496 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE~ JANUARY 16) 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 

THURSDAY, January 16, 1879. 

The House met· at twelve o'clock, m. Prayer by Rev. ·w. V. TUDOR, 

:Methodist Episcopal Church South, Saint Louis, Missouri. 

The Journal of yesterdar was read and approved. 

ORDER OF BUSDI""ESS. 

Mr. BEEBE. I desire' to introduce a bill fo~ reference. 

:Mr. WOOD. I demand the regular order. 

The SPEA.l(ER. The regular order is the bill (H. R. No. 5808) to 

-facilitate the refunding the national debt, which comes over as unfinished business, the previops question having been ordered. on the 

-engrossment and third reading . . Mr. HEWITT, of New York. My colleague from New York yieli:lB 

"to me. 

The SPEAKER. The gentleman from New York [Mr. WooD) demands the regular order, and cannot yield. 

Mr. HE"WITT, of New York. This is a matter of some importance 

"to the business of the House. 

Mr. BALLOU. I desire to make a privileged report. Does not that 

take precedence of the regular order t 

The SPEAKER. It does not. 

Mr. ROBERTSON. I desire to make a parliamentary inquiry. Will 

the regular order, the bill of the gentleman from New Xork, [Mr. 

WooD,] conflict with the special order for this day-the Mississippi 

levee billY 

The SPEAKER. It will not, except that it has first to be ~ot rid 

.Qf, and then the Chair will recognize the gentleman from Lomsiana, 

'fMr. ROBERTSON.) 

Mr. BEEBE. My colleague yields to me. The SPEAKER. Then the gentleman from New York withdraws 

the demand for the regul~· order, and the gentleman from Rhode 

Island [Mr .. BALLOU] rises to make a privileged report. 

1\fr. WOOD. I demand the regular order, and yield to no one. 

REFU:m>I:SG NATIONAL DEBT. 

The SPEAKER. The regular order being d:emanded, the House 

1.·esnmes the consideration of the .unfinished business, being the bill 

(H. R. No. 5808) to facilitate the refunding the national debt, on which 

the main question has been ordered. The question is on ordering the 

bill to be engrossed and 1·ead a third time. . The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time ; and b~ing engrossed, it was accordingly read the third time. 

Mr. WOOD. I demand the previous question on the passage of the 

ibill. 

Mr. BUCKNER. Let the bill be again reported. 

The bill was again read. · Mr. MILLS. I ask the gentleman from New York [Mr. WooD) to 

permit me to offer an amendment to the bill, providing that all bonds 

hereafter issued by the Government shall be liable to federal taxation. 

Mr. WOOD. I decline to yield for that purpose. 

1\Ir. EDEN. Would it be in order to amend the bill so that this ·double interest should only run for thirty days and the interest on called bonds cease in thirty days t 

1\Ir. WOOD. We haveanotherbillmakingthatprovision, and will 

take an early opportunity of reporting it. · The previous question was seconded and the main question ordered ; 

and under the operation thereof the bill was pa-ssed. 

.Mr. WOOD moved to reconsider the vote by which the bill was passed; and also moved to lay the motion to reconsider on the table. 

The latter motion was agreed to. · 

IMPROVEMENT OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 

The SPEAKER. In obedience to the order of the House, made 

under a suspension of the rules, assign:in~118 a special or4er for to-day 

the bill for the improvement of the :MisslSSippi River, for consideration in Committee of the Whole, the Chair recognizes the gentleman 

from Louisiana, [Mr. ROBERTSON.) . Mr. ROBERTSON. I move that the Honse resolve itself into Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union for the consideration 

of the special order, the bill 'for the improvement of the Mississippi 

River. . The motion was agreed to; and the Honse accordingly resolved 

itself into Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, (Mr. 

CARLISLE in the chair,) and proceeded to consider the bill (H. R. No. 

4318) to provide for the organization of "the Mississippi River improvement commission,'7 and for the correction, permanent location, 

and deepening of the channel, and the improvement of the navigation 

of said Mississippi River and the protection of its alluvial lands. 

The bill was read, as follows : · • 

Be it enacted, cf:c., That there is hereby created a commission, to be called "the 

MissisW>pi River improvement cemmission," to be composed of five persons. 

SEc. 2. That the President of the United States shall, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, app«?int five commissioners, and shall in like manner fill any 

vacancy or vacancies which mar occur in said commission~ Said commission shafl 

be composed of three officers o the Army Engineer Corps, one of whom shall be 

designated by the President of the United States as president of the commission, 

and two persons from civil life, who, by their residence and experience, shall be 

familiar with the navigation of said river, and with the effect of the overflow of 

said river upon the alluVial lands of the Mississippi Delta. And for the services 

nnd duties hereinafter prescribed, the said Army officers shall receive no ot~er or 

•• 

additional pay or compensation than is now allowed them by law, and the other two commissioners shall receive as pay and compensation each the sum &t \13,000 per annum. Said commissioners appointed as above shall remain members of said 

board during good behnvior, subject to remo-.al by the President of the United 

States for cause. SEc. 3. It shall be the duty of said commi01sion to direct and complete such sur- veys of said river, between the city of Saint Louis, in the State" of Missouri, anu th~asses at the month of said river, as may now be in progress, and to make such 

additional surveys, examinations, and investigations, hydrographical and topographical, as may be deemed necessary b:fsaid commission, to enable it to perform its duties and to carry oat the objects of this act witn the greatest advantage to th~ 

public interests; and to enable said commission to complete such surve:vs, and to make such additional surveys, examinations, and investigations; and the Secretary 

of War shall, when requested by said commission, det..1.il from the En~ineer Corp~ 

of the Army such officers and men as may be necessary, and shall place m the charge 

and for the use of sa.i<l commission such vessel or vessels and such machinerv nRd 

instruments as may be under his control aml may be deemed necessary; and the 

said commission may. with the approval of the Secretary of War, employ such ad· 

ditional force and assistants, and provide, by purchase or otherwise, such vesBflls Ol' boats and such instruments and means as ma~ be deemed necessary. 

SEC. 4. It shall be the duty of the said commissiOn to take into consideration such 

plans and estimates for the correction and permanent location and deepening of 

the channel of the Mississippi River and the improvement of the navi~ation of said 

river, and for the protection of the alluvial lands of the Mississippi Delta from 

overflow from said river, as may be suggested by any member or members of said 

commission, and by other persons, and to prepare and mature plans for, and esti· mates of, the cost of a general system of works for the correction and permanent 

location and deepening of the channel and the impro>ement of the navigation of 

said Mississippi River and the protection of said L'lnds between Saint Louis, Mis· 

sonri, and the passes at the mouth of said river; and when so prepared anll matured 

and approved by the president of said commission, to make and submit to the Pres- ident of the Unite<L States of America a full and detailed report of their ~roceedings 

and a{Jtions, and of such plana and estimate , for the purposes afores:ud, to be o y him transmitted to Congress. · SEC. 5. If such pla.ns and estimates, or such plans, shall be appro>ed by the Con- gress of the United States, then the construction and completion of said works 

according to such J?lans shall be conducted and caiTied on bv the Secretary of War . under the supervision and direction of saill commis::~ion; antl said commission shall 

annually, pnor to the commencement of each regnla.r session of Congress, make 

and submit to the Secretary of War, to be by him submitted to the Congress of the 

United States, fall and detailed reports of their proceedings and actions, and of 

all works and improvements done, and the cost thereof, and of the progress nnu effects of such works, and of estimates of the necessary amounts of appropriations for successfully and efficiently carrying on the Construction of said woms :md improvements, and also for the completion of such works and improvemeJ?.t3 accord- ill"" to the said plana. · §Ec. 6. The said commission, or a majority of said commission, including the president thereof, may, {lrior to the completion of all the surveys and exaruina· 

tiona contemplated by this act, and prior to tlte submission to the President of tb e United States of their maturetl plans and estimates for the purposes aforesnid, ptepare and submit to the President of the United Sta.tes plana, specifications, antl 

estimates for such immediate works as may be neaessary for closing such outlets 

of said river and such gaps and crevasses in the levees on the bankS of sai<l river, 

and, as may be necessary, in the judgment of said commission, to secnre an earlier 

correction and Ifermanent location and deepenin~ of the channel of said river, and 

for the protection of said lands, and as may constitute a part of the general system 

of works herein contemplated and provided for, to he by him transmitted to Con· 

gress ; and if such plans, specifications, and estimates shall be approved by the 

Uong_t:ess of the Umted States, then the Secretary of War, under the st~pervision 

and uirection of said commission, shall cause the immediate construction of such 

works in such manner a.s may be deemed most speedy and economical. 

SEc. 7. When said commission shall have so prepared and matured such pla.J.l1; 

for and estimates of the cost of a general system of works for the pnJY.Oses afore - said, and shall have so reported and submitted the same to the Pres1dent...of tho 

United States1 and the same or said J?lans shall have been so approved by t~e Congress, as herem provided for, then 1t shall be the duty of the Secretary of Wa..rc 

under the supervision and direction of said commission, to cause said works anu improvements to be constructed and completed as rapidly a-s the appropriations 

made by Congress therefor shall iustif:v. And it shall be the duty of saill commis· 

sion, or a majority thereof, including tlie president of said commission, to prepare 

and submit to the Secretary of War detailed plans, specifications, and estimates 

for said ~ene:tdl. system of works, or such portion or portions thereof as may from 

time to trme be deemed necessary to secure the earliest and most economical con- struction and completion of the same, or any portion or portions thereof; and thereupon the Secretary of War shall contract and let said work, or any portion or por: 

tiona thereof, to the lowest responsible bidder or bidders, either by advertising for 

sealed proposals or bids for the construction, or the construction and completion 

of said works, or any portion or portions thereof, according to said plant~~ and speci- fications, or in such' other manner as he may deem best to secure the construction, or construction and completion of such works, or any portion or portions thereof, at the lowest prices and in the best manner; and shall, as a condition prece<lent to the acceptance or approval of any contract or lettin~t, require of such contractor or bidder such safeguards and such bond or bonds with such conditions and sure- ties as he may deem necessary to secure the earliest :md best construction and 

completion of said works, or any portion or portions thereof, according to said 

plans anll specifications, and shall prescribe such I"ules and regulations for con- ducting such work as he may deem necessary; and in the event of the failure, 

refusal, or neglect of any contractor or bidder to construct or complete such wowk 

according to said plans and specifications, or to perform and comply with the terms ana conditions of the bond, or with the rules and regulations prescribed, the 

Secretary of War may rescind said contract or bid, and decla.re the same forfeited, 

and relet such work, and shall have the same rights and powers in regard to each contract or bid and to each bidder or contractor ·under the first or any subsequent lettin_g or reletting as.herein given; and no payment shall be made by the Secretary of War for any work done, in whole or in part, until such work shall be 

accepted by said commission and approved by the Secretary of War. 

SEc. 8. The Secretary of War may detail from the Engineer Corps of the Army of the United States any officer who may he selected and recommended by saitl 

commission, or a majority thAreof, including the president of s~id commission, t1l 

act as secretary of 11aid commission. • SEc. 9. The Secretary of War is herebyoauthorized to expend the sum of 250,000 

for the payment of the salaries herein provided for, and of the necessary e::~..-penses 

incurred in the completion of such surveys as may now be in pro!rress, and of such 

additionalaur>eys, examinations, and investigations as may be ffeemed necessary, 

and in maturin~ and perfecting and reporting the plans and estimates, and the 

plans, specifications, and estimates contemplated by this act, as herein provided 

for; and said sum is hereby appropriated for said purposes out of any money in 

the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. 

The amendments reported by the Committee on Levees and Iruprovement of the Mississippi River were read, as follows: 

In sectio~ 4, line 17, strike out the words "President of the United Stat~~ of 

America," and insert the words "Secretary of 'Var." 

• 
1879. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. 497 

In section 5, lin~ 5, strike out the words "under the supervision and direction of 

.said commission." . In section 6 line 4, strike out the words "President of the United States " and 

insert the wo;ds "Secretary of War;" and in line 18, strike out the words "under 

the supervision and directlon of said commission." 

In section 7 line 4, strike out the words "President of the United States" and 

insert the wo~ "Secretary of War:" and in line 8, strike out the words "under 

the supervision and direction of said commission." 

Add the f.ollowing as new sections: 

SEc. 10. That there is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the United 

States 1'reasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $3,871,574, for closing such crevasses and raising and s~gtheninu.the levees along the Mississippi ~i:er 

deemed neoossary by the engme"rplaced' :m char~e of the wo.Ik, under s~perVIBwn ()f the. Chief of E.!!gineers, and approved by the Secretary of War, to Wit: 

In the Stat<} of illinois, $75,000. 

In the State of Missouri, $490,380. 

In the State of Missouri, above the Ohio, 51,264. 

In the State of Tennessee, .00,000. 

In the State of Arkansas, $1,299,180. 

In the State of Mississippi, $1,178,000. 

In tbe State of Louisiana, $677,750. 

SEC. 11. That the Secretary of War shall, after public advertisement, under the 

super-vision of said engineers, let !ill the wo:k to be done.by virtue of th~ tenth sec- tion of this act to the lowest bidder or bidders: Provided, That no bid shall be 

accepted without good and solvent security, and that no payment for the work 

done shall be made until the same shall be accepted and approved by the Chief of 

Engineers: And provided further, That no portion of the money hereby appropriated shall be applied to the payment of debts incurred by the local levee authorities or to any other work than such as may be contracted for and constructed und~r the supervision of the said engineers in accordance with the foregoing provisions. 

Mr. BRIGHT. I would like to hear the report read. 

The report of the committee was read, as follows: 

To appreciate the ll3tional importance of keeping in repair the great river hi~.hway between Saint Louis and the Gulf of Mexico, a comprehensive review of me whole Mississippi River system seems necessary. The many navigable tributaries 

and subtributaries which flow from the region of the lakes in the North, the Alle~hanies in the E.ast, and the Rocky Mount-a~~ in. th~ West, converge and nnit.e 

in one grand trunk-line known as the Lower MissisSippi. Many States and Terntoties have a business interestin this system, and, while sharing its benefits, should 

also share the damages and cost of repairs. Your committee therefore consider 

the questions of ri1;_er improvement and alluvial lands as intimately and inseparably connected. To ~eat of one quest~on to the exclusion of the. other: and to go~ an extreme on either s1de, would be to Ignore the fact that busmess IS conservative, 

made up of checks and balances, facts and figures, and not radical theories. 

There are, in print, many official reports of surveys and other a'!lthoriti~ on the 

Mississippi and its >arious tributaries, but these contain detached info~mation, and no one is sufficiently general and comprehensive to embrace the whole n ver system. The ma!!Ilitude and national importance of the system are too little understood by 

the general public. To supply that information w_e ~ave mad~ use of ~ ~ap and 

manu.Scriptprepared by Alexander D. Anderson, ~VI?g a conciSe descnptive and 

statistical reviaw of this great natural and national highway of commerce. 

I HISTORICAL NOTES. 

In the early days of European discovery and rivalries in the Mississippi Valley its comprchensiYe river system played a prominent part on the stage of public 

.affairs. The discovery of the riYer in 1541 by the Spaniards under De Soto was, about a century later, followed by explorations by the French, under the lead of 

Marquette Joliet, and La Salle, who entered the valley from the north. La Salle, 

during the' years 167S-'83, ~xplored therlverthroughont its w~ole le~);{th, t_ook pos- session of the great valley m the name of France, and called It Lomsiana m honor 

of his king Louis XIV. Then resulted grand schemes for developing the re- aources of the valley, which a French writer described as "the re~ions watered by the Mississippi, immense ~own virgin solitudes. whi.ch the imagina_tic;m fill~d 

with riches." One Crozat, m 1712, secnre<l from tho kmg a charter g1vm~ h1m 

almost imperial control of the commerce of the whole Mississippi Valley. 'J:here wa.s at that date no European rival to dispute French domination, for the English of New Enuland and the other Atlantic colonies had not extended their settle· meuts west~ard across the Alleghanies, and the Spanish in the Southwest, or New 

Spain, had not pushed their conquests farther north than New Mexico. Croz~t's 

trading privileges covered an area many times lar~rer than all Fra.nce, a~d as fertile as any on the face of the earth. But he was unequal to the opportnmty, and, 

failing in his efforts soon surrendered the charter. John Law, a Scotchman, at first a gambler, and subsequently a bold, visionary, but brilliant financier, sue· ceeded Crozat in the privileges of this grand scheme, and secured from the successor :>f Louis XIV a monopoly of the trade and development of the French possessions 

in the valley. In order to carry into effect his wild enterprise he orgaruzed a colos3alstock company, called" The Western Company," but more generally known in 

history as "The Mississippi Bubble."· According to the historian Monette, "it was vested with the exclusive privilege of the entire commerce of Louisiana and 

New France and with authority to enforce its rights. It was authorized to monopolize the trad~ of all the colonies in the provinces and of all the Indian tribes within 

the limits of that extensive region, even to the remotest source, of every stream tributary in any wise to the Mississippi." So skillful and daring were his manipulatiollS that he bewitched the French people "With the fascination of stock gam· bUng. But the bubble soon burst, and its explosion upset the finances of the whole 

kingdom. The French made little progress in the settlement and development of the great valley and in 1762 and 1763, after a.· supremacy of nearly a hundred years, were erowd~d out by the English from the east and the Spanish from the southwest, 

the Mississippi River forming the dividing line between tho conquests of those two nations. 

The Spanish officials, for the puryose of :promoting colonization, and to aid in 

-establishing trading-posts on the Mississippi, Missouri, Ark~n~1 Red, ~d other 

rivers in the western half of the valley, granted to certam mdiVIduals, piOneers, and ~ttlers, inimense tracts of land. They accomplished even less than the Jfrench 

in peopling the valley; but w~tever prog:e~ was m~e ~.det: the s'!lccessi.ve su- premacies of the French, Spamsh1 and llntish, the MissiSSippi and Its nav1gable tributaries furnished the onlv hignways of communication and commerce. The United States, a.s a result of the revolutionary war, dispossessed the British 

of the eastern half of the valley (except that portion east of the Mississippi and 

below the thirty-first degree of north latitude to Bayou Manchac, which remained 

in undisputed possession of Spain until1810, when the people of thttt territory now known as the Florida parishes of Louisiana threw off the Spanish yoke, captured the forts at Baton Rouge and other points of military occupation, and declared and 

maintained their independence until Governor Claiborne dispersed the legislature 

and government of the people, and the United States Government extended it-s au- thonty over the territory, but which S:pain did not cede to the United States until 

1819,) and in 1803, by the treaty of Parii!, purchased the western half from France, 

which she, three years before, had reac9_uired from Spain. Then began a thorough developmeut of the valley, and the thrifty American civilization made good use ?f 

.the riYer highway. It became one of the most important channels of commercem 

VIII--32 

. the worlu ; but its presti;::-e wa.~ soon eclipsed by the advance of railways, and for 

years past the natural highway has been less llSed than the artificial ones . At the present time, however, this river svstem is once more coming into great prominenc·e, uoth in a national and iuternahonal sense. One scheme for ils ini- · _provement contempla.tes an outlay of $45,00D,OOO in the construction of leYees. 

Another proposes its improvement on the jetty plan with an ontlay of $50,000,000. 

Still others aim at the removal of sand-bars, snags, shoals, and overcoming the obstructions caused by rapids. Direct shipments of grain are proposed from the ceuter of the valley to Europe. The river is also considered an im_portant factor 

in the deyelopment of direct and increased trade with Cuba, Brazil, Mexicc, anll 

other Spanish-American nations. To facilitate these commendable schemes, it is 

proposed to improYe and deepen the channel of the Lower Mississippi, which we have termed the grand trunk-line of the whole system, so that its waters may float ocean steamers, an1l make continuous the navi~ation of the great interior of tha 

United States with the Gulf and the ocean. In brief, the new era. of peace, mate- rial deYelopment, reviYal of industries, and extension of trade!.. which is succeeding several years of political strife and business depression, :finas in the Mississippi 

River system a fine field for operations. The problem of cheap transportation, so important to the welfare of the producing classes, looks to the river and its many navigable tributaries for solution; Considerina the national importance of that 

question at the present time, it is safe to assert t~at the river system has reached a 

point in its history where it will soon regain its lost prestige. 

DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 

The MiSsissippi and its navigable tributaries intersect a.11d supply with cheap 

transportation nearly every portion of the vast agJjcultural region extending from 

the .lakes to the Gulf and from the Alleghany to the Rocky Mountains, an area of 

about 2,000,000 square miles: in other words, about two-thirds of the area of th6 

whole United States. Strictly speaking, the Mississippi River basin contains but 

1,257,545 square miles. That total is, accordin.e; to Walker's Statistical Atlas of 

the United States, composed of the following minor basins or subdivisions, viz: 

Square miles. 

Lower Mississippi........................................................ 65,646 

~~~~~~::~~:: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ~~: ~ Arkansas ........••...........•.•.....•..••••..........•.................. 184, 742 

Ohio ..•.•••.•••.•..••••.......••••.........••••.•..••.....•••••..•••...... 207, 111 

Red ..••••..•••••.••• ~ •.••.••.•..••.••....•••••••.•••........•....••......• 9~. 721. 

But the region drained and in a bnsiness way benefited by the Mississippi River 

system is more extensive than the mere basins, and it is fairer to use the first men- tiOned area (which is that given by Fostsr, in his excellent work on the valley) as the proper measure of territory for the purposes of this review. 

The followin~ table shows the number of miles which the river and each one of 

its tributaries IS navigable from its mouth to the place designated on the accompa- nying map as the head of navigation: .... 

Rivers. 

~:;r:~i>i:: :::::::::::::::::: 

Ohio .•... : ... .......••.•. ..•.. Red .•••••....•..•••••.....•... Tennessee ...••......•..••••... .Arkansas ...•.•.........•.•.•.. Minnesota. .....•..........•.... illinois ........•••......•..•... Yazoo; ......••••.•••...•.•.. ··. 

~:i~~~~::::::: ::::::::::.::: 

Tallahatchie ...•.............. 

~f::o~~iii-: ::::::::::::::::::: 

Black (Arkansas) ...•.••...... 

~~~~!i~~~~~:::::: :::::::::::: 

Muskingum .•••••.••.•...•.•.. 

Miles. 

3,127 

2,166 

1,021 

820 

759 

668 

295 

269 

240 

237 

207 

200 

200 

160 

136 

110 

94 

94 

Rivers. 

Cumberland .......••..••.•.•.. 

White ..•.•• ·••••••••••••·•···· Wa.shita .....•.•••.•...•.•..... Yellowstone .•...•...••........ Wabash ...••...••.•.••..•..... .Alleghany .•••••••.......•••... Chippewa .•..••.••••••••...••. lowa .•..••..........•••.•..... Saint Francis ...•.........•••. Saint Croix ...•.••••.....•..... Rock ......••••••.•••••••.•..•. Kentucky ...•.....•. : .••..•.. . Black (Louisiana.) .•.•••••••... 

~lli.~o-~~:: :::::::::: ~:: : : :: : : : 

Total. •••••.•••••.•••••• ' ... 

Miles. 

65:J 

460 

445 

43E 

369 

325 

90 

80 

80 

65 

64 

60 

54 

50 

50 

14, 086 

It will be observed that several of the rivers placed on the map are not naviga- ble. Some of them can easily be made so, and when the country becomes more densely populated doubtless will be suitably improved. The Mississippi River, for instance, can, by liSe of locks, be made navigable to Leech Lake, about six hundred miles 

above the present bead of navigation. In the same way the navigation of the Missouri, Yellowstone, Red, and other tributaries may be 6xtended. It will also be 

observed that the mileage, as given in the above table, is to the heads of naviga- gation. ln most instances that means continuous navigation, but not always so. For instance the na~ation of the Mississippi is broken at Saint Anthony's Falls, 

and then is resumed and extends to Sank Rapids. In the Tennessee RiYer there 

is an interruption at MllScle Shdals, in the State of Alabama, and another below 

Chattanooga. In the R-ed River there ill also an interruption of continuous navigation. But these breaks in continuous navigation exist in only a few of the aboYe 

list of tributaries, and can, with little expense, be overcome whenever Congres~ 

furnishes the necessary legislation. 

Did time permit, it would be interesting to ~ive descriptive notes on eaeh of the 

thirty-three navigable rivers of the Mississippi system, stating the general features 

and characteristics of eaoh, the nature of. the interruptiollS to continuous naviga- gation, th6 kind of boats used, or capable of being med, on each, the number of 

miles of navigation, which, by improvements and repairs, might be added to each 

river, &c. Such a review is much needed in the interest of commerce, and intelligent. and adequate le~Pslation, and it is to be regretted that no provision has been 

made for its preparation. A noticeab~e feature of the system, as may' be seen on the map, is that on th east and west it nearly connects with rivers flowing into the Atlantic and Pacific. 

The James River in Virginia so nearly unites with the Kanawha, which is a tributary of the Ohio. that eYer since the days of Washin~ton, who originated and 

fii"St adyocated the plan, it has been proposed to connect in this manner the waters of the Atlantic with those of the Mississippi Valley. At the present time there is a bill pending before Congress asking that a commission of engineers be appointed "whose duty it shall be to proceed at once to make a survey of and consider and mature plans for the construction of a na.vigabla canal from the Upper Colnm.hia 

River to the Upper Missouri River." ·A continuous water-line from New York 

City to the waters of tbe Mississippi, by way of Hudson River, the Erie Canal, anu the great lakes, has been much discussed, and in 1874 its construction wa~ 

stronuly recommended by a select committee of the United States Senate. Th~s it is proposed, by supplementing the Mississippi system on tJJ.e north, east. and west, to extend the water hi~hways of commerce across the continent, not only from the lakes to.the Gulf, but from ocean to ocean. 

A NATIOXAL ffiGHWAY. 

The na vi !!able portions of this vast river system eithor intersect or border eighteen States and two Territories. Each one of these States and Territ~ries bas an exten-
498 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. J.A.NUARY 16,. 

sive busine s interest in the Lower Missisl ippi or trunk-line, as well as the partic- ular portions of the river highway -which touch its own territory. The milea"'e of 

tbe navigable portions of the systeJt). which cross or border each State is nearry as follows: 

States. 

~r~:::: ::~-::: :~-::::::::: ~~~~:::::::::::::::::::: : 

ifi:.:~~~i:: ::::::::::::::::: 

Kentucky ••..••.....•....... . Iowa ..••..•.••••• . .. . .....••. Indiana ..•.••••••....••....... 

Miles. 

