{"1": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3419", "width": "2060", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0001.jp2"}, "2": {"fulltext": "d*\\nc* A\\nX\\no-\\na N\\nx\\nCL.\\n_af\\nO,", "height": "3283", "width": "1976", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0002.jp2"}, "3": {"fulltext": "O\\nA\\n\u00e2\u0080\u00a2^.i.\\nI;\\n.A\\ns\\nV\\nO\\noo N\\n00\\n\u00c2\u00a9_\\nr v v\\nx\\nKt.", "height": "3278", "width": "1946", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0003.jp2"}, "4": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3272", "width": "1809", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0004.jp2"}, "5": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3273", "width": "1946", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0005.jp2"}, "6": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3272", "width": "1741", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0006.jp2"}, "7": {"fulltext": "_ Ajv\\nTHE\\nCOMMERCIAL DESTINY\\nOF THE\\nMississippi Valley;\\nA LECTURE.\\nBY X.. TX. HBAVIS.\\nThe Valley of the Mississippi is the chosen seat of population, product and power on this\\ncontinent. Gen. N. P. Banks,\\nIt is a shame that Great Britain should scoop up the commerce of the West India Islands. It is a\\nshame that France and Great Britain should takf possession of South America. These territories open\\ntheir markets for you and for us, who are their nearest and most easily reaching neighbors, and it is\\npart of the task of the future for St. Louis to send put her enterprise, to send down her steamers and\\nships and take possession of the commerce of South America. Henry Ward Beechsr, on Change.\\nST. LOUIS, MO.:\\nWoodward, Tieknan Hale, Printers, 212 Locust Street.\\n1878.", "height": "3320", "width": "1910", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0007.jp2"}, "8": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3298", "width": "1867", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0008.jp2"}, "9": {"fulltext": "THE\\nCOMMERCIAL DESTINY\\nOF THE\\nMississippi Valley;\\nA LECTURE.\\n-BIT LlftWE-BAYIS\\nThe Valley of the Mississippi is the chosen seat of population, product and power on this continent\\nGen. N. P. Banks.\\nIt is a shame that Great Britain should scoop up the commerce of the West India Islands. It is a shame\\nthat France and Great Britain should take possession of South America. These territories open their markets\\nfor you and for us, who are their nearest and most easily reaching neighbors, and it is part of the task of\\nthe future for St. Louis to send out her enterprise, to send down her steamers and ships and take possession\\nof the commerce of South America. Henry Ward Beecher, on Change.\\nST. LOUIS, MO.:\\nWoodward, Tiernan Hale, Printers, 212 Locust Street.\\n187S.", "height": "3300", "width": "1889", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0009.jp2"}, "10": {"fulltext": "F 3", "height": "3298", "width": "1867", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0010.jp2"}, "11": {"fulltext": "TO\\nJAMES H. BROOKMIEE,\\nA MAN\\nWHO, GIFTED WITH RARE MENTAL QUALITIES, HAS BY\\nAN INHERENT FORCE OF CHARACTER WOVEN FROM HIS OWN ORGAN-\\nIZATION A LIFE OF USEFULNESS AND DISTINCTION\\nAN INVENTOR,\\nWHO WITH MARKED GENIUS HAS GIVEN\\nTO LABOR AN INVENTION THAT ABRIDGES TIME AND CONTRIBUTES\\nVALUE AND REPUTATION THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY;\\nA MERCHANT,\\nWHO BY WELL DIRECTED EFFORTS HAS ATTAINED TO THE\\nFIRST RANK IN MERCANTILE PURSUITS, AND STANDS WITHOUT A PEEK\\nAMONG THE MERCHANTS OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY;\\nA CITIZEN,\\nWHO WITH COMMERCIAL VIEWS AS BROAD\\nAS THOSE HEREIN PRESENTED AND AN ENERGY AND A LIBERALITY\\nTO PROMOTE THEIR ACHIEVEMENT;\\nARE THESE PAGES RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED BY\\nTHE AUTHOR", "height": "3300", "width": "1889", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0011.jp2"}, "12": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3298", "width": "1867", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0012.jp2"}, "13": {"fulltext": "NOTICE.\\nThis lecture was prepared with the full consciousness that the line of discus-\\nsion and the object for which it was made, uot only indicated a new commer-\\ncial era for the people of the great basin of the Mississippi, but also for the\\nWestern Hemisphere. I fully saw at the time of writing, as 1 believed, the\\nrapid approach of an entire reorganization of commerce on this continent, or\\nin other words, a reorganization, of the lines of trade in the valley of the Mis-\\nsissippi, and the early necessity for the people, the productive people, of this\\nvalley seeking new markets southward, in zones and climates which they do\\nnot possess.\\nTo my mind the events of succeeding years afford increased evidence of the\\ncorrectness of the doctrine presented in the lecture.\\nSeveral times since its delivery I have solicited river men and commercial\\nmen to print it in pamphlet form for more permanent use, and send it out over\\nthe valley to the press and commercial men, for the purpose of cultivating a\\nwide-spread conviction in favor of the correctness of the principles laid down,\\nand the necessity of promoting trade with equatorial America. In vain did 1\\nlook for support for its publication and distribution until very recently. I sub-\\nmitted it to the reading of Mr. James H. Brookmire, of the well known grocery\\nhouse of Brookmire Ranken, of this city, who. though young, is one of the\\nleading merchants in the great valley of the Mississippi, and whose purchases\\ncome mostly from the South, and much of which comes from South America.\\nHe, with an unusual enterprise and sagacity, at once saw the importance of\\ngiving the doctrines herein contained a wide circulation, consented to appro-\\npriate from his own private means a sum sufficient to print and circulate a\\nlarge number of the lecture, to be distributed over this country, the West Indies,\\nand South America.\\nAs a grateful recognition of the enterprise displayed by Mr. Brookmire as\\nwell as personal regard, I have inscribed the compliment of the publication to\\nhim, with the ardent wish that we had many more such enterprising men in\\nthe Valley of the Mississippi.\\nIn the belief that the lecture will meet the hearty approval of the active and\\nthinking men of both continents and their islands, I submit it in the interest of\\na great and growing commercial future.\\nL. U. R.\\nSt. Louis, Mo., Jan. 8, 78.", "height": "3300", "width": "1889", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0013.jp2"}, "14": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3298", "width": "1867", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0014.jp2"}, "15": {"fulltext": "EXTRACTS.\\nThe Mississippi is mighty in his imperial dignity, but more mighty in bis\\nlesson of unity and confederation. That matchless tide is the magic Cestus\\nwhich insures the harmony of the sovereign sisters of the Union, and no peev-\\nish eruption of unsisterly jealously can dispart the silvery zone that so firmly\\nand graciously hinds their varied climes and products into one common interest.\\nThe Mississippi is the most persuasive mediator, the most energetic arbiter,\\nand the most vigilant defender of the federal compact. Cora Montgomery.\\nTHE WEST THE SEAT OF EMPIRE.\\nJealous of the South! Such would not be my theme, if the demon of sec-\\ntionalism had so far possessed itself of me. I should not strive to draw the\\nonly real danger of a sectional nature which threatens, and to fasten her atten-\\ntion upon an imaginary one. Nor by the comparatively small section of the\\nUnion lying between Mason and Dixon s Line and the Gulf of Mexico, is the\\nsceptre of the power in this Union to be held hereafter; but by those vast\\nregions of the West, State after State stretching out like star beyond star in the\\nblue depths of the firmament, far away to the shores of the Pacific. What is\\nthe power of the Old Thirteen, North or South, compared with that of the\\nmighty West? There is the seat of empire, and there is the hand of imperial\\npower. Tell me not of the perils of the slave power and the encroachments of\\nthe South. Massachusetts and South Carolina will together be as clay in the\\nAngers of the potter, when the great West shall stretch forth its arm of power,\\nas ere long it will, to command the destiny of the Union. Cale/ Gushing.\\nWHERE REAVIS WORSHIPS.\\nReavis is not a handsome man, and not especially good-natured. He some-\\ntimes gets awfully angry and writes very savagely and very unwisely. But\\nReavis has a big, ugly head on his great, brawny shoulders, full of curious\\nconceits and grand ideas, now and then tumbled about in unutterable con-\\nfusion in the great, ruddy, glowing cranium of the redoubtable Reavis. lie\\nis pugnacious, and obstinate and original. He won t adopt anybody s ideas,\\nand is in a towering passion when everybody don t swallow his own. He\\nstartles people by his industriously collected facts and figures, and can make\\na man s head swim who contemplates the sea of glory over which Reavis guides\\nthe barque freighted with St. Louis glory and fortunes. Reavis believes in the\\nMississippi. Some people are sun- worshipers, but Reavis is a Western rather\\nthan an Oriental idolater, prostrating himself in humble adoration before the\\nsplendid majesty of the Father of floods. This is a Memphis deity, and,\\nsince Memphis and Reavis worship in the same temple, and bend reverently\\nbefore the same idol, it would be well for Reavis to preach in this city. The\\nhall of the Chamber of Commerce will be crowded on any evening that the\\ngiant, who bears the destiny of St. Louis in the hollow of his hand, chooses to\\nappear. Memphis Appeal.", "height": "3300", "width": "1889", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0015.jp2"}, "16": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3298", "width": "1867", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0016.jp2"}, "17": {"fulltext": "THE\\nCOMMERCIAL DESTINY\\nOF THE\\nMISSISSIPPI YALLEY.\\nLadies and Gentlem,en:\\nWe are entering upon a new century in the life of our nation.\\nThe years of our traditionary and colonial history have rolled\\naway into the past. A century has passed since our fathers\\nissued the Declaration of American Independence.\\nDuring that long stretch of years our people, as a nation, have\\ntested many social and political problems, which they were com-\\npelled to confront. In many instances they made mistakes, but\\nin the main, both the Republic and the people have profited by\\nthe experience through which they have passed.\\nNow, closing our eyes upon the factional strife and bloody\\nconflict from which the nation has recently emerged, and purify-\\ning our hearts after the great sacrifice of humanity made upon\\nthe altar of the Republic, let us turn from a decade of war, and\\nlook forward to an era of peace and prosperity, now dawning\\nupon our country. Such an era is just before us, and we stand\\nface to face with it. As it comes we shall be compelled to con-\\nfront new and peculiar questions, be called upon to solve new in-\\ndustrial, commercial, social and political problems, greater than\\nthose of the past. And if we do not look forward to their com-\\ning, and study to comprehend their importance to the general\\nwelfare of the whole people, we shall fail to keep pace with the\\nonward progress of the new century. On the other hand, if we meet", "height": "3300", "width": "1874", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0017.jp2"}, "18": {"fulltext": "10 COMMERCIAL DESTINY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.