The situation of New Orleans considered in a commercial point of view.
New Orleans groaned for a long time under the yoke of the most wretched
tyranny; its crowned possessors so far from doing any thing towards the
improvement of a plan which, considered in a commercial light, has not
its equal on the face of the earth, contributed as much as was in their
power to circumscribe it. After two hours rain, every kind of
communication in the city itself was quite impracticable; paving or
lighting the streets was of course out of the question; assassinations
were of almost daily occurrence: but this was not all--the place was to
be a fortress in spite of common sense. It was thought proper to
surround it with a wall eighteen feet wide and pallisadoes, five
bastions, and redoubts, upon which some old cannon were mounted, perhaps
for the purpose of keeping the Indians at a proper distance. The
Americans pulled down those pitiful circumvallations which could have no
other effect than to impede commerce, and erected others in a situation
where they are likely to be of more advantage--along the passes of the
Mississippi and of lake Pontchartrain. The city has improved in an
astonishing degree during the twenty-three years that it has been
incorporated with the United States; indeed much more in proportion than
any other town of the Union, in spite of the yellow fever, the deadly
miasmata, and the myriads of musquitoes; and it has now become one of
the most elegant and wealthy cities of the republic. If, however, we
consider its situation, it is susceptible of still greater improvements,
and it must eventually become, what nature destined it to be, the first
commercial city, and the emporium of America, notwithstanding the
concurrence of many unfavourable circumstances, and the gross
selfishness of its inhabitants. The incredible fertility of Louisiana,
the Egypt of the west, and the fertility of the states of the valley of
the Mississippi in general, which can be duly appreciated only by
personal observation, must render New Orleans one of the most
flourishing cities in the world. There is not a spot on the globe that
presents a more favourable situation for trade. Standing on the extreme
point of the longest river in the world, New Orleans commands all the
commerce of the immense territory of the Mississippi, being the staple
pointed out by nature for the countries watered by this stream, or by
its tributaries--a territory exceeding a million of square miles. You
may travel on board a steam-boat of 300 tons and upwards for an extent
of 1000 miles from New Orleans up the Red river; 1500 miles up the
Arkansas river; 3000 miles up the Missouri and its branches; 1700 miles
on the Mississippi to the falls of St. Anthony; the same distance from
New Orleans up the Illinois; 1200 miles to the north-east from New
Orleans on the big Wabash; 1300 on the Tennessee; 1300 on the
Cumberland, and 2300 miles on the Ohio up to Pittsburgh. Thus New
Orleans has in its rear this immense territory, with a river 4200 miles
long, (including the Missouri)[I]; besides the water communication which
is about to be completed between New York and the river Ohio. The coast
of Mexico, the West India islands, and the half of America to the south,
the rest of America on its left, and the continent of Europe beyond the
Atlantic. New Orleans is beyond a doubt the most important commercial
point on the face of the earth[J]. Although the states along the
Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, the
territories of Missouri, and Arkansas, undoubtedly the finest part of
the Union, have not yet a population of 3,000,000 inhabitants, their
trade with New Orleans may be estimated by the fact, that not less than
1500 keel and flat boats, with nearly a hundred steam vessels, are
engaged every year in the trade with this city. The capital laid out on
these steam-boats amounts alone to above two million of dollars. The
number of vessels that clear out is upward of 1000, which export more
than 200,000 bales of cotton, 25,000 hogsheads of sugar, 17,000
hogsheads of tobacco, about 1250 tons of lead, with a considerable
quantity of rice, furs, &c. Besides these staple articles, the produce
of the northern states is exported to Mexico, the West Indies, the
Havannah, and South America. The commerce of New Orleans increases
regularly every year in proportion with the improvements in its own
state, and in those of the Mississippi. The wealth accruing to the
country and to the city from this commerce, is out of proportion with
the number of inhabitants. There are many families who, in the course of
a few years, have accumulated a property yielding an income of 50,000
dollars, and 25,000 is the usual income of respectable planters. No
other place offers such chances for making a fortune in so easy a way.
Plantations and commerce, if properly attended to, are the surest means
of succeeding in the favourite object of man's great pursuit,--"money
making." This accounts for the avidity with which thousands seek New
Orleans, in spite of the yellow fever again making room for thousands in
rapid succession.
[I] The whole course of the Mississippi exceeds, the Missouri included,
4200 miles. This latter is its principal tributary stream, and superior
in magnitude even to the Mississippi.
[J] Below New Orleans there is no place well adapted for the site of a
large city.