1, 826 1, 504 

1, 314 

1,311 

1. 277 

1, 2"20 1, 207 

1, 187 

845 

840 

tates. 

~~~!~::::: :::::::::::::: 

Ohio .......... . . . ........... . Nebraska . .........•...•..•• Pennsylvania .......•........ Texas ............. . . . ....•.. Dakota ..........•..•........ Alabru.na .. ........••...••... Kansas .......••.•........... W est Virginia ........... . .. . 

IDles. 

fi60 

560 

556 

400 

380 

300 

2E!5 

250 

190 

104 

An estimate of the political power of these States and Territories shows how 

national are the interests attaehing to the river. Of the three huntl.red and one representatives of the people in the present Congre. s, the eighteen States and two Territories sent one hundred and seventy-one. This representation is based on population, anti, according to the last census, those States and '£erritories had a population of 22,215,022, against 16,343,349 in the rest of the United States. 

Again, a comparison of some of the leading products of tho e eighteen States 

-with the products of the whole United States illustrates very clearly the national 

character of this comprehensive highway. According to the recent annual report 

of the United States Commissioner of Agricultme, they, in 1876, produced 

1,123,106.000 bushels of Indian corn of the totall,283,8'27,500 bushels produced in 

the whole Union;, in other words, over 87 per oent. of the whole national crop. The wheat proauct of the same eighteen States was 200, 99,000 bu shels against the total 289,356,500 bushels of the whole United States, or 69 per cent. They produced 72 per cent. of the t{)tal rye product of the United State14- DUI'ing the same year they furnished 70 per cent., or 19,811,650 of the total 28 282 968 wmih of to- bacco produced in the United States. Of the total4,438,000 bales of C{)tton grown 

in the whole United States in 1876, they produced 74 per cent., or 34318,000 bales. 

As the statistics of pork packing are usually given by cities insteaa of States, we will take, for a further companson, the >aloe of live hogs In 1876. According to the same authority, the Commissioner of Agl'iculture, the >aloe of the ho~ of the 

eighteen Stntes was estimated to be 137,154,406, and those of tho whole Union 

f171 ,077,196, or71 per cent. The chief coal fields of the United States, those of Pennsyh-ania, Indiana, Ohio, 

Tilinois, and Missouri, are in close proximity to the navigable waters of the Mississippi or its tributaries. The extensive iron deposits of l'enne see, Western Pennsylvania, and Missouri also adjoin this national bip;bway. It furnishes water communication mth the oceru.t for the commel!Ce and froi~rh. s of such cities as Pittsbmp;h, Cincinnati, LouisYille, Nashville, Memphis, Saint Paul, Keokuk, Omaha, 

Little Rock, Shreveport, Jefferson, Texas, Saint Louis, New Orleans, and many others scattered over different portions of the great interior of the United State . In f:wt, the river system itself is national, for it is a highway controlled by the 

United States and~ subject to the laws of the General Government instead of t.be 

laws of the various States throu~b which it pa es. The law as declared in 1870 

by t be Supreme Court of the Umted States, m the case of " The Daniel Ball," (10 

Wallace, 557,) is as follows: •• These rivers must be regarded a public navigable rivers in law which are navigable in fact. .A.nd they are navigalJle in fact when they are used, or are sus- ceptible of being used, in their ordinary condition, a.~ highways for commerce over which trade and travel are or may be conducted in the customary modes of trade 

and travel on water. .A.nd they constitute navigable waters of the United States, within the meaning of the act-s of Congress, in contradistinction from the natiga.-

ble waters of the States, when they form, in their ordinary condition, by themselves, or by uniting with other waters, a continued highway over which commerce is or may be caiTied on with other States or foreign countries, in the customary modes in which such commerce is conducted by water." 

Here, then, we find a highway which is controlled by ilia people instead of pri- vate corporapons. No monopo~y of transportation or exorbitant charges attach t{) 

the river system, but it is a public way open to free and unrestrained competition.. 

It is, in nature, fact, and law, a national mstitution. 

ITS IXTER."iATIOX.AL FEA 'llUP..ES. 

A glance at the map shows how the v-arious branche-s of this inland highway 

converge, meet, and finally terminate at the Gulf, directly opposite Brazil, the 

Spanish-American nations of South America, Mexico, and the West Indies. No 

intention of natnre is more clearly indicated than that the commerce of the great valley should find a direct and continuous interchange with that of neighbOring nations at the south. But statistics show that the wise plans of nature ha>e, in this respect, been almost totally disregarded. According: to a rep<?rt on the re· somces and commeroe of Brazil, submitted al; obr centennial exhibition, her aver· age annual purchases in the European market were 8.'5.29 yer cent. of her total 

imports, while her annnal average purchases from the UIDted States were only 

4.67 per cent. Taking the statistics of the forei!!Il commerce of Mexico for the year ending.J nne 30, 1873, which is probably a fair ill'ustration of the general direction of that trade, we find that MIDQCO imported to the extent of $18,897,611 in commodities from dis- tant Europe, andlbnly $7,420,419 from the United States. Takj.ng the single item 

of cotton stnffil imported that same year, Mexico boug_ht ten million five hundred 

aml thirty-one thousand nine hundred and seventy aollars' worth from Europe, and only three hundred and sixty-nine thousand four hundred and thirty-eight dollars' worth from the United States. Yet her chief harbor, Vera Cruz, is but a very short distanoe across the Gulf from the mouth of the Mississippi and the best 

wtton-producing States of the world. The grain product of the :valley have for 

years past been sent overland for foreign shipment, while the waters of the river 

which penetrates all portions of the grain-producing regions form an unbroken 

channel to the ocean. The people of the valley are beginning to appreciate the faet that it is a costly luxury to Ignore the plans of nature, and now, more than ever before, they are considering the international features of the river highway. The recent direct 

shipments of grain from the mouth of the Mississippi to forei~ markets ba>e 

proved so successful and so beneficial to the producers of the >alley that it is proposed to imvrove the river so as to permit <'CCan steamers to a cend to the >ery center of thts great river system. This result could be accomplished by a channel 

of twenty feet in depth from Saint Louis to the Gulf. One-plan of impro>ement of 

the Lower Mississippi contemplates such a depth of navigation. But it is not om purpose to advocate any particular theory of improvement. Suffice it to say that 

the river should be impressed into the service of commerce in every WilY llOSsible 

and to its utmost capacity, whether for local, national, or internation:U.ex:changes . .An inevitable result of an adequate development and use of this ri>er highway, and enlarged trade with Spanish-American countries adjoining the Gulf, will be 

the construction of the proposed interoceanic canal across Central .America or Southern Mexico. That would make continuous and very direct water communication between the v:U.I.ey and .Japan, China, and India. Th ~ Missi c;ippi Valley 

is destined at no distant day to have its share of the much coveted and enriching oriental trade. · · AN ECONOMICAL IDGHWA.Y. 

This ri>er system, considered as a whole, extends from north to south, from one climate to another. Nature bas pronded that different climates sha.ll furnish different products, and it is but in accordance with those designs and sound principles of political economy that the chief commercial exchanges of the United Statesshould be in the same direction- In America., at least, those principles of trade· have been disregarded, and the exchanges ba•e been too much on parallels of lati- tude. But, regardless of what has been the pra{ltice, it is a fact whlch cannot be· gainsaid, that the most important trade for the United States to secure is that of 

the nations lyin~ south of us, and within easy reach of the .Mississii?pi Valley. Of 

the valley itself it may be said that the northern and southern portions arc, in climate, resources, and products, the supplement of e:wh other. Of the >alley, and 

the Spanish-American natious, it_may be said that one is, in climate, protluctf', re- sources, supplv, and demand, the complement of the other. The Mississippi Ri'l'"er 

fill'nishes fadllties for exchanges on that principle, and is, therefore, economically' correct. True public economy requires that such laws of nature and trade be not disregarded. ' 

Again, this highway is in accordanoe with the rule of political economy as well as common sense, which is that channels of commerce be located in regions which are sufficiently fertile and settled to furnish products for transportation. The most productive portions of the United States are the rich valleys extending up and 

tlown thel\lississippi and its many tributal'ies. The highway wa located where most needed, and where it can petiorm the greatest servioe in the shape of trans· portation . .Again, it is in accordance with the strictest ptinciples of political economy in 

that it was constructed without expense. The single State of :N"ew York had, up. to the close of 1866, expended $64,710,832 in the construction, improvement, and 

enlargement of her thirteen hundred and eight mile of canals. It will be observed 

that the mileage of these canals which cost such an enormous sum is not quite one~ 

tenth the mileage of the Mississippi River system which co t nothing. Still again, sound public economy requires that the cost of transportation be not so great as to check production. The question of cheap transportation has during the past few years been very generally discussed, and a select committee of the 

United States Senate in 1874 prepared an elaborate report on that subject. In its 

summary of conclusions and recommendations is the following: "The abo>e facts and conclusions, together with the remarkable physical adapta- tion of our country for cheap and ample water COmmunications, point unerringly to the improvement of our great natural waterways, and their connection by canals or by short frei$ht railway portages, nnder control of the Government, as the obvious and certarn solution of the problem of cheap transportatjon." The following, from the Cincinnati Commercia], of recent date, illustrates the 

foroe of that conclnsion : " The tow-bOat Josh Williams is on her way to New Orleans with a tow of thirty- two barges, containin~ six buntlred thousand bushels (se>enty-six pounds to the 

bushel) of coal, exclusive of her own fuel, being the largest tow e>er taken to New 

Orleans or anywhere ~se in the world. 

"Her freiaht bill, at three cents per bushel, amounts to $18,000. '' It would take eigb teen hundred cars, of three hnndred and thirty-three bushels to the car, (which is an overload for a car,) to transport this amount of coal. "At 10 per ton or 100 per car, which would be a fair price for the distance by 

rail, the freight bill would amount to 180,00(1, or 162,000 more by rail than by 

ri>er. 

"The tow will be taken from Pittsbmgh to New Orleans in fourteen or fifteen 

tlays. "It would require one hundred trains of eigbteep cars to the train to transport this one tow of six hundred thousand bushels of coal, and even if it made the usual ~d of fast freight-lines, it would.take one whole summer to put it tprougb by 

"This statement shows the wonderful superiority of the river over rail facilities." 

The following statistics from the K ew Orleans market reports show the increased 

receipt.s of some of the articles of produce from th& interior, largely due to improve- ment at the mouth of the Mississippi. River. 

In other words, the producers desuin~ cheap transportation will always patron. 

ize the river hi~bway when it is in repai.r. "From Septemoer 1, 1877, to April 21, 1878-

Increase. Corn, this year, bushels ....•••.....••....••...•.•••••••••...•. 3, 6i9, 319 

Corn, last year, bushels .•.•.•....•••.•••••••••.•••••.•••.•..•. 1,173, 381 . --- 2, 505,938 

Wheat, this year, bushels ..... . -.............................. 653, 551 

Wheat, last ar, bushels ..••.. _.............................. 93, 725 

Cotton-seed, this year, acks .••..•..•..•.•.......•..........•. 1, 724, 012 

Cotton-seed, last year, sa£ks. _ ..... _ ...••••.•...... - ...••..... 1, 058, 716 

---- Cotton, this year, bales .......••.. _ ....•....•...••.....•. -....• 1, 602, Nl 

Cotton, L.<t t year, bales. __ ...••.••••••.. -...................... 1, 323, 819 

A XEGLECTED IDGHWAY. 

559,826 

66.5, 296 

278,302 

With the great natill'al advantages possessed by the ri>er highway, one w<1uld 

naturally suppose it would be the main depentlence for the bulky frei,ghts of an agricultural valley. But it is the channel of trade least in use. According to there- cent report of the United States Bu.roauof Statistics on internal commerce, the com- merce of Saint Louis~ the centralcityof thegrea.tMississip.J?iValley, was, dill'in~ the :vear 1875, transportea chiefly by rail, 78 per cent. going by rail and onlv Z~ per ceo t. by river. The same reJ?Ort asserts that " at first the railroads of tbe \Vestern 'States were regarded as bemg merely tributary to the water-lines." But tho reverse is . now true, for since railways have been so~enerally extended o>er the valley, from 

1850 to tho present time, they have gradually gained in relati>e importance and 

pre tige until the river bas become tributary to the railways. Until recently the 

mouth of this whole system of water-wa~s, which connects over fourteen thousand miles of inland nangation with the Gulf and the ocean, has been pcrmittetl to remain filled wit.h bars and deposits, to the great damage of commerce. Along the trunk-line, or Lower lUi sissippi, the le>ees, or fences of the rive.r, constructed to protect adjoining fields from overtiow, and damage, have become ncgleated a.nd 

broken .down. The amonnt of this damage to l?roperty, and loss to the sum total 

of national wealth is truly astonishing. In estrmating the damage one must bear 

in mind that the alluvial lands alon~ the Lower Mississippi, the Red, and Arkansas 

RiYers are as fertile as any upon tna face of the earth, and, for the purpose of 

cotton, sugar, and rice growing, doubtless superior to any. The extent of territory subject to overtiow was, in 1874, estimated by Mr. Morey, in his report to the 

House of Representativea, to be 41,1!)3 square miles. This is an area as great as the combined areas of Yew Hampshire, Vermont, "Massachusetts, Connecticut. 

Rhode Island, and New Jersey, and of course many times more productive. .As 

regards the rune of that area, reduced to aa1·es, we quote as follows from Mr. 

Morey's carefully prepared estimate: . ".Assuming the 26,363,520 square acres of land to have been worth, unreclaimed, $1.25 per acre on the fronts of streams of the larger class to an average depth of one mile on e~Wh side, amou.npng to about 13,000 sq_uare miles-equal 5,120,000 acres--
1879. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. 499 

the whole would be worth, at this rate, about $6,400,000. Computing the rest as not salable, hut worth ten cents per acre, say $2,124,352; add to this the salable land1 and we have an aggregate value of $8,524,352 as the total value of the Mississippi 

Delta without levees. 

" What was their value at the beginning of the war, with the ineffective levee 

system then extending something like 1,000 miles in Louisiana and at least 500 miles 

in the other States ~ The lands reclaimed were worth on an average $30 per acre, and the 5, 120,000 acres became worth $153,600,000, and the remaining 21,243,352 acres were "WOrth $10 per acre, or $212,443,520, and the real value of the whole area worth 

$:366,043,520." 

Here, then, was an addition to the national wealth of over $357,000,000 as a result 

of the reclamation of the alluvial lands. It is an amount greater than the value, as ¢-ven in the last census, of all the farming lands of the great and fertile State 

of Kentucky. But the wealth gained by fencing in the river highway has, since 

the beginning of the war, been almost entirely lost. .According to the able report 

of the Levee Committee, made to ihe House of Representatives by Mr. ELLis, in 

1876, "millions of acres have been sold for taxes; others, after ad>ei1isement, have 

failed to bring anything whatever, and it is safe to say that the depreciation in the 

last sixteen years ha.s reduced the value to less than $100,000,000." .Here, then, is a damage of $266,000,000 to property, caused by failure to keep a public highway in 

repair-a highway so public that it,fnrnishes transportation to eighteen States, 

which, as we have already stated, supply QD. an average about 75 per cent. of the 

staple products of the whole country. The damage not only consists of devastation to adjoining fields, caused by over- flow, but to the levees themselves, which adjoining States and proprietors have 

constructed at great expense. On this subject Professor Forsqey, a distinguished civil engineer of many years' experience and obseryation on the Mississippi, avery reliable authority, made before the .Association for the .Advancement of Scienoe, in 

1872, the folio wing assertion, namely : "The steamers that transport this commerce send their resistless waves against banks ancllevees, lashing and abrading them almost without cessation. Our lower 

river hardly ever rests. Onesetof wa>essucceeds another, and each finds its rest in the equivalent of its forces transferred to the banks and channel of the ri>er. 

The e lashings and abradings, independent of the other causes, render the task 

of levee construction more and more oppressive yearly, until it has become intolemble." 

.At the convention which met at Saint Paul, in the fall of 1877, to consider the 

river interests, he illustrated that assertion by a few facts and figures in regard to the damage to levees along Kempe's plantation, on the Mississippi, and about one hundred miles above the mouth of Red River. He cited that case as a fair illustration of the general damage to levees and alluvial lands caused by the commerce of the eighteen States and two Territories which make free use of this highway. 

He said: 

"In 1840 I made a survey of the whole tract of more than 1,200 acres, half in 

cultivation. The front was protected by a levee only four feet high. Its baQk line, 

forty arpents from the front, nearly one and a half miles, had the ori~al Spanish 

landmarks of 1802. The front had remained thirty-eight years witnout material 

change. The currents had done their worst upon them and still the depth of forty 

arpents was there. In 1872-'73 I located and built a. levee on the front of the same tract, and this was the fourth P.arallel levee that had been built there since my 

survey. Its length was four miles, 18 feet its average hei~ht, (maximum, 221 foot,) 

and with a base of 130 feet. Its contents were 640,000 cubic yard , and it cost the 

State of Louisiana $384,000. In locating the line of the levee I destroyed the back, 

and marks at forty arpents, 1! miles from the river front. This wliole front had 

ca>ed none in the thirty-eight years, from the original survey until 1840; and in 

the thirty-two years of commercial hist6ry the abrasions have c.'\rved away nearly 

t11e whole plantation, and ea.ten down three levees, costing the State and the pro- prietors more than $500,000." 

THE QUESTIO~ OF REP AIRS. 

In nearly every portion of this country, and in faet of tbe civilized world, there 

is some provision of law in regard to the repairs of public roads. The county, 

town, city, and private corporation which is benefited by a highway invariably 

finds some way to keep it in repair. .As the construction of these roads co ts large sums of money, it is considered economical a.s well as necessary to take care of 

them. In brief, the statute law of every State compels the counties or towns to keep their roads in good repair, and the failure to do so subjects them to liability for d:unages caused by the neglect. 

There is no good reason why the United States shoul~l not take equal care of the 

great interstate highways of commerce which she controls by legislation. As re• gards interst.'lte commerce, communication, and exchanges between different sec- tions of the nation, and between the interior and the seaboard, the uses of railways are very similar to those of river high ways. It is therefore fair to contrast these two systems of highways as regards the question of repairs and damages. 

The laws of the various States, particularly those which are the oldest and best 

ettled, are very much alike in their requirements of railway corporations on the 

subject of damages and fences to protect adjoining property-holders from damage. 

To illustrate the spirit of the statute L'\ws in this respect, we quote as follows from 

the laws of Connecticut: . "Every railroad company·which has been incorporated since the first "'\Yednesday of May, 1850, or which shall be. hereafter incorporated, shall erect and maintain 

good and sufficient fences on both sides of its railroad throughout its -whole extent, 

except at such places as, in the opinion of the rnilroad commissioners, the orection 

and maintenance of the same shall be inexpedient or unnecessary." 

The statutes of this State further provide for the construction, by-the railway companies, of "suitable cattle-guards in the form of culverts or pits at all pL'lces 

where its railroad shall cross public highways or pa sways." •In the construction of railways the companies are compelled to pay for the right of way, and to suitably comJ?ensate the land-owners whose property they cross for 

the damages caused. Such IS also the spirit of the law in England. The general spirit of the law on this subject is concisely stated by Bouvier, as follows : "In EngL'llld the laying out of highways is re~ated by act of Parliament; in 

this cotmtry by general statutes, differing in different States. In England the 

uniform practice is to provide a compensation to the owner of the land taken for• 

highways. In the act authorizin~ the tak-ing in the United States such a provis- ion must be made or the act will oe void, under the clause in the' several State 

constitutions, that' private property shall not be taken for public use without just 

compensatipn.'" · It is true that nature, instead of the United States, constructed the river highways. But is that a sufficient reason why the General Government, whieh con- trols the navigable waterways, should not protect the adjoining property-holders 

from dama~e 1 Equity reqwres that the general public which use. and is bene· 

fited by ·this national hi~hway should fence it in by levees, so as to protect the· adjoining fields from overflow and ruin. Congress has already established several 

precedents showing that it recognizes this general and universal spirit of the laws 

in re~ard to publio highways and compensation for damages. They are as follows: 

" The act of March 2, 1849, provides ' 1Jlat, to aid the State of Louisiana in con- structing the necessary levees and drains tQ reclaim the swamp and overflowed 

lands therein, the whole of those swamp and overflo-wed lands which may be or are found unfit for cultivation shall be, anll the same are hereby, granted to that 

State.' 

"The aet of September 28, 1850, provide • that, to nable the State of .Arkansas to construct the necessary levees and drains to reclaim the swamp and overflowed 

lands therein, tbe whole of those S"Wamp and onrfiowe<llands made nnfit thereby 

for cultivation which shall remain unsold at the passage of this act shall be, and 

the same are hereby, grantecl. to said State.' .Another section of this act extends 

~PUni~:~ns and the grant of swamp lands to the other States of the valley and 

"The act of September 30, 1850, provides • for the topOgraphical and hydrographi- cal survey of the Delta of the Mississippi, v.ith such investigations as may lead to determine the most practicable plan for securing it from inundation, and the best 

mode of so deepening the passes at the month of the river as to allow ships of 

twenty feet draught to enter the same, $50,000.' 

"The act of .Au~st 31, 1852, provides • for continuin rr the topographical and 

hydrographical survey of the Delta of the Mississippi, with such investigations as may lead to determine the most practicable plan for securing it from inundation, 

$50,000.' 

"The act of March 12, 1860, provides 'that the provisions of the act of Congress 

entitled '·.An act to enable the State of .Arkan as and other States to reclaim the 

swamp lands mthin their limits," apt-r:'nvned September 28, 1850, be, and the same are hereby, extended to the States of · esota aud Oregon.' 

"The act of June 2'2, 1874, :provides 'that the President be, and he is hereby, au- thorized and directed to ass1gn thi·ee officers of the Corps of .Army Engineers, United States .Army, and to appoint two civil engineers, eminent in their profes- sion, and who are acquainted with the alluvial basin of the Mississippi River,' &c. ~ * * ' It shall·ue the duty of said commission to make a full report to the 

Pre. ident of the best system for the permanent reclamation and redemption of 

said alluvi..'ll. basin from inundation.'" 

The total number of acres selected for the se"leral tat~s. under the provi ions 

of the above-mentioned acts, is 67,683,045. Of that quantity granted, Florida, Oregon, California, a.nd Michigan, States which are not intersected by an,r poction of 

the MississipJ?i Ri>er system, received 23,969,528 acres. Of the quantity receivecl. 

by the States mterested in the Mississippi and its tributaries, the large.r portion wa within the :Uluvial districts dependent upon levees. 

ncb are the precedents which Uon~ess has established in regard to the ubject of alluvial lands. They are sufficiently numerous to indicate an admission by the 

General Government of an obligation t~ build le>ees or fences along it~ great highway of commerce, ·o as to protect adjoining fields fTOm damage. The precedents on the subject of river improvement are much more numerous. From the beginning of the Government to the year W8 there have been nearly two hundred different appropriations by Congress for improvements of the Mis issippi and its >arious tributaries. The total amount of these appropriations for 

improving 14,086 miles of water-"\'ays in the Mississippi svstem, anrl which are under control of the United States, is not so remarkable as the number of the np- :Rro_priations. The amount is in round numbers only ' 18,500,000, a !itUD only one- fifth the amount of bonds issued (mth interest added) by the United States in favor 

of the l'acific railroad . It is an am<;>nnt less than one-third the sum spent by :New 

York State alone on her canals. It 1s also less than half the sum appropriated by 

Congress for the improvement of rivers and harbors in other portions of the United 

States. 

.A further comparison shows that the single tate of X ew York has received from 

the General Government for the imp~:.ovements of its rivers and harbors the sum of 

$7,8!)4,603, an amount considerably over one-third the appropriations for the whole 

Mississippi system, in which eighteen States and two Territorie h.wo a busines 

intere t. • There is a wide difference in principle between the granting of Government aid 

in the construction of railways owned by private corporations and simply keeping 

in repair river highways controlled by the United State , and which nature built 

for her without expense. If precedents show that the General Government has 

pursued a very liberal policy in the first instance, i"t is certainly apparent that the 

policy should be lij)eral in reJ;:;ard to na,igable rivers, the wa.ys which furnish 

cheap and free transportation, and therefore the ways of greatest im:p?rtance to the producers and the people who pay the taxes. .According to the Umted States 

Bureau of Statistics, the amount of public lands granted in aid of the construction 

of railways is, up to the present time, 187,785,850 acres. The amount of bonds 

issued by the General Government to Pacific railways, with intorest accumuL<tted, was, at the beginning of last year, 91,637,928. The single State of New York has, as we have already shown, expended over '64,000,000 in the construction of a,rtifi. 

cial water-ways. The average cost per mile of those 1,308 miles of canal was $49,000. Suppose the Gener:il Government had, at the same co t per mile, con- ·structed the 14,086 miles of wa,ter highways in the Mississippi River system, the 

total cost would be over $690,000,000. This river highway is infinitely superior to and more serviceable than any canal which can be constructed. Its value is just as !ITeat to the people a.s if built at public expense, and is as much entitled to repairs. 

Is it wise for the General Government to neglect its most important highway of commerce simply because nature assumed the cost of the original construction~ 

COXCLUSIO~. 

The bill reported by your comxnittee i» a substitute for the v::uiotiS bills which 

ha,ve been referred to them for consideration. 

By resolution of the present i'ession the jurisdiction of the committee has been e~"tended so as to include q_ne:stions relating to the improvement of the river, as 

well as questions rela.ting to levees and alluvial land~S: In the past the.'le have 

been rival interests, notwith, tanding nature made them interdependent. At present, however, all parties in interest admit that levees are necessary aid.» to the improvement of navigation. Yonr committee therefore, in accordance with their 

ne"W jw·isdictiou, aud the fortunate ooju.stment of rival interest'l, report a bill com- binin"' those two very important questions. 

Without advocatin[' any particular theories-leaving them for a commis::~ion to cl.etermine-they do, however, J,'ecommend a. liberal and comprehensive system of 

repairs to this ~eat natural and national highway of commerce, which is under 

the control of tile Government :mu open to th free and unrestJ:a.ined use of the 

people. 

.As preliminary to such a system of internal improvements, they recommend a. commission to examine and decide upon some adequate and comprehensiv-e plan of 

imp1·ovement of the Lower Mississippi, from Saint Louis to the Gulf, which is the 

concentration an(l trunk line of the whole Mississippi River system. The bill pro- vides that the commission shall take into consideration plans and estimates for the 

improvement of the navi~tion of the river as well as for the protection of the 

alluvial lands of the Mi.ssiS ippi Delta from overflow. 

Mr. GIBSON. I offer as a substitute what I send to the d~ k. I 

ask that it may be read. ~ 

The CHAIRMAN. It may be read now for information, but is not 

in order at the present time to be offered as an amendment. 

The Clerk read as follows : 

.Be it ena<:ted, me., That for the purpose of confining the Mississippi River to 1ts 

channel, to improve its navigation, to facilitate tra-d6 and commerce, and to pro- tect shilJPin[!lld the country from it.'l floods from the head of the passes of the 

Mississippi .ttiver to the mouth of the Illinois River, there is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasw'Y not otherwi e appropriated the sum of 2,500,000, to he expended by the Secretary of War in accordance with surveys and estimates 

made under his directions. 

Mr. REAGAN. I gi"le notice that at the proper time I will offer the 

amendment which I send to the desk and which I desire the Clerk to 

read. 
• 

500 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE .. JANUARY 16, 

The Clerk read as follows : 

Amend section 6, by ad~ at the end of the section the following pro>iso: Provided, That said oom1Jll88ion shall also consider and report on the practicability of improYing the navigation, deepening the channel, and redeeming the alluvial 'inn£ls of said Mississippi River by means of opening new and additional outlets 

for the flow of the waters of said river into the Gulf c)[ Mexico. 

The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from Louisiana [Mr. RoBERTsoN] is entitled to the floor for one hour. 

Mr. ROBERTSON. Mr. Chairman, I wish at the outset to make an explanation with reference to the amendment reported from the 

committee making the appropriation. That amendment was offered 

by me in committee, and I was authorized to report it with the un- derstanding that such members of the committee as might choose to 

do so reserved the right to oppose it. I have offered it as a member 

