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 COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION 
 
 V 
 
 OF THK 
 
 VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPI; 
 
 AND ALSO THAT APPERTAINING TO 
 
 THE CITY OF ST. LOUIS: 
 
 CONSIDERED, 
 
 With reference to the improvement, by the Geneial Government, of .'^ 
 the Mississippi B-iver and its principal tributaries; being 
 
 ^J 
 
 A REPORT, 
 
 Prepared by authority of the Delegates from the City at St. Louis, '-, 
 
 for the use of the 
 
 CHICAGO CONVENTION OF JULY 5, 1847. ; 
 
 ST. LOUIS, MO. 
 Printed by Chambers & Enapp. 
 
 f.'-' >l
 
 .• • 
 
 ( I 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 LIBRARY 
 
 .••*
 
 THE 
 
 COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION 
 
 OF THZ 
 
 VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPI; 
 
 AND ALSO THAT AFFERTAININO TO 
 
 THE CITY OF ST. LOUIS: 
 
 With reference io the improvement, by the General Government, of the 
 Mississippi River and its principal tributaries; being 
 
 A REPORT, 
 
 PBEPARED by" AUTHORITY OF THE DELEGATES FBOM THE CITY OF 
 ST. LOUIS, FOR THE USE OF THE 
 
 CHICAGO CONVENTION OF JULY 5, 1847. 
 
 ST. LOUIS, MO. 
 
 PRINTED BT CHAMBEKI Si KNAPP.
 
 3 ■• .. 
 
 At a meeting of the Delegates to the Chicago Convention, (selected pnrsuant to 
 a meeting of the citizens of St. Louis, at the Rotunda, on Saturday, May the 29th, 
 JS47,) held at the Planter's House, on Monday evening, the 8lh of June, F. M. 
 Haight, Esq., in the Chair: 
 
 The following gentlemen were appointed a committee to prepare a report on the 
 improvement of the navigation of the Mississippi and its principal tributaries, 
 the St. Louis Harbor and Marine Hospitals, and submit the same to the delega- 
 tion, at a meeting to be held at the Planter's House on the evening of the 19th inst., 
 viz : 
 
 Thomas Allen, A. B. Chambers, 
 
 Samuel Treat, George K. McGunnegle, 
 
 N. J. Eaton, James E. Yeatman, 
 
 Wilson Phimm. 
 
 At a subsequent meeting of the Delegates, held at the Planters House on Satur- 
 day evening, the 19th June, Archibald Gamble, Esq., presiding. Thomas 
 Allen, Esq., from the Committee to prepare the report, submitted the following, 
 which, having been read and carefully considered, was unanimously approved, 
 and ordered to be printed for the use of the Convention. 
 
 A. B. CHAMBERS, Secretary.
 
 >H'> 
 
 EPORT. 
 
 ■^"VN.-^.-v.^.'S 
 
 The people of the City of St. Louis, hail with satisfaction, the assem- 
 blage of a general convention, with reference to the great interests of 
 interior commerce and navigation. From such commerce and navigation 
 St. Louis derives its origin, its increase, and its future hopes of great- 
 ness. In such it has lived, flourished and suffered, until experience 
 has given it full knowledge of their nature, and a clear apprehension of 
 their capacities, their deficiencies, and their relations. 
 
 The people of St. Louis are an integral portion of the great Republi- 
 can family of the United States, and while they hold themselves ever 
 ready to discharge the duties devolving upon them, as members of the 
 Union, yet they claim their proportion of its advantages. Their geo- 
 graphical position, is that of the heart of the great central valley of the 
 North American Continent. A valley, extending through 21idegrees 
 of latitude, and 15 degrees of longitude, embracing every variety of 
 climate and soil, production and pursuit: a valley, just beginning to smile 
 in its redemption from a state of nature, yet inviting to its ample bosom 
 the outpourings of every over-crowded community of the world, and 
 offering to return to the hand of improvement, supplies for unnumbered 
 millions of the human race. Nature has, in a remarkable degree, 
 endowed the soil with vegetable fertility and mineral riches; exhibited a 
 surface adapted to every taste and want, and cut it with peculiar streams 
 susceptible of application to various species of industry, and to the 
 uses of a magnificent commerce, holding in one embrace, the produc- 
 tions of the northern and southern limits of the temperate zone. 
 
 This vast area, this fat and fertile valley, comprehended between the 
 sources of the Mississippi on the north, and the Gulf of Mexico on the 
 south, the Rocky Mountains on the west, and the Alleghanies on the east, 
 though but recently a wilderness, already embraces' eleven entire states, 
 and parts of two others, and two territories; and is busy with the in- 
 dustry, and burdened with the immediate support and all the earthly 
 
 p 34.364
 
 interests of half the population of the United States of North America. 
 Comprising within its limits, 1,200,000 square miles, or 768,000,000 of 
 acres, its importance can no more be calculated tlian that ol the Union 
 itself. Its influence must be co-extensive with the habitable globe, of 
 which it will be the Garden and the Granary; going beyond the United 
 States, of which it must become the seat of Empire, the source of vitality, 
 the diadem of pride, the base of their pyramid of grandeur. The Creator 
 of the universe has no where on the face of the earth, spread more 
 lavishly the means ofhuman prosperity, or stamped more legibly the lin- 
 eaments of beautiful and convenient adaptation to the wants and necessities 
 of mankind. Visit it not with the evils of bad government; obstruct not 
 the hand of improvement within it ; stay not the tide of population 
 pouring in upon its bosom; and let its broad acres receive that propor- 
 tion of population which vexes the soil of the kingdom of Great Britain,* 
 and the Bountiful Giver of tliis great and good gift, will smile from 
 Heaven upon a happy family ol" more than 275 millions of liuman be- 
 ings. Indeed, looking forward for 60 years, for an increase of popula- 
 tion keeping pace with the ratio of the past 60 years, (that is, doubling 
 every 10 years,) the world would behold in the year 1907, (60 years 
 hence) swarming in this valley, more than 640 millions of inhabitants. 
 This astonishing result, has for its demonstration, the past statistical 
 history of the country, though it would seem scarcely possible that the 
 past ratio of increase can be maintained. At the iirst census (1790) 
 the population of the valley of the Mississippi, did not exceed 200,000. 
 In 1800, it had increased to about 560,000; in 1810, to 1,370,000; in 
 1820, to 2,580,000; in 1830, to 4,190,000; in 1840, to 6,370,000; and 
 in 1847, according to the preceding average ratio of increase, it exceeds 
 10,520,000. In the year 1850, according to such ratio, it will exceed 
 12 millions, and be about equal to the population of all the Atlantic states. 
 The history of Missouri alone, however, exhibits a still more extra- 
 ordinary increase. In 1771, the population was 743;f in 1799, it was 
 6,005; in 1810, it was 20,845; in 1820, it was 66,586; in 1830, it was 
 140,455; in 1840, it was 383,702; and according to the same ratio of 
 increase, (173 per cent decennially,) it is in 1847, 825,074, being an in- 
 crease of over 16 per cent per annum. But while the decennial in- 
 crease of Missouri, was 173 per cent, that of Illinois was 202, Missis- 
 sippi 175, Michigan 555, and Arkansas 221 per cent. 
 
 • Tho Kingdom of Great Britain rontaiiu 116,709 square miles, 74,688,000 acres, and a popu- 
 lation of .27.830. 105. 
 t Hutchin«.
 
 The commerce and agriculture of this Valley exhibit a growth as 
 surprising as that of its population. 
 
 The first schooner of the Northern Lakes, " the Griffin," in 1679, 
 was.freighted with the first combination of commercial enterprise and 
 settlement that reached the Valley of the Mississippi. Thus the riv- 
 ers of the Valley owe to the great Lakes, the introduction of commerce 
 and population. 
 
 From that period up to the purchase of Louisiana in 1803, and even 
 later, the fur trade of the French immigrants with the Indians constitu- 
 ted a leading pursuit of the inhabitants, especially of the upper half of 
 the Valley of the Mississippi. These immense rivers and lakes were 
 navigated from Quebec, on the St. Lawrence, to the Yellow Stone, on the 
 Missouri, by bark canoes, and the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, connecting 
 the Lakes with the Mississippi, were a chief thoroughfare of the trade. 
 
 Next to the canoe came the Mackinaw boat, carrying 1500 weight 
 to 3 tons, and then the keel boat or barge of SO to 40 tons. The first 
 appearance of the keel boat, in the Mississippi, above the mouth of the 
 Ohio, of which we have any account, was in 1751, when a fleet of boats, 
 commanded by Bossu, a Captain of French Marines, ascended as far as 
 Fort Chartres. This enterprise also, was the first to ascertain, by expe- 
 rience, something of the nature of the navigation of the Mississippi. 
 One of the boats, " the St. Louis," struck a sand bar above the mouth 
 of the Ohio, was unladen and detained two days. Three days after, 
 says the traveler, " my boat ran against a tree, of which the Mississip- 
 pi is full;"* "the shock burst the boat, and such a quantity of water got 
 in that it sunk in less than an hour's time." This was probably 
 the first boat snagged on the Mississippi. From three to four months 
 was the time consumed at this period, and for many years afterward in 
 a voyage from New Orleans to the settlements in the vicinity of St. 
 Louis ; a voyage occupying a steamboat in 1819 twenty-seven days ! but 
 which of late has been accomplished in less than four days ! 
 
 The annual average value of the fur trade of upper Louisiana for 
 fifteen successive years ending in 1804 amounted to $203,750. That 
 part of the province also exported some lead, salt, beef and pork — the 
 Indian goods coming from Canada, those for domestic consumption from 
 Philadelphia and Baltimore ; groceries from New Orleans, and hardware 
 
 * " By tMs accident, I lost all I had ; I ran the risk of perishing too; for I had thrown myself 
 in a pirogue, but it was so full of goods saved from the wreck that it overset; several soldiers were 
 drowned, and I should have shared the same late had it not been for a generous Akanza, who, not 
 fearing the severity of the season, leaped into the water and seized me by my riding coat. — 
 [Bossu, vol. I ,f>. 114,
 
 in small boats from the Ohio river. The annual exports from the lower 
 -y part of the Mississippi Valley for the year 1802, amounted to about 
 $2,1G0,000, and the imports to about $2,500,000; the exports consist- 
 ing of sugar, cotton, rice, indigo, furs and peltries, lead, lumber, caitle, 
 horses, beef and pork, tar and pitch. For the year 1846, the receipts 
 at New Orleans from the upper country, amounted to J;>j77, 193,464. 
 
