Johnson County, Missouri - Chapter 23, 1881

Chapter 23

Natural Features and Material Wealth of Missouri - Statistical Review for 1881 - Minerals - Manufactures - Education - Religion - The Valley of the West - Missouri, the "Impe rial State" - Its Transcendant Importance - The Future.

But what of the natural features and material wealth of the great state whose history we have sketched? Is it true of nature, as of the individual, that its true worth is shadowed in the face, that a hidden something, called

Historical Sketch Of Missouri

The stupendous in nature lies not within our borders. No cloud-capped mountains tower, no ocean-storms beat stranded barks upon a rock-barred shore, no desolate deserts sweep unpitying to the distant mirage, only the rivers flow with silent power; the prairies, like ocean billows, roll in green and gold, and valleys sleep beside the simple streams with forest-skirted banks. But like a garden vast, the seeds spring up in glory, the fields are full of life and beauty, the flowers bloom in glad profusion, and fruits grow ripe beneath the mellow gold of summer sun.

It has been truly said that " agriculture is the original, most constant* most certain, and only never failing source of independence and wealth." This is true of nation or state, and in this independence and wealth lies the rich and ever-present beauty of the natural scenery of Missouri.

In this beautiful domain so vast in extent and varied in feature, with pleasing contrasts of hill, slope and vale, meadow and table-land, bottoms and sandy heights, timber land and prairie, the climate is so charmingly tempered between the extremes of heat and cold, and the soils are so varied in composition, exposure to the sun, and in the capacity for receiv¬ ing and retaining moisture, that not only a fair, but an abundant crop of everything belonging to this latitude, may be readily, economically and successfully cultivated.

Here, in wild luxuriance clambers the purple grape which, under the perfecting hand of man, assumes rich magnificence and vast wealth. At every swell of the land waves the bearded wheat. In the low bottoms leaps up the tasseled corn, the " pride of the west." Anon, the cotton and the cane are seen. There, neglected fields, covered with native grasses, become " pastures green " for horses, and sheep, and cattle. And dotted over all, are the orchards, bending low beneath their loads of ripeningfruit.

And is not this beauty transcendant? "Cold sublimity" forms no part of it. The earth is warm and loving. Earth, air and water, bid man to pros¬ per. It is the land of homes , a land where art may flourish and culture reign, a land where the elements combine to make life rapturous, and in this the scenery is of supremest beauty.

remarkably early period by the richness and abundance of its mines. These still continue to be one of the most attractive and wealth-producing features of the state.

Underneath the beauteous prairies lie immeasurable coal fields. For ages the light and heat of the sunshine, by the processes of nature, have been stored away in the earth, and to-day they are ministering to the comfort and pleasure of man. Ages alone can exhaust the supply.

Iron, the most civilizing of the metals, exists in large quantities. Some¬ times, for certain varieties, it is necessary to pierce the hardest of rock ; again, great masses are thrown above the surface by volcanic action, and are of easy access to man.

Need we go farther and bring to the surface limestone, sandstone and granite, lead in abundance, silver, and various of the less important met¬ als ? Think for a moment of the power that exists in the coal - sufficient, if concentrated, to almost rend the earth asunder - then of the power of the machinery made from the metals reduced by the coal - then of the broad acres upon which and upon whose products this machinery may act, and say what shall the future of Missouri be ?

Geographical position is greatly to her advantage, but of herself, suffi¬ cient are the resources of Missouri to make the prowess of England, with her miles of mines, sink into comparative insignificance.

The useful minerals of Missouri, aside from coal, are: Iron, lead, cop¬ per, zinc, cobalt, nickle, manganese, silver and gold (these two latter in unimportant quantities), tin, platinum, marble, limestones, gypsum, clays (in great variety), sandstones, granite and paints.

Beside the navigable waters of Missouri, thousands of mineral springs exist, situated in all parts of the state. Hundreds of them, it is said, are of sufficient force to become valuable as water powers; "and the time is not far distant when these vast limpid fountains will make a thousand burrs and saws whirl to their dashing music." These springs include the varieties of salt, sulphur, chalybeate and petroleum.

