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Show 126 EMIGRAN1,'S GUIDE. " We have no certain returns whereby to calculate the quantity of sug::lr and mol a ses made in the United States. lo '181 0, the mar~hals returned 9,665.108 lbs. of maple sugar, and 9671 hhds. from the cane,-together ab<>mt 20 millions of pounds-with 3590 hhus. or 1 nJ ,500 gallons of molasses. The quantity of maple sugar m~d.e had not, prohably, increa~ed ; but it. may be safe to say that Lou1s1 .. ana now makes at least 30 millions from thf' cane. " Rice;-the export last year was J 37,84.8 tierces, valued at '3 555.000 Jollars, 26 dollars per tierce, nearly. For th'~ years 1809, '1 1 0 , '11. and't2,'the annual exportwas .about 11.'>.000 tiP.rces. The estimate. betore referred to, gives the whole crop of 1816 as being only 110,000 tierces, valued at 3,600,000 dol.lars. The quanti.ty, we think, cannot be less than 150,000. But a~ tts hHtne consumpt 10n co1 H.'S in lieu of wheat, corn, and ot!Jer grain, we shall consider it as already accounted for in the vegelt:tble food we have. ~upposed was consumed. The cultivation of ricP. appears to be declmmg. Tht> only town in the state of Mississippi worthy particular notice is NATcHEz, N A'l'CHJ~Z, in Adams county, ·st:mds upon the left or f>ast bank of the Mississippi, at 31° :~3' N. lat. 14° 20' W. from \Vashington city. The site of Natchez is high and com manu ing. The town is laid out at right <~ngle~ upon ''ery uneven ground. Though upon a bluff of the Mississippi, the river cannot be seen from the t.own, owing to the ele· vation of the interveuing hill. The waters that Jrain from Natchez, flow into St. Catherine creek. It is difficult to asc<:!rtain the present population of N atchr>z; perhaps 2500 would not be far from the number of persons now residing in that city. This town is well situ· ated for a commercial depot ; having a fertile well cultivated country in it!5 rear. Many very wealthy merchants are established in Natchez, who carry on the cotton busin~ss extensively. · There are no public edifices of any particula_r consequence in Natchez. Most of the p~ivate buildings are constructed of wood, though many elegant brick houses have been erected within the last tweh·e years. WASHINGTON, about six mi1es east fwm Natchez, also in Adams county, has been for fifteen years past the seat of government for the ~Mis~issippi territory. This town contains al this timr, perhaps, 1000 inhabitant~. It stands on the bank of St. Catherine creek, in a healthy pleasant situation, amid the most wealthy and best peopled settlements in the state. 'Vasbington h;:s many allurements as a summer residence over any town near the Mis issippi river, !'outh of Tennessee ; it is placed in a well cultivateJ neighi..JOudwod. the water is excei! P.nt, 'the adjacent country is agreeably diversified with hili and dale, and no stagnant waters iu its vicinity. The state of society does not differ material Iy in Nat chez and W.fl~hin g ton. There is much in both of that urbanity that marks the people of the southern states, and strangers meet ant unreserve found il'l ev.,ry place where men have much intercourse with each other. Monticello on Pearl river, in Lawrence county, is the pre3ent seat of g<w<~rnment J.Or the state of Mississippi. This town stauds at 31° 33' N. lat. 13°W.loiJ. f~om Washington. It is, of \'ery recent date, EMIGRANT'S GUIDE. 127 and cannot contain any considerable number of persons. As respects that par~ of th~ state in wbich the Indian title is extinct, the po !tion of n:tontlce.llo JS ne~rly c~ntral; aad being in a hi~h, dry, healthy situatwn, th1s town 1s well chosen as the seat oi legislation for the new state. The other towns in the state are yet small, anJ of no other conseq. uence than being the seats of justice for the respective counlie~. No ~tty of any great extent can easily rise in the vicinity of New Orleans; Jt~ co?ccn~r a ted advantages will allurp· population and C0111mercial capital Into Jts own uosom, and prevent the increase of other cities withi ~l the sphere of its attraction. Some ·place on, or near the Mobile r!ver,. wtll,. no doubt, become of considerable importance ; but a ratw .w1.JI ex1st beh~een the c'ties situated on the respective streams on a s1m1lar scale w1th that between the Mississippi and the Mobile ril'ers. When t~e st.ate of Mississippi becomes peopled in all its extent, the seat of legtslatwn must be placed at some point on the dividirw waters of Pearl, Pascagoula, an~ Big .. black rivers. 0 Preserv.ing the seat of legislation in the large commercial towns seems . to have .beeu tacitly laid aside by the people of the United States m many mstMJC~s. · How far the custom of placing their )p,aisl~ tures as ne~r as pos~tble to. th~ .geographical centre of the resp~chve st~tes, IS founJeJ upon mdtvtdual convenience, it is Jifficult to determme. Whatev~r may be the benefit of thus removing the ceatr~ of government With that of the population, a serious suit of evils arrses, tha~ can scarcely be courrterb~bnced by any temporary advantage. fhe gro~th of towns of th1s description is retarded, from want 0 ~ confidence m the permanency of the only source of their prospenty. In ma.ny instances, the very men who vote the seat of government a few miles n~a rer h.ome, have exppsed themselves to more expense and less comfort, Without having in any manner gained benefit from the change. 'Th t . . 11 . e rnos se~wu~, ho~ever, of all the mischiefs attending this va- ~~~~~tiOn of leg•sl~tJ?n, 13 in the check it gives to the advance of ine. Jg~nce where tt ts most wanted. Schools, colleaes libraries and prr~ntmg: offices, are the depositories and marts of hu~an knowl~due r1ey e1ther n · 1 · h · o • f · ever nse, or angUis anu f<dl to ruin where their rr1eans o auument t' d · · ' f. · t~ a IOn an support are w 1thdrawn, or even in annual danger o removal. The s~at of legislation ought, like legislation itself to rest solid and un~~vea le, excep~ fi)r the most urgent reasons. ' k 017e 1wb~ consider a large city as the exclusive focus of intrigue now Jtt e oJ h t Th . ' ence o f sup '( · ur·n af.n na u·r e. ose who ' m order to avoid the J.11flu· h . enor. m ormatwn, or to save one or two days travelling ~a~3'mt eJr arch~ve~ from cities to Tillages, ~xhibit a very defectiv~ -P en nf theu .Judgment in the management of human affairs |