The patron of husbandry. (Columbus, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1882-01-28
The Jetties a National Blessing


The good accom- lished by the Jetties
ought TO encourage Congress to the i'm
provement of the whole river. Thousands
of articles have ben devoted to this sub
iect, showing the immense benefit these
works have been to the country-not to
any particular section, but to the entire
United States, East and West. The exact
benefit can be easily estimated in dollars
and cents. The wheat and corn, the pork
and beef raised in the Mississippi Valley,
have a commercial value the wide world
over They are in demand throughout
Europe, and our markets are responsive to
those of England, France and Germany.
When there is fall iE freight rates, fall
in provisions does not follow in conse-
quence. Thus, although the cost of send
ing bushel of grain from the Mississippi
river to New York is twice as cheap as it
was six years ago-thanks to the Jetties-
the price of wheat and corn is actually
higher. The difference in rates-now uni
versally admitted to be due to the competi-
ton that the river Offers to the railroad
POOLS the gain derived from this great
National enterprise; and this gain is esti-
mated at $500, oOo, 600, which is the amount
paid into the pockets of the Western far
mers and producers At one fiftieth of the
cost of the Pacific Railroad, ten times the
benefit has been obtained to the country.
No National work in the United States,
none indeed in the world except the Suez
Canal, has borne such golden fruit and so
affected the future and prospe. ity of a
country. And yet this work is but half
completed, for there are scores of places in
this great waterway which need improv-
ing before it is all it should be for the Mis-
sissippi Valley.
While New Orleans, standing as it does
at the mouth of the river, has reaped some
benefit from this great enterprise, it has
been no merely local matter. Indeed. the
Western farmer has been more benefited
than our merchants.by it. for while the lat
ter gets only cent or half of a cent COM
mission on the grain passing through this
city, the producer is benefited the X to
20 cents increase which the Tetties have
given to his wheat
The benefits produced to the entire I'm
ion by the Jetties are seen in the increased
acreage in grain each year, and the greater
product and wealth Of the country. Cali
fornia produced 100000 bushels of
wheat some time ago. but its crop has been
steadily decreasing of late years because
there has been no market for this grain.
because freight rates have been so high as
TO make It's cultivation impossible. Under
the old system it was impossible to raise
corn IN Nebraska and Dakota profitably.
Some was raised for home consumption
and some for fuel, but nobody dreamed of
exporting 1t to Europe-the railroad rates
would not allow of this. 1t was only when
the river was opened to commerce, when
the practicab;lity of sending the grain
down the Mississippi was recognized, that
the railroads suddenly dropped their rates
and the Northwest doubled and trebled its
grain crop. This is the benefit the United
States, East and West, North and South.
gets from the Jetties.
For the rest of the world, for the hungry
millions of Europe, it has its advantages
also, Tor were the Jetties closed tomorrow
and the railroad pool hold a monopoly of
the transportation of Western products, it
is but little American flour or wheat they
would see.