The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1881-10-05
THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.

THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.
The value Of the river convention to be
held this month"; will depend IN great
measure on the force with which it impros.
ses the Union with the fact that the Missis-
slppl valley is national, and all other parts
OF the country sectional. This is literally
true. No other work of internal improve
ment begins to compare in Importance with
the development Of the great national
river.
Every state whose waters are tributary to
the Mississippi will be specially benefited
by the increase Of its commercial capacity.
Indirectly, of course, what benefits one
state benefits also every other state IN the
great slsterhoOd. The whole United States
has common interests. But the benefit TO
the states bordering on the Mississippi and
Its branches from the improvement of any
part OF the great waterway whether IT be
in Louisiana or Missouri, is Immediate and
direct and Of the kind of which special
notice is taken in the assessment of better.
ments, The convention will seek to induce
congress to granta liberal appropriation for
the improvement Of the channel ofthe Mis-.
slsslppi, and thereby to directly benefit
hafthe states and over halt the territory of
the Union.
The rivers ofthe Mississippi system pass
through or border nineteen of me thirty
eight states, or just one.half Of all, to say
nothing of three great territories, the In
dian, Dakota and Montana.
Nor are these waters, even in the most
remote communities, mere trout brooks,
but navigable and actually navigated
streams, OF the nineteen states tribu-
tary to the Father of Waters, fourteen are
practically valley states, having interests
which are to great extent under the rivers
influence, The others, as New York, Pen.
nsylvsnia and Alabama though sending
important currents into the great central
artery, are less affected by it. Among the
valley commonwealth proper are the great,
central and rapidly-growing communities
of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin,.
Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska and
Kansas-states of more material value to
the Union than any other nine that can be
picked out.
The area of the nineteen river states is
1,90S,977 square miles, while the nineteen
non-river states count up only S55,752
square miles. Over 100000 more miles of
country contribute to the grand aqueduct
than are comprised in all the rest of the
United States. This surplus is enough to
allow New York, Pennsylvania, West Vlr-
ginia and Alabama to be thrown out Of the
list of river states altogether, with good
slice of Texas besides. The Mississippi
basin, all told, including its hcadwaters in
all the states and territories, comprises a
drainage area of nearly 100000 square
miles.
These figures show clearly enough that,
as a mere matter of physical geography,
the convention will deliberate concerning
the immediate welbeing of more than half
of the country. This alone is enough to
condemn the claim that the improvement
of the great stream to secure the highest
capacity for transportation will be a sec
tional affair. The absurdity of that idea is
apparent without reference to the fact that
the internal commerce of the fourteen states
in the valley proper is at least as large as
that of all the rest of the country. - Dem.
ocrat