 At the period of the introduction of steam upon the Mississippi, 
 1817, the whole commerce from New Orleans to the upper country', was 
 transported in about twenty barges of an average of 100 tons each, and 
 making but one trip in a year. The number of keel boats on the Ohio 
 was estimated at 160, carrying thirty tons each. The total tonnage was 
 estimated at between 6.000 and 7,000. 
 
 In 1834, the number of steamboats on the Mississippi and its tribu- 
 taries was 230, and their tonnage equal to about 39,000. 
 In 1840, the number was 285, with a tonnage of 49,800. 
 In 1842, the number was 450, and, estimating their burden at an av- 
 erage of 200 tons each, their tonnage was 90,000. 
 
 In 1843, the number Avas estimated at 672 ; tonnage, 134,400. 
 In addition to the steamboats, there are estimated to be employed on 
 the same rivers, about 4,000 keel and flat boats. 
 
 For the year 1844, the enrolled and licensed steamboat tonnage of the 
 western rivers was reported by the Secretary of the Treasury at 144,150, 
 which, at an average of 210 tons* for each boat, gives 686 steamboats 
 for that year. 
 
 By a subsequent report from the same source, the tonnage had in- 
 creased by the last of June, 1845, to 159,713, making the number of 
 boats 789. 
 
 A report from the same authority, for 1846, exhibits the steamboat 
 tonnage enrolled and licensed at the several districts named below, as 
 follows : 
 
 New Orleans, .... 
 
 St. Louis, 
 
 Pittsburgh, 
 
 Cincinnati, . . . . 
 
 Louisvillo, 
 
 Nasljville, 
 
 Wheeling, 
 
 Total, 
 
 180,504 
 
 .81 
 
 22.425 
 
 .92 
 
 17,162 
 
 .94 
 
 15,312 
 
 .86 
 
 8.172 
 
 .26 
 
 2,809 
 
 .23 
 
 2,666 
 
 .76 
 
 249.054 
 
 .77 tons. 
 
 • Wc h«vc ndopted this nrcrapc from the experience of .St Louis for lf4fi. Tliere were 
 2S1 »te«niho«t« engaged in the trade of St Louii that year, vritli an apercgntc tonnage of 
 53,?67, or 210 lonf to each boat.
 
 Applying the average above adopted to this tonnage, the number of 
 steamboats upon the western rivers in 1846, is demonstrated to have 
 been 1,190. Regarding the value per ton to be $65, which is lower 
 than has heretofore been estimated, and we have as the aggregate value 
 of these boats, the sum of $16,188,561. Supposing them to run 220 
 days in the year, at the cost of $125 per day for each boat, and the an- 
 nual expense of running 1,190 boats appears to be $32,725,C00. Esti- 
 mating the average number of persons employed on each boat at 35, 
 gives a total of 41,650 persons actually employed upon the steamboats 
 of the Valley of the Mississippi. To this we may add the estimated 
 number of 4000 keel and flat boats, embracing in their employment 
 20,000 souls, and costing to build and navigate them, $1,380,000. 
 
 We are now enabled to form a table, showing the cost of river trans- 
 portation in the Valley of the Mississippi : 
 
 Cost of running 1,190 steamboats, - . - $32,725,000 
 
 Insurance on $16,188,561, at 12 per cent., - - 1,942,627 
 Interest on $16,188,561, at 6 per cent., - - - 971,313 
 Wear and tear of boats. 24 per cent., - . - 3,885,254 
 
 Tolls on the Louisville and Portland Canal, - - 250,000 
 Cost of flat boats, (included because sacrificed at N. 0.) 1,380,000 
 
 Totsrt cost of transportation, annually, - - $41,154,1 94* 
 It is impossible to estimate the number of persons among whom, for 
 wages, wood, coal, boat stores, provisions, &c., this almost 'incredible 
 sum of forty-one millions of dollars is annually distributed. Suffice 
 it to say, more or less of it reaches every family and every cabin, situa- 
 ted upon a double coast of river navigation, extending over 15,000 
 miles ; while, as a tax, it falls, not insensibly, upon every producer and 
 consumer in the entire valley. It aifects the producer, because the 
 cost of getting his crops to market lessens the profit he is enabled to re- 
 alize, and the same impediments to the returns increases the cost of the 
 necessaries he purchases for consumption. This great cost is a tax up- 
 on the surplus produce, enterprize, industry and trade of the country. 
 
 The commerce of a country that can flourish under such a burden of 
 taxation must evidently be very large. Tlie extent of it is such, in- 
 
 * The cost of running a steamboat on tlie western rivers is six times greater than the c«st in- 
 curred upon the lakes. For proof of this : The capital invested in the vessels of the Upper Lakes 
 is estimated at $6,000,000, and the cost of running them (exclusive of insurance and interest on 
 the capital,) is stated to he about $1,750,000. or about one-third of their value. The capital in- 
 vested in the steamboats of the Valley of the Mississippi is $16,188,561, and the cost of running 
 them (exclusive of insurance and interest) is estimated at $32,725,000, or more than double their 
 value.
 
 8 
 
 deed, as is not generally apprehended. In fact, in estimating it from the 
 surest data, the results to which our figures carry us almost stagger our 
 own belief. Yet our conclusions cannot be avoided. 
 
 We have 1,190 steamboats, carrying 249,054 tons. On the supposi- 
 tion that, upon an average, each boat makes 20 trips (40 voyages) a 
 year, the whole are capable of carrying annually 9,962, 160 tons. Ad- 
 ding to this the freights of 4,000 flat boats, carrying an average of 75 
 tons each, making 300,000 tons more, we have an aggregate annual ton- 
 nage of 10,252,160. It may be insisted that the boats do not always carry- 
 full freights ; they evidently carry enough to make their business an ac- 
 tive and profitable one, while the amount they discharge at New Orleans 
 alone requires the services of 2,085 vessels, to export from that city the 
 surplus beyond its own consumption.* The value of western products 
 received at New Orleans from the interior for the last 5 years, including 
 the present, is as follows : 
 
 1842-43, $53,728,054 
 
 1843-44, 60,094,716 
 
 1844-45, 57,199,122 
 
 1845-46, 77,193,464 
 
 1846-47, (estimated,) - - - - 84,912,810 
 
 Showing an annual average increase of over 10 per cent. 
 
 An equal amount, it is supposed, finds its way to the Atlantic cities 
 through Pittsburgh and the lakes and canals of the interior. f 
 
 There is to be added to these sums the shipments from one port to 
 another of the west, for home consumption, of the products of our man- 
 ufactories, and other results of skilly industry and capital. An intelligent 
 committee at Cincinnati, in 1844, estimated the whole of this interchange 
 of cominodities at an aggregate of seventy millions of dollars. Estima- 
 ting its annual increase at 10 per cent., it is now equal to $93,000,000. 
 
 Thus we have of the domestic products of the Valley of the Missis- 
 sippi annually put afloat upon its waters, a total of $262,825,620. 
 
 The returns, or imports of specie, bullion and goods, from the Atlan- 
 
 * Exports of New Orleans, foreign nnd coastwise, 1845 $47,361,310 .84 
 
 184C 57,499,407 06 
 
 Increase in 1846 10,138.096 .24 
 
 tThis i» not an unwarranted supposition. The exports of a few of the principal towns on tho 
 Lakes in 184(i, were as follows : 
 
 Cleveland. Ohio, ; 7,040,402 
 
 Erie. Pa 1.073.246 
 
 Mirhiaan. from all ports 4,647,608 
 
 Chicnco, for the ycnr 1845 1,500.000 
 
 Hcceipta by Canals and Railroads, at Toledo, O.,.. 3,519,067 
 At Bu9alo, 1646, Hour, bbls.. 1,21)1,233 At New Orleans, 1846, flour, bbls., 837,965 
 
 At Buftalo, bushels wheat 3,613..569 At New Orleans, bbls. and eks. wheat, 403i786 
 
 Al BuSalo, Ibi bacon 0,220,673 At New Orleans, lbs. bacon 492 700 
 
 (See alto " ExporU of Pituburgb, 1847," at end of Report)
 
 9 
 
 tic states and foreign countries, by all routes, are estimated as equiva- 
 lent to the value of our exports of domestic produce. Then we have 
 as the grand aggregate value of the commerce annually afloat upon the 
 navigable waters of the Valley of the Mississippi, the sum of $432,- 
 651,240, being nearly double the amount of the whole foreign com- 
 merce of the United States.J 
 
 To such an extent has tne commerce of this Valley grown, while 
 yet in its infancy. Who can comprehend its magnitude when the banks 
 of our streams shall be populated to the density of the Old World, and 
 the resources of the country shall be fully developed ? 
 
 Transit and intercourse are greatly facilitated throughout the entire 
 valley by navigable streams of unequalled abundance and extent. They 
 afford a continuous navigation, variously computed at from 10,000 to 
 15,000 miles, oflFering with their two banks, a coast for landing and ship- 
 ments, of double the distance, whatever that may be. The character of 
 these rivers has been often described, and is well known. None are 
 more rapid and dangerous than the Mississippi and the Missouri, ob- 
 structed as they often are, not only by sandbars and occasional rocks, 
 but by timbers of all shapes and sizes, presented in every variety of 
 position. The most dangerous are concealed logs and stumps and sharp 
 pointed snags, or trees firmly planted in the bed of the river at one end, 
 while the other is just near enough to the surface to be concealed from 
 the pilot's view, and at the same time at a depth well suited to bring it 
 into fatal collision with any boat that attempts to pass over. These 
 dangers seen and unseen render night navigation terrific and fre- 
 quently impracticable, excepting below the mouth of the Ohio in the 
 lower Mississippi, where, since the employment of snag boats, night 
 navigation has been practiced. These obstructions are the heaviest 
 drawbacks upon the commerce of the Mississippi Valley, inflicting annu- 
 ally, not only an extensive destruction of boats and cargoes, but a 
 frightful loss of human life. It is to be regretted that no care is taken 
 by the goveriunent to collect and preserve accurate statistical informa- 
 tion in reference to these losses. We are obliged to gather together 
 such items as float within our reach, and can only make an approxima- 
 tion to the actual truth of the case. 
 
 From 1822 to 1827, the loss of property on the Ohio and Mississippi 
 
 t Imports of the United States for 1845-6 $121,691,797 
 
 Exports of " 1845-6 113,488,516 
 
 Total $335,1§0,313 
 
 2
 
 10 
 
 by snags alone, including steam and flat boats, and their cargoes, amount- 
 ed to $1,362,500. 
 
