Plymouth banner. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1852-1855, 1854-09-07
Cur Country.

Every amer can citizen l3 aware o. the
fact that the United States is grea
country-oue of the greatest in the worlt
and destined, at no far distant day. tC
be the greatest But there are compare
tively few wko know the real extent O
its greatness-who possess knowledg,
Of the small details which 90 to make W
the grand aggregate. To those who are
destitute of this knowledge. the follow.
ing article from the Boston POst--whicl
presents, in compact and compendious
form, the astonishing extent of our coun
try, its boundltss resources, and its won.
derful development--should, and doubt
less will. prove interesting in the iiigiiest
degree. The valuable information which
il contains ought to be possessed by every
citizen of the American Union; and we
therefore commn-d it to the attentive
peruSal of each and all OF orr readers.
The thirty-one States. nine Territories,
and District ofColumbia, comprising the
United States of America. are situated
within the parallels of 10 east longi-
tude and IS minutes west Of the meridian
OF Washington. and extending on the
! Atlantic coast from 25o, and on the Pa
Cific coast from 32 10 i9 : Of north
| latitude. and contain a geOgra phical area
! of 3,30G. $50 square miles, being one
tenth less than the entire continent of
| Europe. They contain a population, t
the present time, of %, 900 600, of whom
2l 600 900 are whites. The extent Of
its sea coast, exclusive Of islands and
rivers TO the head of tide water, is l2.-
669 miles. The length of ten of its
Principal rivers is 10000 miles. The
surface of its five great lakes is 90 900
square miles. The number of miles of
railway in operation within It's limits is
o0 600. constructed at the cost OF $780,
100000. The length Of its canals is
5000 miles. it contains. within its
limits, the longest railway upon the
surface of the globe--the Illinois Central
which is 73 miles.
The annual value Of It's agricultural
productions is 50 1000 100000. Its most
valuable product is Indian corn, which
yields annually 500, 900. 900; and in
surveying the agricultural productions of
our country. we are not only struck with
their abundance, but with their great
variety: Our territory extends from the
frigid region of the north to the genial
climate of the tropics, affording almost
every variety of temperature, and every
kind of grain and vegetables. Her pro-
ductions range from the cold ice and
hard granite Of the North, the golden
corn of the West, to the cotton and
ficient quantities TO supply our domestic
consumption. ond fufnioi, large supplies
70: exportation, thus furnishing nearly
all the value as well as the bulk OF our
foreign commerce; suggesting thereby tie
irresistible conclusion that agriculture is
the great transcendent interest of our
country, and upon which all other in.
terests dpend.
The amount Of registered d and enrolled
tonnage is 4.407 .0lO tons. The amount
of capital invested in manufactures is
5000, 900. The amount Of its for
eign imports. in 1853. was S267.9 947.
and of exports $3.50. .976,l57. The an.
nual amount oil lts internal traue Is oOUU,.
000:000. The annual value Of the pro-
ducts of labor (other than agricultural)
is 81 800. 100000. The annual value of
the incomes of its inhabitants is 81 ,000,-
600, ,000 The value of its farms and
live stock is $4,000. 100000. Its mines
of gold. copper. lead. and iron are among
the richest in the world. The value of
the gold produced in California is $780,
000.0 per unnum. The surface OF its
coal fields is 1873, 1872 square miles. Its
receipts from customs, lands. &c, in
1853. was SCI. 1927 PA, and its expendi-
lures S43, ,543.26 It's national domain
consists of 2.l74, ,lS9 square miles of
land. Its national debt is but $50, ,000,-
600. The number of its banks at the
present time is about 100, with cap
ital of $500 600 600. Within her bor-
ders are 81 900 schools, G, ,060 acade mics,
23i colleges. and $500 churches. Only
one in twenty-five of its white inha BIZ
tapts is unable to read and write, and
nineteen of its twenty-one million of
white inhabitants are native born