\\nthe new questions of the future in due time, and discuss them\\nwith earnestness and wisdom, it will be the high prerogative of\\nthe inhabitants of North America to lead the great progressive\\ncolumn of the world s people into new fields of industrial activity\\nand thought. I therefore entreat you to look well to the future,\\nand if possible, discover what achievements arc hi store for our\\npeople. I earnestly entreat you to take high ground on the side\\nof progress and by progress 1 now mean the adaptation of things\\nand principles to their best uses. To announce one of the questions\\nrelating to the national welfare of the people of the grand valley\\nof the Mississippi, which demands immediate consideration, and\\nto indicate its importance, is the purpose for which i stand before\\nyou to-day. Nine years ago, when 1 lirst began to devote some spe-\\ncial thought to the great questions of the West, I became convinced\\nthat for our people to achieve the highest ends of industrial and\\ncommercial life on this continent, the efforts of civilization must\\nconform to the essential and distinctive features of nature, as\\nmarked by the physical formation of the continent.\\nAn examination of the subject reveals the fact that the. moun-\\ntains and their domains have a mission to subserve for the civili-\\nzation of North America, essentially their own, and that the\\nrivers, with the domain of the interior basin of the continent, have\\na mission to subserve, essentially their own, in the expanding\\ngrowth of human power upon the wide area penetrated by their\\nnumberless tributaries. For in this country, as in all others, the\\ncharacter of the civilization must conform, in a great degree, to\\nthe character of the distinguishing topographical features which\\nmark the surface of the continent. The mountain ranees, the\\nboundless prairies, the plateaus and pastoral lands, the rivers and\\nthe lakes, will each produce types of civilization peculiar to them-\\nselves, yet essential to the unification of our continental civilization.\\nThe two great slopes of North America, the Atlantic and Pacific,\\nwill produce a civilization in many respects peculiar to the topo-\\ngraphical character of each. So, too, will the Mississippi Basin\\nbe distinguished by many features of civilization peculiar to itself.\\nPlanting ourselves upon these fundamental truths founded in\\nnature, we can easily survey the wide domain of North America,", "height": "3298", "width": "1867", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0018.jp2"}, "19": {"fulltext": "COMMERCIAL DESTINY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 11\\nand with one sweep of the mind determine what are to be the dis-\\ntinguishing pursuits of the inhabitants destined to reside upon\\neither of the slopes, and in the great valley. And as easily can\\nwe define what industrial and commercial policies are best calcu-\\nlated to subserve the highest interests of the inhabitants of each\\nphysical division. Therefore, in view of these facts, I invite your\\nattention to a consideration of the commercial destiny of the Mis-\\nsissippi Valley, as indicated by nature herself, in the physical\\nformation of the continent. I have many times indulged the hope\\nthat when our people recovered from the embarrassments of the\\nlate civil war, they would instinctively turn their attention to the\\nmaterial development of the country, and thus afford greater op-\\nportunity for a full and free discussion of the many questions now\\n(resenting themselves for consideration.\\nIt may well be laid down as a philosophical axiom, that every-\\nthing has a destiny an end to be achieved, by subserving in a\\nt special way the special purposes of existence. This must be re-\\ngarded true of all things, animate or inanimate, physical and spirit-\\n|ual, whether of flowers and vines, of oceans and continents, of\\nmen and angels. To comprehend the destiny of those things\\nwith which the material interests of men are concerned, is an im-\\nportant function of human knowledge. And in proportion to the\\ncharacter and extent of a thing to subserve the necessities and\\ninterests of individuals and communities, is the importance of the\\ndestiny to be achieved.\\nThus, when we come to consider the destiny of the Mississippi\\nValley, in any aspect of civilized life, we must, from the very\\nnature of the case, regard it as one of vast importance to the fu-\\nture material prosperity of its inhabitants.\\nIts superlative size at once warrants such a conclusion, as the\\nfacts will demonstrate.\\nIf we look to the river navigation of the continents, we find that\\nthe greatest river of Asia the Obi \u00e2\u0080\u0094drains a valley containing\\n1,357,000 square miles. The largest river of Africa the Nile\\ndrains a valley containing 520,000 square miles. The greatest\\nriver of Europe the Volga\u00e2\u0080\u0094 drains a valley containing 400,000\\nsquare miles. The greatest river of South America the Amazon", "height": "3300", "width": "1874", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0019.jp2"}, "20": {"fulltext": "12 COMMERCIAL DESTINY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.\\ndrains a valley containing 2,000,000 square miles. The grand-\\nest river of North America the Mississippi drains a valley\\ncontaining 2,455,350 square miles.\\nThus it will be seen that the Mississippi Valley is the largest\\nland formation of the kind on the globe. With its tributaries\\nit extends through thirty degrees of longitude and twenty-three\\ndegrees of latitude, and embraces within its area all the essential\\nclimates of all the zones of the earth, and in conjunction with\\nthe productive power of this valley furnishes the market basis\\nfor the mightiest growth of commerce ever known to the world\\nhence, the commercial destiny of such a country must be great.\\nOur present purpose, then, is to consider the commercial des-\\ntiny of this grand valley, or in other words, to consider the true\\ncommercial interests of the people of the Mississippi Valley, and\\nhow to achieve their best results by a wise regulation of commerce\\nand traffic at home and abroad.\\nThis is a work of no ordinary concern, for the commercial destiny\\nof the valley, and as will be shown, involves an entire reorganiza-\\ntion of traffic and commerce upon the continent, and the exchange\\nof products through new channels and facilities supported by public\\nimprovements that are not yet in the ascendancy, nor are they\\neven considered by the general mind, which rarely looks beyond\\nthe present of its own time to ascertain what changes nature, and\\nprogress, will dictate in the future.\\nIn this marvelous age of ours, it well becomes the actor in pub-\\nlic affairs to look into the future, and discern, if possible, to what\\nbetter condition of things, individuals, communities and states\\nare rapidly tending, and apply wisdom to the things of the present,\\nand compel them to subserve the better ends of life. If it be true\\nthat we can look wisely into the future and realize what it is des-\\ntined to bring forth, who shall say that that knowledge may not\\nbe wisely applied to the uses of the present?\\nHeretofore the experience of our people has been such as to\\nconvince the most incredulous that the goal of their ambition and\\nwealth was to be reached somewhere in the path of empire as it\\nlies across the continent East and West. And such has been the\\nrapid western march of the American pioneer, and such the", "height": "3298", "width": "1867", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0020.jp2"}, "21": {"fulltext": "COMMERCIAL DESTINY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 13\\nsucceeding progress of the railway to the Pacific Ocean, that men\\nhave seemed for a time to forget that they must conform to nature,\\nrather than with the implements of art become masters of nature.\\nBut we have only to question this mental blindness to expose its\\nabsurdity.\\nMan s mightiest achievements in every field of activity and\\nthought have been more easily and truly won when his etforts were\\ndirected conjointly with nature herself, or in other words, when he\\nmore nearly co-operated with nature.\\nThe water is more easily utilized in the channel of the river\\nthe railway is better and easier built where nature has more nearly\\nprepared the track.\\nIt is, therefore, essential that we ascertain, as a necessary basis\\nfor the argument, whether it is possible for man, in the career of\\nhis progress, to transcend, in any important degree, the well-\\nordered arrangements of nature, for the direction of his industrial\\nand commercial pursuits, and to point out the economic use of the\\ncommercial means destined to give character and activity to the\\nfuture great interests of the people of the Mississippi Valley.\\nThat man cannot in any great degree transcend the order of\\nnature, and establish dominion, and go forward in the highway\\nof progress, contrary to the unchangeable laws of gravitation and\\ngain, must become evident to every one who will give the subject\\na moment s thought. Assuming that this general proposition is\\ntrue, let us make the application.\\nSince the beginning of the migration of the human race upon\\nthe earth, man has been governed by two essential movements.\\nThe first has ever been westward along the zodiac of empire.\\nAlong the path of the first movement has grown up the control-\\nling civilization of the human race. Along it the camel and the\\ncaravan traveled in Oriental lands. Along the seas adjacent to\\nthe land, the rude form of the ship sailed in ancient and modern\\ntimes. Now the camel, the caravan and the ruder form of the\\nship are superseded by the railway and the ocean steamer and\\nyet the railway and the steamships do not transcend the order of\\nnature, and change the natural course and character of human\\nenterprise. The railway simply does the labor of the camel in", "height": "3300", "width": "1874", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0021.jp2"}, "22": {"fulltext": "14 COMMERCIAL DESTINY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.\\nanother form, and does not change any of the principles of human\\nenterprise and action. The ship does upon the ocean what the\\nrailway does upon the land hence the same general laws of human\\ninterest and ambition govern mankind to-day that did four\\nthousand years ago, and must continue to govern man s commer-\\ncial interest.