of t.he committee and the committee is not responsible for that amendment. 

The bill under consideration, and which I had the honor to report 

from the Committee on Levees and Improvement of the Mississippi, 

relates to a material question, and, I may truly say, one of unusual 

importance. It contemplates the improvement of the chief avenue of transportation of a great commercial nation. It also seeks to protect from floods and pestilence over twenty-six million acres of the 

most ff'rtile and productive land,s upon the face of the earth. It does 

not, as is so often alleged, aim at the reclamation of those lands or seek to perform work which properly belongs to the individual citi- zen. The word "reclamation" is not used in the bill. It is well 

that we understand the distinction at the outset of this discussion, 

for the wrong use and confusion of terms have given the opponents 

of river improvement an opportunity to misinterpret, and therefore 

misrepresent, the object we seek to accomplish. The word '' reclamation" has furnished them with the key-note of unjust criticism. We 

.simp1y ask protection from the fJ;equent ravages of this great river, over which no power but the General Government h~ legal control, 

in order that we who possess lands along its course may have an opportunity to reclaim and cultivate them a.t our own expense . . The 

protection we ask is similar in principle to that furnished by the 

General Government, through its Army and at national expense, 

a(Y'ainst a warlike and dangerous enemy who would drive its· citizens a~ay from their legitimate and peaceful avocations. We ask protection from an enemy which we, as individuals and States, are powerless to oppose. We in Yoke theJLid of that power whose fundamental principle is the protection of its citizens. 

Nor does the bill raise the troublesome question of subsidy! the 

bare mention of which~perates upon a portion of the press and public like an attack of nightmare. The improvement of this waterway 

is not in the nature of aid to individual property. The benefits re- sulting from the work proposed will not be confined to a private cor- poration, a city, town, county, State, or section, but will inme to the 

people of the whole country. It is the people's highway which we seek to improve-an avenue always open to their use, free of charge 

or restraint. 

The means of accomplishing these two mo t important ends-improved ~a-yigation and protection <?f neighborin~ _lands-are. left f~r 

a commissiOn of e::q>erts to determme. It woula. mdeed be Impossible for this House, or any other legislative body, to adjust and rec- oncile the many complicated and conflicting theories of improvement, 

for they involve problems of science too intricate for any but skilled 

engineers to solve. Some idea of the labor and intricacies attending 

the subject may be derived from the number a.nd character of the 

bills relating to the Mississippi and its tributaries introduced in this 

House alone dming the present Congress. The total number of bills 

to date is ninety-six. Of these, thirty-five relate to the Mississippi, 

twelve to the. MissoUri, four to the Ohio, six to the Red, six to the 

Tennessee, and the rest to the various other tributaries. The grea~er 

number aim at the improvement of the channels of the respective 

rivers composing the system. But some are based on other features, 

such as a canal to connect the Pacific Ocean with the 1\fississippi 

Valley, byway of the Upper Missouri and Columbia rivers. Another 

seeks to connect the valley with the lakes by a ship-canal uniting 

the Illinois River and Lake Michigan. Another would connect the 

valley with the, Atla,ntic Ocean by means of a canal from Saint 

Mary's River, flowing between Florida and Georgia. Still another 

would establish reservoirs at the sources of the Mississippi, which 

would gather up surplus water in flood-time). to be reserved and used 

to supplement navigation in dry seasons. ;::;everal others are ba.sed 

solely upon protection of alluvial lands, ignoring the question of navig~f3:·practice of distributing among a multitude of inharmonious 

bills the questions relating to a river system, which nature made interdependent and harmonious, to me seems extremely unwise. Only by a c9mprehensive view of the whole system can one understand and 

appreciate the defects and necessities of a part. Such comprehensive and intelligent action can be reached by enJarging the jurisdic- tion of the Committee on Levees and Improvement of the Mississippi so as to include ali of its tributaries throughout the length and 

breadth of the great valley. I trust such adequate jurisdiction will, 

at an early day, be provided for the committee. A bill relating to 

the Lower Mississippi, unlike any other part of this river system, necessarily involves the interegts of all the tributaries, for it is the 

trunk-line of all the various branches flowing from the region of the 

lakes, the Alleghunies, and the Rocky Mountains. This, then, cannot 

be called a sectional bill. Here, as elsewhere, we find a multiplicity 

of theories covered by as many bills. They relate to the subject of 

alluvial lands, improved navigation, or both. Four have been introduced on the subject of lands alone; thirteen relating simply to nav- igation; seven which combine the two questions, and a few reL'l.ting 

to the mouth of tho river. One bill see~s to improve the mouth by 

building a wall across the bed l:!ufficiently high to shnt out the action 

of the Gulf waves, and yet leave over its top sufficient .Q.epth of. water for purposes of navigation. Another seeks to protect the lands 

from overflow, and improve navigation by n. series of outlets to tap 

and draw off the sllrplus waters, and by a diversion to the GUlf of some of the tributaries. There is another theory now pending, known a.s Captain Eads's plan, which is in direct conflict with the one last 

mentioned. It aims at both improved navigation and protection of 

lands from overflow by p1·eserving the whole volume of water, and 

confining it within walls of uniform distance apart, so that the cur- rent may scour out and deepen. the channel and lower the surface 

level. This t-heory is not embodied in a bill, but it is understood tkat 

it will be urged before the proposed commission. . The bill under consideration is based on no theory, but leaves it to 

skilled engineers to review the whole subject, unravel the net-work 

of r'ival theories, and determine which is the best. It relieves us of a difficult work which we have not time to perform, and which i.s too 

technical for and foreign to our jurisdiction. Our legitimate duties are already sufficiently namerous, and we should rather confine our attention to affairs of state than attempt legislative quackery with 

questions of engineering: It is for us to prescribe the object to he 

accomplished, leaving to others the means. The necessity for improved navigation of the Mississippi was never more apparent than to-day. One of ·the most important questions now before the American people is foreign commerce. Instead of 

section against section and internal strife, which for a generation 

past has engrossed the attention of the national mind, consuming its 

energies, and nearly impoverishing the people, 'fe have, thank Heaven! now reached the point in our history where the arts of peace and international commercial relations are stimulating our ambition for a wider ~ld of action. Beginning with the year ending June 30, 1876, an appropriate year to inaugurate a. new commercial departure, the 

balance of foreign trade in our favor was, in round numbers, $79,000,-

000; the next year it was $151,000,000, and the third year it wa $257,000,000; and during the fourth or present fiscal year it will, 

judging from the official reports thus far ma.de, considerably exceed 

30U,OOO,OOO. 

By far the most important field for the further extension of our com- merce, a field which heretofore has been unaccountably neglected and 

left for European commercial nations to monopolize, is that composed 

of the Spanish-American countries south of the :Mississippi Valley. 

Those countries, ·in resources, supply, and demn.nd, are the very reverse and complement of the United States, and therefore, according to all correct rules of political economy, their trade iEthe most 

important and valuable to us. ·with the press, chambers of com- merce of various cities, and the people this new commercial move- ment is justly becoming very popular. It is indorsed by the State 

Department, which, as early as the summer of 1877, sel!l.t circular 

letters to the official representatives of the United States in those 

countries instructing them to investigate and report how enlarged 

commercia] relations could best be promoted. It should also be the 

policy of this House to use every exertion to sustain and facilitate 

such a commendable policy. 

The question, then, arises, how can we best extend aid t 'Vhen we consider that eighteen States and two Territories are bordered or intersected by the navigable portions of the Mississippi and its tributaries, which, with a total of 14,086 miles of present navigation, 

converge, unite, and finally terminate at the Gulf of Mexico, at the 

very doors of the Spanish-American nations; when wo consider tliat 

those eighteen States in 1876 produced 69 per cent. of the wheat, 81 

per cent. ·of the corn, 72 per cent. of the rye, 74 per cent. of the cotton, and contained 71 per cent. in value of live hogs; when we con- sider further that one of the most important elements of succe sf.ul 

foreign trade is cheap transportation from the great interior to the 

seaboard, we cannot fail to see that the mighty :Mississippi, when 

freed from all obstructions, is a very important factor in extending our foreign commerce with the nations south of us. Opposite the mouth of this river system, just across and half ur- rounding the Gulf, is the great Republic of Mexico, containing twenty-seven states and one territory, with a population nearly as great, 

in proportion to area, as that of the United States. It is the nearest, 

and, next to our own, the larg~st and richest of all republics. It 

abounds in silver, coffee, sugar, dye-stuffs, fancy woods, fruits, and 

other tropical products; but it is deficient in the class of prodncts 

a.nd manufactures which we ha.ve in excess. Mexico needs our railway-iron n.nd supplies, mining machinery, agricultural implements, and the thousand and one articles of our manufacture, and will for 

years to come, or until she herseJj is adequately developed, demand 

what we can so easily supply. She annually spends several millions 

of dollars in purchasing cotton stuffs from distant Europe, when the 

finest cotton region of the world is near at hand along the Lowe1 

Mississippi. Her foreign commerce is almost entirely dependent upou 

water transporiation, for there is not a single mile of railway con-
1879. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD~HOUSE. 501 

necting her with the United States or any other nation. Early this 

month an excnrsion, or pioneer party of merchants and manufacturers 

of Saint Lonis, Chicago, Pittsburgh, New York, and other commercial 

centers, sailed from the mouth of the Mississippi to establish more intimate business relations with our Mexican neighbor. 

When the proposed improvements of the :Mississippi are accom- plished the fertile States of the great valley and their industrial 

centers will have direct, easy, and chea-p water commu.nication with 

the principal ports of that country, and then we may hope for the 

extensive commercial intercourse which nature evidently intended 

should exist between the two republics. 

The Empire of Brazil, the other states of South America, Central 

America, and the West Indies, also furnish attractive and inviting 

fields for our surplus products and manufactures. An official state-' 

ment of the foreign trade of Brazil, published in 1876, shows that 

85.29 per cent. of her demand is supplied by the markets of Europe, 

and only 4.67 per cent. by the United States. Here a~ain can the Mississippi, when improved, play a leading part in developing American commerce. The total annnalimports of those American nations south 

of ua is, according to the statistics of the last attainable year, about 

$33G,OOO,OOO. Of this large and growing demand the United States 

supplies only about $52,000,000, the lion's share being monopolized by 

European nations. We should, even at the present time, supply at 

least two-thirds of their demand, or 224,000,000, and double that sum in the near future when those lethargic na,tions awake to an adequate 

development of their resources, comm~rce, and brilliant possibilities. 

It devolves upon the Mississippi Valley to take an active part in 

extending and enlarging that valuable branch of our foreign com- merce, a commercial movement so correct in principle and so beneficial to the whole country. And she will perform her duty in that 

respect just so soon as her great river highway is unfettered and her 

steamers can find continuous navigation along the Mississippi and 

through the Gulf of Mexico to the ports of those nations. 

One of the highest authorities on the subject of cheap transportation, Senator WrnDOM, regently said, in speaking of the improvement 

of the Mississippi: · 

I entertain no doubt what.ever that, when the impro>ements contemplated shall 

be finished, the charges from Saint Louis to New Orleans will not exceed 3 to 4 cents per bushel, with probabilities even below that small figure ; an<l 6 to 8 cents from Saint Paul to New Orleans, and even 18 to 20 cents from Saint Paul to Liverpool, may be confidently expected. 

During the year 1878, just ended, the average rate of transportation by river from Saint Louis to New Orleans was, for a bushel of 

wheat, about 7A cents. During the same year the average rate of 

transportation of wheat from Chicago to the seaboard at New York 

was, by way of the lakes and canal, 10! cents ; in 1876 it was 10 

cents; in 1875, 11 cents; in 1874, 13 cents; in 1873, 19 cents; and in 

1872, 24 cents. The rate between the same points by rail was, in 

1871:3, 16t cents; 1876, 17 cents; 1875,24 cents; 1874,28 cents; and in 

1873, 33 cents. These differences in rate of tran portation from t)le 

great centers of the valley to the seaboard range all the way from 4 

to 30 cents per bushel. The total p.umber of bushels of corn and 

wheat combined produced in the eighteen States making use to a greater or less extent of the navigable portions of the Mississippi 

system was, in 1878, 1,324,000,000. Now, suppose one-half of that 

product had to be transported to the seaboard at New Orleans at a saving of 5 cents per bushel, by virtue of the proposed improvement 

of the river, the total annual saving to the producers and consumers on these two articles alone would be over $33,000,000. 

Such foots and figures speak for themselves, and it needs no ex- tended argument to demonstrate the new impetus which would be 

given increased production and enlarged exportations by putting in an adequate state of repair our most important ·line of water transportation. These two great questions, cheap transportation and foreign trade, are of more importance to the people than the kind of 

money we shall uae, what our banking system shall be, or who shall 

be President. They are qaestions most intimately associated with the 

great :Mississippi, which we ask to have improved. 

Turning to the other feature of the bill, alluvial lands, I might urge 

the almost fabulous additions to the taxable wealth of the country 

resulting from their protection by the Government, and consequent 

reclamation by the owners-the enormous increase of our corn, rice, 

cotton, and sugar crops, which the cultivation of those prolific lands 

would cause-the a.nnual saving to crops, buildings, and stock, by prot ection from the floods and the .desirability of closing the outlets in 

the levees, which the amendment to the bill proposes as a temporary 

Telief, until the commission can provide for permanent protection. 

Bnt those points were considered in the report accompanying this 

bill, which I submitted last session, and in a speech in support of the 

bill as amended. 

Since then another question, pecnliru:ly and intimately associated 

with the Lower :Mississippi, has stalked before the public, carrying 

with it death and destruction. I refer to the terrible pestilence 

whose ravages were chiefly confined to the black belt, from thirty to one hundred and fifty miles wide, and over one thons~nd long, ex- t ending from Cairo to the Gulf, and which represents on the river 

maps the alluvial, overflowed, and insufficiently drained district. 

Regardless of conflicting- theories concerning the origin of yellow fever, it is a fact that in the U.nited States the dis.ease 1s chiefly con- :fined to this alluvial district, which is subject to overflow and wbsequently to stagnant water and rank vegetation steaming and festering under a hot sun. l\Iy personal observation upon the banks of the 

Lower Mississippi, where I have lived since 1!325, has been that when- ever the fever raged to any great extent it followed such conditions. 

The pestilence of 1829 followed the overflow of 1828; that of 1847, the 

overflow of 1 44 ; that of 1853, the overflow of 1848, 1849, 1!::!50, and 

1851; that of 1BG7, the overflow and early subsidence of the flood of 

that year; and that of 1878, so fearful in its proportions, the overflow 

of 1874, and the high waters of 1875, 1876, and 1tli7, which floods were succeeded by extreme low water and the dry, hot summer, 

leaving the stagnant water of the marshes and deoaying vegetation 

to exude poisonous ga~es and help propagate the fever. 

It is also a fact, that when the alarm is first sounded the health 

officers and other officials of the cities and towns along the river, instead of lingering to discuss fine-drawn theories, take immediate steps . to improve their drainage, remove the garbage, and transform those 

places from a state of filth to one of cleanliness. The alluvial district 

is a settlement upon a large and more extended scale, and if it were within the bounds of reason, its citi~ns would themselves in times 

of pestilence perfect its drainage and remove the unwholesome vegetation. But, as I have before remarked, there must first be protection from overflow, and that is a work too formidable for individual 

citizens or States. It is an interstate improvement which requires 

the purse and legal supervision of the General Government. The protection of those lands from the floods will, however, enable the individual owners to clear, drain, and cultivate them and keep tliem free 

from impurities. If the improvement proposed by this bill will result 

iB. protecting the health and lives of the .people dwellin~ along the 

Lower Mississippi, thesubjectis indeed one of momentous tmportance, 

and calls for our earliest action. 

In addition to the loss of life, the pecuniary damage to commerce and other industries during the single season just ended, and as a result of the fever, was many millions of dollars. It has been estimated to be two hundred millions. It certainly is a very low and safe 

estimate to say that such damage exceeds the total cost of improvement on the most expensive plan proposed, or $50,000,000. The forthcoming report on the subject of the fever,·by a select committee of 

this House, will give more definite information. But they will simply report the facts for our further action. The proposed commission on the :Mississippi, however, will report how those facts should be applied, and the alluvial district, or hot-bed of the pestilence, drained 

and purifie(l and made serviceable to the health and industries of 

the people along the lower river. 

Consideration for the people of the North, whose boundless.generosity dnring the recent pestilence so tenderly ministered to the afflicted 

people of the South, is another rea~on why Congress should afford this 

necessary legislation. It is nothing less than imposition to periodically 

throw this excessive burden of relief upon charitable i ndi viuuals of the 

North when the scourge arises from a defective and neglected national sewer concerning which no power but Congress has tho right to legislate. Humanity, as well as pecuniary considerations, dictates that we give early and careful attention to this imperative duty devolving upon us. '.rhere is also a political reason why the great river should always 

be kept in good repair. It is a natural bond of union between the 

North and the South, which should be strengthened by continual use for purposes of commerce and friendly intercourse. It was a favorite 

policy of Washington to unite the James River with the Ohio, by means of a canal, to bind the Mississippi Valley to the original thirteen States, and prevent it from falling under the domination of a foreign power. It was the policy of Congress, a few years since, to 

aid in the construction of a railway to connect the Pacific Sta,tes with 

the rest of the Union -with bands of steel. Nature, at her· own ex- pense, constructed the connecting link between the North and South. 

It would indeed be sactilege on our part to ignore and neglect its use. It may seem a broad assertion, nevertheless it is a fact, that the 

Mississippi has not even been surveyed in a comprehensive manner. While DeSoto and his Spanish comrades discovered the river three 

hundred and thirty-eight yea.rs ago, we, who claim to be progressive, 

have not yet discovered how to utilize it. The surveys which have 

been made were restricted to some particular feature or section of the 

river. That known as Humphreys and Abbot's survey, nuder the. acts of Congress of 1850 and 1852, was a "topographical and hydrographical survey of the Delta of the Mississippi, with such investigations as may lead to determine the most practica-ble plan for securing 

it from inundation and the best mode of so deepening the passes at 

the month of the river," &c. That provided for by the act of Jane 

22, 187 4, was "to make a full report to the President of the best system for the permanent reclamation and .redemption of said alluvial 

basin from inundation." The important subject of improved navigar 

tion ha.s been ignored. Such one-sided legislation is like the play of 

Hamlet with Hamlet left ont. It is a consummate farce and a very 

costly one to the people. 

In this material age when the whole scientific world is advancing 

upon the latent forces of natu~e, discovering and subjecting them to 

the service and welfare of mankind, it will be a discredit to us to longer 

delay .the solution of this river problem. The people North, South, 

East, and West, are losing interest in political strife, and demand of us, their representative , such action as will be conducive to their 

industrial and commercial advancement. ':fhe politicians may at-

• 
' 

502 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. JANUARY 16, 

tempt to manufacture a ''solid South," or a "solid North," but the 

people care more for a solid country, alive to the grand opportunitie 

of the day for increased commerce, both internal and international. . As preliminary to such a consummation the improvement of the 

Mississippi becomes of transcendent importance. It is a motive power 

of too great magnitude to be longer neglected. 

I had intended, sir, to close my remarks here, but in view of the 

amendment offered by the gentleman from Texas, [Mr. REAGAX,] I 

desire to ofter a few remarks in addition to what I have already said. 

Let it be understood, Mr. Chairman, that the am_endment which I 

oftered and which is a part of the Lill under consideration, does not 

antagonize the other sections of the bill, but simply carries out the 

policy provided for in the sixth section, under which commissioners are to report the temporary repairs, or work necessary to be done to 

close the outlets and to raise and strengthen the present line of levees on the Mississippi River. 

That amendment does not antagonize; on the contrary, in my opinion, it carries out the provisions of the bill. Now I propose to show 

that there is but one theory that does oppose the bill, and that is the 

theory known as Captain. Cowden's, or "the outlet system." 

At this session of Congress that gentleman -had introduced a bill 

for the purpose of carrying out his views, which wa-s referred to the 

Committee on Commerce, and that committee has taken jurisdiction 

of this matter. 

I propose, then, sir, for the purpose of refuting the theory of Captain Cowtlen, to state simply that although it seems to have attracted 

attention all over the country it is not a new theory. Why, sir, it is as old as the earliest settlements of this country when there were a thousand outlet · all along tlie river. It was the policy of the earliest 

settlers to close them, and now these outlet have been closed and 

levee built. 

The outlet. closed were the Bayous Jacob and Manchac in 1826, and 

the Bayon Plaquemines in 1865. At a much earlier date than 18'26 the 

Bayou Goula and the innumerable small bayou · leading from the Mississippi River into Lake Clause, both mouths of False River, the Fordoche, Latinash, and many other smaller outlets, too numerous to . mention, were closed below the mouth of Red River. .After 1821, when the levee system was extended above the mouth 

of Re(l River, the same system of diking and closing the outlets on both sides of the river was pursued; and when that system was com- pleted, and formed an almost unbroken levee system from the Gulf 

to Commerce, in the State of Missouri, we find the :flood levels of high 

water not at all increased, for it is well known that levees built one hundred years ago below the mouth of Red River are still standing 

intact, ·not having been increased in height a sin~le inch. 

The highest water we ever had was in 1828 (wnen we had comparatively no levees above Reel River) except the :flood of 1874, when at 

Baton Rouge it was eighteen inches higher than was ever known before; and yet, strange to say, it was six feet lower at Natchez than 

in 18G7. This was probably caused by the acclllllulation of creva se water coming down from .Arkansas and upper Louisiana uniting with 

the extrMrdi~L.'Y'Y floods in the Ouachita and Red Rivers to so great an extent that it could not be carried off by the Atcbafalaya River, 

and poured .back into the .Mi ·sissippi River through the mouth of Old 

River, causing a sudden rise at that point of fourteen inches in twentyfour hours; and in consequence of this the Morganza and other levees 

gave way, and still in no instance did the water run over the tops of 

levees, the grade of which bad been established years !Jefore. As an exception, at one point in West Baton Rouge the water did go over the levees, because the original grade had not been kept up. · Now Captain Cowden proposes to reopen the outlet closed by our levee system and create new ones for the purpose of lowering the 

:flood level and improving the navigation. Why the opening of these 

outlets will reduce the :flood level, when, as I have shown, the closing 

of ,them did not increase it, I cannot see. In the first place you caRnot make these outlets above the mouth of Red River, as the water 

must return to the Mississippi River again, as in the case of crevasses, 

and these creva-sses fully demonstrate at this time their effects upon 

the country. 

Now, does not the House know that within the last forty ye:.u·s outlets have been made which take off a large percentage of the waters 

of the Mississippi through Cubit's Gap and the enlargement of the 

Atchafalaya. Cubit's Gap was cut during the late w;u to afford an outlet for fishing-boats into an arm of the Gulf of .Mexico. At first 

it was but a small canal, but now so enlarged in proportions as to 

threaten the success of Eads's jetties by cutting off water needed for 

scouring out the bars at South Pass. 

As to the Atchafalaya, previous to 1839 a raft for twenty miles 

dammed and completely blocked this river almost as eft'ectually a-s if 

it had been diked, and closing its navigation. At this time, at low 

water the mouth of the Atchafalaya was entirely dry, anti no water 

from the Red or Mississippi Rivers passed down it. In the fall of 

1839, which was an extraordinarily dry season, this raft which had 

completely blocked up the Atchafa.laya from its top to its battom, was set fire t-o and burnt out. The State then cleared out the cleb1'is. 

Instantly the water of the Red River ·and the Old River poured into 

the Atchafalaya and it began to scour out its bottom, and the banks 

tumbled in by the acre; and it bas been going on to increase in width 

and depth until now it has enlarged•six hundred feet in width and 

deepened_eigbty feet in depth, a-s shown by recent soundings. 

• 

And now, sir, I think the proposition of Captain Cowden to divert 

the Red River is too late. The gentlemen of the Committee on Com- merce and .others who have examined this matter should have at 

least known that Red River is no lon~er a tributary of the l\lississippL 

In 1831 the bend into which the Rea and Atchafalaya connected the 

first as a tributary and the other as an outlet wa-s cut off from the main 

river, and is now known as Old River; and as a consequence the Red 

River bas been drawn into the enlarged channel of theAtchafalaya, 

and is no longer a tributar_y of the Mississippi River, only contribut,.. 

ing to that stream at high water a surplus not yet provided for by the 

natural enlargement of the Atchafalaya, because of crevasses above 

occurring at the same time and uniting with Red River. 

At the last session, Congress appropriated $150,000 for the improYement of the month of Red Ri,·er, and the pl~n of the United ~tates 

engineers is to bring back from the Atchafalaya a portion of the 

water of the Red River, through the Old River, into the l\Iissis ippi 

for purposes of navigation, showing conclusively that the diversion 

I have referred to had caused the bottom to rise into ~ars, and is now again to be use(l to cut out th-ese shoals and improve the navigation. 

I know 1\lr. Chairman, that I am trespassing upon theories when I 

say that the levee system improves the navigation of the river. The 

levee system tends to deepen the channel of a river and keep it from 

being obstructed by the natural accumulations of a river like the 

Mississippi, consequently when we lmilt the levees the 11avigation mts 

imp1'€Jl'ed. , 

· Now, it is shown that the velocity of a stream is increa eu by cou- fining it between levees, and conseq nently this velocity acts as a dredge- and prevents the accumulation of sediment; and I made the as ertion at the last session of Congress that whenever a large ere Ya e occurred, thereby depleting the river and checking the current, you choke up the river below. ' 

That proposition has never been ::,;nccessfully refuted. Wherever 

soundings have been ma(le that fact has been established. I am con- firmed to-day in that opinion by the surveys which havo recently 

been made by the Coast Survey. And I assert that the diversion of the 

waters of the Red River into and down the Atchafalaya River, all(l 

the consequent enlargement of the channel of the Atchafalya, th·1s 

forming one of the largest outlets, except Cubit's Gap, has shoa.lecl 

the channel of the river below. By the soundings at the month of 

the Red River it is found that the depth of the channel of the .Mississippi River wa-s one hundred and twenty-six feet. At Baton Rougo, 

seventy-five miles below, the depth of the channel was one hundred 

and three feet, showing that by means of this tremend{)US outlet of 

the Mississippi, taking off at least one-tenth of the volume of the 

water of the Mississippi, the current is checked to such au extent that 

the bottom of the river below the mouth of the Red River has !Jeeu 

filled up twenty-three feet. 

I assert positively that the building of levees does impro>e the 

navigation of the river~ The banks cave in, it is tme; but I am sat 

isfied that increased velocity of the current also deepens the channel 

by ·scouring the bottom. The trouble is to prevent theso banks from 

caving. 

Engineers have not gone into that subject. The cornmissiou of 

1874 simply reported the fact that the town of Saint Joe and the town 

of Natchez-under-the-hill were prot.ected by breakwaters. They dismissed that ·ubject with a few words by saying that such a system 

would cost too much. I doubt whether it would cost one-half of what 

the plan re-commended by that commission would co t for building a new line of levees a mile or more back of the pre. ent levees. 

Now, I am opposed to their scheme, because it will fence out and 

leave to the mercies of the floods sixteen hundred square miles of the 

