(Table of Com.
and Nav. 1860.)
If as well cultivated as England, our country could much more than feed
and clothe the whole population of the world. If as densely settled as
England, our population would be more than twelve hundred millions,
exceeding that of all the earth. If as densely settled as Massachusetts
(among the least fertile of all our States), we would number 513,000,000
inhabitants.
We have seen that our area exceeds that of Europe, with a far more
genial sun and fertile soil, and capable of yielding more than double
the amount of agricultural products and of sustaining more than twice
the number of inhabitants. We have a greater extent of mines than all
Europe, especially of coal, iron, gold, silver, and quicksilver. Our
coal alone, as stated by Sir William Armstrong (the highest British
authority), is 32 times as great as that of the United Kingdom, and our
iron will bear a similar proportion.
Our maritime front is 5,120 miles; but our whole coast line, including
bays, sounds, and rivers, up to the head of tide water, is 33,663 miles.
(Ex. Doc. No. 7, pp. 75, 76, Official Report of Professor A. D. Bache,
Superintendent of U. S. Coast Survey, Dec. 5th, 1848.) Our own lake
shore line is 3,620 miles. (Top. Rep. ib. 77.)
The shore line of the Mississippi river above tide water and its
tributaries, is 35,644 (ib. 77); and of all our other rivers, above tide
water, is 49,857 miles, making in all 122,784 miles.
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