"If" says Mr. G. C. Swallow, the former state geologist, "in connec¬ tion with these vast and varied mineral products, we take into view the well-known facts that Missouri and the adjacent states possess soils of wonderful fertility, and varieties suited to all the staple crops and fruits of the temperate zone; that the whole region is intersected by rivers and creeks, and watered by countless living springs; that it is supplied with boundless forests of nearly every variety of the best timber on the con¬ tinent; that numerous railroads and thousands of miles of river navigation center here ; that we are in the great highway of the moving populations of both hemispheres ; we shall have more of the causes and conditions of growth, wealth and permanence than have ever surrounded any people of ancient or modern times. "

The present governor of Missouri, Thomas T. Crittenden, thus calls attention to the resources of the state, in his recent inaugural: "Missouri forms no unimportant part of this ^country, occupying almost the geo¬ graphical centre of the union, with its vast resources and capabilities, penetrated and enriched by two of the greatest rivers in the world, with her railroads reaching in every direction, and new ones being daily constructed) constitute it, as it were, the very key of the arch of the union of these states, which must and will bind them together forever and ever. Here the civilization of the north and the south meet on common soil, and become one, as the climates of both sections here meet and mingle into one of strength and beauty. Such a state can never become sectional from the very nature of its position and climate; here the cereal of the north, and the cotton of the south, grow and flourish side by side, and here the oak of the west, and the pine of the south spring in grandeur from the same soil. There is no part of this wonderful state that is not susceptible of being made into lovely homes and peaceful abodes. Nature smiles kindly upon every part of the state, and there is no production known to the hand of husbandry and industry, that cannot be grown from her soil and produced from her mineral wealth. In the last decade, Missouri has made rapid progress in increase of population, ranking as the fifth state in the union, and growing more rapidly than any state east of the Missis¬ sippi, except Michigan, and surpassed west only by Texas and Kansas, and will, in the next decade, attain three millions of population if the same ratio of increase continues.

" The name of Missouri is heard all over the union in language of com¬ mendation, and with the assertion that it is yet destined to become one of the foremost of the sisterhood of states. Its indebtedness is insignificant compared to its capacities and possibilities. The eminent divine, Henry Ward Beecher, said in a recent article: 'The breadth of land from the Red river country of the north, stretching to the Gulf of Mexico, including Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and Texas, is one of the most wonderful agricultural spectacles of the globe. It is one of the few facts that are unthinkable. In this ocean of land, and nearly its center, stands the imperial state of Missouri It has boundless treas¬ ures of iron, coal, lead, and other minerals; lands richer there cannot be, nor finer, purer streams; its climate wholesome and delightful, blends the temperature of the northern lakes and the great southern gulf; and, as one of our distinguished citizens has said: ' Here one can create for him¬ self a home in the fullest meaning of the word, a home where he can sit under his own vine and tree, and eat bread made from his own grain, quaff wine from his own vineyard, smoke a pipe filled from his own plant¬ ing, while he and his family may be clad in cottons, linens, woolens and silks grown upon his own freehold.' "

We find that 263,918 hands are employed in agricultural pursuits, upon a capital of $492,789,746, the products of whose labors reach $103,035,759.

These figures were given as the result of investigations made in 1876. The period since that time has been one of unparalleled prosperity, and the figures are now largely increased.

But before we go further into these statistics of manufacturing, mining and agriculture, it will be proper, to make our sketch complete, to give at this point the taxable wealth, state debt, railroad facilities and population:

The following statistics we glean from the auditor's report for the year 1879-80. If carefully studied, they are valuable in helping us to form a correct estimate of the resources and financial standing of the state at the present time.

It is estimated by reliable authority, that the state has now "over 4,000 miles of railways, more than 1,600 post-offices, 700 telegraph offices, 3,000 churches, and 300 newspapers and periodicals."

"As showing the great fertility of the soil of Missouri, the following figures giving the average yield of bushels per acre, and the price per bnshel, pound or ton of farm products for the year, 1879, are here given: Corn, 37.0, per bushel, 25 cents; wheat, 14.0, per bushel, $1.01; rye, 17.0, per bushel, 61 cents; oats, 24.6, per bushel, 26 cents; buckwheat, 20.0, per bushel, 63 cents; potatoes, 91.0, per bushel, 48 cents; tobacco, 663 pounds, per pound, five cents; hay, tons, 1.06, per ton $9.43. While the estimated yield of the whole state was as follows: Corn, 111,125,800 - bushels; wheat, 30,688,000 bushels; rye, 559,559 bushels; oats, 18,360,652 bushels; buckwheat, 54,780 bushels; potatoes, 6,621,720 bushels."

"The Missouri coal fields underlie an area of about 26,000 square miles. A distinguished mining engineer, after giving a detailed account of the mines which have been examined, sums up by saying: 'They have enough ore to run 100 furnaces for 1,000 years.' "

" In the amount of her available and productive permanent public school funds, she surpasses every state in the union, with the single exception of Indiana; and if those funds had been managed as the constitution and laws require, it is demonstrable, that to-day she would have the largest in the union.

