, 1864-12-30
THE CHICAGO RIVER,


! Editors Chicago Tribune:
lam glad that my communication Of Dec
18th, on the "condition Of the Chicago River, :
has called forth some discussion. In the
present state of aflairs anything is better thar
apathy and indifference. Agitation, discus
sion, action, are what is needed, and pro.
pose In this second communication to notsca
briefly some misconceptions of my former ar.
ticle and to .add few further suggestions.
It is mistaken idea that my former nrtic1e
imputed the present state Of the river to the
packers and dlstillers, or that it advocated
primarily any interference with their estab-
lishments or business. In, that article I dis.
claimed expressing any opinion as to The
cause until more thorough md satisfactory
Investigation Of the subject had been made by
an intelligent and impartial committee Of cit
liens, who should Bee, inquire and determine
for themselves. II you converse, as have
frequently done, with intelligent gentlemen
in the employ Of the Board of Public Works,
you will find that they will strongly repcl the
idea that The evils VIC suffer arc attributable
to thescwage. They will point you to the
fact that the North. Branch. into which no
sewage is discharged, is as offensive, Or more
50, than any other part of the river; aud to
the further tact, that the river was not Of
tensiro during the fail until the pack com
menccd their operations.
On the other hand, If you converse with
citizens Interested In the branches Of busi-
tand with much force, that the sewage Of a
city Of two hundred thousand people, dis
charged into SO narrow stream Us the Chi
cago river, must Of itself necessarily betou1
it's waters, and that if you should b.nish their
business, you would at most but partially and
With the increase Of thr population the river
would inevitably, and at no distant period,
become offensive and unhealthy from the sew.
age alone, and that any plan which would
etiectual1y purify It from the effects Of the
purity 1t from the effects Of the drainage Of
their establishments. These are important
subjects of:invest'gation and decision, aud I
know of no better way Of ofcomtng to correct
conclusion about them, than through tho In
yestigatiuns oi snch committee as suggested.
Its not best, IN my Judgment, to trust mat
ters Of such vital consequence to us nl1, to
the action Of the Common Council, or to any
other officials. It Is important that the citi-
zens generally should have Il knowledge Of
what Is proposed to be done. 1t Is not mat
ter to be done IN any private or. quiet way.
It needs the interchange of views, and full
and open discussion. There is danger ii
icw 1naasnanals tahe II N enarEe Wathon! my
co9suttattpn. !t. 'H1tn, W ncuon oy tne cl5hens
that special interests may exercise an undue
influence. The subject is one which touches
every individual in the city, and 1t is one,
therefore, which peculiarly calls for PUBLIC
eonsiuca1taon t na anu 5; nSsion. .a.,u ro...
mittee be appointed by that meeting aud be
responsible to it alone. Let them make their
Io a, ~ ~ t'e the n, au nnd ps
1a,a can1;1otas ~ e1ct ~ n1;+"a' 20 mno Tar
800, anas f eccnn, ,,1iish ~ P'A.A-NA' ~ ps11
eoa. .. snuo ast;sn,s ~ 4o, 4,;,..
~ uh' tns ~ s.tsss ,'tn'i, anE .as a
os mteh ti,o1 u s,s,,a1i,. o1a tS W.
sua muta nsIJ s,I III. ss 11;,i insu s nS'e
Mosehents. nov anu sneiI aeston W. eAefc,se
Most Aeailn1uu ", llnuGnce 9tel tne oheiai w
tho,tties. The public opinion on The subject
ousht 70 pc organized anu orouSat 10 beAr III
a eontTolnng manner, and regard; u as OF
tue utmost importance mat such committee
meeting called for that purpose
nave not taken tand DO not as yct see any
necessity Of taking} any position Of hostility
to the packers. ltuily appreciate the adyan-'
tagcs sulting to the city from oil branches Of
mmnnniactuIlng m industry and & enterprise, and
citizens IN the promotion Of the growth and
prosperity Of the city in which everything
possess Is. located.
My position in regard to the packers and
distillers WAS thfs-that if upon investiga-
tion i, shopld be satisfactorily shofn that The
their operations. the next inquiry should be
whether some efectual mode Of cleaning aud
purifying the river could not be provided by
which the effect produced by the drainage or
such sstan1:hmsnts t.2 could BE- sufficiently OBJ
,,.11o1 10 3n,;ot fr.,, = ~ l., ~,
and such is my position still.
! would use every effort to provide a prac.
ticable mode Of remedying the corruptlny ef
feet Of The drainage Of these establishments,
hut if it should be found impossible to cleanse
the r vsr % # sG} ate naot tG drain @ ntG
in such ease That such drainage should be at
once nreyented
Tile publIc waters of the CITY nre the COM
mon nronctty of ali the citizens. and m cisss
OF men have the right, for any purpose what
ever. 10 corrupt them to the preiudice OF lhe
uuIlic health and comfort Of tic Citizens. nor
can any power be IaTiully conferred author.
iziug any. such INJURIOUS use Of these public
waters BIZ auy person, Nor fin nv julcmeut)
is any increase Of business or wealth desiraLle
which must be purchased at such sacrifice.
Ii this question lies between pure air and
water and growing rich little faster my vote
would be to be noortr If need be, but to be
clean and decent anyhow. |
But I am not by any means {us at present |
adyiscd) prepared to believe that sufficient |
plan may not be carried out for cleansing the |
Tver fully, and Keeping It In pure 4ql |
these or any other important branch Of cur
manufacturing business.
One OF your correspondents, wh0~ sgns |
himself G. w. G., seems " have very strangely |
got the impression that the only purpose Of |
my former article was " to scold." He must
have scsd it to little purpose to have come TO |
such conclusion. The presentation OF the !
terms WAS not for ''scoldingg," !" out with o
view to moving the public mind to snen &C.
ton as should result IN bringing anout s Inc
adoption Of the proper "FcE1euy !o1 tnose
evils. If G. ". 6. has bad W'lnh ~ .4.5 KNOW,
ledge practicable Iensay t9r ann Sum- e,me, ann
If other citizens VIII "noiu ~, ~, ,t
and WHO haye written On tn9 supJset IN tue
pnbnc JoaInals, nhae se'asa1es 4 n4isn te @ auey
deem petlectas aas4ua a.aaa - ~ IN yes1,s
nave passed, ana ~ tnis Fely u4tc, u lns
ueaa OF "lntef, Inc waters ot our 1isef, now,
lns oeneath tnei1 ley coyeIlng, aIe lou anu
Offensive neyona aese11Ptl2a-aoes u not
scem 70 lnaieate tnat some mote enGctnal
schemes ot individuals Or the otseassaons IN
lne ptibuc Joulnnls IL lmpetas!Vely uemhna~
ca! ana What can more euect9ally meet
the demand 1hah Inc lnsttauon Oh commit
Tee N Ine manner pfoposed;
y Is mol a nofel eApcdlent. III was Dy JUST
such an agency thal our ~hoie eNlstmg sys~
TEN OF sewerage was 1naug'lrated, and the
same agency will prove equally eiticacious
now 10 remedy the defects Of that sys-
TEN or to provide the ncedful measures to re-
lease tho evils under which nc are suffering.
Anothc. Of your correspondents very gen
erouBly proposes to give $500 towards the
erection Of pumping works on the lake shore.
to nhs.io hat ho Htof hn