1218 CONGRESSIONAL. RECORD-HOUSE. FEBRUARY 3, 

of the amendment. The Chair may be in error, but that is the opinion 

of the Chair .at this moment. · 1\Ir. RANSOM. I should like to ask the Chair if the rule suggested 

by the Senator from l'tfassachusetts that the substitute can not be 

amended would apply to the bill after it is reported to the Senate? 

TbePRES!DENTprotetnpore Itwillthenbeentirelyoptm to amendment. . Mr. RANSO~f. I simply made the inquiry so as to suggest to my 

friend from Florida that he would havQ no difficulty whatever with his 

amendments when the bill is reported to the Senate. · The PRESIDENT pro tempm·e. The Chair thinks that the present 

amendment of the Senator from Florida is in order. 

Mr. HOAR. · The Chair will pardon me, the suggestion I distinctly 

made was as to the right to amend at the same stage. 

Mr. BUTLER. If the Senator from Illinois who has charge of the 

bill will permit me to make a suggestion to him, l ask him if it would 

not suit his convenience, ifhecangetunanimousconsent, to agree upon some hour to-morrow at which we shall take a vote upon the bill? It 

seems to me almo t impossible to get through with the bill to-night 

with the number of amendments of which notice has been given. . I 

should like to have the Senat{)r from ~linois express his opinion upon 

that subject. · 

1\Ir. CULLOM:. If I were to yield to the suggestion of. the .Senator 

from South Carolina it would be a_ very great convenience tome. I am not staying here as a matter of convenience, but I have felt that it is 

my duty to insist upon theconsiderationofthe bill untilitis concluded; 

because I have felt very greatly embarrassed at its continuing before 

the Senate so long obstructing other public business of importance. I 

gave notice yesterday that I should ask the Senate to·remain here today until the bill was :finished. If the Senate would agree to vote at 

3 o'clock to morrow on the bill so as to give a few minutes' time for offering amendments and :five-minute talks in explanation of them, so far as I am personally concerned I would not.object to the Senate adjourning with the uuderstanding that the :final vote shall be taken to- morrow at 3 o'clock. · · 

~fr. BUTLER. . Then I ask unanimous consent that the vote be 

taken at 3 o'clock to-morrow, in accordance with the suggestion of the 

Senator from Illinois. 

1\lr. CALL. I suggest to the Senator from Illinois and the Senator 

froJll South Carolina to :fix the hour at 4 o'clock to-morrow. The Senator from Mississippi [Mr. GEORGE], who is com:Pelled to be absent 

to-day, desires to be heard upon tbe bill. Th-e amendments which I am offering are. his, and I offer them under a promise to him that they 

should be offered to the bill. He desires to be here, and I ask that the 

hour be :fixed at 4 o'clock to-m~m.>w, so as to give him an opportunity 

to be heard on the bill. 

1\Ir. CULLOM. I shall ask the Senate to take up the. bill immediately after the morning business proper is concluded to-morrow, which 

will give a considerable time for discussion and amendment, and I think 

there Vlill be time enough between that and 3 o'clock. I hope there will 

be no objection to that arrangement. I ask the Senator from Florida 

to allow the bill to go along to-night so far as to get it into the Senate, 

after which he will have an opportunity to offer his amendments, and 

they will not be repeated by being twice offered. 

1\Ir. CALL. I shall not object to the arrangement proposed, but I 

think 4 o'clock will be the better hour, ifthe Senator will allow me to 

suggest it. 

1\Ir. CULLOM. I think 3 o'clock would be better., . The .PRESIDENT pro ternpore. Does the Senator from Florida withdrnw his amendment for the time being? 

l\Ir. CALL. I will do so. The P~ESIDENT pi'O tempore. The amendment is witl:ulr:Wm. The 

Senator from South Carolina asks unanimous consent that it be understood that the bill be taken up immediately after the morning business 

to-morrow, and that the :final vote upon the bill and all amendments 

offered and to be offered shall be taken, without further debate, after_ 3 

b'clock. Is there objection? The Chair hears none. That is the un- derstanding. The Chair understands that these agreements do not go . on the .T ournaJ. . 1\Ir. CULLOM. I ask that the bill be reported to the Senate tonight. Th.e Senator from Fl6rida can offer his amendments after t,he 

bill is repQrled. ·· . · 

The PRESIDENT pro tempQTe. If no further amendments be proposed the bill will be reported to the Senate. 

The. bill was reported to 'the--Senate as amended. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempQTe. The question is on concurring in the 

amendment made as in Committee of the Whole. . 1\Ir. BUTLER. I move that the Senate adjourn. . 

Mr. BOWEN. I ask the Senator to allow me to offer an amendment. 

Mr. BUTLER. I withdz-aw the motion. · 

AME D~ENT TO INDIAN APPROPRIATION BILL. 

Mr. BOWEN submitted an amendment iritended to'be proposed by 

him to the Indian appropriation bill; which was referred to the Committee on•Appropriations, and ordered to be printed. · 

COl\Il\IITTEE SERVICE. 

The PRESIDENT p1·o tempore. Pursuant to the authority of the 

Senate the Chaj.r appoints, to :fill the vaeancies occasioned by the ex- piration of. the t.erlll of Senator Sheffield, of Rhod.e Island: 

On the Committee on Claims, Mr. CHAOE. 

On the Select Committee on Woman Suffrage, Mr. CHACE. _ On the Committee on ~lines and Mining, Ur. CHACE. 

On the Committee on Revolutionary Claims, Mr. CHAcE. 

Mr. BUTLER. I move that the Senate adjourn. 

The·motion was 3.oareed to; and (at 7 d'clock and 11 minutes p.m.) 

the Senate adjonrne4. 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

TUESDAY, Febrtw,ry 3, 1885. 

The House met at 12 o'clock m. Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev . .T OHN 

S. LINDS4Y, D. D. 

. Mr. LORE. I ask that so much of the .Journal as relates to the formal 

introduction of bills and joint resolutions be omitted in the reading. 

There was no objection, and it. was ordered MCOrdingly. 

Mr. WILSON, of Iowa: I move also that so much of the .Journal 

as relates to the filibustering proceedings last night be omitted in the 

reading. · 

Mr. RANDALL. I object. 

The .T ournal was then read and' approved. 

PRINTING S~UTHSONIAN REPORTs. 

On motion of Mr. ·siNGLETON, by unanimous consent the joint 

resolution (S. R. 114) in regard to the printing of the reports of the · Smithso:irlan Institution was taken "from the Speaker's table, read a first 

and second time, referred to the Committee on Printing, and ordered to 

be printed .. 

PRINTING OF EULOGIES ON LATE JOHN H. EVINS. 

Mr. BRATTON, by ~o~ consent, submitted the following res· olution: · . . 

Resolved, That there be printed of the eulogies on the late John H. Evins, late a RepresentatiYe of the Forty-eigh.th Congress from the State of South Carolina, 12,500 copies, of which 7,300 copies sbn.ll be for the use of the Senate, and 9,500 

copies for· the use of the House of Representatives; and tbat the Sooretarr of the 

Treasury be, and he is hereby, directed to have printed a portrait of the satdJob.n 

H. Evins to a«llmpany such eulogies, and for t~e purpose of engraving and print- ing said portrait the sum of $500, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is 

hereby appYopriated out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. · . • 

The SPEAKER pro te-mpore. The proper form would be to make it 

a joint resolution of the two Houses. · Does the gentleman desire that 

it shall be put in the form of a joint resolution? 

Mr. BRATTON. I do: . .T oint resolution (H. Res. 327) providing for the printing of eulogies 

delivered in Congress upon .T ohn H. Evins, late a Representative of the 

Forty-eighth Congress from the State of South Carolina, was received, 

read a :first and second time, and ordered to be engrossed and read a third time; and being engrossed, it was accordingly real;\ the third time, 

and passed. • ~Ir. BRATTON moved to reconsider the vote by which the joint resolution was passed; and also moved that the motion to reconsider be 

laid on the table. 

The .latter motion was agreed to. 

REPRINTING OF A REPORT. • 

Mr. BLANCHARD. I demand the regular order of business. ~Ir. BLAND. I rise to submit a privileged report. 

_Mr. TOWNSHEND. I ask to have reprinted the report of the Committee on Appropriations accompanying the Post-Office appropriation 

bill.. 

There was no objection, and it was ordeTed accordingly. 

~fr. COX, of New York. I rise to make a privileged report. 

The SPEAKER pro tmnpore. The gentleman from Missouri addressed 

the Chair sonie time ago to make a prirueged report. 

SILVER DOLLAR. 

~.BLAND, from theCommitteeon Coinage, Weights, andl\Ieasures, 

submitted the following report. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, requested to ipform. ~his House whether the Clearing House Association at New York. or any national bank thereof, refuses to 1·eceive silver dollars or silver certificates in the 

.settlement of their balances, or refuses to receive silver dollars or silver certifi- cates from tlie Government in payment of balances due from the Government to said association, and whether any official or officials of the Government accede to or recognize such rule or practice. · Alsb, what amount of gold came into the Treasury of the United States in ex- change at par for silver dollars and silver certificates during ~he month of January,l885. · Also, whether any national bank, or associlltion of national banks, refuse to receive or pay out silver dollars or silver certificates contrary to law, or have 

adopted any rule or practice in that regard for the purpose of discrediting uch 

money, or the effect of which is to depreciate the same. Also, what amount of silver coin was in the Treasury of the United States on the·lst day of January,1879, and of each year thereafter, not held for the red em p- tion of silver certificates, and what proportion the said coin bore on each of tho e dates to the neb cash in the Treasury at those several dates. 

Also, what amount of the cuatoms and internal1-evenues and other receipts of 
1885. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. 1219 

the Government, stated separately, have been received in silver coin or silver 

certifieates, stated by months for each year, since the 1st day of January, 1879. 

Also, what other governments of the world did, doting the year 1883, permit 

the coinage of legal-tender silver coin. · Also, the amount of such coinage, and what part thereof was from recolnage 

and what part from bullion. 

Also, the price paid per ounce by the Director of the Mint for silv~r bullion on the 1st days of January and July each year from 1878 to 1885, both years inclusive. 

:Mr. BLAND. I demand the. previous question upon the adoption of 

the report. 

Mr. IDSCOCK. On what ground is that claimed to be a privileged 

report? 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from New York questions the privileged character of the report. The Clerk will read clause 

1 of Rnle X4IV. 

':l'he Clerk read as follows: 

ORDER OF' BUSINESS. 

1. Each Monaay morning during a session of Conjp:ess, immediately after the 

Journal of the proceedings of the last day's sitting has been read and approved, 

the Speaker shall call a,ll the States and Territories in alphabetical order for bills 

and joint resolutions for printing and reference, without debate ; on which call 

joint and concurrent resolutions and memorials of State and Territorial Legisla- tures may be presented and appropriately referred, and on this call only reso- lutions of inquiry directed to the heads of the Executive Depa.rtments shall be in 

order for reference to appropriate committees, which resolutiob.s sh&ll be re- ported to lhe House within one week thereafter. 

Mr. REED, of Maine. Does the Chair decide that that gives these 

reports a right to be considered? 

The SPEAKER p1·o tempore. The Chair will state to the gentleman 

from Maine that it has been but a. very few days since a decision was made by the permanent Speaker of this House upon this very question, 

which the Chai.J: was end~voring to follow, and which decision held that 

these reports were privileged nndei the .rnle. 

Mr. REED, of Maine. I was aware of that. I only want to con- g:t'!ltnlate the Chair and the House on the faet that there. is something 

else besides appropriation bills that are considered to be privileged in 

this Honse. • The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair will state further that it lies 

of course with the House to determine the question of consideration. 

:Mr. KEIFER. Is this a resolution reported by a committee, or is 

it offered by the gentleman from ¥issonri himself? · Mr. BLAND. This is a report fro;m. the Committee on Coinage, 

Weights, and Measures. 

Mr. KEIFER. I think it is in order under-the rule. ( 

Mr. BLAND. I demand the previous question. 

The previous question was ordered. 

Mr. BLAND moved to Teconsider the tote by which the previous questi~ was ordered; and also moved that the motion to reconsider be 

laid on the table. · 

The latter motion was agreed to. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the adoption of the 

-report. 

The repod was agreed to. . Mr. BLAND moved to reconsider the vote by whiyh. the report was agreed to; and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the 

table. 

The latter motion was agreed to. 

BILLS OF LADING, ETC. 

Mr. LONG. .l\11·. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to discharge the 

House Calendar from the further. consideration of the bill (H. R. 7163) 

io regnla.te the forms of bills of lading and the duties and liabilities of 

Ship-owners and others, and ask to put the same upon its passage. 

The SPEAKER pro ten1.pore. The bill will be·read, subject to objection. 

The bill was read, as follows: 

Be i' enacted, &c., 'That every vessel publicly offered at any port of the United 

States for the conveyance of goods and merchandise on the high seas, and all 

vessels bringing general cargo to any port of the United States, shall be liable to all tile conditions and-restrictions of this act. 1 SEc. 2. That it shall not Q.e lawful for any such ve..."Sel, her owners, master agent, or man!lger, to issue any bill of lading which does not clearlyspecifyt'h~ exact voyage mtended to be made, and any and every port at which it is con- templated she sh&ll touch in the course of said voyagei and every departure 

from such voyage, save only when compelled thereto by aangers of the sea un- foreseen necessity, vis major, or to save life and property in distress at sea 'and to tow and convey the same into the nearest or most convenient port of safety shall be deemed a deviation. But nothing in this act cont&ined shall prevent or in*erfere with the right of the vessel t-o reserve to herself the privilege of 

calling at or returning to any port or ports named in the bill of lading, and a 

~n~~::d~ d~~~iu~!~tch privilege shall not constitute a violAtion of this acto~ be 

1 SEC. 3. Thatitshallnotbela.wfulfor any such vessel, heroWirers master agent or manager, to ~sert in any bill of lading a.~y clause, coy-enani, or agreement whe~e!-Jy the obligatio~ of the owne~ of satd vessel to properly equip, man, p~oVIslon, and outfit satd vessel, and m every way and manner within their, !liS• or her power to re11:der said yessel seaworthy and ~pable of performing her 

mtended voya.gel shall many WISe be lessened, weakened, or avoided· and all 

provisions and c a uses contained in any bill of lading issued by any su~h public 

carrier relieving from liability the vessel, her owners or master, for their or his 

~~!:;~:t lO: ~~ improper condition of the vessel, shall be null and yoid aii:d 

SEc.~· That it shall not be la..wful f-or !lnysuch public carrier, by any clause or excephon in any cont':'act or bill of ladiJ?-g. to .be relieved from liability for its, his, ber, or their J;legligence, fault, or failure 1n proper st-owage custody and care of aUla wful merchandise confided to their charge, nor for failure by reason 

of negligence to deliver the same, nor to provide for or adopt any other or dif. 

ferent transportati~n than that agreed on by the vessel or voyage specified. by which the goods have been shipped, liability for dangers of the sea, vis major, or unforeseen necessity being in all cases under this act excepted. nor to llinit 

the extent of their liability to less tha.u an indem)\ity to the claimant; nor shall 

anything in tLis act contained be construed as enlarging the right of any carrier to llinit his liability other than as now established by law. ·. SEc. 5. That all good8tllnd.mercha.ndise delivered to and received by any such 

public carrier sha.ll be deemed as shipped subject to the conditions of this act, 

and entitled to a bill of lading in accordance therewith; and upon the refusal of 

the master or agent to issue such bill of lading on demand within a reasona.ble 

period after shipment, unless such goods and merehandise have been received 

from a preceding carrier and a bill ofla.ding in conformity hereto has been issued, 

clearance of such vessel upon which said goods we're to be or were l&den shall 

be ref!lBed by the custom-house authorities of the port until such bill of lading be gra.nted; and such vessel shall be liable to an action in rem for all damages 

and losses suffered by the shipper of goods or merchandise by reason of such 

refusal or neglect. In case of any dispute as to whether the terms of any bill of 

l&ding disagree with this a-ct, and clearance if refused or delayed in consequence thereof, the following clause may then be inserted in or indorsed on such bill of 

lading, namely: " It is hereby declared that this bill of lading, as well as all 

other copies thereof, are intended to conform in all particulars to the act of Con· gress of 1884. on the subject of the form of bills of lading, and anything herein 

contained to the contr&ry is hereby m&de null and void." And thereupon the 

oollector may deem such insertion or indorsement as making the bill of laditut 

COJlform he1·eto, and shall grant the clearance if the vessel is otherwise entitled .thereto. . .t SEC. 6. Tha~ if any vessel, her master, agent, or manager, shall ylead, in bar or defense of any suit at law any clause or exception of any bill o lading con- trary to the provisions of this act, the limitation of liability provided by section 

4283 of the Revised Statutes, relating to ship-owners, shall not be held to apply to such vessel, owners, or either or any of them. ' SEC, 7. That this act shall take effect on the 1st da.y of September, 18&1. 

The SPEAKER prq tempore. iB there objection to the present con· ·sideration of the bill? 

:Mr. THOMAS. I shall object if this is going to give rise to any ex- tended debate. · 

Mr. LONG. If the gentleman will reserve his objection for a mo- ment, I think a brief explanation will be all that is necessary to satisfy 

the Honse as·to the propriety ofpa.ssing this bill. 

Mr. WILLIS. I am compelled to object. 

1\fr. LONG. Will the gentleman reserve his objectionfora brief ex- planation? · '" 

1t1r. THOMAS. I am willing to hear an explanation. 

Mr. WILLIS. How long does the gentleman ask? 

Mr. LONG. I think tliree minutes will be sufficient. 

Mr. WILLIS. I have no objection to that. 

1\Ir. LONG. Mr. Speaker, I desire to say that this is a bill introduced bythegentlemanfrom New York [Mr. JA.MEs], representing the 

large ship-owning interests of New York city. It has been considered 

by the Committee on Commerce and unanimously reported by tha.t 

committee to the House. · 

The report states that our c;.ccan-carrying trade is to-day almost en· tirely in the hands of foreign steamship lines. The object of the bill 

is 19 relieve American shippers and importers from risks which at com- mon law belong to the carrier, but whlch the carrier by ll).eans of provisions inserted in his bill of lading has gradually succeeded in transferring to t}le shipper. Within a few years ne:w 9lauses have been introduced, so that the carrier has relieved himself even of some of ~ 

. risks arising from his own negligence. It is claimed that some of these 

provisions relieve him from the liabilities for thieves of all kinds, whether on board or not, from ''vermin,'' ''rats,'' ''heat,'' '' stowage;'' fire, negligence on the part of his own employ~; negligence, defanl t, or error in 

j ndgment on the part of persons in the service of the ship-owner, defects 

in the hull or machinery, and even unseaworthiness on the part.ofthe 

steamer. It is very important that there shon,ld be some general rnle as to the forms of bills of lading. 1 

If there be no objection tothepresentconsiderationofthe bill I will move the previous question. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 

gentleman from Massachusetts? , 

· MI:· COX, of New York. The last section of this bill should' be 

amended so as to take effect in 1885 in;tead of 1884. The bill reads 

September 1, 1884. . • 

Mr. LONG. I will move to amend so that it will go into effect on the 1st day of Jnly, 1885. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. WILLIS. Do I understand the gentleman from :Uassachusetts 

to demand the previous qu~on ? 

Mr. LONG. I do. 

J.Ir. WELLER. Regular order. [Cries of "Too la.te! "] 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair tb.inks 'the gentleman is too 

late in making his demand for the regular ol'ller as ~aainst this demand 

of the gentleman from Massachusetts for the previous question upon the 

bill. 

The previous quP.stion was ordered. 

Mr. LONG moved to reconsider the vote by which the previous question was· ordered; and also moyed that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table. The latter motion was agreed to. ·Mr. WELLER. I rise to a parliamentary inquiry. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The -gentleman will state it. 

J\.Ir. WELLER. I called the regular order, and the Chair reeomized me as thus doing. I desire to inquire if, under the rnles, the SPeaker 
1220 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. FEBRUARY 3, 

I 

of the House can ignore that call and pass .to the consideration of thiB 

bill, which requires unanimous censent? · The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman made no demand for 

the regular order until the request for unanimous oonsent, submitted 

by the gentleman from Massachusetts, had been agreed to by the Hous~ 

and an· aruendment had been suggested and agreed to. The Chair 

thinks tnat the gentleman makes his objection too late. The previous 

question has been ordered on the motio~ of the gentleman from Massachusetts. 

The bill was ordered to be engrossed and ·read a third time; and being engrossed, it was accordingly read the third time, and passed. 

Mr. LONG. I ask unanimoUS" consent, inasmuch as this bill was reported lnst year, that wherever the words "eighty-four" appear in the 

bill they be changed to " eighty-five." . There was no objection.· . .. Mr. LONG moved tO reconsider the vote by which the bill was passed; 

and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on. the table. 

The latter motion w:as agreed to. 

ELECTORAL COUNT. 

. Mr. EATON. I desire to take a concurrent resolution from the 

Speaker's table relating to the Presidential count of next week. It is a House resolution with Senate amendments. I think there will be no 

discussion. . The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Connecticut rises 

to a question of privilege_, inv:olving the count of the electoral vote. The 

Chair asks that the House be· in order, so that tlie gentleman may be 

heard. . Mr. EATON. I move to take from the Speaker'~ table a concurrent 

resolution which passed this House some days ago and went to the Sen- . ate, where an amendment has been made thereto. I ask for the consideration of the Senate amendment. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the amendment 

of the Senate. 

Mr. KEIFER. i desire. to ask the gentleman from Connecticut, is 

there any o~jection to concurring in the Senate amendment?. Mr. EATON. Not at all. There will be no <liscussion. 

The Clerk read the amendment of the Senate: as follows: 

In line 9, on page 1, strike out "one person to be appointed teller" and insert . "two persons to be appointed tellers." • 

Mr. EA.TON. I desire to say just one word. My friend from Kentucky [Mr. CL.A Y] is the author of the resolution whicli pas ed the ·House. 'rbe amendment was made in the Senate upon the ground 

that since the organization of the Government there had always been ·two' tellers on th~ part of the Senate. I am compelled to say that the 

Senate has not examined the matter thoroughly. There have been, up 

to 1868, but two instances where there were two tellers on the part of 

the Senate. Always, with two exceptions, tbere·has been but one teller ·on the part of the Senate with two on the part of the House. But it 

is a. matter of no significance whatever. Therefore 'I move that the 

House concur in the amendment of the Senate. 

The amendment of the Senate was concurred in. 

Mr. EA. TON moved to reConsider the vote just taken; and also moved · that the motion to reconsider be laid on the· table. · 

The latter motion was agreed to. 

. NAVAL ADVISORY BOARD. 

Mr. COX, of New York. I rise to make a privileged repOrt. I am instructed by the Committee on Naval Affairs to report back with an amendment the resolution which I send to the desk, and which was referred to the committee more than a week ago. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

.Resolved, That the Secretary of the Nl\vy be requested to inform this House 

the amount that has been expended by the naval advisory board as the cost of 

the board; the number of employ~ and amounts paid each; the amount of 

salary· <LQI.wn by the civilian meJltbers of said board and from what appropria-- tion it was drawn, and the amount paid each member of board as traveling, mileage,orotherexpenses . . 

The amendment reported by the committee was read, as follows: 

Also, what changes, if any, have been made from the original plan in hulls, 

boilers, machinery, &c., by the Secretary of the Navy and the advisory board 

of the ships Chicago, Boston, Atlanta, and Dolphin, and the cost of such changes in each case. · -

Mr. COX, of·New York. I call the previous question on the adoption of the report. · 

Mr. REED, of Maine. •Is the amendment in order? 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The "Chair will examine it. [After a 

pause.] The Chair t~ the amendment is in order. · It iB a matter 

of inqufry. . 

The previous question was ordered. 

Mr. COX, of New York, moved to reconsider the vote by which the 

previous question was ordered; and also moved that the motion toreconsider be laid on the table. • The latter motion was agreed to. .. 

The amendment recommended by the committee was agreed to, and 

the resolution as amended was adopted. 

Mr. COX, of New York, moved to reconsider the vote by which the 

resolution was adopte4; and also moved that the motion to reconsider 

be laid on the table. 

The latter motion was agreed to. 

WEST VIRGINIA TROOPS. 

Mr. GOF.F: I ~ unanimous consent to take up for present consideration the bill (H. R. 3462) for the relief of West Virginia troops, acting under the authority of the governor of the State. ·The bill has been 

reported with amendme~ts. 

The bill was read. 

The SPEAKER pro. temp01·e. Is there objection to the present con- sideration of this bill? 

Mr. HEWITT, of Alabama. I object. 

ORDER OF BUSINESS. 

Mr. RANDALL. I call up the unfinished business of yesterday. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. By agreement of the House made on yesterday, by unanimous consent, a private bill that had been called up 

by the gentleman from Tennessee [Mr: BALLENTINE] was to be considered this morning immediately after the reading of the Journal. 

R. J, P. WHITE AND OTHERS. 

The Clerk read the title of the bill, as follows: 

A bill (8. 64.6) for the relief of R. J.P. White, Peter Hanger, and L. T. Green. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on whether the bill 

shall be read a third time. 

Mr. HOLMAN. I believe the consideration of this bili was postponed to enable the chairman of the Committee on War Claims, the 

gentleman from Ohio [Ur. GEDDES], to consider the matter. 

Mr. BALLENTINE. If the gentleman from Indiana will allow me, 

I will say that the chairman of theW ar Cla.i.mS Committee haB informed me this morning that he considered this bill as right · and that these 

claims are just. 

'Mr. GEDDES. The statement of the gentleman from Tennessee-is 

fOrrect. . The bill was ordered to be read a. third time;. and it was accordingly 

read the third time, and passed. · 

Mr. BALLENTINE moved to reconsider the vote by which tqe bill was passed; · and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table. · ' 

The latter motion was agreed to. 

SPECIAL AGENTS rn TREASURY DEPARTMENT. • 

Mr. HOLMAN. I rise tO make a privileged report. I am instructed 

by the Committee on Appropriations to report back "with an amendment the resolution which I send to the desk. 

The Clerk read the res_olution, as fQ.llows: 

.Resol~ed, That the Secretary of the Treasury be. and he is hereby, requested to transmit to the House of Repre enta-tives :1. list of t·he names of the persons who were borne on the rolls of the Department as· special agents on the let day of November, 1884; also, a list of those on said rolls as such special agents on the 2d day of February, 1885; sa,id list to include the names of those borne on what is known as the fraud-rolls of saidDepa.rtment. Also to specify the names of those removed or discharged between said dates, and the cause or causes of 

said removal or discharge ; also the names of those discharged and reinstated 

between said dates, and the reasons for their reinstatement. · 

The Clerk read the report of-the committee, as follows: 

·The Committee on Appropriations, to whom was referred the resolution calling upon the Secretary of the Treasury for certain information t<Juching the 

appo).ntmentanddismissal of special agents, having considered the same, report it back to the House herewith, and recommend its adoption, with the following mendment: In line 7 of said resolutjon, after the words" eighteen hundred and 

eighty-four," insert the following: "the 30th day of June and 1st day of July, 1883 and 1884, and the necessity for their appointment." 

The amend~ent was agreed to. • . , The resolution as ~ended was adopted. 

:Mr. HOL1t1AN moved to reconsider the vote just taken; and also 

moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table. 

The latter motion was agreed to. 

. .JULIO R. SANTOS. 

. Mr. ·STEW ART, of Texas. 1\Ir. Speaker, I ·rise to report a resolution. whi_ch I think is in the nature of a. privileged report. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Does the gentleman from Texas [Mr. 

STEW ART] rise to make a privileged report? 

Mr. STEW A.Rl', of Texas. Yes, sir. It is a resolution in answer to an inquiry addressed to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and I think 

it comes under the head of a. privileged report. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. That is a privileged report. The Clerk 

will read it. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Resol'Ved, That the Pr~ident be requested to take all necessary and proper measures to assure Julio R. Santos, an American citizen now imprisoned in 

Ecuador, a speedy and· impartial trial, and .to protect him in his Jife and his 

property. · · 

Mr. STEW ART, of Texas. Mr~ Speaker, I demand the previous 

question on the adoption of this resolution . as a substitute for the res- olution on the same subject referred to the Committee on Foreign AffMT8. . The substitute was agreed to. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question now recurs on the mQ4 
1885. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. 1221 

tion of the gentleman from Texas [Mr. STEW ART] that the report as 

amended by the substitute be adopted. 

The motion was agreed to. · Mr. STEW ART moved to_ reconsider the vote by which the report was adopted; and also moved to lay that motion on the table. 

The latter motion was agreed to. 

Several UE~rnERS. Regular order. 

EXECUTIVE Co:\IMUNICATIOXS. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The regular order is demanded. The 

Chair will first ask the consent of the House to submit certain executive communications. · 

There was no objection. 

mnTED STATES CONSULATE, IQUIQUE. 

The SPEAKER pro tanpore laid before the House ~ letter from the 

Secretary of the Treasury, inclosing a communication from the Secretary of State relative to the burning of.the effects of the United StateS 

consulate at Iquique, Peru, and asking an app1;opriation to reimburse 

the United States consul; which was referred· to the Committee on Appropriations, and ordered to be printed. 

POWOW RIVER, MASSACHUSETTS. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore also laid before the House a letter from 

the Secretary of the Treasury, inclosing a report from the Chief of Engineers of a survey of Pow ow River, Massachuset~; which was 1·eferred 

to the.iJmmittee on Rivers and Harbors, and ordered to be printed. 

COEUR D' .ALENE L.AKE .AND RIVER. 

. The SPEAKER pro tempore also laid before the House a letter ·from 

the Secretary of War, inclosing a report from the Chief of ;Eng!neers of 

an examination of Coeur d'Alene lake and river, and,of Saint Joseph's 

River, Idaho; which was referred to the Committee on Rivers and 

Harbors, and ordered to be printed. · · · 

STATISTICAL ..ABSTRACT OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The SPEAXER pro tempore also laid before the House a. letter from 

the Secretary of the Treasury, transmitting the seventh numberoithe 

Statistical Abstract of the United States; which was referred to the 

Committee on Printing, and ordered to .be printed. 

LEAVE OF ABSENCE. 

By unanimous consent, leave of absence was granted as follows: 

To M:r. GLASCOCK, for this day, on aecountofsickness in his family. 

To Mr. BRAINERD, for this day. 

To 1\Ir. HowEY, until 7th instant, on account of important business. 

CHANGE OF REFERENCE. 

· On motion of Mr. ROSECRANS, ·by·unanimous consent the Committee on Military .Affairs was discharged from the further considera: 

tion of the bill {H. R. 8025) for the relief of· Christian R. Purdum, 

Hervey E. Clark, John M. Lamb, and Julius C. Shainwald; and the same was referred to the Committee on the Public Lands. 

On motion of Mr. ROSECRANS, by unanimous consent the Com· 

mittee on Jrlilitary Affairs was discharged from the further consideration of the bill (S.l631) for the relief of John W. Blake; and the same was referred to the Select Committee on Payment of Pensions, Bounty, 

and Back Pay. A::II~:IIENT OF RlJLES. 

Mr. RANDALL. 1\Ir. Speaker, I call for the regular order. 

The SPEAKER pro ta~ore. Theregularorderis called for. The regular orderis the unfinished business of yesterday's session, which is the 

report made by the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. RANDALL] from 

the Committee on Rules. · The question is upon the amendment offered by the gentleman from. 

Ohio [Mr. KEIFER] to strike out the word ''five'' and insert the word 

"ten " as the number of members 1·equired to object in order to prevent the consideration of a bill. · Jrlr. WELLE~. Mr. Speaker, can that report now be read for the 

information ofthe House? · 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. It may be in the absence of objection. 

If no objection be made, the Clerk will read the report. 

Several members objected. 

Mr. KEIF~R.. :Mr. Speaker, I ask that the Clerk read that part of 

the report to wh1ch my amendment applies. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will read the clause which 

is proposed to be amended by the gentleman from Ohio. 

The Clerk read as follows: . 

Stljke out "five," before the word members, and insert "ten;" ·s.o that it will 

read," and the bills and resolutions so designated shall be considered, unless 

objected to by o,t least ten members." 

The SPEAKER pro tentpore. The q~estion. is upon• agreeing to the 

amendment of the gentleman from Ohio which has just been r~ad. 

Tho question was taken; and there were-ayes 117, noes 55. 

Mr. YAPLE. Ur. Speaker, I call for the yeas and nays. 

The question was taken on ordering the yeas and nays, and 26 mem- bers voted in the affirmative and 139 in the negative-not one-fifth of 

the last vote- . So tbf! yeas and nays were not ordered. 

The SP~ pro tempore. The question is on the adoption of the 

amendment of the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. KEIFER]. 

The amendment was agreed to. · . Mr. KEIFER moved to reconsider the vote ·by which the amendment was agreed to, and also moved to lay that motion on the table. 

The latter motion was agreed to. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question recurs upon agreeing to 

the report of the Committee on Rules as amended, upon which the previous question is operating. 

The report as amended was adopted. 

Mr. RANDALL moved to reconsider t.he vote by which the report 

was adopted; and also moved that the motion to reconsider he laid on 

the table. 

The latter motion was agreed to. 

~Ir. KEIFER. A great many members would like to have this rule, 

as J!ow amended, printed in the RECORD of to-morrow morning. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. If there be no objection it will be 

printed in the RECORD of to-morrow as amended. 

There was· no objection. _ . 

The resolution, as amended, is as follows: 

Resolved, That each morning during the remainder of thiS session, immediately .. afrer the approvil.l of the Journal, there shall be set apart one hour for motions 

to take up and consider such bills or resolutions on any of the Calendars of the 

House, or on the Speaker's table, or bills favorably reported from the Calendars 

undisposed of, as the member making the motion may designate. And the bills or resolutions so designated shall be immediately considered, unless objected to by at least ten members. But no hW or resolution taken up for consideration 

under this order shall be debated for more than ten minutes, which time shall 

be equally divided between the supporters and the opponents of the measure. If 

the yeas and nays shall be ordered on any such bill or resolution, or n.ny pro· posed amendment thereto, and the call of the roll shall be commenced before 

the expiration of the said one hour, the same shall be completed before the reg· u~r order of business is entered upon: Provided, That while this order remains 

in force the Speaker shall not entertain any requests for unanimous consent to consider any bill or resolution at any other time than herein provided; but he 

may entertain such requests to refer bills or resolutions to commit~es, or to dispose of Senate amen?men~s to 'bills which have passed t,he House. 

ORDER OF BUSINES~. 

The SPEAKER pro· te1"npore. The regular order is the call of com· mittees for reports. 

Mr. WILLIS. I move to dispense with the morning hour. ·The motion was agreed to, two-thirds voting in favor thereof. 

