The Sun.
London, England, 1870-02-24 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON', THURSDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 24, 1870.

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.

aoctrmes, was agreea to. ..tne second section, approv-
ing the Book of the Articles of Religion, Common
Prayer, and other rites and ceremonies of the
Church, was carried unanimously.

EMIGRATION CENTRES.

COUNTRY AROUND ST. PAUL

Having sketched the block adjoining Mexico,
consisting of Arizona and New Mexico, in our re-
view of 1)r. Bell's work, " New Trucks in North
America," we return to our northern emigration
field, the country around St. Paul. - Minnesota may
be divided into three districts; the north. western
part being termed the Highlands, extending over
16,000 square miles ; the Valley of the Red River
18,000, and Mississippi Valley being three-fifths of
the whole State. The elevated country is a table-
land, raised only some 450 feet above the general
bevel, with sand and drift hills above 100 feet higher,
the temperature being there from 5 to 8 degrees lower
than in the rest of the State. This distr.ct is for
the most part covered with timber, and has rich
mineral deposits of copper and iron. It is ins:west-
ing to the geographer, from the fact that in it rise
the three great rivers of the Continent, the Missis-
sippi, the St. Lawrence, and the Red River, all re-
ceiving contributions from the m berless lak es scat-
tered over thecountry. The Mississippi has its source
in Lake Itasca, flowing in a south-easterly direc-
tion through the State for 797 miles, 134 of which
are from the boundary between Minnesota and Wis-
consiu to the junction of the St. Croix. St. Paul
is the head of the Mississippi steamboat navigation,
although the river is navigable for sm.iller vmssels
for 150 iniLs higher than the Falls of St. Anthony.
The Whole course of the Mississippi is 2,4.00 wiles,
w bile it drains the most extensive valley in the world,
excepting the Amazon, and that one most charac-
terized by vast fertile plains. Hence it opens through
its tributaries a marvellous length of navigation,
and it is quite surprising where a citizen of St. Louis
way proceed iu the magnificent steamboats which
ply on this great internal river communication.
The season extends over eight to nine months; in-
deed in 1868 boats ran to the Ist of December, the
river not being frozen till the 10th. Although the
inhabitants of the sky-tinted State claim the St.
Lawrence as rising there, they mean that the head
of Lake Superior penetrates into Minnesota and
receives a considerable supply of water from the
elevated plateau. Lake Superior opens the naviga-
tion of the St. Lawrence and all the chain of inland
waters to Minnesota, and the people of Duluth
assert that their town being the depot for this noble
navigation must become the terminus of the pro-
jected Northern Pacific Railroad. This embryo
Chicago, as its inhabitants are fond of calling it, is
a new-born giant, and, as destined to be something
very big, it grows at a prodigious rate. it stands
at the extreme end of Lake Superior, opposite Min-
nesota Point with St. Louis Bay on the right, and
the waters of Superior on the left. It is named after
Duluth, the fatuous French explorer, who visited
the spot in 1680. Though a mere baby, ten months
old, there are more than 1,000 inhabitants, which
will be multiplied by five, perhaps before it has com-
pleted its second birthday, for men of great power
and wealth, foreseeing its future, are pushing its
interests, among them the well known banker Jay
Cooke. 'the firm of which he is the head have just
arranged with the Northern Pacific Railroad Com-
pany to conduct their financial negotiations. That
part of the road is first to be constructed between
Lake Superior and the Red River, striking the
.Mississippi and Lake Superior Railroad about 20
miles south of Duluth, into which town the business
is to be brought. This section will be about 225
miles long, and the land grant will be the largest
• ever made to a single comeany, being about
50,000,000 acres. An Episcopal church has been
built in Duluth, which was opened for service on
Christmas Eve ; a Presbyterian church is building,
and the Methodists are gathering funds for their
own place of worship. A Library and Reading-room
Association has been formed, and on a beautiful,
well-selected building lot, standing several hundred
feet above the lake, commanding magnificent views
over the country, will soon be a seminary for girls.
A dock 500 feet in length is in process of construc-
