Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1858-03-31

/
so indented with bays and crowded with
islands, that, when their shore lines are
added, we have twelve thousand miles.
Through the heart of our country runs
the great Mississippi, the father of wa
tiers, into whose bosom are poured thir-
tysix thousand miles of tributsry
streams; and beyond we have the desert
prarie wastes, to protect US in our rear.
Can you hem in such territory as that?
You talk of putting up wall of fire
around eight hundred and fifty thousand
square miles so situated! How absurd.
But in this Territory lies the great
valley of the Mississippi, now the real,
and soon to be acknowledged seat of the
empire of the world. The sway of that
valley will be as great as ever the Nile
knew in the earlier ages of mankind
We own the most of il. The most val
liable part Of it belongs to us now; and
slthough those who have settled above
us are now opposed to US, another gen.
GRAFTON will tell different tale. They
are ours by all the laws of nature; slave
labor will go over every foot of this
great valley where it will be found prof
liable to use it, and some of those who
may not use it are soon to be united
with Us by such ties as will make us
one and inseparable. The iron horse
will soon be clattering over the sunny
plains of the South to bear the products
of its upper tributaries to our Atlantic
ports, as it now does through the ice
bound North. There is the great Mis-
sissippi, bond of union made By Ma
ture herself. She will maintain it forever.
On this fine territory we have a pop
ulation four times as large as that with
which these colonies separated from the
mother country, and hundred, | might
say thousand fold stronger. Our pop
ulation is now sixty per cent, greater
than that of the whole United States
was ten years after the conclusion Of
that war, and cur exports are three times
as great as those of the whole United
States then. Upon our muster rolls we
have million of militia. In defensive
war, upon an emergency, every one of
them would be available. At any time,
The South can raise, equip. and main
tain in the field, larger army than any
Power of the earth can send against her,
and an army of soldiers-men brought
up on horseback, with guns in their
! hands.
If we take the North, even when the
two large States of Kansas and Mime
sofa shall be admitted, her territory will
be one hundred thousand square miles
less than ours. do not speak of Cali
fornia and Oregon; there is no antagon-
ism between the South and those coun-
tries, and never will be. The population
of the North is fifty per cent greater
than ours. | have nothing to say in
disparagement either of the soil of the
North, or the people of the North, who
are brave and energetic race, full of
intellect, bat they produce no great sta
pie that the South does not produce
while We produce two or three, and those
the very greatest, that she never can
produce. As TO her men, l may be al
lowed TO say they have never proved
themselves to be superior to those of the
South, either in the field or in the Senate.
But the strength of nation depends in
a great measure upon its wealth; and the
wealth of nation, like that of man, is
TO be estimated by lis surplus production.
You may go to your trashy census books,
full of falsshood and nonsense. They
will tell you, for example, that in the
State of Tennessee, the whole number
of house-servants is not equal to that of
those in my own house. and such things
as that. You may estimate uhatismade
throughout the country from these CEN
sus books, but it is no matter how much
is made if it is all consumed. If man
possess millions of dollars and consume
his income, is he rich? Is he competent
to embark in any new enterprise? Can
he build ships or railroads {? And could
people in that condition build ships
and roads, or 60 10 war? All the en-
terprises of peace and war depend upon
the surplus productions of people.
They may be happy, they may be COM
Portable, they may enjoy themselves in
consuming what they make; but they
are not rich; they are not strong. 1t
appears, by going to the reports of the |
Secretary of the Treasury, which are
authentic, that last year the United
States exported in round numbers S279,-
100000 worth of domestic produce, ex-
cluding gold and foreign merchandise
re-expOrted. Ofihis amount S158, ,000,- |
600 worth is the clear produce of the
South articles that are not and cannot
be made at the North. There are then
$4,000, 600 worth of exports of pro-
ducts of the forest, provisions, and
breadstuffs. If we assume that the
South made but one third of these, and
l think that is a low calculation, our
exports were S185. 600, 900 leaving TO
the North less than 5,O00,OO
In addition 10 this, we sent 10 the
North 3O,OOO,OOO worth of cotton,
which is not counted in the exports.
We send 10 her seven or eight million
dollars worth of tobacco, which is not
counted in the exports. We sent naval
stores, lumber, rice, and many other
minor articles. There is no doubt that
we sent to the North $40, 100000 in
addition but suppose the amount to be
S35,0Oo,O 900; it will give us surplus
production of 100000, 600. The re-
corded exports of the South now are
greater than the whole exports of the
United States in any year before 1856
They are greater than the whole aver.
age exports of the United States fer the
last twelve years, including the two ex-
traordinsry years of 1866 and 1851
They are nearly double the amount Of
the average exports of the twelve prece-
ding years. II am right in nay ealcu
lations as TO S92O, ,0O0,0 of surplus
produce; there is not nation on the
face of The earth, with any numerous
population. that can compete with us In
produce per capita. Il amounts TO SIG v
90 g.. .s-rst-71i.-