Out of Stock
Overview
Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. Same subject continued?the navigation of the Western rivers considered in reference to its national importance. In the preceding chapter we pointed out briefly, the extraordinary extent of the Western rivers, and their unrivaled capacity of usefulness to the public, as the natural avenues for the transit of passengers, and the transportation of produce and merchandise. If the Western rivers are thus important to the American people, in reference to the facilities afforded to them in their commerce and private concerns, as individuals, it is not less so to them in their political capacity. Of the amount of population which we have set down as inhabiting the countries watered by these rivers, four millions fifty-three thousand seven hundred and thirty-one are inhabitants of the states containing the public domain, and in which the nation is directly interested as the owner of the soil. How many of those inhabitants would now be settled upon lands purchased of the government, had not the country been made accessible by the application of steam? The reply is obvious. Of all the elements of the prosperity of the West?of all the causes of its rapid increase in population, its growth in wealth, resources, and improvement, its immense commerce, and gigantic energies, the most efficient has been the navigation by steam. Had it not been for the widely diffused facilities of commerce, afforded by the Mississippi and its numerous tributaries, ages would have rolled away before the great wilderness of the West would have been penetrated by the foot of industry; and had not the noble conception of Fulton, carried out by the skill of the American mechanic, and the energy of the Western people, brought the steamboat into successful operation, the productions of these rich...
| ISBN-13 | 9780217286428 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10 | 0217286429 |
| Weight | 0.65 Pounds |
| Dimensions | 9.00 x 6.00 x 0.45 In |
| List Price | $19.99 |
| Format | Paperback |
|---|---|
| Pages | 194 pages |
| Publisher | |
| Published On | 2009-08-01 |
View All Offers
Sort by:
Price