tion, unimpeded by the winter, and a breakwater ,
is to be added, at an estimated cost of $2,000,000,
Cmngress of course coming to the aid. Large ele-
vators will presently be commenced, two hotels are
finished, the railroad to St. Paul will be running the
whole. way by July, and last, but not least, a ceme-
tery association has been formed, and an appropriate
site of 80 acres selected a mile behind the town. The
citizens, however, declare.that the climate is so salu-
brious thatit makes the sick well, and the well to enjoy
boisterous health, the air being perfectly ory, with
no thaw for four months, so the cold is not
felt as in the east; and we are bound,, in justice
to Minnesota, to state that universal testimony
is borne to its extraordinary salubrity, although
other States sneer at the mildness claimed for its
winter. The valley of the Red River lies between
Dacota and Minnesota, the river being the boun-
dary. The soil is deep and black, of alluvial mould,
and rich in organic deposits. It produces heavy
crops of grain, especially wheat, and a portion of
was early settled under the auspices of Lora Selkirk,
Who made the singular mistake of supposing that he
was locating the people on British ttrritory, an
error not detected until after many years. Pembina,
for instance, adjoins the border, but ou the soil of
the Republic, and it was there Governor M•Dougall
took refuge when he withdrew before the Red
River insurgents. Formerly it was called St..
Vincent, and the district extends for several
miles along the east side of the river, time half- bt ced-
th :re settled maintaining their communication by
dog-carts over the long stretch of unoccupied
country. Red River rises in Lake Travers, flowing
northward from Big Stone Lake along the boun-
daries of the State for 380 miles, when it enters the
British Possessions, and is navigable from Bois de
Sioux River to Hudson's Bay. The portion of the
Mississippi Valley comprised within the State is even
more fertile. Mr. Girart Hewitt calls it the garden
spot of the north-west, and one of the finest agricul-
tural districts in the world. Generally it is a roll-
ing prairie, of a warm, dark calcareous and sandy
loam, resting on secondary rocks, the surface being
covered by a network of lakes and streams. Al-
though for the most part flat, these sky-tinted
lakes, interspersed with numerous groves and belts
of timber, with streams meandering through the
country, make a diversified and picturesque series
of lansistaties. The other rivers of magnitude are
the Minnesota, flowing SCO miles; the St. Croix,
rising near Lake -Superior and forming the boun-
dary of Wisconsin and time Cannon River. The
principal towns of Minnesota are St. Paul, which in
1850 contained 1,338 persons ; in 1860, 10,401,
and now prObably 20,000 ; St. Anthony, which in
1850 had 656, and in 1860, 3,258—this being nearly
doubled if Mineapolis, on the other side the Mis-
sissippi, be added ; Stillwater, which in 1850 had
621, and iu 1860, 2,000 ; Pembina, increased from
1,000 in 1850 to 1,500 in 1860. There are many other
towns in a state of rapid growth, of which Duluth,
unknown to geography, is one. We labour under
the disadvantage of writing on these States as fields
for emigration, without the last report of the Laud
Commissioner, which gives official figures of the
latest date. The whole State is in rapid transition,
a change which our readers may imagine from this:.
—The little State of Illinois was thirty years ago a
howling wilderness; it has now 2,500 miles of rail-
way, and a population of nearly three millions, who
pay $15,000,000, or one-fifteenth part of the taxa-
tion of the United States. The State of Minnesota
in 1857 imported her breadstuffs, but in 1867 she
exported 12,000,000 bushels of wheat, which was
grown upon three per cent. of her soil.—But if this
makes it difficult for writers to keep pace with the
progress of such States, it is the most encouraging
feature to emigrants. An insignificant village like
Duluth, with cows grazing around the church and
bank, will in five years be an important town, with
houses covering the grass, and the ground selling
at so much per foot frontage. Emigrants with some
small means should always bear in mind this fact,
that the rapid rise of settlers in a new country is
not due to their exertions alone, but to the enor-
mous increase in value of the property they acquire
at a cheap rate by early settlement, and the rapid
extension of whatever business they undertake,
population increasing quicker than competition.—
A nglo- American Times.