M1·. WILLIS. I move that the House now resolve itself into Commit. 

tee o(the Whole on the stat~ of the Union, my object being to call u,p 

the river and harbor bill. Pending this motion I move that all general debate in Committee of the Whole on this bill be linrited to one hour and a half; and on that motion I call the previous question. 

Mr. REED, of :Maine. I Jiopethat will not be done. The memb.ers of 

the Colllmittee on Rivers and Harbors have not got through addressing 

the· Committee of the Whol_e on the subject-- . Mr. WILLIS. I think the committee will be liberal in this matter. 

Mr. W AS$URN. I hope the gentlemari. will allow a little more time than an hour and a )lalf. So ~ar as I am concerned; I think the 

friends of the river and harbor bill on this side of the House- . Mr. WILLIS. What time does my friend from Minnesota suggest? 

Mr. W AS~URN. I would say three hours and a half: 

Mr. WILLIS. If the gentleman will say two hours, we can agree 

upon that. 

Mr. HENLEY. Give them leave to print. 

Mr. WILLIS. I will modify my motion so as to allow three hours 

for geneml debate; and upon that I call the previous question. 

Mr. WASHBURN. So far as I am concerned, I believe it is the general disposition on this side of the House, certainly of tho....<~e who are the real friends of a respecta.b1e 1iver an.d harbor bill, to agree to three 

hours. 

Mr. REED, of Maine. Is it understood that the members of the 

Committee on Rivers ana Harbors resign their right to occupy this 

tinle? Because otherwise other members of the House, who have not 

had opportunity to be represented befote the Committee on Rivers and 

Harbo-rs, will have no opportunity to be represented before the House. 

Mr. WILLIS. So far as one member of the eommittee can control 

the matter, ample time will be allowed in Committee of the Whole for 

speeches of ten, fifteen, or twenty minutes each. I will endeavor to 

consult the wishes ofaH sides of the House. 

Mr. RANDALL. I object to any agreement at variance with the rule. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The first question is on ordering the 

previous question on the motion of the gentleman from Kentucky [Mr. 

WILLIS] to limit general debate in Committee of the Whole on the river 

and harbor bill to three hours. • . Mr. REED, of Uaine. Do I understand it is arranged that members 

of the committee shall not occupy all this time? · The SPEAKER pro tem.pore. The Chair has no information upon that 

subject. 

Mr. RANDALL. That is a matter to be regulated by the chairman 

of the Committee of the Whole. · Mr. REED, of Maine. But the chairman of the Committee of the 

Whole holds that the members of the Committee on Rivers and Harbors have the right to be heard first; and it looks as if they were not 

only to be heard first, but also to be heard last. . The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Cbair will state to the gentleman 

··~i 
1222 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. FEBRUARY ~, 

from Maine that in the absence of any agreement (of which the Chair 

knows nothing) the disposition of time in the Committee of the Whole 

would be regulated by the chairman of the Committee of the Whole. 

Mr. REED, of Maine . . But in determining this question it is very 

important the House should know how that recognition is going to be 

extended. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The present occupant of the chair has 

no control over the proceedings of the Committee of the Whole. 

l\Ir. REED, of Maine. I am aware of that; but the House has such 

control, and I wa.nt to bring the question to the attention of the House. 

If the House does not 'Wish to control it, no one can ~d any fault. 

The SPEAKER pro tempcYre. The question is on ordering the previous question. 

The question being taken; there were-ayes 139, noes 48. 

l\Ir. REED, of .1\iaine. I call for the yeas and nays on ordering the 

previous question. · . · • 

The question being taken on ordering the yeas and nays, the ayes 

were 31-less than one--fifth of the last vote. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair the yeas 

and nays are not ordered. 

111r. REED, of Maine. I call for tellers on ordering the yeas and nays. 

Tellers were ordered, 33 voting in favor thereof;· and :Mr. REED, of 

Maine, and Mr. Wn;.us were appoin~d. 

1\1r. WILLIS. If the House will indul_ge me, in the interest of public business [cries of "Regular order I "] I ask whether three hours 

and a half.--

Mr. REED, of Maine. Mr. Speaker, all I ask of tho House is that 

we who are not members of the Committee on Rivers and Harbors shall 

have an opportunity to discuss this question. [Cries of "ReolTlllar or- der!"] · ·· · 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Debate is not in order. The House 'is 

dividing. . The House again divided; and ~he tellers teported-ayes 44, noes 143. So ( one-fift;h of those present having voted in the affirmative) the yeas 

and nays were ordered. · · The question was taken; and it was decided in the affirmative-yeas 

17 4, nays 72, not voting 77; as follows: · 

Aiken, Dorsheimer, 

Alexander, Dowd, 

Anderson, Dunham, 

Bagley, Eaton • Ballentine, Eldredge, 

Barbow., Ellis 

Barksdale, Ellw~od, Beach, English, 

Bennett, Ermentrout, 

Bisbee, · Evans, 

Blackburn,· Fiedler, 

Blanchard,- Findlay, Bland, Follett, 

Blount, Foran, 

Boyle, Forney, Bratton, Geddes, 

Breckinridge, Golf, 

Brewer, F. B. Graves, 

Buchanan, Green 

Budd, Gree~eaf; Bnrleigh, Halsell, 

Cabell, Hardeman, 

Caldwell, Harmer, 

Campbell, J. 1\I. Ha.tcb1 W.· H. · Candler, Hempnm, 

Carleton, Henderson, T. J. Clardy. Henley, 

Clements, Herbert, 

Cobb, Hewitt, G. W. Cosgrove, Hill • Covington, Hobhtzell, 

Cox, W. R. Holmari. 

Craig, .Holmes, 

Crisp, Holton, 

Culberson, D. B. Houseman, 

Culbertson, W. W. Howey, 

Cutcheon, Hunt, 

Dargan, Hurd, 

Davidson, .Jeffords, 

Davis, G. R. Johnson, 

Davis, R. T. Jones, B. W. Deuster, Jones,J.H. 

Dibrell, Jones,J.T. 

Dockery, Jordan, 

YEAB-174. 

Keteha.m, Kinjr, 

Klemer, . Lamb, 

Lanham, 

Lewis, 

Libbey,. 

Lovering-, 

Lowry; McComas, 

1\:lclUillin, 

Matson, 

Maybury 

Miller,J.F. 

Mills 

~roney, 

Morrill, 

Moulton, 

Muldrow, 

Murphy, 

Mutchler, 

Neece, 

Nelson, 

Nicholls, 

Oates, 

Ocbiltree, , O'Ferrall, 

O'Hara, 

Paige, 

Parker, 

Patton, Peei, 

Perkins, • Pierce, 

Pryor, 

Randall, 

Reagan, 

Reid,J.W. 

Reese, 

Rice, 

Riggs, 

Robertsonk. 

Rogers-,J. 

Rogers, W. F. 

NAYB-72. 

Adams, G. E. Atkinson, 

Bayne, 

Bingham, 

Boutelle, 

Brewer, J. H . Brown, W. \V. 

Browne, T. :U. Burnes, 

Cassidy, 

Collins, 

Connolly, Converse, Everhart, Ferrell, 

Finerty, 

'Funston, 

Guenther, 

Hanback, Hardy, 

Hart, Haynes, 

Henderson, D. B. Hepburn, 

Hiscock, 

Horr, 

Honk, 

Kean, 

Keifer, 

Lacey, 

Long, 

Lyman, l\Ic.A.doo, 

McCormick, Millard, 

1\!iller,S.H. 

1\Ii.lliken, 1\Iorgan, 

Murray, 

O'Neill, Charles 

O'Neill, J. J. Payne, 

Payson, 

Peter, 

Pettibone, 

Phelp , Pott.er, 

Price, 

Ray,G.,V. 

~!d.?~iil~ Rockwell, 

Rosecrans, Rowell, 

Ryan, 

Singleton, 

Skinner~ T. G. 

Slocum, 

Smalls, 

Smith, A. H~rr 

'Smith, H. Y. Snyder, 

Stevens, .·. St.ewart, Cilarles 

StockslAger, 

Strnit, ·. Sumner,C .. A. 

Sumner, D. H. Swope, 

Talbott, 

Taylor, J. 1\1. 

Thomas, 

· Ti.llman, - Townshend, 

Tully, 

Turner, H. G. 

Turner, Oscar 

Van Alstyne, Wnit, 

Wallace, 'Vard, 

Warner, Richard 

Washburn, 

Wemple, 

White, Milo 

Wilkin.s, 

Williams, 

Willis, 

Wilson, W.L. Winans, E. B. 

Winans, John 

Wolford, 

Wood, 

Worthington, 

York, 

Young. 

Russell, Shively, Spooner, 

Spring.ar, 

Stephenson, 

Stewart,J. W. Storm, Struble, 

Taylot·, E. B. 

Taylor, J.D. Tucker, 

Wadsworth, 

'V"-kP-field, Whiting. 

Wilsoo,James 

Wise,J.S. 

Woodward, 

Yaple. 

NOT VOTING-77. 

Adams, J. J. Davis, L. H. Kelley, Arnot, Dibble, Kellogg, Barr, Dingley, Laird, 

Belford, Dunn, Lawrence, 

Belmont, Elliott, Le Fevre, 

Bowen, Fyan, Lore, 

Brainerd, Ga.rl'isoh, .1\IcCoid, 

Breitung, George, Mitooell, 

Broadhead, Gibson, Morrison, 

Brumm, Glascock, · :Morse, 

Buckner, Hammond, Muller, 

Campbell,Felix Hancock. Nutting, Campbell, J. E. Hat<lh, Ef. H. Poland, Cannon, Hewitt, A. S. Post, 

Chalmers, Hitt, Pusey, Clay, Hooper, Rankin, 

Cook, Hopkins, Ranney, 

Cox, S.S. Hutchins, Rol:_)inson,J.S. Cullen, · Jnmes, Robinson, W. E. 

Curtin, Jones,J.K. Seney, 

. So th~ previous queation was ordered. 

During the roll-call, 

Seymour, 

Shaw, 

Skinner, 0. R. 

Spriggs, 

Steele, 

Stone, 

Thompson, 

Throckmorton, 

Valentine, 

Vnnce, 

VanEBton, 

Warner,A.J. 

Weaver, 

Wellborn, 

Wellet·, 

White,J.D. 

Wise, G. D. 

· Mr. WASHBURN moved by unanimous consent that the reading of 

the names be dispensed with. . 

There was no objection, and it was ordered accordingly. 

The following pairs were announced from the Clerk's desk on all 

political questions until further notice: 

Mr. MORRISON with Mr. SKINNER, -of New York. 

Mr. SHAW with Mr.· LAIRD. . · 

1\Ir. JONES, .of Arkansas, with Mr. KELLOGG • . 

Mr. ARNOT with Mr. BELFORD. 

Mr. FYAN with Mr. HOOPER. 

Mr. DUNN with Mr. CHALMERS. 

M.r. ELLIOTr with Mr. VALENTINE. 

Mr. DA vrs;of Missouri, with Mr. BRAINERD. 

ti. GARRISON with 1\Ir. BARR. 

Mr. CLAY with Mr. HOWEY. 

On this voteMr. SENEY with Mr. STONE. 

Mr. VAN EATON with :Mr. JAMES. 'Mr. GEORGE D. WISE with Mr. &J.'EELE. 

.. ::. 

Mr. WISE would have voted "ay " and Mr. STEKCE "no." 

For this dayMr. ADAMS, ofNewYo.rk, with Mr. WEAVER. 

1\Ir. MULLER with Mr HOUK. . Mr. CAMP13ELL, of New York, with l\fr; KELLEY. 

The vote was then announced as above recorded. 

The SPEAKER pro te1npore (Mr. SPRINGER in the chair). The question recurs on the motion of thegep.tlemanfromKentucky [Mr. WILLIS] 

to close general debate on the river and harbor bill in the Committee of 'the Whole House on the state of the Union at the end of three bows. ~· REED, of Maine. I demand a division on that question. 

The House divided; and there were-ayes 97, noes 41. 

Mr. HEPBURN. No quorum voting. ·The SPEAKER pro tempore. The ~ir will appoint as tellers Mr. 

Wli.:LIS and Mr. HEPBURN. 

Mr. HEPBURN. I will waive the question of no quorum. 

The SPEAKER pro ternpore. The ayes were 97, noes 41; and the 

point of no quorum having been withdrawn, the motion is agreed to. 

The question now recurs on the motion to go into committee for the 

purpose of considering the river and harbor appropriation bill. 

The motion was agreed to; and the House accordingly resolved itself 

into Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, Mr. HAMMO~TJ> 

in the chair. 

RIVER AN:Q HABBOR APPROPRIATION BILL. 

The CHAIR~1AN. The present condition concerning the debate is 

that on the Democratic ide Mr. WILLIS, 1\:11:. REAGAN, Mr. BLANCHABD and 1\Ir. GmsoN have been beard, and on the Republican side · Mr. PRICE, Mr. THOMAS, and Mr. BAYNE. All of these are of the 

committee except Mr. PRICE. He has twenty-five minutes reserved, 

Mr. WILLIS twenty-five, and M:r. Gm ON twenty-two. At present the gentl~man from Arkansas{M:r. BRECKINRIDGE] is entitled to thefioor, 

he having the fioor when the committee rose last week. 

1\Ir. WILLIS. I feel, under the statement I made tq the House, I 

should surrender my time, and I do so. The CHAIRMAN. The Chair bas made this tatemeritwith the desire there shonld.be some arrangement agreed upon between gentlemen. 

There are many persons on the list of those who are on the committee 

and those who are not on the committee. While there is no positive 

rule on the subject, the custom is so uniform to recognize members of 

the committee, the Cbau has felt it his duty to doso, alternating from 

side to side anrJ. from those favoring the bill to tho eopposing the bill. The Chair hopes that some arrangement will be made during the time 

the ge.Q.tleman from Arkansas is speaking which will be satisfactory. 

By order of the House general debate has been limited to three hours. 

Ur. YOUNG. Mr. Chairman, does itappearfromanymemorandum 

before the Chair how much time the members of the Committee on Rivers and Harbors propose to occupy? 

The CHAIRMAN. The Chair will state that every member of the 

committee had his n:une on the list, so far as the Chair remembers, ex-
.. 

1885. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD--HOUSE. 1223 

cept one who is ill: The gentleman from Arlmnsas is entitled to the 

floor and will proceed. 

:Mr. BRECKINRIDGE addressed the House. [See Appendix.] 

1\Ir. BRECKINRIDGE. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent 

that I be allowed ten minutes more: The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from Arkansas tMr. BRECKINRIDGE] asks unaninlous consent that his time be extended for ten minutes. Is there objection? . Mr. REED, of Maine. 1\Ir. Chairman, I am ready to agree to allow 

the gentleman the extra ten minutes that he desires if the. whole time can be extended ten minutes; but Ifearthatthegentlemanhimself [Mr. 

BRECKINRIDGE] voted for the restriction of the time. 

The CHAIRMAN. It will be impossible to extend the time beyond 

the limit fixed by the House. Is there objection to the extension of 

time asked for by the gentleman ftom Arkansas [Mr. BRECKINRIDGE]? 

. Mr. WASHBURN. I object. 

The CHAIRMAN. Objection is made to the ~xtension of the gentleman's time, and the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. PRICE] is entitled 

to the floor. · 

Mr. PRICE. Mr. Chairman, when addressing the House a few days 

ago on this bill I gave a table of figures.which I conceded to be imperfect, but claimed to be as· nearly correct as could be arrived at in 

the few minutes that were allowed for examination after the bill was 

obtainable and before the debate opened. 

I have carefully revised these tables, and shall by leave of the House 

print them as a part of my .remarks: 

States and Territories. 

l\1aine ................................ . New Ramp· hire ................ .. l\Iassachusetts t .................. . Vermont ...... ...................... . Rhode Isla.ndt .................... . Connecticut .. ................ ...... · lllinoist .. ........................... . NewYorkt ........................ . New Jersey ........................ . Delaware .......................... .. . 1\Iaryla.nd .......................... . North Carolina* ................ . South Carolina* ................. . Georitia• ............................ . Florida * ............................ . Ohiot ........................... ..... . l\lississippi '" ....................... . 

~~:~It·::.:·::::::::::::::::::: : 

~E~if~;:.:.:.:.::::::·:~::::: :·::::::: Minnesota ............ ·-············ Iowat .: ................. ............. . 

Amount. 

$67,000 

22,500 

246,000 

20,000 

50,000 

138,000 

221,000 

316,500 

172,500 

118,000 

87,000 

112,000 

179,500 

140,500 

173,750 

207,500 

59,000 

395 750 

279: 500 1, 012,500 

438,700 

. 212,000 I 50 000 

5:000 

States and Territories. 

California t ....................... . Oregon ............................. . Pennsylvania t ................. . 

~~~~iri:'ililii: .. :::::::::::::::::: 

1\Iontanat .................... ..... . 

~~~:~~~ .~~~:~~~~~.!::::: District of Columbia t ........ · Arkan8as * ........................ . Missouri * .......................... . Tennessee*· ...................... . Kentucky * ....................... . Indiana ... .................... ..... . 

Reservoirs ................. : ..... . Hennepin Canal .............. . 

~~!~~-~!··::::::: ::·::::::::::::::::: 1\lississippi, above Cairo .. . Mississippi, below Cairo .. . 

Total ....... :. ~ .............. . 

*Southern States. tStates represented on committees. 

Amount. 

$162,500 

225,500 

97,500 

264,000 

325,400 6 Z50 

16:500 

11,250 

150,000 

127,500 

9,000 

302,250 

312,250 

57,500 

6,791, 600 35 000 aoo:·ooo 475,000 

540,000 

880,000 

2, 940,000 

11, 961, 600. 

To briefly restate some of these figures may serve to awaken an interest on the subject that will assist in settling intelligently and fairly 

the question before us. . · The whole sum to be appropriated is 11,961,600, besides providing 

for some surveying, &c., at an unknown cost. Of this. sum there is to 

be expended: For reservoirs, $35,000; for 'Hennepin Canal, $300,00; for 

improvement Ohio River, '475,000; for improvement Missouri River, 

$540,000; for improvement Mississippi River, $3,8'20,000, of which 

$2,940,000 is to be expended below Cairo, and $880,000 above Cairo. 

In thirteen Southern States, with a population of 15,254,115, there is 

to be expended the sum of 3,683,900; and in twenty.:five Northern 

States and Territories, with a population of 32,826,584, there is to be 

expended $3,107,700. 

These sums last named are outside of the appropriationS for the .im.-

pro>ement of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio Rivers1 and for the 

reservoirs at the head of the Mississippi, and for the Hennepin Canal. 

The average appropriation to these States South is $283,337, and the 

average to the Northern· States mentioned in the bill is $12.4,308; difference, 159,029 on an .average, or over half a million more for the 

thirteen than for the twenty-five; or, on a population of 15,254,115, more than for a poptJ].ation of 32,826,584. • One extraordinary item is the sum of $1,012,500 for the State ·or Texas, and a part of that is one item of $750,000 for improving Gal- ve ton Harbor, which, it is claimed by its friends, is to be the initial 

step toward the e41>enditure of $8,000,000 or more on said harbor. But 

in a very eloquent argument made on Saturday by the gentleman from 

Louisiana [l\1r. BLAKCHARD] in favor of this appropriation, he made 

the startling anriouncement that '' Galveston shipped annually 800,000 

bales of cotton;" and being asked how many tons that would make, he 

answered, "Count it yourself, at :five hundred ·pounds per bale." I 

understand, but I may be mistaken, that in that condition cotton is 

worth about 10 cents per pound; and, if so, that whole matter of commerce is bnt $40,000,000 . . 

While. we are dealing in figures I desire to submit a few on other 

matters that may very properly be considered in this connection. The Stat~ having a representation by one of their own members on the 

Committee on. Rivers and Harbors. get, on an average, --$233,140, while 

those not so represented, and named in the bill, get by its provisions 

$149,750 .on an average, or $83,390 less than the others. These facts 

and :figures tell their own story, but when interpreted by a few more :figures, which I now propose to submit, I think gentlemen on both 

sides of this House, who mean to be fair, will admit that this manner of discussion is legitimfite, as there is a clear discrimination against one part of the countryand infa~or of another. To-day we stand con- fronted with- the fact that in this Chamber there are but 17,000 and a fraction of votes behind every me~ber who represents one of the late 

.i.J,lsuirectionary States-I mean on an average-while i.p the other States 

of the Union there is a fraction of over 27,000 votes behind each mem- ber of this body on an average. I. get my authority for this statement from the Congressional Directory.of the Forty-eighth Congress; 

and the same inequality holds good in the electoral college. · Again, it cost "this Government for the year 1884, to pay the expenses of the United States courts in the States of Alabama, ArkaD.Sa8, 

Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carol.ina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia, with an ;:tggregate population of 

12,990,2467 the sum of $1,020,184.36; while for the same purpose for. the States of illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey,.New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and 

Wisconsin, with an aggregate population of 26,239,010, the cost was only 

$751,087.19. Inother·words, forthesamepurpose, andforhalfthe population, it cost the Government $847,389.20 more in the South than it 

did in the North. I submit that it is perfectly proper to consider all of · 

the forego_ing facts in connection with this bill. Every member of this 

House, andeverytax-payer in thecountry,has a right toinquirewhere 

the revenues are being expended, and how, and by whom. 

I fully conC'nr with the gentleman from Texas [MJ:. REAGAN] and 

the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. EZRA B. T.A.YI .. OR] that sectional considerations should not control these appropriations; and it is because I so believe that I oppose this bill in its present ~orm. 

Let me illustrate: For two different improvements in the Chippewa 

River, in the State of Wisconsin, the Government ~ngineers reported 

that the sum of $55,000 could be judiciously expended; and the com- mittee insert in this bill the sum of 13,500 to cover both; and I was 

told by a member of the committee that it had adopted a rule to re- commend 25 per cent. of the recommendations of the engineers. 

Looking at this bill, I :find that in the Northern States, particularly 

Michigan, Wisconsin, and some others, this rule has been inflexibly en- i:orced or the amount recommended in such instances falls ·below .the 

percentage named. In none of these instances has this percentage been 

exceeded. I have nQ objection to the rule, but let us see how it is applied and how it works. 

l\lr. WILLIS. Will my friend allow me to say in one second--

Mr. PRICE. I yield for one second. 

Mr. WILLIS. As to political votes in the committee, I will state 

here in the presence of every member of the committee that there has never been. any division in the committee politically since its creation. 

Further I will say that of the fifteen members of the committee (unless 

you count me as a Southern member) twelve are from the North and 

three from .the South. As to the States of Michigan and Wisconsin, 

both of them have representatives on the commjttee. 

1\Ir. PRICE. It is a matter of the most.profound indifference to me whether the fraud has been perpetrated by Northern or by Southern 

'In en. It is sufficient for me to know that the bill is unequal in its provisions, sectional in its character, and as such should be reb1;1ked by 

the House. 

Mr. OCHILTREE. Will the gentleman yield for a question? 

l\fr. PRICE. ~ must decline to do so, though I would like very much 

to oblige the gentleman. The other day w:hen I occupied the floor for a brief pe1·iod I allowed my time to be frittered away by;interruptions, 

but on a subsequent day when I sought from a gentleman, who after 

consuming an hour had his time extended, the privilege of making OIJ.e 

single remark which would have. saved the consistency of his record 

and relieved me from the necessity of making a correction of it to-day, 

he deliberately refused me that opportunity. J: must decline, i.n my 

brief time, to be interrupted. 

Last sum:mer an extraordinary flood occurred in the Chippewa Ri\'er 

which created an impassable bar in it, and I asked that an additional sum might be appropriated for its removal. I was told that I could 

not get it, because the committee would not entertain a proposition to 

appropriate for any work not recommended by the engineers. 

Through the courtesy of a member of the committee, General HENDERSO:N, of Illinois, I succeeded in getting them to amend the bill so as to include the work on the bar with the work on the Yellow Banks 

and the jetties at the mouth of the river; but I was held inflexibly to 

the $13,500. to make these three improvements, when $55,000 was rec- ommended by the engineers for two of them, arul this, too, uponariver 

upon which. a line of steamboats plies and that has a lumbe~ commerce 

alone of$10,000,000 annually. · 

For 'the improvement of the Supe1·ior Harbor the engineers recommended an apprbpriation of $50,000, but the committee, adhering to 

their'' rule,'' give that improvement in this bill$12,500, or25 percent. .The ~ngineer in charge has also sent a supplemental report, in which 
1224 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD.....:HOUSE. FEBRUARY . 3, 

he recommends a further appropriation of$10,000to improve the Saint 

Louis River at Superior; which is really a part oftheSuperiorHarbor, 

and on this I get nothing by this bill. islt due, however, to the committee to say that I do not know whet:qer or not they were in possession of this supplemental report. I could not get to them to tell them 

of it, and the Wisconsin member of that committee was prostrated on 

a bed of sickness. · The committee did graciously permit by the bill an expenditure of a 

part ofthe$12,500 which was for the Superior Bay on the work in Saint 

Louis Bay. Thus'we ba>e $12,500 appropriat-ed instead of $120,000 

recommended by the engineers, or $17,500 less t;han 25 per cent. on such 

recommendation of the engineers. · 

I am not appealing to the Honse on sectional grounds,· but I could 

show if I had time that the commerce of that section of the country 

towers away above and overshadows the entire commerce of the city of 

Gaheston; and that while the rule laid down by the committee was 

rigidly enforced in the North it was not enforced as to the South. 

Mr. REAGAN. Will the gentleman allow meju t a moment? 

Mr. PRICE. Nothing wouldgive megreaterpleasure;but I cannot 

afford to yield unless my time can be extended. 

·The CHAIRMA..t~. Does the gentleman from Wi consin yield? 

Mr. PRICE. No, sir. As suggested by a friend near me, I must 

''say no, and go on.' ' . . At the head of Lake Superior,· and on the Wi cousin side, there are 

now two railroads and three more are being built. There is one coal 

dock which·will hold one hundred and twenty-five th'Ousand tons. A 

cattle company owning large herds in Arizona and elsewhere are commencing to ship cattle from the great NOl'thwest by way of Superior 

to the seaboard. They have stabling enough to shelter and are now 

wintering six hundred bead at that place for shipment East in the 

spring, and they are so well satisfied at present with the experiment 

that many thousand will go East by way ·of Superior next year, and 

thus avoid the more unhealthy Southern routes heretofore used. 

There is no power to foresee the future commercial prosperity of the 

head of Lake Superior. 

The following letter from Lieutenant-Colonel of Engineers 0. M. Poe, 

in relation to the present and future of 'the Sault 'Saint Mary's Canal 

will give some idea of the commerce of these lakes, when it is remembered that most of the commen?e of the canal has to pass the bead of 

Lake Superior: 

was developed), and indicate the direction from which fuhue increase must be 

expected. 

It will be principally from the cereal products of tlie Northwe t, through the 

systems of railways termina-ting on.Lake Superior. It is stated in the commercial columns of the newspllpers that .there arc now stored at Duluth alone nesrlyo,OOO,OOO bushela of grain, and that thls will be in- creased to more than 7,000,~ by the time navigation opens. 

And yet this bill treats that section as though it were umvortl1y of 

consideration. I am in favor of a just and liberal .appropriation bill; one that will include within its provisions all livers-and hal'borswhich · 

are of national importance, and want it as nearly equal sectionally as the 

commercial interests of the whole country will .warrant. Not that I 

suppose that our rivers will ever be the arteries through w bich w j 11 flow 

the bulk of our commerce, but if no ton should e>er .be carried on their 

broad bosoms to the seaboard, when so improved as to make their nav- . 

igation practicable and certain, they serve as about the only check on tl1e 

rapacity of those who control the other avenues, becaw e they are the 

only highways with which others can not '' consolidate.'' -In the preparation· of this bill the committee applied the principle of 

giving 25 per ceiit. only of the recommendations or estimates of the 

engineers, in theN orth generally I believe- in my own district I knowand t hen fell below that. 4-Dother rule they adopted for their govemmentibelieve (and you ~ustrecollectthatifl am wrong it is becau emy 

scources of information as to their purposes were extremely limited, ps 

I could not get to talk with the committee) was to make no appropriation fo:.; new work or work not recommended by the Engineer or War 

Department. These rules were inflexible i,n the section where I am most interested, but became flexible and· elastic unaer the balmier 

breezes of a milder clime. 

I do not call attention to these inequalities to embitter ~he feelings 

of any member on this floor or of any American citizen, but to preYent 

a repetition of them, and awaken such attention to their existence as wjll insure their being remedied. 

It is said this is an " era of good feelmg." It ought to be. I want it 

to be. Butmyfriendmustbejust; be mustrecognizemyrigbtto be his 

equal. I claim no superiority, and I can not without an earnest protest 

recognize the justness of t bcse matters tow hiah I h:tve referred; nor can I 

consent to vote for this bill as it now s~nds, as it is. clearlydiscl·iminating against sections and interests. Strike from it some of its most odious 

provisions and· I will heartily support it and join with gentlemen from 

every section and of e"Very political party in this or any other mea nre 

U !.ITED STATES ENGINEER OFFICE, the tendency of which will be to make this what the God of nature in- . Detroit, Mich., January 8, 1885. tended it to be, the freest and most prosperous nation on tpe globe. Sm ~ In my annual report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 188i, I submitted But our Government can never reach its full measure of usefnlnc s a project for the ·enlargement of Saint Mary's Falls Canal, including the con• unless thelaw-makingpower shall vest in men broad enQU!!hand honest struction of a new lock in place of the two old ones, and urged the matter i~ ~ 

terms as strong as seemed proper. . enough to legislate with a wise and impartial referel}.ce to a11 sections, It was. tateo that the commerce. througl~ the- canal dur~ng 1883 was 2,042,295 all interests and all classes· until they come to be guided by the sole 

t<>ns (registered) ; tpat the a.nnual1ncrea e m tonnage for fifteen years had been . . ' 1 • • quite uniform, averaging 107,313 ton~ per year ; tbat only 11 per cent. of the ves- consideration that t~ey a.~e not so much the agents of a party as t_he sel~ passil~g the canal during 1883 were of suffi~ently light draught to ~dm_it of . agents of the. people; until they study lesS how to place the oppo 1te 

thelr.pa smg through tbe old locks; and that if the.!!e fl~urcs were mamta.J?ed party in a bad attitude before the country by trappin<Y them into doing for e1ght year · the.. present lockage system, although m constant operat10n, b dl · d l h h h e1 d beo~ il d" would be insufficient to take C3.re of the shipping. · a. . Y an pan more ow t ey may t ems ves o t.er; unt we lS-

. We r)ow have complete returns fort!Je season of 1884, and the a.nnua.l.increase enthrall ourselves from the senseless and infernal system of rules with m tonn~ge has not -only be~n mamta.med but largel~ exceeded; that IS to say, whiell we have shackled and manacled ourselves. the registered tonnage passmg through the canal durmg the season· of 1884 was . . . . . 2 997 8a7 tons an increase of 055 578 tons o.r nine times the average annual in- To-day, if some misChievous wag should secrete at some placem tb1s c~~~e forth~ prece~ing fifteen years. .<k to state it possibly with greater fm;ce, Chamber a parrot who had been taught the one word "object" {and 

thts mcrease m 1~ IS equal to the e~tu~ commerce through the canal durmg a parrot could be taught to say that) the proceedings of this House 

the first five years It was open t<> navigation. · ul b b h · · " ' h " " Shouldthisrateofincreasebemaintained,tbefullcapacityofthelocka.gesys- CO d e roug t to a standstill undert erules, ·and under the tern will be reached within four years instead of eight, as estimated in the annua"l rules" I venturo the opinion that not one member out of every twentyre¥~~\onowmg table affords the moans of comparing, in detail, the business of five can becom~ familiar with the seve~} subjects upon which h.e is 

the canal during the season of 1884 with that of 1883: - called to cast his vote, and that not one ill fifty does have a clear Idea, 

Comparati-ve statement of the conunerce throU{Jh Saint Mary's Falls Canal, Mich-igan, • jo1· ~he seasons of 1883 and 1884. • 

Items. 1883. 1884. I I 

;: 

11 

~ = 

~ i 

Q) 

~ ~ c5 ~ ...., ll< A ~J.. 

_v_e_ss--e-ls-.-... -.. -.-.-.. -.n-u_m_b_e_r-.. -.

1 --4, ~5- l- ---, 689 --l---1,_37_4_ =(= 

Lockages ...... number... 2,351 3, 074 723 31 ........... 1 .... .. 

Tonnage ... registered... 2, 042,259 2, S97, 837 955, 5!8 47 ...... ........... . Tonnage ......... freight... 2, 267,105 2, 874,557 607, 4a2 27 ................. . 

Pa.ssengers ..... number... 39,130 5l, 214 15,084 1 39 ........ --..... .. Coal. ..................... tons... 714,444 706,379 ........ ..................... , 8,065 1 1 

Building stone .. ... tons... 2,405 6,047 3,642 1 151 ............ ..... . Copper ................ tons... 31,024 36, 062 5, 038 16 ! ................ .. Flour ............. .. barrels... 6f!7,031 · 1, 248., 143 'I 561,112 86 ............ ' ..... . Grain .............. bushels... 6, 677,025 12,5:!2,8!}.1 5, 82!5,869

1

1 .87 1 ............ 1 

.... .. 

Iron ore ............... tons... 791,732 1, 136,071 3-11, 339 43 : ........... ..... . Lumber ........ feet,B.M ... 87,181,000 122,389,000 , 35, 258,000 40 ....... - ... ..... . Pig and manufactured I • 

iron .................. tons... 109,910 72,428 [ .................. ! ........... 37, 482 66 

Salt ................... barrels... 70,898 144,804 1 73, 906 'i 104 Silverore .... ......... tons... sa 9,731 8, 917 1, 095 

Unclassified ......... tons... . 191,571 207,173 15,60.2 S 

Can8J opened April23 and closed December 10, 18SJ, being open to navigation 232 days. 

Canal was opened during season of 1883 224 days .. The increase in registered tonnage was 47 per cent. ; in grain, 87 per cent.; in 

flour, 82 per cent., and in iron ore 43 per cent, · · These are the great staples (although a. notai.Jle increase in the lumber traffic 

of what is going on around him from day to day. 

Gentlemen speak .lightly of an expenditure of a dozen mi11'ion llollars when we have not got nor have we the present means of getting 25 

per cent. of what we honestly owe to men who have done work for the 

Government or to whom wo ·have become indebted. Tbere.is an army 

of them. They crowd the corridors of the Capitol ; they intercept nnd 

importune members of the committees; they plead and ha>e been pleading for long years for imply their rights. In some cases the representatives of the third generation are growing gray in a vain attempt 

to induce Congress-:-tbis Congress:-to pay a debt uue to their greatgrandfathers; and we do not deny the debt, do not even apologize tor 

not paying it, but With a yawn we turn away ~d jangle throngh a 

day's session over the question of bow the ''rules'' should be inter- preted, or what particular committee shall have jurisdiction of a bill, 

or what particular measures shall be considered first. And all this 

time we are without coast defenses, without a navy, without a merchant marine. All over our land there are men dying broken ·heart ed 

in poorhouses, or in hom.es made wretched by poverty, who "1\Tetkell 

their live::; and their fortunes in aefense of the intep;rity of this couutry . 