 The losses on the same from 1827 to 1832, were reduced to $381,000, 
 in consequence of the beneficial service of s^everal boats employed by 
 the Federal Government in removing snags. In the year 1830, in con- 
 sequence of the successful operation of the snag boats, not a single 
 steamboat was lost by snags. 
 
 From 1833 to 1838 inclusive, the Secretary of the Treasury report- 
 ed forty steamboats snagged on the Mississippi and its tributaries — a 
 number evidently much below the truth, and valued at $640,000, 
 
 In 1839, the total loss of boats reported was forty — of which twenty- 
 one were snagged, and seven struck upon rocks and other obstructions. 
 Value of twenty-eight snagged, &c., $448,000. 
 
 In 1840, the total number snagged was twenty-one — value, $336,000. 
 In 1841, whole number reported sunk forty-nine — snagged, twenty- 
 nine— value $464,000. 
 
 In 1842, the whole number reported lost was sixty-eight. The number 
 snagged is not ascertained. In the space of about one month succeeding 
 the 11th of September of that year, the losses on the Mississippi be- 
 tween St. Louis and the mouth of the Ohio, a distance of only 180 miles, 
 were $234,000, principally by snags. Within the next succeedinT 
 seventeen months, there were seventy-two steam boats lost, valued at 
 $1,200,000, besides their valuable cargoes. 
 
 In 1846, the whole number sunk or destroyed was thirty-six, 
 with an aggregate tonnage of 7,507. Of this number, twenty-four 
 were sunk by snags, sunken logs, or rocks, and valued at $697,500. 
 To this sum, is to be added $36,487 as the estimated expense of 
 repairing sixty-six steamboats, partially injured in that year, and 
 of fourteen flat and keel boats lost or injured ; the value of eio^ht 
 of them snagged. And when we take into the account the damage 
 to cargoes saved, the expense of the labor of saving property endan- 
 gered, the value of the time of persons thrown out of employment 
 the losses by delays to the shippers and consignees, the aggregate 
 actual loss cannot be less than one million of dollars for 1846. 
 
 The facts connected with insurance, however, indicate a much heav- 
 ier annual loss. Many of the Insurance Companies decline insuring 
 the hulls of boats, and risks are taken only on the best, and at rates 
 varying from 12 to 1.5 per cent. And if it be true, as is stated, that 
 the insurers lose money at even those rates, then the lowest rate of
 
 11 
 
 insurance on hulls indicates a loss of $1,920,000 annually on the esti- 
 mated investment of sixteen millions in the boats. On the estimated 
 amount of commerce of the river, it would indicate an annual loss, if it 
 were all insured, of $51,918,148. 
 
 It is undoubtedly true, that there are lying within the space of the 
 200 miles between the mouths of the Ohio and the Missouri rivers, the 
 wrecks of over ninety steamboats. 
 
 Taking the losses of the steamboats trading at St. Louis for the years 
 l841-'2 for his data, Mr. Calkoun has estimated§ " the annual ag- 
 gregate loss of boats navigating the Mississippi and its waters at the 
 present time [1846] (estimating the number at 900,) to be 107^ from 
 all causes ; of which 57 v/ould be from snags, and 75 from snags, rocks 
 and logs," and makes the aggregate annual loss from snags, rocks and 
 logs, (obstructions susceptible of being removed,) $1,820,200. 
 
 There are other obstructions to the free navigation of these national 
 highways, which increase the losses endured. We allude to the inju- 
 ries and detentions by sandbars, by the falls of the Ohio, the cost of tolls 
 at the Louisville and Portland Canal, and the delays and dangers of the 
 two Rapids of the Upper Mississippi. Taking all into the account, it 
 cannot be too liigh an estimate to put down the actual losses of the country, 
 from removable obstructions in the national highways, at two millions 
 of dollars per annum. This is annihilated — 'So much destroyed, of Ihe 
 wealth of the country — amounting every ten years, to a sum equal to the 
 purchase money paid by the government for all Louisiana. 
 
 And who shall put an estimate upon the value of the souls destroyed 
 by the same causes? And who shall gather the tears of the widow 
 and the orphan ; the bloody sweat of anguished families, and the 
 griefs for loved ones lost, fortunes broken, and hopes destroyed, and 
 weigh them in the scale, with a pitiful appropriation of money? Un- 
 happily, again, no tally is kept ; but taking the losses of life attending the 
 disasters of the St. Louis boats, in 1841-2, as a basis, the present num- 
 ber of lives annually destroyed, in consequence of these destructions, 
 may be estimated at 166. Oftentimes, go down among them, characters 
 distinguished for industry and virtue, carrying with them their families 
 and fortunes, in money, sufficient if properly applied, to remove every 
 snag from the channel. 
 
 Shall this frightful destruction of human life and property, go on, and 
 increase with the business and population of this valley ? Is there no 
 
 §U. 9. Senate's Doc. No. 410 29tli Congress, Ist Seasion,
 
 12 
 
 merciful device, no arm of power to save us from these disasters in our 
 river navigation? 
 
 Whenever a city, county or state, lays out a street or road, and dedi- 
 cates it to public uses, it becomes the duty of that city, county or state, 
 to provide the means of removing obstacles from that highway. And 
 it is well known that damages are often recovered against municipal au- 
 thorities, for injuries received by individuals from obstructions in the 
 roads. The government of the United States, by the ordinance of 1787, 
 declared thai "the navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and St. 
 Lawrence, and the carrying places between the same, shall be common 
 highways, and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of the said territory 
 as to the citizens of the United States, and those of any other 
 state that may be admitted into the confederacy, without any tax, duty 
 or impost therefor." And as to the Mississippi itself, the Congress of 
 1788, to pacify the apprehensions of' North Carolina, as to yielding the 
 navigation of the river, in the Spanisli controversy, resolved that they 
 had no intention of giving it up, and further they ^'Resolved, that the 
 free navigation of the river Mississippi, is a clear and essential right of 
 theUnited States." || The government, therefore, in that compact, assumed 
 the same jurisdiction, and the same obligation to keep open those high- 
 ways, that a county or state does, in reference to its public roads. 
 They are not the property of any state, or of the citizens of any state ; 
 but tlie common properly of the whole nation. And a single state is 
 under no more obligation to improve those highways for the benefit of 
 the rest, than a single individual is, to improve a road for the benefit of 
 the public, because it happens to run through or alongside of his farm. 
 Nor, if a river, declared a public highway, separates two states, one 
 state could not improve it if it would, without the consent of the other; 
 and the other might be of a different opinion, and if it happened to 
 entertain the same view of the improvement that its neighbor did, yet 
 the government expressly prohibits their agreeinglF together and, form- 
 ing a compact, for accomplishing the object both might greatly desire, in 
 reference to the improvement of the river, or any other object. It is, 
 therefore, wholly impracticable, and out of the power of the states, to 
 improve these "navigable waters, leading into the Mississippi." The 
 power, the means and the duty, are in the Federal Government. 
 
 They hold the public lands as a common fund for the benefit of all 
 the States. These lands now comprise in the territories west of the 
 
 II Madison Papors, p. 678 
 
 fl See Sec. 10, Art 1 Con. U, S.
 
 13 
 
 Mississippi, over nine hundred millions of acres, and within the States 
 of the Mississippi Valley, including only^ Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Mis- 
 souri, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Wisconsin and Iowa, they hold 
 unsold the number of about two hundred millions of acres. Within the 
 same States the Government have sold about seventy millions of acres, 
 for which the public treasury has derived from our people between 
 eighty and ninety millions of dollars. The improvement of the naviga- 
 ble rivers which drain these lands surely accelerate their sale and 
 settlement, and enhance their value. Besides, probably the whole an- 
 nual product, in money, of the sales of the public lands, is transported 
 on the rivers of this valley. The following is an estimate, made two 
 years ago, of the value of government property at risk, annually, on 
 these waters : 
 
 Connected with Indian Affairs, - - $960,858 
 « « Military Arrangements, 1,834,000 
 
 Proceeds of the Public Lands, - - 2,000,000 
 
 $4,794,858 
 This is probably not one-third of the amount which has been at risk 
 the past year. But, taking the lowest rate at which steamboat hulls are 
 insured, viz : 12 per cent., and we have the amount of government prop- 
 erty annually afloat on these waters subjected to a loss, as indicated by 
 the rate of insurance, of $575,382 .96, a sum sufficient to keep more 
 than twenty snag boats in operation a year. The General Government lost 
 $40,000 of public stores and property, on their way to the army, in 1846, 
 by the snagging of the steamboats "Ohio," "Radnor" and "Toneleuka." 
 The whole army of the north, which has conquered the northern prov- 
 inces of Mexico in the present war, were transported, as well as their 
 pay and supplies, over 500 miles of the steamboat navigation of the Mis- 
 souri river. That river is the channel of intercourse and correspon- 
 dence, not only with that army, but with all the Indian tribes of the 
 west, as well as the new colonies of our citizens which are growing up 
 in Oregon and California. The Ohio and the Mississippi have been essen- 
 tially necessary to the government in transporting, during the present 
 war, thousands of troops, and quantities of ammunition, arms, army 
 supplies and money, for the " common defence" in Mexico, while the 
 U. S. Mail is annually transported in this valley over 737,801 miles,* 
 by rail roads and steamboats, (the rail roads being few, taking but a 
 small portion.) And when we consider further that every steamboat 
 
 * Report of Post Master General, 1843.
 
 14 
 
 has its crowd of passengers, representing every State, and perhaps con- 
 nected with every county, in the Union, and that they go freighted with 
 the produce of the west, and return with the manufactures of the east, 
 who can say, with the least propriety, that the interests of the govern- 
 ment and the welfare of the people of the United States are not in- 
 volved in the commerce and navigation of the Mississippi river and its 
 tributaries.! 
 
 Moreover, these navigable rivers are again made national highways 
 by the Constitution itself, in declaring that "vessels bound to or from 
 one State, shall not be obliged to enter, clear or pay duties in another." 
 This brings the commerce of the Missouri as fully within the regulating 
 power of Congress as that of the Mississippi or of the sea coast. Nor 
 is it permitted to any State to impose duties on tonnage. All these rights 
 are delegated to the Federal Government. And can it be possible that 
 the States have given up all these means of improving their navigable 
 waters, without imposing any correlative duty upon those who alone 
 possess such rights and means ? In the convention which framed the con- 
 stitution of the United States, it was expressly moved that "no State 
 shall be restrained from laying duties of tonnage for the purpose of clear- 
 ing harbors and erecting light houses, "§ and the motion was rejected, 
 expressly on the ground that the power was included under the 
 power "to regulate commerce." The power of Congress over this 
 subject is therefore clear, unquestionable and exclusive ; is settled by 
 the constitution, settled by the legislation of Congress, and by the gen- 
 eral opinion of the community, and ought not now to be "opened, clog- 
 ged, conditioned or circumscribed." 
 