" The state of Missouri levies a tax of five cents and permits a local tax of forty cents, without a vote of the people, or sixty-five cents in the country districts, and $1.00 in cities and towns, by a majority vote of the tax-payers voting.

"For the year ending last April, only two counties in the state reported a less rate of local taxation than the maximum allowed in Indiana, only one the amount of that maximum, and the average rate of all the counties reported was thirty-nine cents, or fourteen cents more than the possible rate of that state.

" Missouri has more school houses to the population than Massachusetts. The amount she expends annually for public education is nearly double the rate on the amount of her assessed valuation, that the amount expended by the latter state is on her valuation; while our public school funds exceed those of Massachusetts, $5,405,127.09."

Again, from the same source: "Present total amount of permanent public school funds (1880), $8,950,805.71; increase in 1880 over amounts of 1879, $1,358,098.41. Amount expended by the state for education in 1880, exclusive of income of county and township funds and local tax, $638,286.09; total amount of expenditures by counties, $3,152,178.47; total persons attending school, exclusive of normal schools and university, 476,376.

" County commissioners, with scarcely an exception, report that their counties are being supplied with a better class of teachers than formerly, and that a greater interest in schools is being manifested by the patrons and the community at large.

"Cities and towns which have been in the habit of maintaining only a four or five months' school term, have increased them to from eight to ten months.

" Where there have been no school houses, and buildings or rooms have been rented for school purposes, or where the school houses were old, unsightly, dilapidated and unfit, the people at the annual meetings have ordered the erection of substantial and suitable houses.

"The increase of school terms and the erection of new buildings have necessitated a larger tax levy than is permitted by the constitution without a vote. This fact gave rise, in several towns, to a sharp issue and a heated contest. Yet in every instance, in so far as I am informed, the propositifp to increase the tax was carried by an overwhelming majority. Nor were these instances confined to one section, but happened in every quarter of the state. * * * There is a cheerful feeling preva¬

There are 37 institutions for superior instruction within the state; of these, 16 are for men, and are devoted mostly to theology, and 11 are for women.

The state university, located at Columbia, Mo., having an income from endowment fund and state appropriation of $68,467, consists of the follow- ing departments: college proper, where are taught the arts, letters and sciences; the normal department, for the preparation of teachers; the agri¬ cultural and mechanical college; the school of mines located at Rolla, Mo.; .the schools of law, medicine, analytical and applied chemistry. The university has a library of 8,500 volumes.

Three normal schools were founded in 1871, and are supported by annual appropriations from the state. For the purpose of location, Mis¬ souri was divided into three districts. District No. 1, takes in all the territory north of the river; district No. 2, all south of the river and west of a line drawn southward from the river along the eastern boundary of Osage and Maries counties ; district No. 3 includes the remainder of the state. The schools are located respectively at Kirksville, Adair county, Warrensburg, Johnson county, and Cape Girardeau, Mo. The schools in the first and second districts have an average attendance of 350 students; that in the third district is less. Each school possesses handsome build¬ ings, the gifts of counties to secure location. As factors in education their influence is vast.

The following estimate of churches and church members in the state, we take from the " Hand-book of Missouri" published by the Missouri Immigration Society:

As points of concentration, for these various industries, and centers for the highest in educational and church facilities, two representative cities demand our attention - Kansas City, resting upon our western border, and St. Louis, upon the eastern. We are indebted to Polk & Co's. Gazetteer for the following facts with regard to each:

Kansas City - the second town in the state, in point of industry, enter¬ prise, commerce, wealth, and population, is located in the extreme north¬ western corner of Jackson county, on the south side of the Missouri river, at its junction with the Kansas, a stream of 1,200 miles in length. The city is built principally on the high bluffs overlooking the river, with an altitude of 700 feet above the level of the sea, and is, geographically, the center of the continent. In 1*854 the population, by actual count, v#as 283; in 1860, 4,047; in 1870, 32,260, and in 1880 (census report), 62,000. The transportation facilities, which constitute one of the chief elements of its growth, are unsurpassed on the continent. Thirteen lines of railroads center in it. During 1879 and 1880 $3,089,987 worth of property was erected. The total grain receipts for the year 1880, were, wheat, 7,215,- 065 bushels; corn, 5,121,404 bushels; oats, 344,775 bushels; rye, 203,944 bushels; barley, 102,360 bushels. Stock received during 1880: Cattle, 244,709; hogs, 676,477; sheep, 50,611; horses and mules 14,086; the bulk of which was shipped to eastern markets. The city (in 1880), has a total taxable wealth of $13,379,950, an increase of $2,000,000 over the preceding year. The bonded indebtedness is $1,353,702. There are seven fine elevators, storage capacity 1,495,000 bushels, eleven banks, capital about $2,000,000; twenty-nine church edifices; ten public schools, employing seventy-three teachers, and enrolling 6,000 pupils. An iron bridge spans the Missouri river. There are six daily and four weekly papers; also, water works, police force and fire department.