Yet we stand here from day to day q ua.rreling over the question of how 

we will adjust the manacles we have forged for ourselves and are voluntarily wca.ring. 

I call attention to these matters not .for the purpo e of 113el Jy 

complaining, not for the purpose of wounding, but with the faint lwpe 

tha.t it ma.y have a tendency to remedy the wrongs; to induce to such 

action as will demonstrate to the country that we are willing to sink 

the partisan in the patriot; to think less of North or South ar.d mere 
. 

1885. CONGRESSIONAL _RECORD-. HOUSE. 1225 

cf the whole country; to mete out equal and exact justice to all sections 

and all classes-; to make an imm~diate and earnest effort to pay our j ~t 

debts; to litimulate trade and commerce alike in all sections of our common country, ap:d not waste millions on experiments or unjustly 

tax the industry and thrift of one section to encourage the idleness or 

unthrift of another. 

I agree that locality alone should not govern in this appropriation, and 

I go further and say that in my judgment that should not be the con- trolling consideration; but I think neither of the members of this com- mittee nor any other member will deny what I claim, . that it is perfectly proper to consider this question, making it subordinate to the general commercial wants of the. country; and I can not forget that the 

eigbth Congressional districtofWisconsin, where the Mississippi with all 

its mighty volume of commerce laves the shores of four counties, the Saint 

Croix Ri~er the shores of five counties, and Lake Superior two more, 

while it is traversed by the Chippewa and the Black Rivers with an annual commerce of $12,000,000, gets under the provisions of this bill 

$33,000, when the recommendation of the engineers is 202,500, one- fourth of which is $50,625; so that instead of giving us one-fourth of the 

amount of the engineers' recommendation we receive $17, 625-less even than 25 per cent. · . No man can more highly appreciate the importance of improving our 

water ways than I do. It is not this principle I am combating; it is 

the gross inequalities ·apparent in tho bill, and the extra-.agant expenditure of money that we can ill spare on schemes that are impracticable and -tisionary, that I am opposing. 

The gentleman from Louisiana [Mr. BLANCHARD] stated that Galveston was the ''second cotton port in the United States. ' ' I hold in 

my hand a book belonging to the national Library entitled ·Cotton 

Facts, edition of October, 1884, which gives the annual 'cotton ex- ports from the seyeral United States portssinee 1873; and if the statements of this book are true the gentleman's statement is incorrect, as I find that the average annual exports fort.he years 1873-'74 to 1883-'84, 

inclusive, to be as follows: 

Bales. 

New Orleans •........ _. ................................... ~ ........................................... 1,430,000 

New.York............................................................................................... 5.'39,000 

Savannah. ............. :................................................................................. 397,000 

Galveston............ .................................................................................... · 328, 000 Charleston ............ : ............................... : .................................................. . 3li,OOO 

So that Ga.l veston is not the second cotton port, as stated by the 

gentleman, nor is it even·the third, b~t_it is the fourth. 

The gentleman stated also that the annual receipts of cotton at that 

port aggregate about 800,000 bales.' In this the gentleman is still more widely·mista.ken if this book is correct, as it states the annual 

export to be but 328,000 bales for the last eleven years, and but 371,000 

bales last year, and in the last eleven yeru:s it never reached. in any one year a greater amount that 521,000 bales. · · This reference to the mistakes of the gentleman is intended to prove 

two things: First, that the magnitude of the commerce of Galveston 

has been overrated in a manner which, if not correc-ted, would have a tendency to deceive the House; and second, to show that the bill presented to us for our indorsement has been illy digested and imperfectly 

considered.· . · 

Compa.re for a moment Gaheston in the South with Superior in the 

North. Superior, in 1883, was entered by ten vessels with a registe1·ed 

tonnage of 7, 734 tons, discharging at that port 9, 750 tons of coal alone. 

In 1884 ninety-seven vessels, with a registered tonnage of 58,000 tons, 

discharged at that port 83,480 tons of coal alone. The recommendation of the engfueen; for this port was $120,000, and this bill gives it 

$12,500. The recommendation of the sums that can be profitably ex- pendedduringthenextyearforaship-canalinGalvestonBar_is$500,000, 

and this bill gives it $750,.000. 

The gentleman further states that Wisconsin has no cause of com- plaint, as in the aggregate appropriations she is next to New York and 

Michigan, and stands third on the list. A -reference to the bill will 

prove that Wisconsin stands thirteenth in the list as to amount. 

But I am charged with making this a ''sectional question.'' 'I deny 

and resent the statement. A bill formlllated in a committee with 

closed doors, discriminating against the States having no immediate representation on the committee, discriminating against a section ·by over- riding every consideration growing out of the volume and needs of com- merce. and of the recommendations of the engineers, is presented tons, 

and we are asked on a three holll1'l' debate to crystallize it into a law, 

scarred and. marred all over as it is with sectionalism. And because I 

have pointed out a few of these unjust provisions I ani charged with 'making the'discnssion sectional. If I found a neighbor making off 

with my property and I should attempt to intercept him would I be 

justly chargeable with inciting a quarrel? I yield to no man in a desire to see all sectional considerations ignored in this House or elsewhere, and it affords me a melancholy pleasure to indorse, in closing, 

one-fourth of the statement made by the gentleman from Louisiana 

[Mr. BLANCHARD], when he said he knew" No Nort.h, no Soutli, no 

East, no West.' ' He certainly knows no North. · Mr. ·STONE obtained the floor. 

Mr. REAGAN. Iaskthegentlemanfrom:M:assachusetts [Mr. S-TONE] 

to yield me one minute. 

Mi. STONE. I will do so. :M:r. REAGAN. I desire only to say one word in response to the sec- tional argument which has been made by the gentleman from Wisconsi.I). [Mr. PRICE]. He opposes this bill because, as he claims, it is 

sectional. What is the faet? The records of the War Department 

show that there has been appropriated· for the improvement of rivers 

and ha-rbors of the State of Wisconsin $4,659,541. The records ofthe same Department show that the eight States of Tennessee, South Carolina, Mis...qj,gsippi, Louisiana, KentUcky, Florida, .Arkansas, and Alabama have received in the aggregate $332,140 less than the amount re- ceived by the single State of Wisconsin. Yet that State, ~hrough her 

Representative, now talks about sectionalism. [Applause.] The fig- ures are as follows: · 

Tennessee ............. . : ............................................................................. . 

E,;~~E?.l.~·~::.:_:_:.:_:_::::::.::::::::::_: :~·:::::::-:-::: :_.:-:-:·:·:.:_:_::_::_::·::~:.:.:_:_~ :·:~:::::: :-::::::::::::::~:::: .Kentucky .............................................................................. . : ............ . Florida .......................................................... : ...................................... . Arkansas ...... , ....................................................................................... . Alabama. .............................................................................................. . 

$85,500 

963, 000 377,900 

245,4.00 

457,000 

760,350 

316,500 

~091,751 

Total for eight States ................................................ ...... -............ 4,317,4.01 

Wisconsin alone ...... ........................... ............ _.,....... ...... ............ ...... ... 4, 659, 541 

Ur. STONE. Mr. Chairman, as under the order adopted by the 

House this debate is limited to a short time, I will not undertake to 

speak at.large, as I had hoped to do, upon the general merits of this 

bill. · I will merely occupy a few minutes in explaining that item in 

the bill in which I am ~ecially interested, and which has been particularly alluded to by two or three members who have already taken 

part in the debate. · I allude to the item w_hich proposes an appropriation for the establishment of a firstrclass national harbor upon the Atlantic coast at a place in Massachusetts called Sandy Bay, at the ex- treme end of Cape, Ann. . . 

By the action of· Congress at ·its last session the Secretary of War was authorized to commence the construction of such a harbor at this 

plaee, provided that a board of engineers to be appointed by~ should 

upon examination.find tb;tt this location-Bandy Bay, Uassachusetts- waa the best pbint on the coast between Boston -and Portland for such a harbor. · · 

The provision in the bill of last year passed without -exciting_ any 

opposition. It was thoroughly considered in the committee before being reported to this House, and inasmuch as it proposed the commence- ment of a large work-the establishment of a. harbor which will cost 

four or five million _dollars_-it was considered right and judicious on the part of the committee not to embark upon the enterprise until the 

board of engineers had made an examination and passed upon the 

question of location. · . 

In purstlance of the authority thus vested in the Secretary of Wa.r a board of engineers was appoint~d, who examined the coast and made a report to the War Department. In their report this board of engineers 

find distinctly that the location at Sandy Bay is the best point on the 

coast between Boston and Portland for such a harbor. 

The ~nguage of the bill laat year which authorized this examination by the board of engineers was as follows: 

·Constructing a. national harbor of refuge ·of the first class at Sandy Bay, €ape 

Ann, niassacbusetts, $100,000: Pi·o"!--ided, That a board of three engineers, to be appointed by the Secretary of War, shall decide that this point. is the best loca- tion on the coast between Boston and Portland for such a. harbor that shall serve all the uses for which it may be needed. • 

In drafting that provision I had in my mind not only the establishment of a firstrclass harbor of refuge which would meet the demands of commerce and humanity, but I had also in my mind what I believe it 

the dutj of this Government to consider, the value and importance of 

such a harbor possibly in the future as a military or naval · station in case of foreign complications. The question having been thus submitted to the engineers, they found ih their report, as I have stated, that 

Sandy Bay was the best location. 

Mr. HORR. Will the gentleman state just where Sandy Bay is? 

l\Ir. STONE. Sandy Bay is upon the extreme eastern end of Cape 

Ann, on the eastern· shore of Massaehnsetts, which projects into the sea from ten to fifteen miles beyond the ordinary contour of the coast. It 

is in all respects, as the engineers have reported, a very P,esirable and 

strikingly suitable situation for the establishment of a harbor of this 

descrii>tion. . But w bile the engineers found, as I have stated, that that was the proper location, for some cause which is ~explained, liaving 

passed upon the question subJ;Ditted to them, they then -went beyond 

-their authority, and considered the question whether or not it was for . the interests of commerce that a harbor of the first class should be es- tablished at that poifl:t, and upon that question they have written a very 

long and full report. In that report they argue that while this is the 

best location for such a harbor, yet the needs of commerce would be met 

and satisfied by a h3Ibor of the seco!ld class in that neighborhood, in 

connection with the work which they recommend shall be done in a. harbor ten miles from there, the harbor of Gloucester. 

Now, Mr. Chairman, it is because of that report in which the engi- neers have paSsed upon another question, to wit, whether or not the 

needs of commerce will be satisfied if a harbor of another class be estab-

• 
1226 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. FEBRUARY 3, 

lished near there, that there appec'U'S to be here and now in this House a difference of_opinion on the part of some members of the committee 

in regard to the expediency of this item of appropriation. But gentle- men will observe-and ! ask the attelltion of the House to this pointthat the question of the expediency of this appropriation and the question of the convenience and the. necessity of such a harbor was the very 

first question that was discussed by the board of· engineers. Before 

the question came to this House at all as a subject of appropriation, 

General Thorn, who was the chief ·of the engineers of that section of 

country, was requested to examine this point. as a preliminary step, 

and upon such examination he re:vorted to the .Secretary of War (who 

transmitted th~ report to Congress) that there was great need for a harbor of refuge upon the coast in this vicinity, and that in his judgment 

this was the proper point for it, and also that it was a work of great 

importance and of public necessity. . . · So that, as to the question of public necessity, th!Mi was passed upon 

and distinctly reportea upon to Congress by General Thorn. 

Now, these engineers, by what authority I do not know, have attempted no only to instruct this Congress upon the question submitted to them, to wit, the question of location, but they have attempted 

also to instruct this Congress in regard to a subject as to which their 

opinion was not asked, and in respect to which, so far as I know, by rea on of their history and antecedents, they have no special qualifications to speak. They are a board of enginee-r representing the execu- tive department of the Government, but why they found it convenient 

to enter upon another question which belongs especially to us, the legislative branch of the Government, to wit, the question whether br no · the commercial needs of the country and the demands of humanity and 

of commerce require such harbor, I do not understand; because that 

question is for us, and not for any board of engineers that this Government may happen to employ or control. 

I will read a few words from this report, which is dated December 

24, 1884. In the report the engineers begin by asking, What does Congress mean when it -asks us to decide wliether this is the best location? 

Tliat is the question that these engineers gravely and honestly raise. 

What does Congress mean when it says that it will establish a national 

harbor of refuge at andy Bay (I r~d now the very_ words): 

Pro"~Jided, That a board of three engineers, to be appointed l>y the Secretary ot War, shall decide that this point is the best location on the coast between Boston and Portland for such a harbor that· shall serve all the n e~ for which it may be ~~ . 

· This board of engineers b gin by asking what Congt:ess meant when 

it submitted that question to them. Then, ·ha$g said that, they proceed to dismi;;;s in a few words one pa1·t of the question submitted, 

namely, whether or not this is the best place on the coast between the 

points named for such a harbor for all the purposes for which it may be 

needed. They percei•e that in that phraseology the question of the 

value of this point as a military or naval station is involved, but they 

do not devote any thought to that question, but di.<m1iss it by saying that they do not think it is worthy of consideration. So that this 

board of engineers dismiss without thought or consideration one element 

of the question submitted to them, and tben, having in a few words 

decided upon the que tion oflocation, tO the effect that there. was no doubt about the suitableness of this point, they then proceed to discuss a question which was not submitted to them at all. This _is the posture 

of this board of engineers, declining to deal with one relation of the 

question which was submitted tothem, and introducingand discussing 

another question which was not before them. 

Now what do they say? They say that, in their judgment, such a 

harbor is not needed, and that the wants of commerce can be met by 

establishing a second-class harbor at a place between Thatcher's Island 

and l\1ilk Island, whicli is a {)!lint about two miles from what 'is called 

Sandy Bay, and by expending also a millionanda half of money in the 

improvement of a harbor eight or ten miles distant called Gloucester 

Barbor. So that the engineers virtually say to Congress: "In our judgment, instead of building a first-class ·harbor at Sandy Bay, we recommend that you shall buildasecond-classharbor between Thatcher's 

Island and :l'tfilk J:sland, and_ also expend another million and a half on Gloucester Harbor, about ten -miles off; and, in our judgment, such an expenditure will be less by one-half than what. y.ou propose to ~nd 

op this harbor at Sandy Bay, while we believe that the wants of commerce will be equally well me.t and satisfied." . Now I submit,- l\Ir. Chairman, that there is no one in this House who 

has greater regard for the ability and intelligence of the Corps of Engineers, when dealiiig with subjects within their province and matters 

coming properly before them, than I have, but when they attempt to 

instruct Congress on a subject, especially a legislative one, and not in 

any ense an executive one, they exceed their authority. 

1\P'. STEELE. I undet'Stand you then to bold the position that you 

think a great deal of the engineers' report where they make recom- mendations to suit yon, but when they make recommendations to the 

contrary of what J:OU desire, then you· do not think much of the en- . gineers' report? LLaugbter.] · l\Ir. STONE. No; I did not say .that. I said this, that I thought a. great deal of the Corps of Engi}leers when they were dealing with 

matters -within the province o( their duties, but that when they attempted to deal with matters outside, then it is gratuitous, unautltorized, and entitled to no respect whatever. 

l\1r._ STEELE. I understand these · engineer clo not reCQnunend a 

harbor they can not get into. 

1\fr. LONG. They do not claim they can not get into it. 

1\Ir. STEELE. Well, that it is dangeron . to get into -it. 

l\1r. LONG. No . .M:r. STEELE. Gentlemen of the oommittee inform me they do 

claim that. · 

l\Ir. STONE. Now; l\Ir. Chairman, I wish to refer to this report in 

another relation. When this matter came befor~ the last Congress, 

owing to a remark made by Major Raymond, who made a long and 

elaborate report, in which he spoke of some ledges in the neighborhood, the criticism was made that t~ harbor might not be .found 

accessible in times of rough weather, and therefore would not be of 

value;· but Major Raymond afterward wrote a letter to the cOmmittee, 

in which he said he wished to change his opinion, because that difficulty could be corrected by establishing a. light-house on a certain · point on a dry re~f outside of the harbor. 

Upon this point the report of the engineers is valuable, and to this I 

ask the attention of the gentleman from Indiana [Mr. STEELE J. When 

the board of engineers came to deal with the question of the best location 

for a first-class harbor, if they had considered the remark made by l\1ajor 

Raymond in his first report of any importance they would have said 

so, and would have reported 3-oaainst this location because of this difficulty.; but, on the contrary, they were unanimously in favor of Sandy 

Bayas the place of all othersforafust-classnationalharbor; andicom- men~ this part of the report to :Major STEELE as a conclusive answer to 

his suggestion that the harbor would be inaccessible. 

Again, they say·in their report, and to this I ask the attention of the 

members of the committee for a few minutes, that the wants of com- merce will be met by a second-class harbor. Now I do not believe that 

any member of this House who has given the subject of commerce any 

attention, who has carefully considered what is taking place in Europe 

to-day, who bas carefully considered what they are doing across the 

water, or has carefully considered what we are doing in our own country, 

would advise for a moment that this Government should spend a million ADd a half of dollars on the Atlantic coast to establish a second -class 

harbor. . Why, Mr. Chairman. what has the Government been doing all along 

the Atlantic coast for the last fifteen yea.rs? Nothing but making second-class into :first-class harbors, and the needs of commerce to-day are such that a second-class harbor is comparativel_y of no value. We are expending millions of dollars all along the Atlantic coast, .from the 

roouthoftheMississippiRiverto Eastport on the extreme east, in changing second-class harbors to :first-class harbors; and why do we do it? 

In 1853, only thirty years ago, you might take up Lloyd's Register of 

American and Foreign Commerce, and you could not :find registered in 

that whole regi ter of more than 10, OOQ ship more than :five American 

ships drawing over twenty feet of water. 

l\Ir. HORR. What is the difference between a first-class harbor and a second-class harbor? 

l\fr: STONE. I w~ explain. · That question is asked by these engi- neers. 

l\-1r. HORR. Does it depend on the depth of water? 

Mr. STONE. These engineers ask that question with a singular ex- hibiti{)n of innocence. These· engineers, whose duty it is to know all 

about rivers and harbors, gravely ask what is a first-class harbor. 

Now let us see what Mr. Nimmo says-Mr. Nimmo, the head of the 

Bureau of Statistics. I have not ~he report before me now. I thought 

l hadit. ButMr. Nimmo made a report in which he states the accepted 

classification in this country as well as abroa.d, that a :first-class harbor 

is a harbor that accommodates vessels of the largest size and drawing over twenty feet of water; that a second-class harbor is a harbor that 

accommodates vessels dra.wipg between :fifteen and twenty feet of water, 

and that a third-class harbor includes all harbors that accommodate 

vessels drawing fifteen feet of water or less. That is the classification 

adopted in other countries as well as here by those dealing with the 

subject . . But these engineers undertake to advise this Congress to make a second-class ha.ibor in Massachusetts and to expend more than a. million of doll~rs on it. They do not know, apparently (and I say it re- spectfully), what are the commercial needs of the country in this respect. Why do . you spend millions of dollars-and I ask my friend 

from New "York [Mr. POTTER] the question-why do you spend millions of dollars in New York to dee1>6D the channel of that ·harbor, to 

get twenty-five or thirty feet depth? It is because you know that 

commerce is demanding it, and that twenty feet is not sufficient for the 

present demands of the commerce of the world. 

Now, Mr. Chairman, if this Government is to ~gage in this enterprise. let it establish a harbor upon the coast equal to all the demands of commerce and humanity, and which will be an honor and a credit 

to the American people. '):'bey should put one there to meet all of 

the conditions of a first-class harbor, and there is no point on that en- tire coast between Boston and Portland-and on. that the committee agree-:-that caB be cOmpared with Sandy Bay for the purpose of estab· 

lishing a magn\ficent harbor. It has all the water you can need; it is 
1885. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-· HOUSEo 1227 

free from silt, from ice, from currents of every description, and it is in N.ew Y-ork passing south of Cape Cod a~ a rule make the Cape and 

the immediate neighborhood of a number of granite quarries, out of light in passing to the South; so that vessels in distress come in sight 

which abundant material can be obtained at a nominal expense of 40 of this very point, Cape Ann, when bound to Southern ports. Colonel or 50 cents a ton, when the same material if sent to South Carolina or to Craighill, a very able engineer and a very accomplished man, who signed 

1\Iississippi would cost at least four or. five dollars a ton. · the report, told me that no point on the coast was so striking in its sitMr. BOUTELLE. May! inten·upt the gentleman a momentto,ask uationand so capable ofbeing.made into a superiorharborasthispoint 

whether copies of that report to which he referred are available? at the end of Cape Ann-8andy Bay. Itsvalueforthepurposes I have 

Mr. STONE. I presume they are; I have no doubt they are. They stat-ed, I think, can not be denied by any one who tak~ the subject . were furnished to Congress. · into consideration. 

Now, Mr. Chairman, I want to show in as few words as I can what Now, let me advert to one point more. I have in my hand therethis Government is doing. AB I have said already, in 1853 out of port of the select committee of the British Parliament on the subject 

10,430 vessels there were only five drawing over twenty feet of water. of harbor accommodations, which was made to the House of Commons 

In 1878 we had one hundred and fi.fty-seven on Lloyd's register draw- on the 20th July, 1884. It is a very recent report. This whole subing over twenty-three feet of water, and the harbors of New York ject of harbor accommodations has been thoroughly considered by the 

and Portland, infactallof thegrea.tharborsofthe coast, are demanding English Parliament within the last twenty-five years. In 1859 and 

improvements whic;h will give a depth of thirty feet of water to meet 1860 and in 1861 there were special committees appointed byParUathe demands of the large vessels thatcan-ythe commerce of the world. ment to investigate ilhe subject of harbors, especially harbors of refYou are building steamboats of 8, 000 tons capacity; you are m;o ing uge, and they made full reports on that subject. And this committhe ocean in six days; you are nearer practically to England to-day tee which made the report of 1884 confirms the action of the other 

than you were thirty years ago by one-half, and you have got to pro- committees appointed in 1859 and 1860. And they ~e UI1an:imously 

teet your coa.st, and to legislate for the possible demands of the future. of the opinion that while it is not the duty of the government of 

These things must be kept. in mind in dealing with this so.bject of England to do anything more than aid in the construction of barriver and harbor imp1·ovements. · bors of commerce, it is clearly the duty of the imperial Parliament to 

I submit, :Mr. Chairman, that it is only the part of wisdom-of true build outof the imperial treasm·yharbors of refuge. And why? Bewisdom on the part of this Congress, if you move at all in this direc~ cause it is obvious that harboi!'l of refuge are built not merely to meet 

tion-to build a harbor upon this coa.st which shall be a credit to the tJ1e demanclq of commerce, but largely to meet the demaiids of hucountry and equal to the re oprces of thls great na,tion, which is now manity; and you can not expect that persons engaged in business, whose on the pathway of empire and is not to be staid. main motive is gain, will take such an interest in a. hnrbor of refuge 

A word more, Mr. Chairman. I want to say a word upon another as they would in a harbor of commerce, which is also a great commercial 

subject, and I may take up more time than I had intended to consume. port. And therefore it devolves especia.lly upon the Government, whose 

I desire t9 say, and I say it earnestly, that I have been somewhat sur- duty it is to establish life-saving stations and to do all in ita po~er to 

prised from previous conversations that I have had with gentlemen at protect life and property from the perils of the sea, to provide ~rally 

what has taken place here. I was surprised at the remarks of my for harbors of refnge1 which are not like1y to· be built except through 

friend from lllinois [Mr. THO~I:As], after what had taken place between the aid of the General Government. us. I do not quite understand his criticisms. But I want to call at- How much time have I remaining? 

tention to some facts in connection with the necessities of commerce at •· The CHAil?.~iAl~. The gentleman has twenty-five minutes of his 

this point. Yqu are legislating for the commerce and for the wants of time remaining. . the navigation of this country. · · Mr. STONE. . I agreed to give part of my time to Mr. WASHBURN, 

Do you realize where the commerce of this country is? Do you real- of Minnesota, and now allow him fifteen minutes. 

ize the fact that ou.t of about 24,082 ve..<:Sels belonging to these United Mr .. WASHBURN. Thegentleman from Massachusetts concedes me States18,i78belongto theAtlanticco~t? ThemembeuwfthisHouse :fi:flieen minutes of his time and myfriend from Illinois [Mr. THoMAS] . are asking for liberal appropriat~ons for the rivers and lakes of the in- yielded me five minutes the other day, so that I have twenty minutes. 

terior; and I am with them most heartily, for I am in favor of liberal 1\Ir. Cliairman, before proceeding to what I have to say in the main, 

appropriations; but I call attention to the statistics of our commerce; I desire to call the attention of the House to the fallacy of the figures 

which after all is'"the bet indication of the condition and wants of the ofthegentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. STONE] with reference to the 

country. {)f the entire commerce of the country, as measured by ves- necessary magnitude of a harbor on the eoast as compared with a harbor 

selS, 18,178 are engaged in the trade on the Atlantic coast. Of that on the lakes. The commerce on the coast is largely made in long trips, 

18,178, 5,888 vessels, or nearly one-fourth of the whole commerce of the lasting perhaps two years, perhaps one yeru:, perhaps three mon.ths; 

country, belong toN ew England. Consider that for a moment. Of the while in the immense commerce on tT!.e lakes there are fifteen or twenty 

entire commerce of this country, 5,888 vessels out of 24,000 belong to trips made in a~ear by each vessel. Consequently the comparison 

New.England and are engaged in commerce in these very waters where which the .gentleman makes is not a fair one. It is the question of ton- we a.sk the establishment of a fhst-class harbor. We propose to put nage and not the question of thenumberoftrips made byvessels. 

into this bill more than $6,000,000 for the Mississippi River and its Mr. :MILLIKEN. I would ask the gentleman from Minneso~ [Mr. 

great tributaries; and yet upon the :Mississippi River and the rivers W .A. HBURN] if what he says about short trips is not true of the coasttributary-to it there are only 1,303 vessels out of the 24,000. So that ing vessels along the Atlantic as well as of the vessels on the lakes? we of the Eastern coast,·for we meau to be generous, give to the West- :Mr. WASHBURN. It is to some extent, but not to the same extent. ern rivers more than $6,000,000 in this bill, with only 1,303 vessels, Mr. ?t!ILLIKEN. How long a stretch of navigation is there on the 

and only ask in New England an appropriation of about one-half a mill- · lakes, taking the whole-length of them? • ion with our one-fourth of the total commerQC of the country. And Mr. WASHBURN. I can not yield further at present. 

this, remember, is for the whole of New England. Mr. Chairman, I am and have been during my entire term in ConIn regard to this very point which I have s~ted, that the commerce gress in favor of liberal appropriations for -the improvement of the riv 

of this country is on the Atlantic . coflst, if I may be permitted for a ers mtd harbors of the country. . moment to refer to a remark which took place l;>efore the committee, a From years of observation and careful study of this subject I am gentleman from Toledo told us that the bulk of the commerce of the . satisfied that no expenditmes made by the Government have been procountry was on the lakes. He was very much surprised when I showed ductive of m~ satisfactory resul.ts in the development of the resources him these facts, and that of tpe total commerce of this country only of the country than those made for the improvement of our rivers and 

3,380 vessels were on the lakes against 18,000 on the .A.tlantic coast. harbors. And during the entire time I have been in Congress there · Mr. THOMAS. May I inten-upt the gentleman to ask what is the have b.een no appropriations to ·which I have given a more hearty supdistance from this proposed harbor at Sandy Bay to Boston? port and for which I have more cheerfully voted tJlan such ~ have 

Mr. STONE. It is about thirty-five miles. been made for this purpose. Appropriations of this character I believe 

Mr. THOMAS. And what is the distance from Sandy Bay to Port- to be both wise and propert and I desite to see them continued until 

land? the great harbors of our coast are improved sufficiently to accommodate 

Mr. STONE. It is between eighty and ninety miles; probably a the commerce that comes to them and the lake harbors to receive the 

hundred miles. products of the .great empire borne to them to be transported to the 

Mr. THOMAS. How far is it from Portsmouth, X. H.? markets of the world, and until the great natural water ways of the 

Mr. STONE . . Thirty or thirty-five mile . country are so improved as to transport cheaply the commerce tribuT}lere is an immense commerce between Boston and Portland, and a tary to them. 

very great proportion of the commerce that passes this point is not only For all the e purposes I am in favor of libernl appropriations, and I 

the commerce directly between Boston and the East, but a very large have no sympathy with a. false economy that would restrict them to 

proportion of vessels that come to Boston from N e~ York and the South-· beggarly proportions, and I have little. patience with the clamor that ern ports go EaSt for return freights; and they pass Cape Ann in going has been raised a.Q.d misrepresentations made from time to time for the 

East, when they are destined evidently for some Southern port. .And purpose of bringing such appropriations into disrepute; and I have 

according to the best computations that can be made, and those com- less patience with those who, representing localities that in years past 

putations are confirmed by recent examinations, there are supposed received liberal appropriations to complete their own improvements, 

to be about 70,000 vessels that pass this point, this extreme end of the are now prepared to call a halt as to improvements of other localities 

cape, Sandy Bay, every year. And those vessels which are bound for equally impoctant and meritorious. 
1228 CONGRESSIONAL REOORD- HOUSE. FEBRUARY 3, 

Of all the river and harbor · appropriations that have passed Congress for the improvement of Galveston Harbor. This bill, as I understand .none probably has ever been subjected to the unjust criticism and gross it, provides for the Government entering into a contract with Capt. 

misrepresentations, and concerning which a more senseless clamor has James B. Eads for the purpose of securing a certain depth of water 

been raised, than the bill passed in the first session of the. For by-seventh and width <>f channel in and to Galveston Harbor. To make clear 

Congress, andibelieveinspiredtoalargeextentbysucllmotivesasthose what thiS gigan1ic scheme means ~nd is likely to cost the Government 

to which I have alluded.· The appropriation, it is true, was a large one, befo;re completed I will insert as a part of my remarks sections 4 and 5 

but not larger than the rapidly increasing commerce of the countryre- of the Senate bill, which relate to the amounts of money to be paid 

· quired. While large, it wa-s fairly and justly distributed among the and the terms of paynient provided for in that bill: 

different sections of the country where improvements w.ere needed. SEc. 4. That whenever saiu Eads and hisassociatesshall h.s.veobtain.eda naviThe appropriations in that bill were mainly for great national works gable channel between the 30-foot contour lines of the harbor and the Gulf, 

d nl · ·gnifi tl all t fi · rtant b t said lines being· fixed and established as afore aid, not less than one foot deeper an 0 Y an lllSl can Y sm amoun or ununpo s~ea~, U than the channel ns laid down on sai d chart, a measurement of said deeper which, thou-gh small, at the saine time afforded means of transportation channel shall, at the request. of said Ead.s or his associates, be made by said Suto many localities and communities which could not be secured in any periritend~nt of the Geodetic and C<>ast Survey; and if such increased depth 

Other way. Of an appropriation of something over $18,000,000 there shall be found to exist, sa.id Superintendentshallcertifythefactto the Secretary of War, who shall thereupon draw his warrant upon the Secretary of theTreas- was less than $400,000 appr&priated for the improvements of this kind ury of the United States, in favor of said Eads or his a ociates or his or their 

and which could be fairly criticised as not being national in character. assigns or legal representatives, for the sum of 1,000,000; and the.Secretary of 

And hin 1 fi d b · h the Treasury is hereby authorized anu directed ~o pay to said Eads or his asso.! 

yet not g was e t Ull! one t'{) carry t e impressiOn tot e conn- ciates, or his or their assigns or legal representative , the suin for which said 

try that this appropria,tion was largely to improve trout streams and warrantisdra.wn; and in like manner, upon therequestofsaidEadsorhisas o- macadamize ''dry runs. ' ' ciates, measurements of the channel shall be made and certified to by said Superin- ·Mr. Chairman, no section of thiS. country can a:trord to be J. ealous of ten dent as each additional foot of dept.h shall be obtained until the total depth of thirty fe tshall have been ecured. All such certificates shall be transmitted to 

another, for no section of this country can be improved without bene- the Secretary of War, who shall, upon the receipt of each one thereof, draw his 

fiting in one way or another every other. Not a stream in this broad warrantupontheSecretaryoftheTreasury,infavorofsaidEadsorhisassociates, 

land can be improved to increased capacity f1or transportation, not a har- or their assigns or legal representatives, for such sum of money as may be then due and payable to said Eads and his associates under the terms of this act; and 

bor of any of the great lakes can be widened or deepened to receive the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and directed to pl\y to said commerce but t hat the great financial and commercial heart of the con- £ads or his associates, or his or their assigns or legal representatives, the sums of 

tinent, and soon to be of the world__;_the city of New York-is quick- money for which said warrants shall be respectively drawn. For each foot of depth obtained and certified to as aforesaid there shall be paid to said Eads and 

ened and strengthened in its pulsations. his Msociates, their assigns or legal representatives, $1.,000,000, until a total inMr. Chairman, I reside in and have in part the honor to represent a creased depth of two feet hall have been obtained, and a total of $2,000,000sha.ll lmve been paid; after which there shall be paid in like manner and in like cer- section of country that has a very deep interest in the questioh of river tificat!on $500,000 for each foot of additional depth which shall be obtained, until 

and harbor improvements, and the other question inseparable froTh it, a total increased depth of four feet shall have been secured andat{)tal payment cheap transportation to the seaboard. of $3,000,000 shall have been made; after which there shall be paid, in like manMinnesota, .. VI.th one arm on the head of navigation of the MissisSI·ppi ner and upon like ccl'tification, S!OJ,COO for each foot of additional depth which • shall be obtained, until the total increased depth of six feet shall have bee:a se- River at Saint Paul and· the other stretching to Lake Superior at Du- cured and a total payment. of$3,800,000 shall have been made; after which there 

.Juth, has the advantage of two great systeDIS of water transportation, shall be paid, in like manner anduponli.kec~rtification,~,OOOfor each foot of 

and has an es""'f'l~'~l m· terest m· havrn· g them both 1

·mproved to the full- additionaldepthwhich shallbeobtained,untilthetotalincreaseddepthof eleven r~- feet shan·hnve been secured and a total payment of $5,550,000 shall have been 

est extent. To the expenditures already made in this direction Min:. made; after which there shall be paid, in like manner and upon like certification, 

nesota owes, for its almost magical growth and marvelous development, $400,000 for each foot of additional depth which shall be obtained, until the total more to the_facilities that have been oftiered :f1or ch""P transportation increased depth of thirteen feet shaJl ba."e been secured an4 a· total payment of """ $6,350,000 shall have been maae. Vl hen the total depth of said channel sllall have 

by the natural water ways than to any and all other causes combined. been increased to twenty-eight feet, $-!00,000 shall be paid; and whe.n the maxiWhat Minnesota and the Northwest eqw·re 15• not only the cheap trans mum-channel of thirty feet shall have been secured, such sum of money shall be r · ' - paid as shall, when added to the amounts heretofore· paid, fully make up the sum p<>rtation furnished by the natural water ways, but the ch~p rail of $7,.250,000. Said maximum chanpel shall have a depth of twenty·sixfeet, not 

transportation that it necessarily"biings with it, and w:P.ich it will con- lessthnttwohundredfeetin widthatthe bottom,andhavingthroughitacentral tinue to bring, unless natural causes shall be neutralized by such un- depth of thirty feet, without regard to 'vidth.. When said maximum channel of 

natural _legislation as is embodied in the interstate-commerce bilJ.re- thirtyfeetsha.llhave been thus obtained, the rem.aining $.'500,000of thetotalcom- pensation for the work then unpaid shall be deemed to have been earned by said 

cently passed by this House, whereby railroad. lines will be foreclosec;l Eadsand Wsassociates, but the same shall remain in the pc$-.'!ession oftheGovfrom entering into competition either with water routes or themselves. ernment of the United States for a period of t.en years from the date when·tbe said maximum channel shall have first been obtained, a.s security for the main- But I trust the country is to be spared the a-filiction of having a bill tenance of said channel; but during the whole of said. period, and until the said 

necessarily so vicious in effects be~ming a law, and I shall ~ot pursue $500,000 is paid, said Eads and his associates, or assigns or legal representatives, this line of comment further. · sballreceivefromtheUnitedStatesinterestnponthcsameattherateof4percent. 

