The Lancaster gazette. (Lancaster, Ohio) 1846-1852, 1847-11-05
Darious 1flattcrs.
From tie New York Mercantile Times
Internal Commerce Of the United
States.


tins country became an Independent soy.
ereignty, is one of the greatest of mod
ern wonders, and exhibits buoyancy,
boldness, and vigor of enterprise, un /.
exampled in the history ofnations.
But the internal trade and commerce
Of the country is still more wonderful in
its growth than its external. The anna.
zing extent Of this commerce between
the different sections 0four own confede.
racy was, in striking degree. illustrated
at the late convention held at Chicago, on
the subject ofimproving the rivers and
harbors of the United States. In looking
over the list of delegates in attendance
at that convention, we find some who had
come from distance of seventeen de-
grees oflattude south, while others had
travelled distance of fifteen degrees of
longitude from the east.
Without entering at present into the
statistics of the whole internal commerce
OF the country, we will briefly notice
some facts in connection with the trade of
one section only-that Of the Mississippi
Valley. Last year qS46) the receipts
at New Orleans alone. from the upper
country, amounted to SIT, 900, ,0OO-a sum
nearly equal to the whole importation of
the United States at all its ports, as our
import list stood few years ago. The
steamboats, engaged in the trade Of St.
Louis last year. were PSI, and the whole
numberon the western rivers nearly 1900,
valued at 10000, 900; to which are to be
added 1000 keel and fiat boats. The
annual cost of transportation is Sal ,000,-
600. The total value Of the domestic
products put ahoat upon the waters of
that valley is $500 900, 900 a sum don.
bic the whole annual importation of The
United States. The whole internal com.
merce of the country aAoat is estimated,
by an eminent and accurate western
statesman, at S460,000O0O
These few, but authentic statistics,
give some idea of the extent and value
ofthat commerce which is carried on be.
tween the different sections of our land
a commerce which is the growth of few
years, and the scene of whose greatest
and grandest movements was, but short
time since, a bowling wilderness. In the
memory of many now living, the present
highways Of this vast internal trade were
untrodden,sa by the red man; the nigh
ty rivers that now bear the steamers of
the west, with their hundreds of millions
of produce, were then traversed only by
the brch-canoe of the savage, the crack
of whose rifle alone disturbed the solemn
silence of the forest. What change!
How suddenl How great! How like
tale Of magic, this whole history of wes-
tern commerce! And yet, great as it has
become, far greater and grauder is i; des-
tined to be, at no distant day. The riv-
ers, canals, railroads and lakes, of this
country, will every year be taxed with
the transmission of constantly increasing
products; and, as fast as new outlets and
means of communication with the sea
board and the great cities are opened,
they will be crowded with the ever-aug-
mentng treasure of the country, seeking
consumers.
To watch and report this wonderful
growth of the internal commerce of the
nation, is one of the interesting duties
with which this journal will charge itself
in future numbers.
! And with the commerce of the Valley
is, as we have seen nearly double that of
the whole Union, we find the population
ofthat region not much more than one.
third of that Of the United States: that
is TO say, the population of the Valley is
estimated this year at 1925 ,696, and that
of the Union at the same time being com
puted at 21,174,557 Itis further to be
considered, that all this enterprise and
commerce of the Valley has been clog
ged and hindered from expsnding by the
newness of large tracts of its territory re-
quiring all the preliminary labors of clear
ing the soil of its forests, breaking up
prairies, fencing its fields, together with
all the hindrances to navigation in the
snags and sawyers of its rivers, so de-
struclive to property, which their naviga-
tors have been obliged to encounter
and overcome, unaided by the govern,
ment; for whilo the United States govern
ment expends, annually, more than S9,-
900, 900 for the benefit ofits Atlantic COM
merce, it has done next to nothing for the
navigation of its internal waters.
Now, we say, when we look at this
most extraordinary history of Valley en-
terprise, in which pioneer population,
even now little more than one-third Of
the Union, besides clearing the wilder
ness, preparing virgin soil for tillage,
building their own cities, and the like,
having actually created commerce
double in value to the whole foreign i'm
ports and exports ofthe United States
this, we may safely say, is history which
finds no parallel in the records of CON-
Imercial nations.
When we contemplate an infant COM
merce SO quick in its growth, SO gigan-
tic in its proportions, and attempt to con-
lure what it may hereafter become
when, by the most rigid arithmetical pro-
cesses, we undertake TO ascertain the ef-
feet which century will exert upon it
we arc startled at the magnitude of the
results Facts show that the increase Of
population IN the United States advances
at the rate of335 per cent. for each sue
: ceeding period of ten years. This rate
of growth will give to the whole Union,
in one hundred years from this time, a to-
l.. g ono rnt f,b, :.