\\nThe second essential movement of man upon the earth has ever\\nbeen at right angles with the zodiac of empire, to the North and\\nthe South. From this second movement has been produced the\\ngreater portion of all the commerce and maritime wealth of the\\nworld. This movement has been the essential producer and ex-\\nchanger of the products of man in all ages, and stimulated ambi-\\ntious rulers to seek the rich trade of the tropics, through new\\nchannels, with which to build up their own empires.\\nIf we go to the countries of Africa, of Asia, and of Europe, and\\ntrace the commercial movements of their peoples since the begin-\\nning of time, we will find in all their efforts but little variation\\nfrom this general law which nature has prescribed, and to which\\nall people have unerringly conformed. The operation of this law\\ngoverning the commercial interests of mankind, is not only traced\\nin the right-angular divergence of the race from the zodiac of\\nempire, but is also discoverable in the natural tendency of man,\\nin all the controlling commercial pursuits, to follow the flow of\\nthe waters toward the tropics, on all the continents. In this\\nmovement of man is to be found the most important operation of\\nthe law of commercial adventure upon the globe.\\nAnd this same unchangeable law\u00e2\u0080\u0094 this law of human action\\nconforming to the requirements of nature must control the\\npeople of this great valley, and compel them to a destiny over-\\nruled by nature herself.\\nAnd as in all ages of the world, man upon the continents has\\nfollowed the flow of those waters running to the tropical oceans,\\nin search of markets for his own produce, and wealth for his\\naggrandizement, so will the people of this valley, in obedience to\\nnature s provision, follow the flow of waters from the lakes to\\nthe gulf, and from thence will their ships go down to the sea,\\nbearing their produce to the markets of the world, and in return", "height": "3298", "width": "1867", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0022.jp2"}, "23": {"fulltext": "COMMERCIAL DESTINY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 15\\ngather up the rich treasures of other lauds and bear them home.\\nIt is true, as already stated, that in modern times a new agency has\\nbeen introduced on the continents to facilitate commerce. I re-\\nfer to the railway. But when we come to consider the economic use\\nof the commercial means destined to give character and activity\\nto the industrial interests of the people of this valley, it at once\\nbecomes evident that by the use of the railway, man can in no\\ndegree transcend the provisions of nature. Besides, the railways\\nmust yield to the superior and overruling influence of nature, and\\nin their greater use, .yield alike with man, and follow the flow ot\\nthe waters to the tropical seas. It is therefore assumed as an\\nincontrovertible fact an unavoidable goal to which our people\\nare rapidly hastening that the commercial destiny of the Mis-\\nsissippi Valley must be achieved in harmony with nature that\\nthe surplus products of the valley, designed for foreign trade,\\nmust follow the flow of the waters from Hudson s Bay to the\\nGulf of Mexico, the Mediterranean of the New World. The\\npeople of this vast domain, from the water-sheds of the Alle-\\nghanies to the water-sheds of the Sierra Nevadas, must all\\nyield to this universal law of nature and interest, and follow the\\nflow of the waters of the innumerable rivers to the gulf stream.\\nThis must be the commercial destiny of the millions of people\\nwho now and henceforth inhabit the interior plain of the continent,\\nand neither ambition nor conflicting interests can thwart them\\nfrom an obedience to the plain and simple dictates of Nature.\\nNor will this people be deflected from their destiny, and com-\\npelled or inclined to pass over either range of mountains, the Alle-\\nghanies or Sierra Nevadas, to seek the markets of the world from\\nthe shores of the Atlantic or Pacific oceans. Cheaper freights on\\nthe one hand will compel the products of the valley to the gulf,\\nand a rigorous climate, on the other hand, will contribute to the\\nsame end.\\nT have stated that the surplus products of the Mississippi Valley\\ndestined for foreign markets, must follow the flow of the waters\\nof the Mississippi and its tributaries, to the Gulf of Mexico, and\\nfrom thence to the markets of the world. I base this statement\\nupon three fundamental propositions.", "height": "3300", "width": "1874", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0023.jp2"}, "24": {"fulltext": "l(i COMMERCIAL DESTINY OF THE MISSISSIPPI A r ALLEY.\\nI. That transportation by the rivers of the valley, to the gulf,\\nwill forever remain a necessity to which the present and future\\nmillions of inhabitants of the central plain of the continent must\\nresort for the purpose of conveying their surplus products to the\\nmarkets of the world.\\nII. That the products of the farms and factories of every part\\nof the great valley can be transported cheaper by the rivers to\\nthe gulf, and thence to foreign markets, than can possibly be done\\nto the Atlantic and Pacific seaboards, and from their ports to the\\nmarkets of the world.\\nIII. The future place of traffic for the people of the Mississippi\\nValley must be with the West India Islands, Central and South\\nAmerica.\\nThese three propositions, demonstrated by facts that cannot be\\nrefuted, will reveal to the world the commercial destiny of the\\nMississippi Valley, as indicated b}^ its topographical character,\\nand call the attention of the people of North America who reside\\nupon its great rivers to an interest and a duty that must hence-\\nforth command their united support.\\nThat transportation by the rivers of the Valley to the gulf will\\nbecome a necessity to the millions of people who now live and\\nhenceforth will reside in the central and upper portions of the\\nMississippi basin, there can be no manner of doubt, and if there\\nwas but one compelling cause for such a necessity, that cause\\nalone would operate as an irrevocable decree in controlling the\\ncommerce of this great valley. The necessity to which I refer, and\\nwhich is the first thought to direct the attention of the people of the\\nValley to the gulf as an outlet to the markets of the world, conies\\nfrom the fact that it will be utterly impossible for the railroads of the\\ncountry to take the produce of the farms and factories and foundries\\nto market. Perhaps this statement may seem strange to some\\nnevertheless it is true, and requires but a single reflection to real-\\nize its truth. It is impossible to build within the bounds of interest\\nand economy a sufficient number of railroads to take away to the\\ngulf the products destined to accumulate from year to year on\\nthe upper rivers. There is neither money enough in the country\\nto build the roads, nor would the investment be profitable if the", "height": "3298", "width": "1867", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0026.jp2"}, "25": {"fulltext": "COMMERCIAL DESTINY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 17\\nmoney could be obtained, for no capitalist can afford to invest\\ntheir means to build roads that can only be supplied with business\\nfrom three to six months during the twelve hence, to limit the\\nrailways to such a number as to insure them profits on the cost\\nof construction and maintenance, by the business they can do, will\\nleave the people of the Valley of the Mississippi constantly bur-\\ndened with their surplus products, unable to find a market save\\nby the water lines to the gulf.\\nThe present railroads of the country have cost more than\\n$4,000,000,000. They cannot to-day, with the rivers, do the\\nfreighting business of the country as prompt as the best interests\\nof the people demand. In less than a generation the population\\nof the Mississippi Valley will be more than 100,000,000, and its\\ncommerce more than tripled, and in no event will there be suffi-\\ncient railway capacity to take to the oceans and the gulf the\\nproducts of the people.\\nTurning to the rivers we find ample facility. They penetrate\\nwith navigable waters every part of the grand valley, and the one\\nmighty river of the continent has a freighting capacity greater\\nthan all the railroads of the world And while speed will neces-\\nsarily draw the travel and light freights to the railroads, cheap\\nrates will draw the heavy freights to the rivers, and thus will the\\nrailroads and the rivers each subserve their own best purposes in\\nthe industrial and commercial affairs of the country.\\nPassing to our second proposition, that the surplus products of\\nthe Mississippi Valley, designed for the markets of the world,\\ncan be transported cheaper by the water lines to the gulf than by\\nany other way, is a fact as easily demonstrated as the simplest\\nmathematical problem.\\nExperience has substantially settled the rates of freights by the\\nvarious modes of transportation to be as follows The transpor-\\ntation of one ton of freight costs by ocean, 1 1-4 mills per mile\\nby lake, 2 1-2 mills per mile by river, 3 mills per mile by\\ncanal, 10 mills per mile by railway, 30 mills per mile.\\nTaking the above rates as a basis for the exchange of products\\nbetween the markets of the different channels of communication,\\nno difficulty lies in the way of establishing the truth of our", "height": "3300", "width": "1874", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0027.jp2"}, "26": {"fulltext": "18 COMMERCIAL DESTINY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.\\nsecond proposition, which also carries with it a still greater in-\\nducement for the people of the valley to look toward the gulf for\\nan outlet to foreign ports. Let us look at the facts. The distance\\nfrom St. Paul to New York is 1,350 miles; at the foregoing\\nrates it will cost a little more than 40 cents, exclusive of ele-\\nvatorage, to ship one bushel of wheat from St. Paul to New York,\\nby railroad from New York to Liverpool, a distance of 3,200\\nmiles, it will cost 12 1-4 cents to carry one bushel of wheat;\\ntherefore from St. Paul by rail to New York, and from thence\\nto Liverpool, it will cost 52 cents to export one bushel of wheat.\\nFrom St. Paul to New Orleans, a distance of 1,993 miles, by\\nriver, it will cost a trifle more than 16 cents to ship one bushel of\\nwheat, and from New Orleans to Liverpool, a distance of 4,950\\nmiles, it will cost 15 cents to ship the same measure of wheat in\\nother words, it will cost 31 cents to export one bushel of wheat\\nfrom St. Paul b} the river and gulf route to Liverpool, thus\\nmaking a difference of 21 cents on each bushel exported by the\\nriver and gulf route.\\nThe same rate of difference in the cost of shipping wheat and\\nother products of the valley, commands alike the consideration of\\nthe people in eveiy locality throughout its wide domain. But the\\ndiscussion does not stop here it takes a wider and deeper range.\\nIf it is true that. art and capital can improve railwa} r s, it is also true\\nthat science and capital can improve rivers, and this brings us to\\na great question of continental and national concern the im-\\nprovement of the Mississippi and its tributaries. There is no\\ncommercial and national question before the American people to-\\nday half so important as that of improving the great rivers of the\\nvalley, so as to afford free and ample navigation for first class\\nsteamers from the Gulf of Mexico to Cincinnati, Chicago, St.