 Congress, exclusively, have the constitutional authority to regulate 
 commerce, (which includes navigation J) among the States and Indian 
 tribes, on all the navigable waters, bays, lakes, rivers and harbors of the 
 United States without any restraint or hindrance by State legislation. 
 Their free navigation is a public right, and any obstruction interposed 
 thereto is a public nuisance. This authority of Congress over com- 
 merce and navigation, embraces every navigable river, whether it runs 
 
 t If, aa eomc think, "roads and canals" come under the power of pro'v'iding for the " common 
 defence and general welfare," how much more clearly do these nangable and natural highways 
 of the nation. "A judicious system of roads and canals, constructed for the convenience of 
 commerce, and the transportation of the mail only, without any reference to military operations^ 
 is itself among the most efficient means for the more complete defence of the United States." — 
 lleport to Congress, Jan. 7, 1819, by J. C. Calhoun, Sec'y of War. 
 
 § Madison Papers, p. 1,585. 
 
 J See'caae of Gibbon3_rs. Evnns, 6 Wheaton's Rep. 1,
 
 15 
 
 through or by three States or only one, and without reference to the 
 number of people or extent of country interested. In what manner 
 was the power of Congress over commerce and navigation exercised on 
 the Atlantic coast, before there was any call for its exercise upon the 
 navigable waters of the west ? It was exercised in building light houses 
 and public piers, removing rocks and other obstructions in ship channels 
 and harbors, and in placing beacons and buoys to guide the navigator in 
 safety to port. But can it, with truth be said, that the power and duty 
 thus properly exercised terminate the moment the same navigator, in 
 one continuous voyage, enters from the sea the inland waters of his 
 country, where his bark will be still exposed to danger? The 
 General Government exercises jurisdiction over the steamboats of 
 these rivers — why not over the waters themselves ? That Govern- 
 ment requires these steamboats to be registered in their custom-houses, 
 and licensed under their laws. They prescribe the nature of 
 their tiller ropes — they cause a lantern to be hung at every boW' — and 
 can the same power, consistently, disclaim all jurisdiction over natural 
 obstacles and dangers of the rivers themselves ? And with what 
 justice can a power delegated in equal terms over " foreign commerce," 
 and "commerce among the States," be exercised for almost the exclusive 
 benefit of the " foreign" and that the least valuable of the two? The 
 government protects a foreign commerce and coasting trade of two 
 or three hundred millions, with a Navy, and with Ambassadors 
 and Consuls, shields it with public piers and illuminates its path with 
 beacon lights, while a commerce among the States of four hundred 
 millions conducted upon their inland waters, is not visited with even 
 a snag boat, not a farthing light to designate the place of danger, and 
 is left to perish without even a register of its ruin. Yet, no good rea- 
 son can be discovered which authorizes such partiality. The same 
 authority which has improved the harbors and channels of the Atlantic 
 coast, is applicable to the coast and channels of the navigable rivers 
 of the west. 
 
 The only difference is in the manner of its application. In the one 
 case, the danger being immovable, is pointed out, and thus avoided. In 
 the other, the obstructions are of a changeable nature, and are controlla- 
 ble and removable at as little cost as the others can be pointed out. 
 This has been ascertained by actual experience. 
 
 For example : In the year 1844, the amount appropriated by Con- 
 gress for light houses, was $420,285. 
 
 The following estimate of Col. Long, of the U. S. Engineer Depart-
 
 16 
 
 ment, accompanying the President's Message, of December 1843, relates 
 
 to the cost of employing snag boats for removing obstructions in the 
 
 Mississippi and its tributaries : 
 
 Employment of 4 snag boats, 9 months, at $2,160 per month, 
 
 each boat, $77,760 
 
 Repairs and outfit of the same, &c., . - - 6,000 
 
 Employment of two steam machine boats, nine months, at $1,- 
 
 100 per month, each boat, ... - 19,800 
 
 Repairs, &c. of same, ,..-.- 3,000 
 
 Construction of two small steam boats, or transports of light 
 draught, to serve as tow boats, tenders, &c., in the service 
 
 at $8,000 each, 16,000 
 
 Employment of same, nine months, at $800 per month, 14,000 
 
 $136,560 
 This is exclusive of the estimate for surveys, as the appropriation for 
 liglit houses does not include the U. S. coast survey. 
 
 Supposing that the river service should require eight snag boats in- 
 stead of four, and to be effectual, w^e believe it would, we have then our 
 estimate of the cost increased to $273,120, and yet, not equal to two- 
 thirds of the annual cost of light houses on the sea coast. 
 
 But it is to be remembered that the power to regulate foreign com- 
 merce, includes in the cost of its exercise, the expenses of maintaining 
 diplomatic intercourse, the erection of customhouses, and survey of the 
 coast, all of which, amounted in 1842, to $944,095. Add to this the 
 expenses of the Coast Squadron, and the Navy, $8,324,993, and we 
 have an aggregate of $9,269,088, annually expended in the protection 
 of foreign commerce. And yet the total amount of appropriations by 
 Congress of every description, for the improvement of the navigation of 
 the Mississippi and its waters, from its commencement, in 1824, up to 
 the year 1846, was only $2,528,800. Within the above named period, 
 the amount expended on the Atlantic Coast, for the establishment of light 
 houses, buoys, beacons, and piers, was $8,485,946, and the amount for 
 harbors on the same coast $4,415,177. These expenditures in behalf 
 of the interests of foreign commerce, have been, and are still very properly- 
 continued, while for the last two or three years, all expenditures for the 
 improvement of the navigation of the western rivers, and the protection 
 of their vast commerce, have altogether ceased, and the means of im- 
 provement formerly prepared, and many of the works hitherto partially 
 executed, have been suffered to relapse and waste. During the five 
 years that snag boats were at work in our rivers, they performed bene- 
 ficial service. The boats themselves were of simple construction ; yet
 
 17 
 
 of sufficient power to remove the most formidable snag, with facility, in 
 a few minutes. All that is necessary to their complete success, in keep- 
 ing the channel of the rivers clear, is, in the first place, sufficient annual 
 and specific appropriations of money to keep them always employed; 
 secondly, the employment of practical men in their superintendence, 
 who are familiar with the navigation and its peculiar dangers; thirdly, 
 the direct application of all the means, to the removal of obstructions in 
 the channel, allowing the exercise of a sound discretion by the superin- 
 tendent, rather than confining him to the limits of scientific surveys, 
 which may be truthful guides at the time they were made, but are often 
 no longer so, when they are platted. It is not the removal of a snag 
 from the limits of a survey that is needed; it is its removal from the 
 channel, or from a position that will enable the water to make a better 
 channel. However necessary surveys may be to inform the Depart- 
 ment at Washington, and to guide the authorities in making estimates, 
 yet, by practical navigators, they are regarded as of little service for 
 real operations,* having reference to snags, logs and stumps. They are 
 admitted to be essential in regard to works of a permanent character. 
 There are other obstructions in ihe Mississippi and the Ohio Rivers, 
 which operate as a considerable tax upon transportation, and to which 
 the attention of the Government has been properly invoked. We allude 
 to the Rapids at the Des Moines River, and the Upper, or Rock River 
 
 * In 1823, the U. S. Board of Internal Improvement, olfcred a reward of $1,000 for tlie best plaB 
 of remo^-ing snags &c. from the channels of western rivers. The premium was awai-ded to a Mr. 
 Bruce"of Kentucky, who proposed the "Twin Boats," operated by manual power. 
 
 In 1824, Mr. Bruce served as an agent of the U. States, in the application and use of his method 
 on the Ohio river, under Major Babcock, of Corps of United States' Engineers, and continued in 
 the service till 1826, when Col. Long took the place of Major Babcock. Col. Long was continued 
 for three months only, when Capt. H. M. Shreeve was appointed, and continued in the superin- 
 tendence of these improvements until 1839. when operations ceased, and for two years afterward. 
 During the employmeut of Capt. Shreeve, important improvements were made upon '-Bruce'a 
 method" and in 1828, new snag boats were built and worked by steam. These two boats con- 
 tinued to operate for six years, when being worn out, new ones were constructed to supply their 
 place. From 1828, to 1838, the removal of snags was prosecuted with success, in the Ohio, Mis- 
 sissippi, Arkansas and Red rivers. Prior to 1838, six steam snag boats had been constructed, at 
 an average cost, for each, of about $25,000. During the same period, eight or nine small steam 
 boats, belonging to the Government, were employed in the same service. In 1842, $100,000 was 
 appropriated by Congress "for building and repairing the necessary boats, and for carrying on 
 the improvement of the Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio and Arkansas rivers." Capt. John W. Russell 
 was appointed the agent of the United States and the boats having been repaired at St. Louis, 
 the work of removing snags, was re-commenced in December of that year, and continued till 
 April 17, 1843, when they were suspended by high water, but resumed in August following. 
 Congress appropriated for the eighteen months ending June 30, 1844, $50,000; up to which time, 
 the works were continued. Subsequent appropriations by Congress, failing, either to meet the 
 approvalof the Executive, or to be returned with his objections, the works upon the i-ivers 
 altogether ceased, and the snae boats &,c. have since been sold at a sacrifice. 
 
 3
 
 18 
 
 Rapids, in the Mississippi, and to the Falls at Louisville, in the Ohio. 
 The Louisville and Portland Canal is deemed inadequate to the wants of 
 commerce, and yet it imposes a tax equal to about eight per cent, of all 
 the cost of running the boats which pass it. The sum paid to that canal 
 by 110 boats, trading with St. Louis, in 1843, amounted to $33,500. 
 A boat regularly engaged in the commerce between Cincinnati and St. 
 Louis, performing four trips a month, or thirty-two trips in the eight 
 months of open navigation, paying fifty cents per ton each transit, will 
 pay $16 per ton in the season, and thus, in four seasons, would pay, in 
 tolls, her full value. The government being a stockholder in the canal, 
 a part of this excessive toll (excessive profit, too, to the stockholders,) 
 goes into the public treasury. It is estimated that one-half of the ton- 
 nage passing the Falls of the Ohio goes through the canal, and that 
 over 600,000 tens annually pass the Falls. It is further estimated tha 
 150,000 tons annually stop at Portland, below the canal, in consequence 
 of the boats being too large to be admitted through. Whether the Gov- 
 ernment should not become the entire owner of this canal, (having 
 already been paid more than its original investment, in its share of tolls,) 
 and make it free, and enlarge its dimensions, is worthy of the considera- 
 tion of Congress. 
 
