, 1866-05-12
NIAGARA SHIP CANAL.
Speech Of Hon. ". Il. Allison, OF IorHn,
IN lhe Houae Of Representatives, May
II 1895 =

MIR. ALLISON. 1ofler the following amend
,bs Ss:'fs s e e ssa e. BssS
sta!es saeo Ia Itno fourteen in.e the enne words;
'cS sse s 9ad : i turtAtr enacted, Tia, The rnm
IN the manner md at tho tines hcrefpaftc: pro
snce o.. to aid ID ia CONSTRUCTION q ea,d canal
United statv7 II. denentlnsion q slt95 ssck. pay
sWen,g y r9 dae W,ss III Stafss ssnaa II
shail BE- made and Issued b, the .srerr'ar5 Of
sns I'd u md a.sa III sc ~ asna a1 Of
ito fSeasuret. On tho 1ss Day Of sep,ssSss, 1SsS.
nun payaoIe terni.annusIy, in isrfnl eni.encJ Of
the United States, from and ai>er The 1et day OF
stplembes, 1850. upon warrants or coupons 10 be
United ssatcs. duly nnmbcrd md registered ia
book to be kept By him for That purpose. The
sad interest to be payable and the sad b0nds TO be
redeemed ont Of moaeYs 70 BE hereafter appsups,-
A sss'1ee ,ssaiytxo; pass ~ ns ts.ss, After .l.st .a
coet Of sepails md he expenses of operating ma
sEe; 2: And g ltsthtr aaaaad, 1h.t from Al.
aosts, and property passne eald canal Ten PEI cEnt
therco! shall the LIST day Of January IN each year
sass tbs completion of taia eanst T. bs g.!d by said
which moncye. With the tnierc.t accruing thereon,
shall he spp:ied toward the payment or The princl
L hrreIn provided, from lime 10 time, Is iii. hsss
al1er be appropriated BY Congress. =
Ada to eecuon lwensy-three The following pro-
Prora'td, That sa,d za,es Of toll may al any time
be rtduced and regulated BY Congress.
MIR. VAN HoR@, Of New York 1accept
those amendments Is notifications of my
substitute
Mr.. ALLISON. Ms. Speaker, before enter
ing upon the discussion Of the merits Of the
particular bill now before the House for It's
consideration, wish to say a word in relR-
uou to the general purpose sought to be ei-
fected by this class Of improvements, namely,
the opening up or new, aud the enlargement
| OF the natural channels Of communication
whereby the agricultural products Of this
country may have cheap aud easy transit
from their point Of production to the mar
kets Of the world.
| 1t is manifest that by whatever sum VIC
lessen the cost OF transportation, tr that sum
| We enrich either the producer or!consumcr Of
| these products. I undertake to gay that In
the aggregate there is no class Of our people
that receive so little reward for their labor as
those who till the soil. and no class will be
more benefited by the class ofleglslation here
proposed than the agficulturixt, inasmuch rs
We have for many Years produced 2 surplus OF
| brcnds1Utis WHICH must be exported in some
form. The foreign market for this surplus
affects the price OF the protiuct consumed at
home. Hence 1t Is that the markets in Liver.
pool control, to great extent, the price OF the
wheat. the corn, the beef, the porl, at Chi.
cagp, or upon the farms of the West. Our
farmers arc thus brought in competition with
the whcat.growing countries Of Kussia, Egypt
aud Turkey, and whatever will cheapen the
cost Of transportation Of the products Of the
farm Will aid the farmer until the demand al
home or abroad exceeds the supply when the
consumer will be benefited. The States
most directly interested iu this subject, art
the great prairie States Of the West, as ihey
produce nearly II not ail the surplus cereal:
now produced iu this country. us will be
readily seen by q reference to the statistic:
upon this subject.
| LII lsG1 there was produced in Illinois, Wis.
