"The Mineral Resources Of The Country Are Enormous; And Their
Development Is Only Limited By The Present Want Of Capital To Work Them
More Efficiently.
The coal of Pennsylvania - the iron in various parts
of the Union - the copper of Lake Superior - the lead
About Galena on the
Mississippi; and lastly, the gold of California, which has already put
in circulation a coinage of 15,000,000l. sterling - all these are
but the first tapping of almost boundless resources.
"In 1791, the public debt of the United States was $75,000,000. It is
now, with six times the population, only $64,000,000; and in the same
period, the imports of the country have increased from a value of
$52,000,000 to $147,000,000; the exports from $19,000,000 to
$145,000,000; and the tonnage of shipping from 500,000 tons to
3,300,000 tons.
"The post-office statistics show how the transmission of intelligence
has outstripped even the march of population. In 1790, the number of
post-offices in the entire States was 75; in 1850, the number was
16,789. In 1790, there were 4,875 miles of post routes; in 1850, there
were 167,703. In 1790, the whole post-office revenue was 37,905
dollars; in 1850, it was 4,905,176 dollars; which sum consisted of
4,082,762 dollars for letters, and 819,016 dollars for newspapers and
pamphlets. The mileage run in transportation of letters in 1850, was
42,544,069 miles, at a cost, for transportation only, of a little more
than twopence-halfpenny per mile.
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