The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-03-24

ration of the public good demands this. If the
Administration cannot stand upon the principles
of the message, it does not expect to stand at all !"
IDANIEL wEBsrER's Letter TO the Union Meeting
at Westchsster.
Improvsment OF tho Mississippi and Its
Tributaries.
In the debate OF Saturday evening" the first
of March, in the Senate, on the River and
Harbor bill, Mr.. FooTE, in the prosecution of
the word-warfare made upon this bill by the
opposition, moved to amend it by striking out
1.-TWO hundred and forty' and inserting ''four
hundred" in the appropriation for the Missis-
sippi, Ohio, Missouri. and Arkansas rivers; and
by striking out "fifty" and inserting s'one hun
dredV in the appropriation for the Illinois and
Tennessee rivers. Mr.. FoorE made protest
against being understood to commit himself to
vote for the bill if his amendment should pass
Indeed, we presume that we only do justice TO
the Senator when we say that his amendment
was offered merely as part of the system of
tactics by which Mr.. HAMLIN and Mr.. BRAD
BURY, of Maine, conspred with Mr.. SoULE, of
Louisiana, and Mr.. CLEMENS, of Alabama, to
defeat the bill. 1t certainly is not reasonable
TO suppose that Mr.. FooTE's objections to the
enormous appropriations contemplated by the
bill would be removed by augmentng those
appropriations by upwards of 100000.
While this amendment was under discus
sion, Mr.. RUsK, of Texas, stated that in his
Judgment this was the most important section
of the bill. 'sThe short time | have been here
there have been up,cards Of one thousand ires
lost upon the Mississippi river. The amount of
property ,chich has been destroyed Is incalcu-
slabLe" Mr.. RUsK has been member of the
Senate since 1916, and in the brief interval
that has since elapsed he has witnessed this
frightful havoc of life and property on the Mis-
sissippi river by causes the removal of which
is contemplated by the improvement of its har-
bors and rivers by the General Government.
Mr.. RUsK, therefore, was in favor Of increasing
the appropriation, though it was entirely well
understood that the amendment would be fatal
to the bill. He thought $4,000 out of the
million was not enough for the Mississippi, and
said that it was better to get nothing"
VASTLY better,'' said Mr. RUsK, "for the pre-
sent to get nothing at all than to enter into
this scramble, and surrender the rights of the
Mississippi river for the mere convenience of
cdIIylHI through lliS uiii. 4 nc RHoStS vi
the thousand victims to sucR doctrines Mr..
RUsK might have feared to see rise up to re-
buke him for this kind of ''friendship'' for the
bill.
In the course Of the debate on this amend
ment, Mr.. Downs, of Louisiana, was seeking
to enlarge his geographical information at the
expense of the time and patience of the Senate,
nv he In w he
might have found in any school geography or
Travellers Guide. He wanted to know, for in
stance, something about Conneaut--where tits,
and what kind Of place it is, and whether
or not anybody lives there, with variety of
similar questions; presenting clear case of
gentleman in pursuit of useful knowledge under
difficulties. The Senate is not exactly the
school to study the geography of the United
States. Subsequently, Mr.. DowNs wanted to
know where Cunningham's bay is, on Lake
Erie. "Can gentlemen tell me any thing about
that2 1t is asking good deal of us to APP
propriate such sums to places that nobody
knows any thing about"
Being better posted than his colleague from
Louisiana in his geographical studies, Mr..
Senator DAVIS, of Massachusetts,, undertook to
give Mr.. Downs the information he desired.
While on the floor, Mr.. DAVIS thought that he
might as well enlighten some of his brother
Senators on another question. "There are for
the Mississippi and its tributaries" said Mr..
DAVIS, " $530,0OO appropriated by this bill.
That is as much as the Department, according
10 their view of the matter, think can be use
fully and economically expended in year.
II is not TO be supposed that this is all that is
required upon the river to remedy all the
difficulties which exist; but it is such sum
as can usefully and economically be expended
in year. That is the view Of the Depart
rnent in regard to it,"
Upwards Of half million Of dollars! al
that could be usefulty and economically expend-
ed during the year, in the view of the Depart
ment! And this is the bill which the Demo
cratic Mr. RUsR and the Democratic Mr.
fooTE objected 10 on the ground that it did
not appropriate money enough for the Missis-
slppi river! 1t was better, in Mr.. RUsK's
judgment, for the West, that the Mississipp
should get nothing" than get only as much
as "could be usefulIy and economically ex-
pended" in the view of the Department.
IL is well that we should add that the amend
ment Of Mr.. FooTE was sustained only by seven
Senators, the most inveterate and thorough
going enemies of the bill. We give the yeas
and nays, and commend them to the study of
oil h.. = IL