to the river, chiefly because of the early concentration of population here, and increased the coherence of the river counties. Five major railway lines run parallel to the Missouri through the counties adjoining the river, whereas a single north-south branch line runs in the opposite direction (fig. 4). The oftproposed creation of a deep waterway between Kansas City and St. Louis would restore the direct value of the river as a highway.

The influence of the Mississippi River has been similar, though less pronounced. Settlement proceeded up its valley and outward from it. There is an especially marked similarity in the population of the Mississippi River counties above St. Louis. Those below constitute another unit group. Any just political classification, therefore, must accept the historic unity of the regions along the two great rivers of the state, especially since this unity is still most potent in determining political sympathies and economic interests. This idea must be fundamental to any subdivision of the state.

Topographically, three major divisions are recognizable (fig. 1), the plains of northern and western Missouri (I and II), the Ozark Highland (III), and the Southeastern Lowlands (IV). The plains area falls into two divisions, northern Missouri (I) and the Osage Plains (II). The plain of northern Missouri includes all of the northern part of the state, has a rather monotonous, gently rolling surface, and its soils are derived in the main from glacial materials. The greater part of the surface is covered by glacial clays and clay loams, similar to those of Iowa; along the Missouri River are important areas of rich loess lands. This area constitutes by far the largest section of good farming land in the state, and is almost purely agricultural in its interests. The Osage Plain has a smooth surface formed by the wearing down of the soft rocks that underlie it, and has soils that are residual from these rocks. It is fair to good farming country, rather advanced in development. The Ozark region consists (a) of a central highland (III), which is in the main traversed with difficulty, and parts of which are extremely rugged in topography and poor in soil; and (b) of border areas that slope

away towards the adjacent plains and merge into them gradually. Of the latter, the Springfield Plain (IIIa) is the richest and most highly developed. It has, in major part, a smooth surface, and it includes the rich zinc and lead areas of the Joplin

FIG. 1. GEOGRAPHIC DIVISIONS OF MISSOURI

I, Plain of North Missouri; II, Osage Plain; III, Ozark Highland (central portion); IIIa, Springfield Plain (western Ozark border); IIIb, Missouri River border of Ozarks; IIIc, Mississippi River border of Ozarks; IIId, St. François Mountain Region; IV, Southeastern Lowlands. Counties possessing less than 50 per cent of total surface in improved farm lands are designated by circles. Figure in circle indicates percentage improved in 1910.

region. It is well settled, well supplied with means of transportation, and contains numerous towns. The Missouri River border (IIIb) has a ridge and valley topography, most pronounced in the eastern part. Most of the ridges have second

rate farming tracts upon them. The valleys have an excellent soil. Between are forested or pastured slopes. Fair farming conditions prevail. The situation in the Mississippi River border (IIIc) is similar, conditions here improving southward. Neither of these border areas has any great mineral resource. The St. François region (IIId) consists of rugged knobs of crystalline rock, towering above rich limestone basins. In the latter the greatest lead mining district of the country has developed. The counties of least agricultural development lie in this last district and in the Ozark center (fig. 1). The Southeastern Lowlands (IV) are alluvial accumulations, on a huge scale, of the Mississippi River and its tributaries. The land is superbly fertile, but most of it is available for agriculture only after extensive drainage. Covered originally by hardwoods and cypress it is now being devoted to cotton and corn culture. The older counties, on the Mississippi River, have a rather large negro population. This section is the youngest part of the state in point of development, and is increasing at present more rapidly in wealth and population than any other part of Missouri.

Present party lines in Missouri were drawn at the time of the Civil War or before it, at least in a general way. Southern stock means Democratic allegiance; northern, Republican. Northwest Missouri (fig. 2) is curiously mixed and represents the mingling of the old southern influence which came in by the Missouri River, and of the northern immigration across the prairies of Illinois and Iowa. The Mississippi River border of the Ozarks, like that of the Missouri, is Republican due to German immigration. Ste. Genevieve County alone remains Democratic. Its older French Catholic population attracted German immigrants of the same faith, who are, in Missouri, for the most part, Democratic. The Republican character of the major part of the Ozarks is analogous to the Republican nature of the hill districts of Kentucky and Tennessee, and the settlement was effected in large part by the same stock, reinforced later by small farmers from northern states. In the eastern Ozarks, in the roughest hill districts of the state, the Democratic party dominates. The amount of land that can be farmed here

is small but the land is in general of good quality, consisting of limestone basins and alluvial bottoms. These limited tracts, near the Mississippi, were taken up at an early date by settlers of Southern stock. The extreme roughness of the hills restricted the development of typical hill settlements, and the control

FIG. 2. DISTRIBUTION OF DEMOCRATIC AND REPUBLICAN VOTE IN MISSOURI Based on vote for governor in 1916

rests therefore still with the old valley settlements. The Democratic character of the southwestern counties (Osage Plain) is evidence of their settlement at an early date via the Missouri Valley. In part it is also the result of a return movement of Southerners from abolitionist Kansas. The present day distri

bution of political parties in Missouri rests upon the history of settlement of the state. This in turn depends upon geographic conditions. The earliest immigrants were Southern, brought their Democratic faith with them, and having the pick of the state, established themselves on the most accessible and most desirable areas. The later immigrants were largely Republican, but of different types: (a) Prosperous farmers from the prairie states came into northern and northwestern Missouri; (b) the mountaineer of Kentucky and Tennessee moved into the Ozark Highland; (c) the German immigrant displaced the older settlers from the lower Missouri River district. The balance is still shifting in favor of the Republican party, especially in the Southeastern Lowlands, which are receiving numerous farmers from the north.

The vote for governor in 1916 gave the Democratic candidate 382,295; the Republican, 379,692 ballots. In the last five presidential elections the Republican party has carried the state twice, and in 1912 the combined Republican and Progressive vote exceeded the Democratic vote. Out of 16 seats in Congress, however, the Republicans control 2, the Democrats 14. Apparently, the gerrymander has been employed to good advantage. The map of the congressional districts (fig. 3) shows immediately two that are atrociously gerrymandered, the 7th and 14th. The 7th in fact might almost be said to involve a gerrymander of all southern Missouri. The Democratic stronghold of the old Boonslick country checkmates the Republicanism of the Ozarks in this district. It drives a long wedge into a solid Republican district and makes easy the distribution of the Republican remnants on either hand among other Democratic districts. No argument of common origin or economic interest can be advanced to justify placing the voter of Howard in the Boonslick in the same district with the citizen from Greene in the Ozarks. It is worthy of note that the old Democratic stronghold between the Missouri and Mississippi rivers is distributed among five congressional districts and that these are all safely Democratic as a result. Populous Boone by a heavy Democratic vote overcomes the Republican pluralities of the Ozark counties south of