New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-12-28

: The positions taken by Monroe and Jacl
: son are undoubtedly correct, except as
whom belongs the right to decide upon tn
9 nationality of the enterprise contemplated
| The Representative is responsible to hi
A constituents for everything he does an
for every view he entertains upon publ
g affairs, and upon which he acts. 1t make
no difference whether it be an international
constitutional or economic question. Thi
responsibility constitutes the reason VIII
7 he should be invested with the sole RICH
) to determine whether the object for whic
: the public money is appropriated is nation
al. am content that the proposition t
grant the aid contemplated by the bill un
; der consideration shall he decided upon tn
principle annunciated.
1tnay be difficult in many cases to de
termine whether an appropriation is mad
for national object. Much depends upol
} the rule that shall be adopted in such cases
; Where the beneficial effect will be universe
and equal, no doubt can be entertained
But such case can hardly arise, except il
the payment of q debt. 1t is then presumed
that the whole people are equally benefited
1t is not by such rule, however, that this
question should be tested. Congress has &
right to appropriate money for the common
defense and general welfare. No one has
ever questioned the power to build a fort
IN Florida, yet none can see how that ACT
will contribute to the defense of Oregon OF
Alaska, Congress builds lighthouses and
harbors on the coast of Maine, yet the peo
pie on the coast OF California receive no
direct advantage from it. The true theory
is that as each section is an integral part OF
the whole nation, a benefit conferred upon
locality whose condition, physical and
otherwise, seem to demand aid, will operate
to the benefit of the whole.
The question is, will the appropriation
| ha ,to1 for ~. i
tages which will result: is it needed, and
are the people to be directly benefited sutfi-
GENTLY numerous and the section of sutii-
Client consequence to be developed and pre-
served Ii these questions may all be an
swered in the affirmative, the character of
nationality ought 10 attach to the PROPOSE
ton. The language OF the constitution is
not the universal welfare. The improve
ment contemplated by this bill is of such
magnitude, and the influence of its accom-
| pllshment will be SO widespread in prOmot-
| ing the wealth and strength of the republic,
and in its contributions toward human hap
piness. that cheerfully leave the nation
allty of its character to be determined by a
rule the most rigid and illiberal. Let us
hrst know the facts, and then come to de-
ci>lon. Upon the facts which l shall present
rest the case, and feel confident that ul-
tlmately the Judgment OF Congress and the
country will pronounce the measure proper
national undertaking, and OF great economic
Importance.
The alluvial bottom lands sought to be
protected against inundatOn by the con-
structlOn of levees contain about twenty
million acres, or nearly thirty thousand
square miles; an area four times as large
as the kingdom of Holland, four times as ex-
tenslve as Massachusetts and neatly equal
to one-half Of all the New England States
These lands are situated in the middle of
the continent and border upon the greatest
natural inland thoroughfare in the world.
They have drawn their fertility for ages
from one-half the continent Every fertil-
lzing agent from the decayed vegetation of
the valleys and the minerals of the noun
talns has found a Judgment here. They are |
situated, too. III that part of the temperate |
zone most adapted to valuable productions |
and most celebrated for salubrity of climate. |
The productiveness of these lands is I'M !
derstood in general way. but their real |
value is only cOmprehended when we apply |
the test of statistics. l regret that l have
been unable to obtain more complete infor-
nation. In the year 1859, from 81 g. 900 acres
III Louisiana. there We're produced cotton,
corn. sugar, and rice of the value of sos
100000. or about $50 per acre. There are in
that State fully six million acres liable to
overflow, and it is safe to say that four mill
ion may be cultivated, and that the annual
yield per acre will approximate 800. These
lands in that State alone ought to add each
Year to the productions of the nation
: 100. 900, oO0. Fifteen million acres of the
lands to be protected by levees may be
made to grow crops, and at the rate of sixty
dollars an acre, which is low estimate,
their aggregate value would be S900.000,-
coo per annum-qulte sufficient to lquidate
the entire public debt in three years. with
ha .rp rIyt,ri int. =,
iuctive capacity enough to employ one
and half million agricultural laborcrs.
and to furnish support for eight million
people.
Surely this great productiveness, and the
arge population that may be sustained
hereby, ought to give the character of ma
to an enterprise which will bring
about such a result The useful character
" the crops grown upon these lands, and
he circumstances which will compel their
almost solely here, are important
The uplands of the South |
IRE not generally of a very fertile quality. |
such as have been cultivated for a cOnsid-
rabie length of time have become well
ugh exhausted They are not as easily re-
uscitated as lands in snow countries. Their
trength is wasted away by winter rains ,
hey are not adapted to the growth of val
liable grasses. manures are not as plentiful as
n countries where much feeding is done; and ,
rhen applied to the soil they do not con- |
ribute to productiveness for any great
myth of time. +
Hence. cotton planters will of necessity
e driven to the richest ailuval localities,
nj none exceed the richness of the lands I
II the Mississippi and tributaries. Within G
ne last half century something above one a
undred million bales of cotton have been L
rOwn in the Uuited States Their value 9
an not he less than five fhOusand million |
ollars. Nearly ninety million bales have
cen produced in the last thirty years. and v
II four years of that time there was almost | +
hiatus in its cultivation. As | do not e
elieve in any monarehical institution, l do S
OF think ''cotton is king" but 90 regard C
as very useful servant--one indeed, il
hch is almost indispensable. We have a
Uttered much from adverse balances of a
'ade, which have been paid off with the l,
'in and bullion of the country. Deduct Il
ON our expectations the single item of I
'tton for twenty years last past, and see |;
DIV the balances against us will foot up. c.
Take this item out and the nation would Il
, compelled to go into bankruptcy. or
I'm half our population into quarrying y
I'd crushing quartz rock to obtain the "a
cans to meet our liabilities. At times W
Inject of gold mining and our wealth in
eclous metals has been paraded and cx fl
He'd as if no financial mishap could be- fC
ke us so long as we possessed this re- "
urce: yet in the last twenty years cotton c;
IS enriched us more than four times as TT
uch as the gold and silver mines. in its m
to commerce, and i'll meeting hi
e demand for foreign exchange, and im- dc
aas urably more has it promoted the com in
rts of the human family. These facts. so Sc
iet1y stated. are sufficient to Justify the V,
rislatiOn which | have prop0se1 But | tL