mind." lie advises the cul ture of the vine for wine. Referring to the "light, giddy and impetous French people, he says, their "superior sobriety cannot be attributed to any moral cause, and is probably due to the tact that a cheap r.nd innocuous beverage is accessi ble to every body." Mr. Jefferson ex pressed a similar opinion sixty years ago; It is the interest of all classes tc encourage the culture of the grape. Let us hope that the efforts which are in progress here and elsewhere in the State, to produce grapes in perfection, and to manufacture a pure and cheap beverage in the form of wine, may be be crowned with snccessi Agriculture and the mechanic arts have been greatly stimulated in this State dur ing the last six or seven years, by works of internal improvement. No people can hope to prosper without means of commu nication with the markets of the worlds If North Carolina began at a late period to project and establish these means of communication, and if large and fertile portions of her surface are still Unfortun ately cut off from markets it cannot be said that she has moved slowly since 1848. Ten years ago the Raleigh & Gaston Road was in a languishing and almost worthless, condition ; the Wilmington & Weldon Road are paying handsome dividends; a Road has been constructed from the sea at Beaufort to the Catawba river west wardly ; the Manchester Road has beer! completed ; a portion of the Road frorri Wilmington to Rutherford has been con-' strncted ; a ship channel has been opened along our coast, connecting our seaboard by inland navigation with the Chesapeake" Bay; a Road has been projected, and is now -nearly completed, from this place td the Coalfields ou Deep River ; and varions other enterprizes designed to facilitate and cheapen transportation and travel, are engaging the attention of our fellow-citizens. The day is not distant when the iron horse, with thundering hoof and lungs of flame, will dash through the swannan oa gap, and thus unite together, and unite forever, the people of the East and West Let those who have so long labored and looked for that day, take courage. The State is pledged to "the work. It rriay be retarded Or postponed, but it will be done for North Carolina has liever yet pledged her faith in vain. . - - Our State and County taxes are thought by some to be heavy and almost oppres sive ; yet I an: 6ure they are not as heavy as those of many other States. But what would be our condition if we had nO pub-, lie works? if our Railroads had never been constructed ? or if they were now arrested in their operations ? Are there any among us who would prefer such a. condition of things to the prosperity which? is so apparent in almost every deportment, of industry, and which is the result in a. large degree, if not entirely, of internal improvements? " Emigration ha3 nearly ceased, and our population is increasing. -The next census will most probably show that North Carolina contains one million; of inhabitants. One of our Railroads is paying twenty-four thousand dollars per annum into our Common School Fund while two of them are together contribut ing about ninety thousand dollars to the Sinking Fund, which has been created to pay the principal ot the State debt as it falls due. Why, gentlemen, the income of a portion ot our people West r of Ral eighthe fruit-growers is at least'ecmal every year to the interest on the, whole cf the public debt ; and but for Railroads hot "one bushel 'probably of the article of com merce which yields' this income, would ever have reached the Northern markets. This portion of the State, fellow-citizen - i t ' T f i tr i .a '3 - i
The Western Sentinel (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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Dec. 2, 1859, edition 1
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