No=, Mr. Chat·rm.an, whil..c. I am heartily m· .r.avor •r approprl'at;ons per annnm., payable in equal quarterly installm_ents during eo.~h year; and. when ,. "' 1' u .. · . said Eads and.bis associates shall have maintained said maximum channel for 

for the improvement of rivers and harbors, and while I believe there the full period of ten years, as hereinafter provided fqr, the Secretary Qi..Wa.r 

is not a constituency in the country more interested in such improve- shall issue his warrant upon the Secretary of the Treasury, in favor of saiaEa.ds 

menta· tha-n the one I have the honor to represent, and £or the reasons or his associates, or his heirs ·or their assigns or legal representatives\ for said sum of $.'j()(),OOO; 1\nd the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authoriZed and 

indicated, I find provisions fu the bill now before the committee that directed to pay to said Eads or his associates, his or their assigns or legal repre· 

I can e"th o t I d t think th bill •the sentatiNes, the sum for which said warrant is drJ~,wn. n 1 erappr ve nor suppor · 0 no · e ·el ra. SEc.5.Thataftereaid.maxioium.cha.nnelofthirtyfeetshallhavebeensecured, faiT or a just one. While in some sections of the country the appro- said Eads and his associates shall maintain the same during a period of ten years, priations are insignificantly small and entirely inadequate to carry for- dating from the time when said channel shall have been first obtained; and as ward important works, in other sections unusually large amounts are compensation for such maintenance the United States shall pay to said Ead.s and 

named and n. ew schemes are enter~d upon ~f a magm.· tude and charac- his associates, or their assigns or legal representatives, in equal quarterly pay- • ments, the sum of SlOO,OOOper year for each and every year of such maintenance: 

ter sufficient to startle, if not alarm, the niost enthusiastic river and Pr<Wided, however, That if said Eads and his associates shall fail to maintain said 

harbor ad"\'"ocate in this House or the country. . maximum channel to t.he injury of commerce, the United States shall have the 

Mr. Cb. airman, I do not des;.,.e to ""'"e an"ything 1:1:e a sectional ques- right to apply the $500,000 held in reserve as security, or so much thereof as may .... """"""" JA be necessary, to the maintenance of said channeL All payments to said Eads 

tion with reference to the appropriations made in this bill; yet it can and his associates for maintenance of channel shall be made upon the certified 

not escape the notice of the-House, as it certainly will nOt of the coun- statement of the Superintendent of the Geodetic and Coast Survey, which cer- tificates shall be made whenever there shall have been a quarter's maintenance; . try, that a very large proportion of the appropriationftn t~ bill al'e and shall be transmitted to the Secretary of War, who shall at all times draw his 

for works in the Southern St.at-es-$7,197,900 for the. South; $4,764,900 warrants in accordance therewith upon the Secretary of the Treasury for any in theNorthe States ·T h distr·b ti f op · ti I ould amount or amounts due; and thoSecreta.ryoftheTreasuryishereby authorized m · 0 sue a 1 u on ° appr na ons w and dh·ected to pay to said Ead~ or his associates, or his· or their assigns or legal make no objection, o~ the group.d of locality or section, if I fe)t they representatives, the sums for which said warrants shall be respectively drawn. 

werejusti:fiedbytheexistingconditionofthingg. No man in this House Mr. BRECKINRIDGE. It' the gentleman will permit me I will 

has been more liberal iil his views and in his action with reference to 1 f h bill · his · d h b bilL the great worlis. that have been carried on in the Sou,th during the past ask him: Is there a syllab eo t at m t rtver an ar or ? .r. h · f h Lo 1. · · · . ll th 1\lr. WASHBURN. No, sir. 1ew years, t e Improvement o t e wer 1t lSSlSSlppl espema y, an Mr. BRECKINRIDGE. I thought you meant to state that it was myself, having always had my most hearty and unqualified support. in the bill. 

·But when we find, as we do in this bill, that great works are to be en- Mr. WASHBURN . . 0, no; I have not made that statement. 

tered upon to accommodate a commerce that does not exist, and look- By examination of the terDIS of this proposed contract it will be seen 

ing to the expenditure of an amount of money out of all proportion to that the ultimate cost oftlri.s improvement to the Governlnent~ be 

appropriations that have ever been made in any section oftheconntry, $8,950,000, or only $50,0_90 less· than $9,000,000. I will print the figand when we :find as a. logical consequence appropriations for other sec- ures on which this statement is based: 

tions where an existing and rapidly increasing commerce is pressing For removing the obstructions or diggipg the channel thirty feet deep the 

for further and greater facilities, are reduced to insignificant amounts bill proposes to give $7,750,000, to be paid as follows: 

and such commerce almost ignored, I for one must enter my most ear- For firstfoot of increased depth ........................... "··· ............... : ........... Sl, 000,000 

nest and determined protest. · · For second !oot ...... : ... ········ .............................................................. ,... 1, 000,000 

There has been introduced in the Senate by the distinguished Sen- For third foot .................. ·················· .............................................. ······ · 500,000 

ator from Texas [:Mr. CoKE], and rep<>rted, as I understand~ by the .Fo~fourthfoot................. ... ........ .. ........ .......................................... 500•000 

other distinguished Senator from the same State [Mr. MAxEY], a bill 3,000,000 
1885. OONGRESSIONAL RECORD-· HOUSE. 1229 

Brought forward-first four feet ................................................. ~ .......... $3,000,000 

~~~=~f~~i::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::~:::::::: :::::::::::::::: -::~ 

For seventh foot .................. : ............ .' .................................................. .. 

3,800,000 

350 000 

350:000 

350,000 

350,000 

350,000 

For eighth foot .................................................................................... . 

For ninth foot ..................................................................................... .. 

For tenth foot ............... , ..................................................................... .. For eleventh foot ........................................ ......................................... . For twelfth foot ...................... , ............................................................ . . 400 000 

For thirteenth foot ................................................ .............................. .. 400:000 

6,350,000 Next Pf\Yment is made when twenty-eight feet total depth ~s obtained 450, 000 

6,800,000 Next paYJl.:lent is made when thirty feet total dept~ is obtained......... 450,000 

7,250,000 

and $500,000 more is earned when the thirty feet is obtained, but it is provided 

that this 8500,000 be retained by the Government for ten Yet\rs as security for the 

maintenance of said channel for the term of ten years by Ea.ds and SBSociates, 

but the Government is to payEads a.nd a.BSOCiates 4.per cent. on this $>00,000for 

the term it holds same, which is ten years, and therefore the Government pays 120.000 per year interest on that money for this time. 

For keepin'g the channel open to its maximum depth Eads gets $100,000 per year. 

For ten years ................................................. .-....................................... $1,000, 000 

At the end of ten years the reserve fund of.................. .. ......... ...... ...... 500, 000 Interest on saJ;De ......................... ............. :...... .... ...... ... ................. ... ...... 200, 000 

1,700,000 

Money received on work before shown ................................................ 7,250,000 

8,950,000 

Now) it is true that the bill under consideration does not contemplate a ~ntract with Captain Eads, but it does propose that tJ?e same workshall be done under his direction!nd~uperintendence, .and hence 

there would appear to be no good reM<>n to believe that the work can be done 'onder the plan of the present bill for less than th~ amount proposed in the.f?enate bill, or about $9,000,0()9. · To enter upon such a work as this, requiring, as it will, expenditures 

of such magnitude, utterly disproportionate with what have ever been 

made in any section of the country for such a purpose, without plans, 

with no recommendation from the War Department, or any officer of 

the Go.vernment, merely upon a theory, "\fould seem to me little short 

of midsummer madness. · I have said the cost of this work is to be disproportionate to what has 

been expended for similiar purposes in any part of the country; and to 

show this I desire to call to the attention of the committee the state- .ment which I hold in my hand giving the amounts that have been ex- pended on the ·six 'more important harbors on the Atlantic coast, as well as the amount that has al.J.:eady been expended at Galveston: 

Boston Harbor, Massachusetts .• : ............................... .' ..................... . New York Harbor (East River and Hell Gate) .. ...... .... : .................. . Philadelphia, Pa., Delaware River below Bridesburg ... ................ .. Baltimore Ha.rbor,l\!aryland .......................... : .......................... .... .. 

t~~r~ ~~r. ~~~~~ .. ~;?:~-.:-.: :::-.-::.-·: ::~:::_::~:::::::::::::::·:::::::::;::: 

1, 977,026 10 3, 305, 000 00 945,000 ()() 

1, 765,·000 00 

1, 444, 700 00 

1, 016, 096 64 1, 835, 200 00 

Total ........................................................................................ 11,288,022 74 

It will be observed that the total amount expended on all of these 

six great harbors outside of Galveston is a little less than $10,000,000, 

while the amount to be expended at Galveston, under the Eads plan, 

added to what has already been expended there, reaches the enormous sum of $10,785,296, or more than the entire. aggregate amount that has 

been expended .on all of the six important harbors to which I have re- ferred. I submit to the committee whether this is not rather ''crowd- · ing the mourn~rs." . Now, let us lookforamoment at the commerce of Galveston, ascom- pared with that of these ports; and to do this intelligently I ha.ve procured a statement, which I hold ·in 1n.y hand, showing the value qf the. exports and imports for 1884 at these points: 

1884 . . 

Export.s. Tota.l im- Ports. Imports. ports and 

Domestic. Foreign. Total. exports. 

Boston .................. $62,528,000 $969,829 $63, 497, 829 $65, 865, 551 $129, 363, 380 New York ............ 320,016, 246 9, 867,021 329, 883,267 465, 119, 630 795, 002, 897 

Philadelphia ....... 36,467,799 24,769 36,492,568 33,657,216 70,149,784 

Baltimore ............ 43,064,217 15,077 43,0'79,294 11,423,665 54,502,959 

Charleston ........... 16,231,892 175 16,232,067 462,949 16,695,016 

Savannah ............. 19,947, 349 ...... 21:cno· 19,947,349 652,860 20,599,709 

Galveston ............ 20, 433,878 20,454,948 1,119,708 21, 574, 6!>6 

518, 689,381 ~o. 897, 941, 529, 587,322 578, 301, 079 1, 1C17, 888, 4.01 

This showing would not certainly seem to justify the ·expenditure of 

such a vast sum of money as contemplated-by .the bill. 

And now for the purpose of exhibiting further ·the disproportion of 

the proposed expenditures at Galveston as compared with those made .for the harbors of the great lakes, I will print with my remarks the 

statement which I have prepared showing the relative tonnage at Galveston and the one port of Duluth, at the head of Lake Superior, for 

the year 1_884: · TREASl:'RY DE:U.RTliENT, BuREAU OF STATISTICS, 

Washington, D. 0., January 28, 1885. 

Tonnage entered and cleared in tfle foreign trade of Galveston during the 

fiscal year ended Jltne 30, 1884. • 

, .. Ent~red and cl~red. Number. Tons. 

• ENTERED. 

19 9,674 

177 11(,420 

American vessels .................................................... , .............. .. Foreign vessels ....................................................................... . 

Total .............................................................................. . 196 124,094 

CLE.UtED. 

25 14,571 

181 120,370 

American vessels .................................................................... . Foreign vessels ....................................................................... . 

Total ....... ............... : ...................................................... .. 206 134., 941 

Number and t<>nnage of vessels entered in the coastwise trade at the port of 

Galveston, Tex., during the calendar year 1BS:J. was as follows: Year 1883-number of vessels, 413; number of tons; 335,571. J. N. WlllTNEY, 

Acting Chief of Bureau. 

The following are some of the principal -commodities received at Duluth in 

1884: 

Coal ................... : ...... : ................................................................. tons... 337,000 

Salt, lime, cement, &c ........ ....................................................... barrels... 152, fll6 

Oil ......... , .................................................................................... :kegs... 34,1M 

Nails, horseshoes, &c ...................................................................... do..... 13,092 

Arrivals and departures of ves.c:~els ..... ~ .......... :...... .......... ..... . .......... ....... 887 

The following 11.re some of.the principal commodities shipped from the port 

of Duluth in the year 1884 : . . . 

~~~~~::::::::::::: :::·::::·::::::: :·::::::::::.·::::.:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::~~~:: u,~~:~~ The samb reduced to wheat .................................................... bushels... 4, 071, 880 

~~ l!!f~~~ -: :: ::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::.:·.·::: :::.::·::::::. :·.:·::.·::. :·::::::.·.::::;gkB·.:: 15' ~: ~ Bars of silver bullion............................................................................ 33,894 

Silver ore ..................................................... : ............................. sacks... 14.1,347 

~=.~~~::·::.·.:::·:.·.::·.·:.:·:.·:·.·.·.::·.:·. .· ·:.·:.:::·:::.:::·.:·.·.·.·:.::::·:.:·:::::.:·: ·:.:·:::::::.:::b;;sh'~iS::: -

5

, ~: ~ Wool .......................................................... ................................. sa<!ks... 6,311S 

These statements show that the tonnage of Duluth of two artie!~ alone-wheat and coal-is.larger tha.n the entire tonnage of Galveston,. and the number of vessels arriving at Duluth for the year 1884 is 887 as against 815 at Galveston for the same year, while for the improvement 

of this harbor at Duluth this bill appropriates the munificent sum of 

$31,500 as against $750,000 for Galveston, with several millions to follow. I submit to the committee w1iether this is not, to say the least, 

slightly disproportionate. 

But I hold in my hand a letterofthe Secretary of War, transmitting 

to the House of Representatives letters from General John Newton~· 

ChiefofEngineers, and of Col. 0. M. P~ engineer in chargeat·Detroit; 

Mich., in which statements are made of a most extraordinary character _with reference to the tonnage pass~g through the Sault Saint Mary's 

Canal, and which show in a more striking contrast the disproportion of 

these appropriations than any comparison yet made. I have not time 

to read these communications and statement at this time, but will print 

them as a part of my temar~: 

Letter from the Secretary of War, transmitting report of the Ohief of .Engineers CQncerning the ineifiC'iency of the lockage of the Satdt Saint Mary' 8 

Oana.l. WARDEPAR~, 

Washington Oity, January 17, 1885. 

Sm: In accordance with the suggestion of the Chief of"Engineers I have ihe 

honor to transmit to the House of Representatives, for the information of the 

Committee on Rivers and Harbors, his report, dated the 14th instant, in which he 

refers to his last annual report, for thefiscalyearendingJune 30,1884, pages302 

and 2011 calling attention to the rapid increase of commerce pa.esing through the Sault Saint Mary's Ca.na.l, being such that should its rate be maintained for. the next eight years, the period would then be reached when the present lockage 

system would be found insufficient; and submits the accompanying copy ef a. report., dated. the 8th instant, from Lieut. Col. 0. M. Poe, Corps of Engineers, in 

charge, cont·aining official returns, Jately received, of the tonnage passed through 

the canal during the season of 1884, showing the increase iu tonnage to have 

been beyond all expectation, and so largely in excess of that of previous years; that should the rate be maintained (of which there seems to be no doubt), the insufficiency of the present lockage system will be felt at the expiration of one-ball 

the tinle estimated, or say in four years, and indicating beyond qpestion a. more urgent necessity for an early commeocement of this indispensable work. 

Very respectfully, ypur obedient servant, 

The SPEAKER of the House of ·Representatives . 

ROBERT T. LINCOLN, 

Secretary of War. 

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF ENGTh'EERS, 

UNITED STA'EES ARMY, 

Washington, D. 0., January 14,1885. 

Sm: In the last annual report of this office, for the fiscal y ear ending June 30, 

1884, pages 302 and 2011, attention was called to the rapid increase of the com- merce passing through the Sault Saint Mary's Canal being such, that should its rate be maintained for the next eight years, the period would be then reached 

when the present lockage system would be found insufficient. t 

· To guard against this it was recommended to begin at once the construction 

of a new 1o~k of large dimensions upon the site of the t}Vo old ones. 
-1230 CONGRESSIONAL REOORD-HOUSE. FEBRUARY 3, 

I have now the hon(n· to submit herewith a copy of a report t.o this office of the 

8th instant, from Lieut. Col. 0 . .M. Poe, Corps of Engineers, in charge, containing 

official returns, lately received, of the tonnage passed through the canal during 

the season of 1884 showing the increase in tonnage to have been beyond all ex- - pectation, and so largely in excess of that of previous years, that should the rate be maintained (of which there seems t.o be no doubt), the insufficiency of the 

present lockage system will be felt at the expiration of one-half the length of 

time above estimated,or,say,in four years, and indicating beyond question a more urgent neoessity fol' an early commencement of this indispensable work. In view of the great importance of-this subject, I beg leave to suggest the 

transmission of this report to the House of Representatives for the information 

of the Committee on Rivers and Harbors. · Very re pectfully, your obedient servant, • JOHN NEWTON, 

Chief of .Engineers, Brig. and Bvt. Maj. Gen. Ron. RoBERT T. LINCOLN, 

Sec1·etary of WaJ". 

SAINT MARY'S FALLS CANAL, MlCHlGAN. 

UNITED STATES ENGINEER OFFICE, Betroil., Mich., January 8,1885. 

Sm.: In my annual report for the fiscal year ending June 30,188(.* I submitted a project for the enlargement of Sa.intMo.ry's Falls Canal, including the con- struction of a. new lock in place of the two old ones, and urged the matter in terms as strong as seemed proper. It was stated that the ~mmerce through the canal during 1883 was 2,042,295 tons (registered) ; that the annual increase in tonnage for fifteen yea1·s bad been 

quite uniform, averaging 107,313 tons per year; that only 11 per cent. of the ves- sels passing the canal during 1883 were of sufficiently light draught to admit of 

their passing ~ough the old locks; and that if these figures were maintained 

for eight years the present lockage system, although in constant. operation would be insufficient to take care of the shipping. . ' 

We now1ia.ve complete returns for the season of1884,and the annual increase 

in tonnage has not only been maintained but largely exceeded; that is to say, the registered tonnage passing through the canal during the season of 1884 was 2, 997,837 tons, an increase of 955,578 tons, or nine times the average annual in- crease for the preceding fifteen years. Or, to state it possibly with greater force, 

t.'tis increase in 1884 is equal to the entire commerce through the canal during the first five years it was open to navigation. Should this rate of increase be maintained, the full cap~city of the lockage 

system will be reached within four years instea4 of eight, as estimated in the 

annual report, The following table affords the means of comparing, in detail, the business of 

the canal d~ring the season of 1884 with that of 1883 : 

Comparative statem.ent of the commerce thr(YU{Jh Saint Mary's Falls Ca.na~, Mich·igan, . fol' the seas0118 of ·1883 and 1884. · . 

Items. 

. . Ve els ........... number .. . ·Lockage& ............. do ... .. . Tonnage ..... registered .. . Do .............. freight .. . Passengers ..... number .. . Coal ...•................. tons .. . Building stone ...... do .... . Copper .................. do .... . Flour .. , ............ barrels .. . Grain .............. bushels .. . Iron ore ............... tons .. . Lumber ........ feet, B. M .. . Pig and manufactured 

iron. .................. tons .. . Salt .................. barrels .. Silver ore ............ tons .. . Unclassifi~d frei'~ .. do .. . 

1883. 1884.. 

5:689 

3,074 

2, 997,s:r7 

2, 814,55~ 

54., 214 

706,379 

. 6,047 

. 4,315 

2,3.')1 

2, 042, 259 

2,267, 105 

39, 130 

714,444 

2,405 

31,024 • 

f£7,031 6, 677, 025 

791,732 

87,131,000 

36,062 

1,248,143 

12,502, 894 1,136,071 

122, 389, 000 

~ ~ g ..1 a:l ~~ d 

Q) ~ ~~ '"' 0 ~!!IS 0 '"'d C · Q) Q) Q) 

~ Pot A Pot -----

1,374 32 ············ ..... . 723 31 ................. . 955,578 47 ................. . 

607,452 Z7 ............ •·•··• 15,084 39 ...... ...... ······ 

·················· ........... 8,065 1 3,642 151 ............ , .... . 5, 038 16 ................. . 561, ll2 86 ..... ..... : ...... . 5, 825, 869 87 ................. . 344,339 43 ................. . 35, 258, 000 4V ................. . 

109,910 

70,898 

,814 

191,571 

1~~·~ ····••••••••••·••• •...••••••• 37,482 06 4 73,906 104 ................. . 9, 731 8, 917 1, 095 ............ ······ 207,173 15,602 8 ................. . 

. Canal opened April 23 and closed De~ember 10, 1884, being open to naviga- hon 232 days. · · Cana:l was o~ned ~uring season of 1883 224 Q.ays. · The mcrease m regiStered tonnage was 47 per cent. ; in grain, f57per cent.; in 

fiour, 82 per cent.; and in iron ore, 43 per cent. These are the great staples (although a. not-able increase in the lumber traffic was developed), and indicate the 9ireation from which future increase must be 

expected. · It will be principally from the cereal products of the ·Northwest through the 

systems ofrafiwllys terminating on Lake Superior It is stated in the commercial columns of the ne~spapers that there are now stored at Duluth alpne nearly 5,000,000 bushels of grain and that this will be in- crease~ to more than 7,000,000 by the time navigation ~pens.. . If this be true (and I do not doubt it for a. moment) the canal will be pushed toward its ut,mo t during the season of 1885. ' · . But the fac~ adverted to do more than indicil.te the necessity for beginning the enlargement of the canal at the ear lie t date pos ible. They prote tin the stronges~ po ibl~ terms against all propositions to fit the old locks for dry-dock 

purposes, or to buildadry-d.ocka.nywhereln the immediate vicinity of the canal to be operated in connection therewith. · . Another point which !particularly invite attention to is the fact that no por- tion of.th~ 'York of enlargement recently completed will be- lost.. On the con- ~~d~.IS JUSt that much done towar? the p~oject now so strongly recom-

~ have to regue t that this report be fox:wo.rded for consideration in connection 

With my an~ual report for the year ending fune 30, 188-!. .I am, srr, very I"espectfully, your obedient servant, . 0.1\I. POE, 

Lieut. Col. of Engineers, t. Br-ig. Gen., U. S. A. 

The CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, U.S. A. · 

But I desire to call the attention of the committee to the fact this 

statement show~ that during the season of 1884 5,689 vessels passed 

through the Samt Mary's Falls Canal, with a registered tonna(J"e of 

2,942,837 and an actual freight tonnage of 2,847,557 tons, being 5,699 

vessels, as against 815 at Galveston, and 2, 9-12,837 registered tonnage as against 594,506 at Galveston. . Colonel Poe, in his letter, speaking of the rapidly increasing tonnag~ 

• Annual Reporl Chief of Engineers for 188!, Part III, page 2011. 

through this canal, and referring to his annual report, in which he submits -a project for the enlargement of this canal, says: "Should this 

rate. of incre..'l.Se be maintained the full capaeity of the lockage System 

will be reached within four years, instead of eight, ns estimated in the 

annual report. 7 7 And yet, in the face of these facts, this bill makes no 

appropriation for the enlargement of this canal, this great thoroughfare 

through which pass the millions of tons of the products of the Northwest, and takes no. step in that direction; at the same time it appropriates $750,000 for the improvement of the harbor that handles not more than one-sixth as much tonnage. 

. Mr. Chairm~, i~ is against this unjust discrimination and dispropor- tion of appropriation that the Northwest enters its most emphatic 

protest. • I will not comment especially on the disparity in the appropriations on the Lower and Upper Mississippi, although, of an appropriation of 

$3,855,000, $~,800,000 is appropriated for the lower river. While !recognize the impor~nce of carrying forward the improvements on the 

l<;>wer river, _I fee~ that ~he appropriations for the upper stretches of nver are enti.relymsu:ffiClent and out of all proportion. . · But outside_the unfairness of this bill so far as its appropriations are ·concerned, there are some very extraordinary and important-features introduced as. to the junsdiction of this character of public works that I 

do not believe will meet the approval or sanction of the committee. 

Returning to the improvement of Galveston Harbor, the first step to be 

taken is in the direction of substantially ignoring the Engineer De- pa~ment of the Government. For one, I can see no good reason why 

this should be done, and especially at this time. · I see no reason why the carefully prepared plans of the Chief of Engineers, and wh~ch are being executed, should be set aside, and other 

new, theoretical, and expensive plans adopted inthei:r place. There are I believe, no reasonable grounds for supposing that when these pla~ have been fully carried out the practical results contemplated by the 

War D~partment :will not be secured, ~d at much less cost of money 

than. will be reqmred under the plans proposed in this bill. I can not 

of course, discuss this subject as an engineer, but I desire to call th~ attention of the committee to the letter of General John Newton Chief of 

Engineers, addressed to the cha.irm.au of the Committee on Rivers and ~arbors o-f the House of Representatives, in which the whole subject of 

rmprovements at Galveston..is thoroughly gone over and most intelligently and ably discussed, which letter I will print in connection with 

what I have su~ested on this point. 

OFFICE OF THE.CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, UNIT"ED STATES ARMY • Washington, D. 0., Ja.nuary17, f885. 

Sm: Pursuant with your reque t made to me, I have the honor to present my yiews upon the provisions of Senate bill1652, Forty-eighth Congress, first session, 

mtroduced February 'l:T, 1884, reported by Mr. CoKE with amendments June 30 

1881, and adopted by the majority of the committee. ' 

The o~g~l bill was referred to the office of the Chief of Engineers, and a. cc;>rpmumcatiOn dated l\I.arch Z7, 1884, conveying objections to certain of its pro- VISI~ns was made to the Secretary.of War, and by him tQlnsmitted to the Senate. It~ proper here to state that-near the close of the session I was before the S~na.te committee on two occasions. At.these interviews I became a~uainted. 

w1th statements made by Mr. James B. Eads, a party in interest in the proposed 

contr!lct for. the improvementof.the bar at _Galveston. Mr. Eads was present at both ~te?=VIews n.~d a large portiO~ of the tune was granted to him. It was prQb- nbly m VIew of thts, Mr. Eads havmg before had full opportunity to present hi 

side of tae question to the committees of the Senate and House as well as in re- gard to the very late knowledge I hn.d acquired of statements m.'ade. by him, that 

you req nested me to present my views in writing. I have understood, however 

that the majority report was made very shortly after my interviews, without ref: erence to the future report asked of me. . Turning now to the report of the majority of the Senate Committee on Com- merce, I find no mention made of certain objections which I then urged against 

the adopti~n ofthe proposed con?-act, but, on the contrary, their report is based 

upon the VIews of 1\Ir. Eads, which seem to have been accepted without substantial diminution. There has, so far as I know, been granted no sufficient 

opportunity for discussing the merits and efficiency of the plan proposed by.l\Ir. 

Eads, nor bas an investigation adequate to the importance (Jf the case been 

made of that disposition of the works at Galveston which would insure the grea~t depth possible under the peculiar existing features of the loca.lity. I will now comment npon certain statements of this report. .{.t says: "The general plan of improvement which ho.s been carried on during the p t ten ;years was commenced by Major Howell, and was approved by a board of 

engmeers composed of Generals Tower, Wright, and Newton.· It has since been 

reportea upon by boards of United States en~neers in 1875, 1876, and 1880. The 

method of construction was called the gabtonnade system. This was abandoned in 1879, after an expenditure by1\1ajor Howell of $527,000. .After the failure 

of the ga.bionnade system, the present officer, Colonel :Mansfield, was placed in charge, and the method of construction was changed to the· mattress sy tem, without, however, altering the general plan and.location of the works." 

ti:f:ere is a great deal of incorrect inf~r~o.tion contained in this short quotaIn 1870 an appropriation of $76,000 was expended upon the inner bar in dikes 

and dredging plant;, where~y the depth was increased :from nine to twelve feet. There was aft.erward expended in dikes upon the inner bar, up to JE77, the sum of 282,000, making an additional increase of depth of eight and one-half feet 

there. Adding these together, we find that $358,000 was expended succe fully 

upon the improvement of the inner bn.r. This reduces the unsuccessful experi- ment mentioned. in the ~jority report from $5Z7,000 "to $169,000, according to it own figures. 

The general plan and location ot:the works were, however, changed, notwithstanding the co}ltrary is indicated in tbe majority report. It was recommen ded 

by the board of engineers that the north and south jetties should be constructed to a. certain distance only, with a view to change afterward the direction of their 

prolongations to produce the required result; and it was also recommended by the board that the direction of the south jetty from its starting point should first 

be changed, bringing it nearer by this means to the other jetty. As to the height to which these jetties should be built, that wo.s regarded by the board as tent - tive, and it was under8tood that the height should be finally regulated to meet $be requirements of the case: . 
1885. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. 1231 

Before leaving this part of the subject I will state t.hat the ga-bionnade system 

of Major Howell was never indorsed by the board; but an experiment on a lim- ited scale, by pla.eing a short llne of gabions near the bar and another short line near the sho1-e, was recommended by the board to test its efficiency. That the 

experiment should have been conducted beyond the limits prescribed by the 

board can only be explained from the fact that Major Howell was ill during this 

peribd of time of the malady which not long afterward te rminated in his death, 

and that he was probably unable to bestow that supervision over the work which 

might have satisfied him, with amnch less expenditure of money, that the system 

would prove a failure. . It is proper likewise to say that tbe board never indorsed the system of paTallel jetties* 12,000 feet apart devised by Major Howell .as competent to afford even a draug·ht of eighteen feet, which is plainly evidenced by the expre&s.words 

of their first reportJ as-well as by the change in the directions of the jetties, which was recommendea in a subsequent report. I will state also that a depth of eighteen feet of water was understood to have 

been all that the inhabitants of Ga.lve ton asked for at the time, and that depth 

would have proved an immense 1·elief to nav·igation. It is hard to perceive the 

justice of holding the Government engineers I"esponsible for not granting a boon 

greater than that demanded at tl:!e time. · According to the majority report the total amount of money expended up to the present time is$15i8,000, of which $527,000 has already been accounted for, 

leaving a balant'e ofi975,000hwhich Colonel Mansfield devoted to the construc- tion of the south jetty upon t e mattress system, a work not yet entirely finished 

and brought up to the proper level, but which is admitted to have been econom- ically nnd solidly constructed. If now we divide the total amount by the num- ber of years from 1870 to 1882, during l\"hich period appropriations were made 

by Congress, we will find that the average annual grant wns about $121,000, and 

that the total amount appropriated would fall far short of thee timatesmade for 

the improvement of the outer and inner bars, for which these appropriations were intended. But one jetty-the south-has as yet been constructed, and. with what justice can it be urged in the .maJority report as a. fault of the Government engineers 

"that no substantial benefit to the interest of Galv.eston Harbor has thus far re- sulted from the expenditure of this large amount of money," when it has always .been considered necessary for the improvement of the bar that the other jetty, 

for which no adequate sum of money has yet been appropriated, should likewise · be constructed. 

There is no system yet adopted in the mode of making appropriations for the 

improvement of rivers and harbors in the United States. Hereoofore the money granted for this object, although .large in the aggregate, has been distributed 

npl.ong a multiplicity of localities, so that the most import.ant harbp.rs and rivers 

have suftered from paucity of money and a. large number of ca. es ~v~ts wliere 

the original plans calculated to afl"ord adequate improvement have necessarily 

been changed and a compromise made in order to u~ilize and render efficient to some extent the inadequate sums granted. The Government engineers have 

been taught by sad experience that. no large yearly outlay of money for the most important works would be tolerated by Congress, and hence that they must rest content with gradually approaching their object, and leave to the future .wants of the lot'allty, o soon as they become imperative, the efforts to extend 

their works and bring them to the required standard. I may ask, therefore, for 

the yenrs from 1870 to 1874o-yes, and as recently n 1882-what hearing would 

the Govenuneut engineers have had from Congress if they had asked an appro- priation of nearly$8,000,000 for the improvement of Galveston Harbor, to be ex- pended at the rate of a. million or more each year. I think a full consideration of these facts will show why it is that they have 

been compelled to approach by slow degrees the realization of the hopes of 

improvement at any locality. . Tho changes of direction already spoken of for the north and south jetties 

would have given, at the sma.ll~t estimate, over twenty feet of dept.b on the bar, 

and during the process of construction there would have been ample time to make such changes as would have insured twenty-ftve feet, or any other depth which the locality would admit of and maintain. 

Such, so far as I belleve1 and I think my connection with those works entitles me to say, was the true Idea of their beginning as well as of their future development. I think what has gone before ought to be a sufficient a~wer to these word from the majority report: · "It has been urged upon the committee that the works of the United States 

engineers have not yet been completed, and that until their completion the admini tration of this work should not be placed in other hands. 

"The answer to this is: 

"First. That the length of time alreaqy devoted to the work aft'ords no ground for confidenCe in future success. . "Second. That the work thus fat· has been, and still is, of an experimental 

character, and no positive assurance of results can therefore be given." 

