Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1863-01-11
Interd pendence of the Upper and Lower
Mississippi Valley.


Mississippi Valley.
There is no topic in that able State paper,
the late message of Governor SEYMOUR, OF
New York, Of deeper interest or more ably
treated than that Of the inierdependence of the
upper and lower portions of the great Missis-
sippi valley His views exhibit breadth OF
patriotism aud craftsmanship thai embraces the
interests OF the whole country, rising high
above the prsjudicss of mere partisAnship or
the selfsh interests of a section.
Gov. SEYMOUR demonstrates that those at the
North and the South, who have been laboring
to break up our exiating Union and form two
CoDfederacies, would find 1t, in the event OF
their success, more difficult to adjust conflict.
log interests than In our exlsting Union.
There Is 10 that Union no real conflict Of TO-
terests. lts vast extent and lts varied produc.
tons and pursuits have relieved and neutral
ICED apparent antagonisWs. II gives us all
great fields or prosperous pursuits. Speaking
OF the West 10 this connection, Gov. SEYMOUR
says;
II the producing States Of the West are cut
of from the markets Of the South, they will
demand a ftee-trade policy which will open to
them the markets Of the world; and even these
will not make good the loss. They will not
give up their peculiar advantsges OF raising
grain and cattle for other pursuits, and the
markets Of the Eastern States and Europe are
not equal to Western productions. The past
two years have shown this With an unusual
European call for breadstufa and provisions,
with vast consumption Of these articles by
our American armies, there 10 great section
OF the West where the prices do not pay for
their production. There Ia bankruptcy aud G :.
uancial distress in the midst of abundant har-
yeats; and waste of ungathered grain, at a
time OF the largest expoltation of agrioul
tural products known IN the history OF our
country Ruducing the cost of carrying these
products will not cure this trouble. Opening
the Mississippi, ss Q way 10 the markets Of the
world, will not overcome this evil. The cotton
raised on the Mississippi ia the joint product Of
the provisions OF the North and the labor of the
South. The people Of the West must have the
Southwestern States, to bring back their pros
perity. They must be reunited, politically
socially and commercially, to the valley of the
Lower Mississippi. Their grain and provisions
must be converted inte cotton, and In this form
carried proftably to the Eastern and European
ports. When they have thus gained the returns
ios their labor, they will once more become the
supporters Of onr commerce. To restore this
great region 10 Its former prosperity, and to
regain for ourselves its enriching trade, the
lower valley Of the Mississippi must be brought
back into the Union; Ii must be brought back,
too, with all Its elements Of production and
wealth unimpaired; with ell the advantages Of
local self-government; not devasted and
ruined territory, under bl.gating, debasng
military control.
Every sentence in the foregoing extract
should be deeply pondered by every Western
man. We In the West must have the mar.
ksts of the Southwestern States, not only for
our own safety and prosperity, but for the sake
of our common country. lie. the States In the
upper and lower portions Of the Mississippi
valley be united as heretofore under the came
National Constitution and Government, and
the extremlsts and fanatics, North and South,
cannot break up our National Union, or long
continue q desolating and ruinous civil war
We want the Southwestern States In the Union,
ss Gov. SEYMOUR says, with ell their elements
of production and wealth unimpaired, and not
as ruined provinces. In the latter case, instead
Of conducting to our prosperity, they would be
an insufferable burden. Their ruin would be
ours. None but natural fool, or one made
insane by ianaticism, sees the case In any
other light. The evils of the present are great
and absolutely destructive to many important
interests in the West; but If the mad counsels
Of the Abolitionists continue In the ascendant,
greater evils are In store for Us. But We close
this subject so important and so vital to our
we'll being, with another brief paragraph from
Gov. SEYMouR's message:
30 closely are the Upper and Lower Valleys
Of the Mississippi bound together by interests,
that when cotton ia burned in Louisiana Indian
corn is used as fuel In Illinois. The ruin of
the Southern consumer brings bankruptcy upon
the Northern producer. When the capacity
Of the one to buy is annihilated, the ability Of
the other to produce is weakened or destroyed.
This single instance, from many equally strong,
shows that neither In Northern or Southern
Union can the conflicting interests Of agricul
ture, commerce, and manufactures be adjusted