" St. Louis, the 4 Midland City of America,' with its population of 352,000, and great and varied industries, is on the Mississippi river, south of its confluence with the Illinois and Missouri rivers, in the very heart and center of the continent for railroading and steamboating, and for travel, trade, manufacturing and business of every kind. Although St. Louis is the great city of the waters, and center of the whole system of river navigation, it nevertheless owes not a little to its admirable and com¬ plete railroad facilities. Centering here, and affording convenient trans¬ portation to all points in the United States, are twenty-one lines of travel. Eleven packet steamer lines out of St. Louis connect with others on more than 15,000 miles of navigable rivers. The rivers and railroads traverse many degrees of latitude and longitude, and thus afford great interchange of productions from the fields, forests, mines and workshops of many lands. The city itself is situated 405 feet above the level of the sea; it is 18 J miles long in the river frontage; its area, 62^ square miles, or 40,000 acres. The bonded debt is about $22,507,000. The assessed value of property, real and personal, is $166,517,330. The volume of grain handled in 1880, in bushels, was - wheat, 21,022,275; corn, 22,298,- 077; oats, 5,607,078; rye, 468,755; barley, 2,561,992 - total bushels, 51,958,177. Flour inspected in 1880 was 1,582,990 barrels. The value of the cotton business to the city is equal to at least fifty millions of dol¬ lars per annum. In 1880, 12,846,169 pounds of tobacco were manufac¬ tured into various forms; the receipts of lumber were 330,935,973 feet, and sales 313,489,726; the receipts of livestock were, cattle 424,720, sheep 205,969, hogs, 1,840,684, horses and mules 46,011; the shipments, cattle 228,879, sheep 93,522, hogs 770,769, horses and mules 44,416; the number handled is perhaps 33-J or 50 per cent more ; the receipts of coal amounted to 41,892,356 bushels. There are 1,800 manufactories, 7 elevators, total capacity 5,650,000 bushels, 25 banks, 103 public schools, employing 967 teachers and enrolling 55,790 scholars. The libraries are - public school, 44,427 vols.; mercantile, 55,000 vols. ; law association, 10,000 vols. The two most noted dailies are St. Louis Globe- Democrat and St. Louis Republican - the latter established in 1809. One of the most pleasing feat¬ ures of the city, for which it is justly celebrated, is its parks, of which it boasts eighteen: Forest Park, with an acreage of 1,511, and valued at $1,000,000; Tower Grove Park has 276 acres, valued at $400,000; O'Fallon Park, with 159 acres, and Lafayette 39 acres, each valued at $250,000. These, with fourteen smaller parks, show a total acreage of 2,107, valued at $2,050,000."

By reference to an address, which we quote further on, the national importance of St. Louis will be more fully seen. An immense volume of water flows within the banks of the Mississippi to the gulf of Mexico. Properly utilized, it will be sufficient, it is thought, to float ocean steamers. Government aid has been sought to deepen the channel. But as yet noth¬ ing has been done, further than to clean out the accumulated sands at the mouth and turn the main volume of water into one channel, which has been accomplished by means of the celebrated " Eads jetties." Steamers of immense tonnage now come up to New Orleans. When ocean com¬ merce shall begin its voyage at St. Louis, the centralization of wealth will be great. The flow of wealth in and out through Missouri will make her also incomparably greater. It is also to be remembered that it is no idle boast that says another quarter of a century will see the capitol of the union at "central" St. Louis.

