ADVANTAGES OP THE CREDIT SYSTEM. Ill 



of public buildings at the seat of government, and 5 per cent, 

 of the sales of all public lands are granted to the State, by 

 Congress, for the construction of public roads and internal im- 

 provements. Besides this, every alternate square mile of land, 

 for five miles on each side of the lines, is granted to aid in the 

 construction of various lines of railway which are intended to 

 traverse the State. 



The system of credit established throughout the American 

 Union, if very unsound in all times of difficulty, is certainly 

 productive of many useful results. For instance, the State of 

 Minnesota has fine unoccupied land, which is of no value so 

 long as it remains inaccessible. It is determined to construct 

 a railway, and the State finds the funds in this manner : it 

 issues bonds bearing 6 or 7 per cent, interest, which are handed 

 over to the contractor as his work progresses. These bonds 

 may not be very saleable out of the State, but the contractor 

 lodges them with the State treasurer, and obtains, in lieu, 90 

 per cent, of their amount in authorized notes of issue. With 

 these he pays his wages and bills, finishes another section of 

 road, receives a second instalment of State stock, makes a sec- 

 ond issue of notes, and so the thing goes on until the road is 

 made, the country opened up, and produce brought to market. 

 The bonds are cleared off as the land is sold, and everybody is 

 benefited. 



There is yet only one way of going to or returning from St. 

 Paul's, and we therefore took steamer down the Mississippi 

 over our former course as far as Prarie du Chien. We pro- 

 ceeded about 100 miles farther to Dubuque, in Iowa, where, 

 and at Burlington, 200 miles farther down, I had an opportu- 

 nity of seeing some of the prairie lands of that State. An 

 Irish settler, who had been seven years in the neighbourhood 

 of Dubuque, was enthusiastic in his praise of the country. He 



