The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1838-03-27

| property transported on the canals q NJ Stats w
New York during the year 1896 Is shoHn by oalcj,l
| tables 70 be SG7000000. OF that amount Il mai,
estimated that $4,000 600 consisted OF properly ~,
longing exclusively 10 portion Of the pupulagp ~
tins state no, exceeding million and half IN nun,
Der, being AZ the rate Of $50 80 for each inkabi,it
and the amount which they paid Tor its rransDorr.
ton exceeded Two millions OF dollars II tho sam.
scale Of production and consumption shall be a,rnr
ed for The population in the district in question Chd
no reason IS perceived why Il should not beg he six
millions Of Inhabitants ia the west who will rr>.,t
TO the Erie canal for the means Of conyeyarca ,,t
furnish tonnage, in exports and imports OF al rat
20O,O0OOO0 OF dollars in value. Tie exrericfrn 81,
other nations will show that this amount is not over
estimated. The food produced in England al1ae,r
the year 1885, By an agricultural population oil NJ
eight millions, was valued by their political rc,r,".
misiS al SGOf 100000 and that of France Was asrrr
tanned by lis Minister OF Finance 10 be IS l3- ON
600 Of francs, or S,s0,0O0O00
Bur there are peculiar reasons Why the prorario,
of agricultural exports Of this great inland torua
ton should f.r exceed that Of other nations The
exuberance Of their SOIL The salubrity Of their eli
mate, and the cheapaess of their lands, (ari,ng from
the vast supply within their limitS) Will enable them
always 10 furnish food 10 every other portion Of The
continent, on more advantageous terms than il San
be elsewhere produced. LGbJr there rcaps il, b.,t
reward and harye>;s Of an hundred fuId repay rs
cxerons; and such will always be the superior mo-
ductiyeness Of this region that when tie great series
Of public works shall be completed and bIshcl Of
wheat the plains oflndiana shall b. bought within
a few cents in price Of a bushe in New England
It's production in New England must cease. ne
same cause will probably operate 10 change tie
culture OF portions Of our Stale for The.
unequaled fertility OF the West will always enable
il supply those products requiring richness Of soil
with less amount OF labor, ard consequently at
cheaper rate, than they can be produced within
borders
The consequences then Of periec,ing our systems
Of INSTRUMENTATION will ineylably be a disribu.
lion OF labor grand scale throughout the whole
northern part OF the continent: the maritime POI
tons engrosSng the active pursuits Of navigation
commerce and manufactures while this central
group Of agricultural States will become the common
granary Of The Unicn, and discharge the important
duty Of supplying subsistence all the surrounding
communities, Indeed they have to perform that Of
fee. The valleys Of the Miami the Wabash and
The Illinois, already pouring out their overflow
ing riches upon the cotton-plauting States below
and although their power OF exploration has hither-
10 been kept in check by their rapid increase in num-
befS, yet il Is stated, that datng the last season
ports amounting To Is or 200OOO00 OF dollars de-
Scrndcd tile Mississippi and its tributaries rom that
part OF the valley north OF the Ohio and constituting
part Of the great district in question Nor is this
descending stream Of trade wholly withdrawn from
our own channels of conveyance, for its proceeds
! find their way BY circuOus course through the
canals Of New York aud in that form swell The re-
venues OF the treasury and it Strkngly illustrates
the value oithe Union in binding in bonds Of mutual
benefit all our commercial interests both foreign and
domestic, and in animating every portion Of
rious industry that the food thus exported from The
| inmost rccesses Of the West-exchanged for cOlon
at The mouth of the MisSissiPpi-exported in that
| form to workshops Of Europe-again exchanged for
/ their fabrics-and brought home by shipping 10
the Scaporis of the Norh-isa al last returned through
the Erie canal TO the luxurant valleys from which
| il first originated thus revolving through the whole
circle OF our widespread commerce And it IS only
| when we view the Erie canal as one Of the mighty
| segments OF that vast circle, that can adequately
| estimate the Importance and grandeur of its
! neXionS. .....
It is necessary also to be apprised Of the courcof
this trade, in order TO explain the disparity In value
| which will always exist between the descending and
ascending cargoes. The amount Of merchandise
| now sent into the Western States very far exceeds
that Of their products reaching The Atlantic Seaboard,
An additional reason exists IT is true for this differ
encs. The flood Of emigration which has poured
INFO that portion Of our country has temporarily pro
duccd so great diSproportion between the con>unl.
! ing and producing classes, that they have been
scarce " able 10 chain supply Of food even tTom
their own exuberant soil. Population has out>lrip
ped productions and their agricultural PRODUCES
instead Of seeking market in the eastern portions
OF The Union have been sent westward in large guam
titles into the upper lakes and active is the move
mcnt throughout all that region that more than 400
vessels, during the last year reached the port OF Chi
| cago, at the southernmost extremity Of Lake Mich
gan. So long as this great influx Of population shall
continue, the present capacity OF these interior
States 10 supply tonnage for the Erie canal will be
| necessarily diminished; but the effect will be only To
augment more enormously their eventual power Of
expectation and thus the present temporary check
is but adding increased energy 10 those causes which
are operating with concentrated force TO swell our
future commerce.
The progress in population Of that portion of this
inland territory Immediately adjacent TO the lakes
has been three times great its progress in The
portion djaceht TO the Ohio The ratio of increase
in the former between the years $50 and 1880 Gas
shown by the census was 100 per cent and in the
latter only "A per cent; and the comparative rates
since thai, time have not probably essened And This
circumstance explains why 50 large surplus should
have been furnished for expectation from the sec
ton near the Ohio, in comparison with that which
has hitherto found its way from the lakes into our
canals. The total amount of tolls, realized by our
treasury in the 1886 for the property passing
and from the country surrounding the lakes, was
only SS3o500o or less than onewenteth part OF The
sumpad annually for transportation on the Mississp-
p and its continents Tofx the precise period when
the population now Swarming into This district, will
reach the point when their power Of furnishing pro-
duets for expectation will begin imy 10 eAhlolt IL
self is Of course impracticable The same causes
which operate 10 diminish their exports now that
their population has reached TO three millions, may
not be wholly removed when lis numbers shall be
doubled 1t is probable, however, that before that
time a large proportion the number will be so firm
" seated on their productive SOIL as to be able TO
supply large surplus OF food for export.
We know that the western part of our own State
is increasing in numbers, with considerable rapidly
and yet that it furnishes an export of at least $50
100000 in value. The States of the west, around
the lakes, by the year lSi5 will probably hold the
same relative position in respect to the whole of the
Erie canal, which the counties Of New York, west
ofthe Seneca lake, now bear otha part of the line
east Of Utica. Our trade will then be measured,
moi b. counties but by sovereign States, themselves
containing their fifty counties; and our revenues
then longer dependent on the villages and towns
scattered along the borders of the canal, will be
drawn from the widespread and populous commit"
mites, nhabing the, broad cxpanse between The
Ohio and Lakes.
We obtain, then, from this view the following
facts, by which 10 guide the present inquiry:
That the value OF the tonnage, annually trans
nnrnh The cnnnls OF This StaC. being G61 GIL 600