We have briefly related the gradual unfolding, and now, in the brilliant galaxy of the American union - the " Imperial State " stands revealed. The dawning of a new era is at hand ! The prelude of a matchless song

- the song of her colossal labors toward the realization of the acme of continental wealth and civilization, is begun. Her march is bent toward the infinite. Her potenc}Hs destined to be the marvel of the future! She is the favored child of nature, seated in the center of a land of unsurpassed magnificence. The climate is mild and salubrious, for neither are the sum¬ mers tropic nor the winters arctic. Missouri contains 41,824,000 acres. In size, the eighth state in the union, and larger than any state east of the Mississippi. She is pre-eminently fitted for Xhehome of man. For within her borders are almost all the agricultural and mineral products of the world. Manufacturing industries capable of immense expansion exist. Stock raising and wool growing meet with abundant success. Education, in systematic extent, ranks with the best of the east. Law and order are omnipresent. In a word, " Missouri possesses the resources and capaci¬ ties of a nation within the boundaries of a state."

Hon. Charles P. Johnson* of St. Louis, in a recent address of remarka¬ ble eloquence and rich and varied learning, recounted the matchless resources and illimitable capabilities of the vast valley of the Mississippi. Worthy only of the man who produced it, the address sets forth in terms of truth and beauty the present position and future destiny of Missouri as the heart of this valley. We gladly quote from the great effort:

" Between the two mountain ridges that run parallel to the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and extending from north to south over twenty-two degrees of latitude, lies the valley of the Mississippi. The immense tract contains over 1,244,000 square miles, or 796,460,000 acres.

" The area is mostly included in the states and territories of Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio, Indi¬ ana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, and the Indian territory.

"Its physical features are varied, unique and wonderful. A principal one attracting observation, is the admirable provision for fructification and drainage. No valley of the earth presents so uniform and harmonious a series of ever-supplying tributaries, either to main or subordinate arteries. In obedience to the law of its construction, more than fifty rivers, after absorbing a vast network of smaller irrigating streams, coursing in every direction, pour their waters into a channel that bosoms a river unrivalled in natural magnitude and extent, flowing onward for thousands of miles, and sweeping directly out into ocean waters. And this feature is not alone associated with fruitfulness imparted to soil, and health to atmosphere, but it is also suggestive of the vast means afforded for transportation for man and the commodities of his labor.

" In its extended course the Mississippi traverses 2,800 miles, and is navigable for 2,000. The Red river is 1,550 miles long and navigable for 1,246. The Arkansas is 2,170 miles long and is navigable for 800 miles.

The Missouri is navigable for 2,893 miles, and is 3,017 miles long. The Ohio is 1,265 miles long and is navigable for 975 miles. The whole mak¬ ing over 12,000 miles of navigable river-ways throughout the valley.

"We look in vain over the globe's expanse for any similar physical fea¬ tures, like nature has here framed in a vast and symmetrical mold. No rival exists in the valley of the Nile, the Danube, the Volga or the Ama¬ zon.

"Another notable feature is the wide diversity of climate involved in the extensive territorial sweep. Within a space from a point on the north, marking the source of a small tributary of the Missouri, and from thence stretching onward to the Southwest Pass, there is a season play of every variety of temperature. The line of the southern boundary, though semitropical, unites with the waters of a gulf, reaching the confines of the tor¬ rid zone, while at the northern limit the breath of the frozen arc frosts and fringes the great lakes. Throughout this intervening space, therefore, we have climatic effects of so varied a character as to vouchsafe the pro¬ duction of every requisite of necessity and luxury ever utilized by man.

" But, after all, the most striking feature of this great valley is the apparent utter abandonment with which nature has lavished her grandest and richest gifts. No region in the world has received equal recognition at her hands. The fabled productiveness of the Orient, or the divinely blessed Promised Land, pales before the realities of this broad expanse* On mountain and in vale, there flourishes in superabundant diversity every article that can be absorbed by man in his advancing civilization. Staple grains that feed a world, spring from the soil at the waving of labor's wand.

" Flocks and herds swarm in valley and on prairie, giving a golden fleece for man's apparel, adding provision for his sustenance and assistance to his labor.

"The fields of the south are whitened by the plant that affords man his chief raiment, and the spinning worm weaves its glossy skein with as fibrous a beauty as its European or Asiatic prototype ; and here and there comes forth in prolific growth the hempen plant, whose tough, enduring thread has made it the indispensable agent of commerce and the mechanic arts.

" The hillside is gladdened by extensive vineyards, and the wine-press forces juice from grapes as luscious as were ever kissed by the ripening sun in the vales of Burgundy, or on the slopes of the Rhineland. And where on earth is the region more generous of its fruits and flowers, or more abundant in the variety of its vegetation? Nearly all the fruits known to the luxurious tastes of man are here, and our floriculture in its possibili¬ ties is incomparable. Landscapes are lined with the shadows of vast for¬ ests, the growth of centuries, from out of whose depths comes the timber

"Throughout this extended region are inexhaustible deposits of copper and lead, zinc and tin, of silver and of gold. On its western border the adventurous miner has already brought to light veins of these precious metals, piercing far down into the earth, revealing a splendor of wealth dwarfing the. magnificence of the Montezumas and making a reality of the fabled magic of Aladdin's lamp.

