Southport telegraph. [volume] (Southport, W.T. [i.e. Kenosha, Wis.]) 1840-1850, 1846-08-18

let on our coast, harbor, cannot confe
the authority 10 expend The public none
in its Improvement
Congress have exercised the power coe
val with the constitution Of establishin,
ligh, houses, beacons, buoys and Piers oil
our ocean and lake shores, for the purpos
Of rendering navigation safe aed easy, am
of rendering navigation safe and easy ,an'
of affordng protection and shelter for GU
navy and other shipping. These are safe
guards placed in existing channels Of nav
igation. After the lorg acquiescence o
the government through all preceding I'D
mnls.ra,ions, am not disposed TO question
or disturb the authority 10 make appropri
ations for such purposes.
When we advance q step beyond thi:
point, and in addition 10 the establishment
and support, by appropriations from ths
treasury, of Ugh, houses, beacons, buoys
piers, and other improvements, within tae
bays, inlets, and harbers on our ocean ant
lake coasts Immediately connected will
our foreign commerce, and attempt t.
make improvements in the interior at point.
unconnected with foreign commerce, ant
where they are not needed for the proec
ton and security Of our navy and CONNER
cial marine, the difficulty arises in draw
ing a line hey ond which appropriation
may not be made by the federal govern
ment.
One Of my predecessors, who saw the
evil consequences Of The system proposed
to be revived by this bill, attempted to
define this line by declaring that 'expen-
ditures Of this character" should be soon
fined below the ports of entry or delivery
established by law!' Acting on this re-
strciion, he withheld his sanction from
bill which had passed Congress "to i'm
prove the navigation Of the Wabash riv-
err" He was at the same time ''sensi-
Bile tina, this restriction was not as salts
factory as could be desired, and that
much embarrassment may be caused to
the executive department in its execution
by appropria,ings for remote and not we'll
understood Objects" This restriction,
it was soon found, was subject TO be
evaded, and rendered comparatively USE
less in checking the system of improve
ments which is designed TO arrest, in
consequence Of the facility with which
ports OF entry and delivery may
be established by law upon the
upper waters and in some ins:an-
ces, at the head springs Of some
Of the most unimportanl Of our rivers, and
at points on our coast possessing no COM
mercial importance, and not used US pla-
ces Of refuge and safety by our navy. and
other shipping Many of the ports of
entry and delivery now authorised by law
so far as foreign commerce is concerned
exists only in the statute.book No en-
try of foreign goods is ever made, and no
duties are ever collected at them.
No exports Of american product bound
for foreign countries, ever clear from
them. To assume that their existence
in the statute book as ports OF entry or
delivery warrant expenditures on the
waters leading TO them, which would be
otherwise unauthorized, would be TO assert
the proposition, that The law making
power may engralt new provisions on
the constitutions. If the restriction be a
sound one, il can only apply to the bays
inlels and rivers connected with or lead
ing 10 such ports as actually have for
eign commerce ports at which foreign
imporialions arrive in bulk, paying
the duties charged by law, and from
which exports are nude 10 foreign coun-
tries. l., will be found by applying the
restriction thus understood TO the bill un-
der consideration, that il contains appro-
priations fc more than twenty objects Of
internal Improvement, called in the bill
hal bors, al places which have never been
declared by law either ports of entry or
delivery, and at which, as appears from
records of the treasury, there has never
been an arrival of foreign merchandise,
and from which there has never beeh
vessel cleared for a foreign country. 1t
will be found that many of these works
are new, and at places for the improve
ment Of which appropriations are now
for the first time proposed. 1t Will
be found, also that the bill con-
,alns appropriations for rivers
upon which there has not not been estab-
lished even paper port oil entry, and
for the mouths of creeks, denomnated
harbors. which if improved can benefit
only particular neighborhood in which
they are situated.
1t will be found, too, 10 contain appro-
pria,ions the expenditure of which will
only have the effect Of improving one
place at the expense Of the Local, natural
Advantages of another in its vicinity
Should this bill become law the same
principle which authorizes the appropra-
lions which it proposes to make, would
also authorize similar appropriations for
the improvement OF all other bays, inlets
and creeks, which may with equal pro-
prietv be called harbors, and Of all the
rivers, important, or unlmportant,
in every part Of The Union
To sanction the bill with such
provisions, woule be 10 concede the princi
Die that the federal government possesses
The power to expend The public money in
4 general system Of internal improve
ments, limited in its extent only by the
ever varying discretion oil successive
Congresses and successive Executives.
II would be to cfface and remove The
limitations and restrictions Of power,
which The constitution has wisely provi-
ded to liml, the authority and action of
the federal government to few well.
defined and specified objects Besides
those objections. the practical evils which