 The Lower, or Des Moines Rapids, of the Mississippi, are two hun- 
 dred and four miles above St. Louis, and beyond the mouth of the Des 
 Moines river, whence they derive their name. Commencing a little 
 above Keokuk, the Rapids extend nearly up to Montrose, or old Fort 
 Des Moines, opposite to which is the to,vn of Nauvoo. The length of 
 the Rapids is estimated at eleven miles, having a fall of twenty-four 
 feet. "Here," says Prof. Nicollet, "the Mississippi tumbles over 
 ledges of a blue limestone, at all times covered with more or less water, 
 and through which many crooked channels have been worn by the action 
 of the current. During low stages of the water, the passage of the 
 Rapids is very difficult, as well in consequence of the shallowness of 
 the water, as the narrowness and tortuousness of the channel, so that 
 the time of practicable steamboat navigation is shortened by nearly three 
 months in the year, which is about the duration of low water in the 
 river." This, together with the closing of the navigation by winter for 
 nearly four months more, reduces the season of practicable steamboat 
 navigation to about five months in the year. A system of improvements 
 was commenced by Capt. Lee, of the U. S. Corps of Engineers, under 
 the authority of the Government, and continued with satisfactory results 
 until the appropriation was exhausted.
 
 19 
 
 The Upper, or Rock River Rapids, so named from their proximity to 
 Rock River, are from fourteen to fifteen miles long, extending from Rock 
 Island to near Port Byron on the left, and Parkhurst on the right side of 
 the river. The fall, according to Capt. Lee, from the head to the foot of 
 the Rapids, is twenty-five and three-quarter (25|) feet, and very 
 much of the character of the Lower Rapids. In consequence of the 
 short turns and narrowness of the passes between the reefs, boats cross 
 the current obliquely, and run great risk of destruction. Capt. Lee 
 has demonstrated the practicability of removing these obstacles, so as to 
 afford a safe passage up and down both Rapids, and thus a continuous 
 navigation from the Gulf of Mexico to the Falls of St. Anthony, of 
 2,200 miles. At a point called the English Turn, where Capt. Lee 
 worked out a channel eighty feet in width, it is alleged that no accident 
 has occurred since the improvement was made. It has been estimated 
 that the cost of improving both Rapids would be about $260,000. The 
 river and the country above these Rapids are as beautiful and inviting 
 as any part of the Valley of the Mississippi, and the soil offers substan- 
 tial inducements to settlers, either in fertility or mineral riches. 
 The northern part of Illinois, the new States of Iowa and Wisconsin, 
 the virgin territory of Minesota, and the Government itself, are all 
 deeply interested in the perfection of this navigation. The Government 
 passes these Rapids with its proceeds of land sales, with its supplies 
 for the military posts at Prairie du Chien and on the St. Peters, and for 
 the Indian tribes situated on their head waters. We are informed by 
 one of the most experienced and respectable captains in the trade, that, 
 for the last twenty years, there have been running upon the Upper 
 Mississippi, an annual average of fifteen steamboats, which have annu- 
 ally paid three thousand dollars each^ for lighterage and detention at the 
 Lower and Upper Rapids, or an annual aggregate of forty-five thousand 
 dollars. The present number of boats running upon that part of the 
 river is stated to be thirty, which, according to the preceding result, 
 are paying ninety thousand dollars per annum, simply upon account of 
 the Rapids. This enormous sum is levied upon the produce of the 
 farmers and miners of the upper country. 
 
 "By a comparison of tables of freights and charges made when the 
 water was high enough for boats to pass the rapids without discharging 
 their cargoes, with freight and charges when the water was too low, it 
 has been ascertained that the increased charges are about one hundred 
 and fifty per cent. When the extent of the lead trade of Galena, Wiscon- 
 sin and Iowa, is considered, (about 700,000 pigs in 1845,) the largest
 
 20 
 
 portion of which has to be exported vvlien the waters are low; the 
 amount of agricultural and' other products, and the imports of necessary 
 articles from other parts of the Union, and from foreign countries, amount- 
 ing to several millions of dollars annually, all of which is subjected to 
 this increase of freight and charges; and when to this we add the num- 
 ber of travellers, which may be safely set down at from twenty to thirty 
 thousand annually, subject to the same increase of charges on this ac- 
 count; some idea may be formed of the amount of injury which the com- 
 munity sustains, over and above the loss from the detention and injury 
 of boats and cargoes. It is asserted by men practically informed on 
 the subject, that the increase of freights and charges caused by these 
 obstructions, would, in any one year, more than quadruple the cost of 
 all needful improvements."* 
 
 The following extract from a report made by a Committee of the citi- 
 zens of Burlington, Iowa, of the business of that town, for the year end- 
 ing June 1847, will afford an accurate conception of the effect of the 
 Rapids upon the commerce of that single town: They find, after 
 thorough examination of the receipts and shipments of the different mer- 
 cantile houses, that there have been imported to Burlington, 687 tons 
 salt; 305 tons iron, stoves and castings; 2,784 tons merchandize — mak- 
 ing 3,776 tons at an average freight of six dollars per ton, $22,650 OQ. 
 
 The amount of produce shipped from Burlington is found to be as 
 follows, viz: 16,354 bushels of oats; 118,228 do. corn; 207,948 do. 
 wheat; 666 do. beans; 500 do. flaxseed; 1,847 do. barley; 32,821 bbls. 
 flour; 384 do. whiskey; 1,643 tons pork, bacon and lard; 150 tons 
 hay; 23 do. dry hydes — which is found to be equal to fourteen thousand 
 two hundred and fifty tons, at an average of $6, is $71,250.§ 
 
 Number of steamboat arrivals 524. 
 
 Number of cabin passengers from St. Louis to Burlington, estimated 
 to be 10 to each -vrrival 5,230, at an average of $5 each - - $25,150 00 
 
 Number of decli paaseiigers, estimated at 15 to each arrival, 7,845, 
 at an average of $2 50 19,612 50 
 
 Number of horses, 'carriages, wagons, &c. 1,000 at an average fare 
 oi^o 5^000 00 
 
 $144,668 50 
 
 ' Report of Committee on western rivers, at Mempliia, 1645, A. B. Chambers. 
 
 § The City of Galena exports more than any other town above St. Louis, on the Mississippi. 
 Its exports ol lead amounted, in 1846, to 672,420 pigs, worth about S*2,225,000. Export of copper, 
 about 822,000. Lumber, $100,000. Hides, about 14,000. Wheat, 150,000 bushels. In 1844, 
 there were three hundred and eight steamboat arrivals of 53.900 tons. In 1846, three hundred 
 and thirty -three, ot 58,275 tons.
 
 21 
 
 From which deduct the probable amount of freiglit and fare if the 
 obstructions were removed from the Rapids, viz: 3,776 tons freight im- 
 ported at $2 50 $9,440 00 
 
 14,250 tons freight exported at $2 28,500 00 
 
 5,230 cabin passengers at $3 - 15,690 00 
 
 1,845 decic, do. $1 50 11,767 50 
 
 $79,151 00 
 
 To which should be added for losses by detention arising from re-ship- 
 
 ing, towing, and additional insurance . . _ _ . 10,000 00 
 
 For loss of Iceel and flat boats, and their cargoes - . - - 10,500 00 
 
 For depreciation in value of all surplus which finds a market through 
 this point, estimated to be, the present year, $504,000 at 10 per 
 cent 50,040 00 
 
 Estimated loss to steamboat owners, merchants and Insurance offices, 
 from stranded boats and loss of cargoes, which your Committee 
 have not the means of ascertaining, say ----- 10,00000 
 
 $159,691 00 
 
 The Steamboat, arrivals at St. Louis, from the Upper Mississippi, 
 for five years, were as follows: 
 
 1841, 143 Steamboats 108 Keelboats, 
 
 1842, 195 « 88 « 
 
 1843, 244 « 55 « 
 
 1845, 647 « Not reported. 
 
 1846, 663 « do. 
 
 We are advised by one celebrated in the science of medicine, that if 
 we keep the head cool, the feet warm and the body open, mankind will 
 never need a physician. The Father of waters cools his head in the 
 frigid regions of the north; warms his feet in the sunny air of the tropics, 
 and requires only the removal of natural obstacles which obstruct his inte- 
 rior channels, to place him beyond the necessity of human aid. Such 
 then would be his condition of health and prosperity, that the millions 
 swarming upon his borders, acknowledging no king but the Lord of 
 Hosts, Commerce and the Laws, would present an example of numbers, 
 v/ealth and influence "above all Grecian, beyond all Roman fame," 
 and beside which, all the grandeur of European nations, ancient and 
 modern, would be as nothing. 
 
 But however important maj^ be an unobstructed, continuous and navi- 
 gable channel, an ability to land and reach the wharves of populous, 
 commercial cities, where cargoes are discharged, boats repaired and 
 re-freighted, and crews refreshed, is equally essential.
 
 22 
 
 The City of St. Louis is tlie base of the navigation of all the Upper 
 Mississippi and its tributaries, and the head of navigation for the larger 
 boats from the Ohio and the Lower Mississippi. Here is concentrated, 
 all the trade of the Upper Mississippi, the Missouri and the Illinois 
 rivers, and a large portion of that of the Ohio and the Lower Mississippi. 
 Hence is exhibited as busy and crowded a wharf as can any where be 
 seen, upon which are commingled, people of many nations, and products 
 of every clime, and every species of industry. The city was built upon 
 a limestone bluff, of moderate elevation, fronting on the Mississippi, 
 whose water washed its base with a convenient depth. From the con- 
 dition of a fur-trader's post, it has grown to the quality of a city, promis- 
 ing soon to be of the iirst class. From a mere boat load of traders, its 
 population has gone on multiplying, until it has reached the number of 
 50,000. From a trade of a few thousand dollars in furs and peltries, 
 a commerce has arisen which counts its millions. It has grown to be 
 the greatest steamboat port, next to New-Orleans, in the world. Its 
 enrolled and licensed tonnage, was 
 
 In 1844, 16,664 tons, 
 
 1843, 20,424, 
 
 1846, 23,800, 
 
 At $65 per ton, its tonage for 1846, was worth . - - $1,547,000 
 
 But this tonage of its own is not all that is required by its trade. 
 The total number of steamboat arrivals at St. Louis was. 
 
