Constitution inhibited the establishment of banks and the circulation of the paper currency issued by other States, such a provision would have been just; and would have afforded the people a fair opportunity of testing the excellency of a metalic currency; and whatever might have been thought of the policy of such a provision, its boldness would have challenged respect. But it would seem that the framers of the Constitution were impressed with the truth that banks were capable of doing evil as well as good; and in their zeal for the interest of their constituents, undertook to do what man has never yet been able to achieve-to separate these inseparable qualitiesdoubtless, with the design of adopting the good and excluding the evil; but instead of analysing the subject, they divided it into sections, and, unfortunately, the part adopted contained all the evil properties, while the better principles of the institution were so much restricted as to destroy, in a great degree, its usefulness.

We have long regarded the banking provision in our Constitution as unsound in principle, anti-democratic in its tendency, and, calculated to retard the development of our resources: it is unsound and anti-democratic, because it authorises the establishment of one bank and five branches, with a certain amount of capital, which can never be increased; and secures to the corporators a privilege which is expressly denied to all other citizens of the State: it is calculated to retard the development of our resources, because, for the want of more extensive facilities, the establishment of many branches of industry is prevented, and consequently we are compelled to look beyond the borders of the State for many articles of prime necessity, which might be produced at less cost from our own raw material.

In advocating an amendment of the Constitution, however, we would not open the door for joint stock companies or Free Banking, without providing for the safety of the bill-holder: this is the great point to be kept in view; but we are not wedded to any particular mode of effecting this end; if a better system than that adopted by New York can be devised-one better adapted to our peculiar condition, let us have it; but with such exceptions and restraints as we have indicated, the business of banking should be as free to every citizen as commerce or agriculture. We shall then afford our citizens the means of entering into competition with the people of other States upon fair and equal grounds and enterprise and capital will be attracted hither by the richness and abundance of our natural resources. Missouri has lost its attractions as a new State; and her policy hitherto has not been calculated to invite emigrants to settle within her borders; the older States of the West are leaving her far in the rear, and the

younger are rapidly gaining upon her: these facts, so obvious to every intelligent mind, should incite our citizens to enquire into the causes which have retarded our progress. Surely, these things are not owing to any lack of natural wealth, unfriendliness of climate, or inconvenience of geographical position; for Missourians rejoice in the possession of a fertile soil, immense mineral resources, a climate not less genial, at least, than that of their neighbors, and withal, the State is situated in the centre of the Valley of the Mississippi-the very heart of the Continent. Then where shall we look for the causes that so much retard our progress? We answer, in the selfish and unenlightened policy of our people.

Individually, our people are not less intelligent than those of other States; nor, are they wanting in habits of industry and economy; but, in general, each individual works for himself the politician studies his individual interest rather than the public welfare: there are no social combinations calculated to achieve any important social object; and yet, in sentiment, perhaps, no people are more progressive; they delight in the enlargement of the area of freedom, but take little interest in the social condition of their own State; they advocate unrestricted commerce with all nations; but embarrass it with all kinds of restraints at home; and when, by experience, they are convinced that their cunningly devised policy will not enrich them, they progress beyond the borders of the State rather than acknowledge themselves deceived. These are some of the causes which retard the increase of population and general prosperity of Missouri; and until they shall have been removed or modified, we must continue to occupy our present position in the rear of the Western States,

ART. II.-MINNESOTA.

This recently organised territory is beginning to attract the attention of large numbers of emigrants from Europe, as well as from the Northern and Eastern States of the Union; and when the Indian title shall have been extinguished to some of the more attractive portions of the country, we shall not be surprised if the emigration to Minnesota should exceed even that to Wisconsin and Iowa. It is difficult for the inhabitants of more southern climes to realise the idea that a region so far north as Minnesota, especially on this continent, is susceptible of sustaining a dense population of intelligent and enterprising people; and hence, those of the Southern and Middle States are but just beginning to appreciate the vast influence

which the future population of the North-west is calculated to exert upon the destiny of the great American family.

The severity of the climate in this region, instead of operating as a hindrance to its improvement, constitutes the strongest argument in favor of its future prosperity. The long winters of the north afford much time and opportunity for social intercourse; and the necessity of accomplishing a large amount of labor during summer, naturally leads the inhabitants to form social combinations for the accomplishment of almost every object. Individually, the northern man may be regarded as more selfish than him of the South; but this very selfishness is the source of his social action: it imparts an acuteness of perception scarcely less erring than instinct; and, he comprehends, as by intuition, the great problem that the social and individual interest are one. Add to these social qualities, a physical constitution invigorated by the climate, and who shall assign a limit to the progress of the men of the North, aided by the facilities of transportation and travel which the improvements of a few years will afford them.

Minnesota is supposed to contain about one hundred and sixty-six thousand square miles-an area but little less than that of the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri; and though it may not be equal to these States in point of fertility,. yet, it is, doubtless, a country of vast agricultural resources, and calculated to sustain an immense population. We have conversed with many intelligent individuals who have traveled in Minnesota, and have been charmed with the accounts which they give of its fertile soil-the peculiarity of its scenery-the beauty of its mille lacs (thousand lakes) and the abundance of fish and fowl with which they abound. But lest we should do injustice to the subject by attempting to describe a country we have not seen, we make the following extracts from M. Nicollet :

"The whole country embraced by the Lower St. Peter's and the Undine Region [or Mankato Valley], exceeds any land of the Mississippi above Wisconsin River, as well in the quality and quantity of its timber as the fertility of its soil. The forests of the valley on the right bank are connected by groves and small wooded streams of the adjoining prairies with the forest called Bois-francs; and they extend so far southwest, as to include the lands of the upper waters of the Mankato River.

