Wisconsin herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1846-1849, 1847-01-16
and abundant harvests-the. toll Of the

appointment OF a joint committee from
the Council and House Of Representa-
tives, to ascer tain, if practicable, the
amount Of the Indebtedness of the Ter
ritory. AS the present will doubtless
be the last meeting of the Legislative
Assembly during the Territorial Gov
ernment; il is due the people, as well as
the creditors of the Territory, that
this investigation should take place
Provision was nade by an act of Con-
gress, approved March 80, lS42, for
the payment Of certain arrearages and
claims created by appropriations made
by the Legislative Assembly prior to
that period. What amount of these
claims have been paid, or what appro-
priations made by the Legislative As
sembly subsequent to that time re-
main unpaid, will be the subject of in
quiry. BY the organic law, the Secre-
tary of the Territory is made the dis
bursting officer of the Government-and
until the settlement and adjustment Of
the accounts Of those charged with the
disbursements Of the public moneys,
with the proper department, itcannot
be known what amount they have
paid under appropriations made by
the Legislature. srrd Bra
At the last session of the Lcpisla-
tive Assembly, ] submitted my views
on the subject of harbor and river APP
preparations By Congress. My opin-
ions, as then expressed, have under
gone no change. Appropriations hav-
ing been made by Congress for the
commencement of harbors at the
towns of Milwaukee, Racine and
Southport, in accordance with the long
established usage of the Government,
it was not doubted but that annual APP
preparations would have been contin-
ued until their completion. would
respectfully recommed to the Legsla-
tive Assembly the propriety of memo
rializing Congress, asking an appro-
priation to complete the harbors com
menced at the towns designated, agree
ably TO the estimates made under the
direction Of the War Department, and
reported to Congress. The increased
importance of the commerce of Lake
Michigan far surpasses that Of any
other inland waters in the United
States. The policy of the government
heretofore, has been to afford every
facility to commerce, by diminishing
as much as possible the dangers of
navigation. The towns where har-
bors have been commenced by the
Government, in this Territory, have
rapidly increased in population and
commercial Importance; they are the
principal depots for large extent of
country in the interior, denscly popu-
lated, and in high state OF cultivation
and agricultural improvement; where
a large surplus of wheat and other
products is raised annually for the
eastern markets. During the eth
I Congress, bill was introduced into
the House Of Representatives, without
1.-THE action Of the Committee of Com
merce, appropriating eighty thousand
dollars for harbors, at the towns Of
Milwaukee, Racine and Southport,
which passed the House; and al
though the appropriations for Racine
and Southport were stricken out of
the bill in the Senate, and St. Joseph,
in Michigan, and Chicago, in Illinois,
inserted, the bill passed that body with
that amendment, and became law
During TIE 2sth Congress-, a bill re-
ported by the Committee on Roads
and Canals TO the House of Represen-
tatives, making appropriations for bar
bors at the towns of Racine and
Southport, passed both Houses Of
4 Congress and became law. ! have
mentioned the course observed by
Congress, when legisIatiug for this
Territory alone, on separate bills. for
specific objects, disconnected from
others. r~, sat
4 would respectively invite the at
tention of the legislative assembly to
the settlers on the line of the Rock
River and Milwaukee Canal. By n
law OF this Territory, of February gath
lS45, all the unsettled portions of the
lands granted by the United States.
(the odd sections) are to be SOLD until
the whole tract is disposed of under
the direction of the Register and Re-
ceiver of the canal fund. The sales
reported to the Office of the Executive
by the Register and Receiver. on the
first Of JBne, 1876, and the 3Oth of
October, lS46, are twenty thousand