The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-12-21
THE POSTAL COMMISSION.

Incompatible advantages In connection will
the proposed mail service to Brazil. A grea
deal may be accomplished while the commits
sion Is here, and much will depend upon tn,
Impressions made upon the gentlemen com
posing 1t. The opportunity Is one we fee
assured will be improved TO the utmost, of
| fording, as 1t does, occasion for the NANTES
tation of that genial hospitality for which
New Orleans Is 80 Justly noted.
1t may be assumed as an accomplished fact
that very handsome subsidy will be granted
by both governments to insure the success d
this line. The only question that remains Is
what city OF the United States will secure the
inestimable benefits that will result from
these subsidies. This question will be deter.
mined by the manner In which the claims Of
the various competitors are urged, and that
city will inevitably secure these advantages
which urges her claims with the greatest en-
ergy, persistency and tact Philadelphia,
New York, Baltimore and Boston are oil
making strenuous efforts to secure this trade,
and New Orleans cannot simply point to her
advantage of location and then quietly wait
for the subsidies to be granted and the ships
sent to her wharves to get the mails and such
cargo as might be precariously picked up.
She must meet the efforts of her Northern
and Eastern rivals with an equal show Of en-
terprise, or she will get nothing in the end
The gentlemen ON this commission will
necessarily have very large influence In de-
termining the selection Of the port in the
United States to and from which the pro-
posed line of steamers shall ply. All that we
have to do is to bring home to them proper
knowledge of the vast advantages Of New Or
leans, and then satisfy them that there is
sufficient commercial enterprise here to Sc
cure the success Of the proposed line of
steamers and, by making 1t self-supporting,
relieve the government Of the burden Of sub
sidizing IL after the lapse Of few years. The
first Of these propositions Is easy enough to
carry out; but the success of the second will
depend entirely upon the impression our
merchants and other Interested citizens may
choose to make.
We have but to show that New Orleans.
situated at the confluence and embouchure of
more than 10000 miles of navigable rivers. Is
the natural entrepot and point Of tranship-
ment for all the water-borne commerce of the
interior West. Indeed. 1t was this very fact
which compelled the purchase of Louisiana,
and shall it be less potent In securing for her
the benefits of the trade of the Spanish
Americas, between whose tropical products
and the provisions and manufactures of the
West and North she stands almost midway?
1t can be easily substantiated that mails
from all over the United States can be carried
TO Rio more expeditiously and safely from
New Orleans than from any other point In
5he United States, and this circumstance
alone s sufficient to attract here from the in
lerior all the commodities necessary to the
of an immense trade To re-
produce portion of an editorial which ap-
peared in the DEMOCRAT Of September 1st
"a longitudinal line Of trade drawn along
5he meridian Of the Mississippi will traverse
The centres of production In the western in
jerior OF the United States and Canada. Pro-
iuced through the southern seas and across
The Isthmus of Central America, 1t will con-
,entrate, conduct and interchange the recip- |
'ocal commerce OF those regions.
This chain Of inland seas, supplemented |
~ parallel railroads which connect them with |
Ill the great commercial cities of the Union,
will constitute a line of inboard commerce In |
lirect competition with coastwise navigation.
t will furnish more direct and eligible
node Of intercourse between the Northern
nd Southern producers and consumers, just
s the artificial trade ways between the East
nd West have tended to supersede the navi-
alton OF the Mississippi river. This meri-
ian is the chord of an arc whose periphery
es along the perilous track of the cyclone
nd tornado, past the reefs and shoals of our
tlantic coast, and over the heavy mountain
rades which lie between the Atlantic ports
nd the interior. This Mississippi meridional
quite knows no impediments of navigation,
nd no distractions of grades, tunnels or
len. 1t must, upon the principle Of natural
dvantages and artificial improvement, con-
titute the ultimate and permanent way for
ne movement of this commerce to which we
ave adverted."
The sole legitimate purpose Of the proposed
lbsidy Is the encouragement OF direct trade
etween this country and Brazil, and in the
of this purpose 1t is to the
lterest Of the whole country that this port
lould be selected as its outlet. Commerce,
Ike the material world has its magnetism,
i'd it is interest. 1t has a polarity which
IT'S on the shortest line between consump-
on and production. In this instance New
rleans Is the very pole itself. 1t will be our
vn fault If the current of this trade is estab-
shed along the long and dangerous peri
lery of this arc we have described, instead ,
on the chord, upon which New Orleans lies. ,
1t will be easy enough to present these facts :
the commission, and to the country; but :
9 must also satisfy all concerned, who may
d us, that there is a commercial spirit in
is city that will avail itself of the benefits
accrue from the establishment of this line :
steamers, and that will build up the trade
ese subsidies will be granted to foster.
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