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.