The Osceola times., 1884-10-18
OscEOLA, ARKANSAS SATURDAY, OCTOBER is, 1884

thank some fugitive Egyptians for
"the religion, laws and other insti-
tutioas Of civilization" they had con-
ferred.
MISSISSIPPI COUNTY.
! returned recently from a trip
through Mississippi county, Arkan-
sas, and came away more than ever
impressed with the undeveloped ag-
wealth Of the overflowed
lands of Mississippi valley, Of which
the lands of Mississippi county, Ark
ansas, presents a specimen field of
Hundreds of thou
sands of acres OF lands, whose soil is
a rich black, sandy loan, capable of
producing from SO to 100 bushels
Of corn and from one two bales of
cotton to the acre in this county are
yet covered with dense forest, the
home of the bear, the deer, and the
wild turkey, with an occasional pan.
ther to intensity the interest Of the
scene. And what is true of this
county is true of nearly all of east
ern Arkansas. From the Mississip-
pi river to the western highlands
beyond, the width of the overflow
may be roughly estimated at thirty
miles, with a frontage on the river
skirting the entire eastern boundary
of the State, a distance Of two hun
dred miles, giving an area Of about
5000 square miles. Of this vast
extent Of land of all but inexhausti.
BILE fertility of sol, mot more than one
twentieth is in cultivation, covering
a thin strip of territory Immediately
bordering the great river. Let it
be understood that am speaking
solely of the overfowed lands of
Arkansas, which is only one of the
numerous States whose territory is
more or less subject to the destruc-
tive inundation of the Mississippi
river. Along tins riparian strip Of
territory fine plantations in q high
state of cultivation are found, whose
enterprising owners-for, despite all
that has been said, the Arkansas
cotton planters are as rule indus
trious and cnterprising would long
since have amassed fortunes from
the cultivation of the soil, but for
the destructive annual raids of the
Mississippi river. The patient en-.
durance Of these Arkansas planters
and farmers under the recurring in
Aictions of Mississippi river over.
flow deserve the respect and sympa.
thy of the whole country.
THE LINE OF LATITUDE A POLITICAL
OBSTRUCTION TO IMPROVEMENT.
While riding over their extensive
fields, now smiling with magnificent
crops of corn and cotton, or through
the noble forests that lie beyond
them-forests where tower in splep-
did proportions the white and over
cup oak, the tupelo gum, the cotton
wood, the ash, the hickory and other
valuable timber trees, | thought
how different would have been the
fate of this fertile region if it were
located in Maine or Massachusetts,
or New York, instead of in the
South and in Arkansaw! Do you
ask how? Why "the universal
Yankee nation" would thunder at
the doors of Congress until the
United States Treasurer yielded up
its millions for the protection Of
New England's interests. That's
how. Levees would be built, if
necessary, ,out of granite,to keep out
the destructive floods, and instead
of beggarly "River Commission"
with its junketing aunkies and gar
bled reports and uncertain river
data, illustrating the "how-not-to-
do-it" philosophy, the ablest engi.
neering talent of the world would
be subsidized for the accomplish
ment of the permanent protection
and development of the immense
wealth imprisoned in these alluvial
lands! The "magnetic" voice Of
that "honest Iago," James G. Blaine,
would be lifted up to its highest
note of eloquence in behalf of the
Mississippi river improvement, and
through all the newspapers of the
Union the cities Of the Eastern
States would engage their potent
influence in the same direction. But
these rich lands are not in the right
latitude for Congressional aid, and
so their owners must drink of the
waters of Marah and annually and
hopelessly see their energies frus-
tratcd and their fortunes in the re-
morscless floods of the Mississippi,
because they are Southern men. II
is to be hoped that when the people
"turn the rascals out, and Democrat
&c patriotism and honesty take the
place of Republican sectionahsm
and fraud, an appreciative public
national sentiment will demand
adequate protection for the over
Aowed lands of the Mississippi val.