It Is Very Generally
The Case That The States Do Not Hold Their Legislatures And Carry
On Their Government At Their Chief Towns.
Augusta and not Portland
is the capital of Maine.
Of the State of New York, Albany is the
capital, and not the city which bears the State's name. And of
Pennsylvania, Harrisburg and not Philadelphia is the capital. I
think the idea has been that old-fashioned notions were bad in that
they were old fashioned; and that a new people, bound by no
prejudices, might certainly make improvement by choosing for
themselves new ways. If so, the American politicians have not been
the first in the world who have thought that any change must be a
change for the better. The assigned reason is the centrical
position of the selected political capitals; but I have generally
found the real commercial capital to be easier of access than the
smaller town in which the two legislative houses are obliged to
collect themselves.
What must be the natural excellence of the harbor of Portland, will
be understood when it is borne in mind that the Great Eastern can
enter it at all times, and that it can lay along the wharves at any
hour of the tide. The wharves which have been prepared for her -
and of which I will say a word further by-and-by - are joined to,
and in fact, are a portion of, the station of the Grand Trunk
Railway, which runs from Portland up to Canada.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 54 of 538
Words from 14308 to 14560
of 143277
