The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1879-10-24
RIVER IMPROVEMENT.
Some Interesting Facts and Figure,
Concerning the Products and Co1a
merce ofthe Great Mississippi
Valley.

Journey HerAlds report of the recent
River Convention.
VI y johnson, Of Galena, said that
the question before the conventions is
how to achieve something The in-
portanee of the improvement of the
river is recognized by everybody
What is needed now is an approbria
lion. 1t is the duty of Congress to
vote it.
There are 301 Representatives. in
Congress, III of whom or from these
States. =
The population in these States, %
2l5 Oh In all the rest of the States,
I6.343, 349.
The navigable rivers in these arr
II. 0S6 miles of which Illinois has Z
277 miles of wafer route. !
Eigbtysseven per ctnt. of the @lsslf
national crops - produced IA lh -,
States.
OF wheat alone these States pr duc-
ed in 1876 , $50 600 bushels; corn / =
125, 1O6. 600 bushels; cotton, 4.438,
600 bales; hogs, value in dollars, sl37,
1874, 400
One towboat; the Josh Williams,
from Pittsburgh to New Orleans, took
coo, 600 bushels Of coal at SIS, 600
To move the tow by rail would take
500 cars, at cost, $40, 500, being 100
trims of eighteen cars to a train
Look a some Of our manufactures
St Louis last year had twenty nine
steam Touring mills, with a capaciu
of ! ! 900 barrels a day, actually made
100000 barrels With her receipts
by railroad and river the floug han.
died there amounted to , OBS, 3z5 bar
rels
Think of the wheat, slaves. coop
erage, fuel and capital invested da this
one city, and it is but one in hun
dred
My, own little maiden city, with the
mineral productions. grain and manu-
/ factories, aggregates in the millions
Butiollowiug up St Louis, the ar.
/ rivals of vessels last year were , $40,
received aud shipped, $3.50 1913 tons
which Is valued at Sl78, 49, sos
What is true of St Louis, Is true OF q
thousand other places in less degree,
/ from the Red River of the north to the
I Rio Grande Of the South.
The difference between riser and
railroad transportation is thus illustra.
ed:
From Galena to Cairo, $50 miles
freight by rail averages thirty two
cents per 100.
BY rivers to New Orleans, 1,7m
miles, it averages eighteen 10 twenty
i've cents.
Suppose We save tea--''en's - 70 a.
-.,.,s....,--..,--,,------a--s,ia.,.zs,saa ~
-ations made to these great water routes
The mouth of these great rivers
when held by Spain with France as al
ally. almost caused war. and pur
chased them at So, OO0, coo.
Let US utilize them and make FIRE,
and unobstructed highways to the ma
tons of the world.
These rivers are in the keeping o
Congress; they are our representatives
they hold our purse strings but ",
furnish the money.
According to the reports of the
CHEF Engineer the whole sppropria.
ton made 1.-THE government for riv
ers and harbors up to 1876 amounted
to the sum of 500, 378, 822, while the
Mississippi river received but So Cos.
769 so of that amount. and the Misc.
issippi. Missouri, Ohio and Arkansas
received 81 ,844,O0O, making s5.5I2.,
769, and fifteen Southern States receiy,
ed s5.O35, 900, less than ten per cent
of the whole expenditure, while the
East and slopes of the Pacific got the
balance
The whole people own tbsse high
ways There is no monopoly here.
1t is free to all and we are but trus-
tees for the Inheritance for those that
are IT, come after, under a free Gov
eminent. No State or individual can
levy tolls or tax on its use.
The productions of this country
must fad a market By river it can
be moved at one mill per ,On per mile,
while railroads, being an artificial
channel, to pay, require one cent par
ton per mile
The system adopsed-of making
partial appropriateness the most ex
pensiVe and runious, both for the york
and economy.
Give to any government in Europe
the great natural thoroughfares we en-
JOY, how long would it take them to
improve the same? Are we less wise,
or is it parsimonious on our part?
The Government has been negligent
of the interest of the West. We are now
awake to our necessities, aud if we do
not get what we are entitled to The
fault will be our own.
This river system is national and i
subject alone to the contro! of Con /
sress, in which no monOp oily can ex
st, but is open, free and uprestrained |
70 all AS whole, it extends North
and South, as great spinal column.
from one climate to another. and even.
tually is swallowed up in the Gulf of
Mexico, which is the great outlet for
his vast territory.
Gov. BLACKBURN has pardoned 5e
'onvicts out of the penitentiary since
ak ing his seat as Governor, We fear
he old fellows heart beats little too
warm and sympathetic.