best improved lands on the Mississippi River, the open lands and 

buildings where the front proprietors reside; 

I have therefore offered this amendment, based upon estimates by 

the Engineer Corps, on my own responsibility, because I belie1e it 

ought to pass. I think I have already presented sufficient argument 

to show that you must close the outlets and at least repair the levees 

and raise and strengthen them until this commission can act upon some permanent plan for the improvement of the river and protection of the alluvial lands. 

I now yield the remainder of my time to the gentleman from 1\fississippi, [Mr. CHALMERS.] , Mr. ELLIS. Before the gentleman from Missi sippi proceods, I 

desil:e to offer a substitute for the pending bill and to have the substitute read. . 1\Ir. CHALMERS. I will yield for that purpose, if it is not tn.ken 

out of my time. 

The Clerk read the substitute a-s follows: 

Strike out all after the enading clause and insert the following: That the sum of $4,850,000 be, and the same is hereby, appropri:1.ted out of au.> moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the purpose of repair n~ 

and rebuilding the le>ee of the Mi sissippi River, thereby reclaiming from i.nuu - dation by its waters the-alluvial lands of its Delta, deepenina its ch~nnel for com- mercial pUTposes, closing its cre>asses, and thereby protectmg and promoting its commerce, as follows, to wit : Seventy-five thousand dollars in the State of Illinois. 

Fh-e hundred thousand dollars in the State of Missouri. 

One hundred thousand dollars in the State of Tennes ee. One million two hundred and eighty thousand dollars in the State of Arkansas. One million one hundred thousand dollars in the Stato of Mississippi. One million eight lnmdred thousand dollars in the Stato of Louismna. 

SEC. 2. That the Chief of Enrlneers of the United States Army, under the <lirec· tion of the Secretary of War, Shall have sole and exclusi>e direction of the wo::k: 
1879. OONGRESSiONAL RECORD-HOUSE. 503 

-to be performed and the expenditures to be made onder the protisions of this act ; -that as soon as praeticable aft.er the passage of this act, and after proper ad>ertise- ·ment by the Secretary of War, upon estimates to be furnished by: the Chief of 

Engineers, the work herein provided for shall be let to the lowest bidder or bidders, in such sections and quantities as the Chief of Engineers may deem proper; that such contractors or bidders, before they enter upon their contracts, shall fur· 

nish bond, with good and solvent sureties, in favor of the United States, in an .amount equal to one-third of their e1;1tire contract, for the faithful performance of 

the work contracted for; and in no case shall the full amount agreed upon be paid to any contractor; and until his entire contract is performed and the work done 

onder it surveyed and accepted by the Chief Enc:ineer, or some officer designate(l 

by him, 20 per cent. of said entire amount shall be retained ; after which surrey and acceptance, the residue of 20 per cent. shall be paid to said contractor. SEC. 3. That all estimates required, and all surveys, plans, and locations of said 

levees, and for their construction, shall be made by the Chief of Engineers, or under his direction by such en:.rineers of the corps as he may designat-e, or by such .citizen civil engineers as he may see fit to employ. ' SEc. 4. That no portion of the moneys herein appropriated shall ever be applietl ·to the payment of any debts or obligations incurred by any State or other local 

levee cori:rp~ny or corporation or authority, nor for compensation for any work ·other than that performed onder the provisions of this act, nor for any other pur- pose than that contemplated and provided for herein. 

SEC. 5. That on or before the 1st day of January, 1877, the 8\)cretary of War shall submit to Congress a full and complete report of the manner in which the 

work contemplated by this act has been performed, and in what manner the moneys herein appropriated have been expended. 

Mr. CHALMERS. Mr. Chairman, I shall not trouble the committee 

with any lengthened argument on this question. The whole subject, 

including the vast extent of wealth-producing territory to be re- ·claimed,· the best method of recla.ma.tion, and the constitutional 

power of the Government to reclaim it, has been so fully and so ably 

-discussed by gentlemen of practical experience, scientific knowledge, 

.and legal ability, that I shall not attempt to do anything more than 

group together the arguments that have been advanced by others. 

During the administration of President Taylor, himself a Louisi- .ana planter and deeply interested in the question, the first resolutions were passed in the Senate of the United States directing a survey of 

the Mississippi River expressly to ascertain the best method of re- o.elaiming the alluvial lands of the Mississippi Valley. This, after 

many years, resulted in ~he able and exhaustive report of {.Iumphreys 

and Abbott, Chief Engineers of the United States Army, who emphatically declare that the levee system is the best method of accomplishing this purpose. · In furtherance of this object the United States donated the swamp 

lands lying in Arkansas, :Mississippi, and Lonisiana, which were of ·no value without protection from overflow, to these respective States 

to assist in building lip their levees. The funds arising from these 

lands were small and soon exhausted, and millions of their own money were expended by these States in the creation of levees under State 

legislation. The levees thus constructed were just being tested and were more or less successful in different places ~hen the war came on and large portions of them were destroyed ; some by the attrition 

-of wagons and horses, when they were used as a road-bed; some by the 

-erosion of the water, aided by the paddle-wheels of steamers in high 

tide; and some directly by the Army and Navy of. the United States. 

Mississippi and Louisiana have expended large sums of money since 

the war to repair their levees, but experience has shown that they 

:have not the pecuniary strength to accomplisQ, this o-reat work as individuallitates, and that they are prohibited by the Constitution of 

the TJnited States from forming combinations with each other or -other States to create a uniform system of levees, which is essential 

to their protection. They have therefore appealed to the United 

.States Government to take charge of the work and give to them that 

protection which every citizen is entitled to claim at the hands of 

the governme1lt to which he yields obedience and which he pays 

taxes to support. 

There aJ."e many gentlemen in this House who have expressed a .desire to vote aid to the Mississippi levees if they could do so con- .sistently with their ideas of constitutional duty. I propose, therefore, briefly to show that there are more clauses of the Constitution 

under which, as construed by the judgments of courts and precedents 

-of practice, the Government can construct the Mississippi levees than 

there are to support any other work of internal improvement it has -ever undertaken. I look first to the power to regulate commerce. Under this power the Government has built li~ht-houses, buoys, and 

piers for the warning, guidance, and protection of vessels against 

danger, and has established alife-savingservice, prompted by humanity and sanctioned by success. It has constructed breakwaters, which 

are, under another name, expensive levees for the protection of property behind them. It has cleaned out natural harbors and made artificial harbors where there were none. It has cleaned out rivers and ·dug canals to create oommerce where there was none. The Mississippi River is the greatest artery of internal commerce in the world, 

and! yet it is filled with snags and sand-baTs that are the deposit of 

its annual overflows, which not only destroy vessels, but tax the 

whole commerce of the West with an increase of insurance that ie 

destructive to prosperity. 

It is' claimed by scientific men, and I believe truly, that when the 

water of the Mississippi is permitted to spread over a large surface 

the velocity of its current is checked; it makes deposits of sediment 

.ancl snags, creates sand-bars, and obstructs navigation; and that, on the other hand, the concentration of the water into a narrow stream 

will increase the velocity so that it will remove the sand-bars, clean 

-out the snags, deepen the channel, and improve navigation. If this 

-be t1·ue, as the reports of scientific engineers declare and as the action 

of the jetties seems to demonstrate, then the construction of the levees, 

which would .confine into a stream one mile wide water that would 

spread over forty miles without them, must conduce to the benefit of 

navigation and commerce~ and we might rest our claim for power to 

construct levees under that clanse of the Constitution. 

We look next to the. power" to establish post-offices and postroads." Under this power we find that the Government has opened 

dirt roads, built bridges and causeways, and constructed turnpikes, 

in the early days of the Republic, and in later days ha~ boil t railroads 

and telegraph lines, established postal-cars, fast mail-routes, and 

letter-carriers, who deliver their mail to the merchant princes of the 

cities at their door-steps. The Mississippi River is the greatest·natural post-route in tlle Union, and when there is no overflow the mails are delivered at every post-office on its banks. if railroads and telegraph lines can be built under this power, and the Supreme Court of 

the United States has said they can, to distribute mails where no postroutes previously existed, certainly levees, which are but embankments of earth, ·scarely more expensive than the embankment n.lone 

of railroads, can be built on this great natural post-route to enable 

its inhabitants to receive their mail on dry land and not in the midst 

of water forty miles wide. We might therefore rest our claim for 

power to construct levees on -this clause of the Constitution. We 

turn next to the clanse which gives to the General Government power 

''to provide for the common defense and general welfare." Under 

this clause we find that it has been the practice of the Government 

to levy high duties on articles of foreign commerce, ostensibly to 

raise revenue, but in effect to protect wh~t are called "American 

industries." One political party has contended it was the duty of 

the Government so to regulate its tariff as to protect American industry. The other party, to which I belong, has denied the power or the duty of the Government to pass a purely protective tariff, but 

admitted that a strictly revenue tariff weuld afford incidental protection to American industry. Among the most important industries 

of the United States is the c0tton and sugar cultivation in the Mississippi Valley-a vast mine of undeveloped agricnltural wealth, 

capable of supplying the Union with su~ar· and the world with cotton, if protected from overflow, but which is often submerged for 

weeks and months by the wide-spreading floods of the Mississippi 

River. · Mr. DlThTNELL. I rise to a question of order. 

The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman will state it. 

Mr. DUNNELL. The gentleman from Mississippi [Mr. CHAL~IERsJ 

should address the Chair. He has been addressing that side of the 

House only, and we on this side are unable to hear what he is sil'ying. · Mr. TOWNSEND, of New York. He wants to convince the mem- bers on his own side. 

Mr. CHALMERS; Yes. I know that the gontlemen on the other 

side are sensible and liberal men and do not need to be convinced 

of the necessity and importance of this measure. I am anxious to 

convince those on my side of the House. [Laughter.] How~ver, I 

will speak so as to be heard by gentlemen on either side of the Hall. 

If it is the duty of the Government to protect American industry 

this should unquestionably be protected. Long staple cotton is eminently American, and brings more gold to the. country than all the 

other protected articles together; and I appeal to our protective 

friends, and especially my handsome friend from Pennsylvania, [Mr. 

WRIGHT,] the most available greenback candidate for the Presidency 

in 1880, to come to our assistance and the support of his own doctrines . [Langhter.] 

Mr. WRIGHT rose and bowed to the speaker. [Renewed laughter. J , Mr. CHALMERS. If, on the other hand, the Government, in the 

exercise of its acknowledged power to regulate commerce o1:estnblish 

post-routes, a~opts such plans as those set out in the bill now under 

consideration to improve the commerce and navigation of the Mississippi River, and in so doing affords incidental protection to its alluvial 

lands, no one-not even my esteemed fritmd from lllinois, [General EDE~,] though a democrat of the strictest sect of objectors-could 

possibly object. We might therefore well claim that the common defense provided for in the Constitution would include the defense 

of 'people who are helpless against the great floods of the Mississippi 

R1ver, and that the general welfare would be promoted by protecting 

and increasing cr~ps which have turned the balance of trade in onr favor. And we can make the claim all the more confidently because 

under this or some other power, or all the powers granted in the Constitution combined, the General Government has already established 

the precedent of granting aid to the building of levees. Thirty years 

ago it donated lands. for this purpose, an~ if i.t had the consti~ntional 

power to give lands 1t has the power to gtve money. It has trme and 

again ordered surveys of the river to be made, at considerable expense, 

for the express purpose of determining the best method and the cost· of protecting the alluvial lands. These reperts are all now in, showing 

that the levee system is the best method and that the cost of repairing the levees now standing is precisely the sum which this bill asks 

to be appropriated. 

To hesitate now to adopt the recommenda.til>ns of the engineer upon 

the ground that there is no authority for making the appropriation 

is a censure and repudiation of all the various acts of legislation which 

brdered these reports. We look next to the power which the Government has, arising out of its exclusive jurisdiction over the waters of 

the Mississippi River. We do not assent to the doctrine that the Gov-

"' 
504 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. JANUARY 16: 

emment possesses any peculiar rights uver the Mississippi River by .r eason of the bet that we acquired a portion of it by purchase. 

/ The lands adjacent were purchased at the same time and in the same manner as the waters, and yet the States subsequently organized 

out of this territory acquired the same right of eminent domain that 

belongs to any other State of the Union. The riparian proprietors in 

Arkansas and Louisiana have the same rights onr the Mississippi 

River as those in Kentucky and Indiana have over the Ohio. But t he 

Supreme Court of the United States, after a contest oveJ; the subject 

for many years, has determined that the United States, through its 

district courts, has exclusi've jurisdiction over all the navigable waters 

of the Union. The States of l\Iississippi and Louisiana therefore find 

themselves in this condition : after spending every dollar they could 

tax from their people or borrow from others to repair their levees, 

and after having passed stringent laws to prevent their own people 

from riding or driving on them, lest in time of high water the jar 

thus produced might create a crevasse, they have sometimes been 

com1lelled to see their levees broken by the landing of some steam boat 

against them when the water was nearly level with the top, or by the 

padclle-wheels of some great steamer in mid-river, and witness the 

destruction of their property as the waters poured pver it. But the 

States have no right to protect themselves against these injuri€s, be- cause they cannot in~rfere with the commerce of the Union. Again, 

it is the belief of many that the clearing up of the new States on the 

headwaters of the Mississippi have precipitated the floods with more vielence on the country below; and while the States below would not 

desire to prevent this, it affords them just ground for demanding relief 

from the strong hand of t~e Union. Again, any State may erect perfect levees along its whole river front and still be subjected to inundation through another State. Arkansas may be overflowed through 

1\lissouri, l\Iississippi through Tennessee, and Louisiana through Arkansas; and, while neithercanprotectitself, they cannot combine for 

their mutual protection, because this is forbidden by the Constitution. 

The General Government alone has the power to do this; it has 

the means to give protection, and it has exclusive jurisdiction over the ~fississippi and its tributaries; and gentlemen should remember 

that every power carries with it a corresponding duty. The duty in 

this case is that the United Sta,tes Government should so use its property in this river as not to injure the property of others. It has ex- clusive control over th1s river, and should so control it as not to permit it to deluge the riparian owners. It has exclusive power to 

regulate the commerce of the 11-fississi.ppi River, and it should so regulate it that its wheels shall not destroy miUions of agricultural wealth~ It has exclusive power to establish post-offices and postroutes on the ¥ississippi River, and it should so establish them that 

the mail can be delivered to the inhabitants on its bank; if not at 

their doorsteps, where the inhabitants of cities receive their letters 

from the hands of carriers, at least to men on dry ground, and not to 

raftsmen floating on the water. The Government colbcts revenue and gives protection to iron and manufactures; let it deepen the 

channel of the Mississippi River, by wing-dams in low water and 

levees in high water, and thus improve its commerce and navigation 

and at the same time give incidental protection to the great sugar 

and cotton producing industries in its valley. 

The Government, by a long line of precedents, has built breakwaters to protect sea-coast cities from the inroads of the ocean. Let 

it build breakwaters to protect the riparian owners of the Lower 

lfississippi from what Mr. Calhoun called " a great inland sea," whose 

waters have built up an empire which its floods threaten to destroy. 

If gentlemen will look to any one of these powers, it ought to be 

sufficient to satisfy the conscience of the most obdurate politician, 

democrat or republican, whose political life has depended on a war against subsidies; and when we look to all combined, it ought to be 

sufficient to overcome the conscientious scruples and soften even the 

hard-hearted souls of the Committee on Appropriations. 

Mr. ROBINSON, of :Massachusetts. Mr. Chairman, the Committee on Levees and the Improvement of the Mississippi River has had 

intrusted to it during the present session the consideration of subj ects connected with the protection of the Mississippi River and of 

the alluvial lands of the Mississippi Delta. In the discharge of our dut y it has been necessary for ns to hear many persons, to listen to 

various theories, and to read many comment.s, and opinions upon the 

whole subject. As a result of long deliberation on the part of the 

committee, we have brought before the House the bill which is now 

under consideration. 

I allude only to the first nine sections of the bill ; the remaining 

two sections are not a part of the bill reported from the committee. 

For fear that the chairman of the committee [Mr. RoBERTSON] may 

not have been distinctly heard when giving his account of that 

amendment, if the Committee of the ·whole will bear with me I will 

state that it is simply a. proposition of the gentleman from Louisiana 

[ Mr. RoBERTSO~] alone; and that the committee agreed that he might 

offer it and that a vote might be taken upon it in the House. I wish 

to say that several members of the committee besides myself are utterly opposed to the proposed sections ten and eleven, and I myself 

should vote against the whole bill should those sections become a part 

t hereof. 

I need not go over the wa.nts of the commerce of the :Missiesippi 

Valley to speak of the twenty millions of people that are accommo- dated by the great traffic upon t hat rolling strea m. I need not allude 

either to the fact that nearly a score of States and Territories of this 

Union are interested in the commerce upon that river and upon its 

tributaries. That knowledge is within the reach of every school-boy 

in the land. 

I propose to address myself only to the practical features of this 

bill. What are we trying to do here Y The first nine sections of the 

bill propose to establish a permanent commission whose duty it shall 

be to investigate the whole system bearing upon the navigation of 

that river and the protection of the alluviallandsofits Delta. That 

commission is to be constituted of three enr·neer officers of the Al·my, one of whom shall be its president, and o two persons taken from 

civil life :vho may be conversant with and experienced in the wants 

of the commerce of the Mississippi Valley. No money whatever is 

called for by the first nine sections of this bill, except that required 

to pay the expenses of the survey. We are now from ye¥ to year 

spending varying sums under the charge of the War Department and 

of the Coast Survey in examinations of the Mississippi River. It 

seemed wise to your committee that all this work of examination and 

investigation should be combined; that it should be put in the charge 

of one body of men, and that we should not go on by piecemeal from 

year to year, having separate and distinct_ reports from these departments, without coming to any definite conclusion. Therefore, thi~ 

commission is authorized to take charge of nil the surveys now in 

progress upon the river, also to complete the surveys requisite for thepurposes embraced in the bill. . Further, this commission must report to Congress before any action can be had upon its plans or specifications, and no work can be done 

until those plans are approved by Congress. It seemed, therefore, ro 

your committee that this bill provides a safeguard against any ex- travagant expenditures on the part of the Government. In the sixth 

section of the bill it is provided that this commission may make a partial report, provided a majority of them, including the president 

of the commission, shall consent to such report, such partial report 

to refer to the protection of the alluvial lands of the river. 

The committee have found those two subjects to be interdependent. 

They have not seen in the investigation they have given that the one s-tands necessarily apart from the other. All the writers and all theengineers from whom they have heard declare that in some measure, 

greater or less, the protection of the lands has also an influence upon 

the navigable character of the river. Therefore it seemed proper 

that this commission, before completing fully the plan, should submit 

to Congress a report, subject to its approval and action. Perhaps that is all I ought to say of the bill in its main features, 

because that is all there is of it-a provision that a sufficient sum of 

money shall be provided at present to meet the demands of the sur- vey-nothing further. 

Now, it is proposed to add to this bill two sections constituting a n amendment; and as I said at the outset I am utterly opposed to that 

amendment, .or to any amendment of that character. Sections lQ and 

11 commit this Congress at the outset, regardless of the determination of the commission, to the policy of rebuilding the leveea along 

the line of the Mississippi River. Gentlemen of the committee, upon 

examination of the first nine sections of the bill proper, will find that 

Congress is not by them committed at all to that theory, but that the 

whole subject is left open for investigation and subsequent det-ermination. Then these amendments contemplate that Congress should 

appropriate about $4,000,000 at once, which shall become available t() 

carry out somebody's· theory that the levees in the Southern States 

along the llfississippi River ought to be rebuilt and r8Stored. Yourcommittee, Mr. Chairman, have not come to the conclusion that such 

is the duty of Congress or the demand of the country at the present 

time, however much the people of the States immediately interested 

may demand it, or however strongly gentlemen representing the va- rious districts in those States may feel moved to declare here their 

advocacy of that plan. The committee do not recommend it. Why f 

It will be seen at a glance that this proposition to constitute a com- mission which shall take the whole subject under consideration and 

report thereon to Congress at a subsequent session, is supplemented 

by one that commits us to one of the plans which must come before-. 

the commission. In other words, you tie the hands of the commission 

at the outset; you pre-occupy all ground ; you make your commission 

of no effect or consequence whatever. 

Why, sir, these amendments go so far as to put the col!lBtrnction 

and repair of those levees, not in the hands of the commission, but in 

the hands of the Chief of Engineers and the Secretary of War, neither of whom is to be a member of the- commission. These officers- are to go on and expend money for this work which is all to be under 

the charge simply of one engineer appointed for that purpose. Therefore I say that these two sections are in no way in harmony with the 

general purposes of this bill. In fact it will be seen at once that if 

this work be carried on by the Chief of Engineers and the Secretary 

of War under these amendments, the whole object of the first part of 

the bill is interfered with and prevented . . Again, we had before us, and there are now before this Committee 

of the Whole, in discussion various theories which commend them· 

selves to different gentlemen with varying degrees of force. 1 am led to believe, l\Ir. Chairman, that there is not on this floor any man who sees this whole subject through and through, who understands 

t horoughly the mighty .problems connected with that river and valley. I find as a matter of fact that gentlemen who represent the, 
1879. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD- HOUSE. 505 

States along the :Mississippi Valley are not agreed upon those theories. I find members upon this :floor who say, for instance, that one- half of a district represented in this Congress is in favor or the levee 

system and~other half utterly opposed to it. Then, the people even in that neighborhood are not agreed. There are \arious plans, as I 

have said; notably the plan of keeping the river within the limits of 

its natural banks for all time, bringing down its flood-line so that 

the body of water shall be set to work upon the bottom or bed of the 

river, thereby rendering it unnecessary that these walls of mud alongsine the river should be. carried up and up into the air, perhaps for 

the immediate protection of the land but to the certain terror of 

everybody living in that nei~hborhood thereafter. 

It must be known that this 1s the theory of Captain Eads. Whether or not be makes a final or perfect success at the pass of the Mississippi 

River,whereheisnowoperating,hecertainlybasaccomplisbedenough 

to challenge our patience and oH.r investigation of his theories. He 

says that be would lower the cun·ent of the river so that it should be 

within the natural banks, thereby rendering the levees useless. I find 

his ideas on this subject expressed in some remarks submitted by him 

in New Orleans lUBt year. I ask the Clerk to rea-d a passage which I 

have marked, in order that it may be understood that this is a theory 

advocated by a· gentleman prominent in the scientific world, and one who bas been intrusted by Congress with the money of the Treasury. 

The Clerk read aa follows: · 

I am satisfield that if the volume below Red River were increased, as it would 

be by closing .A.tchafalaya. and compelling Red River to seek the sea by way of 

your city, it would lower the flood-line five or six _feet at the month of Red River 

and more than two feet at New Orlean.s. · The same reasoning assures me that closing all gaps and crevasses in the levees, 

and thus increasincr the volume in the natural channel, will not necessitate higher levees. and hence the estimate of ~.ooo,ooo is >ery excessive and unreliable .. be- cause it is based on the idea of raising tbem from three to eleven feet higher than 

before the war. The great objection to the levee system is not from the present amount needed for a.bsolnte protection from the near floods, because four or five 

million dollars would insure this; but it is the incessant destruction of them which must ensue from t.he cause I have named. Remove that cause and the levees can be cheaply maintained, but when the cause of the caving banks is removed we will 

find the flood-slope lowered and levees useless. 

It will be seen that this system is radically different from that advocated by the 

levee commissioh, by Humphreys, Abbot, Warren, Hebert, and engineers of lesser 

fame, who ooopt the theory that there is no relation between ·the velocity of cur· rent and amount of sediment carried, because they have invariably compared the 

velocity per second with the sediment contained in a. cubic foot of· water, and not with the total amount carried by the whole river in each respective second of time 

that the velocity is noted. 

The_y: advocate the diffusion of water "Qy outlets and raisin~ high levees around 

the Wlde places. I advocate its conservation, every drop of 1t, in one chmnel of 

uniform width, and the abolition of all the wide places; the closure of the ontlets, 

every one of them, and, if found necessary, the closure of the island chutes. They 

propose to attack the banks of the river with shovel and wheelbarrow to accommo- date ita anticipated elevation ten or a dozen feet higher than ever before. I propose to set the river to work in the bottom of its bed, as we did at the jetties, and, while deepening it for the benefit of co~merce, lower its haughty crest forever. 

They provide for a river ca.nied threateningly abo•ethe land. a constant source of terror and anxietyhwhile I propose that its vast >(llume, in all the grandeur of its 

mightiest floods, s all be Vlewed with an admiration de•oid of fear, from happy homes safe above its surface. 

1\Ir. ROBINSON, of Massachusetts. It will be seen from these 

remarks of Captain Eads on the protection of the a.lluviallands-that was his subject-that be would make the levees useless. I stop there, 

and I say that Congress bas no right to spend $4,000,000 out of the 

Public Treasury immediately without investigating a theory and a plan which proposes to render such an expenditure wholly unneces- sary. . }fr. ROBERTSON. Does not Captain Eads recommend as 2. part 

of his plan that the crevasses should be closed f 

Mr. ROBINSON, of Massachusetts. Captain Eads has not made 

that recommend.ation in any form that ba-s rea-ched me; p.ence I am not prepared to answer that f!uestion.• I want to say that I was present at a bearing on this subject at 

Wil1ard's Hotel when Captain Eads explained his project. 'Vhen a question was asked whether levees formed any essential part of his 

plan ho said they did not, and that he should dis1'egard them. Subsequently I have been informed he said he would for the present, as a temporary expedient, close some of the creva.sses, but I do not un- derstand it is his theory to put $4,000,000 upon the top of these banks. 

A.nd moreover, Mr. Chairman, while gentlemen upon this floor seem to differ about what is the plan of Captain Eads, I think this Congress shonld well pause to take some proper way to find it out and uot leave it to the dictum of any gentleman here. 

lli. HOOKER rose. :1\-Ir. ROBINSO~, of Massachusetts. I will yield to •the gentleman from Jlrlississippi for :t question. 

Mr. HOOKER. I desire to ask the gentleman from ~assachusetts 

whether, if Captain Eads proposes to accomplish the result of allowing the citizens to reside upon the banks in quietude and peaoo, be 

proposes to do it by depening the channel, or by opening outlets for 

the river, or in what other way he proposes to accomplish itT · Mr. ROBINSON, of Massachusetts. In answer to the gentleman 

from Mississippi, I wish to say in brief, although it is not necessary 

for me to state it, that Captain Ea-ds's theory is based on the same idea 

that is at the basis of the jetty system, that he would build his works 