As to the first of these, the cause has already been assigned-insufficiency of 

grants of money by Congress to complete the system. . · As to the second, a great mistake is involved in the assertion. The south 

jetty as well as the works at the inner bar have ·not been of a. mere eKperimental character. Those at the inner bru: h~ve largely increased the depth there i· and 

the south jetty has been solidly and substantially constructed, and wowd be competent, with the north jetty, to produce decided res)llts. But if the maJority 

report means by the words "no positive nssurance of results can therefore be 

given," that the United State<~ engineers can notsaypreciselywhatdepth would 

be obtained, within one or t..wo feet, by the construction of jetties~ the statement is entirely correct, and I will add further, that you will not fino in the whole 

world an engineer who could calculate within a foot. or two what the effect of 

the j etties at Galveston would be, while the very attempt to do so would proba- bly prove that the person was incompetent. 

1\ir. Eads, in his statement (Appendix B of the majority report), has adopted a met-hod of advocating his views which has been found very successful with inexperienced and ignorant people. He apparently imagines that if he can prove the 

United States engineers tc be incompetent, his efforts to realize the large sum of 

about eight millions of dollars for the improvement of Galveston Harbor would 

be entirely successful. In a ttempting this he has, however, overreached himself 

by assertine; too much. To a.g!'ee with him, all the engineers connected with Gal- veston Harbor, or who had anything to do with it, including the highest in rank 

in the corps, have been utterly ignorant, and have proceeded UJ?On radically er- roneous and false principles. I do not think that the sensible, thinking people of 

this country, apart from the mercenaries who are enlisted by the prospect of 

sharing in the benefits of the $8,000,000 which Mr. Eads seeks, will ever be per- suaded that the body of men composing the Corps of Engineers, whose qualities have been tested for so long a time, can be brought down to J;he low level 

where he would like to sink them. Galve ton is peculiarly placed. · A large interior bay discharges its waters through an outlet between Fort Point and Bolivar Point, the distance between 

these points being 2,733 yards. The force of .the ontgoing water is sufficient to excavate and maintain a channel of 30 feet to a distance of 2,Q(fl yards in front of 

the line jojning these points, to maintain a depth of 25 feet to a distance of 3,534 

yards from the same line1 and a depth of 20 feet. to a ~ce of 4,667 yards 

measured from the same base. This interior bay recejves the river waters and in 

*It is singular that Mr. Eads, and after him the majority of the committee, 

should state this as the distance apart of the jetties of 1\l.ajor Howell's plan the dista~ce apart really being 10,{00 feet. ' : 

it the sediment held in susi>ension is deposited. Th& water which goes over the 

bar is free of. sediment, and therefore the bar is composed entirely of sea sand 

and fragments of shells. It is in all respects what may be styled a drift-bar; tliat 

is, one due to the currents and waves of the Gulf. It is entirely different in its 

character from the bars at the mouths of the Mississippi, which are formed of 

material brought down by the river ot held in suspension in the waters, and th~ 

course of reasoning which would apply to the mouths of the Mississippi for their 

improvement might not hold with regard to the bar at Galveston, and I state this the more because it has always been the view held by the oillcers of engi- neers; while Mr. Eads himself, if I should judge. from his language, evidently thinks that there is no difference between them. · The ordinary rise and fall of the tides at Galveston is one and one-tenth of a foot, but occasions not infrequent-occur durin~ the year when there are rises of two or three feet, and perhaps a little more,wh1ch are due to winds of a moderate 

character from the south pr southeast. The current from the ordinary rise and 

fall of the tide in passing over the bar is worthy of consideration, because 

although the dischat·~ at those periods is comparatively little, it nevertheless 

exercises a conservative effect in moving sand which is disturbed by the waves and held in suspension. During rises of two and three and four feet the action 

of the currents is much more beneficial; but whe~ a storm comes from the south or southeast the interior bay 'is filled to a considerable height with the waters blown in by their force. . ln 1875 the rise of water at Fort Point due to a gale of wind was eight and a half feet, and it was said the rise in the upper parts of the bay was from twelve to fifteen feet, so that on an average the height of water was about ten or eleven 

feet. The wind veered to the northwest, blowing a gale from that direction 

and the waters were violently forced out to sea and discharged in a. short peri;;;! 

of time, the duration of which is not a.aeurately known. The effect, however~,. was very striking. The ordinary outlet between Fort Point and Bolivar Pointdia not seem to be sufficiently capacious for the passage of this large body of water. It is stated that the portion of Galveston Island from Fort Point tO the city of Gal- veston was nuder water, and that it was washed down during the gale so as to be below the ordinary level of the water. Of course a rise of this height is unusual; but it is not infrequent to have rises t.o five a.nd six feet. . Furthermore, the northerly winds sometimes blow out the waters of the bay 

for several feet below their usual level, which additional water must sometimes 

be added to that due to the rise. · We see then from the added action of the south wind filling up the bay, apd 

of northerly winds blowing out the water below the us~allevel, tlia.t with small 

rises, or even with no rise above the usual t~de, the discharge and the velocity 

of the currents may be considerable.* 

l\lr. Eads lays down a number of points illustrating the principle of the quick 

dischiuge of water to which I take no exception in the abstract, for they are elementary laws that every engineer should know, but only to their application to this case, without taking into view other important considerations. · If the 

question here were only to deliver the largest supply of water within a giYen 

time, Mr. Eads would be right; but if the question be, as it is, the improvement 

of the bar, then it may be expedient not to obtain the greatest scour, but to reg- ulate the scour, so that it shall be useful o.nd not hurtful . In connection with this, let us take a glance at the features of the locality, ann compare them with some other places which have been operated on by jetties. 

The bottom of the Gulf in front of f.he entrance to Galveston Bay shoals very .gradually, the distances of the 18-foot·curve beyond the outer bar, measured 

from Fort Point, being about four miles, and from Bolivar Point about three 

miles. The length .of the bar between the interior and exterior 18-foot curves is about one and three-quarter miles. We understand then at a glance the 

length of the jetties req1tired to effect. an improvement, as well as the enor- mous body of sand which must be moved in order to obtain a depth of twentyfive feet or thirty feet. 

Mr. En.dsnorany one else could calculate the depths to which the waters flowing out of Galveston Bay would excavate the channel if during storm tides they 

should be entirely contine.d between high jetties, particularly if they are placed 

close together.t He.makes no allowance in his wt1tings, but ratper ridicules 

the fear that the enormous bod;r of sand moved during these storm tides would ever form an obstruction outs1de of the heads of the jetties, and yet how this enormous body is to ·be disposed of becomes very difficult for an engineer who ~any experience in the improvement of bars. to suggest. I am very free to say that I apprehend a great deal of trouble from sucb, heroic treatment. His 

system. as he enunciates it, is .a violent forcing process, the effects of which lie can neither calculate norforesee. Mr. Eadsridicules the notion of approaching to the required depth by a gradual process.t Nor does he seem to perceive that 

there is a limit to the improvement of; every bar which it defies the calculation 

of man to fix, and that CJ1I1 only be attained by gradual working up to ~at point, 

and tkere to stop. It requires no logic tO prove the self-evident proposition, that when you ar- rive at this maximum point of improvement tne jetties can do no more, and 

further improvement in depth must be ma.de by the continual application of 

dredging. , The experiences of the South Pass can not be relied upon, or E\Ven used at all, to be applied to the present case. At this pass the crest of the bar was only 

about one hundred and fifty feet from the depth of thirty feet of the Gulf, and a large area of a depth from thirty feet to .three hundred feet and. more lay 

directly in front of the jetty-head9 rea.dy to receive the scour from the jetties as well as the limited amount of material brought down by the overflowing waters of the pass. There is no parallelism in the cases of the South Pass and Galves- ton Bar. . . There is a case where heroic treatment has been applied, with the 1-esult of an immediate failure. The Dutch engineers are, if anything, expert in hydrau- lics, but their attempt upon the outlet of the Scheur Branch of the River Ma.as, to obtain a depth of twen'ty-three feet, terminated in getting but fifteen feet, and 

has besides pushed out the bar considerably. The original curve of .sixteen 

feet, 1,100 yards from the shore, has been advanced to a distance of 3,000 yards. 

O.ne of the jetties was run out to the 26-foot curve, which was only 2,200 yards 

originally from the shore. A different system rather more tentative, in order to make experience available, would have succeeded better. Wha.t renders 

the failure here more remarkable is the fact that there was not the ghostly littoral current so generally quoted ·by ambitious engineers to fill up the deficiencies of their project, but bona fide strong tidal currents swetping the space at the jetty-heads. This was a clear case of scouring badly O.J?plied, and throwing out more material beyond the jetty-heads than the ordinary influen¢e there 

in operation could remove or dispose of. The engineer of that work, to effect 

the desired improvement, will in all probability be compelled to resort to a J?rolongation of the jetties and to extensive dredging. 

*Mr. Ea.d'i speaks of placin~S" jetties at 4,000 feet apart, less than one-half of the 

wiath of the outlet now existmg between Fort Point and Bolivar Poiut, a width 

which we have already seen was not sufficient for th& discharge at the greatest 

periods of rise, and it is known that alarm has been felt lest if the discharge be 

unwisely contracted in width the city of Galveston itself might suffer during one of these periods. tIt wou!d be something probably far exceeding a depth between jetties of 

twenty-five or even thirty feet. t By that I mean a gradual contmction of the water both as to tbe distance 

apart of the jetties and the height to which it is proposed to raise them.. 

• 

• 
• 

1232 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. FEBRUARY 3, 

The hei~ht, extent, and distance apart of these jetties were calculated by the 

ablest engmeers of Holland, and the result has shc;>wn the little reliance to be 

placed upon a. priori careful computations. Still less should reliance be placed 

upon dogmatic utterances, not the less dogmatic because they are often mere guesses. · , ·The works at the Sulina mouth of the Danube were eminently tentative in their 

character, and were pushed on by the lights furnished from experience gained day by day on the s.pot. So in the same wa.y the operations at the South Pass were t-entative ; the Jetties at t.he mout~t placed originally at1,000 feet apartt have 

had this interval diminished by spur diKes, and even by an interior line 01 jetty 

joining the ends of these dikes. It is too late~ after such experiences, to pretend to regulate beforehand the exact length, beignt, or distance apart of jetties and 

thus wholly reject the tentative process. . I do not perceive the releyancy of 1\Ir. Eads's remarks concerning leaving "outlets," which really have no relation to what hn.s been done or what is in- ~nded to Qe done here. He has probably seen a. progress sketch of the south 

Jetty at Galveston up to tbe date of June 30, 1882; or some unfinished plan not authorized fm: construction, and has been swift to conclude and to publiSh to the world tll&t outle\s,,were to be left in the jetties near the shore. 

There are a. large number of documents printed with the report of the Chief of 

Engineers emanating from various sources, such as the local engineers,* their 

assistants &c., which contain generally useful information and for such reason are published; but these reports have no other value save the authority of thP-ir 

authors, who are a,lone responsible for the views expressed. Judgment should 

be given when the works have been substantially completed aud results known, 

when responsibility will attach to the system and to individuals. 

Frequent changes are from time to time made in t~ first authorized projects, according to experience gained, the amount of fundS in the ·future which will 

probably be granted and other circumstances, and these changes may not be 

made ofticially or published until the period arrives to construct the portion of 

the works affected. Great injustice ma.y be done from not considering these 

things or from the neglect of asking explanations of what is not clearly understood, because the official papers published can not necessarily contain the 

whole subject nor even o.ll the important points. · Mr. Eads, in Appendix B of the majority report, lays down the following prin- ciple: "It is simply impossible to permanently main tam between submerged jetties any increase of depth even if such-jetties could produce it." Very well. 

lTJX?n the coast of Texas tqerc are two pla<leS where jetties onder the water level 

durmg the process of construction (and they are not yet for want of funds 

brought to the surface) have for some years past increased the depth and maintained it; and, what is st.ill more contradictory of his assertion, at ~ach of the 

places thei·e is a single jetty only, and that jetty is not placed on the side of the 

channel whence the drift. comes, bnt on the other side-there being conse- quently nothing to prevent the whole coastwise drift of sand from coniing into 

the channels. It is better sometimes to be experienced than to be dogmatic. "The views of Mr. Eads in detail, as expressed by him before the committee 

will be found in the appendix hereto, marked B," is o. quotation from the major~ ity report. I look in that appendix for the width between jetties proposed by 

Mr. Eads', a.nd find a. ~stance of 41000 feet th~re mentione~, but in snell a way that he may say the distance mentioned was simply used as an illustration-and' 

that is the. S<>le defini~ m~tion of a most imp<?rtantelement of the jetty system to be applied here which I have been able to discover. Nevertheless the major- ity report fully indorses Mr. Eads's views tn apparent ignorance of a vital feature 

of his :vlans-otherwise why does not that report furnish this important inforxna.-

tion? Does Mr. Eads's reputation give him such prestige over all the engineers Qf the country that Congress can afl'ord to approve his plans 'without knowing what they are? . · · Does Mr. Eads shrink from putting his plans in black and white either be- ca.~ .he dreads criticiSI? or has not sufficient kno"Yledge of the locaiity to com- mit himself?t If there IS not some reason, why thlS prolonged reticence? 

I He has been dogmatic in the extreme in stating his own views and· in con- demning those "":hi.ch others entertained or were supposed by him to entertain. 

One who does this ill regard to others should have the courage of his own con- victions sufficient to commit himself definitely to some project. I The distance between Fort Point and Bolivar Point appears to have been a variable element. At th~ date of the last survey it was 8,200 feet; at a former 

date about 10,560 feet. At the date of Mnjor Howell's project the distance was a little ~ore than ~,000 feet. The distance apart of the jetties at the starting point by Major Howells plan was 10.400 feet, not 12,000,feetas alleged. Acuriouscom- ~entary upon the objecti?n that the distance betw~en his jetties was too great IS the fact that the depth ill the channel correspondmg to a. width of nearly two miles was thirty-nine feet. Consider in addition that the board had in contem- plation to incline the jetties toward each other even to obtain o. depth of eight- een f~t, and the won<ler is what foundation could exist. for the clamor that the 

jetties were to be placed too far apart to do a.ny good. • • . Mr. Eads proposes to cap the Galveston jetties above high water with a. con- crete wall, so far ns can be inferred, like that constructed on the South Pass 

jetties, and presenting vertical surfaces to the action of the waves which is a, 

construction opposed to sound principles, as the waves of oscillatio~ converted 

by the sloping sides of the jetties into waves of translation strike the surfaces of 

the wall at right angles. Was it in consequence of this defect that one-half mile 

of the capping of the eastern and most exposed jetty was broken up during a s~rm? · THE PROPOSED CONTRACT WITH JIIR; EADS. 

The ~ority report promii!'Cs a. navigable depth of thirty feet a.fter Mr. Eads's 

.operation, a.nd the contract m various places makes the same promise with a proviso, however, further on in the body of the instrument that the depth of 

thirty feet will be taken without regard to width. In othe; words the OO.foot 

channel need not be over two feet in width, and consequently not~ navigable channel at a.ll. Why is it necessary to make a promise which is not to be ful- ~ed? The contrad in fact requires only a. naVIgable channel of thirty-six feet 

ill depth and two hundred feet in width, with a. continuous line of soundings ~l~~ feet in depth in the center line of the cha~el, but without regard to 

• By the provisions of the contract, however, after attaining the depth of twenty- five fe~t ?ver the ~ Mr. Eads becomes entitled to $6,350,000, a sum of money in 

my.opmion vastl.r.m excess of the cost of the amount of work necessary to pro- duce that resW., if jetties can effect it. . The amount of compensation due after attaining a depth of twenty-five feet 

*The majority report cites the authority of Colonel Mansfield's map accom- panying his report ofl880, for placing the Government jetties 12 ()()(J feet apart· in 1881and 1882 Colonel Mansfield's map does not indicate a. norlhjettyat all' 

and in 1883 a. radica.lly difficult position is assigned for that jetty; Why not ba~ taken the most natural, instead of the first and crude idea.? Bu~ in fact all of these positi~ns are solely Colonel Mansfield's, without miy sanctiOn from the proper authonty. . tIt wo~d seem to be prudent not to place the root or beginning of the jetties at a less distance apart than the opening between Bolivar and Fort Points which 

is found to be a. variable distance, sometimes about 10 000 feet, apparently meas- uring ~he :wi~ths neces_sarr under varying circumstaDces to diSCharge the ex- traoroilla.ry nses of ',Vater m Galveston Bay-and then to incline the jetties to- Ward each other until the bar be reached'. The distance at the commencement o!the jetties, ittoo great, could always be corrected by the use ofspur dikes, 

over the bar is so la.rge in compa.rison with that which the contractor would aft~rward re~i'!e from ;remaining to complete the contract, that a. strong t-emp- tation would a.nse, particularly should difficulties appear ahead at that stage of 

operations, to abandon t.be"work. It must be noted that the depth alluded to would probably be oJ;>taincd, if a.~ all, bt:f<?re it should becon;te necessary to put on ~e concrete cappmg, so that by retumg early be might also get rid of that 

portion of the contract. It is not necessary t~ go further; this method of analysis is simple and can be 

pursued by any one to demonstrate the fact that the proposed contract is so far 

un1~ds~t~~~ contractor that it might be greatly opposed to the interests of the 

rr:he fact that. the contractor must borrow money in the market at high rates ?f illt-erest, as IS alleged was done during the operations at South Pass, as this 

Inte;rest must form a part of. the contractor's estimate of cost, would seem to be 

eqmvalent, on the part of the GoYernment, to borrowing n.t a. higher rate of in- terest than it is now p aying. 

Section 6 of the proposed contract states " that said Eads and his associates .shall be untrammeled in thefulJ andfreeexerciseofhisortheir judgment skill 

and experience in the location, design, and construction of said works ahd aU 

appurtenances thereto." ' 

I submit that ~his constitutes a power over the navigable waters of the United Sta~es, unrestra.~ed by any pro-viSion for supervision of the contractor's plans, which should never be conferred upon any indivjduaL 

I desire to say that in my objections t~ tlle general scope of the contract! llave not ~tended any allusion even indirectly to 1\Ir. Ends but have endeavored to treat It ~a pure b.usiness transaction, and in the sam~ spirit I will go on to say that "Yhile th~ present system of making appropriations for the improvement of ~roors .and nvers may be changed to ad vantage in some points1

·I do not regard It as an rmprovt:ment to select some one point for completion m preference to many others qmte i\S deserving of e.qual consideratio~ a.t the hands of Congress, nor to choose one contr:1ctor or engmeer to the exclus10n of many others equa.lly cap~I?le, thereby p~tting away competition in cost and the proper and nece sary criticism of plans. , 1 

M<?reo':er~ ~h~ intenti?n to ~ppropr.iate a large sum in favor of contracting with 

specified illUIVIduals will rally to theu support many interested pt.~sons and in 

the efforts made to mold opinions to their views it will be difflcult'ofte'u to obtain a ~ndid exposition of fad or t:o o.rl'ive o.t a. sound conclusion. 'Dbere are other evils, ~a.tent to every one, which need not be 'eDClmerated. 

I am, Sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

JOHN NEWTON, 

H Chi(/ of Engi~Uers, Brig. and Bvt. Maj. Gen., U. 8. A. on. ALBERT S. WILLIS, · 

· Chairmanofthe Committu on C'&mnnerce, 

United Slates House of Representatives. 

The.re see:ril.S t~ have :t>e~ a determined purpose on the part of the 

committee l'eporting thiB bill to take from the office of the Chief of 

Engineers of the War Department the control and direction of many of 

the more importab t wol'ks. 

The jurisdiction of the l\fississippi River Commission is to be ex- tended. A new board, to be called the United States harbor board is 

to be cre:ated, both to restrict and limit the jurisdiction and duties' of 

the Engmeer Department, and which, if adopted, will in my judgment 

most serio~ly impair the effic~ency of ~his branch of the service. Why; 

sh?uld. this be do~e? What IS there m the record of this Department 

to J~tify such action? There are and have been for many years in the E~g:tneer D~part~ent gentlemen of the h!ghest grade of engineering 

ability and mtelligence, gentlemen who have been highly educated in 

their profession, and that, too, at the hands of the Governnient. They und~rstand most thoroughly the work ·they have in hand. Their in.: 

tegrity and honesty of purpose has never been questioned. No breat1i 

of scandal bas ever· attached to this office. The work performed has 

been thorough, substantial, and of the most permanent character and 

has generally met the highest expectations of the public. Why then ' 

I again ask, should the jurisdiction and work of this office be limited or restricted? . 

It is ~roposed ~ turn over the stretch of the Mississippi River from D~ Momes ~~nds to ~be mouth of th~ Ohio River to the Mississippi 

River Comnuss10n. Who asks that this be done? All the improvements on the upper Mississippi have been made aecording to the plans 

and under the sole direction of the Engineer Office of the War Department. These improvements have proved successful'and satisfactory to 

all interested; and I }lelieve I voice the unanimous sentiment of the 

people of the valley of the upp8! Mississippi when I protest against the 

proposed change. I have to-day received a joint resolution of the Legi.&-

lature of my own State protesting in the fo1lowing emphatic terms 

against· this proposition: 

'l_'he improvement of the 111i~issippi River between Saint Anthony Falls and 

Cauo, and tb:e consequent train of benefits, depends upon the carrying out of 

the pla.ns which have been formulated by t]J.e engi~rs of the Army after many 

years of study an~ examination, without aid or ad vice from any one and a.ll the 

good results attamed are due to their efforts, and limited only by the humble means placed by Congress at their command. 

We have observed with great concern dlrring the last few ye3.rs that the work so well planned ~n~ successfully inaugurated by.th.e engineers has been placed rmd~r t~e ~uperytaion of a newly created coiDmlSsion by interpolations in the 

appropriation bills. · · This supervision we regard as not only unnecessary bnt hazardous to the best 

interests ?f ?~ St:a.tt:• involved as !Jley are in the completed improvement of the 

Upper .Mississippi River. We believe that the parties who devised these plans will best execute them, and the credit should rest in their hands. 

. If it is th.e desire of Congress to ~tain efficiency and integrity in 

the expenditure of money appropnated to carry on the work of river 

~d harbor improvements, it. should not restrict the jurisdiction and ~pple the pow~ of th~ Engmeer Department. If~_ on the contrary, it IS th~ purpose to maugnrate an era. of corruption an<1 jobbery, a system ofpnvate contracts, then it should adopt th~ legiSlation as the first 

step in such direction. · 

Mr: <J!lairman, it is my earliest. ~h to be able to vote for this ap- propnation, and I trust that the obJectionable features may be so elimi-
1885. ·. OO~GRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE~ 1233 

nated from it as to enable me to do so. As it now stands I certainly repute,· the one I have already named, stated there that, in his jn<lg~ 

cannot. · . · ment, $66,000,000 would probably be l'equired in order to perfect the · [During the delivery of the foregoing speech of Mr. W ASH:Blm~ tha. , channel navigation alone, leaving out of account altogether the enorfollowing proceedings occurred~ . · · m9us cost of the levees upon the banks. 

Mr. STONE. Mr. Chairman, how much time have I left? Mr. BLANCRARD. Will the gentleman name the man who mafle 

The CHAIRl\IAN. The gentleman fromMassachu etts bus ten min- that estimate? 

utes of his time left. · 1\Ir. HEPBURN. Colonel Comstock. 

Mr. WASHBURN. I ask unanimous consent that I may have five ~Ir. BLANCHARD. And is not Colonel Comstock in a minority in 

minutes more. . the commission all-the time? 

The C~AIRl\IAN. The gentleman from 1\linnesota asks unanimou.c; Mr. HEPBURN. In reply to the gentleman! say that no other man 

consent for five minutes additional time, to be taken out of the time to bas dared to give an estimate that he would stand by. There is no one which the debate is limited. Is the1·e objection? that has dared to c~mtradict Colonel Comstock throughout all the con- Air. HISCOCK. Ur. Chairman, could you not give the gentleman tJ·oversy from first to last . the time by unanimous con....~nt without taking it out of the time? . Mr. BLANCHARD. Will the gentleman yield for a contradiction 

The CHAIRUAN. That is not in the powe1· of the Chair. now? 

1\Ir. HISCOCK. I ask thatthegentlemanfromMinnesot..'t be allowed 1\Ir: HEPBURN. ·. I can not yield. l have orily ten minutes altofive minutes beyond tl1e time fixecl for c1osing the debate. gether. . The CHAIRMAN. That is not in order. 'fheHousehaslimited the Mr. BLANCHARD. Well, the tatement is not uccor~g to the 

time at which the debate shall close. To whom· does the gentleman facts. 

from Massachusetts [Mr. STONE] surrender the remainder of his time.? Mr. HEPBURN. The statement is not according to tpe facts, says 

Mr. STONE. I yield the remainder of my titne to tbo gentleman the gentleman. I will confront him with the record and show who is 

from Io~a [Mr. HEPBuRN]. correct in tQis matter. Here is the testimony of Colonel Comstock on 1\Ir. HEPBURN. Mr. Chairman, upposing the figures that have ibis point: 

. been given by the gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. W .ASHB RN] .with Que ·tion. You state that you a1·e w01·king for this idea. of confining the rh·er 

reference to the cost of this improvement at Galveston to be correct, do within a space of 3,000 feet wiue from Cairo to Red River.· they not justify as a pertinent inquiry this: Would' it not be cheaper Answer. Ycs;sir. 

and much more economical for t.be.United States to move Galveston to Q. Do you expect that you can accomplish that within a. reasonable time nnd with a ressonable expenditure of money? - a harbor rather·than try to move the harbor to Galve ·ton? [Laugh- A, We are working towurd that limit·, and our estimate is, if some definite 

ter.] · sum is nppropt·iared, that work can be carried sufficientlY. far to give fen feet of 

I am heartily in fuvor. , sir, of some of the purposes of this bill. 1 water from Cairo to Re1l River. lt will nbt make a. river with parallel banks everywhere. 1\Iuch of that depends upon experience yet ·to be ascertained. believe that the rivers and harbors of this country should be improYcd l\Iuch of the ri'\'er we want to make with parallel banks. 

for the purposes of navigation, and for plU'poses of navigation alone. th~·cr.~~~refor~ it is imposs!ble to tell the tlme that will be required, or to state 

Many of the objects of this bill meet my hearty commendation. Tlie A. The time required depends on the rate of appropriation. The estimates 

Hennepin Canril is, in my judgment, a most meritorious improvement. '\'nry from $30,000,000 to $60,000,000. 

It is demanded by a large section of this country. It has been de- Q,. That depl'nds largely upon the number of places that are to be worked 

mailded by three State Legislatures, representing more than ten mill- u~.n :it~~~~j.~dgment is that we ~ust work the whole length oftbe river: · ions of people, and there is no feature in this bill which should so Q. Do you believe it c:m be uone for $66,000,000? . heartily commend it to the atten,tion of this committee. A. Some such ~um as that; '"'"e llave no experience on wllich to base our w01·k, 

B h f '~" f' t th t · h bl · d bt or rather our estimates. . ut t ere are some o 1\0:) ea ures a m my urn e JU gment oug Q. You would not, on your own reputation, say that would be the outside 

to meet with reprobation, and prominent among them is the provisi<?n limit? . . for the pretended improvementofthenavigationofthe MississippiRi-rer. A. No, sir; nor would I say it would be the outside limit either in the way of 

1 am in favor of reaSOJ~able and necessary appropriations for this river, being too much or too little. It may be less or it may be more than that. 

but I want io ask the gentlemen if they have give.n thought io the There you ha"Veit, Mr. Chairman. The best estimate this gentleman 

enormous cost t.h~t is invol'\"ed .in . this pr9posecl jlUprovement, .to say" can gh e of the cost of ~proving ]ow-water navigation-the 3,000 l'eet 

nothing of the probab~lities as to its succ~ss. I am prepared to assert, limit-i tbe enormous sum of$66,000,000: 

and in my belief to p~ove, that this improvement contt>mplates an QUt- Why, Mr. Chairman, the nearest approach the comn:ussion has ever lay of more than $150,000,000-one huilclred and :fifty millioiiS for a come to· an estimate was in 1881 in its report of that year. This is the 

scheme ofimprdvement which is shown by the commission themselves· language used: • to be entirely experimental in its character. . None of the distinguished 

engineers that have charge of this work has yet hail the temerity to say 

in any official document that their vlans will result in success. Year ~fter year they come to us saying that the who1e scheme is experimental in its character. Year after yea1; they tell us that more time 

must elapse befol'e they will be able to say 'vith certainty that their 

work will be a sqccess. 

They have given us, howeve1·,· some estimates as to the probable cost. 

In their report of 1881 they tell us that the cost of the improvement 

will be $33,000,000. But, sir, in that same report they tell us that the 

improvement of two of the reaches, onJy sixty-three miles in length, 

will be something in excess of two and a half millions of dollars. Yet, 

in the last report th..1:t we have, or at least in a minority report, Colonel 

Comstock gives the country the important information that these estimates are erroneous; that a sum in excess of the estimates has already 

been expended; that the improvements upon these two reaches of the 

river do not approach completion, and that, in.his judgment, at least 

three times the estimate, or $8,000,000, will be needed for the perfection of the navigation of those two reaches. 

This is Colonel Comstock's language in his last rl:lport: 

The original estimate of the commission for thirty-eight miles of the Plum 

Point reach was $1,432,000; and for twenty-five miles of the Lake Providence 

r<"~~ !~~~~~in that the cost of these works will be notlesl'tban three times 

the origfhal estimate, and e"en yet it is not practicable to state with definiteness 

what the ultimate cost will be. 

Two million six ·hundred and seventy thousand dollars was the estimate of the commission for the improvement of sixty-three miles of 

river. Mote than this sum has already been expended, and we are now informed by a member of the commission that three times the estimate 

will be necessary, or $8,010,000. 

And he speaks only with · reference to low-water n~vigation. He 

leaves out of the estimate entirely the 'COst of the levees upon the banks 

of the river. Before the committee appointed by this House of Representatives in the Forty-seTenth Congress mu~ valuable information 

was given. Witnesses were called before the committee and members 

of the commission were questioned and required to answer, under the 

solemnity of an oath, as to the probable success and the probable ~ost 

of this improveme.nt; and one gentleman, an engineer of distinguished 

XVI-··7s 

The estimates of cm;t submitted in the report of February 17, 1880, for initial w'orks \1poa six reaches of the river between Cairo and Vicksburg, embracing an aggi'Cg'~ c le11~h of one hundred and eighty four miles of bad navigation, amounts to $4,113,000, and it was stated ns the opinion of the commission- - "That such addit.ionnl works ns will ultimately be required to complete and 

render permanent the improvement contemplated in this system at the localities 

specified will not exceed the amount stated as needed for initial works." 

This would ·amount to t)S,226,000 fo1· one hundred and eight.:r·four miles, or about $45,000 per mile. . ·. · ' 

These estimates cove1· about one-fourth of'the length of the riv.er when~ nav- igation needs improvement, namely, from Cairo to Red River; and assuming thnt tbe rE'lllaining three-fourths will cost pl'Oportionately, the aggregate cost of 

the enli;:e improvement would reach $3,000,000. · 

The Plum Point and Providence reaches were included in the specific 

estimate in the first of the above pa1-agraphs, and the estimate for them was something over two and ·one-half millions, but Colonel Comstock 

has stated that here was an underestimate of about five and one-half 

millions; thut eight millions-will be required when only a little over two and one-h;.tlf was anticipated. This mistake was made with refer- ence to the two reaches best known. If such mistakes w~ possible in 

respect to them, whatniaywenot~nticipatewith reference to the othe1-s? 

If the commissio:b has made no worse blunder in respect to other parts 

of the riYer, we may confidently expect.that the total· cost for channel 

improvements alone will reach the enormous sum of$99,000,000. · · When we remember the characte of this work, when we remember 

that it includes the building of one artificial bank in mid-river, and the 

covering of at least one natural bank with expensive mattresses, made of 

wire and .brush, ~m the bottomoftherivertothe summitofthe bank, 

and covering. the exposed bank from low water to the summit with 

stone one foot deep the whole distance from Cairo to the mouth of tbe 

river, ·a .distance of 1,085 miles, we can have some idea ofthe enormous cost of the channel improvement. 

This improvement is to be continuous the entire distance from Cairo 

down. Colonel Comstock, iri his testimony already quoted, says: '' My own judgment is, we must work the whole lengthofthe river." The 

commission in the report of 1881 say: 

The co~ssion are, however, prepared to recommend the application of the 

methods arid details heretofore described to the lower river, from Commerce, 1\Jo.; downward, with such continuity as will not only jrnprove the immediate 

localities w)l.ere na-vigation · is now bad, but will also establish and retain such 

coQtrol over the high-water discharge as will an-est that tendency toward detc-
1~34 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. FEBRUARY 3, 

riora.tion which has rendered the systema-tic improvemen of the entire river nec- essarv. · . While this order of progress is proper for works designed to amend and regu-. late the existing channel, those .undertaken for the purpose of retaining or in-· 

creasing the volume of discharge within the bed, such as levees and dams for 

clo:U.Ug outlets, should begin below and be carried continuously up stream.· 

'These quotations would. seem to settle the question: as to the extent 

of the work and its continuity, and in view of the opinions expressed 

I hope gentlemen will not continue the assertion that· it is only in a few 

pla<!es that work is required. It might not· be so. intolerable if the cost 

ended with the ·enormous ·expenditures for channel improvement, but 

it does not. 

Mr. Chairman, this is.not the whole of the case. This same com- mittee of the last House made a voluminous report: The present 

Speaker of the House was a member of that committee. They spent 

weeks, as I understand, investigating the subject. They went over the 

route. They examined scores and scores of witnesses, and that com- mittee have told us as their solemn judgment, :fi.rSt, that the levee feat- ure of the improvement is entirely unnecessary as a factor in the improvement of low-water navigation; and second, that the cost of this 

improvement is to reach .an enormous amount, somewhere between 

$50,000,000 and $100,000,000. 

The language of th'e co~ttee is as follows: 

The probable expense of a system of levees of sufficient strength t.o hold the 

:ftood waters of the river within a channel, a.s is proposed by the commission, of 5,000 feet, is variously estimated from $50,000,000 to 3100,000,000, while many wit- nesses are not presumptuous enough to even venture upon an. estimate of theii· 

ultiinate expense. · 

Me._c;srs. ELLIS and THOMAS, of the committee, filed a minority re- port, bnt in speaking of the cost use this language: '' The expense will 

be great, ex:ceed!ng in all probability the sum of $50,000,000 it is true." 

