Value of foreign merchandise exported from the United States to each foreign country, during the year ending June 30th, 1850 .......... ...... .... Statement of merchandise imported into the United States from foreign .......... ..... .... 45 POSTAGE LAW OF THE UNITED STATES. Act to reduce and modify the Rates of postage in the United States and for other purposes JOURNAL OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. ...... Alton and Sangamon railroad · Wabash railroad ............ Wabash and Erie canal.. WESTERN TOWNS. ...... 51 55 56 VISIT TO A "GALLERY OF ART." By F. S. G.....? ..!...................... 60 NOTE.-For "phenomena" in 4th line, Article III., page 16, read "phenomenon." Having long regarded the question touching the constitutional power of Congress to improve rivers and harbors as settled in the minds of a majority of the nation, d, trusting that the work of improvement would ere now have been resumed, we have hitherto refrained from all discussion on that subject. But the delay on the part of Congress to make appropriations to these objects, and the defeat of the bill recently before that body induce us to inquire into the causes which tend to weaken the political influence of the western Sts in the national councils. 1 No one seems yet to have obseru the important fact that, instead of gaining political influence with increase of population, the West is now more completely under the control of the East and South than vas twenty years ago, when its population bore a much less propo n to that of the older States than it does at present. This assertion is verified by the history of legislation on the subject before us. In the year 1827 Congress appropriated thirty thousand dollars for the improvement of the Ohio river; and other appropriations were made by each succeeding session until the year 1839. During this period of twelve years, embracing the entire administration of President Jackson, and, a part of Mr. Van Buren's, almost every river in the Union received something towards its improvement. In eighteen hundred and thirty eight a sum of $100,000 was appropriated to the improvement of the Hudson, above and below Albany; and in eighteen hundred and forty-four an equal amount was appropriated to the improvement of the Ohio between the falls and Pittsburg. An executive veto in 1846, put an end to these appropriations; and notwithstanding the people, without distinction of party, have met in several large conventions and joined in urging upon Congress the resumption of the improvement of our rivers, yet the friends of the West have not been able to re-establish a policy which had been recognized and sustained by the nation for twenty years anterior to the Executive veto, by which it was in effect repudiated. We are informed that the late bill was defeated by stratagem and unfair conduct on the part of certain senators: this may have been the case, but does not explain the true cause. The acts of these senators only exhibit the manner in which the bill was finally lost; the cause of its defeat must be sought for elsewhere. pres Local or geographical parties are not less necessary, in the ent condition of the United States, than parties formed upon questions of national policy. We have a northern and a southern party, but no western party: with those, national politics are made subservient to sectional interests; and each is actuated by the strongest motives to support their respective measures. But in the West, all local interests are made to yield to national politics, modified by, and designed to promote the sectional interests and prejudices of the other two great divisions. Consequently the political power of the West is divided out between the North and the South, and, is made to subserve the purposes of the one or the other as they may happen to be in the ascendant. While in this condition it cannot be expected that the West can carry any measure which conflicts with the local interests or political views of either of the other parties. President making is the highest object aimed at by western politicians; and it is natural that measures, though of vital importance to their constituents, should be made subservient to this end. So long as this State of things continues, the fate of all western measures must depend upon contingencies which have no relation to their merits; and we must be content to wait for an appropriation to remove the obstructions in our rivers until the happening of some lucky combination in the movement of politicians on the political chessboard. We charge no individual of the Western delegation with dereliction of duty; but we venture to affirm that, had they been united in the cordial support of Western interests and exerted that vigilance which distinguishes the Northern and Southern parties in the prosecution of their respective measures, the river and harbor bill, recently before Congress, would not have been defeated by a stratagem; and they would not have been compelled to return to their constituents with the humiliating appology that they had been outwitted and defeated by the disingenuous conduct of a minority. Nothing has transpired since the adoption of the Western States into the Union that so strongly manifests their weakness in the national councils as the action of the thirty-first Congress during the last day of its existence. The passage of a bill making liberal appropriations for light-houses on the Atlantic coast, immediately after the loss of the River and Harbor Bill, shows how easy it is for Congress to pass a measure calculated to encourage foreign commerce when the bill contains no provision for the benefit of the internal trade of the Western States. We trust however that the history of these bills will awaken the people of the West to a greater degree of diligence in regard to their common interests. The inconveniences and evils arising from the obstructions in our rivers have not