\\nPaul, and Omaha. In these railroad times, we occasionally hear\\nmen speak of the improvement of the rivers and their navigation\\nas an old fogy notion. But men who talk thus can, with equal\\nreason, call it old fogy to plow and plant corn\u00e2\u0080\u0094 a thing that was\\ndone in Egypt many thousand years ago. The one has ever\\nbeen a necessity, the other an interest to promote the welfare of\\nman. Referring, however, to the Mississippi River, its improve-", "height": "3298", "width": "1867", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0028.jp2"}, "27": {"fulltext": "COMMERCIAL DESTINY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 19\\nment will be both a necessity and an interest to the future\\nprosperity of our people for if it be true that on account of\\ncheaper freights it is to the interest *of the people of the valley to\\nsend their surplus products by the water lines to the gulf, then\\nthey will be sent that way. And if it is to their still greater in-\\nterest to improve the rivers, then the rivers will be improved.\\nWe have seen, according to the first proposition laid down, that\\nthe people of the valley will be compelled to continue the use of\\nthe rivers, by which to export the vast supplies of constantly ac-\\ncumulating products for it will be utterly impossible, within the\\nrange of economy and profit, to provide sufficient railway facil-\\nities to carry to the gulf and the oceans the freights destined\\nfor foreign markets therefore the improvement of the rivers\\ncomes as another necessity, coupled with the first proposition,\\nand in vindication of the second.\\nIf it be true that our people who reside in the grain, pork, and\\nbeef growing regions of the valley, must go to the rivers and\\nfollow the flow of the waters to the gulf with their products, and\\nthat by so doing, go to market at a less cost than b}^ any other\\nroute, then is it not true that by a wise and sufficient improve-\\nment of the rivers, so* as to utilize the waters as they flow to the\\nseas, freights can be greatly reduced below their present rates?\\nMost assuredly so. Then shall we not all join hands and efforts\\nto secure the improvement of the rivers according to the dictates\\nof science and the demands of commerce?\\nThis is the central idea of the subject under discussion. It is\\nthe great commercial question for the people of the Mississippi\\nValley to solve. To improve the rivers of the interior basin of\\nthe continent, is a subject almost as old as that of improving the\\nAmerican harbors of the Atlantic ocean. In fact, it was the fear\\nof Washington when young, that if the seaboard States did not\\nmake good roads from the head waters of the Mohawk and adja-\\ncent country, to afford easy communication to the seaboard, the\\npeople of the Western States would turn their attention down\\nthe Mississippi, to the gulf.\\nIn 1783 Washington visited the Mohawk, and followed that\\nriver up to the summit which divides the waters flowing into Lake", "height": "3300", "width": "1874", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0029.jp2"}, "28": {"fulltext": "20 COMMERCIAL DESTINY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.\\nOntario from those flowing into the Hudson. The object of his-\\nvisit was to examine into the condition and wants of the people.\\nOn his return he reported to the Governor of Virginia, and urged\\nthe necessity of making- good roads, for the purpose of attracting\\nthe attention of the people of the Western States eastward. He\\nsaid they had been looking down the Mississippi, and the touch\\nof a feather would turn them either way.\\nNow more than 20,000,000 people are not only looking, but\\no-omg down the Mississippi to the gulf, which they can reach more\\neasily than the Atlantic or Pacific oceans. Their market and\\ntheir commercial destiny is down the river. For this people to\\nachieve their destiny in the highest degree, the Mississippi and\\nits tributaries must be improved. There is not a navigable river\\nin the Valley of the Mississippi that does not afford sufficient\\nwater for all the demands of commerce almost the entire year, if\\nthe water is utilized by its proper confinement to the channels\\nof the respective streams. But the great question is the im-\\nprovement of the Mississippi, into which all the others flow.\\nThat there is sufficient water in the Mississippi during all seasons\\nof the year to render its navigation serviceable in the highest\\ndegree, when properly improved, there is no manner of doubt.\\nAlready it is the mightiest inland commercial thoroughfare in the\\nworld. At a less expense than would be required for any other\\npublic improvement of equal magnitude and importance, it can\\nbe made more than double its present value to the commerce,\\ncivilization and government of North America.\\nThe character and extent of the improvements necessary to be\\nmade in the interests of a free and unrestricted commerce from\\nSt. Paul to the Gulf of Mexico, I leave for river men and engi-\\nneering science to determine. It is my purpose only to indicate\\nthe commercial destiny of the people of the valley, to urge the\\nimportance of improving the river, and join hands with the people\\nand demand of Congress to make the improvements. The com-\\nmercial interest of the Mississippi Valley demands free and un-\\nrestricted navigation from St. Paul to the Gulf of Mexico. It\\ndemands that every wreck and snag that endangers the vessels\\nthat do the bidding of commerce be taken from the channel of", "height": "3298", "width": "1867", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0030.jp2"}, "29": {"fulltext": "COMMERCIAL DESTINY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 21\\nthe river. It demands that the water be so utilized between St.\\nPaul and the Gulf as to afford a sufficient depth in the channel\\nduring the entire year, for the different vessels engaged in differ-\\nent trades.\\nFor myself, I am in favor of a uniform depth of twelve feet of\\nwater between St. Louis and New Orleans. This depth will admit\\nsea-going vessels of from 1,300 to 1,400 tons the same size ves-\\nsels that England uses for carrying her mails to the West Indies,\\nAspinwall and Australia.\\nI am aware that many river men regard this as visionary and\\nimpracticable, and tell us that from six to eight feet of water is\\nsufficient. I shall not be content with that depth, but insist that\\nwe demand twelve feet of water between St. Louis and New Or-\\nleans. River freights are almost three times higher than ocean\\nfreights, and if it is profitable for vessels to go upon the oceans,\\nit is also equally profitable for them to run on inland waters,\\nwhere the facilities are alike advantageous. But there is another\\nreason why I am in favor of establishing a uniform depth of twelve\\nfeet between St. Louis and New Orleans. I look beyond to-day\\nand see, in less than a century hence, 400,000,000 enterprising\\nand intelligent American citizens residing in this great Valley of\\nthe Mississippi I see this generation pass away I sec another\\ncome, inspired with new hopes and new ideas, with fresh systems\\nof navigation and new modes of transacting business I see a\\nvast system of inter-oceanic navigation and commerce carried on\\nin this country ships arriving by the St. Lawrence and going\\nout by the Mississippi; I see St. Louis, Chicago, Cincinnati,\\nLouisville and other great cities of the rivers made ports of entry\\nI see ships come from every part of the habitable globe to the\\ngreat city of the world, and take of the choice products of the\\n400,000,000 people and go down to the sea laden for the markets\\nof other lands; I see mighty cities, populous and powerful,\\nspreading all over this great valley, centers of commerce and\\nhuman activity I see North America controlling the civilized\\nworld; and when I see all these things pass before my mind, I\\nam admonished to urge such an improvement of the Mississippi\\nriver as will give an annual dep.li of twelve feet.", "height": "3300", "width": "1874", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0031.jp2"}, "30": {"fulltext": "22 COMMERCIAL, DESTINY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.\\nBesides, we shall not go far in the future before ships will be built\\nupon the Mississippi that will traverse alike the rivers, the lakes,\\nand the ocean with equal facility. They will be owned and run by\\ncapitalists and companies organized in the great cities on the rivers\\nand lakes, like unto those of the seaboard cities. Ship- building\\nwill yet be an important branch of productive industry for river\\ncities.\\nAs to the cost of improving the Mississippi so as to have an\\nannual depth of twelve feet from St. Louis to the Gulf of Mexico,\\nI have consulted with an engineer in whose judgment I have con-\\nlidence he estimates the expense at from $50,000,000 to $60,000,-\\n000, if the money can be honestly expended, but $100,000,000 if\\nthe steal is big. Some of you may regard this amount very large,\\nbut it is small in comparison with the magnitude and importance\\nof the work. No other improvement, ancient or modern, relating\\nto the special interest of commerce, has ever commanded the atten-\\ntion of man equal in importance to that of the Mississippi, so as\\nto control its waters, and aiford ample and free navigation from\\nSt. Paul to the Gulf of Mexico, a distance of 1,957 miles. Be\\nit ever so much, what matters the cost if it falls infinitely below\\nthe profits to accrue, and if the work is cheaper than any other\\npublic improvement in the world There is at least $250,000,000\\ninvested in railroads in the Mississippi Valley, and the amount\\nwill be swelled to $5,000,000,000, and yet a thousand railroads\\nare not equal to the Mississippi river. I would not undervalue\\nthe importance of railroads to commerce and civilization, but at\\nbest, as commercial thoroughfares, they can only be feeders to the\\nrivers. They can gather the products of the land and take them\\nto the rivers, the lakes, and the oceans, to be transported to dis-\\ntant markets, but never can they be made to subserve the uses of\\nthe rivers, the lakes, and the oceans. Each have a mission, a\\nwork to do in the grander growth of civilization upon the conti-\\nnent. There is room for all, there is use for all and in the rapid\\nstrides for commercial achievements which our people are making,\\nwe must not improve the one at the expense of the other. Touch-\\ning the subject of an imaginary contest between the rivers and the\\nrailways for the transportation of the products of the country, I", "height": "3298", "width": "1867", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0032.jp2"}, "31": {"fulltext": "COMMERCIAL DESTINY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 2n\\nwas surprised at reading the testimony of some of the citizens of\\nSt. Louis before the senatorial committee, that met at that city\\nin November, 1873. Among other things stated by one of the\\nmen interrogated, is the following absurd declaration We all\\nknow, said the witness, it to be the fact, that railroads have\\nabsorbed the enterprise and the capital of the country. I give\\nthe gentleman s own language, and, notwithstanding he says we\\nall know it, I for one don t know it at all. But I do know the\\nvery reverse to be true.