THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



423 



Following dowu the Hue of the Upper Mlaaiseippi upon the 

 map, at a short diatauce higher up than Alton aud St. Louia, 

 the lUiuoia Kiver forma a junction with the Miaaisaippi. Fol- 

 lowing the course of that river to La Salle, the line becomea 

 fainter, and extends to Chicago, at the head of Lake Michigan. 

 That faintneas ia meant to mark the Illinois and Michigani 

 Canal, which connects the Illinois River with Lake Michgan — 

 the waters of the St. Lawrence with the waters of the Mis- 

 sissippi. 



At Chicago we reach the present head of the navigation of 

 the eastern section of the great North American watercourae : 

 and subsequent remarks have special reference to this perhaps 

 arbitrary division of the country, which it will be desirable to 

 keep in view. 



Passing along Lake Michigan we reach Sault St. Marie, and 

 enter Lake Superior. Glancing westward from the head of 

 Lake Superior, a bend of the Mississippi is in close proximity, 

 and distant only forty miles. Water communication formed 

 across that neck of land, the question then is, whether the 

 trade of Lake Superior will pass towards the Gulf of Mexico 

 or towards the St. Lawrence ? and, water communication formed 

 between the Mississippi and the Red River, will the trade of 

 the new British settlement seek the one seaboard route or the 

 other ? This is not the place to answer ; and it is enough to 

 point out the new connections that will probably at some 

 future day be formed. 



Leaving Sault St. Marie, and keeping cloae to the Mani- 

 touliu shore, aud the British aide, we enter the Georgian Bay. 

 To the north of the Georgian Bay the French River leads to 

 Lake Nipissing ; Lake Nipiaaing to the Ottawa River, and the 

 Ottawa River to the vicinity of Montreal, by a saving in dis- 

 tance of several hundred miles. It is proposed to adapt that 

 channel to the lake shipping trade, with the view of ahorteniug 

 the distance to the seaboard, aud carrying produce past the 

 Erie Canal and New York. Somewhat lower down the 

 Georgian Bay, the Severn River ia observed connecting with 

 Lake Simcoe, and it is proposed to form a canal from that lake 

 to Lake Ontario, either by way of Toronto or Peterborough. 

 A canal across that neck of land would cut off the circuit by 

 Lake Erie and the Welland Canal, and still give produce the 

 choice of markets at Buffalo, Oswego, or Montreal. 



Passing from the Georgian Bay we enter Lake Huron, the 

 river and Lake St. Clair, and Lake Erie. At the western ex- 

 tremity of Lake Erie we find the Ohio Canal, leading to the 

 Mississippi, and offering thereby the choice of markets south, 

 at New Orleans. Towards the eastern extremity of Lake Erie 

 we find Buffalo, the western end of the well-known Erie Canal, 

 which opens to western produce a cheap through means of 

 transportation to New York. To the left of Buffalo a neck of 

 land is observable between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, and 

 through that neck the Welland Canal extends. The great 

 object of that canal was to divert Western trade, past Buffalo 

 towards the lower British port of Montreal. Down Lake On- 

 tario, and towards the middle of the Southern shore, we reach 

 Oswego, an American port, to which there is a branch of the 

 Erie Canal. Passing from Lake Ontario we enter the St. 

 Lawrence River proper, paaa the confluence of the Ottawa, 

 and come to the city of Montreal. Before reaching Montreal 

 we pass the village of Caughnawagna, from which a canal has 

 been projected to Lake Champlain — a little eastward — and 

 Albany ; or rather to the Hudson river. The object of that 

 canal is the diversion of Western produce from Chicago and 

 other ports, through the British canals, rather than through 

 those of the United States ; but the project is not likely to 

 be speedily entertained. At Montreal — of course we do not 

 see it on the map — the Victoria Bridge crosses the St. Law- 

 rence river, and preaenta one more competing channel for the 

 tranaportation of passengers, merchandise, and produce, east 

 and west. Lower down the St. Lawrence we pass Quebec ; 

 aud finally approach the gulf and the Atlantic ocean. 



The distances from one point to another of the Eastern and 

 Southern sections of the watercourse may be briefly summed, 

 viz., thus : 



Eastern Section. 



1 . From Chicago to New York, by way of the Lakes to 

 Buffalo, the Erie Canal, and the Hudson River, 1,418 miles, 



2. From Chicago to New York, by way of the Lakes and 

 Welland Canal to Oswego, and thence by the Erie Canal and 

 the Hudson River, 1,410 miles. 



