New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1870-10-21

river commerce, and Is tnuS estiiIltteu W
| have extinguished the principal ana interes,
| of its cost. 1t wouid, therefore, De wise aha
! lust in Congress to throw ii open without
| charge. lust as the Dcs MONIES canal around
| the rapids Of the Mississippi has been. But
| the resolutions adopted by She convention
| embraced a more general scope. and Will be
| found to comprehend all the principal meas
ures of Improvement i'll which the city OF
New Orleans is interested. The resolutions
reported by Governor Stanard, of ST. Louis
are as follows:
hcsoiced, That the free and unobstructed
navigation OF the rivers of the country is
the right of all its citizens, and is indispen
sable to the cheap transportation OF its pro
ducts and manufactures, and this cOnyen
ton earnestly urges upon Congress the
! enactment of such laws rs will etfectually
prevent any individual or corporation from
obstructing. hintleriug or delaying the navl-
cation Of rivers. and from appropriatlng
! any portion Of them to their own private
| use or for their exclusive benefit.
The committee also reported against the
purchase at this time of the Erie Canal, OF
New York, by the general government.
Also. recommending Congress to appro-
| pirate $4,000 OF IL" fund for the IN
! provement of Tennessee river to that por-
| ton Of the river botweeA Chattanooga ana
| Knoxville.
| propriation for the removal of distractions
| in Coosa river, Georgia, and connecting
| that river with the hcadwaterS OF the len
neSSCe.
Also. recommending to the favorable con
sideration of Congress the purchase OF the
interest Of the company organized Tor the
construction Of "A canal between the waters
of Lake Michigan and tbe Mississippi river,
with "a view to the com letion Of the work.
u an
the removal of the Red river raft, and other
instructions i'll that stream.
Also recommending to Congress addl-
ti0nai appropriations to complete the I'M
proyements of the Mississippi river at Des
Mones and Rock Island rapids; the COM
pletion of the Louisville and Portland
Canal al the falls Of the Ohio. and the deep
ening of the channel at the mouth of the
Mississippi.
Also, appropriation, for improvements in
the Arkansas river, the Missouri river,
Upper Mississippi. Minnesota, Tennessee,
Ohio and Illinois rivers.
The resolutions in regard TO wharfage
were as follows:
The charges on the tonnage of the West
crn rivers by the different municipalities,
under the title of wharfage, are exorbitant,
operating seriously upon commerce. For
instance the charges OF Cincinnati are nine
cents: at the city If st. Louis, seven cents;
at the city of Memphis, six cents, and st the
CITY of New Orleans, ten cents per ton, ON
the carrying capacity of every boat for the
privilege of touching at its public landing
And. III addition, nearly every village of a
few houses, although no improvements may
have been made at its public landing,
makes some charge for the same privilege
So great is the aggregation of these
charges that each boat pays, under the
name Of wharfage, from fifteen to twenty
cents on every ton of freight she carries
Your committee would also state they be-
lieye such u tonnage tax to be specially pro-
hibited by the tenth section Of the first art-
Gle of the consti, uti0n Of the United States,
which prohibits any state, and thereby any
city receiving its authority TO tax, from i'm
posing any tonnage tax.
Your committee believe, further, that
what are known Us Uharis upon these riy-
ers partake as mucI, OF the character of
streets as wlaIfa, and i'll equity the expense
of main tanning theu should be borne by the
city and the boats equally. But finding, as
we do. that the charges imposed are from
five to ten times the amuunt actually neces-
sacy 10 keep the what's in repair we would
most respectfully ask the various municipal
tiles to remove this charge. or to reduce it
to an equitable SUM, and in The event of
their failing refusing to do SO, that under
its constitutional power OF regulating com
merce between the different States Con
gress be requested to pass such laws as will
prohibit and protect against unreasonable
charges.
REPAIR OF TIE LEyEEs UPON THE NISsIS-
sIPPI RIVER.
1t required no Argument to convince the
consumers of cotton and sugar that their
interest would be promoted by increasing
the quantity Of those staples produced Ill
the valley Of the Mississippi, nor were
Western farmers or manufacturers less
quick to see the increased demand for their
commodities, which the Importance of
construction and cultivation would create
The resolutions with follow were reported
with the approval of the delegate from
Louisiana upon the Leyee Committee:
WHEEEAs, the reclamation from overflow
of the aluvial land living upon the Missis
sippi river and its tributaries, in the States
OF Louisiana. Arkansas. Mississippi. Tell
nessee and Missouri. is "a work of the first
Importance 10 iii. entire nation, and Will
greatly increase Tie public wealth and
establish TIE national credit; and
Whereas, Tho experience Of the past de-
monstratcs that tbs can not be accom-
plishcd throus Ii separate State action; there
fore, be it
Resolred. BY this convention, that national
aid should be literally and promptly
afforded to this enterprise. and such laws
enacted by Congress, consistent with the
rights OF the States, rs will place the whole
Mississippi iegee system under one con
troll
1t is proper to state that, while the CON
venton was of opinion that the control Of
the whole work should be entrusted to some
regular and permanent authority, it did not
intend thereby to Ee understood as indoors
ing any particular administration of that
duty. The resolutions recommend national
aid t. a proper construction of the work, as
u measure of nationa! Importance.
SOUTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD.
The competition which has been for so
many years going on among the several
cities of st. Louis, Memphis, Vicksburg and
New Orleans, for the location OF the South
erD Pacific Railroad, seems to have been
compromised on the principle that the road
shall be constructed with national aid, from
a port on the Pacific Ocean, perhaps San
Diego, CROSSING at FL Faso in Texas, and
upon. or near, the thirty second parallel Of
north latitude. 10 some point as nearly equi-
distant as possible from each OF the four cities
named. From this point each Of these cities
will have the sftIua federal appropriations per
mile. with the same grant OF public lands
when within the national domain, with an
equal right Of connection and use Of tho
main trunk line TO the Pacific. 1t is plain
that under this arrangement New Orleans
Will have facilities OF connecting with the
Pacific Trunk Railroad by way Of Shreye-
port, or Of Houston. The passage of a bill
on the basis Of this principle was said to
have been defeated at the last session of
Congress by some unimportant impediments,
which will yield before the weight of the
great interests concentrated in its favor.
The resolutions adopted by the convention
were understood to have met the approval
of the entire Louisiana delegation. They