Year: 1876

Wnsuttuue


Our readers will remember that last
summer Memphis was visited by dep
utation of Englishmen sent out by the
- Mississippi Valley Trading Company"
a British association regularly organized
and chartered, with an aggregate capital
of one hundred million Of dollars, its
operations embracing variety of manu-
featuring and mercantile interests, and
a mammoth business of dealing in sup
plies. This deputation visited the
southern and western states for the pur-
pose eofreporting upon the feasibility of the
association establishing direct relations
with the grangers for mutual inter-
change of products. The full report, as
published in the Cooperative News,
evidences that the deputation has been
both careful and precise in their lnves-
tigation, great stress being placed upon
the enterprise of opening general direct
trade between Great Britain and this
country by means of the Mississippi
river and "the removal of the bar at
the mouth of this river is an object of
the greatest interest not only to the
United States but to England" as such
would cheaper the transportation of pro-
ducts between these countries. High
tariff rates." say the deputation, "mean
for England dear bread and cotton, and
for the American farmer a smaller re-
turn for the products Of his land and
higher price for the manufactures he
wants. A few cents ON each bushcl of
corn will stop millions of bushels that
should find their way to English mar
kets. 1t is further shown that the Mis-
sissippi valley is fitted to be the granary
of the world. and could be made to sup
port four hundred millions of people
and if cultivated IA ii might be, this
population could be increased to one
thousand millions. The corn growing
states of the Mississippi valley will pro-
duce an annual surplus of four hundred
million bushels of cereals, which would
find profitable outlet to Europe by the
Mississippi river and the gulf streams.
Eighty per cent. of the wheat surplus of
the west is growing in localities easily
accessible TO and bordering on the Mis-
sissippi river, while more than two-thirds
(six out of nine million tons) of the agri-
cultural products not required in the
states raising the same seek an outlet
from districts TO which the Mississippi
and its tributaries would offer better and
more accessible transportation, if rem
dered available for cheap carriage. The
deputation report favorably upon the
Mississippi jetty improvements, which,
with the removal of distractions at
other places in the river, would reduce
the cost of transportation TO England on
grain at least ten cents per bushel.
This is all the more important when we
see that of the FIVE hundred and twenty
eight million one hundred and forty-one
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one
hundred weights of grain (or its equiva-
lent in -four imported into the united
kingdom for the fifteen years ending
1872, more than two-thirds was obtained
from the United States, and less than
one-third from Russia. This grain was
transported to the sea-board principally
by the lakes and railroads, "the export
on any great scale by the great natural
highway of the Mississippi being pre-
vented by the impossibility of bringing
large ocean steamers with safety to New
Orleans on account Of the impediment
at the bar" The report says further:
"The conclusion at which we have
aimed, after n careful review of all the
facts, is that when the channel at the
mouth of the Mississippi is deepened to
thirty feet, and the impediments to its
free navigation up to st. Louis are re-
moved, there is no road which can COM
pete with it for cheapness and regularity
in the transportation of the heavy agri-
cultural products of the west. The re-
sources and trade of the south and west,
the wants of the Patrons of Husbandry
and the wants ofthe cooperative societies
of the united kingdom warrant the
formation of the Mississippi Valley trad
ing company. In every town and city
of the south and west which we visited
we found the people and press favorable
to direct trade with England. 1t is i'm
possible to doubt that the development
of direct trade with the Mississippi val
ley will give a great impulse to the
movement in favor of free trade in the
United States, and tend to promote