Daily Democrat and news. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1859-1864, 1860-10-20
lErom the Nsu Orleans Pieayuss.l
he W EST.
ITS POWER AND INFLUENCE

The present census will show the &C.
tuai transfer Of political power from the
Middle and Eastern States. The ma
jjority Of population nov lies beyond the
boundaries Of the farthest from the sea-
board Of the old original thirteen COM
monwealths, and it will control the tu-
ture policy and character of the nation.
Scarcely has the last actor in the Kcvo
luuonary drama gone, yet the valleys
then lllstening IN forest soIitudes, are
the scenes Of busy life and highly ad-
vanced civilization Their robust, large
hearted, liberal population far outnum,
berng the entire inhabitants Of the whole
country at the time Of the adoption OF
the constitution.
II we would know what shall be the
type Of the thought, opinion and action
of the people OF the United States in
coming years, it must be sought West
of the Alleghanies, West Of the Mssls
slpp', once the barriers to the advance
Of the tide of emigration. It's not, md
viii not be, the simple reflection of New
Eng gland, Of New York nor of the AT.
anlic States, which have been the nur-
series Of new commonwealth. Recciy
ing from them what they were able &c
give Of moral and Intellectual impulse on
THE broad prairie, in the mighty wilder
ness, by the side OF majestic rivers, in
the shadows Of gigantic mountains, and
on the margin OF wide spreading lakes
the people of the West have received
an expansion of thought, liberall,y OF
views, and broader and more marked
character than the stock from whence
they sp,ung.
Their influence already begins to re.
act upon the older States. Brought in.
to constant intercourse with the more
stationary population Of the East, they
begin to harmonic them with them.
selves. New York and the New Eng
land States derive their sustenance and
the life of their trade from the Vest
They must ultimately receive from the
same quarter their Intellectual and mo-
raj impulsions. Water does not more
certainly give similar polish and round
less OF figures to the stone over which
it runs, than the currents of humanity
reduce by the friction of constant con.
tact, each atom Of the living tide to a
species of unity of character.
| This view Of the power and influence
of the Great West is too often neglect
ed bg those who aspire to the character
Of statesmen. In all the plans of polt
lcal action, to escape evils threatened, oil
improve blessings enjoyed, it has beer
virtually overlooked or treated as de-
tendency that must necessarily follow
the lead of the Atlantic States. 1t is
however, idle to trust longer to such ex
pectations. Tie scaboard, by linking
itself with the blooming Western val
leys, in the expectation Of making then
lasting tributaries. has created external
outgoing forces that it cannot control
Amid all the conflicts of sections tina,
now exist, or the struggles that may
come. this new lower may be counted
an important element for good or for ILL.,
Where, ii the South desire to create &
new republic out OF homogeneous sec
ton of the present Union, are its boun
daries to be marked! What States art
peculiarly Southernl Kentucky, Mis-
souri, and Tennessee are to-day a par,
of the West, rather than Of the South
In the genius aud character Of then
people, their associations and produc.
lions, their relations OF business and con.
nectlons of trade, they are all w estern
Just as New Y ork, in all these particu
lars, though on the Atlantic, is more OF
IA Western than an Eastern or Middle
State. To degree, the same may b,
said of Arkansas, the Western part Of
Mississippi and q considerable district 0
Louisiana.
1t seems that the utter futility Of at
tempting to find natural Western
boundary for reorganized South, anc
the influence of the younger State.
now about to find their true position IL
the Union, has never been calculated b,
the Southern agitators of the day, who
take advantage of every occasion to ere
ate public sentiment hostile to til,
present Federal Government. 1t is en-
tlrely forgotten that the West must bt
consulted and assent before any new
relations are formed that affect their &C n
nection with the outer world of trade.
In local position how The border, slave
and free States OF the West impinge
upon each other, subjecting the inhabit.
ants OF each to kindred influences, and
aiding in the most direct manner the
cultivation of unity Of feeling and char
acter. Missouri Is almost surrounded
by free commonwealth, and their diff.
ferent social institutions act and reac,
upon each other. The South of Hi
nos is, in its opinion on what is called a
sectional question, not far removed from
those that prevail in Kentucky; and
Western Virginia aud the East and
South of Ohio have much accord. This
effect OF propuinquity is reduplicated in
power by the great network of roads
that interlock the free States Of the
West and the slave States of the South
west. The Alleghan.es-the great bar
rier for twenty years-no longer pro-
duce separation of population or IN
terest, nor does nature now oppose q
single obstacle to the daily intermingling
Of an ever mobile people. DAILY and
hourly are the connections of those
States growing more intimate, by steam
in its manifold forms, by tciegraphs, and
the constant shifting OF the tide OF en-
grafton, which, while they are making
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