 In 1839, 1476, with 213,193 tons. 
 In 1840, 1721, " 244,185 " 
 In 1844, 2105, « 371,691 " 
 In 1846, 2412, « 467,824 " 
 
 Besides 801 flat boats, and is exclusive of the trips of the daily pack- 
 ets to Alton. During the month of May, 1846, there were 12 steam 
 boat arrivals per daj'. 
 
 The following table of the imports to St. Louis during the years 
 named, is, but an approximation to the actual truth, as many articles of 
 great value, such as dry goods, hardware, cutlery, specie, bullion, fancy 
 articles, furniture, machinery, farming implements, leather, army and 
 Indian supplies, wool, castor oil, hay, horses, mules, cattle, hogs and 
 sheep, &c., &c., are omitted. 
 
 TABLE OF IMPORTS INTO ST. LOUIS FOE, THE YEARS 1S44, 1845, & 1846: 
 
 1844. 1S45. 1846. 
 
 Apples— Green, bbls 7,233 6,314 3,728 
 
 Dried do 1,892 2,989...... 3,255 
 
 Do. sacks 2,388 2,147 2,768
 
 23 
 
 1844. 1845. 1846. 
 
 Beef— bbls 4,280 5,264 17,116 
 
 hair bbls 63 99 169 
 
 Bacon— casks 19.225 6,180 11,803 
 
 boxes, 484 149 618 
 
 bulk, lbs 89,723 94,274 . . . .207,446 
 
 Butter— bbls G18 558 823 
 
 kegs and firkins, 3,009 3,424 3,940 
 
 Beeswax— bbls 337 319 476 
 
 boxes and sacks, 837 631 646 
 
 Baggins- pieces, 3,120 4,217 3,243 
 
 Beans- bbls 1,518 2,091 4,370 
 
 sacks, 389 1,320 2,199 
 
 Bai-ley— bushels, 8,478 32,231 20,277 
 
 Buffalo Robes 33,670 ..... 14,475 16,717 
 
 Corn— bushels 5,6,720.... 107,927 688,644 
 
 Castings— tons 937 1,590 1,604 
 
 Cheese— casks, 550 221 430 
 
 boxes - 9,337 8,822 11,232 
 
 Cider— bbls 711 763 421 
 
 Coffee— sacks, 38,731 46,204 65,128 
 
 Cotton Yarn— packages, 5,354 10,756 13,260 
 
 j^ lour— bbls 88,881 .... 139,282. . . . 220,457 
 
 half bbls 530 563 1,059 
 
 Furs— packages, - 973 2,555 3,011 
 
 Feathers— sacks, 471 816 .768 
 
 Flaxseed— bbls 2,741 2,136 3,693 
 
 Ginseng— bbls - 75 20 19 
 
 sacks, 34 63 58 
 
 Glass— boxes 4,697 23,563 24,630 
 
 Herai)— bales, 59,292 30,997 33,853 
 
 Hides 55,572 70,102 63,396 
 
 ronBar— ton, 1=981 2,282 .2,484 
 
 Pig do 1.469 1,480 2,326 
 
 Lead— pigs 595,012 750,879 730,820 
 
 bars— lbs 19,300 88,650 7,621 
 
 Lard— bbls 12,293 7,652 26,462 
 
 kegs, 12.949 6,659 14,734 
 
 Liquor— Whisky— bbls - 24,510 29,798 29,882 
 
 Brandy— do 1,477 1,886 1,698 
 
 Wine— do 2,611 3,600 3,084 
 
 Lead-white-kegs 5,256 3,466 1,526 
 
 Molasses-bbls 3,270 11,788 14,996 
 
 Nails-kegs 23,703 21,587 28,073 
 
 Oils— Linseed— bbls 140 695 826 
 
 Castor do 106 78 95 
 
 Lard do 867 284 292 
 
 Onions-bbls 1.449 217 463 
 
 sacks, 2,351 1,893 4,753 
 
 Oakum-bales 681 1,104 1,378 
 
 Oats-bushels, 16,480 16,112 95,612 
 
 Pork-bbls 29,945 15,702 48,981
 
 24 
 
 184:4. 1815. 1846. 
 
 Pork— half bbls 73 89 39 
 
 bulk lbs 13fi,333 261,754 030,763 
 
 Peaches— green— bbls 382 735 420 
 
 dried do 3jG 1,000 1,210 
 
 do. sacks 445 826 295 
 
 Potatoes— bbls 3,915 2,449 3,625 
 
 sacks 21,272 12,0 45 20,979 
 
 Peltries— packages 540 917 1,266 
 
 Rice— tierces 670 869 916 
 
 bbls 103 34 
 
 Rye— bushels, 61 3,054 5,283 
 
 Rope— Herap— coils, 13,525 8,890 5,122 
 
 Shot— kegs — .23 462 
 
 bags 88 2,112 1,026 
 
 Skins, 32,859 25,205. 23,872 
 
 Salt— Domestic— bbls 27,736 21.157 58,948 
 
 Liverpool— sacks, 112,.507 99,272 169,373 
 
 Turk's Island— bags, 11,727 13.412 8,391 
 
 Sugar- bhds 9,070 10,2.59 11,603 
 
 bbls 1,912 3,721 4,400 
 
 Havana— boxes 1,630 516 1,3.53 
 
 Tallow— casks, 32 75 303 
 
 bbls 810 688 1,114 
 
 Tai-- bbls 528 1,630 1,558 
 
 kegs 2,011 4,128 5,776 
 
 Tobacco— bhds 9,707 11, .564 8,588 
 
 manufactured — boxes 7,380 7,777 7,903 
 
 Tea— chests 1,361 434 2,091 
 
 half chests 879 1,6.52 1,963 
 
 Vinegar— bbls 1 ,373 1,032 ] ,086 
 
 Wheat— bushels 720,003 971,023. ..1,838,926 
 
 The following table embraces, imports, to the city, ol' wood and lum- 
 ber for the years 
 
 
 1845. 
 
 1846. 
 
 Cords of wood, 
 
 22,646 
 
 29,476 
 
 Lumber, feet, 
 
 10,389,332 
 
 13,169,332 
 
 Shingles, M., 
 
 13,927,.500 
 
 10,652,000 
 
 Cooper stuff, 
 
 41,700 
 
 966,963 
 
 Posts, 
 
 5,263 
 
 6,997 
 
 Laths, 
 
 2,328,700 
 
 1,807,700 
 
 During the present year, (1847) the business of the City has materi- 
 ally increased. In the articles of flour and wheat the increase has been 
 nearly one hundred per cent, both in quantity and value. The money 
 value of nearly all agricultural products,'has greatly increased, and the 
 quantity put in motion has been, in respect to most of the articles exported, 
 augmented in about]|the same proportion.
 
 25 
 
 The total annual commerce of St. Louis, imports and exports included, 
 alihough yet in its infancy, is estimated at over $75,000,000,* equalling 
 nearly one-third of the whole foreign commerce of the United States. 
 
 The income of the city per annum is $275,000 
 
 Taxable property for 1845, - - 13,607,000 
 
 " " " 1846, - - 14,544,238 
 
 « " '•' 1847, - - 16,665,142 
 
 Amount of duties paid to the United States at the St. Louis Custom 
 House, the current year, $'50,000. 
 
 The United States Arsenal is beautifully situated at the lower end of 
 the city, and consists of stone buildings and walls of great value and 
 durability. Jefferson Barracks, eiglit miles below, constantly occupied 
 by more or less troops of the United States, and capable of accommo- 
 dating two Regiments, is considered one of the most eligible stations in 
 the Valley of the Mississippi. Both the Arsenal and the Barracks have 
 been of great and indispensable service to the Government in the pres- 
 ent war. The two comprise a value in Government properity of $1,- 
 
 *This sum may seem too large ; but of the innumerable articles of trade, take flour and wheat 
 
 as one example : 
 
 1846. Barrels of flom- manufactured in the city 223,500 
 
 " " imported 221.086 
 
 Total, barrels flour 444,586 
 
 Worth at 8-5 per barrel , g:?,322,930 
 
 Bushels of wheat imported, 1,8:38,026, worth $1 per bushel 1,838,926 
 
 Total value of the flour and wheat of St. Louis, 1846 $4,061,856 
 
 And, as thisdoes not include the quantities brought to the city in wagons, the estimate is below 
 the fact, and still much below the bu;<iness of 1647. 
 
 Yet, so many will be still disposed to doubt the estimate, that, rather than reduce a single fig- 
 ure, we will offer one method of demonstrating its truth. 
 
 We have shown that the average tonnage of steamboats trading at St. Louis is 210 tons per boat 
 — that there are 2412 arrivals per aunum of steam boats, and 800 anivals of flat boats. The 
 flat boats we will average at the low rate of 50 tons each. 
 
 2412x210=506,520 
 800 X 50= 40,000 
 
 Total tons 546.530 
 
 Now, what is the value of a ton i Take, for the purpose of deriving an average, say eleven of 
 our principal articles of ti-ade, yet of the lowest value per ton. For example : Hay is worth $20; 
 Tobacco §90; Lead $75; Hemp $75 ; Flour $G5; Com $22; Wheat S44 ; Oats $22; Pork §130; 
 Bacon §130 ; Beef §88 — average value per ton, §68. Most other articles of import and export 
 are worth more. Let us then multiply our average value of a ton by the number of tons, 546,- 
 520 x 68=$37,103,360. But these are articles of export. Our imports must be equivalent. The 
 sum must, therefore, be doubled. We have, then, $74,206,720, as the value of our imports and 
 exports by bonis. There ai-e §2,000,000 of specie and bullion to be added. There are vast amounts 
 arriving and depai-ting by wagons ; many rafts of lumber ; 1,335,873 bushels of coal, and many 
 other items to be added, increasing, rather than reducing our estimate. The tables of imports 
 derived from the Harbor Master's Register, are very Imperfect, and fall very far short of the ti-uth. 
 For example : The number of Buffalo Robes received in 1846, are put down at 16,717, while we 
 are assured, by the best authority, that the number was as high as 60,000. 
 
