Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1847-06-22

..ienl. ANY lax, no matter how small, is con-
lihuallon OF all the evils Of a large tax Ii be-
seis and fosters class OF regulators and mono
poiizers, who get between the importer and con-
sIuher ana buy cheap from one, and sell dear to
.'lc other Ii begets an Intermediate class ofdeal-
ers, moi necessary 10 The imporllrade. and oppres-
siVe 10 The retail. The common law rcpuIses
soem' and even gives them bad name-REsu-
LaTsRs-orr salt tax begets, and iayors and feeds
'hehi, and that 10 enable them 10 monopoIize The
SAFE ana to.enhance The price OF necessary OF
iiie-Gcds gilt man and beast for seasoning his
ioo'' ana me preservation OF health.
lie then proceeds TO explain the operation Of
his lax, states tie reasons why lis repeal was op
posed, and by whom. Turning mex. 10 The i'm.
proVemenI oithc greatrivers Of the west he speaks
in quite humorous srain:
This was The established policy of al; branches
u .he government nov: ihonsh Y4harni I'm i'm
S vas no t O. he noicy bn ne es"
OF vicious legisaion-miying local objects with
national misunderstanding small streams into
the same bill with such rivers as he Missouri md
The Mississippi, and harbors which never harbor-
ed any thing but their owners interest, or local
i.ade, with Tic real harhoys which sheltered The
commerce, and ships, and Steamboats, II nation.
The policy was not abandoned. The fault ot The
suspension should not rest upon Tie President,
but On The members OF Congress who, negligent
ly, or sinisrouslY permit local objects 10 he mis-
ed up with national ones in the same BILL and
thus force The national 10 carry The local. or all sink
together. There is where The fault lay, and that
is The roIn, al which The constituent should Oh
serve the conluc, OF his representative.
Col. b. had long been an advocate for the i'm
provemcnt OF our great western rivers. Above
~ years ago, aEd when fresher from the classics
and from his Roman reading than NJ present, lie
had characterized Inc Mississippi in The Senate
as the Romans did their Mediterranean sea-
Mare nosi'am was The term he applied 10 il. in
aliuson 10 the sea which divided lie earth in The
middle, and saw one flag wave over il all. The
Mississippi, like thai sen, divided orr land in the
middle. and with The help Of steam and lis Iribu
;arles, afforded as much navigation as The Nledi
terranean, ard collected al! il waters and rolled
all lis floods under the single flag of The AmeIi-
can Union. lie called il Ora SEA, but without
tue slightest suspicion that he was making il into
2 soa Or ali~rino a clause IN ihn cnnS,i:niinn nj
Inc United States.
A short tine ago 4 convention he believed II
was called river convention assembled al
Memphis: il made the discovery That marc nos
iram was hot mere figure OF speech bu, Ie-
alify-ihat what were formerly only rivers, haa
expanded into scas-rlata scas-and that lie
Constitution -accommodaiins ins;rumcn;-ii!c
that miraculous teri in The Arabian Nishs, 50
comp!essibc that i, might be sqneesei into the
grasp OF one shu; hand, and so expaEsih!e lha, il
could spread oyer the whole encamFmeni Of an
oriental army, had expanded also 10 cover he
length and breadth 0! hc new seal, and that ruw
these Improvements were perfectly constitution.
al, in Tie same ii9er, under the name CT INLAND
sea" which were perfectly unconstitutional IN
der his own name or under he classic cmbe!lish-
ment Of mare nosir0n, or The equally classic and
still more appropriate ;illc al The same time tc-
slowed upon il Of Rcr Fid1loinm-Kinc Of Ri
yers The constitutional difficulty was solved,
bul :hcie was practical difficulty. There were
many rivers in the United States, ard vi many
sizes, and all could not be seas.
