The New York herald., 1872-12-14
The National commereia, Convention.

The National Commercial Convention.
For the last twenty-five years, more or less,
we have periodically noticed the sessions
OF gentlemen interested in commerce upon
what we formerly called our Western rivers,
those natural highways which traverse the
centre OF our country, draining the products
OF dozen States, towards the Mexican Gulf.
The Convention is now at work in st. Louis.
1t has members from the Mississippi and Ohio
valleys, from Texas. Georgia and Pennsylvania,
and it is considering wide range Of subjects,
none OF which are entirely new. Improve
ment OF rivers has been standing topic for
buncombe speeches since the days of General
Jackson's Kitchen Cabinet; yet it is hardly
likely the people or representatives of the
whole nation will assent to the propriety of
taxing Maine and California to remove bars or
straighten the channel in the Tennessee River
There may be valid reasons for national aid to
ship canal around Niagara Falls on our
side, and for shortcut channel from New
Orleans to the Gulf; but the proposition
OF artificial water communication from
Huntsville in Alabama, to the Coosa River, in
Georgia, looks too much like a local benefit to
be made national burden. As rule, i'm
provements worth the labor can be made with
out governmental interpositon further than to
grant the necessary powers to proper corpora
tons. National regulation is required in rela-
ton to railroad tariffs, insurance and cultiva-
ton OF timber. Every intelligent citizen will
agree with the Convention that we need more
trans-continental railways and probably the
majority would be glad to see the telegraph
become part of our postal system, though all
who are disinterested will oppose the purchase
by the government Of watered telegraph stock
at inflated prices Tariff or free trade, high
duties or low duties, are interesting topics, but
as the Convention can only debate without set
Ting them, and probably without adding to
the popular information, it seems q waste of
words to discuss them. Common schools which
the Convention urges upon those States which
lack them, cannot receive too much attention,
and these commercial gentlemen will justify
their assembling if they carry the schoolmaster
into any territory which does not own his sway.
If by selling the overplus of Indian lands, be-
yOnu tne requirements OF Cne CrlDeS IOr apTl-
culture, an education fund can be created, to
teach the red men civilization, no doubt all
their white neighbors will vote for the pro-
ject. Doubling the salary of the President of
the United States and heads of departments
hardly seems within the natural scope of
commercial convention, but as any one of its
members may be called from managing steam
boats to guiding the ship of state the propo-
sition may possess personal propriety which
accounts for its introduction. Why govern
ment should appropriate two million dollars
for experiments to settle the best methods Of
improving rivers it is difficult to guess, unless
the gentleman who asks it has an axe to grind
thereby Finally, though this Convention,
like its predecessors, appears likely to talk of
many things without agreeing upon any ex-
cept those which have universal appreciation,
its members and the internal commerce of the
country will be the gamer by their acquaint-
ance and association with each other, which
will tend to unite in interest and sentiment
portions Of the Union widely separated.