The true Democrat., 1855-06-12

Kentucky contains 25,92O, ,0OO1
 Ohio 25,0OO,OOO
 Indiana 23,O4OOOO making Illinois 38,O0O,OOO 25O,O04, GOO Missouri 39, tZ4,OOO acres Iowa say 39,O0OOOO
 Wisconsin 35, 100000
 -TVeste7n ReUier.
 Thus, th"n, these ght States whose popua. ton is here set down, are all dependent on the valley of the Mississippi and on its rivers, for the outlet of the products and surplus resources derived from the cultivation of 25O millions of acres and five millions of inhabitants-five millions which in 1870 will be 24 milions- And even then there will be room for more; for while that estimate gives but 60 inhabitants to the square mile, we find that in England there are 223 in the same space. in France l66, Bel gium 345, Austria l5I But in this table Kan sas and Nebraska are left out, and the more dis tant territories On the slopes of the Rocky Mountains.
 We come next to consider what are the natu- raj tendencies of the trade thus wonderfully de- veloping strengthened by the construction of numerous lines of railways, and what direction business must take under the influence of na- tural causes assisted by those of art. These ten- dences are no leUs than problems solved by phv- sical geography.
 The great valley of the Mississippi, laved by the father of waters, having seventv-six trbu. taries, all emptying themselves above its iunc- ton with the Ohio, is itself marked feature on our map a great channel of trade and com merce, in which there can be no competitor though it may have many allies. In this val ley, wide, rich and fertile, we find one of the greatest rivers in the world, face route for the conveyance of human products, for the passage of emigrants and travellers, for the diffusion of knowledge and the formation and intercourse of states.
 The Mississippi then, with its aff1uent, the Missouri; and its continent the Ohio, Is the great highway of the west: between its banks the tide of emigration will forever flow, and on its bosom the most precious freghts never cease to be carried. The Nile itself, in its greatest use- tulness never approached in importance this river, Mississippi Had its geographical direc- ton been east and west instead of what it is. it might have become barrier between the north ern and southern States; but happ v for Us 1t Is a perpetual bond of union, by its rise, its drec- ton, and cs terminnS, and we should be the most ungratetul of natiol.s if we did not so con. siderit
 Capt Cram, of the corps of U. S topogra- phcal engineers, has not in the least overvalu- ed, m his recent report on the valley of this rver, the close relations 1t bears to +, kindred valleys, and these ae words of significance when we speak of those of the western world
 Capt. Cram says that these valleys have an enormous extent. Into the Ohio drops that of TennesSe, with a river $50 miles long: the Cum berland, with one of 45O; the Green river,i3O8; the Kentucky, 312; the Great Kanawha, 3.27: the Wabash, AT; the Monongahela, 216: the Muskmgham, 2l6; the Aleghany 300 miles. Into the NJ ssissippi drops the Missouri, 3217 miles lon-; the Kaskaskia, 25O; the Illinois, 400; the Rock 285; the Lower Iowa. 237; the Des Nones, 400: the Wisconsin, 56O; the St. Pe. terS, 400; while the Ohio and Mississippi them. selves, receiving these rivers and draining these fertile valleys, are, the one 945 miles in length, and the latter $500. And nearly all these streams are navigable by steam, and all their watars may be said to mingle at one point. as if for the control and convenience of capital and enterprise, and all communicate with the ocean through the Gulf of Mexico. Taking them al- together, says Capt Cram, we have continuous nayigable stream of 12,0OO miles,
 These are the great valleys, then, which are elongations of that of the Mississippi proper. but who has yet explored fully those which are watered by the fifty six other rivers which swell itss.waters, none of them being less than one
 
 miles in length?
 The basin of the Mississippi has itself an area ot over one million of square miles, double in size that of even the greatest rivers of China such, for example, as the Yang -tse- Kiang, of which an ample and interesting description has appeared in an early number of this Ga zette
 North of the junction of the Ohio and the MkSlSslppl, the size of this basin is about 40O,. UVO square miles, and this must by necessity discharge Its products through and by the na tural route
 But the eagle eve of American enterprise has already discovered all this. In fact, we are but registering foregone conclusion" The en- teFpnslng men who have congregated them serves on our great lakes, saw at a glance that thelr location was favorable to two preat inte reSts-one eastwardly by the St. Lawrence or the New York canals; the other south and west 10 the cotton, sugar and tobacco regions from which thel valuable staples might be drawn or to which merchandise might be sent at chean- CT rate than by any other routes.
 1t was this conception which brought Illinois Into the field of internal improvement in ad- vance, in fact, of her power to accomplish her purpose, and for time endangered her credit and Impaired her honor
 but the great work of the western world has hhaliy been accomplished, and we have rail- way 'o4 miles in length, connecting Lake Michi gan at US head, with the Mississippi at point where IL has always deep water, and rarely if