The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1851-11-19

i and other States were disrcoarded and neg
ected. This he would not complain OF, bad IL
been an honest grant, that it might nave
been held out a precedent. Compare th'
vote upon the Hannibal and St Joseph Rail
road, which was submitted at the same time
with tina, Of the Central Railroad bill, and the
d sAonesty of the latter would be seen at once.
To secure that which they desired in the ia
provement ofther channel of commerce, they
would be compelled to hold their Representa-
.lves TO strict performance of their duties,
leaving no place Tor them to dodge or by which
they might shift the responsibility. The people
~ the West must depend upon themselves
There could not be found 4 solitary man in |
Congress to deny the fact of the Mississippi |
being great national highway, or to say that |
it ouuht not TO have the protection of Govern |
ment; but the difficulties were, that there were
a class of men in Congress who, admitting
these facts, used every possible means, indi
rcctlv, To defeat measures Of this character
Thus, if bill was introduced contemplating
the Improvement Of the Mississippi, BIZ
amendments, or otherwise, it was so modified
as TO make radical sweep of every thing; and
every little creek was Incorporated in il, and
| Ct cntimCs it would be impossible for to
! recognize the trases of measure he had in
troduccd such would be the state of lis mutt
lation. IN this manner such b IS had cen de-
feated But to say that the Mississippi was
not a national stream, they did not dare, for
there Il majesty III the very name which
held them in terror.
AT the east, they were Jealous OF our growing
power, which, they saw, must pass from,
their hands, and they were DESTROYS, if possible
To make with US compromise before that time
should arrive. They felt each year, that thcil
influence weakened, and at the last, session o
Congress the West had for the FIRST time defea
ted The Fortiaca,ion Bill, making annual appro
priations fo- erecting rtificatons our eastern
= coast. AS regarded the necessity OF thcs'
measures, the time had passed when hostile
foot would ever place itself on the soil OF thu
United States, and no matter what wars nigh
take place. they would be fought elsewhere !
the west hold their representatives strictly t.
: their interests, perhaps this drain for eastern
fortifcation might be turned to improvement o
j., the Mississippi Men in Congress had no ade
quate idea of the extent of ,ur commerce
: and he recolected well the reply which ha
, been made when he first asserted that th
! tonnage of steamboats, which piled between S!
8 Louis and other ports was 81 90 tons. Jha
E reply was, that it is useless 10 attempt to hum
bug them with any such stories. He was
, Western man himself, yet he had been surpris
:, ed on awakening the morning fellow rg III
. night of his arrival, and seeing Darlington
: which he had supposed little village, youn
: and prosperous city Of six or seven thousan
. inhabitants tho it had been only eighteen year
: since the Red Man had used it as a part of hi
;, hunting grounds. 1t had been the same wit
= kcoliuli and the other neighboring cities,
, which he was sorry to say he had not befor
i sufficiently estimated their prosperity. o.
. Commerce, though now great, and even create
;, than the foreign commerce Of the East, wa
y fast increasing and he had told them of it.
:. He had told them, too, and they are not il
norant of the fact, that internal commerce
- profitable TO nation as foreign comnesc'
|; Bot it had never entered other minds, TIL {
. late that their foreign commerce would be
} vailed by that of the Mississippi Valley. The
:, could not see how it was that st. Louis, sitr
=. atcd 1900 miles from the ocean, should gro
;, up into fiourishing, prosperous and great CON
: nercial city. Thy did no. consider tkat nlan
| commcrc, was lust as effective in building CT
les and forming States,'s any other,and that lu
: IS n as it transc ids the commerce of ii
: ocean, the Western States beco me the more 70
:. midable rivals of the Atlantic States.
: He was then standing in a city eighteen veal
:, old, but in fifty years he anticipated that it won
:; b. in the West Whit Philadelphia was to I'll
east, and that St. Louis would be equalto Ne
Il York.
e II would be but few years when he W;
. confident that it would be principle settle
, in the archives Of legislation, beyond the reac
Of opposition, either direct or indirect, tn
these vast rivers were truly national channel
, and that their extensive commerce rendere
:, them the proper recipients of their full share
:; the national revenue. And once more W
. would say to them, to hold the representative,
of their interests strictly to the letter of the
20 duty, and their success would the sooner be c
frcted.