Virginia Argus

COMMUNICATED.

To the owners of Lots and Lands in, and adjacent to, the city of Richmond.

YOUR energy, which has long slept seems at last to have been awakened. Improvement is now the order of the day.—The very few measures which you have adopted to increase the value of your property, have exceeded your most sanguine expectations.—What, then, must you reap from a course of conduct tending to enlarge the scale of your operations, increase your population, to excite industry, to encourage commerce and spread knowledge.—It is stated that the prices of your lands are high. This is a misrepresentation made by persons not possessing real estate here; the fact is otherwise; they are even higher in Lexington, Kentucky; and bear no comparison with those in and near Baltimore, Philadelphia, or New-York; and why should they not?—Your city boasts of natural advantages unequalled by any in the union. We should therefore avail ourselves of them.—To promote those objects equally beneficial to yourselves and the community at large, I would suggest the following plan—form ourselves into a company and elect proper officers.—Each of you convey to the company a certain portion of your property, say one tenth; or, where that should not be convenient, execute your bonds payable at some future day, with interest for that part of the value of your property.—The land conveyed to be sold, and the money arising from the same, to be laid out for the general good; and give as many exclusive advantages as possible, to those who may reside on the lands that have contributed their quota—a Store or Domestic Warehouse might be established to receive, and make sale of goods manufactured on the land: contributing; on a deposit of articles, an advance might be made so as to enable the manufacturer to purchase raw materials, & support his family while he was making others for deposit; consequently he need never be idle.

This would be a great inducement to tradesmen without capital; for when we recollect that every man, woman, and child requires hats and shoes & that perhaps 400,000 inhabitants are supplied through the medium of Richmond, we may form some idea of the extent to which those manufactures might be carried, by enabling the poor man, who is now obliged to work as a Journeyman, to take apprentices, and carry on business.—The interest which they would pay on the advances made them would not be equal to one fifth of the difference which they must pay for house-rent in a part of the town where they could sell them, or the loss of time in hawking them about, should they live in a retired part of it.—Lancasterian Schools might be formed, the incalculable advantages of which may be seen by several essays lately published, free for the residents on your lands.

To our inland navigation, it lies in our power to contribute much: and as this is a grand avenue by which the merchants are to obtain wealth, every exertion should be used to promote it.—You might encourage by bonus, or otherwise, companies to open the communication between James River and the Kanawha, to deepen James River below tide water, to open turnpike roads westwardly to the mountains, and southwardly to the Roanoke. Those roads are necessary to retain a large share of the trade we now have: for, when the communication between the latter river is opened with Norfolk, the Merchants of that place will encourage the Tobacco trade, and receive all we now get from North-Carolina, and the southern part of this State, as the Planter could carry their produce to Norfolk by water, and from thence send it here, for less than they now pay to bring it to this place. So, the opening of the Turnpike road from Fredericksburg to Swift run-gap, and the navigation from the Potomac, up the Shenandoah river, to Port Republic, both of which are commenced, will totally destroy our waggon trade from and beyond the mountains.—

The great importance of the best roads to that country is evident to every one. The benefits derived from the session of the legislature are highly appreciated. It is said they expend about $40,000. Suppose then, an university,—College of Physicians, library and museum, were established, what immense advantages would result to us from them! Say that the university would have 400 and the College of Physicians 200 Students, who would, on an average, expend $400 per annum. This would bring into our city $240,000—but as we are now situated it is nearly the reverse; for a very large sum is annually carried out of the state for the like purposes.—For the encouragement of Manufactures, liberal premiums might be offered for the first 1000 Boxes of Glass, the first 1000 lbs. of Wire, the first 1000 lbs. of Pins: and so very many other articles, which should be made on your lands.—Those measures and many others, which will suggest themselves to you, will tend to advance the price of lands generally and particularly that of your lands, far above the value of any belonging to persons who may not contribute to such an association.

A LAND HOLDER.

* Add to this the diminution of local attachments, the imbibing of extraneous ideas, and principles, and the loss in point of moral character, and intellectual dignity, accruing to Virginia, from the necessity of sending our Children out of the state for the purpose of Education.—Compiler.