The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1851-03-19
CONGRESSIONAL.
DErEilitED DEBATE.
SATURDAY. MARCH 1, 1851.
IN CONTINUATION


The river and harbor bill being under dsration
Mr. EWING said have but few words TO say. and
reg to lake the tine OF the Senate in making the few
remarks have to make, | am sorry 10 hear opinions
urged by senators from the West utterly al
as lhlnk with sound principle. and certainly greatly al
war with the interests OF the portion OF country which
they represent, Those opinions suppose arise from
view OF the subject that s perfectly natural 10 but al
the same time incorrect in principle. We derive our
commercial opinions, Mr.. President, more especially
from the county from which we have derived most of
our aws-an insular country and the general principles
that apply to rivers and halboIs, and admiralty jurSc-
ton particularly, apply to island, and not 10 great
continent The admiralty jurisdiction in England ex-
tends only as Tar as de- extends and that only in
three rivers which called royal riversthe Thames
The Severn, and the Humboldt. They have rivers
England that gable any further than the tide flows
There s the whole secret for The ebbing and flowing
tide Nothing OF the kind applies the Mediterranean,
| because il has no Tide Nothing OF the Roman laws aI'-
Plies TO Great Britain, because there is tide upon the
Mediterranean; Is an Insular country, and the prin
cples which England has adopted apply nowhere else
except to islands. We have derived our opinions from
| England, and we in The habit OF thinking that we
cannot improve harbor unless II be IN which the
lide ebbs aud flows. ..a#
Upon the Mediterranean the idea is that you can 20
far salt water extends, because that is salt but
II you go up to the Black sea, which is about wo-,hrds
as large as The Mediterranean ltself, you hnd salt
water there and sou 60 upon great lakes, you find
none there Now, or all sensible purposes, is wholly
unmpoIla whether the tide epbs and flows, or whether
you have salt or fresh water 1t is mere question Of
navigalion-whethe you have navigation, and hold
intercourse upon navgable streams and bodies Of water
l
much navigable. and we hold intercourse with foreign
countries upon them just much il their waters were
salt. and il the tide ebbed and flowed upon them
There is the reason Tor improving harbos upon the
lakes upon the There is no kind of dsnc-
ton whatever existing between them when look al;
this thing in sound and sensible point Of view, forget
ting our previous notions and preudices, derived from
island totally ds.imla in character from the country
we inhab
| Then, when you come to our great western rivers,
wha, is the Mississippi but great inland sea- with two
coasts instead Of one What difference is there between
the Mississippi river and the Atlantic ocean, except that
i has two lines OF coast instead OF That all the
deTence and the Improvement OF The navigation aud OF
the harbors upon that river exactly sound and Just
in principle as The Improvement OF the harbors of ex
tended ocean .= HE# ..@
Then. connected with that mighty river are tributary
streams OF very large size, and entirely navgable-
wanting improvements, IL is true, 10 make them
petey so, but with the aid OF some improvement, safely
navigabie. Among these would rank the Tennessee
II is wholly unmproved. 1t flows through one or two
States. 1t is branch of the Ohio which branch OF
the Mississippi, and the three connected together make
outlet Of vast extent OF country to The ocean Now, you
admit that there may be improvements IN the Hudson
rver that you may improve IL 80 as 10 relieve the crafts
that passing a bar OF that river into the ocean Ii
is just and night that you should do it, But how does
that differ from opening into the Mississippi Not
an toa You have just as much right TO ask for improve
mens upon The tennessee which opens into the
Ohio, and is branch OF it, and is almost long upon
the Hudson That river has been objected and yet il
through three tour States and there three
four oi ITS lbuiay streams that are navgabe Tor some
distance There several streams that head up in VIr
ginia-he Holsten The Frenchbroad, and Duck creek
that are nayigable and the Tennessee drains great
extent OF county. do not assent therefore, TO the prn
cipe contended for by gentlemen, that you cannot
improve the navigation OF that river think you may
do It with just much ptopTiey as the Hudson; and
although there may not be much commerce popua
tsn upon the former upon the latter, there y
very large population and great amount OF commerce
| upon the Tennessee.
Something has been said. Mr. President about the
comparative OF these with that
OF The Atlantic seaboard. II my memory serves me
uron the Mississippi equal If superior TO that OF
all ports upon The seacoas, with the single excep
ton of New York, which draws very large portion OF
its exports from the lake country, which also included
in the West The tonnage approaches very near TO
equality with our foreign commerce; and when
to reflect upon the fact that tonnage upon the
waiers is mainly conveyed by steamboats, and that the
freight OF one ion steamboat is worth
eight tons upon sailing vessel, you will lind that the
comparative tonnage OF the waters is equal 10
that oil the whole seacoast Taking these things into
consideration, do not consider that there nord
nate allowance made in this bill for the western waters
that any OF the appropriations for the West do not
fall strictly within the system have heretofore
taned.
But something has been said about eslmaes-that you
must have estimates before you may make approprIa.
lions. How you estimate the expense OF taking
snags out of the Mississippi river! You know that that
work ought 10 be and must be done, no matter what Il
costs These snags are coming day alter day, month
alter month year alter year and they destroying bu
man lie aud property 10 irightul extent Now, you
will build light house TO guard a-gong vessel from
wrecklng itself against the shore Why not extract a
suag from the Mississippi 10 order preserve your
STEAMBOATS, and other craft from becoming wrecksl fake
the Ark and Tennessee rivers You have an appro
priation for the Improvement Of them. Well there
distractions in those rivers similar 10 those in the Mis-
ssslpp'. la The Arkansas particularly there snags
which must be removed, and you make no calcula
tions as 10 what is necessary for their removal A
close calculation ~ mol 10 be required You make an es
tmate, and you suppose that the sum is sufficient Tor
their removals and that all that is expected or desired
do not know whether there or are not any cases
h,Va IN htrh haa,
could not but observe The remarkable objection that the
senator from Georgia Mr. DAwsosl took 10 Of these
appropriations He says you may not improve without
an estimate. Well here rs one where a survey and
estimate specially called for. The appropriation is
made 10 order TO have survey and estimate and the
senator relies upon that The strongest possible case,
and declares that u ~ utterly al with the cons-
unon because you make an appropriation TO make sur
vey and an estimate without attempting any improve.
mtnt at all. Now, il you may no, improve without an
estimate, nor make appropriations for estimate that
absolutely required IN certain case, YOU NAV run head.
long into expenditure which may have no end and
which had better never been begun
Mr., President, see nothing in this bill which should
fobld US TO pass H. and Just is or nearly So
should be glad u there s anything not well judged in
H. that II should be removed but il is probable that the
better policy that which suggested by the honorable
senator from keDucky-to take the bill with the great
good and little evil, and pass IT. and give the country the
benefit OF what has been Tor many years Withheld from
Mr. DAVIS, OF Mississpp, We are indebted TO the
senator IRON Olo [Mr. Eersol Tor having at last To-
Gated this vagrant power OF the federal government to
make internal improvements within the States. Former.
y had frequent controversies to what clause OF the
const ttuion should be drawn from. The senator from
OHIO iaa shows that the opposition to 1t s the only
atef be traced, and HAT inherit that IA iusular