within the 'banks of the river and set the river itself at work upon its 

bed scouring out its bottom. In opposition to. that, it may be neces- sary to state that .Army engineers, many of them, disagree with that 

theory. They say it is not sound-t hat it will not work the desired 

result, because it is claimed by them a large portion of the bed of theriver is of hard blue clay and will not yield to the erosive action pro· 

posed ; and therefore, when you confine the water, instead of scour- ing the bed, it will scour the sides down, together with the banks, 

levee, people, and all. That, wo are told, is the difficulty about the 

matter. Then, upon this great question .Captain Eads and the Army 

engineers are directly at variance, and I say it is well the subject 

should be investigated in the proper mode before we spend money on it. 

I was a bon t speaking of the outlet plan, and especially in reference 

to one of them, that of Colonel Cowden, to which the chairman of the 

committee has already referred. I wish to say, and I think it is dueto Colonel Cowden to say a little more than the chairman has said, 

that we gave him the briefest hearing of any man who came beforeus; that we gave him the long time of about ten minutes. He has· appeared before the Committee on Commerce recently, and submitted a memorial, which is now in print, and may be had by members. It is- Miscellaneous Document No. 13. It gives the statement of his plan 

and views. He propose~ and so do others.-for, on investigation of 

engineers' reports from trme to time we find they say the outlet theory 

has been advocated by gentlemen of the highest ability, and not 

alone by Colonel Cowden-he proposes, as he illustrates it, to let the· water out of the barrel through three holes instead of one, stating 

that three boles would carry off more water than one. Perhaps thoce- are more than one now; but be would add three to whatever number 

there may be, and the three more would carry off more water. 

Mr. ACKLEN. I should like to ask the gentleman a question. 

Mr. ROBINSON, of Massachusetts. Let me make my statement first,. and I will be happy then if I ean answer the gentleman's question. 

Colonel Cowden's plan is to relieve the Lower :Mississippi of the 

surfeit of water, and that relieving the channel of the excess of water 

will, as be claims and as claimed by others who favor the idea, prevent 

overflow of the adjacent lands. He ·would open the river, for instance,. into Lake Borgne, which connects with the Gulf of Mexico on the east, 

if I am not wrong in my geography, which would carry off a lal'ge 

portion of water in that dil·ection. And it is well known that down 

the channel of the Red River comes an immense :flood of water, con- tributing to the height of the Mississippi. He proposes, before that 

reaches New Orleans, to divert it and carry it into the Gulf of Mexico by the Calca-sieu River. He· proposes, also, that the Atchafalaya 

shall bear off from the Mississippi the waters of the Ouachita and 

ot.her tributaries. That I understand, in brief, to be the outline of 

his plan, that if the water is kept away from the challilel of tlie LowerMississippi the people living along its banks will have less cause t(). 

fear, and those banks will be protected and ready for occupation and 

tillnge. I will now ;hear the gentleman from Louisiana. 

Mr. ACKLEN. The gentleman from Massachusetts has made the 

statement that l\Ir. Cowden's idea woo that he could let the water 

out of the barrel by three holes more readily and rapidly than he· could by one. I ask the gentleman whether that would not del'end 

altogether upoJl the size of the holes. In the first place, he proposes 

to let the water out of the Mississippi River by :t large number of 

small outlets. By Captain Eads's plan it is proposed to force the 

water out of the Mississippi River by deepening and enlarging thecapacity of the river both at its outlet and for several hundred miles 

up its course. • Mr. ROBINSON, of Massachusetts. I wish to say in reply to the 

gentleman that the size of the hole makes a great deal of difference. 

[Laughter.] I am going to leave it to the Congre s of the United 

States )lereafter to say what that shall be, and not let anybody in this. 

House tell us what it shall be. I would not even let the gentleman 

from Louisiana decide that for me. ELangbter.] · Mr. ACKLEN. I should not oppose the commif:!sion by any means, 

but I should also strongly advocate the amendment. 

Mr. TOWNSEND, of New York. I desire to ask the gentlemanfrom Massachusetts a question. 

}fr. ROBINSON, of Massachusetts. I shall be glad to answer it if 

I can. 

lir. TOWNSENJ>, of New" York. Does this individual who proposes to take water out of the Mississippi propose to do it in the in- terest of the navigation of the Mississippi Y 

Mr. ROBI~"SON, of Massachusetts. In answer to the gentleman 

from New York, on the Upper Hudson--

Mr. TOWNSEND, of New York. On the Upper Mississippi. 

l\Ir. ROBINSON, of }fassachusetts. Having anintereston the Upper 

Mississippi also, I will reply that I am not prepared to say what Colonel Cowden's plans in detail are. I am not here~ advocate his plans. · The Committee of the Whole will not oi course so understand me. I 

infer, however, that his plan looks more to the protection of the l:mda 

than it does to the improvement of the navigation of the river. 

Then, there is, a.s a third proposition, this one of the levee system. 

Now, this question has been reported upon by various commissioDBof engineers, ill part only at any ooe time. We find the commission 

constituted under th~ act of 187 4, the president of which ~as General 

Warren, submitted to the Congress a.ssembling thereafter a full report on the question. They made recommendations for an extensivesurvey of the whole locality. That commission was intrusted only with the duty of eD.mining into and reporting upon the proper me thou 

of reclaiming and protecting the lands, not upon the improvemeni of the river. 
.J 

. 506 COKGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE . JANUARY 16, 

This .same question also has been under consideration of different 

·COmmittees of CQngress from time to time; and I find ip. the report 

Qf tbe Senate committee in the· Forty-second Congress-a report by 

;Senator Alcorn-a. paragraph that is very significant upon this prop- <QSition to repair the existing levees. After an investigation by that 

.committee he submits the views of the committee, and I nsk the Clerk 

to read the portion which I have marked. It will be seen that he :says it would be wholly inadequate to repair the existing breaks and ,-simply maintain the present levees. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

The estimates matle by the Go•ernment en¢.neers of the works on th e ID sis- ·sippi River consider ''repairing existin~ breaks," "perfecting existing' le• ees to the ~resent height, " and "perfectin~ ensting le>ees to the proper height." ' ' R.e· painng existing breaks " wonld, so :mr as the great aims which make the le>ees mational, be a mere waste of public money. "Perfectin(J' le>ees to the present 

height" wool<l, in face of the scientific .investigations wtich show tha t height to lbe totally insufficient, be a weak dalliance with a national duty. Your committee, !tllerefore, have no hesitation in recommending that Congress go at the work of 

ginng to the country the immense resources of the Mississippi allonums in the 

spirit of int lligent earnestness which demands all that the Go>ernment engineers .estimate under the head "perfectin~ existin~ levees to the propn}' h eight." To pat-ch those works in anv form short of this would oe but to adjourn the question of their 

execution, after the loss of the immediate-benefits which make the final di po ilion •Of that question an urgency of the hour, to be dealt with by and by in the more enlightened sta.tedmanship which demanda that it be deaU wit11 thoroughly 1ww. 

Mr. ROBINSON, of Massachusetts. So much for the views of the 

Senate committee of the Forty-second Congress. And now, turning .to the investigation made by the commission of 1874, at the head of ·which was General Warren, I find that commission declares that the 

J>resent levee system is entirely defective and insufficient; that it is 

not sufficient for the demands of the locality. It will be borne in 

ind, in listening to the portion I shall ask to have·read from that .report, that the commission speak also of the reclamation of the lands. 

The lines should be drawn sharply between the plan for the protection of the lands in the future and plans for the reclamation or restoration of the country that has been injured by the previous floods. I 

:ask the Clerk to read the portion I have marked from the report of 

the engineers' commission unde1· the act of 187 4. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

It being certain that the alluTial regions of the Misshlsippi ca.n only he r eclaimed 

by levees, it,remains to consider what experience has tau~rht respecting them. The ·existing system was begnn a century and a half ago, near K ew Orleans, and ha 

gradually extended upward until there are but few points on- the river a.t which it 

:has not been tried. The crops of cotton, sugar, corn, and rice h eretofore gathered 

.from the alluvial region, with all the existing wealth represented by lands under 

culti>ation, cities, Villages, plantations, and stock, are the direct fruits of this 

:method of protecting t.he country against overflow. It cannot, therefore, properly be called a failure, and yet the actual condition of the region to.day is such as to demonstrate that the practical application of the system is fatally defecti>e, and 

i ha.t unless some radical impro>ement be made, no hope remains of opening to cnl· 

tivation the immense districts of back lan(ls now exposwJ. to annual inundation 

through annual breaks in the levees; and also that only precarious crops can be -expected from the narrow frin~e of .plantations under cnlti>ation now skirtin,\! the 

1mmediate borders of the MissiBsippl and its principal bayous and tribntarie . To 

determine, therefore, in what respects the existing system is defecti>e is highly important. The faults are only too apparent. They are: First. Vicious le>ee organization. Second. Insufficient heights, in adjusting which only existing nigh-water marks 

have been considered, without remembering that there has ne>er yet been a great ·tl.ood in the ri>er iR which the water has not been greatly lowered by immense cre- vasses which occur with absolute certainty. Third. Injudicious cross-sections and construction, which alone wonld be suffi.. ·cil'nt to explain many of the ~uent breaks, under the combined influence. of 

pressure, seepage, burrowing of craw-fish, &c. Fourth. Inadequate arrangements for inspecting' and guarding. 

Fifth. Faulty location of the em~kments, which are often placed so near ca'l"'ing 

banks as to insure an early destruction. 

Mr. ROBINSON, of Massachusetts. That commission snggE'sted 

:that the most proper plan would be a system of double levee . · Now, 

J for one am not competent, and I presume many other gentlemen on this floor are not competent, to judge on that matter and not prepared . to-day to vote on such information as we have. I hear gentlemen 

from that locality say that th€1 recommendation of the commission 'is 

.absurd, but. I have not information enough to decide for my elf for 

omy own vote. that the five gentlemen constituting that commission 

:have put forward something that is ab urd in science. · It was argued by a gentleman on the 't>ther sid~ I think the gentleman from Mississippi, [Mr. CHALMERS,] that the1e>ees would con- .stitute a means of enlarging and deepening the channel of the river 

.and oflscouring it out . . Why, sir, it need only be suggested upon that 

point that if the bottom of the river is hard, as I said before, this 

scouring will be on the banks and against the banks of the river a~d 

to tne damage and destruction of the levees, instead of upon the 

bottom. 

But there are more serious questions than any of these I have touched .upon, and because of these I feel this Congress will stop to consider 

before it puts out $4,000,000 from the Treasury of the United States 

tEl the repairs of levees. It has been said that the Government is com-

·mitted to this work of repairing the levees. I take issue with that 

statement. The Government of the United States has ordered im·es-

·tigations from time to time and asked for plans and has given to the 

.States grants of swamp and overflowed lands th order that they might repair their levees and keep out the enemy from•their doors. But the 

<Congress of the United States has not opened its Treasury to pay the 

l'abor that should build the levees along the banks of the river. '!'his is 

the point where the· new departure is sou~ht; and I~elieve, Mr. Chairman, that we shall all panse and give 1t most carefnl retlection before we enter upon that grea WO!k. 

Why, there are sovereign States in the Mississippi Valley. :Many of 

them are jealous of their rights and perhaps would not wish to have 

their domain invaded by the national authorities for t.he construction 

of these national works. ·will the United States go forward into the 

Mississippi Valley spending million of dollars when it has no jurisdiction over the land it steps upon f Will it pnt men there to work upon a line where it has no riabt of way f Will it put its property into 

the embankments along the Mississippi in the various States and'aftei·-

ward be powerle s to go upon that property and protect it' Consicler 

it in that way. The State of Louisiana may be ever so vigilant i she 

may have the most perfect system of levees; the river may be care- fully guarded so far as the levees of Louisiana are concerned i but tho 

great old river is regardless of State lines, of the existence of Louisiana, and whenever there is a defective levee in Arkansas over it goes 

into Louisiana, spreadin~ de>astation in its course. That is true @f 

all the States upon the nver except those at the nort.h. The United 

States, if it puts its money into this system of repairs, has no power 

to p:rotect the~e levees; !t has no power there to set its foot upon the 

territory of. those States for that purpose. You may build the most 

perfect levees in any one of these States and there are enemies of the 

levees, both human and bmte, who will destroy them at the first opportunity. • 

Why, sir, some jealous rascal, who is offended because a planter in 

his neighborhood is more prosperous than he, will dig a hole in the 

levee some night and Jet the wa.ter in and devastate the whole district, and in the same manner, but innocently, the musk-rat will do 

the same thing for his own diversion and pleasure. Why, sir, upon 

the great levees built in Egypt, upon the Nile, there is constant 

inspection and guard upon the whole line. It is watched and guarded 

and as much looked after and protected as are the great rail way lines 

that belt this continent. 

do not believe that it is policy, I do not believe that it is safety 

for the United States Government to put its money into such a work 

beyond supervision or control. In the States there are local provisions i~posing penalties for injuries 1i? this class of property, but when 

these lines of levees become the Umted States property the United 

States has no jurisdiction through which it can make penalties or enforce them after it has provided them. ' 

Mr. Chairman, I have said enough to give to the Committee of the 

Whole my views upon the whole subject. I am in support of the bill as reported by the committee, the first nine sections of the bill. This su~ject has been coming before Conl?.ress from time to time and it 

will continue to come until the peoples representatives here have met 

it and pa-ssed upon it. The people of the Mississippi Valley, in the 

lower part of it, have a ri~ht to be heard upon this subject and to 

have their interests investigated and if possible acted upon if within 

the limits of the constitutional power of the Government and proper 

policy. I say that it is not the duty of the country to continually 

thrust thi great question aside upon one pretext or another, but it is our duty to meet it squarely as a man would deal with such a question in his own affairs. He would sit down first and count the cost, 

and not begin to build a tower and have not the wherewithal to com- plete it. I say to the friends of this measure who believe that the 

whole system should be adopted that it is their duty to be patient 

and wait until the whole country sees tHat it is not only a proper but a necessary thing to do. I am not deterred by any considerations 

that when the great river i opened to commerce to an enlarged ex- • tent more freight will go down its bosom and be diverted perhaps from the great cities on the Atlantic ~bore. I am willing that 

the whole country shall be improved and opened for its best and most 

profitable occupation. 

This tenitory whose interests are affected by this measure is greater 

than the whole of New Engla-Qd. I am not afraid that whatever 

improvements may be made there New England will be left out in 

the cold. Whatever conduces to the prosperity of the West or the 

South will benefit the East and the North. We are parts of one great 

whole, and if it is necessary under a proper policy to spend some money from the Treasury of the United States to meet the wants of 

those States lying along the Mississippi River, I hope it will not be 

begrudged to them, b1;1t it should not be done and the Government 

should not be committed until the plans have received a careful con- sideration and indorsement of the proper officers . Therefore, :1\Ir. Chairman, as I said at the outset, I favored the bill as reported by the committee. I am opposed to the amendments 

which have been offered, and I say very frankly that if any of the 

amendments offt,red or suggested become a part of the bill, I shall 

be compelled to record my vote upon it in the negative. . Mr. SPARKS. I understood the gentleman to say that he was in 

favor of the first nine se(}tions of the bill. . Mr. ROBINSON, of Massachusetts. Of the first nine sections. 

Mr. SPARKS. Is the gentleman in favor of this portion of the 

fourth section of the bill, namely, "and for the protection of theallnnallands of the Mississippi Delta from overflow from said river f" 

Mr. ROBINSON, of Massachusetts. :My impression is either that 

the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. $PARKS] ha-s not been present while 

l have been addressing the committee, or that I have been singularly 

deficient in making myseJl understood. 

1\fr. SPARKS. That provision is in section 4. Are you in favor of 

thatf 

Mr. ROBINSON, of Mns achusetts. I will answer tbe gentleman.. 
1879. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. 507 

"This bill is intended to proYide a commission to devise a plan for the 

improvement of the M~sissippi RiT"er and.the protection of the alluviallands combined. If, as a part of the whole plan for the improvement of the river for purposes of navigation and incidental thereto, 

the lands of that valley ma.y be protected-! am in favor of it. But 

if the result of the work of the commission should be only a report 

for the protection or reclamation of the lands alone, then as I now stand1 as I am at present advised, I could not advocate or T"ote for 

such a proposition. 

I have said, Mr. Chairman, all that I desire to say upon this subject, 

unless some gentleman wishes to ask me a further question. 

The CHAIRMAN. 'I' he gentleman has thirteen minutes of his h"our 

remain in#!. 

Mr. RO HINSON, of Massachusetts. I will reserve that time subject 

to my control in the future. 

Mr. ELLIS. Mr. Chairman, it is my opinion that if this great Mis· 

sissippi River found its original sources in the Rocky Mountains and 

then its outlet to the sea somewhere on the upper Atlantic coast, long 

since, had neoessi ty required, it would have been walled in with maxble 

and deepened, if need were, a thousand fathoms. If it rose somewhere 

in Russia and found its mouth down in the warm waters of the Mediterranean, ten millions of lives if not more would be sacrificed to 

.control the 1·iver, and millions, nay hundreds of millions of dollars 

would be expended like water to make it pel'fectly sub erve all the _great and grand purposes intended by the uountiful Father in its 

.creation. 

One thing I would like to say right hQre, and I say it in no feeling 

.Qr spirit of bitterness and with no intention even to engender or to 

-originate a sectional thought. But I want the Representatives of 

this House, and particularly those from the northern section of the 

Union, to know one fact. While we of the South ask the mere pittance to improye the great river and protect the dwellers on its 

banks, in the coffers of the United States, in its Treasury; there . are -to-day $86,000,000 unconstitutionally and illegally collected upon the 

products of the T"ery soil which is watered and enriched by this great 

Th·er, and more than forty millions of that amount was collected in 

the Sta.tes through which this river runs and whose lands and lives 

.and homes we seek to protect by the passage of this bill. 

'!'here are $40,000,000 to-day in the Treasury of the United States 

unclaimed under the title of "captured and abandoned property" 

fund gathered from the wrecks of the alluvial States. Nobody claims 

it; it will never be paid back. Neither of t.hese funds will ever he 

reimbursed. lrVe do ask that you give us at least the interest of these 

great sums so that the lands from whose rich products they w~re 

wrung may be protected and rehabilitated. · This is no new subject; it has been a fruitful theme of debate nry 

frequently in this Hall and in the other end of the Capitol for many 

_years. When gentlemen tell us that we are not prepared to act, they 

very seriously criticise the action of a former House. In the FortyThird Congre ·s this House passed a levee bill appropriating, I think, some $3,ijOO,OOO. '!'hat bill was beaten in the Senate by a single T"ote, 

and at a time, too, when the party to which the gentleman from .Massachusetts belongs and which gave that vote had a two-third ma- jority in this House and a very large majority in the other branch of 

Congress. 

I propose to speak to-day, Mr. Chairman, not so much upon the 

bill reported from the committee or the amendments ofl"ered by my 

.colleague [Mr. RoBERTSON] as upon the substitute which I have my-

:aelf offered. I do not seek to dodge behind the commercial phase of 

this question. It is true that the commerce of the Mississippi River 

will be promoted and protected by levees. '!'here is no question but 

that the deepening of the channel ~f the river, the washing out of its 

bars, and the removal of its snags will be promoted, will be accom- plished by the building of levees; there is no doubt of that. But I .al o insist that it is the duty of this Government, its solemn and 

binding duty, to say that· this great river which drains twenty-six 

.States and Territories, and which performs that service in favor of 

the people who live in the higher latitudes, should be so guarded as to work no injury to the dwellers below. It is a national duty, bind- in~ in law and moralS". Further along in my argum6nt I will dwell 

bnefly upon this feature of the measure. In one phase this is the old question of internal improvements, prac-

-tically the question which has so often occupied the time and attention of publicists, and which indeed has constituted one of the great ... questions upon which the political parties of the country hl;l>ve differed. But amidst all the conflicting theories upon this question I 

hold that there can be no doubt that where a work of internal improvement is either national in its character, national in its extent, .or national in its influenci, Congress may with perfect propriety lend 

it aid. 

A work maybe national in its extent, when it extends thron'gh sev- eral States a~d Territories, 01." it may be national from the influence 

which it is designed to exert. The jetties of Captain Eads which .are confined to an extreme portion of the Union are national in their 

influence and national in their results. So, too, the Union Pacific Railroad, as well as the proposed Texas Pacific Railroad. These great 

measures are national by reason not only of the results which so :Bow 

..and are to flow from them, but by reason also of the extent of t:ne 

works themselves. 

We are met by the gentleman from Massachusetts [:Mr. RoBrxso~] 

with two or three difficulties in the outset: In the first place, he intimates that we are divided among ourselves, tha.t we do not know 

the character of the relief we want. · Mr. Chairman, the gentleman is mistaken in that. We do know 

that we want the levees, a system which from 1845, about the time 

it became general, up to 1861, was tried and found effective in protecting the lands and in keepingthe navigatlonof tlreriveropenand 

unobstructed. We are told that one faction advocates a system of 

weirs and outlets as the proper mode of relief, and that we sh-ould 

pause until we a ·certain which system it is best to adopt. 

Now, Mr. Chairman, I desire to appeal to the common sense of thi 

House upon this proposed theory of outlets; I desire to appeal to the 

experience of every man who has traveled up. and down the Mississippi River; I desire to appeal to the late reports of soundings by 

distinguished engineers, to show conclusively that wherever an outlet occurs, whereYer a crevasse occurs and the water is diverted 

from its main channel, below that crevasse the river invariably fills 

up and bars are formed. Nature isalway'sconservat,ive in her action; 

she does not use more room than she requires; and it stands to rea- son that in sedimentary streams, where the dense sediment is sus- pended and carried along by the current, s0o soon as you check that 

current or decrease the volume and power of the flow which suspends 

and carries the sediment a deposit will occur in exact proportion with 

the check and decrease of power. Divert one-sixth of the water at 

any given point and it stands to reason that one-sixth less room is 

required below that point, and therefore conservative nature filL'3 it 

up. In support of this theory I cite the remarkable case of the '!'ones 

Bayou, a little outlet which occurred in the Red River some twenty or twenty-five years ago, which in the beginning was only twenty or twenty-five feet wide, lint which deepened and strengthened until it 

absolutely threatened to close up the navigation of Red River below, so that Congress was obliged to appropriate money to close the bayou. 

You gentlemen who voted for the last river and harbor bill appropriated $25,000 for that purpose, and 25,000 had been appropriated before, making in all $50,000 appropriated for the purpose of saving the 

navigation of the Red River by closing '!'ones Bayou. Since it has 

been closed by a dam and the whole power of the river cnrreut·is con- fined to the channel the water has washed out the bars below and 

navigation is restored as completely as before. But in further support of the theory that creva ses or outlets form bars below their 

point of diver~ence I send to the Clerk's desk and will a.sk him to 

read the expenments and actual observations of Mr. Bailey, once a distinguished civil engineer, and now deceased; a gentleman who is 

remembered for eminence in his profession as well as for many civic 

virtues: 

'I'he Clerk read as .follows : 

Mr. Bayley says : "On September 20, 21, (after the occurrence.of the Bonnet Carre cre-vasse in April, 1874,) when the river was very nearly at its lowest stage, 20 feet 

below high water, I measured and carefully sounded two ri>er sections above the crevasse outlet one opposite and two below it; taking transit angles to each sounding. Sections i aml2 were taken 1 and 1i miles above the outlet~ respectively ; sectiollil 4 and 5 were taken 750 and 1,500 feet below the outlet; sections 1 and 2 (taken above tho cre>a se) gave the following dimensions respectively: 'Widths, 

low water, 2,886 and 3,014 feet; maximum depths, 110 and 79 foot; meaJl_depth, 64 

and 54 feet; sectional areas,l84,653 and 164,167 square feet; high water width, 3,120 

and 3,210 feet. Sections 4 and 5 (taken below the crevasse) gave the following 

dimensions respectively: Widths, low wa.t-er, 2,406 feet and 2,452 feet; maximum 

depths, 62ancl64 feet; mean depth, 40 ~d42 feet; sectional areas, 96,640and 106,158 square feet; high water width, 3,300 and 3,430 feet. The average dimensions of the two upper and the two lower sections were as follows: Low-water widths, 2,950 

and 2,429 feet; depths, 59 and 41.65 feet; sectional areas, 174,410 and 101,395 feet. 

Reduction of channel below average of upper and lower sections in width, at low 

water, 521 feet: in (lepth, average of whole sections or mean depth, 17.35 feet.; in area of channel section, 73,015 feet-square feet. The mean hi,e;h-wat.er sectional area. above was 23::!,003 square feet, and below, 156,913 square feet; reduction" 

below 75,000 sqnm·e feet. 

* "The bottom, or the river-bed, when the upper sections were taken, consisted of 

firm blue clay into which the 11-ponnd sounding:-lead sunk from 1 to 2 inches only 

all the way across, while the depths were toleraoly uniform, all indicatin~ a chan . nel of fuiJ. natural dimensions free from deposits. The bottom, when ooth the 

lower sections were taken, was a soft,,oozy mud or silt, into which the sounding. 

lead sunk from) to 2 feet, except near the left bank,' (where the current was strongest,) on the bend side of the rh7 er, where the bottom was also firm clay a~~d free 

from deposits. Opposite the lower sections the sand· bar on the right-bank side had 

encroached upon the channel so much that the low-water width had been reiuced more than 500 feet, and a new sandy ridge, evidently a deposit made during the 

preceding high water, from 12 to 15 foot high at its lower end, had been formed 

above the low-wat-er line and over the old bar, in a direction parallel with the thread 

of the current, from the river above into the outlet opening. Very extensive new deposits of sand had been made in the riabt-bank bend next below, several feet 

high above low water and extending se>er3i hundred feet out from the shore-line; 

these were known to be new. Everything, the new sand-bars and sandy deposits, 

the new, oozy mud or silty deposits, extending nearly across the ri>er channel below the outlet, and the very great reduction of channel-way below causPd thereby, 

indicated most nnmistabbly that this Bonnet Carre crevasse outlet of 1874 did cause a partial filling-up of the river below." The experiments and observatiom . of Mr. Bayley leave no room to dc;mbt the fact that the crevasses of the MississipJ?i 

River swiftly and directly operate the formation of bars in the ri>er below their 

point of outlet. He cites also the effect of outlets upon Red River, and especially 

the outlet known as Tones Bayon, some twenty miles below the city of SlueYoport. In twenty-five years this bayon, which, when cleared out, was an insignificant 

outlet, has _increased its sectional area to 5,600 feet, while that of tho main river 

below it has been reduced t{) 3,500 square feet;· its dopth has decreased 15 feet, and 

its channel has been contracted some 300 feet. An official report confirms .Mr. Bay- ley's statements, and attributes the decrease in the area, width, and dop,th to ths 

outlet abo>e, "which has been," says the report, "constantly enlarginJr. ' Mr. Bayley concludes that "the same law governs in all sed.imentary rivers, 

whether smaJ.l or great. The :llrst effect of an outlet is to lower the flood-line of a ri>er, bccau e time is required to readjust the ri>er's regimen; but the ultimate 
508 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. JANUARY 16, 

effect the reverse, because the law is that the le s the <J.Uantity of -water flowing the greater is the slope require<l for its discharge at a given velocity." 

Mr. ELLIS. Upon this same point I quote from Professor Caleb G. 

Forshey, a very distinguished engimeer, who has given perhaps twentyfive years of his life to the study of the Mississippi River and whose 

ripe scholarship. and eminent attainments ha>v-e justly awarded him a national reputation. Professor Forsliey first announced this doctrine 

in 1850, and found himself combated by the ·entire Engineer Corps of 

the United States Army. In a late paper read before the Society of 

Civil Engineers this distinguished scientist and engineer says: 

Outlets or water-weirs will form outlets almost immediately across the stream and directly below the weir or outlet. This is amply shown in the report upon the 

