Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1852-07-24

Of
country. very large number Of petitions from all quar-
ters or the country had been referred them prayng for
appropriations for the of our large and
navgabe rivers and for the improvement Of the harbors
both upon the seacoas and upon the Northern lakes Pc
tons had also been referred to them in reference To the
great Western rivers and in such numbers and present
ing such pressing exgencies that the committee before
the reference to them Of that portion Of the Presidents
message relating to this subject proceeded consider
this very imp ,rtant, and, it had proved very enbar
RAISING subject
In addition to these petitions he would state that very
many large deputaons composed Of gentlemen of the
greatest responsibility, connected with commerce.
and long engaged in navigation and foreign and domestic
commerce appeared before the committee and pressed
upon their consideration subjects very great
to the localities where they resided He alluded part
cuary to the very respectable deputaons sent here by
the cities Of Boston, New York, Philadelphia Baltimore
and New Orleans. He repeated that, in approaching
this subject, the committee found it full of embar-
rassments In looking back the history the country
fourteen years. they found that appropriations had
been made to repair public works erected by the Co
vernment Old works out of repair, and in
instances the navigation of streams and the approach to
harbors rendered than they in their
natural state by the decay of these works. Of
the want of means to keep them in repair
In addition the committee found that large and extern
sve territories had been added to the country during the
period Of fourteen years since any appropriation bill had
passed Very great and pressing wants came up from
these Territories Texas with seacoast of six hundred
miles and watered by numerous large streams, with har
bors adequate for very large trade with small appro-
priaton the bars at their mouth would be
opened to the enterprise Of the country Besides all this
the increase Of population in the West had been bringing
out from the wilderness and developing the Of
one of the richest and fertile parts of the globe
New States had been added to the Union which had as
yet received no appropriation for the Improvement of their
rivers and harbors. te
Under these considerations the committee addressed
themselves to the preparation of this bill and he would
say in behalf Of the committee that they had devoted
four times the amount Of labor the preparation Of this
bill that they had to all the other bills they had acted
upon majority of the committee opposed to en-
tering into any thing like general system of internal
improvements They desired to frame such bill As
would meet the good Of the House and the country
and satisfy the wants Of commerce They therefore
fined the appropriations to those great depots where
merce already conferred. " f.fttas 81
he stated that the amount appropriated in this bill
little short of million and half dollars; md he
thought that this small when they considered the
dangers which it intended to guard against Infor-
nation had been laid before the committee showing that
in the year 1851 the amount of property lost upon the
lakes for the Of harbors refuge
by lack OF the appropriations contained in the bill under
consideration far greater than the whole amount of
money appropriated in this bill. Upwards of tive mil
lions Of dollars lost during the last year upon these
lakes being half million than the amount appro
prated by this BILL
Mr. SACKETT called the attention of the committee to
what he considered defect in the bilthe omission of
an appropriation for the Improvement of Big Sodus Bay
He spoke Of the commerce of Lake Ontario in which he
stated every Western State interested.
MIR. TAYLOR moved that the committee rise, stating
that he did so with view of moving limit the debate
to the five minutes rule He remarked that they should
pass this BILL and do it promptly; for the people expect
ed it at their hands At the last session valuable bill
of this kind lost for of time 1t therefore be-
hooved the committee to act speedily and promptly
Mr. DISNEY appealed to his colleague Withdraw the
motion, as it evident gentlemen prepared to
close the debate at this early period upon important
subject
Mr. TAYLOR adhered to his motion, believing it was
necessary to the passage of the bill that debate should
be closed.
Mr. MEADE hoped the gentleman would not press the
motion SO far the discussion had been confined to the
merits of the bill and he thought that to close the de-
bate now would be exceedingly njudicous and unjust
Mr. SEYMOUR, of New York, hoped the gentleman
| would Withdraw the motion for the present
MIR. TAYLOR withdrew the motion, and said that he
would not renew it long gentlemen should confne
themselves to the subject under considerations but if
they should depart from that and proceed to make Pre-
sdentIa and Buncombe speeches, he would insist on
closing the debate They called upon by imperious
necessity to pass this bill soon as possible so as to
enable the business of the House to progress
Mr.. SfANLY moved a substitute for the bill stating
that was the identical bill, word for word which pass
ed the House during the last Congress- and was sent to
the Sena and lost in that body the last day Of the
| session.
Mr. MEADE said that it was very obvious by the vote
taken upon the preliminary question to-day that it was
the discrimination Of the House pass this bill in some
shape or dher. He submitted to the committee that
while every other State in the Union had been provided
for in the bill to extent the great State Of Virginia
had been utirey overlooked. Now, he had conferred
with the chairman of the Committee on Commerce and
asked him Why that those who had no constitution
al scrupes UPON this subject should overlook the entire
interests OF he great State Of Virginia. while every other
State was prvided for He contended that was unfair
and utterly uust to do this simply because the deega
ton from Virina restrained by honest constitution
al scrupes frn asking for appropriations Of this kind
Equal justice hould be done to every State in the Union
The chairman the Committee Commerce informed
him that no mnber Of the Virginia delegation had APP
peared before tie committee and that estimate or Pc
utions had bee sent in for that State 1t seemed them
that the Department which submitted the estimates had
discarded the cate Of Virginia entirely II it de-
termined that his policy constitutional, and that
these appropriations should be made it not ncum-
bent upon thoseSho in favor Of this measure and
who had conditional scruples upon the subject TO
respect the opmns and principles honestly entertained
by the deegatio from Virginia. and that State
should not suein consequence Of adherence to the
old doctrine wlch had been inculcated upon them by
their fathers anueterated time after time by their chill
drenf While hcoud not vote for this BILL considering
be his duty torge those who had scruples the
subject to do jusce to the State Of Virginia.
Mr.. STANLY formed the gentleman that his substi-
tue contained appropriations for the State Of Virginia
Mr. MEADE sid that he should prefer the original
bill with the omAson the substitute offered by the
gentleman from Norh Carolina with the provision it con-
tanned in favor Of Virginia. and the simple reason that
there fewer Objects contemplated in the original pro-
position Mr. M. poke at length in reference to the
subject.
Mr.. MARSHALL,of Kentucky, said that he should
vote for the bill with, great deal Of hesitation He de-
sired fair play different sections Of the country
and was proceeding show the inequality Of the bill,
when he yielded to motion that the committee rise;
which being agreed the committee rose and the House
| adjourned