New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1859-08-20
rHn GREAT CITY !.

/.
Probably there 10 isw reflective minds that, IN
vieW Of she rapid progress in wealth and population
That tho history Of The country exhibits, have mot
necnlatea = to Whefeabouts will be the great city
n ia continent when the rush Of emigration has
oaased ana the socal elements have settled into the
permanent and established quietude which Is to be
found III old, d comparatively old countries. Sec
lions but short time since mere wdernesses, have
% rapidly become populous, and ciies have sprung
up and made such tremendous strides to overake the
older sisterhsod Of the Atlantic border, that it Is
difficult TO base any calculation on the past Stats
tics Of the growth Of the cities which now exist that
viii give any reasonable result in the way Of indicat
ing that point on the North American continent
where wealth aud population will concenter to
form the great metropolis Of the Western World.
That this favored spot will not be On the Atlantic
coast is already apparent from the slow progress
which tie cities 80 located have made as compared
with those Of the interior, and which, indeed is but
in conformity with circumstances which must be re-
cognixed ~ those exercising the controlling force in
debating the locations Of ctes-fdr these marts of
trade must sxist where trade points out their place.
Therefore the coast cities being the mars Of foreign
commerce viii be but what the amount Of that COM
merce authorizes, while interior cities will be in
times exceed the foreign, and therefore demand
greater depots for its requirements.
ID DeBows Review for August W find an interest
ing paper under the title westward the Star OF
Empire," which gives elaborate statistics showing
the ID growth Of the cities Of the country and de-
uces reasonable prediction Of the magnificent future
ofthe West The writer speculatea as to the prob
able location Of the great city Of the country. and re-
fers 70 Prof Cooeys investigation to the end Of de-
termining the whereabouts Of the true center Of
population Of the United States and Canada. Five
years since II determined to the satisfaction Of
vans that the true center about at Pittsburg
and Is ii il calculated that this imaginary point
travels in direction about West d North at rate
Of seven miles year. the Review thinks il will have
crossed the Ohio and be on its march through the
State Of that name in 1860. The Review thinks that
this center will nearly indicate the chief central city
and where 1t pauses, population having ceased for
the moat part its migratory fluctuations, there will
the great metropolis spring up, Of at least
thereto the natural aspects Of the country will ad
nit The Review argues that this center Of numer-
ical, political, economical and social power can be mo-
where else but at some spot on the borders Of the
great Lakes and We differ from i.
10 making it's calculations IS to the center Of pop
uation It should have included estimates Of the pop
MIA tion of Mexico and Central America and should
also have reasoned that the great country Of the Pa
cic coast could never be near The Lakes as to the
Mexican Gulf aud that it would thus exercise force
In pulling the central pointn down in Southerly
direction. The mighty natural advantages which
city located the Gulf and near the mouth of the
great interior trade channel of The continent com.
mahds. must weigh tremendously in determining the
practical il not the true center' It is reasonable
to believe that the great city Of the continent will
not be far from the mouth Of the Mississippi which
will ever pour wealth into its lap cleaned in its course
for thousands Of miles, nor far from the Gulf coast
where 1t will be the nearest point of note to the Pa
ciic country to Mexico and to all the fertile and pop
ulous country bordering on the Gulf and Caribbean
Sea- as well as the popuous and productive islands of
the Antillean Group. The great city may not be on
the very borders Of the Gulf perhaps not SO near to
It as New Orleans is but the Influences to which we
have referred shove would seem to have power enough
to keep It further South than The Northern lakes.
Nous rerTons-or rather our remote descendants
will.