Bonnet ca.rre crevaz;se of.1850. Soundings showed the section below to be con- tracted 75,613 square feet as compared with a. section at the upper end of the crevasse. -

Now mark: 

Soundings made during the high-water of 1851, the cre-.asse having been closed, 

prove that the great bar thrown across the river channel, by weakening its trans- porting force.s in the discharge of :i"ater through the cre-.asse, was entirely carried 

away when the river was confined by the new levee. The difference was twenty. 

three thousand feet in the section. 

Why, l\Ir. Chairman, this iB t.he ;ery theory on which Captain Eads 

iB proceeding at the mouth of the Mississippi River. His jetties are mere levees-nothing else in the world than levees-and this scouring 

process, which we claim will be the result of rebuilding the levees, 

is absolutely vindicated by Captain Eads's experiments. He built 

levees in the South Pass; he confined the entire river in a narrow channel; he has caught up and concentrated the power of the riv~r, 

and lo! it fights its own way to the deep sea, and makes for itself and 

for commerce a channel commensurat-e with the demands and neces- sities of both. 

Now let gentlemen who a-dvocate this outlet system beware. Let 

them reflect that if they inaugurate this mad system of diverting the 

waters, of the river at given points bars will form below e-.ery point 

of diversion. The more the bars form the greater and deeper and 

wider will grow the outlets. The bars will increase, and new outlets 

will be demanded. It must go on in this way; and if the Government should attempt to carry out this insane theory the result will 

be that in forty or fifty years this magni:fi.c~nt river, this mighty inland sea, the :first view of which thrilled the knightly soul of DeSoto 

with dreams of splendid empire, will be utterly shoaled and barred, 

its strength :filtered away through outlets and its u efolness utterly 

destroyed. The more outlets that are ·made, the more the bats will 

form. As the bars form and :fill p.p the channel, the more will the 

outlets deepen and widen. Flood lines temporarily lowered by outlets will rise to their normal line and height just so soon as the river 

readjusts its regimen to its new requirements by deposits of sediment. Pursue this insane and exploded theory if you will, and you 

will utterly destroy the Mississippi River for commercial purposes. 

Men of the West and men of the Sooth, what say you to that dire 

possibility Y 

Bot we are told by the gentleman from l\Iassachusetts [Mr. RoBI~­

so~] that be~ause Captain Eads has aaserted his theory and an- nounced his stupendous plan of straightening the river and thereby 

lowering the flood line, we are therefore not agreed as to a remedy, 

and we had better pause and ascertain the true plan to be pursued 

before spending money upon an uncertain experiment. .Mr. Chairman, I tell my friend from Massachusetts that we have been pausing a little too long about this matter. Why, what is this theory of Ca-ptain Eads ~ Is it not the very doctrine underlying his theory that so soon as the river is straightened its scouring capacity will be increased, 

its force and power accelerated, augmented, and by the very action of 

its own current thus quickened in flow and augmented in power it will 

its own current thus quickened in flow and augmented in power it will 

deepen the channel until the channel shall be washed out, room for 

all its waters made, :1nd the flood line of the river will be lg;yered to 

the level of the banks, and levees will be unnecessary. .tle wants 

$46,000,000 to do that. We ask a little abo-.e $4,000,000 to perform 

the same work by means of the old and well-tried eystem of levees. 

But in addition to. the opinions and actual experiments of civil engi- neers we have the universal experience of the oldest and most ex- perienced of our steamboatmen that so soon as the le-.ee-system 

became general in 1845 and 1848 many bars were washed out, many 

dangerous snags and sawyers were removed, and there was a perceptible deepening of the entire channel of the river from Cape 

Girardeau to _New Orleans. I hold, therefore, that in appropriating 

money to repair and rebuild the levees of the Mississippi River, the 

immediate effect of which will be to remove bars and deepen the channel of the river, Congress is moving directly in the interests of the commerce of the country. And for such purposes its constitutional 

power and authority are unquestioned. 

But, again; how is the commerce of the river unfa-.orably affected 

by the crevasses and breaks.in the leveef l\Ir. Chairman, those who 

have never seen a crevasse can form no adequate conception of its 

force, power, and destructivep.ess. 

The force of a mighty outlet creates a powerful suck or countercurrent from the center of the main stream; and this force exists in 

every crevasse, stronger or weaker as the outlet is greater or smaller. 

These maelstroms draw with immense power and overwhelm what- ever comes within their terrific grasp. The steamer, pilot~d with care and dri-.en by ponderous machlnery, and obedient as a child to 

the touch of the wheel, by hugging t.he opposite shore in the daytime, pa ses the point of danger in safety. But at night, and especially when the nights are dark or <luring the prevalence of the dense 

fogs that are so incident to that climate, the steamer it" often obliged 

to land, and tie up and await'till the coming of day, or until the lifting 

of the fog, so as to pass the maelstrom of the crevasse in safety. This 

operates a great deal of vexatious delay in the transportation of passengers, mails, and freight, and loss of time and money. 

But steamers do not always escape. In the year 11:375 one of the 

most costly and splendid steamers of the Lower Mississippi River- th~ Katie-freighted with four thousand bales of cotton and carrying 

hundreds of passengers, was drawn into the Bonnet Carre crevasse and came near proving a total wreck. Below New Orleans, at what 

is called the Jump, a large steamer-the St. Nicholas-some years ago was drawn into the crevasse and lost, and to-day her wreck may be seen from the river-a mournful proof of the dangers of the crevasse and a warning to those whose duty and whose province it is to guard 

and protect the commerce of the majestic river. · But while the steamer, guided by human intelligence and driven 

by machinery, may pass with comparative safety the sock of the 

crevasse, not so with vessels propelled with sail or oar or poles. And a busy and profitable trade has ever existed upon the Mississippi 

River by means of barges, flat-boats, rafts, aud other kinds of trading-boats. Many of them do a mere local traffic, while others are freighted away up the Ohio and :Missouri and. Upper Mississippi, and 

floated down to the mart at New Orleans. Huge rafts of v.aluablo 

timber also are gathered and floated upon the current of the river to a market. Even coal and grain barges in tow of a powerful tug and 

projecting their lengths a quarter of a mlle in front of the tug :m~ 

defenseless as the smaller water craft againsii the remorseless grasp 

and power of the crevasse. All are liable to be drawn into its jaws 

and totally wrecked .• In the fall of 1874, when passing through th0 

track of Bonnet Carre crevas e,.I saw a flat-boat lying high and dry 

upon a pile of drift-wood fifteen feet in height. And during the 

flood season, which lasts from four to five months, commerce of this 

character is wholly and totally paralyzed. And it is no insignificant 

item, for thousands of men are enga~ed in it, and. millions of money are invested in it. The statistics snow in 11:370 the arrival of som~ 

three hundred flat-boats at New Orleans, while in 1860 the arrivn.ls were eight hundred and seventy-nine. 'Fhis falling eff, which bas increa~ed in the past six years, tell the sad story of tho decline of the commerce of the river in this line o"f water craft. Aml here, Mr. 

Chairman, I desire to impress upon the members from the great West,. 

from Ol:lio, Indiana, lllinois, Missouri, and other great States of that 

region, that this class of commer~ was and is peculiarly theirs. 

Ah.d another impressive fact for t heir consideration is that the 

opening of the mouth of the river through the enterprise of Captain 

Eads and the aid of the Government will make the Mississippi River 

their great highway to the sea, and that their vk-st crops of grain in 

bulk will be transported in barges down the river, and that there are now unclosed and unchecked more than thirty dangerous crevasses which if unclosed must during four or :five months of the year operate 

the most serious danger and hinderance to that particular kind of 

water craft. The same may be said of the coal-barges which are laden with the toil of the hardy miners of Pennsylvania and \Vest 

Virginia at Pittsburgh and Wheeling to float down fifteen hundred 

miles to the levee at New Orleans. Thus, Mr. Chairman, do the interests of East and West demand alike that the navigation of that great 

national highway be made safe and its commerce free from peril and 

accident. 

Though the dwellers in those regions are safe from the ravages of 

floods and have not listened with anxiously beating heart to hear 

the swollen and angry river dash its mad waves against the frail 

levee in front; though they and their wives :lnd children may ne-.er hear with wild alarm the terrific and triumphant r.oar of the river's 

voice when it has burst through the barriers that bound it and sweeps 

around and a~ainst their homes in its desolating career, yet their vital 

interests call ... or these measures of relief, which will make the dwellers 

by the river's side as safe as they in their upland homes. 

I ask you, men of the West, if you will see the usefulness of the 

river and the mis ion it was sent to perform for you utterly destroyed 

by the failure of the Government to appropriate money in its behalf f 

Tal~ to me about the fear of subsidies! I tell you men of enlightened 

opinion, you men of information, it iB your duty to lead your people 

to the .light in regard to these measures, and not permit them to stan~l 

between yon and the light. I say the man of the West who cannot 

go before his people and successfully defend his course in voting to 

·deepen the channel of our great river and make its commerce safe is 

not worthy to represent that people on this floor. 

But, sir, there are yet other commercial considerations to be advanced in support of this great m~asure. The Mississippi River, from 

Cape Girardeau to within :fifty miles of its mouth, runs upon a ridge. 

Its natural banks in the lowlands are about seven feet above the lands 

one mile from the river's margin; or, in other words, in a straight line 

at right angles with the ri-.er the land deflects seven feet in one mile. 

The levees upon the banks vary in height, from seven to twenty-t;wo 

feet. In the flood season of each year the waters rise nearly to the 

top of the levees, so that the flood-line of the river is from fourteell. 

to twenty-nine feet abo-.e t he homes and fields of the dwellers in tho 

plains below. 
., 

. . . ... 

1879. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE~ 509 

It is a well-known fact that when a levee is once washed over or hroken through it is almost imoossible to save it and prevent a cre- vasse. A steamer of large size will hurl a succession of waves fifteen or twenty in number, and varying in height from eighteen to twenty- -one inches, from her side-wheels against the levees. 

I send to the Clerk's desk a.nd ask that be read from this report 

the portions I have marked. They are the calculations and results of 

the observations of a distinguished civil engineer from whom I have 

already had occa&ion to quote. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

The claim of the inhabitants of tho Delta. for national aid rests upon much stronger ~!rounds than mere prospective revenues and productions. These claims come in 

the form of reclamation. They are based upgn the perpetual and ever-increasing 

attack upon the levees by tlre passing commerce of twenty-six States and Territories of the Union. • • • The steamers that transport this commerce send their waves cea-selessly against banks an<l levees, lashing and abradinl! them with tre- mendous power. Tlie Lower Mississippi rarely rests. One series of waves succeeds 

another, and each wave :finds its rest in the equivalent of its force transferred to the banks and channel of the river. These lashings aud abradings, independent .of other causes, render the task of levee conl:!truction· more and more oppressi•e yearly, until they have become intolerable. That this burden should be borne in 

part bb those whose commerce attacks and batters down the le•ees, appears most 

equita 1:. • .. • • • " 

The forces started by a steamer in motion are chiefly lateral. The bow of the 

vessel and the paddle-wheels throw up waves that find movement only upon the 

river's surface, and even when the paddle strikes downward the displacement of 

the water is lateral, except at a short distance below tlle dip of the wheeL The 

force operates downward only at the wheels or propeller, and the reaction causes waves which race along the surface in successive lines, and break against the 

levees. Anrl since the waters are indefinitely mobile among their particles, repose for the results of force can alone be found against the walls of the channel. The 

wtal f9rce exerted against the bank must be the same whether diifused or concen- trated, though the aiirasions may be totally different. * .,. • .The banks of the 

river being composed of material bronght and deposited by a current flowing at the rate of three feet per second, it is but reasonable that when new forces are brou~ht to bear upon them by greater velocity of curr~nt or wave these particles are displaced and carried on down the current. Lej; us take an example: the steamer James Howard, side wheels, with 1,500 

tons h-eight, passed up the river at near mean high-water l!auge at Carrollton, 12.5 feet, 3 feet below maximum. Her rate of speed w;as ten miles per hour against a current of four miles per hour, making the movement of her wa-.es equal to four- teen miles per h.our. The waves of practical value were oblique 230 to her course on each side, and could be distinctly counted to the fifteenth wave, and I added 

:five for the confused and irregular waves that followed. Ten of these waves were nearly of the same height, and were measurod by their rise on a rod and a driftlog that did not break them. These waves averaged about 16 inches height at 300 

feet behind the steamer, and the remaining ten waves averaged less than half that 

height, say 6 inches. They were all delivered a~ainst the banks with the velocity ot the steamer plus the rate of the current, say rourteen miles per hour, or 20 feet 

per second. Without attempting to weigh this force by computing its dynamics from ·these data, we assume the tonnage of the steamer multiplied by her velocity gi>es the just practical result. 1 The tonnage of freigbt and vessel was about 2,300 

tons. We have, then, 4,690,000 pounds multiplied oy 14.6 seconds multiplied by 17.60 for each mile of her travel. The aggregate force, then, that is abnormaL appliefl by this steamer, amounts in foot-pounds to 118,201,600 pounds, equal to GO,OOO · ton.;. 

Let us illustrat~: a levee of 9 feet in height, by the recent formula of Humphreys and Abbott, with t!lopoo jf two and three to one, contains 1,200 cubic yards in e>ery 100 feet of levee, and 3,WO pound! to the cubic yard. The 300 feet of levee~ equal to the lei,J$th of the steamer James Howard, would weigh 10,800,000 

pounas. The force tnrown against the le>ee or bank each trip by the passing steamer would be68'

160'

000 =to 34,030,000; 

2 

more than three times the weight of the whole levee. 

Owing to the tenacity of the soil and materials of the banks of the river, these 

banks do stand these forces repeated fifty times a day under many modified forms. 

The fact that they do stand this fearful servitude is almost miraculous. But it is 

wholly abnormal and chargeable to the commerce of the Mississippi Valley. 

Mr. ELLIS. Mr. Chairman, I call the attention of the Representatives of the entire Mississippi Valley and every one in.terested in the .commerce of the river to the facts just read. Before I close I will 

notice more at length this "wear and tear upon the levees," a servitude 

imposed by the commerce of the river. ·what I desire now to notice is 

the constant danger that the lateral waves of the passing steamers are liable at any time in flood season to wash over and dissolve the levees. 

For fear of this calamity descending steamers are often obliged to shut 

off steam and float past the threatened points or weak places in the 

levee, while the ascending steamer must depart from her course to 

hug the opposite shore, or slacken her speed to three or four miles per 

hour. Again, the steamers are afraid to land at or near the weak 

points of the levee lest their waves or weight against the frail em bankment cause a crevasse, to the ruin of those -who dwell below. Consequently they are often obliged to carry passengers, mails, and freight 

many miles away from and beyond their destination to the great detriment and delay of commerce and travel. To these considerations I 

might add the tremendous loss and damage to the commerce of the 

Delta over the railroa-d lines which pass through it. 

Within the last fifteen years the bed of the New Orleans, Saint 

Louis and Chicago Railroad, the only line of egress or ingress north 

of New Orleans, bas been washed away three times by· crevasses from 

the river, inflicting upon, it a loss ,gf millions of dollars, and paralyzing 

its operations for months. The New Orleans and Texas Road which 

{}Onnects New Orleans with a line of Texas and Mexican steamers 

shared a like fate. The Monroe and Vicksburgh Road, which from a 

point opposite Vicksburgh runs to Monroe, and is designed to pass 

through Shreveport into the heart of Texas, is useless and worse than 

useless four months in the year. Its line passes through a region of 

marvelous fertility, the chosen land of cotton. Yet, during the flood .seasons its trains are stopped because a sea of water, forty miles in 

width, covers and whelms its track and the adjacent lands. Not 

many months ago I passed over that road. It crosses the bayou Macon some forty miles from Monroe. The bank of that bayou in former 

days was a solid field, aud the little depot on the road shipped annu- ally two hundred thousand bales of cotton. The depot is gone.; the 

deserted fields are already grown up in a wilderness of cottonwood 

trees ; the devouring flood left not one vestige of fence or houses iu 

their resistless sweep, and the smile of the fertile field is changed to 

the dark frown of the wilderness. 

One single other cry of the suffering and endangered commerce of 

that river do I desire to voice, and then I will have done with this 

branch of the subject. 

New Orleans, the city which I in part represent here, has suffered 

untold ills in the seventeen fearful years since 1861. That year saw her proud and rich and smiling, so like a q neen amid her groves and 

palaces that winter never toncbed too rudely and that care never overshadowed. From her throne by the flow of her majestic river, 

she looked abroad upon fields of marvelous fertility covered with 

their billowy green of sugar cane, with their noble mansions, the 

abode of the most splendid refinement and prodigal hospitality. Far 

up and down the broad river she watched to see the flitting·steamers come and go under the mighty impetus of her grand commerce, while 

afar upon lake and gulf came and went the stately ships, bearing 

her rich gifts to foreign shores, and coming to quietly furl their sails 

by her levee, to pay their tribute and tender their ofierings to her. 

This era of splendid prosperity was followed by war, a paralysis of 

her commerce, andutterprostration of herbusiness. The loss to New 

Orleans by the war was most enormous. But in 1865, without a mur- mur, she gathered np her strength aud set forward to work out her 

destiny. The levees of Louisiana were down; many of the finest 

p1antat1ons were in ruins; the labor-system whollx_ destroyed; without capital or credit, and with a debt of some $0,000,000. During 

the years 1865, 1866, and 1867, the State was under military rule 

except for a brief period. 

These years of misrule cost the State untold millions of money and 

plunged her into a hopeless sea of debt. Onr city debt from $4,000,000 

grew to be $23,000,000. So enfeebled and ruined was the conllition 

of the State and city that it seemed impossible that they·couldgrapple with the levee system. Yet the State since the war has issued 

$11,000,000 of bonds for levee purposes, enough, if honestly administered, to have built up the levees and closed every crevasse from New 

Orleans to Cape Girardeau. But alas; the fund was maladministered 

and squandered uselessly. Just north of New Orleans is Lake Ponchartrain, once a most beautiful expanse of clear water, forty miles 

long by an average width of twenty-two miles. Through the Rigoletts on the southeast it connects with the Mississippi Sound and Lake 

BorgJ.le. Across this lake some three hundred vessels of all kinds were plying, and the commerce carried on upon its waters engaged 

three thousand men and maintained twenty thousand people. The 

traffic with the upland regions was of lumber, bricks, wood, cattle, 

moss, sand, shells, fruits, cotton, and other products of the soil. In 

the lake itself a large traffic in :fish and oysters was carried on. On 

the northern shores of the lake and for near one hundred and thirty 

miles along the Mississippi Sound a number of beautiful little towns 

have sprung up, adorned with handsome villas and splendid residences. These were the summer resorts of the people of Mobile and 

New Orleans. There resorted the merchants and bnsine s men of 

these cities with their families for relief from the five months of summer of that climate. 

The healthfulness of the locality, the fine bathing and fishing 

afforded, constituted the chief deli(Thts of the summer homes. Bnt 

in 1874, in April, forty miles above New Orleans and four miles west 

of the western border of Lake Pontcbartrain, when the river was at 

flood height, the powerful levee of Bonnet Carre Point gave way. 

The river wave through the crevasse burst with awful force upon the 

plains belo'!; it reached and swept away houses, sugar-mill , fences; 

reached antT tore up the line of the New Orleans, Saint Louis and 

Chicago Railroad a distance of twenty-two miles, and then headed 

itselfintoLakePontchartrain. It has washed a gulf where it leaves 

the river over fifty feet deep and is now nearly half a mile wide. In 

flood seasons it is computed that one-sixth of the river water passes throu~h it into the lake. That crevasse is still open. Each year it is 

widerung and deepening. It is forming a serious bar in the main 

channel just below it. The bar, under the law of the river I have 

cited, will increase as the outlet increases. The whole character of 

Lake Pontchartrain is changed. Its once clear and salt waters have 

bec.ome fresh and muddy as the river. The sediment from the river 

is being deposited in the lake and has shoaled it already in 1i ve year 

along a distance twenty-two miles long by five miles wide a depth 

of from two and a half to eight feet. Captain T. S. Hardee, an engi- neer of much distinction and late city surveyor of New Orleans, who 

has recently completed a hydrographic survey of the lal•e and has 

carefully observed the effects of the crevasse upon it, in his able and 

comprehensive report, ~ays: 

The effects of the crevasse up to the present time has been to raise the ordinary 

level of Lake Pontchartrain, which abnormal condition lasts generally about four 

months in the year, or during the fiood period of the Mississippi River. The ele-

-.ation of the service of the \ake is almost exclusively due to tlie immense •olnme 

of foreign water constantly precipitated into its bosom from the crevasse, which 

mU8t necessarily create for itself a new plane of discharge to the Gulf by tho con- sequent fo:teed rising of the water. • 
1-

510 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. JANUARY 16,. 

Cqlonel Hardee estimates that during the flood season, when the 

waters of the lake are raised from this abnormal condition, the prevalence for some days of a southeasterly storm, checking and driving 

back the flood-water which seeks egress to the sea through the Rigoletts, would subject the city of New Orleans to the severest overflow 

she has ever experienced, and would flood that city from the river to 

the lake. The damage from such a result it is almost impossible to 

estimate. 

Under the influence of the Bonnet Carre crevasse, Lake Pontchartrain is undergoing a complete ~etamorphosis. The oysters and fish, 

which contributed largely to the commerce of the city and supplied 

it with these articles, have been killed or driven from Lal<e Pontchartrain, while the same result is perceptible along the entire Mississippi coast as far as East Pascagoula, more than a hundred· miles 

from the city of New Orleans. The beauty and healthfulness of the summer reserts along these shores have been sadly changed, and 

·property has depreciated immensely in value. The intermiugling of 

the mud-laden waters of the Mississippi with the salt water of the 

sea, ~hanging the character of the lake entirely, has been the fruitful cause of IQ.any types of disease that has destroyed the healthfulness 

of the upland regions. Sir, I do believe that to this cause may be traced 

the inducement of those peculiar conditions and that atmospheric 

state that, if it did not originate, at least created a congenial and 

favorable condition for the growth and spread of that dark angel of 

pestilence which spread its somber wings above so large a portion of 

the South during the past autumn and .summer, and breathed death 

into the faces of those who dwell in that unfortunate portion of our common country, and filled all that bright land with desolation and 

mourning and woe. . 1t'Ir. Chairman, I appeal to the enlightened judgment of the representatives of the American people if in the simple recital of these 

facts there is not enough ·cause for the relief asked for in this bill. 

Misruled and bankrupt. with prostrate commerce and ruined industries, so sadly changed that they are scarcely now to be recognized a~ the same proud rich State and city that they seemed in 1861, unable 

to helo themselves, they appeal to the justice and sympathy of this 

great Government for aid, that final and utter ruin may be averted. 

Having briefly pointed out the reasons which go to the commercial 

character of this bill, and stamp it as clearly constitutional under the 

powers of Congress to regulate commerce between the States, I propose briefly to allude to the national character of the work proposed 

to be accomplished through this measure. It is national-eminently 

national: 

First. Bec;tuse it is for the benefit of the commerce of the greatest 

of all the rivers of the Union, emphatically a. national river. 

Second. It is national because the work extends through the river 

fronts of six great States of the Union. 

Third. It is national because destined to benefit the entire people 

of the Union. 

Fourth. It is national uecause a levee system to be successful must 

be uniform. No single State can perfect a system that will be perfect 

and successful. Upon this point I cannot do better than to quote 

from a report of a. former committee, which was unanimously adopted. 

I read from page 3, Report 494, Forty-fourth Congr~ss, first session: 

General Humphreys, Chief of Engineers, was kind enough to come before your committee, and he was especially asked for an opinion upon this point. With map before him he pointed out the localities of the levees in the States, beginnin~ with 

those of Louisrana and Mississippi and tracin{! them to those of llliriois ana Mis- somi, showing the weak points and natural outlets of the l evees and the river, and 

demonstrated that the system to be successful must be uniform in all the exposed States. Of what avail would Louisiana build levees with none constructed in Arkansas 1 The outlets in the latter State, in flood-time pouring th!i!ir immense vol- umes of water down upon the former State, would delup;e all her territory in rear of her levees and render them, however effective and well const;ructed, but a nar- row thread of islaml in the midst of an inland sea. Professor C. G. Forshey, a distinguished en~ineer and scientist, who has made the currents and levees of the Mississippi a stuay for moro than thirtv years, agrees perfectly with General Hum-

-phreys in this view. He says: "No State alone can build its le,ees because of the 

interdependence of its topography. A system to be efficient in o~ must compre- hend them all. The interior is a basin or series of basins. Tho wat~r. wherever 

let in, submerges the basin alike. These States, then, must share a common fortune, and hence it must appeal to a power that comprehends many States in its 

operations. Congress alone has that power." . 

Then the work proposed by this measure is national in its every 

aspect, and as such it ought of right to be undertaken and performed 

by the National Government. 

But, Mr. Chairman, I hold as a legal proposition that the Government should assume the labor and the responsibility of leveeing the 

Mississippi River. A11art from every commercial, economical, and 

charitable consideration, I hold that the Government is legally and 

morally bound to do this work. The 1\Iississippi River is the great 

intercontinental drain or sewer of the Union. It is the drain for 

twenty-four States and Territories of the Union. To bring the thought 

nearer to this body, let me say that it drains the homes and fields of 

tho constituents of forty Senators and one hundred and fifty Representatives in Congress. 

In this it performs a most valuable, useful, and necessary function 

for two-thirds of the States in the Union; and, if this be true, is it 

not the duty, nay, more, does there not rest upon the Union the legal 

and moral obligation to so control the functions of this sewer that it 

shall not be a benefit and a blessing to certain States and people of 

the Union and to other States and people of the same Union a blight 

and a curse 'I • 

Let us see if this proposition be sound. We will suppose that the 

people of the o>erflowed regions were able, by dike or canal, to 

divert the surplus waters of the river from their own lands and States,. and force them by unnatural ways upon the people of some otherStates and regions; and suppose they should attempt to do so-would 

not the courts and laws of the Union be invoked, and would not de- crees of injunction issue r~straining such an attempt ; and wonld 

not the decision be that a natural servitude was imposed upon the 

streams and lands below in favor of the lands and dwellers above Y 

Unquestionably it would be so decided. Such are the rules of lav.r 

But a principle of the same law is that whenever a political corpora· 

tion imposes or enforces or enjoins a servitude upon one portion of it!! 

domain for the benefit of other portions, it shall be so regulated as not to injure the portion which bears the burden of the servitude. 

But, .Mr. Chairman, I must pass on rapidly and as brie.tly as possible to regard this measure in the light of its economy· and necessity. 

The region subject to overflow is some 600 mile& long and has an aver- age width of 60 miles: Its area. is 38,000 square miles. It is largerthan the six New England States, leaving out Maine. It is five times as large as New Jersey or ~las achusetts; it is four times as large as Maryland. And I undertake to assert that it is naturally the r~chest 

region of like extent upon the face of the earth. It can sustain a population of 60,000,000 more easily than New England sustains 3,500,000. 

Its soil is exhaustless. When cleared of its forest growth it is ready 

for the plow. There are no stones or gravel or pebbles intermingled 

with its soil. It is alluvial deposit, and does not wear out. 

Its crops of sugar, rice, and cotton are of the ri<:hest kind. In all pliOductions of forest and field and orchard it i8 unrivaled. Noble~ 

streams, deep and broad, drain this region in all directions, and its 

le>ellands, its splendid timber, invite the laying ef road-beds without cuts and tuunels apd cun·es, and almost without grading. Before- the mad strife of 1 6! began the States and people, chiefly uy their own means, had leveed thi region, and where protected, even sparsely 

