Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1864-03-08
1tlistelIaup.
The Resources Of the United States.


Tie report Of Mr. Samuel b. Rugglcs the
American delegate To The international Stats
teal Congress held at Berlin in September last,
has Just been published at Washington az a
Congressional document. Mr.. Ruggles com.
misslJued by Secretary Sesard to attend the
Cougr,s, as the oH3ia representative Of thu
nited States louud On bis arrival at Berlin,
that a report On uniform system Of weights
and measures had been prepared BY tile COM
mttee appointed at the London meeting ol the
Congress in 1860, containing among other state
ments, one to the effect that the C0nleder-
ate States Of America have expressed desire
to introduce the metric tFpnch) system Mr.
Rugges having been invited to confer with the
committee in relation to the report, at once e1
copied the phraseology Of this passage. quietly
observing to the Engishmen and others who
had already approved it, that body Of stats.
tlclans possessed no power to recognize the rebel
states as a natlln. and, further, that cur gov
eminent did not acknowledge the rebellion as
anything more than local lnsurrectiJn, which
was certain Of suppression. This argument
finally prevailed, the Objectionable phrase was
changed so as to read - Some Of the States of
America have expressed desire" &c and
Mr. Ruggles having thus won point at the
outset, took his seat in the Congress where
thirty-three governments were represented.
The paper on Ine Resources Of the United
States,n which Mr.. Ruggles laid before the
Congress, appears in full IN his report 10 Secre-
tary Seward. Il covers a vast field Of research,
summing up the statistics Of the material wealth
and growth Of this country in terse and lorclble
style. The subject is treated under four heads,
territorial area, increase Of population, ad-
vance in the value OF real and personal property,
and the value of the gold fields Every state
ment made is proved by figures from official
sources, and while the reader is left to draw his
own deductions from the comparisons present.
ed, the record is 60 clear and simple that but
one conclusion eau be reached, anu that is, that
the the nation has ample resources, not only
to sustain the burden Of the war, but to pay all
the debts incurred in putting down the rebel
lion, aud also TO support the arge and in-
creasing immigration from Europe. We have
no space to follow Mr.. Ruggles through hs
elaborate array of valuable statistics, bat the
following are among the striking exhibits of his
report
During the last SIXTY years, while the pop.
ulation OF France ha. increased but 81 per cent.
and that of England III per cent, PRUSSIA
increasing I 9 per cent. in iorty-hye years the
increase in the United States has been 1913 per
cent.
The iood. producing western states, embracing
an area OF 2s2,l34 ,6oS acres, form, says the
report, -" an immense natural garden, in a sa
lubrious and desirable portion OF the temperate
zone, into which the swelling stream Of popula-
ton from the older Atlantic states and from
Europe has steadily flowed during the last de.
cade, Increasing its previous population from
5 5.403 ,595 10 s 957 800, an accession OF 3,564,-
095 inhabitants q ined by the peaceful conquest
OF nature, fully equal to th population of Sill
esia, which cost Frederick the Great the sew u
/ years war, and exceeding that of Scotland, the
subject OF struggle lor centuries.
, The rapid influx OF population into this group
of States increased the quantity of the i'm
proved land, thereby meaning farms more u
less cultivated, within their limits, from % $50,
36l acres 10 1850 to 81 1876 in 1860, but
leaving residue yet to be improved of 230,30S,- =
2g3 acres. The area of 25, ,ll6,05i acres thus
taken in ten years IRON the prairie and the for
est is equal TO sosgn'eights OF the arabic area OF
England, stated by its political economists 10 b,
/ 2S,0O0, 900 OF acres
The area embraced m the residue will pCrml
a similar operation to DO repeated eight time,
successivey, plainly demonstrating the capacity
OF this group OF Stat to expand their present
population Of S9j1 ,691 10 at least 10000 600
ii not ~ 900 900, OF inhabitants without incon
yenence
The effects oi this influx Of population in in
creasing the pocuniarY wealth, rs well as the
agricultural products Of the States in question
are signally manifest IN the census The asses
sed value Of their real AMI personal proport,
assembled from Sl,ll6,O00,000 in 1850 Il
So 926, 900 600 10 ls6O, showing clear in
crease OF S2,sl0, 100000 We can best mcasur,
this rapid and enormous accession of wealth b,
comparing it with an object which all nations
value, the commercial marine The CONNER
cial tonnage ol the United States in 1910 W.
> $50 .764 tons in 1850 Was 1886, l9l tons
IN lSG0 was 535,, sos tons.
At $50 per ton, which is a lull estimate, th
whole peouniary value Of the 535S, sos luus
embracing all our commercial fleets on th
oceans and the lakes aud the rivers, and mum
/ bering nearly thirty thousand vessels, would b,
but S267 $40 900 whereas the in'rease in th
pecunary value Of the S.atos under considera
ton IN each year ol the last decade, was S5sl,
100000. Five years increase would purchas
every commercial vessel In the Christian world
The capacity Of these states for the production
Of vegetable aud animal food is dwelt upon b.
Mr.. Ruggles with much force lie says