The Arkansas banner., 1845-05-07
ennenled in these Stntes

sum, dIl tGiu1 Oi VI N'"' '1' N-'
 And of this small sum, seven millions have been spent upon the Cumberland road alone.
 thought you had received more, but this
 is the amount stated by Mir Stiles of Georgia,
 in his admirable speech delivered ill Congress
 last February, on the army bill. It was pro-
 cured by him from the Treasury itself, and
 thetelore am compelled to bow to the au-
 thority.
 Eight millions and half Tor thirty years
 for de(ences, lighthouses, and internal lm-
 nrovements! Why, the money paid by you
 this year, as your quota of castom-house
 charges, exceeds this sum by more than one
 half
 The receipts of customs for the year cnd-
 ipg 30th of next June. are eslimated at p32,-
 100000. This, excluding the slave popula- tion, will give a little over two dollars as Inc average yearly tax for customs paid by each free person into the National Treasury. sup pose that the average among you amounts only to two dollars this will give besides what is paid for your lands, not less than X l,G60000 as the annual contribution paid by you 10 the General Government What have you received in return For the last thirty years less than }3280,000 year !- With half the population, and two-thlfds the wealth of the whole country, the Federal Government has put you of from year to year with just the one hundred and tweatieth part of it's patronage.
 Wlth such all exhibit, does it appear strange that complaints of "hard times" of the scascity of money in the midst of abun- dant harvests, should be so otlen heard among you Where in the round world i5 there another section or region of country that could stand such drain In 1897, the At lantic States, you recollect, imported some $26.00G,00o more of merchandise than you sent them the produce 10 pay for2 And what was the consequence Why, our merchants became bankrups, and the country was threatened with ruin. All eyes were turned 10 that tecmiag valley, which yon cali home, ond il seemed to he realized for the first time by the people q, large that the commercial of the country depended upon the fruits of your lator. Your abundant crops soon restored business 10 it's accustomed channels, and the country was again '.Pros- porous and happy.7
 But in two short years the lesson was for got, and there was more overIrading Again the Atlantic States imported more than your surplus produce would huv, and agaia there was ruin and distress. Merchants, banks, and States, from the height of prosperity, toppled over and went by the board, and the was in extremity. It's wise men again looked to the West for relief: every where prayers went up for fruitful season and abundant crops in that great valley.- Again relieved from your basket and your store, the country breathes frcclY once more What other region, therefore, repeat, could stand such drain This canal would stop t, or hy means of it's collateral benefits so equaIiae it, that t would not be ftlt. Itwoult make Chicago the New Orleans ef the Lakes, and enhance valley property in value exceed inc many times the whole revenue of the Great is the dependence of the Republic upon the West This union ot the Mississippi and the Lakes by ihe Ship Canal IS needed lofthe sake of tie Union. lis cs- sential to vour safety Tn war-io the s'gener- al welfare" ia peace. Therefore, raise the cry of Smillions for defence" and il shall be dug. Once completed, 1t will be as hooks of steel and chains of goll 10 gappIe aad to bind in close interest all paris of thc country.
 do not present in this view your claims to this great measure, that disaloction or sec lional iealouses may be excited Far be it from me to appeal to such passions. l would not, if 1 could; l coull noi, if would.
 \ Snip Canal between thc waters of the Mississippi and the Lakes, would not only enable you 10 % out aud come in with safety ill war, but i'll peace 1t would increase your store, and bring to every mans door ia the West quivers full. It is great national measure oi vast importance, in which you have particular as we'll as general iHcr- est Therefore, lappeal to you by conside- rations of q particular as well as a general character 1 have asked you about tribute. and already implied that you have not racev- cd at the hands of the General Government that degree of consideration, which the '.ge- neral welfare and common deienceo require This is owing to circumstances, and in some measure to design also. Your States are new, and the cid States at very carly day mani iesed feelings Of jealousy as to the future importance of the new States. l. was natural that they should. They founded the Govern ment and nourished it in its infancy, and therefore ii was not pleasant for them 10 re- lectlllat the time would come whea the States of the West would oyerShadow them in po- liGcal power and consequence
 It was proposed among them, therefore, not to admitnew States upon an equal footing with the oll. That was voted down. how ever. But il WAS agreed to accomplish the same end, though in different manner. Nir- ginia had ceded to the Untei States all that country to the north and west of the Ohio, and now inhabited by ou, upon condition that it should be divided into States of notless than 10000, nor more than 22,500 square miles each The "0id Thuteean accepted tho gift, but entealed the giyer for wears to remove the conditions as to area. Finally. Virginia consented, and Congress proceeded to 'sgerrymanaer" the new territory, without regard to State convenience or natural limits. Look at Mchlgan-a young State with dou- hle proportions, cut in twain by an inland sea. Thus the old States succeeded in cur,ailing for ever the power Of those States in the Se- nate and electoral colleges; for. had the ofigi- nal terms of the grant been adhered to, that territory, instead of being represented in the Senate by five or six SEtes, as it now is, would have been reOreSentad bv fvanfv or