Iowa territorial gazette and advertiser. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa Territory [Iowa]) 1840-1846, 1846-05-30
TnE STATE QUESTION.

for taking it, and the consequences liable
to follow from the course to be Adopted
The present is enphatically time when
the inquiries Of men should be on the alert,
and the inquiry should be, "What is the
best course under present circumstances?
We are creatures Of circumstances. it al
ways being necessary to shape our line Of
conduct with view to the condition oil
things around us. This is the course adopt.
ed in the business affairs Of life; it is a
prudent one. because the only one which
can be adopted with safety. With these
preliminaries, let us inquire, first, what
are the facts peculiar to the people Of Iowa?
and secondly, what course should be pur-
sued in view Of those facts?
Weare now Territory, under the SUI
pervision of the General Government, ex-
listing merely as charity pupil, without
will Of our own; having no certain exist
ence, and our destiny, both in regard to
area and future unity, wholly shrouded in
the mysteries Of the future. By the first
Of December next our population will be
one hundred and seveniy-five thousands,
and increasing in proportion that vii!
raise that to three hundred thousand in five
years. We have but one delegate in Con-
gress, faithful, TO be sure, but there merely
on sufierance, as it were, not allow ed 10
vote, and BY custom excluded from debate
on all subjects except those particularly
confined 10 his own Territory. In the
Senate, we have no influence, and have
comparatively none directly or indirectly
on the great political questions Of the day,
either in Congress, or upon public men out
of it. We are not in a situation to benefit
by Our influence, therefore those men who
would lend us helping hand in view Of a
timely reciprocity on our part, turn away
from us TO other States where their benefits
can be repaid. Congress, moreover, has
become almost deaf to our necessities, our
jurors are unpaid, our courts forced to
wait for the necessary means Of support,
and in fine, all the wheels Of the Terrific.
rial Government are nearly on stand for
want of the needfl to keep them in motion.
Then there are the lower Rapids, which,
during large season Of the year, tax our
people from IS 10 90 cents on every hun.
dred pounds Of freight brought to and sent
from this section Of country. The upper
Rapids lay on an additional tax to the bur-
dens Of the north. These burdens might
be obviated If we were State, because an
influence in the House, and particularly
in the Senate, would be such as to compel
other sections Of the Union to help us, or
be defeated in those measures peculiar to
their interests. In very short time, in
the commanding position Of State Govern
ment, funds might be made to clear those
rapids, which would be source of profit
yearly to this Territory, four times as large
as all the expenses Of carrying on State
Government.
But though this is bad feature in our
present mode Of existence, in pecuniary
point Of view, yet there is another worse
that Of our schools. No one going Into
the country, can fail to see the woeful state
in which the rising generation is growing
up; not in an immoral condition, further
than that state is the natural result Of Z
want Of universal diffusion of knowledge,
but in an uhlettered, untutored, uneduca-
ted state, Of all others the most dangerous
to true religion, and the safety Of Repub.
lican State. An indifference to education
increases in proportion TO the time during
which intellectual culture is neglected, so
that the present lamentable state of things
will not only exist. but rapidly increase
while we remain as we are. The only
remedy is the formation Of State, when
all will have to contribute to the support oil
education and schools.
Our roads, too, show fully that we are
objects of charity. The traveller is COM
PEELED, at every few rods, except on the
prairies, either to drive round, over OF
througha stump; while on the prairie there
are ten thousand roads, all tending the same
way. Existing under a rigorous State
Government, we might soon cause these
things to be righted; but SO long as we re-
main Territory, our inconvenience must
remain also.
Then again, the idea Of great people
population Of lie, COO, pleading infancy
and lying in the arms Of Of the Genera
Government, and listening TO the song o.
''lullaby," does not comport well with thai
energy for which the people Of Iowa hay.
been SO distinguished. We have all heard
Of Casper Hauser-a man in sise, but les.
than an infant in power. So it will Be with
us. So long as we continue in this state o.
pupilsge, with presiding genius that can