been sufficiently appreciated, especially by those who reside in districts remote from navigation. People generally regard the consequences of a loss as confined to the owner of the property injured or destroyed; and reasoning from the old saying that the loss of one is the gain of another" they perceive little cause to complan of the obstructions and dangers which impede the commerce of this region. It should be remembered that the farmers of the West are, for the most part, compelled to look for consumers in distant markets, where their products come in competition with those of other districts. Consequently the cost and risk of transportation must all be born by the producer. From this burthen there is no means of escape. By selling his produce at home the farmer may avoid the direct payment of freight, and, also, the dangers to which the specific commodity is liable while on its way to market, but he obtains this exemption by a deduction in the price, sufficient to indemnify the purchaser. And upon the same principle the price of all articles of foreign production, consumed by himself and family is enhanced; for the carrier and the merchant must be compensated for the risks incident to their vocations or commerce must cease entirely. Moreover, for the want of better navigation produce is compelled to wait for certain stages of water; and consequently its owner is deprived of the privilege of choosing his time for selling. These are drawbacks and burthens on the labor of the Western States that greatly retard their prosperity; and serve to prolong their colonial dependence on the East. The efforts which have been made to re-establish the policy of improving our rivers have failed, chiefly, in consequence of the reliance placed in public demonstrations. County meetings and conventions may exert a potent influence on elections and other subjects of like nature; but they produce but little effect on the action of Congress, especially when they have reference to sectional or local measures; and, in one respect, they sometimes weaken the cause which they were designed to promote. For when a measure has been discussed in convention, the people seem to conclude that they have done all that is necessary to promote the object desired; and, relying upon the efficacy of resolutions and reports, cease to interest themselves further in the matter. It is unwise for any people to rely alone upon a few individuals for the direction and management of their public policy. Men who engage in public affairs may be patriotic, talented, and vigilant: but they cannot act efficiently unless their constituents think and act for themselves; for in the exercise of his public functions the representative derives the chief element of his power from the enlightened views and sympathies of his constituents. Stationed in every department of industry, suffering the evils and enjoying the individual and social benefits of all public measures, it is the province and duty of the constituent to observe the operations and influence of the existing policy; to point out its defects, and suggest the proper remedies. It is from this source only that the statesman can learn the true operation and effects of his measures, and qualify himself for the discharge of his duties. Without such vigilence on the part of the people, their representatives, instead of being statesmen, become mere politicians; followers of metaphysical abstractions, and gamblers for office. The history of the last five years should admonish the people of the West of their supineness in respect to measures involving their own interests, and of their folly in permitting their minds to be excited and their strength paralyzed by the political metaphysics and sectional jealousies of other parts of the Union. It should teach them the necessity of cultivating a Western sentiment, and the importance of establishing a new test, as a qualification of their senators and representatives in the national councils, viz: Is their devotion to the interests of the West stronger than their party ties or political aspirations? For until our delegation in Congress shall come up to this standard, it will always be liable to be divided by political manoeuvering, and our measures defeated by either of the two great sectional parties whenever they may conceive that their own interest will be promoted by doing so. Subserviency to party discipline, and inordinate aspirations for office, have been instrumental in defeating all appropriations for the improvement of our rivers throughout a period of five years; and similar causes will continue to defeat every bill brought forward for that object to the end of time, unless our people exercise more vigilence at the polls and over the conduct of their representatives. Many individuals entertain the opinion that the time is near at hand when the increase of population will enable the West to dictate the policy of the nation; but we have shown that this is a delusion. Increase of numbers is not, necessarily, increase of power; for as long as we remain subject to the control of others they will not allow us to serve ourselves: they will continue to use our strength as now, for their own purposes; and wield it against our own interests, though our numbers should increase an hundred fold. Our numbers are already sufficient for the attainment of all legitimate objects; and all that is lacking to insure the success of reasonable and just measures, is a sincere devotion to Western in-. terests, and a firmness of purpose that will command the respect of the other great divisions of the Union. But what shall we say when we find senators and representatives in Congres, even from Western States, opposing appropriations for the improvement of our rivers, while large sums are appropriated to the improvement of harbors, and erecting light houses and other works on the Atlantic coast, for the protection of foreign commerce? J |