Arkansas true Democrat., 1859-11-16
From the Randolph Herald. Our State


 Our State.
 From the geographical position of Ak ansas Its advantages have been overlooked by other portions of the Union. Situated midway between the great commercial out. let of the Mississippi Valley and the lines ot travel to California and Oregon, it's growth has been comparatively slow when contrasted with States recently admitted But Ii her growth has been slow it has been a healthy one. Her prosperity is on too firm basis to be even affected by a crisis which would shake other States to their centres.
 Illinois is an example of this. That State, with over 1900 miles of railroad. her western border washed by the Missis- sippi, while the Illinois penetrates her centre; every facility for speedy communi- cation with eastern seaports, both by lake navigation and railroad, is now in state of commercial paralysis-her merchants, farmers and mechanics burdened with an enormous amount of debt, and no means of eXtrcating themselves. The cause of this state of affairs is, that she was too fast, even for this age. Her merchants and business men imagined prosperous times would continue, and that they could fnal7y make Toney, even when doing business on a ticTious capital and paying one debt by coptracting lrger. Now they are reaping Ee fruits of that chimera.
 ( Arkansas, on the contrary. learned her lesson early. The old Real Estate Bank and State Bank taught prudence to her leg. lSlators and business men. Foreign capi- talists ignored her; credit she had none and her citizens had become distrustful of every thing which resembIed chartered monop- oly-ln this dilemma she was compeled to resort to specie basis. The good fruits of thls measure were apparent during the crash of 1857. Her merchants, at that time, were not only enabled to pay their debts in specie, but to pay cash for new supplies. Her crops were abundant and more than sufficient to meet every dollar ot her indebtedness when 1t became due. As consequence Arkansas was the only State which did not feel that crisis-on the contrary, 1t established the solvencv of her merchants and business men, and she now has fewer debts and more money. ac- cording to population, than any State in the Union.N
 Arkansas has no corporate indebtedness to sap the energies of her people, while other States have state, county, city, and corporation bonds to an enormous amount. Inc motto of our State is-poy as You %, and its good effects will be more apparent hereafter than at the present time. What prosperity she does possess is real and per manent
 In social and moral progress she has made as rapid advances as any portion of the Union. In the first settlement of Ark ansas, as in all new communities, her ter ntorv was the resort of desperadoes of every hue and degree of crime. Her laws could not reach them for crimes committed in other States, and they lived in comparative security in our then sparsely settled domain. Then 1t was that Arkansas obtained an unenviable notoriety from which she has not yet entirely rid herself At that time the word Arkansas was SYNONYMOUS with everything desperate, and her history and progress IS so little known abroad to-day. that in the older States people imagine her cltlzens reside in the primitive huts of hunters and trappers; that no law exists except the law of might; that schools and morals have not crossed the Mississippi and that public peace is regulated by the glitter Ing sheen of the death dealing bowie knife or piStol shot; that card playing is not only common employment but considered re- spectable; that whisky Gas we once saw it published in an eastern print) is a universal beverage and takes the place of coffee and milk in families.
 How different is the truth?
 Throughout the State good common schools exist; in every prominent town they either have colleges or are making strong efforts to obtain them. Scarcely a village but what has its delicate church spire pointing to the blue dome of heaven, while all over the country humble buildings, dedicated to the worship of Almighty God, are met with, and always filled with devout and sincere worshippers during the hours devoted to service.
 Vice exists. 1t is true, but not to greater extent than in older and more densely pop. ulated States. In the West acts are com. mltted publicly, which are concealed in the East, and we are not sure but what the Western practice is the best Pope said
 wee IS creature of such hdeous mien,
 That to be hated, needs but to be seen."
 Private circles and family hearthstones are as sacred and pure in Arkansas as 1T New England, while as warm hearts anc sincere friendship exists here as in the proudest cities on the continent.