The pinch WAS 10 assert them ard the genius
oil The Cun:cn;ion was equal 10 the clicnliy Of
the task. a ruic was given genera Iuie-no-
thin. like generalization. II was laid down, and
accepted, ll:ai where river washed three States
or more, it became sea-an n'and sea--and en-
moi, not. This was The rule, and now for the APP
p!icalion. Applied 10 Ike little States in New
England, and river u three hunGssd mics long
became a SEA, and received constitutional i'm
proyemcn,: applied 10 The Great Hts'. and r.
yer thee Thousand miles lcns Cie al;ssonrD re-
NAMED only river. Ii was no sea, by the rule,
Tor il had but one State upon i, and, consequent
", could have no constitutional improvement
This was an awkward cxcmpliica,;on Of Ihe
rulc: but il was no. a case 0; despair, and no
hope or consolation. There was Ugh. ahead,
and, nous ren0ns Other States might grow up
OF the Missoufi-in Tact, another has already
come, Uawa)- and, in time, there may be 4
third. Then, this crca! river, which comes from
the setting sun, and wascs Inc base 0. this capt.
tol, and goes on towards the rlsin. sun, may COM
rlete lis growth and become sca-an ialand sea
and be entitled 10 constitutional improvement.
Col. Benton said, that Tie lea Of the growth OF a
river was no! new, and moi original 10 The Mem.
phis Conveniion-onlyb borrowed for the occasion
by tia, ilus!rious body. /, was an old idea, and
often Swallowed forth il The exclamation Of the
astonishcd traveller al finding large river, like
Tie Mississippi, or the Missouri, in new coun-
Try; this is large river for new country. In
this exclamation was the seminal conception Of
the idea Of the growth Of rivers so ieliciiously
developed in Tie proceedings Of the Memphis
Convention. Oh metaphysics! political me'a-
physics lhy name shall! ..enceiorh be, Memphis
Cunvcnlion
Abiding then 10 tie prospect which late years
had opened, that The trade Of The East Indies
would &C, enter he valley ol The Mississippi BY
the Columbia and Missouri rivers, and The short
portage OF about five hundred miles between
their waters when navisabic IL Steamboats,, he
exclaimed:
III !ii;c more time, ard some woik, and that
e;eat commerce viii begin. Tie principal OBJ
struclons are the fails in the Co'ua.ba bu, The
twc.iy or thirty Zee; falls III ha, river can he no
obstacle in The eyes q those who have seen he
Falls OF Niagara surmounIcd By ship canal
Al the Upper Falls, where the railroad would
lea:e 10 come 10 The Great Falls Ct Missouri, be-
Inv which lLe.c is no obstruction, The Columbia
his seven hundred yards wiie-near hall mile,
an! Of ample depth. The time is coming when
tie commerce oi Eastern Asia will pour down
thar riyer-Cpoin;ing 10 the MissoHri)
The vast expansion of The American branch al
The white race was Briefly touched upon by Col.
Benton. lie said the man had but lately died in
England who hcard-hcard without believing
the trrvid Burke say that the English colcnisis on
The A,lartic would ore day cross the Al!eshanies,
and come down into the valley Of The Mississippi.
The man is alive now who saw some Struggling
hunters crawling over the Allcghanies, creeping
down the Kentucky and The Cumberland, and hi
ding themselves in cane brakes 10 avoid detection
and death. And what does The same man see
now2 The Mississippi valley tcemins with po-
pulalonSj thelI SiSdutlG piISs"J SSdIu- sne
Rocky Mountains descending 10 The Pacific, ard
launching The ship and sieamhoa, On that remote
sea. Great is The destiny Which leads on this van
guard oi the master race OF the human family
Ba,bariaas coGGuer 10 destroy; civilized man TO
improve aud exal,; the Anglo-Saxon will carry
his civilization wherever he goes Standing now
upon all The SUBMITS OF The CoTdllleras from The
Az'ec empire TO the sources OF Oregon, he has a
field before him such as man never contemplated
before. j,
Fabulous mythology tells Of giants who cimed
10 The tops OF mountains to hur rocks a; The gods;
and, i, mus, be admitted, such gods as they had
in those days deserved 10 be stoned. Our young
giants climb oftier mountains Than ever my;ho-
logy conceived OF even after p;lIag Peleon upon
Ossa, and Ossa upon Olympus, and not for the
purpose Of throwing stones al gods, nor even Al
reope, bu! Tor the purpose OF carrying the lights
OF science and civilization 10 the tarhss, verge Ct
our continent. Grea, is the destiny of this van.
aaard of The white race, and nobly will it be fu!-
filled. We see il without emotion, because il is
done by our children; bu, pos;ery, looking back,
will be asonished: Europe looking on will be
asonishcd Old Asia, wakin, up from long
sumber, and seeing slimering light, and feeling
genial warmth, from new quarter, will WOLF
der what new sun has risen across the sea 10 re-