Two Spanish war vessels had arrived at New
York, front Havannah for repairs, to which Mr. Wood ob-
jected in the House, as not imposed by any law or treaty,
and the President was requested to inform the House
whether orders had been given, and: if so, on what autho-
rity for the reception of these vessels ; an inquiry to which
the House consented.

There is a strong opposition at Washington to
any legislation for making American bonds payable in
Europe, It is stated that such legislation would depre-
ciate United States securities. We do not know what
they mean in Washington by depreciation, but wo do know
that a4i per cc:n Lbond with interest payable in dollars in A me-
rica would not sell at 60 cents in thed,llar iu ally market in
the world. If this objection prevails, Mr. Bout well's time
and trouble have been utterly thrown away, for he would
only be greeted with a laugh of derision if he proposed to
the bolder of a 6 per cent. bond to change it for it 11 per cent.
bond on the same terms ; that is, to make him a present
of 25 per cent. of his property ! The rubbish people talk
about these bonds, both iu Europe and America, is
almost incr,dible. The only inducement for affecting
the change to an Englishman, for instance, would be
the sterling payment of his interest in London; for a
German, the payment in tinders in Frankfort or Berlin ;
for a Frenchman, its payment in napoleons in Paris. Of
course, if foreigners aro not required to subscribe, and
Americans can absorb the bonds themselves, such a pro-
vision would be worse than useless; but as Americans are
large sellers below par in gold of Five-Twenties, with 6
per cent. payable iu gold, they could only conclude that
Mr. Boutwell was jouing if he asked them to buy 4i
binds at par! What can Mr. Boutwell think •of such
talk, gravely circulated through the United States?
_,,,

REMOVAL OF THE NA7IONAL CAPITAL.

(From the Anglo. American Times.)

For the three days—the 20th, 21st, and 22d of
last October—a National Convention sat at St.
Louis, delegates being present from most of the
States and Territories to deliberate on the necessity
of changing the site of the National Capital to the
Mississippi Valley. An address has been drawn up
by a Committee charged to issue au appeal to the
citizecs of the Union, and to publish the resolutions
unanimously adopted by the Convention. In these,
which we did not see till after writing the remarks
in our leader on " England's True Policy," can be
traced a shndar argument though used for au alto-
gether different object. The resolutions are thus
introduced :