settled as it wa , how rich and splendid were its productions ! 

In 1860 it produced 469,000,000 pounds of sugar, and yet the fronts- of streams and bayous alone were cultivated. The-mere crust of the 

sugar region was cultivated, while the main body of the lands adapted, to sugar growth were all untouched. That crop of sugar and molasses 

alone added $40,000,000 to the produced yalues of the country, and· by supplying one-third of the demand for home consumption saved 

the country, including the duty on sugar, about $53,000,000. 

There are 2,000,000 undeveloped acres of those sugar lands. If you 

will protect them they will be brought in cultivation within the nlext 

fifteen years. The sugar crop was in the past year the best that lJas- been produced since the war, and reached about 1801000,000 pounds, or 280,000,000 less than in 1 60,a lo s of 26,000,009·as aomparetl with 

the crop of 1860, and all occasioned by lack of protection against the 

floods of the river. 

AnJ now suppose in ten years from now you recl"aim by protection 

half the sugar area and bring it into cultivation,. say 1,000,000 acres. It will avera&:e one and a half hogsheads or 1,500-pounds to tho acre, 

and the total yield will be 1,500,000,000 pounds~ We now import 

1,515,091,627 pou·nds, for which we pay in price and duty .• 121,207,-

429.62 in gold, besides $12,000,000 in commercial commodities. Let us estimate that in ten years our consumption of sugar will have 

increased to 2,000,000,000 pounds from about 17,Q001000,000 pounds 

that we now consume. Then will there be a nece s1ty only for the 

importation of 500,000,000 pounds, fer which in price and duty ~t present rates we will pay "47,500,000 ll:~!l'inst the '121,207,429".62 which we now pay, or in other words we will then save annually 7.3,707,429.62: 

in this single item of sugar alone. 

And, Mr. Chairma,n, it is well to look at this-sugar problem. That 

article has entered into the life of our people. It is no longer a. 

luxury, but a necessity, as much so as sal!t .. The doom of African· slavery is near at hand. Cuba and the Spaniard hava· agreed that 

the slave shall be free. 

And then, sii·, in my judgment, will the history of ugn.rproduction 

in Jamaica, Porto Rico, and Hayti be repeated in Cuba, and in a. few 

years she will cea~e to export that product. The causes which will 

bring this result are apparent and natural. J:n those tropical islands. sugar can only be successfully raised by forced African labor. It has- been attempte.d. England has experimented with African free labor in 

Jamaica, and she then tried the Mongolian,. the cooly,. and she failed. 

That island and Hayti and Porto Rico ceased to export sugar when 

slave labor was abolished. The causes whi-ch operated this result in 

those islands exist in Cuba. The African la.b<ner there is a mere hu- man machine; has never been held close to· the strong- and intense 

blaze of Anglo-American civilization, and is-so far behind the African 

laborer in the United States as scarcely to be recognized as belonging 

to the same race of beings. The Cuban slave is a mere barbarian, but 

recently from·his tribe and his nativeshoces.;:he is treated as an animal and driven as one. The history .of that race and its present con-· dition prove that its individuals will not work where they can be idle. 

In Cuba he can be idle; nature there tempts-him to be idle; she holds' 

out to him her arms laden with· rich and magnificent fruits that never· fail; she points to her rivers and sea-coasts with unfailing yield of 

food from the waters, and her climate is so mild that it invites th&· barbarian to wear simply nature's garb. 

These causeJ! are climatic and natural. We cannot alter them. Let- me dis~laim Irere all intention of reflecting upon the African race or.-
1879. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. 511 

of wounding the sensibilitieS! of thos~ of that raoo who are American 

citizens. For them I have only feelings of kindness and respect. I 

recognize amon~ them men of great ability and virtue. Representing a district in wh1ch half the people are colored, I number among them 

many warm personal and political friends. Their interests are dear 

to me; for their happiness, their moral, social, and intellectual elevatiQn I feel the deepest solicitude, and while I remain a public servant 

I shall neither know nor seek to know dny difference bet een their 

interests and those of the people of my own race. But I simply state what is well known when I say that the barbarian· 

who now tills the sugar lands of Cuba will not work unless forced to do oeitherbyhisfellow-manorbytherigorousdemandofnature~ Nature 

is kind in Cuba; slle invites to idleness; she has established there the 

home and the paradise of the "lotus eaters." Then take away the 

power of the owner, the coercive system, and the laborer, free to go 

where he pleases, will accept cordially nature's invitation to be idle, 

and the labor system of Cuba is destroyed. .From Cuba we import 

1,500,000,000 pounds of the 1,700,00Q,OOOpounds of sugar we consume annually. If that supply fails then where shaH we turn and to what source shall we look for our supply f Fully develo.Ped, Louisiana can and will supply it. If her lands were reclaimed and in culture and 

her cap·acity fully tested she can produce with her two millions of 

acres2,500,000 hogsheads of sugar or 2,500,000,000 pounds, or800,000,000 

pounds more than we now need. We would then save annually in price 

and duty 121,207,429.62 in gold, and leave us a surplus 'of 00,000,000 

pounds for export, which at present prices would be worth . -6,000,000, or a total annual profit to the United States of $177,207,429.62. 

But, sir, another great interest now demands att~ntion. I refer to our great staple, cotton. This overflowed region in 1861 produced 

2,300,000 bales of cotton, worth 138,000,000. Now it produces but 

about 1,000,000 bales, worth but 60,000,000. The loss in this staple 

ahme is therefore$68,000,000. But developeditwill produce 10,000,000 

bales of cotton, worth $600,000,000 at present prices. It is true that 

the production of this enormous quantity of the raw material would 

of necessity cheapen it, but it would also transfer the cotton manu- factures of the world to the United States. Our manufacturers could, 

with the raw material at hand, save all the expense in cotton manu- facture between the gin and the sale-counter, and tltis now includes 

the pressing, weighing, marking, hauling, freight by rail or river, 

insurance, commissions for sale, rewei~hing, repre ing, and loss in 

weights and samples; or, in other woras, a saving of JO per cent. in 

favor of our home manufactures. Mr. Chairman, without pausing 

further for details I would add that the great production and advantage to our manufacturers would give to this Union the cotton trade 

of the world. England has long enjoyed a monopoly of it, and even now she is straining every nerve to make herself independent of us and of our production. At a cost of 400 000,~00 she has projected a railroad system in India. Her intention 1s to tttp the coal regions of . China and connect them with the cotton field/\ of India. She squanders her treasure like water to do this. Contemplating the swift advent of that period when her cotton ·trade and manufactures must 

suffer defeat and fall back from Manchester; she plans to remove Manchester to India, or, in other words, to her cotton-field. 

Splendid nation! Ma~nificent people! Penny-foolish but poundwise, she plants her gol<l where it will produce and return sixty and one hundred fold. She halts not at climatic difficulties; she fights 

the very decrees and laws of nature. She showers her treasure in the 

jungle that her commercial supremacy may still be maintained. It 

is in our power to "Wrest from her the control of the cotton trade and 

manufacture of the world and to wield its scepter forever. Shall we not extend our hands and grasp this prizof And then, even as our starry flag in war swept the ocean wave the harbinger of victory, so shall our more peaceful pennant of commerce float high above those of 

the other nations. And for this triumph you must look, you are obliged 

to look, to the overflowed lands of the Mississippi River. The cotton 

belt is narrow. The upland cotton regions are now taxed to their 

greatest capacity. It is this development of the uplands since the war that has kept our cotton crop up to the mark of 1 til. To in- crease it you must reclaim th~ alluvial fields; yon must reopen the 

abandoned plantations. 

But, Mr. Chairman, look again at the losses to the general wealth 

for lack of levees. Originally these lands tmreclaimed were worth but 

$8,520,000. When reclaimed they were worth, in 1 61, 66,100,000. 

The vu.lueof the appreciation was $357,580,000. In sixteen years, without levees and protection, these same lands are worth ·1o0,000,000. 

The loss through depreciation is 257,5SO,OOO. 

But, sir, I would have you glance with me at another item of loss 

which is more tangible and more easily appreciable. Since 1 61 there 

have been four great :floods. 

In 1862 the Joss was estimated, in stock, houses, fence , 

and crops, at·-·····----- .••••. ··-·----··----·------· $9,000,000 In 1865, from same causes, loss was ... ___ • _____ .•.. ___ .. 6, 000,000 

In 1867 it was but about ..••...• _ •••.• _-- _______ . ___ •• . 4, 000, 000 

And in 1874 it reached the great sum of._._ . ___ .... __ •. _ 13, 000, 000 

---- 6r a total material loss in fifteen years of. _____ .•.. _ • • • 32, 000, 000 

Or at the rate ·of more than $2,000,000 each year. 

In the flood seasons the suffering of tlie people in the oYerflowed re- gions is very great. Especially is this the case with the colored labor-

• 

ers. They are poor, they have no credit, they cannot move from their 

homes as most of the whites can do. :Freoo by the policy of the Government, the Government should in honor and duty protect their ma- t-erial interest from ruin. A.h! had the Government shown as eager 

desire to protect their little homes and crops and stoclF as it has to> 

protect them in" rights" which can not feed or clothe tbem, it would 

have been far better for the Government, for them, and for us. In. 187 4 the suffering was immense. Thousands of persons were huddled. 

in their homes for months and saw no dry land. In the day-time it was from door or window to watch the restless waters. rise, to see fences and onthou es floated away, to travel about in boats to-gather 

what they could of moss and ever~reen to feed stock placed in gins.. 

and upon platforms above the reacnof the flood; andatnight itw.a& 

to sleep with the sob and murmur of the hungry waters in. their ear, or to be awakene<}. by the cry and struggle of drowning stock. From:. our poverty we gave what we could. And then the generous poopl& 

of the Union hearu the cry of suffering. Boston and Massachusetts. 

asked no questions, but sent us aid. That generous city sent us a. quarter of a million of dollars, and other cities of the State added tothe sum until it reached $400,000·. And New York and Philadelphia, 

Chicago and Saint Loui , Cincinnati and Baltimore, heard ~nu re- sponded. The President with great promptness ancl humanity ordered. 

immediate distribution of rations and clothing. 

In recalling now that splendid charity toward my suffering peopleequaled only by that noble outburst of humanity which came to 

them last autumn and which was the only ray of heavenly light amid. 

the awful gloom of the pestilence, and in saying that our hearts beat 

warmly with gratitude, I do speak the feelings and. utter the hearts 

of our whole people; and I voice their feelings and utter their hearts 

also when I beg of the Representatives of that noble and generou 

people who aided us in the hour of our danger and sorrow that they 

give to us now such aid as will enable us to rebuild our waste places,. recover our lost fields, and re-establish our ruined homes ; and then 

will we no more be obliged to eat the bread of charity-bitter: even.. though so generously tendered by a brother's hand. 

:Ur. Chairman, in providing in the substitute I have offered for the·· rebuilding of the levees I have followed the counsel of all the engi- neers. The engineers of the United States have recommended it time 

and again; and so do Forshey, Eads, Bayley, Warfield, and every other 

engineer that has spoken. The various plans of reclamation by outlets, diversion of tributaries, reservoirs, have all been discussed and 

condemned as unwise and impracticable. The amount named. in th& 

bill are the estimate of the United States engineers of lb74,. to which· have been added the estimates for a number or crevasses that have· occurred since the estimates of the Government engineers were made. 

In proposing to place the work under the control of the Engineer 

Corps of the Army my design was to confide it to hands. that would uo it faithfully and intelligently; hands that are strong. and clean 

and free from jobs and contractors' bribes. 

Mr. Chairman, I have concluded the simple story of this measure, 

and of its necessity. Yon do not know how eagerly and how intently 

the people of that grand but unfortunate region are watching you 

and how joyfully their hearts will throb; how hope vil:l revive and 

confidence be restored when they hear that you have passed this measure. False partisans have told them yon cared nothing for. the· South or her interests; that the two great political parties cared but 

for her politicaJ. alliance and strength as an element of their ow~ 

strength. Now yon will show that these representations are false. 

Uniting upon this great measure~ the two great parties will give 

earnest token that they eagerly long for the rehabilitation o-f the· South and a 1·estoration of her prosperity. But this measure is not 

alone for us. It is also for you of the West and the North and the· East. I say to you that there is no industry, there is no pursuit,... there is no interest within all your bordors from east to west. that 

will not feel the impetus of new life with these plantations of the- South reopened again and all of their ancient industries· and productions revived and increased. • Since 1861, agriculture in this country has taken a mighty stride · forward. :Machinery has been applied to almost every branch of. 

agriculture, which is the true source and basis of national wealth.- Yet your ships are idle, your miners are in want, your coal scarcely 

fimls ·a southern market, your ma-chinery is no longer needed, your 

farming utensils are no longer in demand. We no longer need your corn or ba-con from the mighty West, because we have been·obliged 

to circumscribe our product of the great staples and to learn to cultivate and rear the bare necessities of life at homer and all because . we have no money to buy what .you produce, for we cannot cultivate · our flooded fields. 

Open up the plantations of the South and they will extend their 

hands fgr your sugar-mills and your cotton-gins, and all your laborsaving implements. Ay, aud they will have the money with whicru 

to pay for them. They will extend their hands for yonD mules and. horses and your improved stock of every description, and they will~ 

be able to pay for them. Realizing greater profit in the culture of· 

tlle staples, they will gladly be dependent upon the great West for 

the cereals which are annually burned for fnel in that great country,... or which seeks through forced and unnatural channels a profitless mar-- ket; and for your wheat and corn they will give you gold. Their ·machinery will hunger for the productions of your mines, and your 

coal-barges away from Pitt burgh and Wheeling down the Ohio will.. 
512 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. JANUARY 16, 

.find welcome and customers and money at ten thousand plantations 

along the Mississippi River, and along all the mighty streams and 

bayous which vein the now overflowed region. Yes, and we will 

.freight your ships with wealth more splendid than that of "Ophir and 

of Ind," and sending them forth they shall return to yon anon laden 

with treasure more countless than that of the Tyres and Sidons of the 

olden story. 

Mr. Chairman, these are the aspirations of the South; these are her .ambitions. War-worn and weary, with every dream of separate em- pire vanished, she longs now only for the nobler triumphs of peace 

and civilization. ' In her desolation she asks your aid. Give it her, 

and she will repay you sixty and a hundred fold. In the march of 

,years yon men of other sections will understand her better, and she 

will keep perfect step with you in that giant stride which will time 

the measure of her march toward the highest pinnacle of national 

power and glory. 

Mr. HATCHER. I yield a portion of my time to the gentleman 

from Texas, [Mr. REAGAN.] 

Mr. WHITE, of Pennsylvania. Will the gentleman from Texas 

yield for a motion that the committee rise ¥ · Mr. REAGAN. I have bot a few remarks to make and as thismat-

.ter will probably not come up to-morrow, I think I had better say 

what I have to say now. Mr. Chairman, I had not expected to participate in this debate, in-

.cleed I did not know until this morning that this question was to come up to-day, but I only propose to say a few words in relation to it, be- -cause the general subject ha.aon many occasions during the last three 

_years been before the Committee on Commerce, of which I am a member. 

Mr. SPRINGER. Will not the gentleman yield for a motion that 

the committee rise f There are to be memorial services to-night to 

the late Professor Henry. 

Mr. REAGAN. I shall not occupy more than ten minutes and I 

,prefer to go on. No questions more affecting the interests of the country could come before the House than those raised by the bill reported by the com- mittee and the various amendments thereto. 

The constitutional authority of Congress to act upon this question so far as it relates to the improvement of the navigation of the Mississippi River and its navi~able tributaries is beyond doubt, and is 

.conferred by that clause of the Constitution giving Congress authority to regulate commerce between the States. 

Mr. ITTNER. There is too much confusion in the Hall. We can- not hear the gentleman. He has saidJ;hat he desires to speak but a few minutes, and I hope that order will be restored and maintained o that he can be heard. 

Mr. ROBERTSON. If the gentleman from Texas [Mr. REAGA...~] 

"Will yield, I will move that the committee now rise. . . Mr. REAGAN. As members seem to be somewhat restless, I will 

yield for the committee to rise. 

Mr. ROBERTSON. I move that the committee now rise. I desire .to say that I will ask the House· 'for leave to proceed with the further .consideration of this bill on Tuesday evening next. 

Mr. WHITE, of Pennsylvania. Make it Wednesday evening. 

Mr. ROBERTSON. Very well; I will say Wednesday evening; 

and that if the previous question shall be called at the close of the 

..session that evening and sustained, the vote on the bill shall be taken 

the next morning. 

Mr. RANDALL, (the Speaker.) If I understand aright the proposition of the gentleman from Louisiana [Mr. ROBERTSON] who ha-s -charge of th:i!:! bill, it is that we shall now in Committee of the Whole come to an understanding, to be carried out .in the House, that the 

further consideration of this bill shall be continued on Wednesday 

evening next, and that should the previous question be called and 

sustained at the close of that evening session the vote upon the bill 

and pending amendments shall not be taken until the following day. 

'That I think is very proper, and I hope that the members of this 

committee will come to such an understanding. The House alone has 

the power to enforce such an order or understanding, but it will 

probably conform to the wish of this committee. 

The CHAIRMAN. 0£ course the committee can make no order 

upon such :m understanding. . Mr. ROBINSON, of Massa-chusetts. Allow me to inquire if that • understanding will include the right to discuss this bill by sections 

during the day session o~ the J;Iouse. 

The CHAIRMAN. The proposition is to have the discussion in the 

..evening session. · Mr. RANDALL, (the Speaker.) Of course all the rules of the House 

which apply to such cases would apply to this bill. 

Mr. ROBINSON, of Massachusetts. Myobjectistosecure a debate 

..of this bill by sections in a full House, not in a thin House. 

Mr. RANDALL, (the Speaker.) The debate will be continued ·in 

.Committee of the Whole. • Mr. BANKS. Is general debate to be closed upon this bill to-night 7 

The CHAIRMAN. No such order is prop0sed. 

Mr. GIBSON. I understand that the proposition is to continue the 

--debate on this bill next Wednesday evening, and it will not be con- cluded at that time unless the House shall then so determine. 

The CHAffiMAN. The committee cannot now make any order upon •the subject. T,he proposition is submitted to the committee in order 

that there may be a common understanding in relation to it, so that 

proper action may be taken in the Honse after the committee rises. 

The question now is upon the motion that the committee rise . The motion was agreed to. 

The committee accordingly rose; and the Speaker havin~ resumed 

the chair, Mr. CARLISLE reported that, pursuant to the or<1er of t:h.e 

Honse, the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union had 

had under consideration thl special order, being the bill (H. R. No. 

4318) to provide for the organization of the 'Mississippi Rivor improvement commission," and for the correction, permanent location, 

and deepening of the channel, and the improvement of the navigation of said Mississippi River, and had come to no resolution thereonMr. ROBERTSON. I now ask that the further consideration of thi 

bill be continued on Wednesday evening next :\t half past seven o'clock, and that if the previous question shall be called at the end 

of that evening session the vote upon the bill and amendments shall 

be taken the next day. 

The SPEAKER. The Chair will state, so far as he can, the understanding arrived at in Cotnmittoo of the Whole, bot which the com- mittee had .no power to enforce. The agreement of the Committee 

of the Whole, and which it expected the House to enforce by its order, is that the House shall sit again on Wednesday evening next for the 

consideration of the Mississippi levee bill in Committee of the Whole ; 

and if at that session the previous question should be called and sus- tained, the vote shall not be taken on the billancl amendments pending 

thereto until the next morning. That requires unanimous consent. 

There was no objection, and it was so ordered. 

Mr. GIBSON. The printed copies of the bill and accompanyin<Y 

report have been exhausted. I move that an additional number of 

the report, and of the bill, with the amendments proposed thereto, 

be printed for the use of the Honse. 

There was no objection, and it was so ordered. 

SPECIAL ASSESS:\IEXTS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBU. 

Mr. SPRINGER, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. No. 

5809) to empower the commissioners of the District of Columbia to 

revise, correct, or annul special assessments upon the written application of any person whose real property in said District has been 

assessed, and providing for an appeal to the supreme court of the 

District of Columbia from the action of the commissioners in respect 

to such application by any person feeling aggrieved thereby, and for 

other purposes; which was read a first and second time, and, with a memorial of Robert Christie, a citizen of said District, in relation to 

that subject, referred to the Committee for the District of Columbia, and ordered to be printed. 

Mr. SPRINGER. I desire to say that I have introduced this bill 

and memorial at the request of the memorialist, and have not had an opportunity of reading either. 

EDWIX S. BuRBANK. 

Mr. SPRINGER also, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H . R. No. 5810) granting a pension to Edwin S. Burbank; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on Invalid 

Pensions, and ordered to be printed . 

GEORGE HUGGINS. 

Mr. SPRINGER also, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. 

R. No. 5811) for the relief of George Huggins, of Menard County, Illinois; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on Invalid Pensions, and ordered to be pP,nted. 

MRS. JOSEPH S. WILSOX. 

1\Ir. CONGER (by request) introduced a bill (H. R. No. 5812) making 

compensation to Mrs. Joseph S. 'Vilson, the widow of the late 

Joseph S. Wilson, for collecting the scientific museum for the General 

Land Office; which was read a first and second time, referred to the 

Committee on Appropriations, and ordered to be printed. 

SALE OF C\TOXICA.TC\G LIQUORS IN THE DISTRICT OF COL"C'l\IBU.. 

1\Ir. MONROE, by nnanimotl.s consent, introduced a bill (H. R. No. 581~ to provide against the evils resulting from the sale of intoxicating drinks in the District of Columbia; which was read a first and 

second time, referred to the Committee for the District of Columbia, ancl ordered to be printed. 

DUTY OX Qt.-rXINE • 

:Mr. SINGLETON, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. 

No . . 5814) to repeal the cu.s'toms duty on quinine; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee of Ways and Means, and ordered to be printed. · 

REFU~"'DIXG THE PUBLIC DEBT. 

Mr. SINGLETON also, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. 

R. No.5815) to amend an act enlitled "An act to authorize the refunding of the national debt;" which was read a first and second time, 

referred to the Committee on Banking and Currency, and ordered to 

be printed. CLA.DIS OF SOUTHERN :.IAIL COXTRACTORS. 

l\Ir. SINGLETOK also, by unanimous cons~nt, introduced a bill (H. 

R. No. 5816) to amend so much of an act entitled "An act makin~ appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the fiscal 

year ending June 30, 18i8," tts provides for paying cert:tin mail con- tractors in the Southern States for services rendered prior to the late 

• 
. 

1879. C~NGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. "513 . ~ .. - . 

war; which was read a first and seeon·u time, referred to the. Com- R. No. 5830) for the relief of H. D. and H. s: Walbridge; which was mittee on the Post-Office and Post-Roads, and ordered to be prmted. read a first and second time, referred to the Committee for the District of Columbia, and ordered to be printed. ELIZABETH HE~RDSL Y. 

Mr. PEDDIE, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. No. 

5817) O'ranting a pension to Elizabeth Heardsly, widow of Isaac P. Heard~ly, a private in Company I, Sixth Regiment United Stateslnfautry, who served in the Florida.war; which 'Yas rea?: a first and 

-second time, referred to the CoiDID.lttee on Invalid PenSlons, and ordered to be printed. THOMAS FA.Rl\iE.R. 

Mr. LYNDE, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. No. 

5818) granting a pension to Thomas Farmer; which was read a first 

and seco:nd ~ime, referred to the Committee on Invalid Pensions, and 

-ordered to lie pri.Bted. 

HARBOR OF REFUGE .AT 1\fiLWAU.KEE. 

Mr. LYNDE also, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. 

No. 5819) to reimburse the city of Milwaukee for money paid in the 

construction of a harbor of refuge at the port of 1t1ilwaukee; which waa read a first and second time, referr9d to the Committee on Com-· merce, and ordered to be printed. 

HIRAl\:1 POTTER. 

Mr. LYNDE also, by unanimous consent, introduced n. bill (H. R. 

No: 5820) for the relief of Hiram Potter; which was read a first and 

second time, referred to the Committee of Claims, and ord~red to be 

printed. HElli"\IA.l.~ VOIGTLANDER. 

Mr. LYNDE also, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. 

No. 5821) granting a pension to Herman Voigtlander, late a private 

in Company K, Thirteenth New York Heavy Artillery; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on Invalid Pension~, and ordered to be printed. 

HENRY T. FULLER. 

Mr. LYNDE also,. by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. 

No. 5822) for the relief of Henry T. Fuller and others, snreties upon 

the official bond of William H. Waterman, formerly superintendent 

of Indian affairs for Washington Territory, and from liability up&lll 

the" judgment rendered upon such bond; which was read a ,:first and 

second time, referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and ordered 

to be printed. • REFUNDL.~G OF THE NATIONAL DEBT. 

:Ur. WHITE, of Pennsylvania, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. No. 5823) to amend an act entitled "An aet to authorize 

the refunding of the national debt," approved July 14, 1870; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on Banking and Currency; and ordered to be printed. 

PORT OF NEW YORK. 

Mr. HARDENBERGH, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. 

R. No. 5824) extending the limits of the port of New York; which was read 'lo first and second time, referred to the Committee on Commerce, and ordered to be printed. 

CHANGING THE NAME OF A STEAMBOAT. 

Mr. HENDERSON, by. unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. No.5~) to change the name of the steamboat C. J. Caffrey; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on Commerce, and ordered to be printed. 

TAXATION OF LEGAL-TID\""DER NOTES. 

Mr. COBB, by unanimous consent introduced a bill (H. R. No. 58'26) 

to authorize the local taxation "of the legal-tender Treasury notes of 

the United States; which waa read a firSt and second time, referred 

to .the Committee on the Judiciary, 3t11d ordered tQ be printed. 

JOHN CALVERT. 

Mr. COBB also1 by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. No. 

5827) for the relief of John Calvert, of Sullivan· County, Indiana; 

which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on War Claims, and ordered to be printed. 

EQUA.LIZA.TION OF BOID\"'TIES. 

Mr. COBB also, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. No. 

5828) to equalize the bounties of soldiers who served in the late war for the Union; which was read a first and second time, referred to 

the Committee on Military Affairs, and ordered to be printed. 

i.AND CLAIMS IN CALIFOR...~. 

Mr. P AG;E, by unanimous consent, presented the memorial of David 

Dixon and the memorial of Refugio L. Valdas,.relative to certain 

lands in California ; which were referred to the Committee on Public Lands, and ordered to be printed. 

WILLIAM WILSON. 

Mr. COX, of Ohio, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. 

No. 5829) to relieve William Wilson, late a private soldier in Com- ·pany C, Fiftemtth Michigan Cavalry, from the charge of desertion; 

which was read a first and second tiiJ?.e1 referre-d to the Committee on Military Affairs, and ordered to b~ printed. · 

H. D. A..11fl> H. S. IW ALBRIDGE. 

Mr. COX, of Ohio, also, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. 

Vlll-33 

JOHN H. GRAY. 

Mr. RYAN, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. No. 5831) 

gran tin~ a pension to John H. Gray; which was rea-d a first and second 

time, referred to the Committee on Invalid Pensions, and ordered to 

be printed. . Al\""N EASTO. 

Mr. LAPHAM, by unanimous consent, inttoduced a bill (H. R. No. 

5832) granting a pension to Ann Easto, mother of Charles Easto, late a private in Company Eo£ theVeteranNewYorkCavalry; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on Invalid 

Pensions, and ordered to be printed. 

1.\IA.RK J. llilloo~"'ELL. 

Jtir. LAPHAM also, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. 

No. 5833) grantin~ a pension to Mark J. Bunnell; which was rea-d a first and_ second tune, referred to the Committee on Invalid Pensions, 

and ordered to be printed. · · 

OLIVE STEPHENSON. 

Mr. LAPHAM also, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. 

No. 5834) granting a pension to Olive Stephenson, widow of Caleb 

Stephenson, a soldier in the war of 1812; whioh was read a first and 

second time, referred to the Committee on Revolutionary Pensions, 

and ordered to be printed. 

FORESTRY. 

Mr. D~"TELL, by unanimous consent, submitted the following 

resolution; which was read, considered, and agreed to : Resolved, That the Commissioner of Agricnltnre be requested to forward to this 

Honse any facts or statistics in his offioo on the subject of forestry, not heretofore 

reported. 

UNITED STATES COURTS IN MISSOURI. 

Mr. FRANKLIN. I ask unanimous consent that Senate amendments to House bill No. 5067 be taken from the Speaker's table and 

concurred in. I suppose there will be no objection. The bill bas 

passed the House and the Senate without opposition, and is a meritorious measure. • The title of. the bill was read, as follows : 

A bill (H. R. No. 5067) to divide the western district of Missouri into two di vi . 

