Wilmington daily gazette., 1874-03-28
THE MISSISSIPPI FLOOD.

THE MISSISSIPPI FIFTY MILES WIDE FROM |
CAIRO To THE SEA-AN EXTENT OF TER |
RIToRY LARGER THAN THE STATE OF NEw
YORK UNDER WAFER-DEsTRUCTI or
Property AND IMPENDING FAMINE.
STEAMER CHEEK, on tho Mississippi, |
March %. - The Mississippi river from
Cairo to the sea, now fifty miles wide, covers
an area of fly thousand square miles, or
thirty-two million acros Of the richest allu-
vial land i'll the most delightful climate OF
tbs continent. 1t Ia Deedless to tell what
vast sums the cOuntry's foreign commerce
owes TO tho cotton, corn and sugar of this
broad alluvial plain, and therefore | have
descended tho river 10 tell ofthe appearance
of tho country deluged. of tho people, OF the
| fields and homes, and of tho wonders OF the
| lowlands.
BUSINESS RELATIONS OF TIE TWO RACES.
| Tho planter and land. owner supplies
| clear ed land, mules. forage and farming im-
plements: the negro pays for ali he con-
| sutnes. and the proceeds or crops are dI-
vided, a moietv to each. Supposing an acre
| of land worth $50 to produce. h commonly
| occurs, n bale OF cotton, the negro and
| planter will each make not less than so
| f. ON each acre cultivated. Each negro Gull
| tivates from twenty to thirty acres, and you
may discover i'll these simple facts the rea-
| son for the ceaseless influx into the lowlands
of countless negroes from Georgia and the
Caroinaa. They never return TO their old
homes. and even hoard their gains to enable
kindred and friends IN the older States to
reach this paradise of the negro. The more
numerous they become (sucn are African
gregarious habits and tastes) the stronger
their attachment to lowland plantation life.
The great body Of negroes will soon be
gathered in Louisiana. NJ lssiss ppi and Ar
kansas. Even South Carolina Will be sur
rendt red To white mon that blacks may
become supreme masters in the lowlands OF
the Mississippi. There Is AN ilimtable OK
panss of virgin forests and alluvial plains
on either side of tho majestic river, and
I space enough for 100000 blacks. and tho
riches of Lowell, Lawrence, Boston, Man
chester. will grow para pdSsd with the
multiplication of negroes IN the low lands.
THE TEMPEST AND THE FLOOD.
| From Cairo TO the Gulf of Mexico the Missis
sippi is now from forty 10 sixty miles wide, and
the average depth oi water nll this area, 1000
Iby fifty miles, Is probably ten feet. Suppose u
only five feet deep, and that Congress construct
Senator Alcorns levees one mile apart the,
, must needs be, ii the average depth OF watel
over tho low lands be ten feet, not less than 50t
feet high. Ii the Senator construct these levee
two miles apart they need only be 30 teet abovt
the country's surface but the Federal Govern
ment is addicted TO big Jobs, and am persuaded
that this is chiefest oil all absurdIties ever sough
| to be palmed of on the stupid Congress. / nee,
hardly say that levees worse than yaluelCs
when the river is low, since they obstruct th'
| overflow OF rain from plantations and make III
country sckly, and when the river is at hood-tid
"a they only aggrayate thousand.iold the YER
t, evils they were designed to remedy. The Gov
.. ernment can only assure cheap commercial inter
d course between the States by connecting river
with one another by means OF great canals, an
locks and dams may regulate the rise and fail {
| the Mississippi, and leYees need only be used b.
those who, like the Egyptians cultiyating tn
banks.of the Nile in the days OF llerodotus, woul
lrritate grain fields, mud Tor this purpose perpetu
ate the supply OF water hy constructing arttci.
llakes. ulay mention the fact, is curious coir
y Icidcnce, that even here eighteen miles west
i Memphis-a race ol people very much like Egyp
I, ians. as happen 10 know from many remains c
. art and toll that have gathered, dug "aguadas
J. and canals and reared mounds and nilometer
Happily, however, tor the country, the Mississippi
cannot be "leyeed" and that no prison wal
can restrict the movements Of its mighty cur
rents.
FAMINE