 4
 
 26 
 
 750,000, and permanent and valuable improvements are still going on. 
 In consequence ot* the lavorableness ol" the position, the cheapness of 
 manulacture, and the Jacility oC communication in every direction, the 
 Government has had very large supplies manufactured here; much 
 larger, probably, than at any other arsenal in the United States. At the 
 conclusion of the existing war, enormous quantities of Government 
 stores will be turned in upon the Mississippi ; reost of which, will 
 come to this arsenal for repairs and storage. The increasing demands 
 upon it, liave constrained the ollicer in charge, already to report the 
 shops, laboratories and magazines as too small for the public wants. Since 
 the commencement of the Mexican war, there have been manufactured 
 at this arsenal, gun-powder munitions and other ordnance stores, to the 
 amount of about 1150 tons, costing several millions of dollars, and sent 
 up and down the Missouri and the Mississippi ; between 400 and 500 
 tons of shells and shot ; about 7,000,000 of cartridges for small arras, 
 of which, 2,500,000 were made in the single month of April, besides 
 enormous quantities of artillery munitions, giving employment for con- 
 siderable times together to 500 to 600 hands. The unequalled advan- 
 tages of this city, as a military position, have been fully demonstrated 
 during the present war. 
 
 Such is the commerce, property and population of a city, now- threat- 
 ened with the ruin of its landing. Opposite the city, it is well known, 
 lies, within the limits of Illinois, the great American Bottom, averaging 
 five miles in width, and extending from opposite the month of the Mis- 
 souri, about seventy miles below. This bottom consists of alluvial depos- 
 ite, and in 1844, was entirely overflowed. Into this bottom the main chan- 
 nel of the Mississippi, defleclcd from the Missouri shore above the 
 city, has been, for many years, making a slow, but sensible progress, 
 leaving a deposite of sand on the shore it is deserting the entire length 
 of the city. Two immense islands have been formed, in the former 
 channel of the river, extending along the front of the whole city, and 
 the lower one, extending from the United States Arsenal, at the south- 
 ern limits, to a point as high as the centre of the city, is, in low 
 water, connected with the main land, affording a dry communication be- 
 tween — thus, already shutting out from the river, one half of the city. 
 A flat bar, projecting from the upper end of this island is gradually ex- 
 tending itself up the river; a deposite is also commencing between the 
 upper island and the north-eastern part of the city, the main channel 
 running east, or on the Illinois side of both islands, and renderin"- the 
 usual approach to the city landing unavailable, and in low water, the last
 
 27 
 
 ■season, but a narrow point was left, at which boats of the larger class, 
 could effect a landing at the wharf. 
 
 The destruction of this landing, and the abandonment and ruin of this 
 great emporium of the Valley of the Mississippi, would be a general 
 and an insufferable calamity. It would not be confined alone to the ruin 
 of the city, and the destruction of the great advantages now enjoyed 
 here by the Government, but the soft alluvion of the American Bottom, 
 continually giving way to the force of the current, will admit of the 
 formation of new channels, ever changing, diffused over a wide surface, 
 destroying farms, undermining forests, exposing the accumulated flood- 
 wood of former years, and presenting a scene of devastation and dan- 
 gerous navigation, without example. Such a calamity as this now im- 
 pending, will have a general effect, ir.jurious to the commerce and navi- 
 gation of the Valley of the Mississippi, and injurious to the Govern- 
 ment, and from which it will take years of time and millions of money 
 to recover. Such disastrous consequences may now be easily averted. 
 A few thousand dollars, judiciously expended now, in building a dyke, 
 or dam, a few hundred yards in length, from the Ilhnois shore to Bloody 
 Island, would confine the river to its old channel on the Missouri shore, 
 and save the future expenditure of hundreds of thousands, and the loss 
 of millions of property. The people of St. Louis see the remedy, but 
 are utterly powerless to reach it. The case is beyond the political and 
 municipal jurisdiction of the . city of St. Louis and State of Missouri. 
 The boundary of our State is the middle of tlie main channel of the 
 Mississippi river. The very commencement of operations to save the 
 landing and to restore the old channel, should properly be on the Illinois 
 shore. Between these two jurisdictions Congress alone has the power 
 to interpose, and regulate the commerce between them. The two States 
 of Missouri and Illinois are prohibited, by the Constitution, from ever 
 agreeing together on the subject, and the power of imposing a duty on 
 tonnage, to raise a fund to improve such a harbor or landing, was taken 
 from the States, in the Convention which framed the Constitution, and 
 delegated wholly to Congress. Besides, the City of St. Louis is a port 
 of entry ; the seat of a United States Custom House ; of a U. S. Sub- 
 treasury ; of a U. S. Land Office 5 of a U. S. Superintendency of Indian 
 Affairs ; of a U. S. Surveyor General's Office ; of a U. S. Arsenal ; a 
 landing place for a Military Barracks ; the Head-Quarters of a U. S, 
 Military Division, and the point from which the U. S. Military Posts 
 of the Upper Mississippi and Missouri are garrisoned and supplied. 
 Indeed, it is difficult to comprehend the extent of the vast interests of
 
 28 
 
 the Government and people here co-mingled. And as the territory 
 and population, commerce and navigation, ol" the country are increasing, 
 almost beyond the ability of the imagination to keep pace with them, 
 this point is diiUy, pari passu, advancing in importance, as the commer- 
 cial centre, the seat of concentrated capital, talent, skill and enterprize. 
 And shall this proud prospect, and all this accumulated capital and pop- 
 ulation, be scattered to the four winds of heaven, shifting from point to 
 point, with every vicissitude of a quicksand of the Mississippi, for no 
 other reason than that they are deprived of the political (not physical) 
 power of expending the comparative pitance of $> 150,000 to secure their 
 landing ? We trust that no such shameful implication of inefficiency in 
 the institutions of our country will be permitted, but that the Govern- 
 ment, seeing their power, their sympathy, and the exercise of their duty 
 so earnestly invoked, and the welfare of so many people, as well as its 
 own interests so deeply involved, will promptly extend the relief the 
 case so urgently demands. 
 
 We cannot close this paper without calling attention to the fact that 
 the proposition of Congress, of 1837, to erect hospitals on the western 
 waters, for the relief of sick and disabled boatmen, remains unexecuted, 
 while the demand for such institutions has greatly increased, and con- 
 tinues to increase. The boatmen, however, are yet taxed, a portion of 
 their wages is still collected by the ofRcers of the United States, under 
 the law of 1798, and yet the provisions originally contemplated, and es- 
 sentially necessary, are incomplete and insufficient; the demands upon 
 the hospital being greatly multiplied beyond the means afforded for re- 
 lief. The weather-beaten boatman is taxed when well, that he may be 
 taken care of when sick, yet when the hour of misfortune arrives, he 
 discovers that his contributions to the fund only make the more poignant 
 the disappointment he feels at being denied its advantages. 
 
 All of which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 THO: ALLEN, Chairman. 
 
 Exports of PWaburgh, east, 1547 —The amount of freights shipped from Pittsburgh eastward, 
 from the 15th of ^^arch to the 31st of May, of this present year, not including the shipments of 
 the 31st, is registered at 73,936,390 lbs., conveyed in 1,300 canal boats. From the opening of the 
 canal in 1846 to the Ist of June of that year, the amoimt transported eastward was 40. 109.820 lbs., 
 conveyed in 939 boats— showing an excess for the present year, thus far, over a similar period 
 last year, of 33,836,.'j~0 lbs. A single item will give point to the exposition of this canal trade. 
 From the 15th of March, 1R47, to let of May, 1847, there were shipped eastward on the canal 
 64,042 barrels of flour. The item of pork for the same period of little over six weeks shows 
 82,621 barrels ; bacon, 4,073,833 lbs.; lard, 3,729,584 lbs.; hemp. 1.323;988 lbs.; tobacco, 975,148 lbs.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 LENGTH OF STEAMBOAT NAVIGATION ON I^HE PRINCIPAL 
 
 RIVERS. 
 
 Mississippi, from the Gulf to St. Anthony's Falls 2.-:?00 miles. 
 
 Missouri, from its Mouth to the foot of the Rapids., 2,000 " | 
 
 Red River, to head of navigation ],100 " 
 
 Ohio, to Pittsburgh 1,000 " 
 
 Arkansas, to mouths of the N eosho and Verdigris 630 " 
 
 Tennessee, to Chattanooga 485 " 
 
 Wabash, to Lafayette 300 " 
 
 Illinois, to Ottawa 250 " 
 
 Cumberland, to Nashville 200 " 
 
 Osage * 200 " 
 
 A steamboat, leaving Pittsburgh and going to New Orleans, and being there chartered 
 to go up the Missouri as high as the Rapids, and thence returning to Pittsburgh, will per 
 form a kegular voyage of about 8,450 miles, a distance nearly equal to crossing the 
 Atlantic three times! 
 
 MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 
 
 The Mississippi River takes its rise in latitude 48° north, and discharges its waters 
 into the Gulf of Mexico in latitude 29-^ 5'. It flows through a channel 3,000 miles long. 
 Its course is south, nearly 14° east. Its width averages about half a mile. Its width 
 does not increase with the volume of water, but is about the same at Galena, 1,600 miles 
 above the mouth, as at New Orleans, where the volume is six times as gi-eat. It is 645 
 yards wide at Vidalia, Louisiana. It drains an area of 300,000 square miles. Its mean 
 velocity at the surface, for the year, opposite Vidalia, is 1 .88 miles per hour. (Opposite 
 St. Louis its velocity is about three miles per hour.) Its mean depth, per annum, across 
 the entire channel, at the same place, (Vidalia,) is about sixty feet. The mean velocity 
 is reduced about fifteen per cent, by friction against the bottom. The total amount of 
 water discharged, per annum, in cubic feet, is 8,092,118,940,000. — [Prof. Forshey. 
 
 MISSOURI RIVER. 
 
 The Missouri River rises within one mile of the head waters of the great river of the 
 Oregon. It opens the "gates of the Rocky Mountains," at a point 411 miles above the 
 head of its navigation. The following are some of its principal tributaries, each naviga- 
 ble, from 100 to 800 miles : 
 
 The Yellowstone River 800 yards wide at its mouth. 
 
