328 QUARTERLY JOURNAL. 



it has made it the duty of every press, and of every lover of his 

 country, to impel the whole connmunity to unfold the sources of con- 

 stant occupation which it has placed within our reach. It furnishes us 

 new sources of occupation in the summer, and sources of constant 

 occupation at the heretofore dead season. The Ohio canals as well as 

 lake are open one month earlier, and are closed one month later than 

 the Erie canal. Two months in the year are therefore at once added 

 to the capacity of the productive industry of the West ; and as soon 

 as the West wills it, four months more will be added in every year 

 by the construction of a railroad (via Toledo) to the Mississippi 

 river, with a branch from Toledo to Detroit. We say " as soon as 

 the West wills it;" because, when in her might she wills to bespeak, 

 this great work into existence, no power on earth can arrest the 

 execution of that v^rill. The reasons in favor of it are so strong that 

 they cannot, in this enlightened age, be resisted, when clearly and 

 boldly held up to public view. 



Let us at once avail, to the utmost, of the two months in every 

 year already added to our active existence, and let us also avail of 

 all the means within our reach to make every one perceive each 

 individual source of wealth thus created. Let us also wake up the 

 whole nation to the necessity of a railroad from Buffalo to the Mis- 

 sissippi, and from Toledo to Detroit ; to its advantage in this time 

 of peace to carry the mail, and to fructify the labor of the whole 

 country ; to its almost superhuman uses as a tower of strength, for 

 it will give warning to one of the most powerful nations on the 

 earth, that if she were to provoke us by an unjust war, public sen- 

 timent would pour upon this railroad an overwhelming force against 

 her Canadian possessions. 



To enumerate the various articles and the various occupations 

 which, in all times, in time of peace as well as in time of war, will 

 be favorably affected by the new system, would be to enumerate 

 every article which we of the great West import, and every product 

 which our prolific soil is susceptible of bringing forth. It would be 

 like attempting to enumerate every thing which the ingenuity of 

 man can create. Suffice it to say, that the capacity acquired by the 

 new system of getting our supplies everyday as fast as wanted and 

 no faster, and the capacity also created by the new system of con- 

 verting into money at our pleasure on the sea board whatever we 

 may produce at home, will give active efficiency to our capital, to 

 an extent which will tenfold our capacity for acting in the various 

 new sources of industry, placed within our reach by the new sys- 

 tem. 



Let then the great West be awakened to the new duties of her 

 position, by every one who perceives the boundless sources of 

 wealth, prosperity, and good morals, which a kind IVovidence offers 

 to us, by giving us the capacity of constant occupation throughout 

 all the seasons of the year. 