" But if these be gifts worthy of homage to nature, what feelings of adoration should move us as we gaze on those mighty layers and boulders of coal and iron, whose depository has already been mapped by the geologist.

" The use of gold and silver says Gibbon, 4 is in a great measure, facticious, but it would be impossible to enumerate the important and various services which agriculture and all the arts have received from iron, when tempered and fashioned by the operation of fire and the dexterous hand of man.'

" Looking at the present innumerable uses of this valuable metal, and our daily and hourly contact with its shapings in every relation of life, and the grand possibility for new forms of utilization to answer the wants and capacity for enjoyment of man, in connection with the wealth of our deposits, the mind is startled into a ready recognition of its utter inability to grasp in detail the magnitude of a more modern or future revelation. And, in passing, it may not be inappropriate to proclaim that the mightiest continuous deposit of this civilizing ore of the world, is within the limits of our own favored Missouri.

"The moral, physical and social characteristics of the people of this val¬ ley are distinctly marked. The various foreign infusions, intermixing and interweaving with the native population, have given improved blood, a more enduring muscular integument, and has strengthened the nerve fibre. They are bold, active, energetic, acquisitive and progressive. The objec¬ tive point of their aspirations may appear material, but they work on ilnes whose ultimate unites the material with the good and the beautiful.

" During the last three decades they have accomplished much by their labors. The portals of the valley have been thrown wide open ; the high¬ ways to the Pacific, the gulf, the lakes and the east cleared, and the works of future greatness entered upon. An unrivalled, internal com¬ merce flourishes. A railroad system has been projected crossing the con¬ tinent from east to west, and from north to south, intersected by innumerable converging lines, whose termini on the oceans, the gulf and the northern boundary unite with the near and far-reaching commercial lines through¬ out the world. Its extreme limits east and west join with the steamship lines

Tne genius of the age already conceives further lengthening lines of communication, connecting by commercial ties with Mexico, and the nations of Central and South America, and onward to the ocean at the southernmost point of Cape Horn; while the skilled engineer already works successfully in overcoming at the Delta the first and most formida¬ ble barrier to our inland sea. Nor is this all. The daring science of modern engineering, which knows no such word as fail, proposes to connect the oceans by a canal, at the Isthmus, which shall dwarf the importance and the significance of the Suez, and to overleap the hitherto inaccessible divide, by lifting vessels of every tonnage securely from the Pacific, and dropping them into the Atlantic.

"Nor does the review of their labor cease here. The telegraph circles in all directions. Postal facilities, perfect in their adaptation, reach every point of the land. Education is the governmental birthright of every child. Free religion is recognized. A fearless and enlightened press dis¬ seminates the intellectual products of the world. Libraries are estab¬ lished. Schools of art and academies of science and universities are founded. Already is here raised the grain food for the nations. The ' harvest of last season exceeded in extent and yield any borne on the face of the earth; and, looking upon this immense product, as it sweeps out to foreign ports, are we not warranted in declaring that these people are now the owners of the provision marts and granaries of the world? Nor has cotton been dethroned. The American staple still clothes the millions of Europe, while American beef has found a new and eternal market in England, and in the next ten years will inevitably, from its superior excellence and cheapness, build up an illimitable trade with other nations of the Eastern Hemisphere. The infancy of a manufacturing system is seen; and furnaces,' rolling mills, and foundries, and machine shops, pro¬ duce a wide and diversified variety of articles indispensable to trade, com¬ merce and household economy.

" Mines have been opened ; mines of iron and silver and gold, and delv¬ ing therein, the child of poverty of yesterday, has become the millionaire of to-day. The dream of the alchemist has been realized, and the famed wealth of the oriental prince recedes before the splendid possessions of a citizen of the modern El Dorado. In this, how forcibly are we impressed with De Tocqueville's words: 'The valley of the Mississippi is, upon the whole, the most magnificent dwelling-place prepared by God for man's abode.'

" I pause here in my review of what man has accomplished with the elements contained in the Mississippi valley. To advance further in the details of his work is unnecessary to impress you with its extent and importance. It is the opening chapter of the grandest history written since the creation. It vibrates along the lines of thought in the majestic and heroic tones of an epic; and in its claims for honorable distinction and supremacy, it appeals to the enlightened judgment of mankind.

