The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1852-12-11
The CoudRsion and Prospects OF the United
States.

States.
Il has rarely happened. since the world began,
that n government has been enabled to pay, or q
people to receive, 20 high compliment that
veyed in the annual report Of the Superintendent Of
the Census Self satisfied appropriations of some
modest measure Of prosperity-vanting encomi-
uns on very equivocal symptoms of progress
eve assurances Of plenty in the midst 0! fauins-of
refinement in the heart Of barbaism Of mills ary ar
der where all around was espondency-abound in
the history Of every nation, as credulous people,
or selfish ruler, conspred to invent or exaggerate
tokens of general welfare. We can take up no his
torical work Of any note which does not contain an
unmeaning panegyric the greatness Of ths nation
whore story it tells, at period Of its career
but, while sounding ephets and Johnsonian OK pie
tives are profnsely strewn the page we are sell
dom INDUCED with that tangible index of pros
perity, reliable table Of figures. In tracing the
cause Of this popularity, we must Of course make
due allowance for the density Of ancestors Who
poor people, had suspicion of the practi cal value
Of the science Of ststistics but at the same time
II would be unjust to forget that fsw nations have
witnessed an age when their internal condition
would bear the rigorous test of the statist. Not
many epocbs can be indicated in the history Of
Rome. or France, or Spain, or Italy, or Great Bri
tain when an impartial erposd of the state of trade
crime, paupeTism, agriculture, aud finance, would
have beer palatable to the monarch or the govern
ment. Unless historians have entered into general
conspiracy to deceive us, the kings Of the olden
time had rs valid reasons rs insolven merchants for
declining to exhibit their books 10 the publi,.
Except under pure despotisms, these days have
81 10, SC
rhetoricans poets can excite our enthusiasm be-
ycnd the limit fixed by the cold arith netican; il is
wholly out Of the power Of the government to dis.
gnse from us the smallest mnum Of our internal
condition and external progress Nor have we any
motive for wishing to conceal affairs either IF en-
ourselves or from foreigners.
On the contrary, we exult in their publicity If
there be an American who il not proud OF the GEN.
sus report that man is no friend to his country
He is unconscious of the noble glow Of patriotism
which gable evidence OF the onward march Of
his native land ought to inspire, md dead to the
sense of gratitude which the unparalleled blessings
he shares ought to evoke All tbs Infinite mercies
showersd on this country fall unnotioed on his head
he cares not for bis home or his fellow citizens In
him there beats no pulse of honorable rivalry with
useful faculties of man. His country and the world
are alike Indifferent 70 him He lives and dies for
himself alone
How different were the feelings Of the vass ma
Joiify Of the readers Of last Tuesdays HERALD?
There are few, we are convinced, who did not real
ize personal satisfaction, from the persa Of the
documents It contained as lively as though the ad
vancsment they chronicled WAS private matter Of
their own. Few who did not feel. on casting re-
Prospective glance the threescore years aud tan
Of our nstionL existence, aud measuring the pro.
djgicus strides with which the handful Of men who
declared war against England have sEelled into
nation of twenty four millions, that it was proud
thing TO be an American. Looking not to decrepit
nations or sluggish States, but boldly advsnturng
a parallel with the most prosperous and the most
energetic Kingdom of The oldWorld-Grsst Britain
We find that, while her popuatioa has increased lee
per cent in the last half century, ours has Increased
s37 per cent We discover that, wsilo moro than
onebah the emisrsnts from Great Britain and re
land wko land upon our shores can neitLsr read ror
write, four millions of American youth &. e. y Per
cent. of the whole FREQ population are receiving
sound edncation at our schools and colleges Wo
ind that while, = few !ears ago, every ninth nI
ridual in England was paaper, and even nov soma
$4,000 persons dependant on public CHARITY for
a subsistence-while Ireland, from the combined
effects of national depIgyi.y and priestcraf ia one
vast house-some -, coo persons only, 65 900
Of whom were forsi sners received support from the
Stssas' funds during the year Our native paupsrs,
during whole year, did rot amount to 1853 Of our
population. Continuing the parallel We see that,
while the convictions in England and Wales with
population of eighteen millions, were 81 900, in
$780, there were in the United States, with popu.
atitn of twenty four millions, during the same Pc
riod, q eco persons convicted, of whom Ii coo we're
foreigners or foreign born, and large proportion of
the balance negroes or mulattoes. sini;a. aud
equally gratifying results will be obtained by COM
pairing the progress of agriculture, trade and manu-
lsctures, in the two countries.
1t Is not With any view to aispalage Gree. B.itain
that we institute such comparisons as these The
peculiar ties which unite US, bid rsjoiee at her
welfare, and sympathise with her misfortunes Ii
the breast Of every large minded man there Is no
room for any feeling rave comnnSsera.ion when her
pauperism is mentioned. We can roalize our own
without enlargng her trials; and if
We have yenured TO set the net results Of statistical
inquiries in both countries aide ny side it was solely
with View to point out more fo!cibly the s.upen-
deus character Of cur progress.
Lock to whatever eide We viii, The same sigrs Of
unparalleled advancement await VS. We have apokea
Of population, crime, psup9rism, aud education.
Turn We to sgriculturetLe United States will soon
become the gransry Of Europe and America. The
last ten years show increase in the production OF
rkest Of fitcep millions bushels, ard the production
II cotton, bundled and ninety. six millions OF
pounds. Our manufactures are thriving, against
he formidable rivalry Of trade aud agriculture a
'ery few years viii elapse before ne bsa. the Egg
ish on. OF the South American, aad Asiatic mar
ISie, and supply cur own wants. Tha. shall ne
~ Of public enterprises - steamers, clipper shps
a1roads, canals, and telegraphsl Must We remind
NY Of readers that tho shortest passage across
he Atlantic, and the shortest passage from Caina
. England, nave beer made by ADerissn vessels
Mus. We Etts1pt comparison bstweoa oar inland
steamers and those which Ply on tie Thames or the