8. From Chicago to New York, by way of the Lakes, the 



Welland Canal, the St. Lawrence, the Caughnawagna, and 

 Champlain canals, and Hudson River, 1,632 miles. 



4. From Chicago to Montreal, by the lakes and canals, 

 1,278 miles. — Mc. Alpine's Report. 



Southern Section. 



1. From Cairo to New Orleans, by river, 1,040 miles. 



2. From St. Louia to New Orleans, by river, 1,212 miles. 



3. From Chicago to St. Louis, by Illinois and Michigan 

 Canal and Illinois River, 326 railea. 



4. From Chicago to St. Louis, by railroad, 283 miles. 



5. From Chicago to New Orleans, by Illinois and Michigan 

 Canal and Illinois and Mississippi rivers, 1,538 miles. 



6. From Chicago to New Orleans, by railroad to St. Louis, 

 and from St. Louis to Mississippi river, 1,495 miles. — CoUon's 

 distances. 



Having thus gone through what has been termed the natural 

 characteristics of the North American continent, it remains to 

 turn to the characteristics of the business system. 



To that end it will scarcely be considered necessary to go so 

 far back as the formation of the Federal Government ; but as 

 the state of the union at the present day is very much anala- 

 gous to what it then was — in fact, to what it was in colonial 

 times — the clearest, and at the same time the moat fundamental 

 illustration would otherwise be lost. In colonial timea a com- 

 munity waa formed ; that community received additioua to its 

 numbers, both from natural increase and from immigration ; 

 and in turn that community formed the nucleua of others. 

 That is to say, people left the first-formed towns and hamlets, 

 and settled on the verge, if not altogether outside the limits, 

 of civilization among the Indians ; aud what one day was out- 

 side the limits of civilization waa inside on another. Civili- 

 zation at the earliest period of colonial history was an ad- 

 ancing line, driving back barbarism, and such it is just now ; 

 and since the earlier movements it haa made great progress. 



On this tlieory, much more than is involved in the 

 business system of the North American continent could be 

 accounted for. People, or rather the superabundant population, 

 of the older states and provinces, moved simultaneously from 

 every section upon a given point or district. Each person 

 was strange to the other; no restraint waa known nor 

 recognized, but the loose provisions of the loosest law ; aud 

 all were bent on making money. San Francisco, New 

 Orleans, Chicago, and other cities that might be named, are 

 examples of what obtains to a greater or less extent through- 

 out the whole country. There is little confidence between 

 man and man, and what would be regarded in England as odd, if 

 not irregular and absurd, in the way of business, ia necessarily 

 resorted to, both in the British provinces and the United 

 States. For example : A stranger from the country goes to 

 New York to buy goods. He goes into a dry goods or 

 grocery, or other store, and says he comes from such and such 

 a place. Perhaps that place is Chicago, and perhaps the 

 parties called on — as many New Yorkers have done of late — 

 have made up their minds to aell nothing west of Buffalo ; 

 and of course, no trade takes place. Supposing, however, 

 that the parties called on have no such rule ; then the stranger 

 is aaked about his means, extent of business, and so on ; aud 

 his statement is written down in a book for that special 

 purpose, and signed by him. His order is then taken : but, 

 before being filled, Douglas' agency or McKillop's is visited 

 by the merchant. He tells the story of his customer, and 

 finds whether there is aught against his name in the place he 

 comes from. If the register ia clean, the goods are sent 

 away ; but if misrepresentation has been made, the transaction 

 drops, aud the country customer may be passed over to 

 a magistrate. Should misrepresentation be discovered after 

 the goods have been seat away, and payment not be forth- 

 coming at the promised time, criminal proceaa may then issue, 

 on the written statement under which the goods .were sold. 

 This practice is not altogether peculiar to the country trade, 

 but obtains also in the local trade of the large business cities; 

 and to such method has business been reduced in New York, 

 that bill brokers have been able to publish public annual 

 volumes, with lists of city merchants' names, giving the extent 

 to which each may be safely trusted, and the market discount 

 at which each name is taken on bills of exchange. 



Such a style of business looks well on paper, and while it 

 may be the best that could be practised in a new country, the 

 system bears no comparison, in point of safety, to the open 