Many gentlemen have stated that levees are of but little if any value 

in the improvement of low-water navigation. On this point your committee say: 

Your committee are sa.tisfied, from the evidence, that the people along the 

banks of the .l\lississippi are.chie:fty and naturally inte1·ested in the building of 

levees, not so much in tlie interest of navigation as to secure their lands from · overflow and thereby enhance their val ne: If the building of levees was essen- tial to the improveJ:D,ent of navigation, the fact that they afforded protection to the riparian owners would be no reason for discontinuing them. On the con- trary, such a result would be extremely gratifying. Your committee, how~ver, 

do not believe that they are essential to the improvement of the low-water nav- igation of ~he 1\Ii is ippi and that their construction for such a purpose can not be justified. • 

No one, I believe, claims that the low-water navigation will be improved by the use of levees. Many distinguished engineers say they 

will not be beneficial when the river is at flood, except to protect the 

adja.cent lands. The commission regard the levees as an experiment. 

Senator HARRISON, whenamemberofthe commission, joined with Colonel Comstock and the committee of .this House in the opinion that 

they were of no benefit to low-water navigation. Yet this bill permits 

the commission to go on in ·a lavish outlay of the public money solely 

for the purpose, as I believe, of improving and enhancing in value the 

private property of citizens. 

Mr. Chairma.D., I want to see the navigation of the l\1ississippi River 

improved, but it·ouly needs it when it. is low. Whep. it is at flood the 

navigation is good enough, and it· is only w:hen it.is at flood that anybody wants the le'.'ees. When the river is in a condition that navigation requires improvem.ent, no one cares about the levees. · Another feature of the bill that appears ·to me as objectionable is 

that.pro.viding for the i~provement of the Galveston Harbor; and here I 

desire to say that I would interpose no objection to the appropriation 

of a reasonabl~ sum to accomplish this improvement. But in my 

opinion there should be a proper relation between the expenditure and 

the importance of the locality to be improved in respect to its population and its commerce. Let.me call attention to t.he fact that there are but two lines Qf railway reaching the town of Galveston. · If ,you wish to· intersect the railway system of the State of Texas, you must 

leave that*ity and travel to the northward; No considerable portion 

of the commerce of the State has as yet reached that port. In an ap- . pendix to a report made by one of the Senators representing that State 

in the other end of the Capitol, on the 30th of June last, I find the following: · 

Statement shotoing the amount Qj ex.ports of merchandise fi'Oin and imports 

_into ·the ;port' of Galveston, Tex. 

DOMESTIC EXPORTS BY ARTICLES, 1883. 

Articles. · Quantities. Values. 

C t

•o . . { ba.les... ... 516, 993 } ctc>n 0,,., ? ".n 673 ............ : .......................................... pounds.. 268,276,602 '41'"'"'• ..,, 

01l-cake and oil-cake meal.. ......................... pounds.. 56, 921,742 516,857 

Animals, living............................................................................... J.6,645 

Wood,a.nd manufactures of............................................................ 11,446 

All other articles .......................................... :.................................. 59,'l:l7 

j~!:l;:'::':;:,..:.~.~~:::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::' :::::::::::::::::::::1 'l'ota~ domesti«: and foreign exports ................. , ................... .. 

29,627,898 

1,149 

29,629;M7 

It will be borne in mind that this is a. repoli; made by a friend of this 

improvement, and I assume that it is as favorable as it could be made. 

Yet how utterly insignificant the whole statement appears in comparison with the exports and imports of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, 

and other cities. Eliminating the one export, cotton, and the remaining total is but little in excess of a. half million of dollars. 

The imports are, by the same report, shown to be as f9llows: . 

Articles. Quantities. Values. 

Coffee ............ : .................................................... pounds... 9, 262,555 

:!l~~~ ~::: ~~1:::.:·.:·:::::::::::::::::::::::::.::::::::::::::::~~:::::: 1~: ~: ~ All other manufactures of iron and steel ........................................... .. Coal, bituminous ................................................. :.tons... 33,4S6 

Articles, the produce of the United States, brought back. .................... .. 

~~e-;8PiriiS:·~~i'~~;di~~:::::::·:::::::::::.:·::::::::::::~~~::: .... ~?:.?.~:.~. Beer, ale, and porter ...... , ....................... : ........... gallons... 18,066 

Earthen and stone ware ................................................................. ~ ... .. 

r~~~~ :~i~~~: ~~. .~~~~~-~~~.~ ::::.::::::::::::::::::::~:::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::: 

$732,233 

77,974 

167,161 

231,200 

76,~ 

40,755 

31~660 

15,s:.> 

14,369 

U,102 

12-,4J9 

97,9'1:7 

Total .... ." ....................................................................................... 1,511, 712 

Iron and steel and coffee amount to $1,208,G28 in value, leaving :i 

total of less than a third of a. million of dollal'S as the value of aJl other 

articles. But it has been said that Texas must have this port in order 

that her cereals may reach their market. I regard this as a mistake; 

Texas has no surplus for shipment: In view of what has been said of 

the magnificent extent of this great State, I make this suggestion with 

commendable. diffidence. It may astonish gentlemen after the nddresses we have listened to in commendation of this scheme, but the 

statement rt?Sts upon proofs that these gentlemen can not controvert. 

I again appeal to the report of the Senator from Texas; I call up a wit- ness of his own selection-one eminently worthy and well qruilifi.ed-a 

no less distinguished gentleman than Ron. J. R. Dodge, of the Agricultural Bureau. He has prepared, and the Senator indorses by incorporating into his report in favor of this improvement,. the following table: 

Product of cereals in. Texas in. 1882 and 1883. 

_________________ ee __ re ------~------ ---~--~_. __ , ___ 1_~ __ ·' __ 

· Bu-shels. Bus1U?l8. Corn ................................................................................ 63,416,306 63,146,300 

Wheat .................... :......................................................... 4,173,700 4,301.000 

Rye................................................................................... 60, 900 57 855 Oats ................................................................... ,.............. 9, 9&!, l:lOO 9, 489; 3QO 

Barley............................................................................. 118,720 1_27,_03<! 

There is usually no surplus of any of the cereals in Texas. The supply of corn last year was a,}:jf)ut thirty-five bushels per 'Capita, which was average supply of the United ·StateS per capita in the census years. The wheat supply was. only about two and a half bushe~, which is les.s than the consumption of the 

State. 

The only cotton State which ever has an appreciable surplus of corn is Ten- nessee, and that is but a small and tmreliable quantity. . J. R. D~DGE, S~ali.'ltician. 

In the great staple of corn Te.xas does not produce sufficient for her own people, and does not produce one-half enough of wheat. The 

average consumption of wheat in the United States is nearlym bushels 

to each of the'population. Texas produces less thu.u half enough for ~er own people. In view of this statement by the eminent statistician; 

does not <ail of this talk about the necessity of this improvem~nt in 

order that the grain ~f Texas may reach a foreign market sound like 

,the veriest gasconade. 

But it is said·that the improvementis demanded in order that Texas 

cattle may be able to reach a market. Let me again call your attep.-

tion to the statement of Professor Dodge. He· says that the total shipments of, living animals of all 1.-inds in the year 1883 aggregated but 

$16,645 in value. · Y-et the census of 1880 informs us that roaming the prairies of Texas are more than 6,000,000of cattle. Six millions in the State and$16,000 

worth shippef from the principa.lportoftheState! Therewouldseem 

to ·be something radically wrong in this if it were not known~hat the 

great .State of Texas ·was a.s destitute of cattle suitable for the European market as she is of com and wheat. The grass-fed cattle of T~as, 

the small-harned and big-homed cattle of the Southwest, will not bear ocean shipment. The cattle that are .in demand for foreign shipment are the com-fattened steers of the highest grade. No others will stand 

the shrinkage and the other elementB of the cost of transportation. The 

market for Texas cattle lies to the northward. . Recognizing this fa.ct, gentlemen from that State have been pressing 

upon the attention Of members of the House the necessity of the establishment of a national.cattle-trail six miles wide, with convenient feeding-grounds, not more than twelve miles square, and extending from the 

south line of the Indian Territory to the northern limit of the United 

States. Surely Texas is in her most modest mien. All that she wants 

at present is the US'e of a strip of the nublic domain twelve miles (or 
1885. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. 1235 

thereabouts) in width and 1,000 miles or mor~ in length for her cattletrail, and $9,000,000 for a harbor at which to export those not. driven. 

Would it not be better to pack the attenuated carcasses of her beeves 

in their immense and wondrous horns and float them out to vessels over 

the Galveston Bar? 

The principal use Galveston would hav~ for an improved harbor 

would be in the shipment of cotton. In 1883 she shipped coastwise and 

abroad 516,993 bales, or about 6,000ca.r-loads. This could certainly be 

carried to NewOrleansfor$35 per car, ora totalsnmof$210,000. This 

improvement will cost, I believe, at least 9,000,000. The interest of 

this sum, at 3 per cent., would be $270,000 per aJ\DUin. The $9,000,000 

of cost would certainly be worth 3 per cent. to the Treasury . . Now, 

would it not be better for the Government to beat the charge of carrying all of this cotton from Galveston to New Orleans-making thebwner a present of the entire freight-money-than to undertake this improvement? In my judgment it would be better, even if there were no subsequent cost for the repair and maintenance of the costly structure. 

But, Mr. ~irman, gentlemen have insisted that the improvement 

is not to be rery costly. And it has been suggested that the ultimate 

cost is to be much less than the ·sum named in the Senate bill providing 

for the work. I am afraid gentlemen are not quite sincere when they 

so declare. I am afmid their judgement has been disturbed by too 

eager desire. They have, I fear, tried to convince the Holli3e without 

themselves lreing convinced. What evidence have ·gentlemen of our CQmmittee, bearing upon this point of ultinlate cost, that was not in the 

possession of the distinguished gentleman whq made the report to the 

Senate that I have already referred to? That gentleman is distinguished for the care with which he makes investigation and the .fidelity 

with which he makes report. His report is au. elaborate argument in 

advocacy of the bill which proposed to pay Captain Eads the sum of 

$7,750,000 for securing the results that are contemplated by this bill. 

No gentleman has authority for saying that the plans to ·be pm-sued 

under this bill are other or different from those contemplated by the bill 

advocated in the Senator's report. 

In this report we are informed that the improvement involves jetties 

extending 8.33 miles into the Gulf of 1\fexico. The writer institutes a comparison between· the ~provement at the month of the :Uissi illPi 

and at Galve torr. The report says: 

By the terms of the bill :Mr. Eadsis r equh·ed to secure a. maximum channel of not le!'ISthan thirty feet in depth for a total compensation of$7,'/oO,OOO. In view of the work to be done and the results to be accomplished, the committee is sat- isfied that thi is a reasonable compensation. The cost of the jetties at the mouth of the Mississippi River was fixed in 1874 by a commission of engineers at "',342,110, and l\lr. Eads afterward ng1·ced to do the work for $5,250,000. The ~om mission referred to was composed of Generals Wright, Alexander, and Com- stock:, of the United States Engineer Corps, Prof. Henry 1\fitcllcll, of the United States Coast Survey, and T. E. Sickles, W. Minor Roberts, and H. T. Whitcomb, · distinguished civil engineers. It may be safely assumed that the-estimate of this commission, made a.CI;er an inspection of similar works in Europe and after a careful examination and study of the whole matter, was a fair one, and if this be true, it follows that the maximum compensation provided for in the present bill is reasonable, because- First. The jetties at Galveston must be considerably more than double the length of those at the mouth of the Mississippi to reach out to the same depth of water· · Seco~d:They must be of a heavier and more substantial character, becaustl the water is deeper, and, as they extend so much farther out into the Gulf, they 

will be much more exposed to storm action; . Third. The work being so exposed, there will be greater danger of injury to the boats and apparatus used in its construction; and Fourth. In addition to the jetties over the outer bar, works of an extensive and costly charact-er will be required to deep~n the inner bar. 

• * •. • • • * The profiles of the Galveston Bar show that the a'\'erage depth of water to mean high tide for the two jetties-wlll be thirteen and three-quarter feet. Applying the form of the average cross-section of the Mississippi jetties to this depth with twenty feet width at the top shows that the required average cross- section at Gal '\'estoil for j ettie3 of equal strength will require 1,018 square feet of section or 1'38 per cent .. more material than the Mississippi jetties. '1'he profiles also show that the jetties at Galveston must have an aggregate length of not less thau 8.33 miles. . It has been shown above that 8.33 miles of jetties at Galveston, if of no larger average cross-section thau those at the mouth of the Mississippi, would cost $2,64.6,207. •.rothis mmt be added 138 percent; for~e increasedde_pth at Galveston, and this would amount to $31

651.765, making an aggregate of 'Sfj.297,772. The cost of the works to deepen the mner bar at Galveston are not included in the above amount. These will probably_ cost as -much as the works at the head ot the South Pass of the Mississippi River. In the works at the head of'the.South 

Pass there was 301,515 cubic yardS' of brush and stone, which at the price of $2.88j per cnbi<l yard would amount to $869,868. This sum may theret'ore be added to otl:Set the cost of the works on .the inner bar ~t Galveston, and this would lnak:e the aggrega.te cost of th~ works $7,167,840. There can be no doubt of the fact that the works at Galveston, during their construction, will be exposed to danger of injury from the violence of storms. The works at the mouth of the Mississippi River were, owing to their location, not subject to thi~ danger to the same extent. When once these works at Gal- veston are completed and solidified they will be strong enough, 1\lr. Eads gu:n- antees, to resist the most severe storm without serious injury. The time when the risk: of injury is greater is during' the progress of construction. A.t such a time these works, built out for miles into the Gulf and with no protection against 

storms, must be injured to a. greater or less degree. In estimating the cost of any great work a. percentage to cover contingencies is usually added to the price, and should be allowed. In view of the risk of injury to the works during con truction, and of their failure to produce the stipulated depths, the commit- tee is of opinion that 25 per cent. should be added to the total estimated cost to cover contingencies. This would amount t.o 1,791,960, which, added to the cost of the work:, makes the total sum of $8,909,800. 

This argument emanating from this distinguished and authoritative source ought to satisfy gentlemen of the committee that the grand total 

:>f cost, arrived at after su.ch solicitous care, and after exhausting every 

source of information, is correct, and that the whole cost of the Galveston improvement is but $40,200 less than $9,000,000. When we remem- ber how liable the friends of any appropriation of this character are to 

underestimate cost rather than overstate it we may, I think, safely say 

that this work involves a depletion of the Treasury exceeding the sum last named. In comparison, Mr. Chairman, with appropriations heretofore made to improve the great harbors of the nation, this sum seems to be an immense one and greatly disproportioned to the needs of a city of 22,000 inhabitants with an established commerce, such as the 

friends of this bill have shown to belong to the port of Galveston. 

I have iri my possession, sir, a clipping made from a recent number 

of the New York Tribune. I have not examined it to see if the sums stated to have been appropriated to the cities named are correctly 

stated, but I assume them in the main to be. The writer says: 

It is estimated that the improvement of Galveston Harbor, according to the scheme which the committee is urged to adopt, will cost nearly $8,000,000. That . sum ·exceeds by about $3,000!000 the total expenditm·es on the harbor: of New York from the first appropnatiou thirty-three years ago down to the present 

time; it-is more tpan four times as great as the total sum expended on Boston Harbor, six times as great as the total amount expended for the impro'\'ement of Chicago Harbor, nearly eight times as great as the sum total appropriated for Baltimore Harbor, and it exceeds by more than $3,000,000 the amount paid to Captain Ends for jetty improvements at the mouth of the Mississippi. 

Three millions for New York with its hundreds of millions of foreign commerce and its 2,000,000 of inhabitants. Eight or nine millions for 

Galveston, with its 22,000 inhabitants and less than $30,000,000 of 

foreign commerce. ·It can not be said that this great inequality is because the great mart has received all that is needed, and that no further 

demands are made. This is incorrect. Year after year demands have 

been made for greater harbor facilities, so that the produce of the West 

might be more cheaply handled. The Harlem River improvement and 

others have been knocking vainly yeat after year at the door of your 

committee. It h~ no money for increased facilities in New York Harbor, but. millions for the distmbance of ·the pastoral calm and the un- vexed waters of the quiet village on the shores of the Gulf of 1\!exico. 

There is aquestiO'n involved in thi-,improvementthatseems to me to 

be one of great importance to those gentlemen who are known as strict 

constructionists, g~tlemen who a.r..e always fearful lest something will 

be done by the Congress without proper warrant in the Constitution. 

I believe that the large1· number of this school of statesmen who adorn 

this pommittee are advocates of the Galveston improvement . . MRRY of 

tlrem think that the construction of a canal connecting the wateis of 

the Mississippi River with the great chain oflak-es and giving a ·water 

way from the prairies ·of Iowa to the Atlantic would be an unwarranted and unconstitutional exercise of power and a profligate misuse 

of the .Public treasury. I would ask such, '' What is the improv.ement 

you contemplate over the Galveston Bar? Is it not the digging of a canal_:.a canal8.33 miles long, 17 feet deep, and 200 feet wide?" 

It is true that it is covered with water, but aside from this peculiarity and in addition. it has every element and quality of a canal. 

It is a ditch filled with water, and that is a canal If some of the fossils -who oppose the Hennepin Canal had been called upon in their youth 

to puss upon the question they would have fotmd all of.the conditions 

to be similar; .(or in the glacial period, we are told by scientiSts, all of 

our-grand lt:IississippiValleywas covered with water, and in that early 

day the construction of the Hennepin Canal would have been in. all of 

its characteristics and phenomona like the proposed improvement under 

the surface of the Gulf. · 

This section of the bill involves the establishment of jetties extending from the shore line into the Gulf of Mexico a distance of 8. 33 miles. 

The jurisdiction of the United States extends from the shore line, at 

low tide, the distance of three miles. The eontemplated improvement 

extends five miles farther. It extends for .five miles into the high seas, 

into the common jurisdiction of the commercial nations of the world. 

As a nation we have no exclusive jurisdiction or exclusive right. Yet we are usurping such j nrisdiction and right. Suppose that on this improvement, eight miles from our shore, a crime is committed. By what 

law and who will punish it? Not bythestatutes bythe usual process ~f law, for the o:ff~nse was committed more than a league from the 

coast line. Not by admiralty, because it was not committedonavessel 

covered by our flag. It will not do to say that the water along this 

dist.ance is not very deep, and therefore this distance does not enter into or become a part of the league by which our jurisdiction is extended 

from our shore. Is it not the presence of the water rather than its 

depth that is to be regarded? . , Again, if we have the right to invade the high seas for a distance of 

five miles, why ID!l-Y we not, if we choose, carry the right farther-from 

Florida coast to Cuba? Where is the limit to which we may go? Does 

not this construction involve every principle of constitutional power 

that would be involved in the buildingof.Ca.J?tain Eads's ship-railroad or a canal across the Isthmus of Panama? And how can gentlemen 

who can not build a canal within our jurisdiction engage in such an 

improvement outside it? 

I beg to call the ~ttention of the gentlemen of the committee to a 

provision of this bill of very astonishipg character: 

Said work:s.shall be constructed a~ording to the plans, specifications, and esti- mates to be subm.itted by James B. Eads as hereinafter provided for. 

Mr. Chairman, have yo~ ever seen in law or resolution a provision 
1236 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD~HOUSE. FEBRU.ABY 3; 

so anomalous as this? It puts the entire Treasury of this Government 

into the hands of this man Eads. There is absolutely no limitatioh 

placed on his expenditure,· or the necessity that he may create for expenditure. He has made no estimates, specifications, or plans. He is 

yet to make them, and when they-are made the Secretary of War and 

the Engineer Corps of the· Army are to accept them without demurrer or -dissent, and execute them. ·The will and the judgment of the sworn officers of the Government are in subjection to a person not an officer~ not nuder oath, nor under bond. It will be remembered that 

it haS. been somewhat boastfully said by a gentleman very friend1y to 

this bill that the city of Galveston was obligated to pay to Eads in case of his success a sum much larger than that proposed by the Government. 

This is in itself a fact that in my judgment unfits him fo:r the serv- ice of the United States. There ought not to be any diVIded duty or divided obligation connected with tmsts ofthischaraeter. The larger 

the expenditure the better will the interests of Galveston be served. 

.'fhe expenditure of $9;ooo,ooo, largely for labor and ~rude materials, 

in that city, will be a wonderful blessing to her people even if no ship 

should ever pass through the improvem~nt; ap.d the larger the expenditure the farther will the interests of these good people be· concerned. 

I think they have been too liberal to Captain Eads to· commend him to 

this committee. 

But I find another most singular provisi~?n in this bill, in the folJowing language: The appropriations for the Mississippi River "shall 

be expended; under the dil:ection of the Sooretary of War, in accord- ance with the plans, specifications, estimates, and recommendations of 

the Mississippi River Commission, as approved or amended by an advisory engineer of said commission, which office is hereby created, said 

advisory engineer to be appointed by the President, ata.sala1·y of $3,500 

per annum; and James B. Eads is hereby recommended to .the President for that p<>iition.'' 

Here yon will notice, gentlemen, that Captain 'Eads is again made 

absolutely controloog. If he doe~ not approve, the ·work of the com- mission shall not go forwanl. They may plan aml devise, bn the must 

approv.e. They have had the experience of years, .but he m::Ey amend 

any or all of· t.heir suggestions. Does it not seem that our honorabfe 

committee have been seized with a blind infatuation .for this distin- gui~ed engineer that would be rebuked in a school-girl of 15 years? lfr. Chairman, I have no hostility to the city of G;:Uveston, or any 

proper plan for the improvement of her commercial facilities. '\Ve have 

already expended more tha.n a million and a half on that harbor. The 

engineer in charge says that one million more will complete his work, 

resulting in a depth of twenty-five feet in that harbor. I am willing 

.that this sum shall be appropriated, but I am not willing to throw 

away the sums already expended and begin anew. Let me call your 

attention to. the latest report of the officer in charge: . 

Officer. in charge~ 1\Iaj. S: 1\I. 1\Iansfield, Corps of Engineers, having under his immediat~ orders Lieut. W. L. Fisk, Corps-of Engineers. (During t.he interval 

between :Augustl,1883, and October J, 1883, the works were temporarily in charge of Lieutenant Fisk.) · . · 1. Entrance to Galve ton Ha1·bor, Texas.-The adopted plan (p1·oject of 1874, modified 1880) covers the Wo'tk o( deepening the bars by contra~ting the outftowing current upt>n ale s extent of bar, to thereby effect its removal and prevent its reformation. 

The amount expended to June 30, 1884 (incluqing ~100,000 of Galveston city .fonds), was 81,496,522.81. Of this amount., and under the project of 188>, $980,- 662.51 was applied to jerty construction, namely: Ninety feet on the no1·th side and 22,551 feet on the squth side of the entrance .prolonged gulfward. The ex- ' penditm;e of the gt·oss amount has resulted in obtaining and maintn.iningagood channel over the inner bar ,anti a Yery apparent improvement in depth over the outer bar. The work of th e pa t year wa.S that of building up the outh jetty, 100,000 of the city fnnds- having been applied thereto. The estima te of 1880, $1,825,813, contemplated ilie obtainment of. a channel across the outer bur of at least twenty-five feet deep, conditioned upon contin- uous_ work under annual appropriations of $-500,000. The conditions gove1·ning the estimate not having beeri observed ·for the past four years, the work has dragged in consequence. • . About one-half the estimated work is compJcted,and with its accomplishment is gained not only valuable experience, but results of such importance as strengthen confidence in the plan established looking to tl)e f!-lll improvement 

expected. · The estimated amount required for. the entire an<l permanent completion of the w.ork of improvement, in accordance with the project of 1880, is 1,000,813. 

Let us gQ forward with this improvement in harmony with the plans on which so much money bas been expended, the experience and advice 

of our engineers, and on a basis of cost that has proper relation to the 

demands of commerce, the importance of the city, and the expenditures · by which om business has- been fostered.and developed in other States. 

Again I declare myself in favor of liberal appropriations for the improvement or construction of all needed water ways. Still I am reminded that the speakers and writers of the Democratic party in the 

States where I reside were busy in their denunciation of the river and 

harbor bills of late years. "The infamous river and harbor bills," 

they called them. They said I ''had betrayed the interests of my con- stituents in voting for these infamous and iniquit.Qus measures." I 

had voted for one, I had voted against two. ThB.itfactseemed to make 

bnt little difference to my assailants. I was charged with voting for oJ.l. . . . 

And, Mr. Chairman, unjust as I regard the two provisions of this 

bill that I have discussed, I rimy give it my vote; I shall try to have it 

amended in' the particulars named. If I can not do so, if it should 

contain the provision for the Hennepin Canal when put on: its final 

passage, I shall give it my vote. The Legislature of the Sto,te of Iowa 

has instructed the representatives of the State to suppo~ tbat mea8: urc. I belie'V~ it to be emillently wise and just. The people witli 

united voice demand it. It will add millions to our savings each year! 

It will give us a corrective upon all of the raUways that extend from our eastern border to our great market, and will do more to solve 

the transportation question in the interest of the greatNorthwe tthan 

the expending of $100,000,000 in a~y other way. 

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT. 

The committee rose informally; and a message in writing was re- ceived from the Pre ident of the United States by Ir. PRUDEN, one of his secretaries. · 

RIVER AND HARBOR APPROP:aiATION BILL. 

The committee resumed its session. . Mr. JONES, of Alabama. Mr. Chairman, when the pending bill was first under discussion it was said by the gentleman from Wisconsin 

[Mr. PRICE] that its benefits were divided unequally between the North 

and the South and that the South got the largest share. I had hoped: 

Mr. Chairman, that after reflection, after the gentleman from Wisconsin 

had slept upon the matter and bad examined the figures relating to it more carefully, for he s~ms to be a figurative man, he would have with: 

<lrawn those remarks. But instead of doing so, 1\Ir. Chairman, he comes here to-day reiterating and emphasizing those statements. He 

says to-day that this bill is ma.rred and carred from Genesis to Revelations with sectional inequalities. 

Mr. REED, of Maine. There are no ''revelations '' in it. . [Laughter.] . , . Mr. JONE~, of Alabama. Now, sir, that statement is sufficiently 

refuted when we consider that this committee, consisting of 'fifteen. 

members, embraces ten from the North and only five from the South. 

Where is there·ground for any inference of any improper conduct, any 

''fraud," as the gentleman charges-for he used the word" fraud " - in a committee composed as this one is? 

.Mr. Chairman, the gentlem.an says-and he is sustained only by 

the gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. W ASHBURN]-that there is ~­

qu-ality in this bill; that the great, the expensive, the extravagant im-

. provements are in the Southern portion of the country; that one South! em improvement at Galveston is to cost $7,000,000. I will remind 

the gentleman that there are fom Northern improvements· provided 

for in this bill each of which is to cost 7,000,000; and I will name them: Sandy Bay, the Hennepin Can:t1, Toledo, and the mouth of the 

Columbia River. · Mr~ GEORGE. •Ill this bill the cominittee have left out the moutli 

of the Columbia River. · Mr. BRECKINRIDGE. That was put. by the Senate into the bi~ of las_t year. . 1\Ir. JONES, of Alabama. Then there are three ·great Northern 

improvements embraced 'in · this bill, involving an expenditure of 

$7,000,000 each. Because one improvement in the South is to be pro: 

vided for, why is all this clamor raised here? It does not appear in 

this bill at all that this Southern improvement is to cost $7,000,000! 

Where is anything in the bill to that effect? 

The gentleman from Minnesota refers to. the Senate bill; but that i'3 

not a part of this bill. It is provided in this bill that this Galveston 

impx:ovcment shall be under the direction of the Secretary of War, upon 

such plans and specifications as shall be furnished by James B. EaM. 

There is nothing about $7,000,000. Why, sir, this work, as prose-: 

cuted by. the Secretary of War, may cost but. $4,000,000. Where is 

any motive or any interest on the part o~ James B. Eads to make it 

cost $7,000,000? What would he get by reason of the enlarged cost? 

1\Ir. WILLIS. The Chief of Engineers has said that upon these plans 

the work could be done for two and a half million dollars; and for this reason the coinmittee have proposed to put the work under the direction of the War Department. · Mr. JONES, of Alabama. Certainly. And what-motive has the en- gineer who furnishes the plans to make it cost any more? His pay is 

not increased. The money is to be expended by-the Secretary of War: 

But to return to. what the gentleman from. Wisconsin say~ in regard 

to this bill. He would maintain that money ought not t9 b~ appropriated to the South because forsooth, as stated by him, in certain named 

States in tpe South the judicial expenses of the Government amount 

to $1,000,000, while in certain named States in the North with larger 

population tb_e amount of such expenses is only $700,000. Why, sir, 

it is admitted that these j\ldicial expenses in the South are enormous, 

are greater than:theyonght to be: But how.does this a1ise? If you 

will examine the reports or communications made by the present Attorney-General to Congress you will find that he' characterizes these 

expenditures made down there ~y the present officials as corrupt and 

extravagant. But is the South to l.re visited with the consequences 

of this and m~t tO share in a river and harbor bill because the judicial 

expenses in the South exceed those in the Northern States? 

Mr. Chairinan, there is no such sectionalism in this bill as is charged 

by the gentleman from Minnesota. I -deny it. This committee, as I 
1885. CONGRESSIONAL_ RECO~D-HOUSE. 12~7 

haYe tated, has been governed solely by regard to the improvement of .navigation and the interests of commerce. The evidence on which. the 

committee acted in this matter js -embraced in the records of the corps 

of Army e11gineers, aml these officers are not from the South. 

!IIr. Chairman, since the Government was iounded $105,000,000 has 

been appropriated for the improvement of rh·ers and harbors. Why, 

ir, this Government appropriated to one ~orthern railroad more than 

that amount; and it was a railroad in the region of country where the 

two gentlemen to whom I have referred reside. Two htmdred million acres of land have be~n granted to railToads in this counh·y-landeqnal 

in area to the Empire of-Germany. How little of thi went to- the 

South? 

Of the $10::>,000,000 heretofore appropriatecl for the.improvement of 

rirers and harbors, how much or how litt.le did the South receive? I 

have the figure here inE-~ecutive Document No.6, and they show that 

theState of Wisco1;1 in has received more than '4,000,000, and th;it 

eight Southern States haYe not received in the aggregate a much as the 

ingle State of Wiscon in. . 'Vhy, sir, New York of that amount rec~ived $10,000,000, his State 

received $4,000,000,' and Michi<~n recei,red $7,000,000 or .; ,000, 00.0. 

So throughout the whole entire li t. · Do I complain of this'? Do I impute it a an offense? :XQt at all, 

sir, because I remembet with pleasure that Daniel \Veb ter, in .hi re- ply to Hayne, said that .he claimed for himself and for New England 

great. praise for hadng uniformly supported· the most liberal grants 

from the publicTreasury for the \Vest an(l the South. Ancl I remem- ber,. too, with pleasure, when the great improvement of the Mississippi 

River was underdi cussion a few years ago in this House, a distinguished 

gentleman from l\lichigan, a State that has received, as I saiu, nearly 

$8,000;000, a distinguished member from Michigan, then a member of 

the Committee on Commerce, now before rue [1\tr. lioRR], made the 

strongest appeal in behalf of that great improYement. 

Daniel Webster said another thing, that there were no Alleghanies 

in his politics. I am afraid my friend from Wi cousin [Mr. PRICE] 

and my friend from 1\Iinnesota (.Mr. 'VASHBL'R~] haye not only :A.lleghanies in . their politics, but they have the whole Rocky Mountain 

range in their politic . ·· [Laughter.] · · . But enough, l\:lr. Chairman, on that point; enough on ectionalism. 

And now what of this improvement at Galveston which has been as-· sailed more fiercely than any other measure provided for in this bill? 

Why should it. not be made? Take .a point·· from olu Point Comfort 

round the Atlantic, around the Gulf coast, all the way to the Rio Grande, 

and you have only o1te first-c1ass harbor, only one first-cla.ss harbor into 

which a first-.-;lass ocean-going steamer can ent~r. Re.flect for a moJDent 

what an immense coast line that is? How did we get that first-class 

linrhor? By the skill and genius of that Napoleon of engineers;· James 

B. Eads. In no otber:way baYe we 'got a 'harbor in all that immense 

stretch of seacoast. · Take ·a pointfromthut harbor, from Eads'sjetty, and go round nine ·hundred-miles to the fexica.n-line; ·and yon have not :1 first-class-ha-rbor-you have not a second-class harbor. 

Is this Government to put up with this state of things? Are the 

representatives of commerce to put up with this· tate of things? In 

the present condition of thi country as a general rule the consumers are in one part of it and the producers in a different part of it. . What 

they want is to get together, to get cheap transportation. How are they 

to do it·? I am told a beefsteak costs· in New England as mnc~ a a workingman's wages for a day amounts to, and the consequence is be 

does without a. beefsteak. Now, New England not only gets her beef, 

but .her food supplies, her lumber, her CQ!ll, her iron, and other. raw material from points at a great distance from her. She gets them, too, over rail, and railroad rates a.re enormously high a compared with 

wate1· rates. Now, sir, tliere ~ a water line from Boston all the way to 

Texas, where these products abound. Why, sir, Texas is stifled with 

abundance-smothered with her products_ as the Roman maid was crushed under the load of her jewels. They have all the things the 

Eastern people need, and yet the Eastern people can not get them 

because of a sand bar ill front of Galveston. · Mr. Windom, U. a letter of December, 1 78, to the lake improYement conventi(}n at Saint Paul, says: 

The cost of water transportation diminishe in proportion as the size of ves- sels increases. The value of apy water route is measured by the capacity and 

efficiency of its most defective part. If from lack of proper improvements a single harbor on any given line can atf.ord facilities for only the smaller class of 

vessels, the value of the entire line i gi:aded down to correspond with the inadequate harbor. 

But gentlemen say that under the plan adopted by thi.:; committee· this improvement at Galveston can not be made. These gentlemen said 

the same thing when it was proposed to improve the mouth of the Mississippi River. The whole corps of Army engineers said the same thing. But tb'ey say the conditions are different at the South Pass. 

They'sn.ythere is a great river there with its currentthat they do not 

have at Galveston. Now, it is a, notorious fu.ct that it is not the ordinary clirrent of the Mississippi River that makes a scour in the 

jetty, but the extraordinary current caUSed by flood, an<l we have 

that conditiou in Galveston Bay. Why, sir, at certain periods certain 

winds prevail from the land to the Gulf, and they make that same extraordinary current, which we have at the mouth of the Mississippi 

River. While these gentlemen on this floor are so confident this improvement can not be made, they have unbounded confidence in the 

Corps of Engineers, which declared i;nstead of getting ·too littl<l water 

under his plan Eads would get too much water: 

Gentlemen here say that Eads wiJ..! get no water there. The Army 

engineers declare that yon will get too much water by t1:rls plan of 

Eads's. How do yon reconcile-this discrepancy? If the Army ~ngineers 

are. gootl authority for you·on one point, then they are good authority on the other, and they declare that Captain Eads by his plan will get 

too much· water. · M1·. BAYNE. That they will g~t too much water at some points, 

but not enough at others; that i the objection. · 'Mr. JONES, of Alabama. I uppose that General Kewton is good 

authority as to what the great engineers of the <;ountry .believe on this 

question. He sa,y~, in a communication made to the Committee on Hivers and Harbors of thi Honse, presented pursuant to the request of 

the committee, in speaking of this plan of Mr. Eads s: In connection with this-let us take a glance at the features of the localit,y. * * * 1\Ir. Eads nor any ~>De el!!e could cale\tlateUr. HORR. What page do you read from? 

