The weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1852-1858, 1857-04-11

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interests Of both North and South, init
mateiy connectedsa s they are by natural
ties, would not be materially adyauce.i iy =
Joint and harmonious legislat on upon all
matters properly within the province of mn
nicipal law2 Our railroad connections with
the East are not at all affected, for which
ever line be adopted, our eastern boundary
willlbe the same, the Mississippi river. A
North and South division places our North
and South connections and our whole system
Of legislation exclusively within the power
OF those who arc are to be affected with no
right OF interference on the part of section
OF country to which, as We have already
seen, We are not now and never can be
bound by the same strong ties of traffic,
trade and reciprocal interest which exist be-
tween the farmers of our South and the lum-
bermen, miners manufacturers and CONNER
clal men OF the North. One thing We must
all agree upon, that our character and repu-
tation as State is to depend on what we
ourselves are, and not on what our neighbors
are.
But our remarks upon the subject of the
boundaries of Minnesota have already ex-
tended to far greater length than was ORR
ginally intended. The subject is full Of inte-
rest, and fertile in suggestions. Its full ex-
animation IN every light would require
volume. Let us foot up the column The
boundary by an east and west line, 80 to so
miles north of st. Paul. what will it give us?
AN almost exclusively agricultural State,
running from the Mississippi to the Missou-
ri-upon the Fast, fertile and capable Of sup
porting dense population upo" the Vest,
destitute of timber and water, and far from
being productive. State 37j miles in
length by $50 miles in width, containing So
600 square m:Ies-a State divided in its in
terests, one half tending West to the Mis-
souri,, the other, East to the Mississippi.
The boundary by North and South line, as
proposed by Congressional will that give
US? The choicest farming land in the Ter
ritory upon our South and Northwest. The
forests, mines, water powers and lake har-
bors of the North. A State Of regular out
lines and magnificent proportions, $40
miles in length, 220 miles in width, with an
area of u, 900 square miles-a State where
agriculture, commerce and manufactures can
JOIN hands, mutually supporting and sup
ported by each other-a State the bound
less resources of which furnish fields of la
Dor for every variety Of human talent and
enterprise materials for every department
of human industry State whose civil and
political policy is to be founded and develop
ed upon broad and liberal principles embrac-
ing the views and wants. not of a single
class or single interest in society, but of
all classes and conditions, and enligh. ened by
all the wide and varied experience of men
engaged in every great department of BUSH
ness and of life. A commonwealth whose
stately bearing, commanding presence, gigan-
tic proportions and boundless capacities will
place her in the foremost rank, among the
greatest of the States-a commonwealth
whose voice upon the floor of Congress
will not be the inaudble wall of Rhode
Island or the sharp bark of Delaware, but
the sullen growl Of old Massachusetts, or tho
thunder Of New Yori-a State to which all
its sons and daughters, in all coming gene
rations, may point with pride and exultation
"a State complete, self-sustaining and in
dependent, possessing within its own limits
all the elements of empire; and finally in the
event of that dreadful cllamlty, (Which God
avert) when the bond of union which now
unites this great Confederacy shall be sever.
ed, republic which can maintain its own
integrity and defy alike enemies without and
within. With these prospects around us
and before us what remains bnt to accept
the prOfiered boon, acquiesce in the bounda-
ri"s proposed by Congress, and as soon as
may be, without delay or embarrassment,
add the star OF Minnesota to the shining
constellation of States United?
JOHN NJ. BERRY.
FaRIpAuIr Anr10 ~