Edwardsville spectator. [volume] (Edwardsville, Ill.) 1819-1826, 1823-01-18
FoR TIE SPECTATOR.

FOR THE SPECTATOR.
Great Road from Yandalia TO Lake Erie.
Mn. WARREN,
In your paper Of August Eth, con-
municaion on the above topic appeared,
in which the prominent arguments Tor
making the road were advanced. by
the papers we are informed that Hr.
Pugb, of Bond county, has attempted 10
bring this important subject before the
--s;-i~....~, -. 4 sf,.iiad The grounds
Of his failure are not stated, but we hope
and presume they were merely acct
dental.
LIE, US review the advantages of such
road. The prices of produce are as
great at Detroit as at New Orleans and
the produce itself is not as perishable
there. The New-Yor market is not
near 50 hoctuatins as tha of New-Or-
leans and when tbs great canal IS COM
peted, it will furnish steady demand
sor all the products of the interior.
There will then be none OF the risk
attending voyage down the Mississip-
pi; and but little expense for home
ward return. Admitting these facts, the
immediate utility of road to Lake Erie
is apparent. Pork is at present the prin-
cipal staple Of Illinois; and hogs have
this season been driven 10 the newly set
tied parts of Tennessee, and even as far
as Alabama. The distance and difficult
iy, and expense of driving hogs to those
parts, arc much greater than could at
tend route from Vandala to Detroit, in
Michigan Territory, or Fort Meigs, in
the state OF Ohio.
But take the great mass Of population
which must always exist far IN the ill.,
terror of illinois, and contrast the New
Orleans with the New-York market for
this single article. The hogs mus, be
driven hundred miles on an average to
arrive at the Mississippi--salt, barrels,
and boats are then reqAlrcd--the price
of all these articles IS much greater on
the Mississippi than OF the Erie Shore
/ The salt al the iat'er place IS ct better.
quality, and may be obtained at 57a to
50 cents per b1shel--on account Of the
great abundance of timber, anaSlhe nu-
mernus mill-seats, the barrels and the
boats are propor'ionate!y low .-WhenI
the boat however arrives at New-Or-
leans the.fosl Of it is generally lest--a
great influx OF boats Ell the time may al
SO cause the pork to sell for less than It's
original cost--the price OF storage IS
considerable, and if kept long on hand
it will be spoiled BY the climate. The
hazard attending a passage down the ri
yer, and the difficulty and expense attend
ing return, must be superadded TO
form just comparison.
By driving the hogs to Fort Mcigs
these difficulties viii be obviated-yne
navigation thence to the city of New
York is speedy and sale--good- can be
purchased there cheaper than at any
other market in the United States, and
much cheaper than at New-Orleans-
the freight and other expenses will he
no greater in returning than going and
the time, trouble, ard difficulty Of re-
turning will be great, less. when con-
pared with the New Orleans market.
But these observations need not ex-
tend to the farm er-he obtains his equal
price at Lake Erie, and the only ques-
ton for him is, which OF the two is pre-
ferable-,he driving to the Mississippi
and the voyage TO New-Or'eans, or the
driving to Lake Erie. When he arrives
at Detroit or Fort Meigs he disposes OF
bis droves 10 the merchant, and mas 90
further trouble or expense. Tue Eric
merchant, for the reasons above enurne-
rated, can afford, both to give him a
higher price for his pork, aud sell him
goods much lower than the merchants
on the Mississippi. All these conside-
ra,ions will apply with still greater force
to other live stock, as sheep, cattle,
horses, SC. Open the road then, or
merely have its course marked out, and
the public attention will thereby be d.
rected to the proper channel of trade.-
Our merchants at present receive great
proportion Of their goods from Philadel-
phia, by land carriage of 500 miles,
over the mountains of Pennsylvania to
Pittsburgh, and by water down the wind
ings of the Ohio and up the Mississippi
10 ST. Louis. From ST. Louis they are
again carried 70 miles by land to Van
dalia. Suppose road opened TO Lake
Erie, and the superior advantages of OBJ
tanning goods from New-York by this
route, are very glaring. That market
is better supplied than any other. The
navigation ofthe Hudson river, the great
canal, and, Lake Erie, are never obstruct-
ed except by ice. The Ohio, on the
contrary, is generally unnavigable, dur
ing the hot season also. in consequence