Boon's Lick times. [volume] (Fayette, Mo.) 1840-1848, 1847-09-04
TO THE PEOPLE OF MISSOURI.
mo. 81

''SnedpHeSS ot UdnspoItduou, au VIII uos
nit, is Of The utmost Importance 70 all avocu.
tons that ere in any way engaged in sending
articles 10 market or buying those imported; but
to an agricui,urist, as well as those who deal
in crude mineral productions, II is the very %.
sence OF their success. The articles to be sent
to market, in these avocations, ere generally
heavy and often very bulky, so as TO require
The greatest room for storage, and consequently.
the item Of freight usually bears a large proper
ton to the value Of the article, leaving tn .
produce but small pittance for years toll
and care; whereas, the carrier has only had It
under bis charge for a very few days, and yet
often. as things are at present. reaps nearly as
large a value as the producer himself. This,
however, is not always to be attributed to tho
cupidity Of the carrier, but because the people
themselves have either failed or refused 10 do
their duty, in mending the great highways over
which their own produce has to pass before il
could reach market; or else have refused 10
take an interest in getting up the necessary
vessels Of transportation, and thereby left it in
the hands OF those whose interest il is 10 make
all the money they can out Of the producing
classes. 1t is by liberal course amongst these.
in fostering and bringing into competition such
boats and other craft, which are required to carry
our produce, that much good is brought about 10
cheapening transportation; but this is by no
means all their duty; they should see that the
roads are multiplied as we'll as made better, the
'snags" and "sawyers" cleared out Of the larger
rivers, and the beds OF the smaller ones cleared
out, and by locks and dams the navigation so
improved. that as far as possible, ,oater trans.
poraton should be brought to every mans door;
for Of all other modes Of transportation, for heavy
and bulky bodies, that by soater is the cheapest.
and consequently, every effort ought to be made
to improve every stream, in any way susceptible
thereof and Of these, we have many, some OF
which were mentioned in my first number, and
OF those, the Grand, Usage, Salt and the Meri.
mac are the most prominent; each Of which,
Except the LAST pass long distance through
rich and fertile bodies Of land, already we'll
peopled, producing large surplus, which, by
the responsiveness Of transportation, is almost
denied a market at ALL The Merimac passes
through, for near hundred miles, one Of the
richest mineral countries in America, might
have said The world. The mineral wealth in
Iron. Lead and Copper is entirely inexhaustible.
and in many other minerals abundant, which
are permitted to lie in their native bedsx And
why? Because to transport it even to thsbanbs
Of the Mississippi, would in many instances
DO more than half the price the article would
bring when it was at New Orleans, and this
accounts, to some extent, for the fact that tho
vast and unex plored mineral wealth OF this State.
has been so overlooked, while the mineral re.
gion OF Gaena has been so extensively worked;
the latter, having ,oatsr transportation in its
midst, while most Of the minerals in this State,
have to be carried by land, from so 10 100
miles, over roads not even "made with hands"
with such accidental improvement as constant
travel OF the people make to them, and that
too, while the Merimac river. in the opinion Of
the writer. who claims to be fully acquainted
with it from its mouth to its source and hest.
iatcs not to declare that the expenditure Of
from one to two hundred thousand dollars,
properly laid out, in making slack ,vater navi.
cation, would make il navigable for steam craft
every day in the year. and also, to venture the
opinion, that if made, one year would not elapse
till the country through which it passes, would
be benefited in dollars and cents, more than
double the sum. The writer does not pretend
to any acquaintance with the trade OF engineer.
ing, but states his opinion upon his comparison
OF this with other rivers, where this kind Of inn.
provement has with great success been made.
and need only instance the river from Pttsburg
to Brownsville, where river, totally by ma
lure useless for navigation, has by this kind Of
improvement been made not only practicable.
but safe and profitable, as we'll to its owners as
the public in general; and were such an i'm
provement made on the Merimac, tho mineral
products that would reach its mouth would as.
tonish even the people who inhabit that aston.
ishng mineral country, and during its whole
length it would furnish nexhaustible water
power equal to that Of any river in the world
Of its length and size; and such would be the
corresponding and beneficial results to the farmers
in1 the vicinity Of the Ossge, Salt, Grand and
other rivers already mentioned, which the writer
supposes 10 be equally susceptible OF like i'm.
T..