\\nInstead of absorbing the enterprise of the country, instead of\\nabsorbing the capital of the country, railroads have made this\\ngigantic land strong in material power and progress. They have\\ndeveloped incalculable wealth, and made the people of the nation\\nvigorous and enterprising.\\nThe arts have given nothing to the world equal to the railway,\\nand be you Granger or demagogue, fool or fanatic, when you\\nstrike at the railway system of this country, in the name of a\\nstarved economy, 3^011 strike at the progress and commercial ad-\\nvancement of the world. Go, if you will, and check the blind\\nSamson, you will die in the ruins of poverty made by your own\\nhands.\\nBut, while I would advocate railways, I do not mean to say that\\nthe men who control them, if misguided by bad motives, will not\\naggress on the rights of the people, as well as legislative assemblies\\nand any other forms of organized power I know they will do so.\\nBut the remedy against any public wrong is not to be found in\\nmobs strikes and class organizations Such movements are always\\nfounded upon ignorance and selfishness, and prosecuted without\\nregard to the rights of otners.\\nThere need be no war between the rivers and railways. Small-\\nminded and mercenary men may talk of fogyism about the one,\\nand the despotism of corporations of the other, but interest and\\nwisdom will prescribe to each, in due time, its special and recip-\\nrocal use.\\nI am therefore in favor of the General Government appropria-\\nting from the national treasury a sufficient amount of money,\\n$100,000,000 if need be, to put the Mississippi river and its", "height": "3300", "width": "1874", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0033.jp2"}, "32": {"fulltext": "24 COMMERCIAL DESTINY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.\\nnavigable tributaries in first-class commercial order, and open the\\nway to the gulf, free to the commerce of the great valley. Sup-\\npose it does cost $50,000,000 or $100,000,000? The people\\nwill be the gainers in less than five years after the work is done.\\nInsurance will be reduced by removing the dangers to navigation\\nfreights will be reduced, and corn will be shipped from St. Paul\\nto the gulf at eight cents per bushel. These advantages alone\\nwould repay the cost of the improvements. What is $50,000,000\\nor $100,000,000 to such a vast work, and by so great a nation?\\nHave not the nations of Europe spent millions of dollars to im-\\nprove the Elbe, the Oder, the Rhine, the Danube and the Seine?\\nAnd yet, have we not a greater nation, our people a mightier\\nmission to fulfill, than was ever born beyond the Atlantic? Still\\ntimid men and politicians, empowered with the function of the\\nstatesman and legislators, hesitate to go forward in the develop-\\nment of the country, by making such improvements as the people\\nand the nation demand for the best interest of each.\\nIs it unreasonable for the General Government to improve the\\ngreat river system of the grand Valley of the Mississippi? Is\\nnot such a work essentially national Most certainly it is Then\\nI would have the General Government organize a corps of the\\nbest engineers in the country\u00e2\u0080\u0094 yes, in the world if need be. I\\nwould have them go up and down the navigable rivers of the\\nvalley, and make a thorough examination of every harbor, and\\nthe character of every stream, as well as the lands upon their\\nshores. I would have them consult the merchants and river men,\\nfrom St. Paul, Chicago, Pittsburg and Omaha to the gulf, and\\nascertain, as far as possible, what the present and future com-\\nmerce of the valley, in conjunction with railways, demands. I\\nwould then have estimates made of the cost of the necessary\\nimprovements. And by the improvements necessary to be made,\\nI do not mean any politician s job of snag-boat swindle, and\\nsand-bar and rapids steals but I mean the inauguration of a\\ngreat system of improvement, in character and importance com-\\nmensurate with the nation itself. A system of river improvements\\nthat will last for ages which will be the work of statesmanship\\nand science an improvement that will unite the oceans, the", "height": "3298", "width": "1867", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0034.jp2"}, "33": {"fulltext": "COMMERCIAL DESTIMT OF THE MISSISSIPPI VAELEY. 25\\nrivers, the lakes and the canals of North America, and enable\\nthe great ship of the sea to go through the land, like an amphib-\\nious monster, where commerce commands.\\nThe character of the improvements agreed upon, and the cost\\nascertained, I would have Congress issue River Improvement\\nbonds sufficient for the expense $100,000,000 if need be. I\\nwould have the bonds run fifty years. At the end of that time,\\n200,000,000 people will reside in the valley, ready and willing to\\npay the bonds, and thank God for the foresight and wisdom ot\\nthe Congress that made the improvements. It would not be\\nnecessary to place all the bonds on the market at the same time,\\nbut only such installments as would be required from time to\\ntime to supply money for the prosecution of the work, each\\ninstallment to run fifty years from time of sale. In the mean-\\ntime, the burden of taxation, after the improvements are made,\\nwill fall inmiitely below the profits that will accrue to the people\\nby cheaper transportation.\\nBut there is still another way by which the cost of improvement\\nwould come home to the people. The improvement of the Missis-\\nsippi would necessarily drain and bring into use the alluvial lands\\nlying along its shores and adjacent to it. The restoration -of those\\nlands alone would bring into existence more than double the cost\\nof the entire improvement, though it be $100,000,000. I quote\\nfrom the report of Humphreys and Abbot, on the survey of the\\nMississippi, page 421, as follows\\nIt may be well to exhibit, in this connection, with this approx-\\nimate estimate of the cost of leveeing the alluvial regions, the\\nextent and probable value of lands, which, thus protected from\\noverflow, will be rendered available for cultivation. The area of\\nthose lands from Cape Girardeau to Red river is 19,450 square\\nmiles. It may be assumed that one-half of this area will be\\nrendered cultivable, and as its value per acre may be set down\\nat twenty-live dollars, the total will amount to $160,000,000.\\nThe area of the alluvial land under cultivation below the mouth\\nof Red river is not less than 1,000,000 acres, which at $100 per\\nacre, (by no means an extravagant estimate), gives $100,000,000\\nfor the value of the plantations in that section, making a total", "height": "3300", "width": "1874", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0035.jp2"}, "34": {"fulltext": "26 COMMERCIAL DESTINY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.\\nvalue of $260,000,000 for the land that will be rendered perpet-\\nually cultivable by the expenditure of $17,000,000.\\nThis calculation, you will bear in mind, is founded upon an\\nadvance in the price of only 7,000,000 acres of alluvial land,\\nlying upon the lower Mississippi below Cairo and forms but a\\nsmall portion of the alluvial lands that would be rendered valu-\\nable by the improvement of the rivers and the consequent confine-\\nment of their waters within their banks. But were there not a\\nsingle acre to be reclaimed by the improvement, its necessity\\nwould still be paramount. And we all agree that the work shall\\nbe done by the General Government. And yet the impression\\npervades the public mind that the railroads of the country have\\na sufficient controlling power over Congress and the people, to\\nprevent any improvement of the rivers, as long as their use is\\nreckoned to be hostile to the railway interests. In addition to\\nthis impression, it is held, with no small amount of evidence for\\nits foundation, that the capital and interest, on the Atlantic\\nseaboard of our country, are hostile to the growth and indepen-\\ndence of the West, and having control of the administration and\\nlegislation of the government, sharply contest all the national\\nlegislation designed to promote Western interests. And especially\\nhas it ever been the practice of the capitalists and statesmen of\\nthe Eastern cities and seaboard States, to hold the West in check,\\nand make her a dependency upon Eastern capital and Eastern\\ninterests. Appropriations from the national treasury, designed\\nfor Western improvements, have always been grudgingly and\\ndiminutively made. But such a narrow policy cannot endure\\nforever.\\nFor time at last sets all things even.\\nTo-day the West is the vital portion of the national life, and I\\nmean by the West the entire Mississippi Valley, from the lakes to\\nthe gulf. She supplies the materials for the fabrics of the country.\\nFrom the West come most of the resources out of which the\\ntaxes to support the government are drawn. To the West\\nbelongs most of the population of the country, and to the West\\nbelongs a majority of the senators and representatives in the", "height": "3298", "width": "1867", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0036.jp2"}, "35": {"fulltext": "COMMERCIAL DESTINY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 27\\nCongress of the United States. And if a majority of them were\\nstatesmen instead of politicians, the West would not complain\\nmuch longer about the unfair treatment of the East. Legislation\\nand money would be given in abundance at the dictates of wisdom\\nand statemanship, of commerce and civilization, if the West was\\nrightly represented in the Congress of the United States. The\\ntime is at hand when we must look in another direction for the\\ncause of our incompetent representatives, our incapacitated law-\\nmakers we must look to the people to tl^em belong the respon-\\nsibility, in a great measure, of choosing demagogues and fools to\\nmake the laws for the government and welfare of their country.\\nWe must have a new discussion of the great questions of our\\ngovernment and civilization. The people must be made to feel\\nmore than now the responsibility resting upon them, of choosing\\nthe law-makers of the country. The school-house, the college,\\nthe rostrum, the pulpit and the press must be made to ring with\\neloquence and reason, that will revolutionize the vulgar conception\\nof the people, and revivify them with knowledge and sense of\\nresponsibility, one to another, and each to the whole.\\nBut I have said that to the West already belongs a majority of\\nthe senators and representatives in Congress, and this being true,\\nthere must not be any delay about the legislation essential to\\nWestern interests.\\nIn view of these facts, if the West fails in the future to get her\\nshare of national legislation, as well as appropriations, the fault\\nwill be in the people, who send incompetent men to Congress.