IisTTRODUCTIOnST. 



-o- 



The citizens of Arkansas, so far as I have had an opportunity of 

 ascertaining by intercourse with them, are so well aware of the impor- 

 tance and utility of a geological survey of their state, that it is hardly 

 necessary for me to enlarge upon the subject. But a few remarks of 

 paramount interest suggest themselves. 



It has been justly inferred, from the history of nations, that the people 

 who have reached the highest state of civilization and intelligence, and 

 who possess the greatest wealth and influence, are those who enjoy the 

 most extensive facilities of commercial interchange, who possess within 

 themselves the largest means of producing the staple articles of food, and 

 who manufacture the substantial fabrics supplying wearing apparel, the 

 implements of husbandry, and all kinds of useful machinery. 



To accomplish these vast objects to the greatest advantage, the country 

 itself should not only be possessed of those natural resources in soil and 

 mineral productions, which supply the raw material for all kind of staples, 

 but must be sufficiently populous to supply the labor necessary for carry- 

 ing on those manufactures, without too great a drain upon the agricultural 

 community. These two classes of society, under a liberal and enlightened 

 form of government, become mutually dependent on each other, the 

 one producing the necessaries of life, the other fashioning the implements 

 which enable the cultivator of the soil to afford his means of subsistence 

 at a cheap rate, and supplying, not only to the artizan but to the whole 

 community such articles of comfort and convenience as give to life its 

 zest, and to our home their charms. 



Hence, to be in the most flourishing condition, a country should not only 

 possess, at least, a fair average soil, but those mineral resources which 