ions and to prescribe the times and places for holding courts therein, and for other 

purposes. 

The SPEAKER. The amendments will be read. 

Mr. FRANKLIN. !suppose it is not necessary that the amendments 

be rea-d in full. I believe there is no opposition to concurring in them. 

The SPEAKER. The Chairthinks that the amendments should be 

read. 

The Clerk read l:\8 follows : 

Strike out all after the enacting clause of the bill, and in lien thereof insert"the 

following: 

The western district of Missouri is hereby divided into two divisions, which 

shall be known as the eastern and western divisions of the western district of Mis· 

souri. The western division shall include the counti.es of Andrew, Atchison, Barton, Bates, Buchanan, Caldwell, Carroll. Cass, Clillriton, Clay, Clinton, Da.viess, De Kalb, Gentry, Grundy, Harrison, Holt, Jackson, Jasper, La Fayette, Linn. Livingston, Mercer, Nodaway, Platte, Putnam, Ray, Saline, Sullivan, Vernon, and 

Worth; and a term of the diStrict court and circuit court of the United Stat-es for 

said district shall be held therein at the city of Kansas on the third Monday in 

May and the third Monday in October of each year. The remaining counties 

embraced in said district shall constitute the eastern division thell}Of, and terms of the district and circuit courts of the Unit~d States for said district shall be held 

therein at the tinles and place now prescribed by law. 

SEC. 2 . .All offenses hereafter committ-ed in either of said divisions shall be cog- nizable and indictable within the division where committed ; and all grand and 

petit jurors summoned for service in each division shall be i..qhabitants thereof. 

And all offenses heretofore committed within said district shall be prosecuted and 

tried as if this act had not passed. ·. . SEc. 3. All civil suits not of a local character which shall be hereafter brought in the district or circuit courts of the United States for the western district of 

"Missouri in either of said divisions, against a single defendant, or. where all the 

defendants reside in the same division of said district, shall be brought in the 

division in which the defendant or defendant9 reside ; but if there are two or more defendants residing in different divisions, such suj.t may be brought in either di vis· 

ion, and all me8'M and final process subject to the proVlSions of this act, issued in f~!~~r of said divisions, may be served and executed in either or both of the divi . 

SEc. 4. The clerks of the circuit and district court9 for said-district shall each 

appoint a deputy clerk at the :\)lace where their respective courts are required to he neld in the division of the diStrict in which such clerk shall not himself resiue, each of whom shall, in the absenoo of the clerk, exercise all the _powers and per· form all the duties of clerk within the division for which he shall be appointed : Provided, That the appointment of such deputies shall be approved by the court for which they shall be respectively appointed, and may be annnlled by such court at its pleasure. And the clerk shall be responsible for the official acts and neg- lect9 of all such deputies. SEC. 5. All civil suits and proceedings now pending in the circuit or district court of said western district of Missouri, and which wonld, if instituted after 

the passage of this act, be required to be brought in the western division of saiu 

district, may be transferred, by consent of all the parties, to said western division of said district, and there clisPosed of in the same manner and with like effect as if the same had been there instituted; and all process, writs, and recognizance 

relating to such suit9 and proceedings so transferred shall be considered as belong- ing to the term of the court in the western division of said district. in the same manner and with like effect as if they bad been issued or taken in reference thereto 

originally. · 

Mr. KNOTT. Th.e bill as it passed the Senate is substantially the same as that reported by the Judiciary Committee of the House, 
514 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. JANUARY 16, 

and which I believe pa.ssed the House without deoau;. I hope the I CHARLES FORD. 

amendment will be co~c~ed in. . Mr. FORT, by unanimous consent, offered the follo-wing resolution; 

The SP~AKER. This lB a House bill amended by the Senate, so which was referred to the Committee of Accounts: 

that the bill has passed both Houses. 

Mr. KNOTT. I understand that. The amendment of t he Senate 

makes no material change in the bill. 

The amendment was concurred in. 

Mr. FRANKLIN moved to reconsider the Yote by which the amendment was concurred in; and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the t.able. 

The latter motion was agreed to. 

BLOCK ISLAND SIG~AL STATION, RHODE ISLAND. 

lli. EAMES, by unanimous eonsent, introduced a bill (H. R. No. 

5835) to establish a signal station on Block Island, in the State of 

Rhode Island; which was read a first and second time, referred to 

t he Committee on Appropriations, and ordered to be printed. 

DIPROVEME~T OF PROVIDENCE RIVER, ETC. 

Mr. E.AliES also, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. 

No. 5836) making an apptopriation for the improvement of the Providence River and Narragansett Bay; which was read a first and second 

tinie, referred to the Committ~e on ColD11lerce, and ordered to be 

printed. ELIZABETH M'F~"'I>. 

Mr. HARMER, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. No. 

5837) granting an increase of pension to Elizabeth McFarland; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on Invalid 

Pensions, and ordered to be printed. 

LOUISA BAINBRIDGE HOFF. 

}Ir. HARl\IER also, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. .Jl. No. 5838) granting a. pension to Louisa Bainbridge Hoff, widow of 

late Rear-Admiral H. K. Hoff, United States Navy; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on Invalid Pensions, and ordered to be printed. 

DEVELOP:hiENT OF PUBLIC DOMAIN. 

Mr. HARMER also, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. 

No. 5839) for the enlistment of volunteer artisans, laborers, and me- chanics to develbp the agricultural and mineral resources of the public 

domain; which was read a first and second time, .referred to the 

Committee on Public Lands, and ordered to be printed. 

RICHARD DII.LO~. 

Mr. BACON, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. No. 

5840) granting a pension to Richard Dillon; which was read a first 

and second time, referred to the Committee on In>alid.Pensions, and 

ordered to be printed. JOHN BUCKBELLER. . 

Mr. TIPTON, by. unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. No. 

5841) granting a.· pension to John Bnckbeller, of Bloomington, Illinois; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on Invalid Pensions, and ordered to be printed. 

IVORY H. PIKE. 

Mr: TIPTON also; by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. 

No. 5842) granting a pension to Ivory H. Pike, of Washington, District of Columbia; which was read a first and second time, referred 

to the Committee on Invalid Pensions, and ordered to be printed. 

MRS. ELIZAB.ETH HUDSO:X. 

Mr. TIPTON also, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. 

No. 5843) granting a pension to Mrs. Elizabeth Hudson, of McLean 

County, Illinois; which was read a first and second time1 referred to 

the Committee on Invalid Pensions, and ordered to be prmted. 

HEIRS OF WILJ+Ul JOHNSON. 

Mr. FORNEY, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. No. 

5844) making an appropriation for the payment of a certain claim 

reported allowed to Virginia R. Williams and Ben. E. Johnson, as heirs of William Johnson., deceased, which was accidentally omitted 

from the a~t of J nne 15, 1878 ; which was rea-d a first and second time, 

referred to the Committee on War Claims, and ordered to be printed. 

STAFFORD PALMER. 

Mr. VAN VORHES, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. 

No. 5845) granting a pension to Stafford Palmer, of Morgan Conn~ 

Ohio; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Com~ mittee oR. Invalid Pensions, and ordered to be printed. 

JOilli Q. WHITE. 

lfr. VAN VORHES also, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill 

(H. R. No. 5846) granting a pension to John Q. White, of Morgan 

County, Ohio ; which was read a first and second time, referred to the 

Committee on Invalid Pensions, and ordered to be printed. 

DAVID ALLEN. 

Mr. HASKELL, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. No. 

5847) for the relief of David Allen; which was read a first and second 

time, referred to the Committee on Military Affairs, and ordered to 

be printed. 

Resolved, That the Clerk of th~ House be directed to pay Charles Ford out of the 

contingent fund the sum of $319 for-sernces in the Doorkeeper's department during the last session of Congress. 

IDSSOURI .O."D COLUMBIA RIVERS CANAL. 

On motion of Mr. FORT, by unanimous consent, the Committee on Railways and Canals was discharged from the further consideration 

of the bill (H. R. No. 3634) for the survey of a canal to uBite the 

Upper Missouri River with the Upper Columbia River; and the sa.me was referred to the Committee on Commerce. 

EDWARD L. WILSON. 

1\Ir. BAYNE, (by request,) by unanimous consent, introduced a bill 

(H. R .• No. 5848) for the relief of Edward L. Wilson; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on Patents, and 

ordered to be printed. 

B. A. MILLER. 

·Mr. KNOTT, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. No. 

5849) for the relief of B. A. Miller, late a captain in the Thirteenth 

Regiment United States Volunteer Cavalry from Tennessee; which 

W{l.S read a first and seQond time, referred to the Committee on Invalid Pensions, and ordered to be printed. 

CHARLES SUTHERLAND. 

lfr. KNOTT also, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. No. 5850) for the relief of Charles Sutherland, of Ha.rdill County, 

Kentucky; which was read a first and second time, referred to the 

Committee on ln>alid Pensions, and ordered to be printed. 

Ul\"'TED STATES COAST SURVEY • 

:Mr. PATTERSON, of Colorado. I offer for present consideration 

the resolution which I send to the desk. It was objected to the other 

day by the gentleman from Ohio, [Mr. BANNING.] That gentleman has. 

withdrawn his objection, and I think there wi.U be no further objection to obtaining the information sought by the resolutioQ. 

The resolution was read, as follows: 

.Resolved, That the Secreta.ry of the Treasury be requested to communicate to the 

Honse of Representatives, With ns little delay as possible, fnll information as to- the present organization of the body known as the United States Coast Survey; which report sliall contain a. st!atement of the number of pereons composing and in 

the employment of the said survey for the present fiscal year, their se>eral ranks or positionS, the flalary or compensation received by each, the general na.turo of the 

work done, where each member or em:ploy6 is at present located, together with a statement of the aid received by the saad Coast Survey from the Army or Navy or- other forces or departments of the Government during the said fiscal year. 

The resolution was agreed to. 

THOMAS H: CANFIELD. 

1\Ir. PRICE, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H.R.No. 5851} 

granting a pension to Thomas H. Canfield; which was read a first and 

second time, referred to the Committee on Invalid Pensions, and 

ordered to be printed. 

ORDER OF ST. BENEDICT. 

1\Ir. STEW ART, by unanimous consent, introduced a blll (H. R. No. 

5852) to secure to the Order of St. Benedict certain lands on the White 

Earth Indian Reservation, in Minnesota; which was read a first and 

second time, referred to the Committee on Public Lands, and brdered 

to be printed. _ WILLIA..'\1 BROWN AND OTHERS. 

Mr. STEW ART also, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. 

No. 5853) for the relief of William Brown and others; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee of Claims, and 

ordered to be printed. · , WILLIA..."\1 P. VOGAN. 

Mr. SHALLENBERGER, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill 

(H. R. No. 5854) granting a pension to William P. Vogan, late private 

in Company H, Seventy-eighth Pennsylvania Volunteers; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committ-ee on Invalid 

Pensions, and ordered to be printed. 

WlLLIA.M s. · MACKAY. 

Mr. BLAIR, by unanimous consent, introduued a bill (H. R. No. 5855} 

for the relief of WilliamS. Mackay; which was read a ftrst and second 

time, referred to the Committee on Military Affairs, and ordered to. 

be printed. , • WITHDRAWAL OF PAPERS. 

On motion of Mr. HUNGERFORD, by unanimous consent, leave waa given to withdraw from the files of the House the papers in the 

case of John Laidlaw, there being no adverse report thereon. 

On motion of Air. BACON, by unanimous consent, leave was given 

to withdraw from the files of the Hou8e the papers in the case of 

~eona.rd Moore, ~here being no adverse report thereon. 

WASHINGTON CITY POST-OFFICE. 

The SPEAKER. Yesterday, in the referring of executive documents, a letter from the Postmaster-General relative to a building 

for the Washington City post-office waa referred incorrectly to theCommittee on Appropriations. It should have been referred to the 
1879. CONGR~SSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. 515 

Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds. If there be no objec- and moved: that the committee be discharged from the further con- tion the reference will be changed accordingly. sideration of the same and that it be referred to the Committee on There w.as no objection. . Appropriations. 

EXPE~ITURES OF WAR DEPARTil.ENT. The motion was agreed to. 

The SPEAKER. A mistake also occurred in the reference of a let- REPRINTING OF A BILL. 

ter from the Secretary of War, transmitting reports of chiefs of Mr. BURCHARD. I ask for the reprinting of the bill (H. R. No. 

bureaus of that Department upon the expenditures of· said Depart- 3848) to promote the refunding of the national debt, &c. 

ment. It was referred to the Committee .on Appropriations, and There ~as no objection, and the order was made. · 

should have gone to the ·committee on Expenditures in the War De- CONTINGENT F~D OF THE STATE DEPARTME1\"T. 

partment. If there be no objection it will be so referred. Mr. SPRINGER, (by unanimous consent,) from the Committee on 

There was no 8 bjection. the Expenditures in the State Department, moved that the letter 

JA.t.'\IES s. KING. from the State Department relative to the contingent ftind of that 

The SPEA~R also laid before the House a letter from the Secre- Department be recommitted to their committee, and ordered to be 

tary of War, transmitting the petition of First Lieutenant James S. printed. 

King for reimbursement for personal property destroyed by fire on The motion was agreed to. 

the steamer Montana; which was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs. 

LOSS OF CLOTHL~G. 

The SPEAKER also laid before the Honse a letter from the Secretary of War, transmitting proceedinJ;ts of a board of survey on the 

losses of clothing of enlisted men of Company L, Fourth Cavalry; 

which was· referred to the Committee on Military Affairs. · The SPEAKER also laid before the House a letter from the Secretary of War, transmitting report of a board of survey of loss of 

clothing of enlisted men of Company F, Eighteenth Infantry; which was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs. 

PURCHASE OF CONFEDERATE RECORDS. 

The SPEAKER also laid before the Honse a letter from the Secretary of War, recommending the appropriation of $6,000 to complete 

the purchase of certain confederate records from Colonel Thomas L. 

Snead; which was referred to the Committee on Appropriations. 

LOSS OF CLOT~G. 

The SPEAKER also laid before the Honse a letter from the Secretary of War, transmitting report of a board of survey on loss of 

clothing of enlisted men of the Sixth and Eighth Infantry; which was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs. 

HE!'."'RY VOELTER. 

The SPEAKER also laid before the House a letter from the Secretary of theinterior, relative to the applicationofHenryVoelterfor a second extension of his patent for making wood paper pnlp; which was referred to the Committee on Patents, and ordered to be printed. 

RAILWAY MAIL SERVICE. 

The SPEAKER also laid before the Honse a letter from the Postmaster-General, recommending the appropriation of $35,000 to cover the cost of the railway mail service; which was referred to the Committee on Appropriations. 

CLAIMS FRO~I DAKOTA A.~ liO~Tll"A. 

The SPEAKER also laid before the Honse a letter from the Secretary of War, recommending the appropriation of $15,000 for the payment of claims of citizens of Dakota and Montana Territories; which wa-s referred to the Committee on Appropriations. 

MILITARY POST NEAR EL PASO, TEXAS. 

The SPEAKER also laid before the Honse a letter from the Secretary of War, recommending the appropriation of $40,000 for the erec- tion of a military post in the vi~inity of El Paso, Texas; which was referred to the Committee on Appropriations. 

. PURCHASE OF CONFEDERATE RECOlU)S. 

The SPEAKER also laid before the House a letter from the Secretary of War, relative to the purchase of confederate records of General J. B. Hood; which was. referred to the Committee on Appropriations. 

BROOKLYN NAVY-YARD. 

Mr. TOWNSEND, of New York, by unanimous consent, submitted 

the following resolution; which wa.s read, considered, and agreed to: 

BesoltJed, That the Secretary of the Xavy be requested to inform this House whether: in his opinion it woufd be for the interest of the Government to sell any 

portion of the Brooklyn na.vy-yard, and the reason influencing his opinion. 

Mr. TOWNSE~T"D moved to reconsider the vote by which the reso- lution was adopted; and also moved to lay the motion to reconsider on the table. 

The latter motion was agreed to. 

MESSAGE FROl'tl THE SE...~ATE. 

A message from the Senate, by .Mr. SYMPSON, one of its clerks, an- nounced that the Senate had passed, without amendment, the bill 

(H. R. No. 4234) to provide that all pensions on account of death or wounds received or disease contracted in the service of the United 

States during the late war of the rebellion, which have been granted or which shall hereafter be granted, shall commence from the date of 

death or discharge from the service of the United States, for the payment of arrears of pensions, and other purposes. 

MEMORIAL OF CENTENNIAL BOARD OF FINANCE. 

.Mr. KNOTT, from the Committee on the Judiciary, reported back 

the memorial of the Centennial Board of Finance, asking for relief; 

EVEN:u\G JOL~T SESSIO~. 

Mr. CLYMER. This evening memorial services in commemoration 

of the late Professor Joseph Henry are to take place in this Hall, and 

I desire to offer a resolution in relation to that matter, and if it should 

be adopted by the Honse I shall follow it with a motion that the Honse 

take a recess until a quarter to eight o'clock. 

The Clerk read the resolution, as follows: 

ThAt at the session to· night the Doorkeeper be directed to :tdmit to the :door all 

persoll8, public bodies, and societies indicated by ,the Regents of the Smithsonian 

Institution, also the wives and daughters of members. 

The SPEAKER. The Chair thinks that the space in the House will 

hardly suffice. 

Mr. CLYMER. I would say in reply to the suggestion of the Chair 

that the Doorkeeper is of opinion that they might be accommodated 

upon one side of the HaJI, not in the seats of members, and the public 

bodies might be accommodated on the- other side. · I have confined the resolution expressly to the wives and daughters 

of members, because if I put in the wives and fam.i}h,s the number 

would be indefinite. 

Mr. THOMPSON. Is the meeting to-night a legislative meeting 

in any sense f · 

The SPEAKER. It is not; but the Honse and Senate have voted 

to participate in this ceremony. 

Mr. THOMPSON. Is it to be in any sense an official meeting of 

the bodyf 

The SPEAKER. The Clerk will read the order made upon the 

subject. 

The Clerk read as fo1lows : 

Resolved by f1l.e House of RemresentatitJeS, (the Senate concurring,) That the Congress of the United States will take part in the services to be observed on Thursday 

evening-. January 16~,.1879, in honor of the memory of Joseph Henry, late Secretary 

of the Smithsoman mstitution, under the auspices of the Regents thereof, and fo.r that. purpose the Senators and Representatives will assemble on that evening in 

the Hall of the House of Representatives, the Vice-hesident, supported by the 

Speaker of the House, to preside on that occasion. 

Mr. PRICE. But no legislative business to be transacted. 

The SPEAKER. No legislative business can be done at any rate in 

joint session. 

. Mr. PRICE. But the presumption is that when the House takes a. recess, it meets again as a House for business. . The SPEAKER. That is usna.Uy a reasom.ble presumption. 

Mr. CLYMER. The Senate has taken a recess, and I suggest that we should pursue the same course. The resolution of Mr. CLYMER was then aclopted. 

Mr. CLYMER. I move that the Honse now take a recess. The motion was agreed to; and accordingly (at five o'clock p.m.) 

the House took a recess until seven o'clock and forty-five minutes p.m. 

EVE:NING SESSION. 

The recess having expired the Honse resumed its session. 

L.~ MEMORY OF THE LATE JOSEPH HENRY. 

At five minutes before eight o'clock, the Senate of the United States 

preceded by the Sergeant-at-Arms and Chaplain, and headed by the 

Vice-President of the United States with the Secretary, entered the 

Hall and were properly announced, and the Vice-President took his 

seat on the right of the Speaker, and the Senators took the seats 

assigned them. 

At eight o'clock the Chief-Justice and associate justices of the Supreme Court, and the President of the United. States and the mem- bers of the Cabinet, entered the Han,· were proper:ly announced, and were conducted to the seats assigned them. 

The VICE-PRESIDENT . . The Senators and Members of the Congress of the United States, in pursuance of the resolutions of their 

respective bodies, have assembled for the purpose of taking part in 

the services to be observed in memory of Joseph Henry, late Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution; under the auspices of the Regents 

of that Institution. 

The memorial services (a report of which will appear hereafter) 

were then proceeded with, and at their conclusion the President of the 

Unit-ed States with his Cabinet, the Chief-Justice and associate justices of the Supreme Court, the Senate of the United States with the 

Vice-President, retire4 from the Hall. 

The SPEAKER theu (at eleven o'clock 1?· m.) said: The object· of: 
/ 

516 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. JANUARY 17, 

this evening's session as provi_ded for by the order of both Houses of 

Congress having been fittingly realized, the duty remains to me to 

declare this House adjourned until to-morrow at twelve o'clock. 

·PETITIONS, ETC. 

The following petitions, &c., were presented at the Clerk' , desk, 

under the ·rule, and referred as stated: . By Mr:BAKER, of New York: The petition of women of Bridgeport, New York, for such legislation as will make effective the antipolygamy law of 1862-to the Committee on the Judiciary. 

By Mr. BAYNE: Resolutions of the Chamber of Commerce of 

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, recommending an appropriation for the 

completion of Davis Island dam-to the Committee on Commerce. 

Also, resolutions of the Chamber of Commerce of Pittsburgh, 

Pennsylvania, _calling the attention of Congre s to the present unjust 

construction of the tariff regarding tin plate and recommending 

relief-to the Committee of. Ways and Means. · By Mr. BLAffi: The petition of James H. Burns and 115 others, of 

th.e Allegheny and Beaver County convention of the Independent 

Order of Good Templars, for the passage of the bill providing for the 

appointment of a commission to investigate the alcoholic liquor 

traffic-to the Committee on the Judiciary. 

By :Mr. BREWER: The petition of citizens of Glass Rivet·, Michigan, for a post-route from Monica to Glass River, Michigan-to the 

Committee on the Post-Office and Post-Roads. 

By Mr. BURCHARD: The petition ofT. F. Reinsmith. and others, 

for legislation to prevent the adulteration of sweets-to the Committee of Ways and Means. 

Also, the petition of Mrs. John A. Slater and others, of Lyndon, 

lllinois, for legislati-on that will make effective the anti-polyga.my law 

of 1862-to the Committee on the Judiciary. 

Also, the petition of citizens oi Lyndon, lllinois, that the pension. ·Gf Mrs:Ellen J. Higley, be increased to $3() per month-to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

By Mr. BURDICK: The petition of Mrs. E. B. Shaw, Mrs. C. H. Talmage, and 100 other ladies, of_West Union, Iowa, for such legislation as will make effective the anti-polygamy law of 18&2-to the Committee on the Judiciary. · . By Mr. CASWELL.: The petition of Mary A. Davis and others, of 

Spring Green, Wisconsin, of similar import-to the same committee. 

By Mr. COBB: The petition of John Calvert, for compensation for 

the care of W. ~ Calvert, an insane discharged soldier-to the Committee on War lJl.aims. · By. Mr. COX, of Ohio: The petition of Hannah M. Wright, widow 

of Brevet Brigadier-General Joseph J. B. ·wright, late colonel and 

surgeon in the United States Army, for a pension-to the Committee · on Invalid Pensions. 

Also, the petition of William Wilson, for relief from a charge of 

desertion during the late war-to the Committee on Military Affairs. 

By Mr. CRAVENS: Papers relating to the war claim of Green V. 

Childers-to ·the Committee on War Claims. 

By Mr. DEERING: The petition of citizens of Chickasaw, Floyd, 

Butler, and Bremer Counties, Iowa, for the amendmeat of the patent 

laws so as to protect innocent purchasers of patented articles-to the 

Committee on Patents. ' 

By Mr. ERRETT: The petition of 140 women of Braddocks, Pennsylvania; for the enforcement of the laws against polygamy-to the 

Committee on the Judiciary. 

By Mr. GARFIELD : The petition of Leonidas Carson anu 50 others, 

citizens of Mahoning County, Ohio, for such legislation as shj),ll pro- . t-eet the public health against the adulteration of sweets-to the 

Committee of Ways and Means. . Also, the petition of· N. Case and 63 other , citizens of Orangeville, 

Ohio, for the passage of a bill to equalize the bounties of soldiocs of 

the late war for the Union-to the Committee on Military Affah·s. 

By Mr. HEWITT, of Alabama: The petition of H. D. Moore and J. 

B. Short, of Hanceville, Blount County, Alabama, to be relieved from 

the bail bond of Victor L. Taylor-to the Committee on the Judiciary. 

By Mr. HUNTON: Papers relating to t-he claim of the heirs of 

James Barnett-to the Committee on Revolutiona_ry Pensions. 

Hy Mr. KETCHAM: The petition of Mrs. James E. Dean and 59 

other ladies, of Fishkill, New York, for the enforcement of the antipolygamy law of 1862-to the Committee on the Judiciary. 

By Mr. KIDDER: A·pa.per favoring the present system of publicland suryeys, from Henry Esperien-to the Committee on Public 

Lands. . Also, the petition of William Crozua and others, for the esta.blishment of a land office near Kampeska, Dakota Territory-to the same ()Ommittee. 

Also, the petition of D. F. Winter and others, of similar importto the same committee. 

Also, the petition of D. F. Spaulding and others, of similar importto the same committee. 

Also, the petition of E. F .. Train and others, of similar import-to the same committee. 

By .Mr. LAPHAM: i'he petition of Ann Easto, for a pension-to the 

Committee on Invalid Pensions. · · · Also, the petition of Olive Stephenson, for a pension-to the Committee on Revolutionary Pensions . 

• 

Also, the petition of citizens of Naples, New York, that a p!lnsion 

be granted Mrs. Olive Stephenson-to the same committee. 

By Mr. MARTIN: The petition of James A. Tenant, for compensation for property taken and used by the United States Army-to the 

Committee ~n War Claims. 

By Mr. ~YHil!: The petition of the women of Cairo, New York, 

for legislation to make effective the anti-polygamy law of 1862-to 

the Committee on the Judiciary. . Also, the petition of women of Dashville Falls, New York, of similar import-to the same committee. 

By Mr. MITCHELL: The petition of ladies of the Linden Presbyterian church, Lycoming County; Pennsylvania, of similar importto the same committee. 

By Mr. PEDDIE: The petition of Elizabeth Hearsey, for a pension-to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

By Mr. S~UTH, of Georgia: The petition of citizens of Colquitt 

and Worth Counties, Georgia, for a post-route from Moultrie to Ty-Ty, 

via J. B. Korman's House and Warrior Bridge-to the Committee on the Post-Office and Post-Roads. 

By 1\lr. VAN VORHES : Papers relating to the pension claim of 

Stafford Palmer-to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

Also, the petition of John Q. "White, fer a pension-to the same committee. 

Also, the petition of Nellie G. Pasco and 30 other women, of Belpre, 

Ohio, for ~egislation that will make effective the anti-polygamy law 

of 1 6~-to the Committee on the Judiciary. 

IN SENATE. 

FRIDAY, Janua.ry 17, 1879. 

Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. BYRO.N Su~""DERLAND, D. D. . · The Journal of yesterday's proceedings was read and approved. 

CREDENTIALS. 

Mr. MORGAN presented the credentials of George Smith Houston, 

chosen by the Legislature of Alabama a. Senator from that State for 

the term beginning March 4, 1879 ; which were read and ordered to 

be filed. EXECUTIVE COIDfUKICATIONS. 

The VICE-PRESIDENT laid before the Senate a. communication 

from the Secretary of War, transmitting copies of reports from the 

commanding general of the Department of Missouri in regard to the 

establishment of a military post in the vicinity of El Paso, Texas, 

and recommending an appropriation of $40,000 for that purpose ; 

which was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs, and ordered .to be printed. . He also laid before the Senate a communication from the·Secret.ary 

of War, transmitting, for the information of the Committee on the 

District of Columbia, a letter from the Chief of Engineers and a copy 

of a report of S. T. Abert, United States civil engineer, on the improvement of the sanitary condition of Washington and the deepening 

of the channel of the Potomac River; which was referred to the Committee on the District of Columbia, and ordered to be printed. 

He also laid before the Senate a communication from the Secretary 

of the Interior, transmitting, in response to a resolution of the Senate 

of the 14th instant, all the information in possession of the Department on the subject of railroads through the public domain in the 

Territory of Arizona; which was ordered to lie on the table and be 

printed . PETITIONS Al\""D 1tU:MORIALS. 

Mr. MORGAN presented the petition of Mary T. Jones :md John C. 

Jones, of Autauga County, Alabama, praying compensation for a mill 

and other property destroyed by United States troops during the late 

war; which was referred to the Committee on Claims. 

Mr. MATTHEWS presented the petition of George Sadler aud others, 

citizens of. Ohio, praying for the passage of the bill (H. R. No. 4234) 

granting arrears of pensions; which was ordered to lie on the table. 

Ml·. DAVIS, of lllinois, presented the petition of J. W. Barker and 

others, citizens of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, praying for the passage 

of the bill (H. R. No. 4234) granting arrears of pensions; which was ordered to lie on the table. · Mr. GROVER presented the petition of E. J. H. Brodie, ordnancesergeant, United States Army, stationed at Fort Stevens, Oregon, 

praying for a suitable recognition by the Government of the United 

States for long and faithful military service; which was referred to 

the Committe~ on Military Affairs. . Mr. KERNAN presented the petition of A. T. Stewart & Co., importing merchants, of New York, complaining of alleged wrongful 

a()t of United ·States officers at the port of New York as to imports, 

specifying a number of grievances and praying that the matter be 

investigated; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce. 

Mr. WHYTE presented the petition of Marcus Bitzlee and others, 

citizens of Maryland; the petition of Joseph N. Jones and othe~ 

citizens of Frostbur~h, 1\Iaryland; and the petitiomof Jeremiah Whit- more and others, cittzens of Frederick County, Maryland, praying for 

the passage of the bill (H. R. No. 4224) grnnting arrears of pensions; 

which were ordered to lie on the table. ·