Mississippi Democrat. (Carrollton, Miss.) 1844-18??, 1846-08-12
MIR. CALHOUN made the following
REPORT:
LTo accompany bill S. No. 2I6.)

Inc Special C0nlnllttee, 10 lChOm 1ClS re-
ferred The immortal of the Memphis
Connection, hare had the same nnder
consideration, and submit for the con
sideration Of the Senate the following
report:
IT appears, from the memorial, that the
convention met in Memphis, Tennessee,
in November last; that ii. consisted of FIVE
hundred and eighty three members from
the States of Pennsylvania, Virginia; the
two CaroIinas, Florida, AIabama, Louisi-
ana, Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Ar
kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois, Indi
ana, Ohio, and the Territory Of Iowa, ma
king sixteen States and one Territory; and
that its object was to confer on The meas
ures which should be adopted for the de,
Velopment Of the resources Of the valley Of
the Mississippi, and the ad accent States on
the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic coast.
1t also appears that its deliberations ter
minated in the adoption Of twenty resolu.
lions, among which the most prominent
relates to the improvement of the naviga.
ton of the Mississippi and its great naviga-
bic tributaries, including the deepening
of the bar at its mouth, and its cOnnexion
with the lakes by ship canal; the securi.
~ and defence Of the commerce between
the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic coast;
the reclamation, by embarkments, of the
public lands subject to foundations on the
Mississippi and its tributaries, and the con-
nexiOn of it's valley and the southern At
lantic States by system of railroads.
What your committee propose is to pre-
sent its views on each of these subjects,
taking them in the order in which they
stand
OF these several objects, the improve
ment of the navigation of the Mississippi,
including It's great navigable tributaries, is
by far the most important, and has accord
ingiy received their particular attention.
That great stream is the channel through
which, by the aid of steam, cheap and
speedy transit and intercourse are effected,
not only between all parts of its immense
valley, but also between il and the rest of
the Union and the commercial world
And to this cheap and speedy transit and
intercourse are to be attributed, even more
than to its fertile soil and great resources,
its almost miraculous increase In popula-
ton, and improvement. So great have
they been, that what sixty years ago was
one vast region, with little exception, of
forest and pralries, over which few hun
dred thousand savages wandered, has now
a population but little less than nine mil
lions, with great and flourishing cities,
Astounding in opulence, refined in manners,
and possessed of all the comforts and even
elegance Of old and polished communities
But, as great as this increase and i'm
provement have been, they are nothing
compared to what may be expected in the
next sixty years. They advance with an
accelerated rapidity. The whole poPula-
ton in the entire region drained BY the
Mississippi did not, according to the first
census, (I79O. } exceed 100000 Accord
ing to that OF 1900 it had increased, in
round numbers, to 100000. In 1910 it
had increasd, TO like numbers, 10 ,370,-
600; in 1920, 2,5S0,O00; in 1880. to
4,I9( 900; in 1910, 10 6,37O,O0O; and in
1876, to S,92O,00O, estimated according
to the rat O of increase between the cen
sus of 1880 and that of 1910. Estimating
it at the same rate, it would in 1856 eX-
coed twenty millions; and in 1866, for
sible for the increase to keep pace with
the present ratio; but, after making ample
allowance for its retardaton with the in
crease of population it may be regarded as
a safe calculation that the population of
the valley will reach twenty five millions
ia the mex; twenty years, forty IN the
next forty years, and sixty in the next
sixty years, unless some shock should &C.
cur which would convulse or overthrow
our political institutions.
But, as rapid as has been the increase
of its population, its commerce has been
still more so. 1t is stated, on what may
be regarded as good authorily,* that. so
late as 1917, "the whole commerce from
New Orleans to the upper country was
transported in about twenty barges of one
hundred tons each, and making but one
"trip per year. The number of keelboats
employed on the upper Ohio could not have
exceeded one hundred and fifty, of thirty
tons each, and making the trip from Pits
burg to Louisville and back again in two
months, and about thrice in the season.
The tonnage of all boats ascending the
Ohio and the lower Mississippi was :hen
about $500" The same authority states
the number of steamboats, employed in
navigating the Mississippi and its trlbuta.
res in 1913 to four hundred and fifty,
their average tonnage TO be about two hun
dred; their aggregate tonnage to be nlnty
thousand their value per ton to be eighty
dollars; their aggregate value to be seven
million two hundred thousa nd dollars; the