 Chienne " 400 " " 
 
 White " 300 " " 
 
 BigSioux " 110 " " 
 
 Platte " 600 " « 
 
 Kanzas " 233 " " 
 
 Grand " 190 " " 
 
 LaMine " 70 " " 
 
 Osage " 397 " " 
 
 Gasconade " " " 
 
 The length of the Missouri, from its source to its mouth, is 3,096 miles, and no substan- 
 tial obstruction impedes its navigation from its mouth to the falls, 2,000 miles. Consider-
 
 30 
 
 iug the Missouri as one river from it» sources to the Gulf of Mexico, it is the longest iu tho 
 world. Its average rapidity is nearly twice that of the Mississippi, as the average level 
 of its valley is nearly twice more elevated than that of the Mississippi. The first year a 
 steamboat navigated tlie Missouri was 1819. The following is an exhibit of tlie number 
 of steamboats engaged in the trade of that river from 1638 to 184G: 
 
 Year. Number of Boats. Nnmber nf Trips. 
 
 18:)8 17 96 
 
 183!) ^■',r^ 141 
 
 184U J-^ 147 
 
 1H41 Wi UrZ 
 
 1842 Jil 88 
 
 1843 •-'<; -MT) 
 
 18 i.i, arrivals at St. Louis from the Missouri -^49 
 
 1846, " " " " 256 
 
 The Santa Fe trade, and the Fur and Indian trade, as well as the domestic commerce 
 of that river, are very inijiortant and extensive, and there are those who anticipate the 
 period when that stream will be made a great artery of the trade between the United 
 States and China and the East Indies. The trade between St. Luuis^nd Santa Fe is es- 
 timated at S.'>00,000 per annum. The Fur trade of St. Louis is valued at $300,000 per' 
 annum. 
 
 AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS. 
 
 The Agricultural Products of the States of IventuoUy, Tennessee, Alabama, Missis- 
 sippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Iowa and Wis- 
 consin, for 184.5, were in part as tollows : wheat, 5-.2,4i!3,000 bushels; oats 88.336,000; 
 corn, •J!)7.396,000 ; Potatoes, 26,69 >,00a ; Tobacco, pounds, 123,962,400; cotton, 631,670,000 ; 
 sugar, 194,047,000. 
 
 COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OP EXPENSES. 
 
 Comparative statement of the expenses of a boat on the Upper Mississippi, and of 
 one on the Lower Mississippi: 
 
 Steamboat I , ol 249 tons, from St. Louis to New Orleans, from 29th May to 16th 
 
 Jane, 1847i inclusive, (18 days.) , 
 
 To wood, S8o6 62 
 
 " wages, 1,017,61 
 
 " stores, 467 76 
 
 " expenses 223 10 
 
 Total, S2,565 09 
 
 Being an average of S142 50 per day. 
 
 Down cargo, .520 tons. 
 
 Steamboat F , of 120 tons, from St Louis to the Upper Mississippi, from March 
 
 27th to June 8th, being 73 days: 
 
 To wood , Si, 31 3 89 
 
 " wages, » 3.fi-,0 00 
 
 " expenses, 2,2.")1 85 
 
 " lighting, 676 45 
 
 Total, .$7,892,19 
 
 Being an average of $108 11 per day. 
 
 But the average expense of the M , of 886 tons, is $355 per day ; trading be 
 
 tween St. Louis and New Orleans. 
 
 The average daily expense of the W , of 498 tons, is $325, engaged in the 
 
 same trade. 
 
 The expense of the D , of 132 tons, running on the Illinois river, is «70 per day.
 
 31 
 LETTER FROM HON. THOMAS H. BENTON. 
 
 At a meeting of the Delegation appointed to attend the Chicago Convention, held at 
 the Planters' House, on Saturday, the 26th of June, F. M. Haight, Esq., in the Chair, 
 James E. Yeat.man, Esq., presented the folluwing letter from the Hun. Thomas H. Ben- 
 ton, which was read, approved, and ordered to be printed with the report of this Dele- 
 gation : A. B. CHAMBERS, Secretary. 
 
 St. Louis, June 20, 1847. 
 To Messrs. Way.man Ciiow, Edwaed Walsh, James E. Yeat.man and others, a 
 Committee. &c. 
 
 Geullemcn : — 
 
 In my brief note addressed to you on my return from Jefferson City, I expressed 
 the gratification I should have felt in going with the St. Louis Delegation to tlie Chicago 
 Convention, and made known tlie reason which would prevent me from having that 
 pleasure. 
 
 The Lake and River navigation of the Great West, to promote which the Convention 
 is called, very early had a share of my attention, and I never had a doubt of the constitu- 
 tionality or expediency of bringing tliat navigation within the circle of internal improve- 
 •^ ment by the Federal Government, when the object to be improved sliould be one of gen- 
 eral and national importance. 
 
 The junction of the two great systems of waters which occupy so mucli of our country — 
 the Northern Lakes on one hand, and the Mississippi River and its tributaries on the 
 other — appeared to me to be an object of that character, and Chicago the proper point 
 for effecting the union ; and near tliirty years ago, I wrote and publislied articles in a St. 
 Louis newspaper in favor of that object, indicated, and almost accomplished by nature 
 herself, and wanting but a helping liand from man to complete it. Articles in the St. 
 Louis Enquirer of April, 1819, express the opinions which 1 then entertained, and the 
 "■report" of that period, published in the same paper, to the Secretary at War, by Messrs* 
 Graham and PhilHps, in favor of that canal (and which '■'■report" I wrote) was probably the 
 first formal communication, upon authentic data, in favor of the Chicago canal. These 
 gentlemen, with Mr. John C. Sullivan, of Missouri, had been appointed by the Secretary 
 at War, to ran a line from the south end of Lake Michigan to the Mississippi. I proposed 
 to them to examine the ground between Chica^'o and the head waters of the Illinois 
 Hiver, with a view to the construction of a caaul by tlie Federal Government. They 
 did so; and on their return to St. Louis, submitted all their observations to me ; and hence 
 the publications in the newspapers, and the report to the Secretary at War. I mention 
 this to shew that mj' opinions on this subject are of long standing ; and that the national- 
 ity of the Chicago canal, and, of course, of the harbor at its mouth, are by no means new 
 conceptions with me. But, 1 must confess, that I did not foresee then what I have 
 since seen — the Falls of Niagara surmounted by a ship canal ! and a schooner clearing 
 from Chicago for Liverpool! 
 
 The river navigation of the Great West is the most wonderful on the globe, and since 
 the application of steam power to the propulsion of vessels, possesses the essential quali- 
 ties of ocean navigation. Speed, distance, cheapness, magnitude of cargoes, are all there, 
 and without the perils of the sea from storms and enemies. The steam boat is the ship of 
 the river, and finds in the Mississippi and its tributaries the amplest theatre for the diffu- 
 sion of its use, and the display of its power. Wonderful river! connecting with seas by 
 the head and by the mouth — stretching its arras towards the Atlantic and the Paci- 
 fic — lying in a valley, which is a valley from the Gulf of Mexico to Hudson's Bay — 
 drawing its first waters not from rugged mountains, but from a plateau of lakes in tho 
 centre of the continent, and in communication with the sources of the St. Lawrence
 
 32 
 
 and the streams which take their course north to Hudson's Bay — draining the largest 
 extent of richest laud — collecting the products of every clime, even the frigid, to hoar 
 the whole to a genial market in the sunny south, and there to meet the products of 
 the entire world : Such is the Mississippi ! And who can calculate the aggregate of its 
 advantages, and the magnitude of its future commercial results ? 
 
 Many years ago the late Governor Ci.auk and myself undertook to calculate the ex- 
 tent of the boatable water in the valley of the Mississippi : we made it about 50,000 
 miles ! of which 30,000 were couii)uted to unite above St. Louis, and 20,000 below. Of 
 course, we counted all the infant streams on which a flat, a keel, or a battcau could be 
 floated, and justly: for every tributary, of the humblest boatable character, helps to 
 swell not only the volume of the central waters, but of the commerce upon them. Of 
 this immense extent of river navigation, all combined into one system of waters, St. 
 Louis is the centre ! and the entrepot of its trade ' presenting even now, in its infancy, 
 an astonishing and almost incredible amount of commerce, destined to increase forever. 
 It is considered an inland town. Counting by time and money, the only tme com- 
 mercial measure of distances, and St. Louis is nearer to the sea than New Orleans 
 was before the steam tow boat abridged the distance between that city and the mouth 
 of the Mississippi. St. Louis is a sea port, as well as an inland city, and is a port 
 of delivery by law, and has collected $50,000 of duties on foreign imports during the 
 current year; and with a liberal custom law would hecoxae a. gre^t entrepot of foreign 
 as well as of domestic commerce. With the attributes and characteristics of a sea- 
 port, she is entitled to the benefits of one, as full}- and as clearly as New York or New 
 Orleans. 
 
 About twenty years ago, I moved in the Senate, and obtained an appropriation for 
 a survey of the Rapids of the Upper Mississippi : it was probably the first appropriation 
 ever obtained for the improvement of the upper part of the river. About twenty-five j'ears 
 ago, I moved, and succeeded in the motion, to include the Missouri liver in a bi'l for the 
 improvement of the western rivers : it was the first time that river had been so included 
 Thus, on the important items of the Chicago canal, the Rapids of the Upper Missis- 
 sippi, and the Missouri river, I was among the first to propose to include them within 
 the circle of internal improvement by the Federal Government. I have always been a 
 friend to that system, but not to its abuses ! and here lies the difficulty, and the dan- 
 ger, and the stumbling block to its success. Objects of general and national import- 
 ance can alone claim the aid of the Federal Government; and in favor of such objects 
 I believe all the departments of the government to be united. Confined to them, and 
 the constitution can reach them, and the treasury sustain them. Extended to local 
 or sectional objects, and neither the constitution, nor the treasury could uphold them. 
 National objects of improvement are few in number, definite in character, and man- 
 ageable by the treasury: local and sectional objects are innumerable, and indefinite, 
 and ruinous to the treasury. Near twenty years ago the treasury was threatened with a 
 demand for two hundred millions of dollars for objects of internal improvement, then ap- 
 plied for, and many of them of no national importance. The enormity of the sum balked 
 the system ; and so it must be again, if the proper discrimination is not kept up between 
 local and national subjects. It is for Congress to make that discrimination: the President 
 cannot : he must reject, or approve the bill as a whole. Here, then, is the point at 
 which the friends of the system, in Congress, must exert all their cai-e and vigilance. 
 No arbitrary rule can be give i for the admission or exclusion of proper objects ; but really 
 national objects admit of no dispute ; and, confined to them, I apprehend but little danger 
 of losing a bill, either from Executive vetoes, or for want of votes in Congi-ess. 
 
 Very respectfully. Gentlemen, your friend and fellow-citizen, 
 
 THOMAS H. BENTON.
 
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