"The forest trees, as reported to me by Mr. Geyer, are chiefly soft maple, American and red elm, black walnut, the nettle tree, bass wood, red and white ash; the undergrowth, the common hawthorn, prickly ash, high cranberry, red root, grey dogwood, fox grapes, horsebriar and moonseed. Among the herbs are the wild and bristly sarsaparilla, Indian turnip,

the gay orchis, and others; rushes and the flowering ferns are abundant along the low banks of the rivers. The valley prairies are rich in pasture grasses and leguminous and orchideous plants, such as the yellow ladies' slipper, American and tufted vetch, and others. The lowest parts, near the borders of the woods, and those subject to inundations, are filled with the high weeds common to such places-as the ragged cup, tall thistle, great bitter weed, the tuburous sunflower, and others. "Swamps are frequent, and some of them contain extensive tracts of tamarack pines. Cedars grow intermixed with red birch, on the rocky declivities of the Lower Mankato River. Red and bur oak, with hazel, red root, peterswort, and the wild rose, are the trees and shrubs of the uplands.

There

are, besides, thickets of poplar-birch, that are frequent in the elevated prairies near the river. The prairies are very luxuriant, and generally somewhat level and depressed; the gum plant and button snakeroot are their most abundant and conpicuous herbs.

"Along the Mississippi, a length of one hundred and eighty miles, from St. Peter's to Crow Wing River, the valley is wide, with river banks of moderate elevation, affording beautiful sites, that contrast remarkably with the bold escarpments exhibited below the Falls of St. Anthony. In this ascent of river, which is full of rapids, it is necessary to have recourse to the pole or the tow-line; and, generally, following the left bank, under good gvidance, and with sufficient hands to stem the current, portages may be avoided. This left bank presents almost a continued level of from ten to twenty feet in elevation, forming a retreating succession of terraces that are delightful to the view. The superincumbent soil is composed mainly of sand, gravel and clay, iutermixed with erratic blocks. The sylva consists of white and black oak, white and blue ash, red elm, two or three species of maple, the lime tree, birch, a few hickories and walnuts. The western shore is more generally interspersed with swamps and wood lands, well set with pines, birch, and sometimes with extensive camps of the sugar-maple."

The great plateau dividing the waters of the Mississippi from those of the Missouri, is generally represented as one of surpassing beauty of this region M. Nicollet says:

:

"The basin of the Upper Mississippi is separated in a great part of its extent, from that of the Missouri, by an elevated plain, the appearance of which, seen from the valley, of the St. Peter's, or that of the Riviere Jacques, looming, as it were, a distant shore, has suggested for it the name of coteau des prairies. Its more appropriate designation would be that of

plateau, which means something more than is conveyed to the mind by the expression, a plain.

"Its northern extremity is in latitude 46, extending to 43; after which, it loses its distinctive elevation above the surrounding plains, and passes into rolling prairies. Its length is about two hundred miles, and its general direction, N. N. W. and S. S. E. Its northern termination (called 'tete du coteau,' in consequence of its peculiar configuration) is not more than fifteen to twenty miles across; its elevation above the level of the Big Stone Lake is 890 feet; and above the ocean 1,916 ft. Starting from this extremity (that is, the head of the coteau), the surface of the plateau is undulating, forming many dividing ridges, which separate the waters flowing into the St. Peter's and the Mississippi from those of the Missouri.

"Under the forty-fourth degree of latitude the breadth of the coteau is about forty miles, and its mean elevation is here reduced to one thousand four hundred and fifty feet above the sea. Within this space its two slopes are rather abrupt, crowned with verdure, and scolloped by deep ravines thickly shaded with bushes, forming the beds of rivulets that water the adjacent plains. The coteau itself is isolated in the midst of boundless and fertile prairies, extending to the west, to the north, and into the valley of the St. Peter's.

"The plain, at its northern extremity, is a most beautiful tract of land, diversified by hills, dales, woodlands and lakes; the latter abounding in fish. The region of country is probably the most elevated between the Gulf of Mexico and Hudson's Bay. From its summit, proceeding from its eastern to its western limits, grand views are afforded. At its eastern border, particularly, the prospect is magnificent beyond description, extending over the immense green turf that forms the basin of the Red River of the North, the forestcapped summits of the hauteurs des terres that surround the sources of the Mississippi, the granite valley of the Upper St. Peter's, and the depressions in which are Lake Travers and the Big Stone Lake.

"The other portions of the coteau, ascending from the lower latitudes, present, pretty much, the same characters. This difference, however, is remarkable: that the woodlands become scarcer, whilst the open prairies increase in extent. It is very rarely, only, that groves are met with, to which the N'dacotahs, or Sioux, have given. the name of Tchan Witah, or Wood Islands. When these groves are surrounded by water, they assume some resemblance to oases, and hence I have assigned this name to some of them on my map.

"These oases, possessed of a good soil, well wooded, offering an abundance of game, and waters teeming with fish, offer inducements for permanent settlements. In this region there