" But, notwithstanding what has been accomplished by the people of this valley, they have before them a great work. The first chapter has been written, and they enter upon the second. Missouri is the center of the magnificent domain. The political divisions existing originate and foster a commendable rivalry in the march of modern progress, and the spirit and aspirations of the people of our state are shown in this assem¬ blage of her representative men. It marks a new era. She is entitled to ascendency among her sister states. Her position and her riches entitle her to it. The heart of the continent, she receives and distributes through commercial arteries the products of this land, and from every mart, bazaar and part of the world. Let us here and now determine and pledge our¬ selves to use every honorable means to place her in the position of influ¬ ence, grandeur and glory to which she is so justly entitled. It is unneces¬ sary for me to suggest modes of accomplishment.

" But in connection with my subject it is not out of place, but, on the contrary, is appropriate for me to press upon you the importance of a per¬ sistent and determined effort to force the government to improve the Mis¬ sissippi river, and so convert it into what it should be - the mighty inland sea of the nation. Our situation demands it. The assistance should have been accorded long ago. Sectional reciprocity should have extended to us this right, and we can feel assured of soon gaining it, for, believe me, the near future will see the realm of political power transferred to its nat¬ ural home in the valley of the great west. There never was - there never will be - a more splendid opportunity afforded to western statesmen than to enforce this vital truth upon the people through the councils of the government. The Mississippi belongs to the whole country. It is the heritage of a nation. It is the grand highway of free and united America. Nor has there ever been a finer opportunity presented for a government to construct appropriate national works, guaranteeing more unrivalled blessings.

" The expenditure on our river of the money and labor that constructed those great highways leading from the most distant parts of the Roman empire to its capital, or upon those huge aqueducts of the same period, or upon the gardens and palaces of Ninevah, or on the great wall of China, the pyramids of Egypt, or the expenditure of a tithe as much as that wasted on the modern fortifications of Europe, would jewel our stream with magnificent ports, dot it with costly arsenals of trade, control it with extended levees, and channel it to bear upon its bosom the outgo¬ ing and incoming commerce of the world.

True to ourselves and earnest in our labors, the possibilities of the future are illimitable. The convulsions of civil war are stilled forever. The dead past is an enshrinement of memory. The recognition is extant of the necessity of a united people. We can tolerate neither an eastern, a western, nor a southern secession. The government of our fathers in its just and equitable distribution of state and national powers, is acknowl¬ edged as essential for the permanence of our empire, and is it not possi¬ ble to develope a statesmanship which can modify laws and constitutions to meet the requirements of expanding, progressive ideas, without illegal commotion or revolutionary violence? Yes. And what then? The prophetic eye sees unfolded the vision of a marvelous civilization. A second chapter is recorded. No element of the human intellect but posessses its opportunity for experiment and expansion. Broadening into a universal strength, it has triumphed over fear, bigotry, and unauthorized power. Religion has universalized and taken unto herself not only art, but science and philosophy. Seats of learning contest in rivalry for supremacy with the time-honored institutions of the old world. The pen¬ cil of the artist and the chisel of the sculptor are tipped with a genius as fervid in its inspirations as that of any ancient, medieval or modern school. Manufactories for the supply of every possible want of man, cover the land, and swarm with skilled artizans. The Birminghams and Sheffields - the Genevas, are rivaled bv western cities. Innumerable arches of rare architectural beauty span the highways to the ocean. Ships wafting to and fro the rich argosies of a boundless commerce display from mast heads, beneath the shadow of the great bridge, the flag of every nation. And on the hill and valley, on mountain and river-side, rise 'cities and tem¬ ples beyond the art of Phidias or Praxiteles, beyond the splendors of Babylon and Hecatompylos.' And peerless amongst these, and of the world, stands St. Louis. And why not ? Is not Paris on the Seine, removed above the seacoast ? Is not London on the Thames, far above Gravesend ? And would St. Louis possess fewer advantages if the Mis¬ sissippi were improved as it could and should be ? No ! I proclaim it as no ideal boast, but with a confidence of realization as supreme as he, who, years ago, said, ' There is the east, there is India,' - here is the cen¬ ter of the world's trade - here is the future metropolis of empire, - in the favored child of the mighty valley of the Mississippi, - 'the City of the Iron Crown.' "

It is in truth a wondrous prophesy, jbut a certain realization of the myste¬ rious unfolding of the future. Time was, when the proudest utterance of the valiant disciple of liberty was, " I am an American;" time will be, when the proudest boast of an American shall be contained in the words, "I am a Missourian." vast multitude of spiritual shapes into his cell. The conjurations are so powerful that the whole space of the apartment is quickly full; and the spirits crowding on to the verge of the little circle which they must not pass, around this, and above their master's head, keep increasing in num¬ ber, and ever whirling in perpetual transformation. Every corner is crammed, every crevice is possessed. Embryos expand themselves, and giant forms contract into the size of nuts," said the sublime Geothe, when the matchless images and wondrous thoughts of the English Shakespere floated through his soul by the magic spell of words.