Mr. JON£';, of Abbama. ITead from page 6 ofthis.:rcportcoultl calculate the depth to which the waters ftowingout of Galveston Bay 

would excaxate the channel if during strong tide they should. be enti:ely con- fined between high jetties, particularly if placed close together. 

Gentlemen ay that on account of the sluggish current in Galveston 

Bay :you can not get any water flow or current sufficient to give that 

wash of the channel whicll was obtained at the month of the Missisippi River. '·eneral Xewton says that you will get too much water. 

Again lle says: · 

HissystemUeferring to Captain Eadsa be aunomwes it, is a. violent fot:cing process, the eft'ect of whicli lie can neither calculale nor foresee. • 

General Newton goes on to say th~t if it was with Captain Ead~ a question of. deli~·erin~ the _largest supply of water in a given t~e, he 

would be nght m Ins estlmates and plans; but that the question of 

improving the harbor in the manner suggested does not neces8itate the 

obtaining of the greatest scour. And yet gentlemen tell us that they 

will get no scour; th~t th~re is l;l.O mode of getting a current or flow by 

which to scour out the .channeL General Newton goes on to say: 

It may be ~pedient not. to obtain the greatest scour," but to regulate the scour so it will be useful, not hurtful. 

l\Ir. BAYNE.• ·That is just it; that is the point. 

l\Ir. JONES, of Alabama. But gentlemen asserted that on aCCQunt 

of the sluggish ciurent there would be no scour a.t all. Against that 

statement I place the report of General ~ewton and tlle opinion of t.he 

Engineer Corp- of the Army. . - Now, ~Ir. Chairman, a word as to the expense. The expen~e of the 

improvement which has proYed so beneficial and valuable at the month · of the Mississip];>i River ell short under the direction of Captain Ea~ 

of the estimates of tht' Army engineers. 

l\Ir. HORR. Will the gentleman permit a question? · l\Ir. JONES, of Alabama. Yes, sir. . 1\Ir. HORR. Before you leave. this point, I do not understand how 

·you are going to put the pressure on the rear, as you have in the Mississippi River jetty ystem, whereby you are to get the results acc-ording to this theory; · . Mr. JONES,. of Alabama. I will explain. At certain periods of the 

year. cel't.a.in storms prevail, I believe, from northeast to southwest. 

These storms are violent in their character. Captain Eads proposes in 

his plan tO 4'lke advantage of t~ese storms that sweep this great. volume 

of water out with rapidity and violence, and thus to utilize it to s<:onr out the channel, as was done by the jetties at the mouth of the Mississippi River 'by utilizing the cunent of that river. 

Mr. REAGAN. Will my friend .fromAlabamaallow meamoment? 

Mr. JONES, of Alabama. Yes, sir. . l\Ir. REAGAN. There is another reason why they can get gooo scom·- ing power there. The Ba.y of Galveston is ver.y large, some forty miles 

long, and perhaps on an average more than half as wide as it is long. 

The ·'l'rinity River, the longest river in the State, debouches in it, as also the Buffalo Bayou and the San Jacinto River; and this volume of 

'\Vater must go in and OUt Of the C~anuel to fill and empty the bay, and • thus produce a scour of t-he chann~l. - Mr. HORR. But as I remember the harbor, Judge, from our ex- amination, this difficult point i away out where they made those mattresses. · Mr. REAGAN. That is true. It extends beyond the point ofthe 

island. 

Mr. HORR. And liow will you get a scour out there? 

Mr. REAGAN. By the water, as I have said already, going in and 

out of that channel to :fill and empty the bay. 

Mr. JONES, of AJJtba.ma. Now, by means of the jetty system that 

water during these storms will be confinedin the channel and in its ingress and egress made to scour out the obstruction referred to by tl1e 

• 
• 

1238 OONGRESSION A:L RECORD-HOUSE. 

gentleman from Michigan. Thejettiesatthemouthofthe Mississippi 

River extend some five miles in length. These jetties at Galveston 

will extend 'hetween ten and eleven miles, which will necessarily make 

the cost somewhat more than the amount that was expended for the 

Mississippi River improvement. .A.t the mouth of that river the jet- ~ies were made of ~ow and other trees growing in the bayous, , which oould be utilized and gathered at little expense. Then when it 

became necessary to use stone it was transported down the river at a 

reasonable cost. .A.t Galveston the jetties can not be made with mattresses; they must be built of stone, and on that account will be more expensive, for the reason that the stone must be transported from a <listant point by railroad. So, as I have said, the expen<liture will be 

necessarily greater; but whatever it . , Captain .Ea.ds is not benefi.~d 

by it. The work is to be prosecuted by the Government, and he is 

simply to be employed on a salary. 

It is also objected that the bill provides for anenormousexpen<liture 

of money. The bill carries only $12,000,000 in round numbers. The 

river and harbor bill of last session carried about $2,000,000 niore than 

this, and yet it passed both Houses of Congres8, received the approval 

of the President, imd was acceptable to the people of the entire country. 

How, then, can this be said to be extravagant? 

The fact is, l\Ir. Chairman, in viewoftheimmenseinterna~commerce 

of this country; in view of its population of 60,000,000, ex ending from 

ocean to ocean.; its 18 ooo·miles of seacoast, and its more than three 

hundred rivers and harbors to be improved, I believe a much larger 

amount than $12,000,000 would not be considered by the country ex- travagant or enormous. More than fifty years ago, when. our population was only 7,000,000and ou.rrevenues amounted to only $14,000,000, John Quincy Adams was in favor of appropriating 5,000,000 for the 

purposes of internal improvements .. These appropriations are wholly 

beneficial They are more beneficial than any other made by the Government. The appropriations made for the support of the Army, for 

the Indians, for peru,i.ons, and other objects are consumed in the use and leave no trace behind: Appropriations for the improvement of our great water ways are permanent and continuing. They are like gootl 

business investments, paying good dividends t$) the Government and the 

people. Like thequatityofmercy, they are "twice blessed;" th;ey bless 

the Government in increased revenues, and they bless ·the people in 

cheaper transportation and greater commercial facilities. At this time 

there is sha.rprivalryamongnatiousin the markets of the world. What 

we need iS' cheaper water transportation to enable us to· compete with 

other nations in these markets. We need to make our products of the 

greatest value tothe producer and at the same time furnish them at the 

lowest.possible cost to ·the consumer. Nothing excels water f01: purposes of cheap transportation. To illustrate this I refer to some re- ma:rkable facts stated in a recent issue of the Pittsburgh Dispatch, as 

follows: 

The magnitude of the work which is done in the transportation of coa.l by our river steamers is strikingly shown by the announcement elsewhere that one of the Pittsburgh boats on the late rise took down the champion tow of coal, amount- ing to 700,000 hu.shels. The freight moved by this single steamer was nearly 

28,000 tons, or ·enough to load almost 2,000 cars. In the remarkable deets which move acres of coal down the river at a single rise, an amount of freight is carried which would e~ploy the constant services of two or three large railways; and the ~ork is done at a cost which would furnish the motive power necessary to carry it half the distance by land. Whatever the shortcomings of our much- maligned river route may be in other respects, there is no doubt that it furnishes a magnificent highway for the carriage of our coal to the South. Without the cheap and vast movements of freight by river, half our coal would be left under grou_qd and the other half would cost down-river consumers double prices. 

Many millions of dollars w.ere spent by the General Government to 

make and improve the magnificent highways referred to. They ought 

to have been improved even at the great expenditures made"'-the Ohio, 

Kanawha1 and Monongahela. But, sir, there are other portions of our common country where similar expenditures and similar impl'Qvements 

ought to be made, in order to bring about the splendid and beneficial 

results enjoyed by people living on the Ohio and Miss~ippi. '+he 

facts here .stated furnish the strongest argument in favor of similar 

improvements in the State I have the honor in part to represent. In 

Alabama coal and iron are found in greater abundance than in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. They are found .in juxtaposition and in 

close proximity to noble rivers that, with small improvement, will furnish cheap transportation. Reports have recently gone to the country 

that have beex: regarded as fabulous in regard ta marvelous mineral regions of Alabama. Distipguished membe:rs of this House from Eastern 

States, editors of great Northernjournal.s, and capitalists, have lately • visited these regions, and they declare, like the Queen of Sheba, that 

'' the half has not been told. '' · • Already, even with inadequate transportation a:qd the high rates on railroads, coal .is shipped from Alabama to Aspinwall and is sold at 

lower prices than British coal, and iron is sent to Philadelphia and 

Pittsburgh. .A. coke ·furnace on the Coosa River, costing 100,000, turns out one hundred tons of iron a day, which is shipped to Pennsyl- vania at a freight charge 9f, say, $5 a ton, and as it is made about $6 a ton cheaper than in Pennsylvania, it is sold at a profit. Now, if. the 

Coosa Should be opened up to t~ugh naVigation. from Rome, in Georgia, 

to Mobile, a distance of seven hundred miles, and it is aJ.ready navigable, except for a small stretch, there would be a saving of $2 a ton on Ute transportation, and thiswould .be a saving·of$200 a day or$72,000 

a year on an inv~ent ofthe $100,()90. The gentleman from Maine 

[Mr. BOUTELLE] says "there is no bill coming beforeCongresstbattb.e 

people of this country scrutinize more jealously than the river.and bar~ 

bor bill. I deny it. Railroad centers, newspapers devoted to the in~ 

terests of railroads, and certain localities whose rivers and harbors have 

already been completely improved by the General Government may look 

upon these bills with jealous scrutiny and hostility; but the people 

hail them as the most beneficial passed by Congress. There are 125,000 miles of railroad in this country. They are not 

like free public highways, open to competition. They .are above com- petition and make combinations to de1Y it. They make unjust dis~ 

criminations against the public and are guilty of ot}lel' abuses. Ho~ 

to control them is a great I>roblem, a ·problem that is agitating our legislath·e bo<lies, and which Congress has been grappling with for ten 

yeat'S. While judicious legislation may accomplish much, the best and 

most effectual remedy will be found in the competition of the w.atei way, and in improving our natural channels of water communication! 

\vhen ice obstructs nangation in northern 1·ivers and· lakes, up go 

railroad freight ; when spring returns and 1;he ice disappears, down go 

railroad freights. The following table, found ..in the report of Mr! 

Nimmo, Chief of Bureau of Statistics, for January, 1885, on the.reJa! 

tions of railroad to commerce, shows the aTerage freight charges per bushel on transportation of wheat from Chicago to ~ew York during 

the year 1868 to September 1, 1884, inclusive. 

.Average f reigltt cltm·ges per bushel for tlte transportat ion flj wlteat "jrmn 

Cl!iccigo to Ne10 York dttriilg the yem·s 1 68 to eptentber 1, 1884, in- ~ri~ • 

"l:$ 'tJ ~ = dl * :::l Gl 

Calendar years. G>...: .,...: e ~CII 

.!!~ ~-e ~ ;.,. . ~ ~ 

~ ~ ~ 

-----------------------,-------- -

1868 ... .......................... ... ................................... .................. . 1869 ............. ..... .................................................................. . 1870 ........ ............... ... : .....•••..•..........•.•.•... .................... -.•........ 1871 .......... ........ .......... ................... ...... ...... ... ............ ........... . 1872 ................................ ...... ..... ......................... ............... .. . 18i3 .................................. .... .... ................................ ........... . 1874. ................................................................. ... ...... .. ......... . 1875 .................... ................................................. 1 •••••••••••••••• 

. ;~::: ::::::::::::::::: ::::: :: ·. :: :: :: ::: :::: :: :: ::::: ::::: :::::: :: ~: : 1S7 .. _ ....... .... ................................................. : .•••.•.•...•••.•.•..• 

1 19 .. .. .. ........... ......... ....... .............. .......... ................. ...... ..... . 1880 .............. .......... ............................................... ... ........... . 1881 .... .... .. ....... . ; .............................................. ...... .............. . 1882 .............. ..................... ............ : ..................................... ; 1883 .. ....... .......................... ... ¥• ••••·············"·· ............ ........... . 1884,January 1 to Septembe r! .......................................... . 

~nt8. 

24.5( 

23.12 17.10 

20.24 

24..50 

19.19 

14.10 

11.43 

9.58 . 

11.24 

9.15 

n.ro 

12. 27 8.19 

7.89 

8.40 

6.60 

*I ncluding Butralo an fer chlu·ges 'and t()lls. 

~nu. 

29.0 

25.0 

22 .• 0 25.0 

28.0 

26.9 

16.9 

14.6 

1!.8 

15.8 

11.4 

13.3 

15.7 

10.4 

10.9 

11.5 . 9. 75 

~. 

42.6 

85.1 

33.8 

81.0 

33.6 

33.2 

28.7 

2~.1 

16.5 

20. 3 17.7 

17.3 

19.7 

14.4 

14..6 

16.5 

13.0 

It was not until about the year 1868 that the manag-ers of the trunk-lines regarded the t}1Uisportation of grain from Chicago to the eaboard as a. source o!·profitable traffic. · · The~eduction in the average rates of transportation by lake And cana.l from 24.54 cents per bushel in 1868 to 6.60 cents per bushel in,.1S&t, ·in the rates by Ja.ke and .rail from 29 cents per bushel in 1868 to 9.75 cents per bushel in 1884, and fn the "all-rail " rates from 42.6 cents per bushel in 1868 to 13 cents during the year 1,884, ha been the direct r esultrof th e sharp competition which has prevailed between the competing railroads and with the water 'lin e formed by the lakes, the Erie Canal, and the Hudson River. Thie fall of rates has _greatly stimulated the developp:~. of the agricultural resources of our highly productive Western and North we tern ta.te , and ha tended en ormously t o increase the wea.lth of tho e States. 

The•gentleman from Texas [Ur . .MILLS] showed by reports how a. single improvement on a ..,ingle· river had resulted in a saving of 8 cents a bushel on grain exported from Saint Louis by way of New Orleans 

to Liverpool. When the jetties were completed in 1879 the grain ex- ported from New Orleans to foreign countries amounted to 5,000,000 

bushels, and this had been the amount for several yeaTS previously. In 

1882, three years after, this w.as increased to 16,000,000 bushels, and 

M:r. Nimmo declares the increase was largely the :result of the jetties. 

Now, sir, a saving of 8 eents a bushel on this amounts tooTer $1,000,-

000. How much was saved on cotton and other exports? I feel warranted in aying this improvement, which cost this Governinent about 

$5,000,000, paid for its.elf in one year in the aving it caused to the 

Government and the people. 

1\llr. WHITE, ofKentu:cky. Will the g~ man from Alabama yield 

for ~ question ? 

Mr. JO£\TES, of Alabama. Yes, sir: 

~Ir. WffiTE, of Kentucky. The gentleman ha compared this Galveston Hru:bor to the mouth of the .Mississippi, the outel' portion of the 

jetties. I ask him if there is not there very deep water, a~o.11t an unfathomable depth? 

Mr. JONES, of. Alabama . . Two h\mdred feet. 

Mr. WHITE, of Kentucky. Whereas at Galveston, aJl along the sea- coa.st, clear back to Burwick Bay, ninety miles O\lt, it is shallow, from 

ten to twenty feet in depth. And will not the jetty have to be ex- tended many miles to overcome this? 
·-

1885. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. ·1239 

Mr. JONES, of Alabama. What the gentleman from Kentucky states 

is very true; but Captain Eads states frankly how he expects to over- come that difficulty. He expects by this heroic process, by this use of 

the current and the scour, to carry the sand to a diStance where it will 

be dispersed by littoral currents. - · :M:r. HISCOCK. Will the gentleman permit me to ask him how deep 

do yon go with your stone bed? 

Mr. JONES, of Alabama. The gentleman from Texas [Mr. REA a Ax] 

can answer tl;lat question. 

Mr. REAGAN. About thirteen feet. 

Mr. JONES, of Alabama. I yield the remainder of my time to the 

gentleman from Iowa [Mr. MURPHY]. · Mr. MURPHY. With all respect to the kindness of the gentleman 

from Alabama who has permitted me to occupy the last ten minutes 

ofhistime, I am not nnmindfulofthefact thattoo much time has been 

occupied by members of the committee in taJking upon this bill. I 

willingly therefore give my friend from Kansas [Mr. FuNSTON] an opportunity of being heard, he not being a member of the committee. 

Mr. FUNSTON. Mr. Chairman, I have listened to the extended 

discussion of this bill and must admit I am puzzled when I attempt to 

understand bow gentlemen living along the great thoroughfares of the 

country, made-great thoroughfares by magnificent gifts of public lands, 

and enjoying all the advantages of great markets, made great markets 

by nnstinted appropriations for the rivers and harbors on which they 

lie, can raise their voices against the appropriation for Galveston Harbor. I do not believe any of these gentlemen intend to be unfair. I 

would rather believe, and do believe, that some of them who have ex- pressed themselves as being so near to being in favor of the improvement, need only to be located in ·that country to be entirely in favor 

of it. Their locality would then bring more vividlytotheirminds the 

importance of this work. They would then b~hold a vast country 

stretching to the east, t)le north, and to the west, greater in extent 

than the States of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, inhabited 

by millions of their fellow-countrymen; rich in minerals, 1ich in soil; 

the great center of animal industry of the Uxtited States, with thousands of ship-loads of wool, cotton, corn, wheat, and various other products 9f the country, much of which is rotting in storel10uses ~d bins 

because it is too cheap in the markets to bear shipping over the long 

lines of railroads leading to the East. 

They would behold this rich .storehouse, this American Egypt, lying 

around and in easy access of a beautiful bay that needs only the gen- erous action of the Government that has been bestowed on all others 

of importance throughout the land to make it one of the most useful 

harbors in all the world. Useful, I say, not only to the persons inhabiting that conntry, but equally useful to the millions of people inhabiting the Atlantic States in throwing down at t~eir "doors cheap wheat, 

cheap corn, cheap beef, cheap pork, cheap cotion, and many other things 

which enter into the daily demands of the poor as well as of the rich, 

and feed the thousandi! who spend their lives amid the hum of mechanical industry, as well as to furnish material to start the looms and factories which give employment to willing hands. 

It is not local so far as the benefits are concern¢, nor is it local when 

considered in connection with the grand system of harbor improvements which it becomes our interest as a thrifty people to ma'ke, and 

which I believe th~ good people of this nation desire that we should 

make. It is in the great line of thrift and prosperity and peace . . It has 

none of the ugly murmuripgs of war in it_ It is a work in which the 

peaceful Quaker and the gallant captain can alike take pride. The 

merchant will regard it as a harbinger of good times. The farmer will 

look upon it as repairing the nation's great gateway. He knows that 

the farm that is characterized by its fallen..(low:r;t fences and brier-patches 

and choked-up roads.is regarded as the home of a shiftless kind of fellow, and he knowsalsothata nation that is distingnishedforitschokedup harbors while millions of its wealth lie rotting for want of a place to 

load it into ships must be regarded as a shiftless kind of people. 

No one can regard the refusal of this appropriation as economy, and 

every thoughtful man must see in its refusal tb~ worst of extravagance. · We hear it. said, however, by the opponents of this improYement that the harbors are not used when they are improved, and we are pointed to New Orleans as ·au example. It is true that the shipments from that place after the com~letion of the-jetties was not so great as many desired; but it should Be borne in mind that new routes 

of transportation are not adopted in.a day even when the greatest advantages are offered. Shippers from force of habit alone are slow to 

make a change, and in the case of New Orleans, that route has been 

until recently regarded only as temporary, many believing, as did the 

United States Corps ef Engineers, that the jetties would prove to be a failure. 

Their success, however, is now assured, and shippers in reach of that 

point will soon begin to look in that direction as the cheapest and most 

practical way to reach the markets of the East and of the world. That 

improvement and other water-way iinprovements have already had-the 

effect of cutting down the charges for transportation of freights by railway, and the accomplishment of that end alone at Galveston would pay 

the peop1e and the Government in the ootmie of time for all itwould 

cost to make the improvement, though not a single ship-load should 

eYer leave the hal bor. 

We need competition as well as capacity-not so much a new rail4 

road for competition, for that would be but adding one 'lnore railroad 

to the pooling system against the people. - We want water competition, a kind of competition railroads so far have been unable to control. 

I understood the gentleman from illinois (l\Ir. THOMAS] in his able 

remarks last, Saturday to say he would be in favor of a reasonable 

amount to improve this harbor, though he fails to tell us what he r~rds 

as reasonable. He mentioned the Mississippi jetties, but I do not think 

he referred to them as unreasonable in cost; on the contrary, his dis· course led me to believe he thought them reasonable, though I can not 

give his language on ibatpoint. They:cost$5,340,000. Thejettiesat 

Galveston, according to 1\Ir. Ead 's statement, are to bemorethan twice as long and are to cost $7,750,000, or about 50 per cent. less, according 

to length, than the l\Iississippi ·jetties. Now, if the former is reasona- ble, certainly the latter must be also. This $7,750,000, however, is not 

to be voted to Captain Eads; it is n.othing more than his estimate, and 

if voted at all is to be voteQ. to the Secretary of War, Captain Eads 

drawing from it only his salary of $5,000 a year and an additional $3,000 

for each additional foot, not one cent of which $3,000isto be paid until 

tw-enty-five feet of nang::tble depth of water i obtained through the 

channel. • The gentleman f1·om Illinois does not seem to think the work can be 

done cheaper, nor do we infer th~t he thinks it ought not to be done at 

all. He only appears to be repelled by the Yast sum of money required. 

It is indeed great when compared with the average wealth of individuals, but it is no more to the Government than th~ cost of building an ordinary cnl vert across a ba<l pla<!e in the road would b& to -a. person of a, er.age wealth,andimightaddought to be regarded in the same light 

that we do ordinary improvements of public highway~. 

X ow, the gentleman from Pennsylvania [}Ir. BA ~E] expressed him.-

elf a being in fa>or of an appropriation of five or six milli~ns of dollars but he did not like Captain Eads'splan; yet he dwelt vehemently 

upon tlie point that Captain Eads bad no plans, and before voting ~e 

appropriation he demanded some. I am unable to reconcile that gen: 

tleman's two positions, m1le8s be meant by the latter that he had no plans and specifications submitted as onlinarily is done in .contracts. 

But Captain Eads is not a contractor in this ca e. The work is under 

the Secretary of War, with Captain Eatls as a hired engineer, receiving ·a stipulated sum per· year and a certain amcmnt conditionally for 

preparing the plans, specifications, and estimates, and making_the nec- ·essary recommendations therefor, and exerc;ising general supervision 

<luring the progress of the work. 

The only extraordinary power granted to Captain Eads is that t)le 

work is to be constructed according to his plans and specifications. 

This is reasonable enough when considered .in connection with the fact 

that the greater part of his pay is conditioned upon the success of the 

nndertak'ing. "No cme, no p:ty" necessarily implies obedience to the 

doctor. . But this extraordinary power granted him does not make a contractor 

of him in any sense of the word. When engaged, if at all, he will be an employe of the Government; and no work in the way of plans and 

specifications or other sei'vice can rea onably be expected of him until he 

is employed. The gentleman from Illinois dwells with emphasis upon 

his statement that the whole thing jg to be based on fa.ith in Captain 

Eads. That is true to some extent, yet Captain Ead,s does not hesi~te 

in placing his chance for getting the larger part of his pay on the _same kind of faith. Faith, after all, must have much to do with the undertaking. • . 

Plans and specifications, if submitted by Captain Eads, would have 

to be accepted on fuith in him, as I understand that none of his plans are in accordance with the theories of the United States Corps of Eng4J.eers, and would m"Ost likely be met by those gentlemen with objections that would prove as groundless as did their statement that the 

extension of the jetties at the mouth of the :Mississippi by reason of the 

ad:vance of the bar would cost a million dollars a year, while the facts are that during the five year since that work wascompleted ithasnot 

been necessary to spend one nickel in that way, and it is not likely that 

it will become necessary to advance the jetties one foot in a century. 

What have you to rely upon in any of these in;lprovements, when- the 

plans and specifications are submitted by the United States Corps of 

Engineers, but faith in the111? It was by faith in them that already a. million of dollars have been sunk in Galveston Bay,·and, I may add, 

without the least prospect whatever of the w;ork that has been done 

amounting to anything except to be in the way when proper plans to 

improve tha harbor ~refixed upon. · Faith in Captain .Eads ought to govern us to a great extent in making this appropriation ana employing him to prepar.e plans and specifications and to superintend the work. 

The great works he has already accomplished inspire me with faith 

in him. The plain and common-sense manner he has of doing things 

inspires me with faith in him. He has no finely-spun theories submitted in stilted language to daze poor creatures, but he pr~s on the 

plain common-sense principle that running water confined in a narmw 

channel will wash out the bottom and thus make it deeper, and that if 

the channel extend sufficiently far into the sea the material washed out, as well as that carried down by the current, will be carried out to where 

the water is perhaps a thousand feet deep before it finds a lodgment, 

, 
1240 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. FEBRUARY 3, 

and that it would be like filling up the sea itself to form a bar out there. 

I do not speak for Captain Eads; this is only my understanding of the 

jetty system. 

The gentleman from Penn ylYanin. [1\:Ir. BJ.. Y~E] objects to thi sy - tern because it is upon the damming-pp pTinciple,.and that it would 

c;au~e a deposit of sediment above the jetties aud raise the bed of the 

river . . Quite the contrary, by actl.lal mefu>"Urement, has been proYen 

to be the fact, the_ bed of the river ahove the jetties having been lower¢ one foot; and therefore his theory o~ damming up the-Mississippi 

and turning it into the Atchafalaya is without foundation. 

' The gentleman has printed in the RECORD an amount of testimony to 

establish the fact of the superior education of the members of the United 

Sta~ Corps of Engineers. This was not at all necessary. No one 

<~:oubts their superior education and no one would, I dare say, cast an 

unjust reflection upon them. So far a education and the a1.:cepted 

theories of engineering go, they have perhaps no , uperiors in the world. 

Bu~ these facts ougllt not to be allowecl in the Jea t to deh-act from 

the common-sense principles of Captain Ead . The work he accom- plished at the·montll of the Mississippi i worth more in the eyes of. the 

people than the diploma from all -the cientific.sehools in the world. 

The plain Western colonel (Bailey, I believe was his n3me) w1l0 solved 

the question of getting the gunboats oYer the rapid. at Alexandria on the 

Red ·RiYer, and saYed a fleet of naval Yessels, used no sextant, no compass, no theodolite. He ttnd his men just loaded themselves with brush 

and logs ,and rock, and wad eel into the ri Yer and threw them down, damming-the river from both sides until the waterwa.sraisell ufficiently high 

to let the gunboats passthrougl:J. a place left in the -middle of the river. 

Captain Eads, I understand, is an educated man, but I <bre say he depends more on common-sense principles as manue~ted by this Western 

oolonel than he does ~pon his collegiate diplomas. That is the kind of 

man w~ want at G;:tlv.eston, Mr. Chairman. '\Ve want some one who, 

if it should be nece s:uy, can shut up the bookl and take a commonsense view of the situation, anll not disd~n the :1ong-esta.bld1ed fact 

that water will run down hill and cut a r.h::umel in doing o. 

rhe CHAlRL\iA~. The time allowed hy order of the Hon ·e· for 

general debate. · · . · 

· :Mr. WILLI ·. I understand seferal gentlemen desire Jea,·e to print 

remarks·on this bill in theRE ORD. I ask thatgeuernllea\'e be granted. 

:Ur~WHITE, of Kentucky. Provided it shall not apply to tlle tarift' 

and all other que tion . 

Air. WILLIS. - Of cour e that is 1.mtler tood. 

'rhtdJHAIRl\IA~. There can b~ no limit placed to the leave, if 

granted, except eacll gentleman's idea of propriety. Is there objection 

to the leave requested -? The Chair hears none. General leave is given 

to print remarks in theRE 'ORD on the 11bject 9f thl bill. The Clerk 

:will pr<><?eed to read ·the bill by pa13graphs for a-mendment ·nuder the 

,five-minute rule. ~ . · · J 

The Clerk read the·tirst paragraph of the bill as follow : . 

- That the followiug umsof money be, an{fare h~eby , appropriated to be paid ·out of ~my money in th'e Trea.t!ury uot otherwise appropt·i.ated , and to l>e expended under the direction of the Secretary of \Var, for th"" con. truction, completion, 

repair, and ~reser~atio? of lhe.public 'vorks h ereinafte.t· named·. . . 

~Ir. REED, of Maine~ I move to strike out the last worcl. Lmake 

that motion, not because I expect there is to be more di cussion to-night 

with regard to th~ bill, but for the.purpo e of calling tlie attention of 

the House to the actqal situation of this di cussion ris it has turned out 

under the·order oftlie House. 

There is in this bill the continuation of a scheme for the expenditure 

of$150,000,00<J, and, the only man who has had an opportunity to ex- presS himself upon that subject., after havingcaref!lllyexaminedit, has 

-been able under the action of the HollSe to get hut ten minules of time. 

All of the time for the discussion of thi bill, except-what is going to 

take place under the five-minute rule, has by the judicious ·acti.on Qf 

members of this Committee ·on Rivers and Harbors been absorbed and 

controlled by themselves in favor of the bill, and no opportunity thus 

far has been given for critici m of the same; nor under the action of the 

House can any opportwiity.be given except in·a disjointed five-minute 

way. And yet thi$ bill contains in i t for one single item the continua:-

tion of one improvement which will amount to $150,000,000, and involves 1,080 miles of river. 

Now, I want the House to understand precisely whatthee.fl'ectofthis 

action has been in the matter of the discussion of th~ question which is 

before it.- It seems to me thatsncli a method is not going to give to n.."i 

. that full idea of t.his bill-which we ought-to have. WIth the exception of 

the ten minutes' ·discussionon thepartofthe gentleme~fmmiowaand 

Wisconsin we· have had nothing. But we have had one exception, to 

which also I wish to call the attention of the House, and that is, members of the committee have shown to ns clearly, if they be right, that 

the members of the Enginetlr Corps who advised upon these subjects are 

pretty sure to be wrong when they come in contact with the .opinions 

of the committee. I think the gentleman from :Massachusetts [1\Ir. 

STONE] and the gentleman from Alabama [M]:. JONES] have proved v~ry conclusively, if their argument is to end it, that the engineers do 

not understand anything about a har~or of r-efuge on the Atlantic coast 

o1· anything about digging up a harbor on the coast of Texas, and ye~ 

'vith the exception of those two items and one or two others, this 

whole bill is made up on the recommendation of the engineers. 

J1r. 0' NEILLr of :Uissomi. Ir. Chairman, I do not know re~y 

but what we ought tQ thank the chairman of the Committee on Rivers 

and Harbors for having e~~n givep. ns.leave.to print. . Coming from the .city of Saint Loui~ the principal city of the Mississippi Valley, I naturally imagined that the views of·a member from 

that section, and especially one who has un[alteringly supp<>.rted the 

river and harbor bills of the pa t) might have been treated with some 

littleconrte y . I requested of the chairmanofthat committee the privilege of coming before the committee aml paring the IIonse this infliction. · [Lau~hter ] 

Mr. WILLIS. I apologize. . _ 

1\Ir. O'NEILL, of 1\Iissouri. You onght to apologlze. [Continued 

laughter.] '\"Yhich privilege wa also refused every othe1· member. 

The committee monopolized all the time allowed for debate, including 

a ·mall port{ion of the time of the gentleman from. Kentucky [Mr. 

WU.LI ] , who, afte~ having generously promised to giYe me a portion 

of the time remaining to him elf, took back his promi e and gave it to 

the House this. morning, o t hat my only recourse i left in this mode 

of a. disjointed narrative l.>y oftering amendments to this bill in a formal wary of moving to strike out the last worcl. [Laughter.) 

But :rtlr. Chairman, I propose-at:everr stage of this proceeding to continue offering amendment until my vtews in regar.d to river improvement are impres~ed upon this House, as far as I can impress them . . I 

have that right under the rules, and, fortunately, 1 have a disposition 

that will see that my rights in that respect are preser>ed. [Laughter.] 

' 1\Ir. Chairman, the people of the 1\Ii issippi Valley, at every conven: 

tion and through every ~ew.spapcr, appeal to eveq member of Congress 

to do something for the in1prov-ementofthe great:Mi issippiRiver, that 

grand artery of commerce th~t bears upon its bos~m the commerce of 

millions of people, aud in whose valley are to be located the hundreds 

of millions of the future . . That river, sir, so'far as concerns improvements of a permanent and valuable character, terminates at the point 

where :it meet~ the Ohio, where the firm ban~ cea c and you strike this 

alluvial bed that i. abject fo these little breaks and mi understandings, aml U1e improvement of which, I believe, its bet f1·iendsadmit is 

merely .an experiment. Yet outoftl1ese millions proposed to ~eappropriated .for the. improvement of the Mississippi, the portion of that river 

from its junction ·with the Ohio to its source get.l only the i11significant 

um of$600,000. Now, my friends, that ~ not " a fair share of the 

pork. " [Laughter.] That i not enopgh. 

If the Mississippi River ha got to carry through.cvery yea~ these hundred · of creeks and bayou , be a little more liberal. Give us a little more. I do not snppo e that any .member o( this Honse believes for a moment that I would oppose a bill merely on account of its size. 

[Laughter.] I have endeavored to make a consistent record here, and 

have voted 1or every bill that would aid in developjng our country and 

give employment to labor. [Applause.] . · _ ·, 

X ow, 1\Ir. Chairman, let me call the attention of the chairman of th~ 

Committee on Rivers and Harbor (who, I obse\ve, :iJ abOut to go into 

.executive. s~ssion :with.his colleague) [laughter] to a 1·emarkable fact, 

which is, that I am clear~ the opinion that if that committee had 

allowed me to come before them they would h:1.ve realize~ that they 

<lid not comprehend. the whole of this question. [Laughter.] I am 

certain of it . . Now, is the gentleman aware of how long it will take to 

complete· the work of improviug the channel of the Mississippi between 

the Illinois and the Ohio-and it is the obstructions in. that part of the · river that are to-day the main obstacle in the way of river improYemcnt. · 

[H'ere the hammer fell.] 