consin ana Iowa, nne-fourth OF all the live
stock produced IN this country, amounting iu
value to <24o, 900 COO, In round numbers; O
bushels; OF corn, nearly onc-hals, or go 6U;o,
GOO bushels; Of cattle, 2,o00, ,0O0, or onc-;hirt
OF the whole product and or hoxs, !, 900, O1D
Or nearly one'lhi,d Of the whole product
This. Will population Of about thtee-tenths
Of the whole population Of this country. The
surplus Of this enormous product must find {
market in New England and other eastern
stales Or il must go ubroad. but state tht
truth Wlcu I say that our farmers are now
being ground TO powder between the upper
and nelhcT millstoue Of monopoly that re
guircs for transportation to New York oas
I 0a9AS4 W ANAi AVk NtV1} IL9AG4 elduSHustE
from tue Mississippi to New York, and twe
for every bnshel OF corn thus transported
and Tor this reason they are lcokiuu
with intense interest upon our dclio
crattons here to Siye.them some relief where
BY tl!eir Toll may b. properly rewarded. The
doubt will be OF material Service In the right
direction. But 1t is not enough, aud this Con
gress will fail in the discharge Of one Of its
most important obligations to the country II
It 2dJoutns without passing au act to remove
oil distractions now in tho MY Of the saft
that threads itself miwday between the ocean.
that mark our eastern and western boundary
running from the British Possessions to tie
Gulf ot Mexico. THAI Is the natural highway y
for the commerce Of The Mississippi Valley
both to the eastern portions Of our own eoun
win not be content until the distractions II
TIC way Of successful navigation OF this rive;
nrc removed, the most material OF which liz
upon the borders Of Iowa md Illinois.
| We arc told that VIC must find home mar
ket BY building W in our midst manufactures
and thus bring the consumers OF bread to tht
doors Of those who produce It. will say 0,
do nothing that would discourage the growssss
Of manufactures in The West OF elsewhere II
our country, but BY proper aud prudent lcgi.
lntton encourage their growth, and to that
end would welcome Eastern capital in seek,
ing Investment In that direction. Yet no ont
who has beheld and Travelled over our bound
less and fertile psairics can fail to sex
That this region Is destined TO become
It Is not now, the granary OF thu
world, and with all the looms and splndles
OF New England and the forges and rolling
mills Of Pennsylvania transp1anted thert
VIC would still have u surplus Of agricultural
products that would be transported long
distance before market could be secured
It Is safe to assume that the increase OF pop.
ulation, including immigration, will Ecep
pace with production OF cereals and bread.
stui1s, and the ng;zica'turist will always seek
the cheapest and most productive soils. II
has been reasonably estimated that Of wheat
alone there will be produced, at the begin.
ming Of the next century, Annually. five hun
dScd million bushels, and Of corn at least
thFcc times that number Of bushels. one hall
Of which VI Be produced IN tte prairie State.
points cast OF Buffalo, and must In sumo form
be transported thither. This cannot be done
except through the improved natural chan.
neis which nature has worked out by way Of
New Orleans and the great lakes. And here
wifh to correct e., an 9 error in Which The
common With many others has fallen,
namely, That because of the nature of the
Gulf Stream and the warm climate wheat and
corn cannot be transported by way Of New
Orleans. This difficulty does not now exist,
10 " AitMus u tltfAtols III convenient pulnLe
on tbs river the wheat and corn can reach
New Orleans In perfect condition. from
which 1t can be easily aud safely transported
to any Of the markets Of the world; and the
fact Is that the United States exports wheat
and -four to Portugal, Brazil, and Australia,
and England Imports largely from Turkcy
and Egypt; all Ibis commerce beng acrosE
the tropics subject to the climatic influences
which prevail IN the Gulf
mention these general facts In relation to
this subject that tho House may understand
that the West will imperatiyely demand, aud
now, that this great river shall have rem ,vcd
from It the distractions which hinder and
impede It's safe and easy navigation. This
House has partially recognized this great
| want In the passage Of the river and harbol
bill, Oh yesterday, but the sums there appro:
rriatcd will scarcely more than commence
the uninterrupted navigation Of the Missis.
sitsippi River from st. Panl to the Gull.
In demanding these improvements we do not
ask for The establishment Of any new policy,
but only full recognition OF the loDg-estab-
lished policy OF the Government, ollen dis.
Of the country. The same grant Of power to
r gulata commerce With foreign nations autho-
rizcs Congress to regulate commerce among
the several States. This power has been assert
ed from the foundation Of our Government, IN
making appropriations for lighthouses, bea-
cons, buoys aud public piers erected or placed
within the bays, inlcts, ,harbors aud ports OF
the United States to render navigation safe
and easy, and for tho last ten years we have
appropriated not less than $;,00O, 900 nnou.
ally for this purpose, without objection, in
order to protect the foreign commerce Of the
United States, when iu fact our trans-ocesnic
commerce does not amount 10 more than one
tenth Of ctr domestic comncrce, and when
The former could not have existed for tho last
few ycsrt but for the productions Of the food.
producing States OF this country.
l : Sir the df thu Erie nana1 a10aa a