\\nHaving thus briefly considered a work of incalculable value to\\nthe commercial interests of the people of the Mississippi Valley,\\nI would ask your attention to a higher consideration of the work,\\nand the importance it is destined to subserve for the government\\nof the people of North America.\\n1 hold that the Mississippi and its tributaries are the greatest\\nbonds of national union known to the people of the country.\\nLet us consider this statement for one moment. Here we have\\na river extending through thirty degrees of longitude and twenty-\\nthree degrees of latitude, and draining an area of 2,455,000 square\\nmiles an area larger than all Europe, exclusive of Russia, Nor-", "height": "3300", "width": "1874", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0037.jp2"}, "36": {"fulltext": "28 COMMERCIAL DESTINY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.\\nway and Sweden. It gathers its floods from the country between\\nthe upper lakes and the Rocky mountains. They are gathered\\nfrom semi-arctic regions, and they flow through all the climates, a\\ndistance of 3,000 miles, there to be emptied into the Gulf Stream\\nof a tropical sea, to be lost in the dark and deep blue ocean.\\nThis great river forms the boundary line of eleven populous\\nand powerful States and two Territories. Upon its main stream\\nand tributaries lie eighteen States and lour Territories, large\\nenough in themselves to form one of the mightiest nations on the\\nface of the globe. It is a bond of common interest and political\\nunion, alike to the whole as it is to the parts. No one State or\\nclimate can appropriate it, to the exclusion of the others. It be-\\nlongs alike to all, and is a mightier bond of national unity than\\nthe constitution itself. In the late civil strife, when the authority\\nof the constitution was of no avail in a land of discordant and\\nbelligerent States, this mighty river, which binds the continent\\nby the authority of Jehovah, mocked alike at friend and foe, and\\ndefied the passions of men, and supremely vindicated the unity\\nof the States of the Republic as one and indivisible. As long as\\nthe waters run in the Mississippi from the north to the south, the\\ncountry through which it runs will know but one government and\\none people, and be the unfailing servant of all. Its annual over-\\nflow engulfs more wealth than the revenue of half of the petty\\nkingdoms of the earth What a wonderful river It wears the\\nbright honors of unnumbered centuries. Its liquid volume moves\\nundisturbed to the sea as at the dawn of creation. It halts not in\\nits course at the tread of empire. On its shores are the unwritten\\npages of more history than belongs to all the existing kingdoms\\nof the world.\\nThe traditionary empire of Hiawatha, extending over the val-\\nley of this grand river, is but the prophecy of that still mightier\\nempire of the mound-builders, whose traces yet remain in the re-\\nlentless hand of Time, and whose origin and decline prefigured\\nin the then far-off future, the world s mightiest nation. This\\ngreat river of the continent, though a new-comer to civilized\\nman, is older than human things, is older than organic life. It\\nwas the parent and protector of millions of organic forms long", "height": "3298", "width": "1867", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0038.jp2"}, "37": {"fulltext": "COMMERCIAL DESTINY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 29\\nbefore the pyramids were built, and before the southern cross\\ndisappeared from the horizon of the Baltic. It floats, annually,\\nupon its tributaries and main stream, more than $200,000,000 of\\ncommerce, and in less than a century hence it will bear upon its\\nbosom to the sea the commerce of 400,000,000 Saxon Americans.\\nWhat a wonderful river No man can compute its importance\\nto the North American people. What the Nile is to Egypt,\\nwhat the great river Euphrates was to ancient Assyria, what the\\nGanges is to India, what the Yangtese is to China, what the\\nDanube is to Europe, what the Amazon is to Brazil all this, and\\neven more than this, the Mississippi is to the North American\\ncontinent. In an earlier period men would have worshipped the\\nMississippi in this age we can do better we can improve it.\\nThen let us improve it let us make a great ship canal, or ship\\nriver, if you please, from Chicago to the Gulf of Mexico, and thus\\nmake it worthy the respect and care of the active, earnest, and\\npatriotic people of the American Union.\\nBut there is still another sense in which this great river is a\\nwonderful agent of civilization. It forms continued inland navi-\\ngation with that of ocean navigation, which has proven in all ages\\nto be a great civilizer of mankind. In every land where ocean\\nnavigation has been connected and extended into the interior, civ-\\nilization has been promoted by the inter-communication of the\\npeople of one country with that of another. In this way, the\\nMississippi river is destined to subserve, in the future, a higher\\npurpose than it has in the past, notwithstanding the great advan-\\ntages it afforded to the earlier pioneers and explorers of the\\ncountry.\\nThere remains the third and last proposition of the subject to\\nbe considered. The future place of traffic for the people of the\\nMississippi Valley will be with South America and the tropical\\nlands of the Western hemisphere.\\nThe products of the earth and industry which create commerce\\nare confined to special zones and climates, and are rendered more\\nvaluable as officiating ministers to human happiness when ex-\\nchanged between people occupying regions of different tempera-\\nture. This truth is demonstrated by the entire experience of the", "height": "3300", "width": "1822", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0039.jp2"}, "38": {"fulltext": "30 COMMERCIAL DESTINY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.\\nhuman race. All the rich commerce of the world, since Joseph\\nwent down into Egypt, has grown out of an exchange of the pro-\\nducts of the temperate for those of the tropical zones and time\\nhas demonstrated to the people of every nation the necessity of\\nsooner or later abandoning the pioneer, or East and West, path\\nof human activity, and moving commerce upon longitudinal, in-\\nstead of latitudinal lines, to secure the greatest rewards of\\nindustry. The same lessons of trade that experience has taught\\nthe people of other nations, the people of this great Mississippi\\nbasin must learn. A new commercial era, a new commercial des-\\ntiny, now dawns upon the Western hemisphere. The tales of\\nMarco Polo, the hopes of Columbus, and the Spaniard s dream of\\nthe El Dorado, will soon find fruition in the new land of Cathay.\\nThe lost Atlantides, that lay\\nTo ancient thought, beyond the waves away.\\nThe opening of a gateway to the Gulf of Mexico by Captain\\nEads, is the opening of a new commercial era of the Western\\nhemisphere a new commercial destiny that will invite all the\\npeople of the globe into its simple secrets, and place in the hands\\nof Saxon America the control of the commerce of the world.\\nThrough the gateway to the gulf the future opens to the people\\nof the Valley of the Mississippi, and they are now compelled to\\nbegin to learn the lesson before them, and turn away from old\\nEurope, and seek new markets, if need be, of their own creation,\\nin the tropical lands of the Western hemisphere.\\nThere lies beyond the rule of our constitution, and south of us,\\nan immense area of navigable waters, a gulf and a sea, destined to\\nbe the theater of the greatest marine commerce on the globe. It is\\nstudded with islands, rich in the wealth of nature, and struggling\\nto take part in the affairs of the world. Still beyond and around\\nlies a vast continent, pregnant with all that is great and grand,\\nand valuable in nature. Those islands and waters and adjacent\\ncontinent are our natural allies, and with us destined to be the\\nworld s conservators. For with us, under the new civilization,\\nEurope and Asia are separated but still struggling under the old\\ncivilization, our people are diverted from their final goal to those\\ndistant continents in pursuit of commerce and wealth. We know", "height": "3298", "width": "1867", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0040.jp2"}, "39": {"fulltext": "COMMERCIAL DESTINY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 31\\nbut little of those lands and waters of our own hemisphere that\\nlie under and beyond the tropics our people should know more.\\nThey occupy a longitudinal position in the geography of the hem-\\nisphere, in their relation with the people of the valley, and will\\ninevitably command the trade of the valley, in obedience to an\\nall-controlling commercial law, that stimulated Alexander the\\nGreat to enrich his empire with the products of southern climes.\\nThat law moved from the Persian Gulf with the human tide of\\nthe world, and successively built up commercial centres on the\\nMediterranean, and from thence moved to the Netherlands, and\\nnow rules the commerce of England. This all-powerful commer-\\ncial law is now being enacted upon the Western hemisphere, and\\nin obedience to its sovereign power, and in the language of Mr.\\nBeecher\\nThe States of North America are to be the commercial centre\\nof the globe. This destiny seems so inevitable that one hardly\\nrequires more than inspection of the map to perceive it. Both\\nsides of the globe the two hemispheres are ours by our posi-\\ntion for we are the land of two oceans. From our hither shore\\nwe hail the European and African continents from our thither\\nshore we greet the Oceanica and Asiatic continents. And all\\nbetween the oceans is our own to be tilled with our own people,\\nunder common institutions, speaking our language.\\nThe interior structure of this continent peculiarly fits it to be\\nthe mart of the globe. Its rivers open the interior from almost\\nevery part, and give natural outlets its lakes are embosomed\\noceans, giving to the Northern frontier a third shore and an inland\\ncommerce scarcely less than the Atlantic or Pacific shore.\\nSuch artificial ways as are needed, especially the great thor-\\noughfares from ocean to ocean the inland highway from the\\nAtlantic to the Pacific are within our own bounds. We have\\nno Prussia on our border, no Russia beyond her. Our vast inte-\\nrior is not grouped into national estates, blocking each other up\\nand wasting each other s means by monstrous armies of watch\\nor attack.\\nWe can ask of commerce what she needs, and whether it is\\nNorthward or Southward, Eastward or Westward, her path lies\\namong our own people.\\nShortly the carrying trade of the globe must be in our hands\\nUpon our shores are the gates through which must pour the\\nworld s merchandise.", "height": "3300", "width": "1822", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0041.jp2"}, "40": {"fulltext": "32 COMMERCIAL DESTINY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.\\nSuch a commercial destiny as lies before the great people ot\\nthe Mississippi basin, and their rapid increase to 100,000,000,\\nand from thence to 600,000,000 population before the close of\\nthe twentieth century, commands the immediate action of those\\nnow living to adjust themselves to the new trade and the new\\ncommerce now growing up between the two continents of the\\nWestern hemisphere. Linked together by nature as these conti-\\nnents are, their people must be united by commercial relations,\\nreciprocal in their character, and profitable in their results.