And so is history a mighty conjurer. It evokes from the mysterious past the heroes of the earth, and by its omnipotent wand passes before us in panoramic pageantry, the long forgotten dead. It opens the sealed and dim-shrouded casket of time and calls up the skeleton forms of years long flown. It people's oblivion with living events. Into the cell of the mind h crowds the " spiritual shapes " that are dispelled by a thought or hover eternal and lead man like the messengers of destiny. It magnifies, then dwarfs, now transforms. It is the silent recorder of the spirit - change.

First, a mighty warrior, a daring explorer, sinks to rest, uncoffined, in the waters of the Mississippi, deep in the heart of the vast valley. A cen¬ tury speeds by. The hymn of Marquette floats on the silent air that wakes the leaves of forests primeval. The years rush on. The cry of a new¬ born child startles the stillness, and the civilization of the Orient lives in the " dark continent " of the Occident. Anon, an eastern cereal blooms in the hidden west. And now,

Countless dangers sweep unchecked. Borne down by fevers, death and slaughter, through all the desperate struggle, the number of the living swells. The wild beast flees to covert shades and the Indian steps once toward the setting sun.

The seasons change, and now the streams are filled with busy boats, bear¬ ing the pioneer through all the running streams that flow together in this central spot. Soon, two daring spirits seek out the source of the Missouri.

" Over the sequestered settlement first floats the ' lilies of France,' then the arms of Spain, then the stars and stripes of a new republic. Now the earth quakes as if a visitation from God - and now the shrill whistle of the steamboat (herald of the swifter spread of light and life) penetrates the wilderness. Gradually the bottom lands of Missouri and Mississippi bloom and blossom under the hand of the husbandman. 'Government and order rear themselves from chaos. A state is formed. The steamboat is succeeded by the railway. Destructive Indian war and desolating plague follow. Dark fanaticism rears its hydra head, and is stricken down. Winter and summer alike witness war - the Indian is driven over the border, the swamps of Florida invaded, Mexico subdued. And now - hill and valley and prairie hear the choral chant of peace and good will, the song of the busy maiden, shout of harvester, and sweet hum of machinery. A cloud darkens the national sky! The black shadows fall athwart the peaceful valley of the Mississippi. On a sudden the swift lightning of civil war cleaves asunder the mighty fabric of the republic. The track of the destroying element lies through Missouri. A deep, dark scar marks its pathway. At once commerce is paralyzed, civilization is shocked. Swords flash, cannon boom, bullets whistle, " rider and steed " are "in one red burial blent." Murder, arson, hunger, suffering, theft, plunder, madness, a hideous death dance follows. Night curtains many a deed of horror. Open combat dies. Midnight surprise startles ever and anon the unwary slumberers, opening the gates of death. Districts are depopulated. Gradually the storm recedes, uttering only these mut¬ tering blasts of thunder. At last a song, low, thrilling and strange, breaks across thousands of storm-swept souls. A glad cry of exultation pierces the blue of heaven. The terrible carnage is over ! Peace nestles in the bosom of the old republic. Then the nation mourns its dead, and all is still. Ten summers pass. A wondrous change has come. Swarms of people hurry to and fro in densely populated cities, thousands of acres of land wave with ripening grain. The hum of machinery is louder than before, the wheels turn swifter, and countless hands direct the crude material. Railroads are woven like spider nets. Invention displays its curious pro¬ ducts; art and architecture everywhere gladden the eye; education tem¬ pers the soul; peace reigns in a land of plenty; love and liberty surround the law; the state is supreme; Missouri - masterful.

"Thus the events of the past, like spirits, flock about us. Under the rule of change they cast no shadows of the future. Civilizations come and go as nations of men rise and sink. Change is eternal, and to-day transforms yesterday. But through all the sweeps of years and cen¬ turies and ages runs a law, mysterious, omnipresent, divine - the law of progress. And borne upon the bosom of that law to the nation, the state, the individual, the future is never dark, but filled with radiant light."