The North-Carolinian., 1854-07-22

Ito them, that / have never considered it an
assumption of power on the part of the Govern
ment to undertake works national Or more
properly speaking, general in their character
\ our revenue is derived from importations, and
as long as this is done, so long is it your duty
Ill one way or another, to remove such Obstruc-
tlons as necessarily impede or prevent importa-
tons. w do yoa have buoys on your rivers;
breakwaters on your bays; beacons and light
houses on your coasts? All of these improve
ments rest upon the same principle the strength
of which must be acknowledged as long as your
money is collected from importations But, Mr.
Speaker, another consideration presents itself to
my mind, which has = Strong direct bearing on
This question ltsas tins The Government
owns, and as q CONSEQUENCE has exc1usiye
Jurisdiction of the localities where these inn
provements are being established; and Twill
submit, if the Federal Government has not the
power to carry them on, who has? The State
OF North Carolina has parted with her owner
ship, and, of course, she has no right For this
purpose she could not lay stone drive ii pile
without being trespasser upon soil over which
the General Government has exclusive juris-
diction.
Now. Mr. Speaker, l will discuss the merits
of the BILL and, if not much mistaken, 1 will
be able to show the House, not only i'll finan-
cial, but in military point of view, its passage
guage of the Engineer Department, that ''the
work is Moroughiy natiomal" | will read ex-
tract from their report with the letter of
Superintendent Bache, addressed to me upon
this subject
ENGINEER DEPARTMENT, WAsHIScroN,
February 8, 1854.
Sir: In reply to the letter Of Hon r. j. d.
Fuller, chairman of Committee on Commerce.
House of Representatives, dated 9th instant,
fl
honor to inclose herewith extracts from the let
ters of Captain d. p. Woodbury., Corps of En-
ginecrs, dated January % and February 3,
1884, showing the progress made, up to this
time, with the works for the improvement of the
Cape Fear bar, and their present condition.
regard the proposed Improvement as prac-
tica bic. and an object of national Importance
Mr. Fuller's letter is returned herewith.
l have the honor to be, very respectfully,
your obcdient servant
JOS. GROTTEN B. BRIGHT
United States Engineer
| Hon. JEFFERSON DAVIS, Sccretary-of War.
! CoAsT SURVEY OFFICE, July g. 1854
/ Dear Sir In reply to your question as to
the danger of postponing action at the Cape
Fear, | have the honor to state that the main
bar is constantly deteriorating and that the
longer the work is delayed, the more difficult it
must be to remove the obstruction Since the
or quite two feet The general fact is, that as
the main bar shoals, the western channel and
! the inlet increase in depth, SO that the
channel which it is desired to stop the new
inlet, increases i'll depth, (by the bar being
pushed further out to sea- while the main bar
decreases, making bud worse! Too prompt
measures cannot be taken to remedy this disas-
trous state of things. The longer it is delayed
the greater will be the cost and there is great
risk that beyond certain point enterprise may
! be ''too late
| Very respectfully yours,
\. u. BACHE.
Hon w. AsHE, House of Reps.
| Another report from the source, further
informs that there once over twenty
feet water on the Cape Fear bar, where now
only nine ten are found. This is indeed
alarming, and brings immediately to our minds
the question, will not our Government suffer in
its revenue if these obstacles are allowed to in
crease, or to even remain they are? A
glance at the situation Of that town will offer US
Il satisfactory solution of this question. There
are new completed, in rapid construction
six hundred miles of railroad, converging at
Wilmington. In consequence of this improve
ment find the exports increasing from
81 200, 900 in 1910, to $4,000, 900 in 1858
and, sir, the most prudent and sagaciOus of our
merchants calculate, that in five years after the
completion of this improvement, its exports
| annudllv Will amount W SlC,OOU,OUV, DuC, OF
course, Mr. Speaker, these calculations are
based upon the removal of these obstructioEs
at the bar Ii they are allowed to continue
the farmers of \ orth Carolina will have to look
elsewhere for Il shipping port and that city, dis
tinguished it is for its patriotism and enter
prise will soon have ''its days numbered"
Our products heretofore have been shipped
principally coastwise. Every Atlantic State
participates in trade. Maine looks to us
for the best of her ship-buding materials; Bos
ton, New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore
arc dependent us for their naval stores. Sir
you cannot visit one of these cities without be-
ing struck with the great contribution made by
the trade of Wilmington to their wealth ano
prosperity. These cities fully aware of the
Importance of this trade, and hence each OF
them, \ believe, expressed its solctude
in favor of these improvements at our bar dur
ing the last session of Congress. But, MI
Speaker, whatever may have been the. amount
of interest which those cities have had hereto
fore in trade, it will be but Gas mote to a
beam" as to its future. In the single article OF
coal it is calculated that this interest will h..
immeasurab!y increased. The city of New York
has already invested nearly hulf u mtUton OF
dollars in our coal fields. Boston is not much
behind her in this new enterprise This ma
Ex<xa-1az
manufacturers, and to steam navigation, will
be soon poured into their markets in the great
est abundance, of quality the very best, and
at Il price one half of what it now commands.
| have before me the reports of the most eml''-
a.