\\nSeeing these things to be true, we must conclude that the future\\ngrowth in commerce and art of the people of the continents of the\\nWestern hemisphere, will depend upon the co-operative relations\\nof the one with the other. And if we are wanting in examples\\nto stimulate such high commercial adventure, we have only to\\nrefer back to an age when commerce began its final struggle with\\nthe military under the feudal power of old Europe and Western\\nAsia. Five different routes successively opened and occupied\\nfrom the Persian Gulf to the commercial marts of the Mediterra-\\nnean were traveled, respectively to the East Indies, by the Phoe-\\nnicians, the Jews, the merchant princes of Alexandria, Constan-\\ntinople and of Venice. And if it be true that in an elder day\\ncities and nations were enriched by the trade of the East Indies\\nand Africa, how much greater must be the opportunity for the\\npeople of this great valley to enrich themselves by the trade of\\nthe West Indies, Central and South America.\\nThe European farmer is the rival of the American farmer in the\\ngrain markets of the world, and the American manufacturer is\\nfast becoming the rival of the European manufacturer.\\nThe course of trade and the condition of the markets now open\\nto the American manufacturer and farmer, demonstrate that we\\nmust earnestly seek for more profitable consumers, especially\\nwhen, as in the case of Central and South America, they buy our\\nproductions with such of their own as we do not produce and are\\nnot competitors in any of our chosen fields of industry.\\nThe people of the Mississippi Valley have, nearer home, a far\\nricher and broader field for human activity than Europe affords,", "height": "3277", "width": "1867", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0042.jp2"}, "41": {"fulltext": "COMMERCIAL DESTINY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VAT-LEY. 33\\nwhich they have only to explore and cultivate, to make it an im-\\npregnable ally in trade and wealth, and not a rival.\\nWhile it is true that the general tendency of man upon the\\nplanet has been to make the circuit of the globe within lines of\\nlatitude of equal temperature, thus instinctively following the\\nsun in his course around the earth, it is also true that the sub-\\nstantial wealth of all nations has been gathered, at least in past\\ntimes, from the tropics. No people have became cosmopolitan\\nand been vitalized by eclectic elements of civilization, who have\\nnot exchanged products with tropical climes, and between zones.\\nSameness is not the law of progress. Variety is the eternal means\\nof improvement.\\nThere is no advantage derived by the exchange of the potatoes\\nof Colorado for those of Ohio, nor the wines of Missouri for\\nthose of California. Those are the products of the same domes-\\ntic industry, and grow along the isothermal path of the human\\nrace.\\nIt is by the exchange of the products of the tropics for those of\\nthe colder climates the corn and wheat, the hardier fruits, and\\nindustrial arts of the North, for the cotton, the rice, the sugar,\\nand the delicate fruits of the South, that our people are to be\\nmostly benefitted in gathering the rewards of industry.\\nIf we are wise we will study these facts, and organize them into\\nthe greatest commercial policy of our age and people.\\nThey must be studied, understood and applied to the highest\\ncommercial interests of this country.\\nLet us no longer ignore these great facts which God has or-\\ndained, and to which the future millions of the two lands must\\nconform.\\nWe have completed the circuit of the globe. Upon our land\\nthe chain of the world s empire is made complete. Columbus\\nand Humboldt carried the conquest forward to the rising and\\nsetting of the sun. Amazed at this triumph, the Anglo-American\\nmind instinctively turns to new fields of conquest, and seeks for\\ndominion on sea and land. What else can it do but to achieve\\nits greatest possibilities in commerce, peaceful conquest, and", "height": "3300", "width": "1822", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0043.jp2"}, "42": {"fulltext": "34 COMMEECIAL DESTINY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.\\ncivilization? Nothing else remains to be done in this restless,\\ngrasping, conquering age.\\nMan s instinctive destiny upon the planet has been to make the\\ncircuit of the globe within lines of equal temperature with that of\\nhis birth-place. This movement is in obedience to a higher law\\na law over which neither kings nor emperors have any control,\\nfor it is the same law which operates in the planetary and sidereal\\nheavens, to direct the sun within the plane of the zodiac and bring\\nthe seasons in turn.\\nThe westward movement of man along the path of empire cor-\\nresponds to the movement of the sun in the zodiac. It is the\\nmovement of discovery and conquest. The second movement of\\nman is at right angles with the path of empire, and corresponds\\nto the second solar movement, known as the precession of the\\nequinoxes. In the one case, the varying of the sun to the north\\nand south, in his celestial pathway, the ecliptic, produces the\\nseasons, and gives sensation and intellectual life to the lands and\\nwaters, and supplies fruits and llowers for the happiness and re-\\nfinement of man. In the other case, the varying of the human\\nrace to the north and the south of the path of empire, pro-\\nduces the great wealth of the world, and advances civilization\\nin every land. Therefore the people of the great States of the\\nValley of the Mississippi have only to live in obedience to this\\ngreat law of nature to fullil their mission in the affairs of the world.\\nMan s civil, cosmopolitan and commercial destiny is to conquer\\nand triumph over the lands and oceans of the varied zones and\\nclimates of the earth. The American people have established their\\nline of conquests from ocean to ocean, and thus demonstrated their\\nability to accomplish their instinctive destiny they are now com-\\npelled to engage in their civil, cosmopolitan and commercial des-\\ntiny. It is supremely important to the people of these great\\nStates of the valley that they hasten to realize that destiny, and\\nearnestly set about its accomplishment. It commands the master\\nmight of mind. It involves the universal interests of races and\\nnationalities. It involves national power and individual prosper-\\nity. Its fulfilment will be the grandest achievement of the race in\\nthe nineteenth century. It will be vitalized by the removal of the", "height": "3277", "width": "1898", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0044.jp2"}, "43": {"fulltext": "COMMERCIAL DESTINY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 35\\nAmerican capital to the Valley of the Mississippi, the discovery\\nof the north-west passage around the continent, and the full de-\\nmonstration and realization of the Future Great City of the World\\nLet us hail this coming triumph, this possible achievement of our\\ncountrymen, with auspicious foreshadowings of a better time for\\nthe world s people.\\nThe application and development of these truths will at once\\nreorganize the present system of the exchange of products on the\\ncontinent, and lessen the importance of east and west railways in\\ntheir relation to those running north and south. This brings us\\nto another statement made by a citizen of St. Louis before the\\nsenatorial committee. The question was asked by Senator Conk-\\nling, why railroads were built on latitudinal instead of longitudinal\\nlines? The witness answered, because latitude has grain and\\nlongitude has not. Now it seems to me that this is a singular\\nstatement, and especially when made in the face of all the know-\\nledge in the world. 1 think that any scientific man will affirm\\nthat wheat and corn will grow on longitudinal as well as latitudi-\\nnal lines, where the climate and soil are favorable. But if science\\nwon t do it, farmers will.\\nBut I simply repeat the statement made by the gentleman of\\nSt. Louis, and leave it for others to criticise.\\nOur lathers landed upon the Atlantic seaboard of the continent,\\nthey there pitched their tents and made fixed habitations They\\nbegan to subdue the wilderness, to multiply and create wealth.\\nThe army of pioneers began to organize. Their only field of\\nactivity lay westward across a broad continent. They took up\\ntheir march and moved forward toward the setting sun, constantly\\ncarving empire from the wilderness. Soon the arts and means\\nof civilization followed their footsteps. The mechanic arts, edu-\\ncation and improvement followed the pioneer, soon to be succeed-\\ned by the railway. And thus as the pioneers went forth from the\\nEast to the West, so did the railway go forth from the East to the\\nWest. The westward movement caused the railways to be built\\nupon latitudinal lines to facilitate the going to and from the parent\\nhome. The wealth was there, and those who possessed it built\\nrailroads for their own interest. This was a pari of the work", "height": "3300", "width": "1822", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0045.jp2"}, "44": {"fulltext": "36 COMMERCIAL DESTINY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.\\ndone by the American people during the first century of our na-\\ntional life. There is now being inaugurated a new movement of\\ncivilization, for the people of the second century. This move-\\nment will build railroads and canals upon longitudinal lines, and\\nestablish harmony between the efforts of man and the purposes\\nof nature.\\nAnd railways running from either of the great commercial\\ncenters of the Valley Chicago, Cincinnati, Louisville, St. Louis,\\nNew Orleans, and other kindred cities, to the Atlantic and Pacific\\nOceans, will sink into far less relative importance than is now\\nattached to them, in comparison with those running north and south\\nand connecting the Lakes and the Gulf. In fact, one good railway,\\nconstructed to a good harbor on the Gulf of Mexico, will be of far\\ngreater value to any one of the cities of the Valley from which\\nit may run, than any Pacific railway that can possibly be built.\\nBesides, it must be evident that in less than ten years the trade of\\nthe West India Islands, Central and South America will be more\\nvaluable to the people of the Mississippi Valley than all the trade\\nthey will require with Europe and Asia. This may seem to some\\nstrange at first, but nevertheless, time will demonstrate it to be\\ntrue. Understand me, I do not mean to say that the trade of the\\nWest India Islands, Central and South America will be greater\\nthan the combined trade of Europe and Asia, but I do mean to\\nsav that the time is not distant when the people of the Mississippi\\nValley will do more business with the West Indies, Central and\\nSouth America than the} r will with Europe and Asia combined.