The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1875-02-16
The Territories and Futurc states.

The one hundredlh parallel of longitude
divides the American Republic into very
nearly equal parts, geographically, though
very unequal so far as fertility, population
and wealth are concerned. To the east of
it the land is good. To the west the land
is, on the whole, bad. The one hundredth
parallel cuts off. on the eastern side, about
half of Texas, of the Indian Territory, and
of Kansas and Nebraska, and sixth or
eighth of Dakota. 1t marks with curious
exactness the limit of arabic land in this
country, and the line where the grasshop-
pers most abound. The first-class soil
really ceases with the ninety-eighth para
llcl, where the droughts and grasshoppers
begin, but the change from the very good
to the midding and Indifferent and from
the indifferent to the positively bad con-
sumes two degrees. West of the one hnu-
dredth parallel the arid lands stretch for
1000 miles. There are, OF course, excep-
tons to the general rule of badness. The
three parks of Colorado are believed to be
fertile. Constant irrigation could, in fact,
render considerable of this Territory pro-
ductive, but there is not water enough for
this purpose. The San Luis section, be-
tween Colorado and New Mexico, is said
to contain good land, but is badly de-
flcient in rain. There are strips of pass
ably fertile soil along the line of Jay
Cookies subsidized railroad. The basins of
the larger streams form ribbons of fer
tility, now mile OF two broad and now
few rods or feet. Moreover, the sheltered
valleys landloc ,ed by the mountains catch
enough moisture to yield rich pasture and
fair re urns to the plough. Due allowance
must c m lde for all these exceptions. Yet,
after every inch CT fertile soil has been
ttbuated, including the Messla Valley,
Powder river, the Laramie plains the
Black hills valleys, etc, the general rule
of badness still holds good. The quota
tons we have already made from General
HaZen's instructive article in the January
number of the North American Review,
REINFORCED us they are by the official re-
ports of the army exploring expeditions,
which have traversed nearly every square
mile of this vast region, show that birds
eye view of it would reveal a desert waste,
a stretch of sun-scorched, high plains, OF
rugged hill slopes and bleak mountains, of
volcanic rocks and wastes, with spots and
strips of fertile land, like GASES in the At
rlcan deserts. Frghtfu storms sweep
over the country. Snow in winter and
sand in summer diff along the dreary,
waterless plains. The rainfall, which
averages thirty-fve inches IN fertile coun-
tries, here ranges from six TO fifteen inches
and averaging scarcely eleven inches. The
smaller streams dry up III summer The
vegetable growth is stunted. The reasons
for this lie IN the topography of the coun'
try Biologists tell us that long time
ago this vast section of one million two
hundred thousand square miles, from tho
100th parallel to the Sierra Nevada and
from British America to Mexico, rose
from the ocean. 1t was lifted 10 an aver
age height of a mile above the sea. Walls
OF volcanic rock pushed their way up
through it. The great Sierras wall outs of
the clouds to which the ''Gulf Stream
of the Pacific gives birth. These
clouds drift towards the northeast ant
drop their burdens of rain between the
coast and the mountains. A little rail-
falls in Southern California-only u few
inches per annum. In Northern Calfor
MIA and Oregon the rains are abundant aDC
most of the time. Occasional depression
in the mountain chain, cut by rivers, allow
the clouds to drift into the interior, but il
general they vanish at these high walls o
rock. Thus these vast uplands on thu
eastern side Of this wall are left unwatercd
The interior of America is as dry AM
barren as the vast steppes of Siberia. Will
the exceptions of fertile spots we hav
already noted (and these must not be los
sight of), it is practically valueless TO
agricultural purposes. Portions of il ma,
be filed yet with undiscovered gold an
silver, but the single state of Illinois coul
produce more grain, twice over, than thi
vast square of arid and alkali high land
1t is the American Siberia. The best us
that could be made of most of it would b
to treat it us Russia does the original s.
IBERIA, and ship our disappointed and detcc
ted politicians there.
There are one or two lessons to be draw
from these hard facts. The first is foil
in wasting enormous amounts of good tim
Der. good IRON, good labor and good none
in laying thousands of miles of track fo
the sake of 'developing country" mos
,, of which wont be developed. AS tn
region east of the Tooth parallel gradual
thickens lis population, pioneers wi
q doubtless press over into the fertile spot
of this section and fill them to the eXter
. Of their sustaining power, and railroad
I will be built to them MS soon as there
any business or necessity therefor.
| The second lesson IS the expediency {
4 consolidating some of our territories. The
y have been laid out too numerously, becaus
"a their capabilities Tor supporting popl
l.. ation have geen greatly oyerrated. Lars
n in square miles, they are small in produ,
e ing power. One reason for their subdiv
i sion has been the greed for office. The
S governments have been used as the spoi
r of political warfare. There are nine teri
!, tories, exclusive OF the great Indian rese
k walton, which are very scantily people,
i When their available soil is all occnpit
c they will probably contain no more Peep
e and produce no more food than either III
# nois or Iowa or Missouri then will. Will
C be fair to give them eighteen senate
/. against the two senators from each of the
e states? Some of them are already clamo
h ing for admission as states, excited there
by the luck of Nevada, with her handful
a population. One man in Nevada has
g much political weight as hundred in Ne
/ York. New Mexico came very near &C
&c ting admitted at the last session of Congress
e General liazen says that if ''the army,
IS hangers-on and transient Miners" we
= withdrawn from New Mexico. the renal
s. ing American population could sit in Il
n shade of a good. sized apple-tree" Two
t. three of the larger territories, with me
=, handful of population apiece, have pei
5, toned congress to slice them into sever
t, parts. Political bummers want more q
Y. fees. The best policy is not further di,
:, sion, but consideration. 1t would be unfi
at TO the states already in the Union to allo
re a sparse, thin populations, scattered ov
sg this barren region, to send eighteen sen
to tors to Washington, to counterbalance 4
0, whole Northwest and it would be u
fair to the few inhabitants themselves
at make them support twice or thrice I
m needed number of state governments. NJ
..I All, ol, L., IA
Il, Utah should be tackled on to. Nevada. o.
gon should swallow up Washington Ter
p tory, and two states to be should be cary
lie out of Idaho, Montana, Dakota, Wyomi
I'D and Colorado. California, which conta
in much fertile land and enormous agric
", tural capabilities, is twice as large as Ut
IN or Colorado, but her people would not +
az crate the idea of division. Texas, viii
n contains three or four times the area