Mr. HJD.TDERSON, of Iowa. Mr. ChaiJ:mau, I moV"e to strike out 

the last word; and now, for the sake 'of getting some light on t~s important subject of river improvement, I yield my time to my distinguished friend from Missouri [.Mr. O'Nl:ILL]. -

Mr. O'NEILL, of.l\Iissouri. I thank the gentleman. Now, Jlr. Chairman, let us have a common-sense talk on this bill, even if it is only for 

fiveminutes. [Laughter.] Everysanemanwhofavorstheimprovement 

of the l\Iississippi wants the river improved so _that modern-built ves- sels, which~rry filty thous..'l.nd or sixty thousand bushelsof·gra.in, .and 

draw seven or eight feet ofwat r, can go down to the sea through a free 

and unobstructed channel. The object of river improvement is simply 

this: that at the low stage pf the river you can haYe your commerce 

go unimpeded to the sea. If y8u. work down to a point '}"here you find 

a shoal beyond which you can not go, no matter how deep ma.y be the 

other parts of the-channel, until that shoal. is removed the _rest of your 

work is, comparatively speaking, valueless; and, thereforE?, until the 

last shoal in the channel is removed your work of river improvement 

is merely local and of no benefit to the country at large. 

Now, sir, .between the mouth of the Tilinois and the month of _the 

Ohio, a disto.nce of less than two hundred miles, are grouped the most 

serious obstmctions in the channel of the river, the most serious obstructions to the commerce-of the Mississippi Valley. The engineers 

who have carefully examined into this matter, state that it will take 

at leru.-t $10,000,000 to remove those obstructions and furnish a uniform 

depth of eight feet of water, which is required for the passage ofbarges 

carrying 50,000 bushels of grain. That being so, with your miserable, 

beggarly $400,000 a year for the improvement of bhat part of the river, 

how many yeru:s do you think it will be before you can have the ben-
CONGRESSIONAt ECORD-HOUSE~ 1241" 

efi.t of deep water there? · Just figw·e it out. [Laughter.] We a1:e 

supposed to be legislating fo:r ihis generation and not for posterity-at 

least not in the matter of river improvements. · 

Mr. ~fcADOO. "Posterity never did anything for us. ' 

:Mr. O'NEILL, Qf 1\lissouri. No; as my friend from New Jersey 

[Mr. McADoo] suggests, po texityhasneverdon~anything for us; and 

the question with him is whethex he is going to do anything for pos- . 

terity. [Great laugbtcx.] · 

UENRY NEAl,. 

l\Ir. PEEL, by unaninl'ous consent, submitted the following resolution; which was xeferred to the Committee on Accounts: 

Resolved, That the Clerk be, and he is hereby, authorized to payout of the con- tingent fund of the House to Henry Neal, for services as messenger in the 

Speaker's room, the difference between the pay of a. laborer received by him and 

that of a messenger, from the 1st day of December, 1883, to the 7th day of July, 1884, and frQill the 1st day of December, 1884. to the 4th day-of .l\larch, 1885-ten 

months and seYen days-at the rate of $40 per mont~, $-109.30. · 

Mr. JicADOO. I hope my friend--

Yr. O'NEILL, of .Missouri. Ur. Chairman, I will yield if my friend GEXERAL U. 8• GRANT. 

rises to a personal explanation. [Renewed laughter.] The SPEAK-ER-pro temJJore, by unahlmous consent, laid before the 

Now, :Mr. Chairman, would it not be a little more sen ible lor t1ie Com- Hbuse the following message from the President of the UDited States; 

mittee on Rivers and Harbors to come in and say to t~i~ Ron e: Gen- which was read, referred to the Committee on Military Affairs, ordered 

tlemen, between the source of the Mississippi Rh·er and a ceitain.point, to be printed, and, on motion of Mr. W ASHBURX, by unanimous conwith certain appropxiations,withinacertain bri~fperiodOftime,wecan se}!t, ordered to be printed, with the accompanying documents, in the 

complete the work of improvement there? For instance, between the RECORD: ·· . 

mouth of the IllinoiS and the mouth of the Ohio River we can, wiUt 7'o the Hou.~e of R.eyresentativts: 

pxoper appropriations, w_ithin four years complete the improvement 9f I take especi~l pleasure in laying befo_reCongress the generous offer made ~Y 

the channel of the river 80 a to give the people the benefit of cheap ?Irs. Grant ~o_g1ve t? tbe.Go,·ernment, m perpetual trust, the swords and mil- . · · . 1ta.ry tahd ctnl) testuuomals lately belongtng to General Grant. A copy of the transportation. It seems to me that that would be :l more sens1ble deed of tru t, and of a. letter addre sed to me by .Mr. William H. Vanderbilt 

course, but the committee do· not db that. They catter these appro- I which I t~·aJ?I!lllit herewith, will e.x;pla.in the nature and mo~i~es o,.tl_li~ offer. ' 

Priations like the O'face of the Almio-bty all over the country in tlle .Ap~rematJOnofGeneralGt·ant'sachtevementsandrecog~ntlonofhisJ~tfame ' •• 0 ,_ 0 ' J>. • • • ' l1aYe m part.taken tlleshapeofnumerousmementoesandgtfts, wh1ch,whiledear hope that, by gtnDg the $oJ 000 here and there 10r the rmpiO>eme~t of to him, possess for the nation an exceptional interest. These relics; of great' 

the Suwanee and similar rivers, they can sectue the vote of the gentle- historic~! "'\l.lue, have p~s ed into the hands of ~other whose consid.e~te action men from tho e localities for this bill.· bas restored the collection to Mrs. Grant as a hfe-tn1st, on. the .conditiOn that at . . . . . . · the death of General Grant, or sooner at l\Irs. Grant's opt10n, It should. become FJ;hat IS the l)rlllCiple of th1s b1ll; and you may Tecollect· that at the the property of the Government, as set forth in the accompanying papers. In 

commencement of the last session of Congress, when I ~.,.a a little thP- ex~rcise of th_e option thus given .her Mrs. Grant e!eets that t_he trust shall more ''verdant ' than I am now I very innocently suggested the idea forthv:·Ith determme, ~?-nd asks th!lt the Governmen.tdeslgnate a smtable place of . . . ' . . . . . . · . depoSlt and a responsible custodum for the collectiOn. • of haYlllg a separa~e and d1strnct ~llSSlS 1pp1 R1.ver ~ill, my ~JJect be- 'l'he nature of this gift and the value of the relies which the generosity of a. ing that this great artery of commerce, with its navtgable tnbutaries, prh·ate citizen. joined to the lli,gh sense of public t·egal-d whicl1 animates M!S: 

shoald be properly co~id.ered and not made the vehicle of dra<Yo-ing Grant, hav~ ~us placed at the d1spos~l of the Go'"ernmen!~ demand full ~nds1g- . . · . ' . . . . · = nal recogmhon ou behalf <>f the nafton. at the hands of ns representatives. I through this House a combmatiOn of creek or IDSlgnificant streams. tbet·efore ask Congress to take suitable action to accept the trust and to provide 

This is not-legislation. It has been marvelou to me that ruen elected for it secure custod~, at the same time recording the appreciative gratitude o! 

out of every walk of life · who have · made their prh·ate enterprises a the pe~ple of the. Umted States ~o l.he donors. • . . . · • • 1 • • • • • In thiS connection I may pertmently advert to the pendmg legtslation of the 

success, can apply so httle common sense when deahng With the a.ftru.rs Senate and House of Representatives looking to a national recognition of Gen~ 

of the people. [Applause.] Let us begin now. I do not object, as I eral Grant.'s emit~ent. ~en· ices by ~H'Ovi4ing the m.eans for his t:esto~tion.to the 

have told my friend from Kentucl..-y, to appropriations for the ·e little Arm~ ou the retu·ed-hst .. That Con~ress, by taking such. ~ct1on .• WI~ g•ye .ex- . . . d th . 1 I th' d ·~ d fi h pressiOn to the almost umversal des)re of t~e .People of this.natwn IS e"~ldent·, streams, we can stan at, 1mt wan 1m to un ei::.ta.n or one t at and I earnestly urge the passage of an act s1mdar. to Senate b1UNo. 2530, which, 

unless he and his committee and thi Rouse will agree to a proper rec- while not inte~ering _wit~ tb~ con~itutional p_rerogative of appointment, will 

ogni~on of t~e Fa.the~ of. Waters, and thereby t~is . bill should lack ~n~l~~~l~e~~J~i:t~ m ln d1scret1on to nommate General Grant_as General 

sufficient }Dent to JUSt1fy1ts pa...<lSllge, the blame will not rest upon rue P CHESTER.~. ARTHUR. or those who hold similar views. [Applause.] ExEcT:Tn'E l\h:s- Iox, Felm.utl"y 3, 1885. 

Mr. WILLIS. ~Ir. Chairman, I have no wish to detain the committee. In 1·eply to the statement of my friend from Missouri [~Jr. 

O'NEILL], it is only ne.cessary for me to say in one JY"Ord that upon the 

"rea.Ch of the l'iver referred to bj him the committee has allowed· the 

same percentage as upon the other reaches of the river. 

Mr. O'NEILL, of Uissouri. I rise to a question of order. I understood that :during the remainder of the discussion the time was to be 

oceupied not by members of tlie Committee •on Rivers and Hai:bors, 

but by other members of the Rouse. . . · The CHAIRMAN. The Chair does not recognize that as , point of 

order. 

Mr. WILLIS. By the last appropriation bill-and I speak seriously 

to gentlemen who are engaged in seriou_s business-the sum of$520, 000 

was appropriated for that portion of the river which has its advocate 

in my friend from Saint Louis. Of that appropriation the whole, sum 

expended is $135,000; in other words, there was appropriated more than 

could be judiciously expended. The committee think, therefore, that 

they have been reasonably just to that part of the river; and they are fm·tified in this conclusion by the fact that it had three -very intelligent 

members UpOn the committee. 

I do not wish to detain the Committee of the Whole ftuthex. In 

view of the necessity of expediting this bill in· the short time allowed, 

I have been urged by a number of gentlemen to ask fqr a ession of the 

House to-night. I have declined to "do so because of the fatigue of 

members after the prolonged session of last night. But I hope that tomorrow it will be the pleasure of the House to take a recess, with the 

understanding that if at the evening session any item of the bill be 

objected to by three or five members it be p~sed over. I now mo>e that the committee rise. 

The motion was agreed to. 

The committee accordingly rose; and 1\Ir. BLACKBURX llaving resumed the chair as Speaker pro te,npore, "Mr. HA~~IOXD reported. that 

the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union had, according to order, had under consideration the bill (H. R. 8130) making 

appropriations for the construction, repair, and preservation of certain 

public works on rivers and harbors,· and for oth_er purposes, and hacl come to no resolution thereon. 

MESSAGE FRD:\I THE SE~ ATE. 

A message from the Senate, by Mr. McCooK, its Secretary, announced 

that the Senate had passed a bill of the following title; in which the 

concti.rrence of the House was requested: · · A bill (S. 2600) for the relief of the Woonsocket National Bank of 

W oonso '!ket, R. I. 

6t0 FIFTH A "\""EXUE, Janua11120, 1885. 'DEAlt Snt: ·I purchased the articles of historical intere t belonging to General 

();rant and gave them to ?tit-s. Grant in tl;ust, to Iiold di.Iring the lifetime of the 

General, and at his death, or sooner, at heropt.ion, theytQ become the property of the Government. · They consist of his swords,-memorials of his victories !rom 

the United Stat~, States, and cHies, aml tributes to his fame and achievements 

from governments all over the world. In their proper place at Washington they will always be secure, and ·will afford pleasure· and instruction to succeeding 

ge·neration . This trust has been accepted by l\Irs. Grant, and the disposition ol the articles is in conformity to the wishes of the -General. I transmit to you herewith the-deed of trust. Mrs. G!'ant informs me that she prefers tQclose the tl'U!lt at once, and send the memorials to Washington. .!.\l:iy I ask, therefore, that you will designate some official representing t.he prope1•department toreceive them. and direct him to notify ~Irs. Grant of the arrangement-s necessary to perfect the tra"Dsfer and deposit in such of the Government buildings as may be most suitable? 

Yours, respectfully, ·. 

His Excellency CHESTER A. ARTHUR, 

Pr~sident of the United States. ~ . 

W. H. VA~"'"DERBILT. 

'Vherea:s I, William H. Vanderbilt, of the city of New York, ~Y virtue of a sale made under a judgment in a lruit to Toreclose !'chattel mortgage iu the su- preme court of this State, in which I was plaintiff and .Ulysses S. Grant defendant, which judgment was ente1·ed on the 6th day of December, la&l, and under an execution in another suit in ~aid court between the same parties upon a indgment enteret;I December 9, 1884, haye·become the owner of the property and the articles described in the schedule hereto annexed ,.formerly the property of Ulysses S. Grant: . Now, therefore, to carry out a. purpose formed by me, andJn consideration cif Sl 

to me paid, I do hereby transfer and convey each and every one of the articles 

mentioned and itemized in the s~id schedule to Julia Dent Grant, to have and 

to bold the .same to her, her executors and administrators, upon the trust and 

agreement nevertheless ,her.eby accepted and made by heT that upon the death 

of the said Ulysses S. Grant, or previously thereto at her or their o_Rtion,the same shall become and be the property of the nation, and shall be taken tt> Wash1ngton and h·ansferred and conveyed by berand them to the United States 

of America. 

In witness wbereofthe said William H. Vanderbilt and JuliaDentGmnthave 

executed these presents this lOth day of January, A.· D. 1885. Sealed and delivered in presence ofW. H. V Al.~DERBILT. 

JULIA DE~T GRANT. 

Schedule of swords and medals, paintings, bronzes, portraits, commissions, and 

addresses and objects of ·value and of art presented by various governments in the world to General Ulysses S. Grant: 

1\Ie:rlcan onyx: ca~inet: Presented to General Grant by the _}Jeople of Pueblo, 1\Iexieo. . . Aerolite, part of which passed over 1\Iex.ico in lSn. 

Bronze· vases: Presented to General Grant by the Japanese citizens of Yokohama) Japan. . · Marble bust and pedestal: Presented by workingmen of Philadelphia. General Grant and family: Painted by Coggswell. Large elephant tusks: Presented by the King of Siam. 

~ict~r: ~f~~~~~~~t!'(b: ~::e~~~:~~edf b~ ~~~!iemen of New York. 

Crackleware bowls (very old): P1·esented by Prince Koon of China. . 

\ . 

·"· 
1242 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. FEBRUARY 3, 

. Cloisonne jars (old) : presented byLi Hung Chang. 

X~~= bib~ lain jars {old) : Presented by Prince. Koon of China.. 

Coptic bible: Presented by Lord Napier, who captured it with King Theodore 

of Abyssinia. . 

j ~~~:t:r r~o~elson: Presented "w General Gran ~ after the fall or Fort Donel- son by officers or the Krmy, and used by him until the end of the war. .. New York sword: Voted t.a General Grant by the citizensofKewYork at the 

fair held in New York. . · t Sword of Chattanooga: Present~d to General G1·ant by the citizens or Jo Da- viess County, lllinois (Galena), after the battle of Chattanooga. Boman mug and pitcher. 

Silver menu and card, fare\vell dinner of Sa n F rancisco, Cal. . 

~~~ a:~n'b.~!:'::!:£~~~r. Silver match-box (used by General Grant). . Gold table, modeled after the table in Mr. McLean's bouse on which General 

R. E. Lee signed the articles ofsurrender. This was presented to General Grant 

by ex-confederate soldiers. 

Gold cigar-case (enameled): Presented by the Celestial King of Siam. Gold cigar-case (plain) : PJ,"esented by the Second King of Siam. 

Gold-handled knife: Present~d by miners of Idaho Territory. Nine pieces of jade stone: Presented by Prince Koon of China. 

Silver trowel: Used by General Grant in laying the comer-stone of the Ameri- can Museum of Natural History, New York. 

Knifemade,.at Sheffield for Genet·al Grant .. ' Gold pen (General Grant's). • · Embroidered picture (cock and hen) : Presented to General Grant by citizens 

of Japan. · Field-glasses used by General Grant during the war. Iron-headed cane made from the rebel ram 1\Ierrimac. 

Silver-headed cane made from "wood used in the defense of Fort Sumter. 

Gold-headed cane made out of wood from old Fort Du Quesne, Pennsylvania. 

Gold-headed cane: Presented to General Grant as a tribute of regard for his 

humane treatment of the soldiers and kind consideration of tliose who ministered to the sick and wounded during the war. Gold-headed cane used by General La Fayette, and pre ented to General 

Grant by the ladies of Baltimore, Md. 

Can-ed-w'Ood cane from_ the estate of Sir 'Valter Scott. 

Uniform as General of the United States Army. 

Fifteen buttons cut from the coats during the 'nr by 1\Irs. Grant after the 

di1ferent battles. . Hat ornament used at Belmont. Hat ornament used at Fort Donelson. 

Shoulder-straps {brigadier-general's) worn by General Grant lit Belmont, 'F01·t Donelson, and Shiloh. 

Shoulder-straps Oieutena.Dt~general' ) cut from the coat used by General 

Grant in the campaigns against Rich.mcnd and Petersburg and Lee's army. Shoulder-strap (Lieutenan~neral's) cut from General Grant's coat. Pair of shoulder-straps (General's) cut from a coat General Grant U.Sed after 

thewar. . . · Medal from the American Congress {gold) fot· opening the 1\Iis.si sippi. 

Gold medal from Philadelphia. Twenty~ne medals (gold, silver, and bronze): Badges of armies and corps. Ten medals (silver and bronze) sent to General Grant at di1ferent times. Fourteen medals {bronze) in memory of events. Silk paper ~LouisTillc Commercial) printed for General Grant. · Silk paper Daily Chronicle) printed fot· General Grant·. Silk paper Burlington Hawkeye) printed for Ge.neral Grant. 

Collection of coin (Japanese): This is the only complete set,·exceptone which 

is· in the Japanese treasury. Seven of the e pieces cost 85,000. This set was pre- aentoo by the Go,·ernment of Japan. Warrant·as cadet at West Point. 

COmmission as brevet second lieutenant (missing). Commission as second lieutenant(missing). 

Commission as brevet first lieutenant (missing). 

Com.mission as first lieutenant United States Army. 

Commission as brevet captain Unitoo States Army. 

Commission as captain United Stat~ Army. 

Commission lU! colonel volunteers. 

Commission as brigadier-general. Commission as major-general. 

Commission as major-general United States .Army. Commission as Lieutenant-General United States Army. Commission as General United States Army. 

Commission as honorary member of M. L.A., San Francisco. 

Commission as member of Sacramento Society of Pioneers. 

Commission as honorary member Royal Historical Society. Commission as Military Order of LOyal Legion. . Commission as member of the Aztec Club. 

Certificate of election President of the United States. 

Certificate of re-election President of the United States. 

Certificate of honorary membership.Territorial Pioneers of. California. · · Certificate of honorary membership Saint Andrew's Sooiety. · Certificate of election LL.D. Harvard College. · Certificate of election honorary membership of the Sacxamento Society of Pio- neers of California. 

Certificate of election honorary member 1.\Iercantile Library, San Francisco. 

Freedom of the city of Dublin, Ireland. . . Freedom of the city of Stratford-on-Avon. 

Freedom of the city of London, England. Freedom of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. 

Freedom of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. 

Freedom of the city of Ayr. 

Freedom of tlie burg of Inverness, Scotland. 

Freedom of the city of Oakland, America. 

Freedom of the city of San Francisco, America. ·Freedom of the city of Londonderry, Ireland. The freedom of many other cities. · .Address to General Grant from the Chamber of Commerce. 

.Address to Geneml Grant from Newcastle upon the Tyne, 1877. . .Address to General Grant from the mayor, aldermen, and citizens of the city of Manchester England, May 13 1877. I' Add.ress to G;n era.l Grant by the workingmen of Birmingham, England, October 16,1f!17. ... .Address t.a General Grant from the Chamber of Cominerce and Board of Trade, 

San Francisco, Cal., September, 1879 . .,.Address to General Grant by the mayor, aldermen, and burgesses of the borough of Gat.eshead, England. 

Address to General Grant by the mayor, magistrates, aldermen, and councillors 

of the borough of Leicester, England. · .Address to General Grant by the Americans of Shanghai, db ina, May 19, 1879. Address to General Grant by the Calumet Club of Chicago, Ill. . Add res to General Grant from the Society of Friends in Great Britain. 

Address to Ge~eral Grant from chamber of commerce of Penang . Address to General Grant by the mayor, aldermen, and burgesses of the bor- . ough of Southampton, England. ·Address to General Gran II by the provost, magistrates, and town council of 

the royal borough of Stirling. 

Address to General Grant from mayor, aldermen, and burgesses of Tynemouth, England. 

Address to General Grant by the mayor and town council of Sunderland. . Address to General Grant by t-he trade and friendJy societies of Sunderland . Address to General Grant by the public schools of Louisville, Ky. 

Address to General Grant by the colored men of Louisville, Ky . .Address to General Grant from ex-confederate soldiers. 

.Address to General Grant from State of Louisiana. 

.Address to General Granbfrom the Chamber of Commerce and Board ofTrade 

of SlUl Francisco, Cal. · · Address to General Grant by the British wo1·kmen of London, England . .Address to General Grant by the North Shields Ship-owners' Society, England. . Addt·ess to Geperal Grant from chamber of commerce. .Address to General Grant from Sheffield England. 

.Address to General Grant from mayor, aidermen, and burgesses of the borough of Royal Leamington Spa, England. 

Address to General G1·ant by the mayor, aldermen, and burgesses of Sheffield, 

Englftnd. . · Address to General Grant. by warden , &c., and commonalty of the town of 

Sheffield, Engla-nd. . Address to General Grant from the pro,·ost, magistrates, and town council or the city and royai borough of Elgin, Hogland: Address to General Grant from the mayor, aldermen, and burge es of the borough of Folkstone, England. 

.Add1·ess to Genera1 Grant by the mayor, aldermen, and burges es of the borough of Jarron, England. .Addres to General Grant by tbeomayor, aldermen, and burgesses of Gateshead, England. 

Address to General Grant from the Carpenters' Company. Addres to Geneml Grant from the cit~ens of Cincinnati, congratulating him on hi second election as Pre ident of the United States. 

Address to General Grant from the citizens of Nagasaki, Japan. . Resolution of the Ten-it01·io.l Pioneers admitting General Grant to member- ~~ . . . 

Resolution of the Caledonian Club of San Francisco, enrolling General Grant as honorary member. . ' Resolutions of the citizens of .Jo Daviess County, presenting a sword to General Grant (swordofChattanooga). Resolutions ofthe WaBhington Camp of Brooklyn, Long Island. 

First resolution of thanks of the Congress of the United States. . Fir t resolution inviting General Grant to visit the house of representatives of 

the Commonwealth of the State of Pennsylvania. 

Second resolution of thanks from the Congress of the United States. Letter fromcitizensof Jersey City, thanking General Grant for hisDesMoines 

(Iowa) speech on the question of public schools. · Presentation of a ilver medal by the Cnion League Club of Philadelphi , fQr 

gallantry and di tinguished services. · Vote of thanks by Congress to General U. S. Grant, &c. 

Other resolution , llddresses, :vote of thanks, and freedom of citie . 

CO:RRECTION OF CLERICAL ERROR. 

The SPEAKER p1·o tempore, by unanimous consent, laid before the 

Honse the following Jetter from the Secretary of the Navy; which was referre~ to the Committee on Naval A.ffai:rs, and ordered to be printed: 

NAVY DEPARTMENT, Wcuhingt.on, Ffbruary 2,1885. 

SrR: In my communication, dated January 30, in answer to·the resolution of 

the House relative to the Tallapoosa., I desire to correct a clerical error. For the words and figures "August 19," in the second paragraph, the words 

and figures" July 1!l" should be substituted. . , Very.respectfully, your obedient. serv_ant, 

Hon. JoHN G. CARLISLE, . Speal;:~r of llle House of Representatives. 

W. E. CHANPt.ER, 

Secretary of .the Navy. 

PROPEB'J;Y IN POSSESSIOY OF THE CLERK OF THE HOUSE. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore also laid before the House a letter from 

the Clerk of the House, transmitting report of property in,his possession 

belonging to the United States;. which ..was referred to the Committee on Accounts, and ordered to be printed. · 

LEAVE OF ABSENCE. 

Mr. KELLOGG, by unanimous consent, was granted leave of ab ence for eight days from ThuTSdayt F~bru..-u-y 5. 

G. T. M. ENGLISH. 

On motion.of 1\lr. LORE, by unanimous consent the Committee of 

the Whole House on the Private Calendai: was discharged from the further consideration of the bill (H. R. 7760) for the relief of G. T. M. 

English; and the same was referred to the Committee on Appropria- tio~. 

INCREASE OF POLICE FORCE AT IN.AUGUXATION. 

On motion of Mr. FOLLETT, by unanimous consent the bill (H. R. 

8121) to enable the commissioners Of the District of Colnmbia to maintain public order" during the ceremonies of the inauguration of the 

President, and for other pmposest returned. from the Senate with 

amendments, was taken from the Speaker's table for present consideration. · 

1\fr. FOLLETT moved to non-concur in the Senate amendments. 

Mr. ADAMS, oflllinois. We should have some explanation what 

the amendments are . Mr. FOLLETT. The bill as it went from the House appropriated $6,000. The Senate increased that to $8,000. The House made provision for this appropriation being made as other appropriations for the 

District of Columbia, one half out of the District funds and the other 

half out of the Treasury. The Senate amendment makes it allJ:>ayable 

out of the Treasury of the United States. 
1885. OONGRESSIONAL RECORD-·SENATE. 1243 

Mr. MILLER, of Pennsylvania. And that is right. 

Mr. ADAMS, of Illinois. I move that the Senate- amendments be 

concurred in, and I desire to say that th~ inauguration business is not 

ordinary business: I think, therefore, we should concm: in the Senate 

amendments. · Mr. FOLLETT. I desire to make this simple statement: Four years 

ago theappropriation.was made as the Honse made it, one balfpayable 

out of the funds of the District and the other half out of the Treasury 

of the- United States, as other appropriations are made for the District 

under the rule. . . And I wish to say still further that the benefit resulting from the 

large attendance of people in the ·city of- Washington on that occasion 

is more in the interest of the people here than it is in the interest of 

the Government. 

The motion of Mr. ADAl\181 of Illinois, was not agreed to. 

The amendments of the Senate were non-concurred in. ·Mr. FOLLETT moved that a committee of conference be asked on the 

disagreeing votes of the two House . , The motion was agreed to. 

The SPEAKER pro tmpore appointed as conferees on the part of the 

House Mr. FOLLETT, Mr. HUTCH.INS1 and Mr. CANNON. 

AARON GELD. 

Mr. WOLFORD, by unanimous consent, from the Committee on Ppsions, reported back favorably the bill (H. R. 4869) for the relief of Aaron 

Geld; which was referred to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

Private Calendar, and the accompanying report ordered to b~ printed. 

And then, on motion of Mr. MILLS (at 5 o'clock and 15 minutes p. m. ), the House adjourned. 

By :Mr. PUSEY: Petition of E. C. Vennumand others, of Cass County, 

Iowa, asking for an increase of widows' pensions-to the same com- mittee. . . · 

By ~1r. J. H. ROGERS: J?etitions of citizens of Hot Springs, Ark., 

and memorial of its city council, against the passage of the· R.ogers bill 

for the regulation of the Hot Springs reservation-to the Committee on the Public Lands. · 

By Jltir. TOWNSHEND: Petition of citizens of the District of Columbia, prayilig for the passage of a joint· resolution requiring the_ Balti- more and Potomac Railroad Company to keep open the draw of the long . bridge for the passage of vessels at all hours of the day and night-to 

the Committee on Rivers and Harbors. 

The following petitions for the passage of the 1\lexican war pension 

bill with Senate amendments were presented and severally referred to 

the Committee on Pensions: · · By Mr. BAGLEY: Of citizens of Sehobarie County, of Greene. County, 

and of Ulster County, New York. 

By Mr. BAYNE: Of ex-soldiers of Allegheny County, of Pittsburgh, 

and of Bakerstown, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. 

By Mr. BINGHAM: Of.honombly discharged soldiers of Philadelphia, Pa. . By Jlt!r. BOYLE: Of citizens of New Haven, Fayette County, and of 

Fayette City, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. 

By Mr. 'EVERHART: Of citizens of Oxford, Chester County, Pennsylvania. 

By Mr. GEDDE'3: Of George :M. Endley and 57 others, citizens of 

Mansfield, and of G. W. Shurtleff and 123 others, citizens of Lorain 

County, Ohio. · By Mr. HEPBURN: Of 175 citizens of Leon, Decatur County; of 

I'ETITIONS, ETC. William Butle:t; and 50 others, citizens of Quincy, Adams County, and 

The following petitions and papers were laid on the Clerk's desk, of J. B. Morrison and 50. others, citizens of Unionvill~, Appanoose 

under the rule, and, referred as tollows: County, Iowa. . By Mr. BINGH.Al\I: Resolutions of' the Philadelphia Produce Ex- By Mr. HOLMAN: Of Charles E. Burroughs and 65others, citizens of 

change, fa~oring the enactment of a national bankrupt lmv-to the Com- Ripley County; of Alexander W. Lee and 91 others, citizens of Frankmittee on the Judiciary. lin County, and of Samuel. Ward and 36 others, citizens of Ripley 

By Mr. BRECKINRIDGE: Petition of citizens of Pine Bluff, Ark., County, Indiana. . urging the passage of the Potter funding bill-to the Committee on By Mr. KLEINER: Of ex-soldiers of Reno, Ind. Ways and Means. · By :Mr. LACEY: Of William Edwins and 27 -others, of Sunfield, 

By Mr. DINGLEY:. PetitionofU. G. Shaw and others, ofBath, Me., Mich. 

for an· appropriation to remove the ledge and rocks in the Kennebec By :Mr. McCORMICK: Of 581 citizens of Lawrence County; of 50 

River at Bath-to the Committee on Rivers and Harbors. citizens of Jackson County, and ofl74 citizens of Portsmouth, Ohio. 

By Mr. ERMENTROUT: PetitionofOstheimerBrothers, for passage By Mr. PAIGE: Of D. Garman and others, of Summit County; of 

of bill proyiding for an international convention for the protection of T. L. Firestone and others, of Wayne County; of F. M. Waltmar and 

industrial pro~rty-to the. Committee on Foreign Affairs. others, of Medina County, and of George M. Patterson a:qd others, of 

Also, petition of John F. Donehower, for passage of a bill granting Cuyahoga Falls, Summit County, Ohio. • him a pension-to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. By Mr. PUSEY: Of 60 cifuens of Shelby County and of 190 citiBy Mr. FERRELL: Petition o( citizens of Salem city and members zens of Harrison County, Iowa. . of the :.{>resbyterian chru-ch, on tha Mormon question-to the Commit- By Mr. RYAN: Of 2,523 citizens of the State of Kansas. 

tee on the Judiciary. . By Mr. ROWELL: Of.115 citizens of Monticello; of 41 citizens of 

By Mr. FORNEY: Memorial from the General Assembly of the State Middletown; of 146·citizens of Farmer City; ·of 47 citizens of Chenoa, 

of Alabama, asking for an increased appropriation to open the Coosa . and" of 47 citizens of Gridley, Dl. 

River-to the Committee on Rivers and Harbors. By Mr. SENEY: Of L. S. Lafferty and 128 others, citizens of HanBy Mr. GEOkGE: Petition from North Yam Hill, Oreg., asking cock County, Ohio. ·. Congress to purchase Miss Ransom's portrait of General George H. By Mr. SHIVELY: Of David Brown and 77 others, citizens of LeesThomas-to the Com.inittee on the Library. burg, Ind. ,. 

By Mr. HARDY: Memorial of Sereno D. Bonfils, ,A... McKinstrey, By Mr. H. Y. SMITH: Of 39 citizens of Lacona, and of 60 citizens 

and .others, requesting that this Forty-eighth Congress authorize the of Indianola, Warren· County, Iowa. 

Secretary of War to contract with Charles Stoughton and hi$ associates By MrJ STEPHENSON: Of Fred. Barrett, al)d 75 others, citizens of 

for theimproveme:qtofHarlem River, New York, for a sum not exceed- M:edford, Taylor Col}nty; ofW. J. Brown and 91 others,·citizensofMaing $1,295,000, and requesting that the chainnan.ofthe Committee on rion, Waupaca County, and of G. J: Jackson and 62 others, citizens of 

Rivers and Harbor will appoint a subcommittee to hear arguments Centralia, Wood Co~ty, Wisconsin: . thereon, and report to the full committee-to the Committee on Rivers By 1\i.r. E. B. TAYLOR: Of C .. P. LyQl.an and 86 others, citizens of 

and Harbors. . Trumbull County, Ohio, and of B. Herrick and 76 others, citizens of 

By Mr. H..A..RYER: Resolutions of George G. Meade Post, Grand -Perry, Lake County, Ohio. 

Army of the Republic, in fa-vor of the passage of Senate bill placing By Ur. 'THOMAS: Of 64 citizens of Massac County; of 167 citizens 

General U.S. Granton the.retired.-listwith rank and payofGeneral- of Jackson County; of64 citizens of Johnson ~unty ; of90 'citizens of 

to the Co~ttee on Military Affairs. Pulaski Co~ty, and o~2 citizens of New Burnside, Til. 

By Mr. LIBBEY: Petition of citizens of Nansemond County, Virginia, asking for the improvement of Nansemo~d River-to the Committee on Rive.rs,.and Harbors. 

By Mr. LORE: Petition of W. L. S. Murray and 44 others, citizens 

of Delaware, urging the suppression of Mormonisttl by law-to the 

Committee on the Judiciary. · 

Also, petition of J. Richards Boyle and 12 others, citizens of Delaware 

for the suppression of M:o~onism by Congressional legislation-to th~ same committee. 

By Mr. Jlt.ULLER: Petition ·of citizens of Mercer, Pa., in favor of legislation that will chec)r the e"Vil. of Monnonism-to the same committee. 

By Mr. CHARLES O'NEILL: Petition of many citizens of Philadelphia, praying Congress to enact a law which will give again to the 

aged seamen and marines, ·beneficiaries of the United States naval asylums, their pensions just as they are given to the soldiers of the national 

homes for soldiers, the said pensions being now forfeited under the law 

by these beneficiaries of the United States naval asylums.:_to the Committee on Pensions: 

SENA~. 

WEDNESDAY, .February 4, 1885_. 

Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. E. D. HUNTLEY, D. D .. 

The Journal of yesterday's proceedings was read and approved. 

PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair begs to ask unanimous con- sent that he may invite upon the floor of the Senate the chief justice of 

the Dominion of Canada, who is present in the gallery. Is there objection? The Chair hears no objecti~m. 

TESTIMONIALS TO ULYSSES S. G~T. · 

The PRESIDENT p ro tempore laid before the Senate the following 

message from the President of the United States; which was read, and, 

•