Weekly national intelligencer., 1854-01-28

raf oq ~ Hom my purpose to call in question the in
tegy icsnce or skill Of those whose professional duty
was todevse the plan and superntend the
OF the Butt do insist from the nature of their
professi and their habits life they could not be expect
ed mat local knowledge that knowledge of
rents ami tides the effects of storms foods and ice al
ways and changing in each locality Of this
widely extended country which is essential in determin-
ing upo the proper site and plan for an to
the without depreciatng the value ofscience
or disreardng its precepts have no hesitation in say
ing that the opinion of an intelligent captain or pilot
who fo long series Of years. had sailed out Of and into
gvenport In fair weather and foul and who had care
funy aai daily watched the changes produced in the
ehanneby the currents and storms wrecks and other
would inspire me with more confidence than
that OF e most eminent professional gentleman whose
knowede anu science in the line Of his profession were
only equed by his profound ignorance Of all those local
and fquestons which ought to determine the
site ana plan Of the proposed improvement. To me-
no longer matter of surprise that errors
ana occur in the mode Of constructing the works
ana tnat and extravaganza every where appear in
the expenditure OF the money These evils seem to be
inherent system at least they have thus far pro-
Yer ppaxfiAAhls, aud have beeAH's, "
their e!Jsssnceas wssr
that large intelligent portion Of the American peo-
pie, prsing perhaps majority of the Democratic
party aren the habit Of considering these works as con-
situtng general system Of internal improvements by
the Federal Government aud therefore in violation of the
creed Of the Democratic panty and of the Constitution OF
the United States These twofod objections the one
denying the constitutional Eower and the other the ex
appropriations fm the National Treasury
acquire additional strength and force in proper
tion the Importance of thu subject is enhanced and
the necessity for numerous and extensive improve
ments is created by the exeison Of territory the
expansion Of settlements md the development OF the
Of the country As friend to the navigating
interest and especially identified by all the ties Of af
ection gratitude and nteresith that section of the
Republic which is the most deey interested in internal
navigation hope for an favorable results
We
allied IT. then, to judge the system by its results,
taking the past fair indication Of what might reason
ably be expected in the future, those Of who have
struggled hardest to render it efficient and useful
compelled to confess that it has proven miserable fail
It is than failure, because while it has
failed to accomplish the desired objects has had the
effect prevent local and private enterprise from max
ing the improvements under State authority by holding
out the expectation that the Federal Government was
about to make them. ..@ u.s.. #..
By way Of illustration, let suppose that twenty five
years ago. when first began to talk about the construc
Of railroads in this country the Federal Government
had assumed to itself jurisdiction of all works Of that
description to the exclusion of State authority and ind
vdual enterprise In that event. does any believe we
would now have in the United States fourteen thousand
miles of railroad completed and fifteen thousand miles in
addition under contract 1t is to be presumed that If
State had prostrated itsefin humble suppcaon
the feet of the Federal and with folded arms
had waited for appropriations from the National Treasury
instead Of exertng State authority and stimulating and
combining individual enterprise should now have in
Illinois three thousand miles of railroad in process OF
construction Let the history of internal Improvements
by the Federal Government be fairly written, and 1t will
furnish conclusive to these nterrogatores For
than quarter Of century the energies Of the Ma
iona Government together with all the spare funds in
the Treasury, were directed the construction of Ma
cadanized road from Cumberland in the State of Mary
land to Jefferson City, In the State of Missouri without
being able to complete third Of the work If the Gov
ernment were unable to make three hundred miles of
turnpike road in twenty-five years, how long would 1t
take to construct railroad to the Pacific ocean, and to
make all the harbor and rYer necessary
protect wi1ei 1xtended and raFidy increasing
merce on sea-ceaSo extensive that in forty years We
have not been able complete the survey Of
half of it. and lake and river navigation than
four times extensive that seacoast? These ques-
tons worthy the serious consideration of those who
think that mproT should be made for the benefit
Of the present generation well for our remote pos
terity for not that the Federal Government
ever completed any work of internal improvement
menced under its auspices.
The operations of the Government have not been su
cently rapid keep pace with the spirit Of the age
The Cumberland road when commenced, may have been
we'll adapted to the purposes for which it designed
but after the lapse Of quarter of century, and before
any considerable portion of could be finished the whole
was superseded and rendered useless by the introduction
of the railroad system One reason ana perhaps the
principal cause Of the slow progress of all Government
improvements consists in the fact that the appropriation
fer any object is usually too small to be of material
service II may be sufficient for the commencement of
advanced as to withstand tbs effects of storms and foods,
and the elements the appropriation is exhausted and
large portion of the work swept away before funds
be obtained for finishing it protecting that which
has been done The runous consequences of these small
APPROXIMATIONS well understood and seriously depre
Gated but they arise from the necessity of the case and
constitute some of the evils nseparabe from the policy
All experience proves that the numberless items of river
and harbor internal improvement bill cannopa each
by itself and upon it's merits and that hs friends Of
particular works will allow appropriations to be made
for the completion of others which supposed to be of
paramount Importance unless theirs embraced in the
same bill Each member to think the work in his
district to be Of the sternest necessity and highest mpor
tance and hence feels constrained to give his owhe pre-
ference or to defeat any bill which does not include it,
The result il legislative omnibus in which all mannerof Of
objects are crowded together indscrminaely and as
there never is and never be money enough in the
Treasury make adequate appropriations for the whole
and as the bill cannot unless each has something OF
the amount for cnch item must be reduced low
as to make it of little service and thus render the
whole bill almost total loss. In this manner large
norton of our people have been kept in state Of sus
and anxiety than half century, with their
hupes always excited and their expectations never re-
aliIed. ....
E-epea that the policy heretofore pursued has proven
worse than failure. II We expect to provide facilities
and securities for navigating interests, must adopt
systsm commensurate with our wants. one which will
be Jus. and equal in its operations upon lake. river and
ocean wherever the water is navgable, fresh or SALT
tide or no tide system which will not depend for its
upon the dubious and fuetuatng issues of poit
cal and Congressional combinations one which
will be certain uniform, and unyarying in its results
know system better calculated to accomplish these
objects than that which commanded the appreciation OF
the founders of the Republic successfully adopted on
various occasions since that period and directly referred
to in the message Of the President 1t is evidently the
system contemplated by the trainers Of the Constitution
MT