Year: 1859




moment to the communities of the Mississippi Val
ley, to New Orleans and the other cities and towns
clustering on the banks of and dependent upon the
great river, than any other which could possibly
arise. 1t is a question which involves to large
degree the progress and the ultimate status of that
interior empire of social and commercial SOW
ereignty which the Mississippi was ordained by
the Architect of the Universe to create in the
heart of America question upon the decision of
which rests the issue whether the river shall be
for all time the great channel of the trade which
naturally belongs to it, and its cities control that
trade and thrive On it, or whether that trade shall
be diverted to the Atlantic coast from this avenue
and the cities of the West be doomed to become
merely the stations and trading outposts of the
cities of the East, aiding and centrazing at these
the consequent ruling marts of commerce, the
bulk of the export import and interior trade, and
| the exchanges business of continent; whether
New Orleans and all the West shall be com
mercially dependent upon, and the agency in the
aggrandizement of, the Atlantic coast; whether
the advantages of the unrivaled position of our
city, as the gateway of the commerce of the great
West, shall be in a disastrous measure negatived.
These important consequences are certainly de-
pendent upon the decision whether not it is in





the privilege of obstructng the navigation of the
Mississippi by building bridges across it for the
passage of railway tracks-by which double in
jury to the West and Southwest is accomplished,
for not only is the navigation of the river made
more expensive and precarious by the obstacles
opposed, but at the same time the through rail-
ways thus accommodated offer tempting induce
ment for the diversion of merchandise and produce
10 tln t1,a
East. Power is not always justice, and were it so
it is apparent that neither one nor the other has
been exercised in granting this privilege of bridg-
ing the Mississpp-for is it justice that the inter-
ests of distant citizens should be subserved by the
wronging of those residing near the river-that
one section should be impoverished for the enrich
ment of another more directly interested; and as
to the power, does a State Legislature possess it
to grant a charter for the crossing of water
course which does not lie within such State, but
only runs along its border, and constitutes bound
AIRY line common to another commonwealth equally
interested and passing far beyond the territory OF
either identifies the interests of many States with
the cause of free and unobstructed navigation-a
perpetual condition which is guaranteed by the
Federal Government under the treaties by which
the Mississippi Valley acquired from its Euro
pcan possessors? The paramount principle Of thus
maintaining it free and open highway has been
| repeatedly recognized by Government in organic
ing the Valley territories and States, the including
| of the river within the borders of any one, and
| thus affording preteXt for the assumption of its
control, having been avoided with the most studious
| care, "u
| This question, as to whether legal right to
| bridge the Mississippi can be obtained from any
| authority in the land, is being tested in the
| suit which has been brought in the u S. Court of
Iowa for the abatement nuisance of the bridge
which crosses the river at Rock Island and Daven-
port from the Illinois to the Iowa side. This will
be the test question to set the matter at rest for
| ever, pro con-, and the most indefatgable and
| expensive efforts are being made on both sides
while several corporations organized for bridging
and obstructing the river at other points await
| ing q decision which will enable them to go on
| with force them to abandon their designs. Two
wealthy railroad companies resisting the prose-
| cnton which is being mainly carried on by the
| public spirit of merchants of st. Louis, who have
| already expended some twenty-five thousand dol
| lars, and the committee having the matter in
| charge have spent about eight thousand dollars
| that was necessary on their personal account,
| which should, therefore, be refunded.


Whichever way the suit goes in the Circuit Court
of Iowa, it will be taken up to the Supreme Co urt
of the United States for the final judicial arbtra-
ment which will set at rest forever the question of
the constitutonality of the granting of the prvi-
ege of bridging the Mississippi. All the power
that money and influence can exercise will be
brought to bear by the parties resisting the prose-
cution; and that, too, must be supplied with the
material sinews of war, which st. Louis has here
tofore liberally provided and will continue to.
But the public spirit of her merchants has already
been too severely taxed, and she should have aid.
To what city should she naturally look as to
New Orleans-a city more vitality interested than
even she is in the cause she sustains And to New
Orleans she looks. Her Chamber of Commerce
has addressed the Chamber of New Orleans, pre-
scnting the case in its proper and most convincing
merits, and requesting that New Orleans shall sup
| ply the comparatively small sum of $4,000. The
communication at once enlisted the most favorable
attention and action of our Chamber, which has
appointed committee consisting of Aessrs. John
r. Shaw, A. Brother, P. A. Giraud, H. I. Lonsdae,
Alf Kennett and John l.. Macaulay, to solicit and
receive subscriptions from the mercantile commu-
nifty. The money to be useful to the cause should
be supplied with little delay, and we hope that
the liberality of our merchants will be prompt as
well as large.