The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1875-09-13
Ghe 9S]ailg Argns,
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CONTINUED from second page
broom corn and the timb too, and send
them OFT to Connecticut to be brought
back, paying double charges. These and
such things like them | would have you
make; and wait until the blessings which
providence has crowned you have been
diminished below their present value, be-
fore you enter into competition with the
watchmakers of Geneva and the lace
makers of Brussels.
Thus have briefly endeavored to define
why L would not have you turn from
agriculture to other pursuits, and why /
would not have you reject other pursuits
aud go to agriculture entirely. Ihave said
we of the Mississippi valley are peculiar
in many respects. We are one. What
ever devices man may do, whatever pas
slons man may have, whatever state craft
and local policy may do to keep you divid-
ed, say still
THE PEOPLE OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY
ARE ONE,
held together by that artery-that great
artery which extends from the frozen reg
ions OF the north to the perennial flowers of
the south, and with which no other modes
OF nter-communication can ever success
fully compete. They may build railroads,
and railroads are necessary as feeders to
the river, but still that grand old river of
ours can answer:
The roads may come, the roads may 90,
But flow On forever"
know it has been the habit of late for
the Grangers, with whom | feel the most
| affiiation, to denounce. railroad men as
charging them ruinous rates. On the 9TH
er hand | look at the railroad men, and |
find that few of them are making divi-
dends. &c. therefore, say let US turn
aside from the decrial of any portion of the
| population, from the arraignment of any of
the industries of the country, TO see what
| it is we'll and profitable for us to do. At
present the rude manner Of transporting
freight upon the Mississippi river costs one
third of the rate per mile that railroad trans
portation does. | say rude because we
have advanced but one step towards what
L think may be achieved in the matter of
river transportation. Instead of having
steamboats, arranged like floating palaces,
with crews sufficiently large to discharge
and take on freights at the principal land
ings; instead of having all this capital with
officers who are employed upon it, one part
idle and the other idle alternately, and
this waste of money, as | say-when the
vessel is floating all the laboring portion
OF the crew are unemployed, there is dead
capital. When the vessel is at shore q
large part of the officers and machinery
a large part of that which belongs to the
cost of the vessel is dead capital. There
is loss SO far. If you ask me how this is
to be avoided | answer simply, let tugs
with numerous
IRON BARGEs
perform the purpose of carrying freight
from all principal landings. For instance
let tug leave New Orleans with iror
barges say of 500 tons and as many in TOW
as she can pull and let the reight, say fol
ticksburg, be put in one barge, this to bl
dropped at Vicksburg, and let the freigh
for Cairo and for Memphis be put il
similar barges. and number of barges fo
st. Louis, and ifyou choose to go up t
Ohio, the Mississippi, and the Missouri
you can still have more barges for those
places; dropping barge at the place fo
which it is labelled. A few hands will
serve to discharge the freight and load tha
barge, and at the time when the tug come
back the tug can cast her lines to the barg,
and take it in tow without moments de
tention. These barges being so construct
ed as to be safe entirely from leakage. anC
if necessary coolers can be MANUFACTURED
that will keep whatever is put in the.barge
SO cool that there will be no danger of it;
being injured by heating and then carr!
the freight to a.
GREAT ENTREPOT OF THE MISSISSIPPI
VALLEY,
to one great dock, where ocean steamer
| will be ready to receive it there; with com
presses and elevators all the gram would
be pumped at once into the ship AM
cotton would be then in its necessary from
the tobacco would be placed in the hole
and the cured meat would be put in it
place without any cost of storage or an,
cost OF drayage; no payment to the middle
man for whatever the farmer wishes t.
send to the foreign market, so far. Then
another step, The great evil we have ha,
has been that we have used small ships 70
our ocean trade Small ships canno
compete in the rate of freight with larg
ones. This hope is soon to be avoided
To be continued