Constitutional Whig

To the Editors of the Whig.

Gentlemen:—In "Hints to the Friends of Internal Improvement," in your paper of the 4th instant, a comparative statement is made, of the present expenses of transporting goods from Philadelphia to the Ohio River, by way of Pittsburg, and the James River and Kanawha route, which cannot fail to be in a high degree gratifying to the friends of internal improvement, and to every Virginian who feels for the true interests of his native state, and wishes to facilitate her onward march to wealth and importance, through the medium of a well digested and liberal system of internal improvement, which it is expected the present Legislature will adopt. And although your "Hints" are sufficiently encouraging to induce the most timid to advocate the immediate improvement of the James River and Kanawha route to the Ohio for the transportation of the immense supplies required by the Western States: I wish to correct the statement of expenses in several particulars, from an actual knowledge of them as they now exist on the route from Philadelphia to Pittsburg, and the James River and Kanawha, viz: You state the cost of Freight and Insurance from Philadelphia and N. York, on the average of goods, at 15 cts. pr. 100 lbs.

Cost of freight from Richmond to Covington, 40"
From Covington to the Falls of Kanawha, 75
Probable expense of receiving and forwarding at the different points, say Richmond, Covington, and Kanawha, 25
Allow for contingent expenses, 20
Making a total of $1 75 cts. per 100 lbs. from New York or Philadelphia to steamboat navigation at the Falls of Kanawha. The transportation from Covington to the Falls of Kanawha, can readily be done for 50 c. per 100 lbs. and perhaps much less as the waggons would load back with salt, for the supply of the country lying between those two places, which could be furnished to that district of country at a cheaper rate than the imported salt, and would therefore produce a material saving to the planters and farmers, who would draw their supplies from that source. The sums allowed for receiving and forwarding, and for contingent expenses, are much above the actual amount which would be required; it may therefore be safely stated that the whole transportation from Philadelphia or New York to the Falls of Kanawha, including Insurance to Richmond, would not exceed $1 35 to $1 50 pr. 100 lbs. in the present difficult and unimproved state of the navigation of the James and Kanawha; and we may fairly expect, that the expenses can be materially reduced, when the liberal system of improvement now contemplated on that route is completed; and in which many of the Western States are deeply interested. By the Pittsburg route, you have stated the wagonage from Philadelphia to that place, at $1 62½ per 100 lbs. as the average cost, which is correct; but you have omitted the charges of receiving and forwarding the goods from that place, and also occasional storage, when the river is too low to admit of navigation. I will therefore make the moderate allowance of 12½ per 100 lbs. for those charges, making the whole expenses from Philadelphia to Pittsburg $2 75 c. per 100 lbs.; to which, in order to make a fair comparison between the two routes, some addition should be made for the transportation from Pittsburg to the confluence of the Kanawha, a distance of about 300 miles: but even omitting that item entirely, there is a difference at present of at least 125 c. per 100 lbs. between the two routes. The transportation by way of Pittsburg, in 1830, is stated at 16,000,000 lbs., which I believe correct, and by Wheeling the quantity is probably greater, owing to the superior facility of transportation from that point. But as the navigation of the Ohio could not be safely counted on, from either place, for more than seven or eight months in the year, owing to low water at one period, and ice at another, the James River and Kanawha route would have a decided advantage, from its more southern position, and connecting with the Ohio at a point below the junction of several of its large tributary streams, from which circumstance, it might be safely expected to offer an uninterrupted communication with the western States for eleven months in the year—while the route through the New York Canal, (through which a large amount of goods for the western States is transported) is rarely open more than six months in the year. It is therefore evident, that the amount of transportation, by the Virginia route (when completed) would increase to an immense extent, and produce a proportionate addition to the fund for internal improvement. I have made the above remarks, as the result of my own observation and experience, under the hope, that some one, more familiar with the subject, would undertake to supply what I may have omitted, and correct any item, which I may have stated under or over the actual charges as they now exist.

A VIRGINIAN.