The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1859-04-14
the husbandman, and Of oil Of Us, were

the husbandman, and Of oil Of rs, were
doomed to grievous disappointment
Just on tho eve OF harvest, when the
waving grain vas almost roady for the
reaper's sickle, the orb of day seemed to
vacate his place in the horizon, tho heay-
ems clothed themselves with dull Ieaden
drspery, and the rain descended in tor
rents, such as that myth, 1.-THE oldest in
habitant," had never before seen in Iowa
ut similar season Of the year. The
consequence Of that untimely deluge and
that dull, dark, loathsome weather, as
you all know, was the complete destruc-
ton Of the wheat and oat crops through
out almost the entire length and breadth
Of the State Of Iowa . consequence and
result, more disastrous, by far, than all
the damage done by tower specializing !"
commercial panics," want OF conf
dence,o and all the other vicissitudss and
ills TO which ambitious young cities or
human flesh are heir to. Why, gentle
man, it can be proven by common arith-
metic that the State of Iowa suffered .
loss amounting to four or FIVE millions Of
dollars, consequent upon the failure of
her crops of wheat and oats for the past
year, and it requires no student Of "po-
litical economy" to inform you that our
goodly city Of Keokuk, the first COM
mercial city Of Iowa, must have suffered,
and suffered intensely, in her basket and
in her store, in her business and in her
manufactures, in her capital and in ev-
cry avenue Of trade, consequent upon
such ruinous and disastrous loss.
One Of the consequences of the "pan-
ic" and the ssfamine" is, the inability, at
this juncture, Of our citizens to pay taxes
sufficient to meet the interest and princi-
pal Of the city debt now due. Another
is, the loss to this community of several
hundreds Of our skilled mechanics and
laborers, who have been obliged to seek
for employment elsewhere in order to
maintain their wives and families.
Cause enough to make us sad and
mournful yet ought We not to mourn as
those without hope. Notwithstanding
the stagnation Of business in every de-
psrtment for time Notwithstanding the
heavy losses and crosses borne by our
merchants and manufacturers, it needs
no one to verify my statement, that
there were fewer failures in Keokuk du-
ring that gloomy period, amongst the
classes just named, than in any city OF
this Union, where . parallel amount of
business, corresponding to population,
had been transacted. In this particular,
at least, We fear not comparison with st.
Louis, Chicago, or even the great CEN
tire of trade and capital, New York, her.
self. No! the commercial honor of
Keokuk, and the credit and standing of
her merchants, are to-day as bright and
unsullied as ever.
/ Every encouragement in our power
ought to be given to promote the settle
ment Of merchants and manufacturers
in our midst; cheap lots for business
and manufacturing purposes ought to be
supplied by the large land-holders. The
intelligent mechanic, the skilled artisan
and the hardy son Of toll ought also to
be provided with cheap houses, to shelter
their weary frames, their wives and their
little ones. No community can enjoy
permanent prosperity unless protected
and supported by the three grand ele-
ments of neutrality-suspicious., Manu-.
features and Commerce.
! have said, we have had cause enough
to make us sad and mournful, but I also
repeat, yet ought we not to mourn .,
, those without hope"
Keokuk is yet goodly city, set upon ,
hill which cannot be hid !; still are hel
shores washed by the mighty Mississippi
3 the father of waters "a highway fol
the commerce of nations still is she .
the head Of clear and uninterrupted nav.
igation for the largest class Of steamers
that float on that majestic stream still
is she the grand "central point, whers
6 the rock-bed OF the river, the grea
rapids, and vast water-power, orr
!" FIRST found in ascending from the Gull
"of Mexico towards its source !" still ii
she at the confluence Of the great and
beautiful Des Moines; still stretches
away to the west and north Of her, ant
tributary to her, that "valley," and tina
"divide," which have been baptised .
the richest domain that can be found OF
the face Of the earth. Who can doub
the recovery Of our city from its presen
depression, when bordering over tn.