\\nLet me explain. It may be assumed that by far the greater\\nportion of our trade, at present, with Europe and Asia is confined\\nto such fabrics and products as belong to climates that we possess,\\nand that under these same climates are to be found, in North\\nAmerica, in greater abundance, those natural resources that\\nEurope and Asia have in the same zones. Therefore, it is reas-\\nonable to assume that the time is not distant when the people\\nwill produce, from the same raw material, such fabrics, wares ami\\nimplements as they may need in art and civilization, and hence\\nwill no longer be required to go abroad to Europe and Asia for\\nsuch merchandise as can be produced at home. Then our people", "height": "3272", "width": "1898", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0046.jp2"}, "45": {"fulltext": "COMMERCIAL DESTINY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 37\\nwill only be required to go to zones and climates that they do not\\npossess, in the prosecution of trade with mankind. This will\\nnecessarily lead them to the tropical and semi-tropical regions of\\nthe Western Hemisphere, more than to any other portion of the\\nglobe therefore another evidence of the commercial destiny of\\nthe Mississippi Valley, and the necessity of the surplus produce\\nof the people of the valley following the flow of the waters to the\\ngulf. Already our trade with the tropical and southern lands of\\nthe Western Hemisphere is rapidly growing, and to cultivate it\\nrequires favorable legislation and wise statesmanship at Wash-\\nington\\nNo man can estimate our future, trade with the South American\\nStates when these lands shall be more truly cultivated, and the\\nsoils and climates yield to their full capacity the necessities for\\nman, most of which will find their way to the markets of the\\nValley of the Mississippi.\\nBeyond these continental considerations, if we consider what-\\never of trade the people of this valley must carry on with Europe\\nand Asia, we readily conclude that it must be done through the\\nGulf of Mexico. The construction of a ship canal across the\\nIsthmus of Panama as well as a railway to Panama, via the City\\nof Mexico, will inevitably compel nine-tenths of the foreign trade\\ndestined for the people of the valley to reach them through those\\nroutes. The Gulf of Mexico and the Carribean sea must be the\\ncommercial waters of America, infinitely transcending, in special\\nimportance, the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. In short, they form\\nthe Mediterranean of the New World. And in the future growth\\nand organization of the world s commerce, may we not reasonably\\nexpect that thousands of ships, from the Atlantic and Pacific\\nfrom the combined fleets of the nations of the earth will asso-\\nciate in rendezvous in that world s commercial place which these\\ntwo waters are destined to be? Every consideration in our\\ngeography and resources, as well as the rapid tendency to a com-\\nplete organization of the world s commerce, points to this one\\ngreat fact. The Mediterranean of the New World is just as\\nsurely to supersede, in commercial importance, the Mediterra-", "height": "3300", "width": "1822", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0047.jp2"}, "46": {"fulltext": "38 COMMERCIAL DESTINY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.\\nnean of the Old World, as does the civilization of the New World\\nsupersede the civilization of the Old.\\nOur Mediterranean will yet have its Suez canal. It has its own\\nRome, its Constantinople, its Genoa and its Venice, its Smyrna\\nand its Palermo. In short, to the Mediterranean of the Old World\\nbelongs scarcely anything of nature and civilization that does not\\nbelong to the Mediterranean of the New, whether in oceans east\\nand west, or whether in continents north and south or whether\\nin islands and cities, in climates and peoples. Brilliant and event-\\nful as is the long line of historic scenes which have been enacted\\nupon the shores of the Mediterranean of the Old World, through\\nthousands of years of man s history, growth and fall of nations,\\nthe commercial greatness, and the diffusion of the arts and sciences,\\nthere seems to be reserved in the future, to be enacted upon the\\nshores of the Mediterranean of the New World, still mightier\\ndeeds in commerce, in art, in Peace Why may we not antici-\\npate a superior and more advanced rehearsal of history? Even\\nnow it is being enacted, and must go on.\\nFrom the Gulf of Mexico all the great commercial markets\\nof the world are down hill. A vessel bound from that Gulf to\\nEurope places herself in the current of the gulf stream and drifts\\nalong with it at the rate, for part of the way, of eighty or one\\nhundred miles per day. if her destination be Rio, or India, or\\nCalifornia, her course is the same as far north as the island of\\nBermuda.\\nAnd when there shall be established a commercial thorough-\\nfare across the Isthmus, the trade-winds of the Pacific will place\\nChina, India, New Holland, and all the islands of that ocean,\\ndown hill also from this sea of ours. In that case, Europe must\\npass by our very doors, in the great highway of the markets both.\\nof the East and the West Indies.\\nThis beautiful Mesopotamian sea is in a position to occupy the\\nsummit level of navigation, and to become the great commercial\\nreceptacle of the world. Our rivers run into it, and float down\\nwith their currents the surplus articles of merchandise that are\\nproduced upon the banks. Arrived with them upon the bosom\\nof this grand marine basin, there are the currents of the sea and", "height": "3277", "width": "1867", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0048.jp2"}, "47": {"fulltext": "COMMERCIAL DESTINY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 39\\nthe winds of heaven so arranged by Nature that they drift it and\\nwaft it down hill and down stream to the great market place of\\nthe world.\\nThe configuration of the two lands, their climate, soils, natural\\nproducts, navigable waters and intermediate islands, afford the\\nstrongest possible evidence of their alliance to each other, both\\nin nature and civilization. And as nature has tixed the bounda-\\nries of each, and adapted their uses one for the other, it highly\\nbecomes civilized men, inhabiting the two lands and their islands,\\nto form civil and commercial relations with each other in unison\\nwith the purposes of nature.\\nI am convinced that those climates and lands, with their incal-\\nculable resources and noble navigable waters, must be the future\\nHeld of commercial enterprise for the Anglo-Saxon race the\\nAmerican people and that it is of the utmost importance to the\\npeople of the Mississippi Valley to look at once, with eagerness,\\nto those countries, and to secure at the earliest moment intimate\\ncommercial relations with them.\\nEvery consideration invites the people of this valley to the\\ntropics of this continent, and admonishes them that their com-\\nmercial destiny must be with the flow of the waters of the rivers\\nof the valley.\\nThen it is that the future of this valley, which is destined to\\nbe the essential future of the civilization and the commercial\\nactivity of the Western hemisphere, depends upon the exchange\\nof the products of the zones and climates of the Western conti-\\nnents, and the highest development of the commercial relations\\nbetween the people of North and South America and the inter-\\nvening lands. The continent having been spanned by a railway,\\nthe people of the great Valley States, controlled by an instinct,\\nwhose highest achievement is destiny, are now vaguely but truly\\nlooking toward the tropics for their future held of commercial\\nactivity. Railroads and steamships will soon be put in line, and\\ncapital brought into, requisition, in the new and greater field of\\ncommerce.\\nAnd from this great valley will go forth captains and generals\\nwith armies, to traverse again, in peaceful conquest, the battle-", "height": "3300", "width": "1822", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0049.jp2"}, "48": {"fulltext": "40 COMMERCIAL DESTINY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.\\nfields of Pizarro and Cortez, and fructify the lands of Aztecs and\\nthe Incas.\\nThe mission of our people is now being rapidly defined, and\\nfrom their course there can be neither variableness nor shadow\\nof turning. Our commerce, when properly organized in its\\nlegitimate channels of usefulness, must follow the rivers, and our\\npeople who drink the waters of the Arkansas, the Illinois, the\\nOhio, the Missouri and the Mississippi, must be kindred in inter-\\nest and prosperity with those who drink the waters of the\\nOrinoco, the Kio de la Plata, the Parana and the Amazon.\\nWith the achievement of continental conquest will be established\\nthe most perfect commercial relationship between the zones and\\nclimates of the Western continents, North and South America.\\n\u00e2\u0080\u00a2No ship that sails from either shore.\\nWhile to and fro it plies.\\nBut weaves the thread of friendship o er\\nThe Gulf that twixt us lies. 11\\nLet no man be blind to the commercial destiny of this people.\\nLet no man console himself with the hope of some vague specula-\\ntion, in which this people will waste their time and their substance,\\nby foolishly asking for profits and prosperity along the beaten\\ntrack of conservatism and superstition, wandering east and west\\nalong parallel lines of equal temperature, with the rising and\\nsetting sun. No such absurdity awaits the Anglo-Saxon blood.\\nIts mission is more than this. It is to combine in one universal\\nrelationship the zones and climates of extremes of heat and cold\\nto o-ather the wonders and the wealth of torrid and frigid lands.\\nRealizing that such a destiny awaits the people of this valle}\\nis it not the part of wisdom to so shape the schemes of ambition,\\nof speculation, of industry, of improvement, and of commerce,\\nas to carry out the purpose of the Divine, in the application of\\nthe economic uses of all those interests which are destined to\\ncontribute to their progress and the greatness of our nation", "height": "3292", "width": "1851", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0050.jp2"}, "49": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3315", "width": "1786", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0051.jp2"}, "50": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3257", "width": "1778", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0052.jp2"}, "51": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3259", "width": "1796", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0053.jp2"}, "52": {"fulltext": "v\\nn o\\no o\\nv\\nV\\no\\nI\\nS- N", "height": "3277", "width": "1877", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0054.jp2"}, "53": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3280", "width": "1827", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0055.jp2"}, "54": {"fulltext": "LIBRARY OF CONGRESS\\n014 495 426 9\\nMM mm\\nII mWm\\nm Ssl M\\nII\\nliii\\nWast H\\nIffiHi\\nm^a\\nBSbIHI\\nHi U\\nmm Ball\\nilii m\\n1\\nIffiHHBBi\\nIwlJ\\ninn\\n11118\\nI\\nMISS imll", "height": "3397", "width": "2002", "jp2-path": "commercialdestin00reav_0056.jp2"}}