" Whereas, The present site of the National Capital was
selected as the most central point when the people of this
Republic —only a few millions in number—inhabited only
a narrow strip of country along the Atlantic coast; and
whereas, the population of this Republic has increased
thirteenfold since then, and spread over a vast continent,
of which the States in existence when the seat of Govern-
ment was located form only the eastern edge;
"Whereas, &c. —Resolved, That it is absurd to suppose
that the haodful of inhabitants in 1790, just emerging from
a colonial vassalage, before steamboats, railroads, tele-
graphs, or power presses were dreamed of, or a mile of
turnpike or canal contracted, possessed the authority or
desired to exercise the power of fixing the site of the Capi-
tal for ever on the banks of the Potomac, against the will
and interests of the hundreds of millions who might come
after them ;" &c., &c.
The address sounds the same note ; indeed, it is the
key of the position. It says :—" From thirteen
original States the Union has grown to thirty-seven
States and ten Territories, and we may well judge
of the future political power of the country when
we remember that there are 860,000 square miles
east of the Mississippi River, and 1,429,795 square
miles west of it." The next strong point is the
magnitude of the interests of those States added
long after the independence of the Thirteen Colo-
nies had been achieved. The nation's domain from
a mere belt of land bordering on the Atlantic Ocean
of 1,000 miles long by 150 broad, has become con-
tinental, going back westward to the Pacific more
than 3,000 miles, and 2,000 from north to south.
The Valley of the Mississippi contains the larger
" half," if we may say so, of the population, a pre•
ponderance likely to be indefinitely increased from
its superior advantages, for the land found most pro-
ductive will most attract, and no one can question its
greater fertility :—" Already more than three-fifths
in length of the railroads of the country are formed in
the Mississippi Valley, and their number is increas-
ing with amazing rapidity. They represent a
higher value than the banking capital of the Coun-
try, and exercise a more civilizing influence upon
the people. In agricultural wealth ti: Valley States
far surpass those of the Atlantic seaboard, and the
rivers of the West float annually more than
$2,000,000,000 in_ value c.f its products, which is
thrice the value of our foreign commerce. In view
of these facts, may we not rightfully ciaim that
the removal of the National Capital is a political
necessity, as well as a needful aid to our national
progress." Though Eastern writers may ridicule
the proposed change by way of making lig'it of the
question, we refer our readers to an item in our
miscellaneous intelligence, to show what the effect
has been in Washington itself Therethe depreciation
in the value of property, since this movement has as-
sumed formidable proportions, his been enormous,
and the reason is not difficult to discover by those
who look below the surface. The census about to
be taken will disclose the fact that the greater por-
tion of the population now dwells in the Valley of the
Mississippi. A unityof interests will be found to ope -
rate in that V alley, all declining to one channel as the
the whole of its waters all flowing to the Mississippi.
It is extraordinary to observe how national impulses
and feelings are influenced by physical geography.
Neighbouring communities dwelling along the
banks of two rivers finding separate exits into the
ocean would naturally become rivals ; but commu-
nities dwelling along the navigable branches of the
great river, as well as those on the banks of the
trunk stream, are likely to live in harmony and pull
together, because their interests are identical, and
the injury they could inflict on each other by hos-
woulJ by too to he lightly encruuttered.
What we mean is, that the bond of union is atrong
est in the Mississippi Valley, through a natural
cause, and, as it now carries the larger section
of the inhabitants of the Republic, its rower
cannot fail therefore to become dominant, as the re-
presentativ( s in Congress must be in propor-
tion to population. The next census will give a
majority of the members of the Valley of the Mis-
sissippi, and the census of 1880 will very largely
increase that majority. Who can say that Wash-
ington is safe, in the face of such facts ? although
it may take years to bring the question to a crisis.
Such a change, however, involves more than would
appear at a glance. The power of America is re-
tiring inland. While the density of its popula-
tion recedes back into the interior, as a whole the
people will become less seafaring, and lose their inte-
rest in nautical matters. Millions of the citizens
will live through a long life, and never see the
ocean, and if the capital be carried into the centre
of such a population,the navy of the Republic will not
be nursed as it would could that capital be brought
within the range of an enemy's ship. The old his-
tory and tradition of what was once the Union will
he but the history of a comparatively small section.
Rivalry with Great Britain will cease to exercise
its former influence, for great inland cities cannot
nourish the feeling which ports contending for the
commerce of the world have towards each other.
The fact is certain, that the national sentiment will
in a degree change, if the seat of dominion be esta-
blished in the Valley of the Mississippi. But the
outside world will be more interested in viewing
the effect on that section of the country, which, in
the days for ever gone, was the United States.
What happened to England in a stronger and more
disastrousdegree may then.happento the former Thi-
rteen Colonies in a lesser degree. Like England they
will have reared a child greater than themselves ;
and seen that child not only assert its manhood, but
its dominance taking from its parents the pre-eminent
place they had hitherto held, and would have
continued to hold, but for the too great success of
their own work. The Old Union that fought the
battle of Independence may in effect become by
the rapidity of the events in progress an old na-
tiotLwith a classic soil and ancient traditions, the
parent of powerful communities holding an inter-
mediate position between Europe and the Great
West. Yet it is in obedience to that singular law
of nature, which has told us since history began to
be written, that the march of empire has been
westward. Suppose that the Valley of the Mis-
sissippi took up the Protectionist doctrine of the
States of the Atlantic seaboard ; suppose that they
regarded the continent as too wide for one Protec-
tionist interest, and considered it was advisable for
the encouragement of manufactures in the
Valley of the MissiSsippi to bar out the
manufactures of New England, New York, and
Pennsylvania, were such a condition possible
(and it certainly is possible, if improbable), then
these old States would literally assume the position
' to the rest of the Union now held by Great Britain
to the Republic. Although these may be far-
fetched speculations, they are not without their in-
terest, and who can say that they are not "on the
cards ?" But we deprecate such sectional feelings,
advocating strenuously the Union as a whole, and
believe that there is dagger in giving too great an
encouragement to sectional interests, danger more
especially to the Eas ern States, which have hitherto
Leen the dominant power.