, 1870-02-16

Ike memorial gives on estimato Of tbs
cost Of these wcrks, as follows:
...... EatfMdte.
Elcons:c RtEer improvement. t..-...-...s ssoo,o0o
s:aGnta sap Cantl.- 6,oo3.ooo
En.aEg,l St lasrenee Canal. !...'r..... 1,oNs005
81 IA >trnce md rna1npl1tn CanA,..... s,5no. .opo
Hudson hser lpp:orsEenE and caaAl. 6pN,o0o
1Gk,.--.....--.- .$ip, 10000
TIE memorial suggests that, if Congress
will appropriate the money for the For and
Wisconsin Rirer improvement, it is poszi-
Bile TINT private enterprise may do much OF
the other part of the work. Twenty-Five
5ea,s ago Congress made = donation Of
public iAnds 10 build this Fo1 and Wiscon-
sin River canal; and, since the canal has
t.esn completed, it has not averaged more
than one ton Of freight per month Tha
fact is, there is very little watsr in either
river, except in times Of flood, aud It is an
alsurdity to attempt to make them
"na.isable." II Congress were to spend
sl5, 600, 900 upou both rivers and the canal,
they would not be any more used in Ave
years than is The present foolish ditch which
fer twenty 5ears has been called q canal.
In saying this We do not speak to the
special dispasagement Of the Wisconsin
md Fu1 Rivers; but the fact is no longer
opsn 10 doubt thnt river navigation, excspt
fer the local .rade bet~esn river towns,
has ceased to be Of any considerable In
portance. II any proof Of this be needed,
ws point to the memorial Of the I@gisls-
ture OF Iowa, aud to similar memorial by
the State Of Wisconsin, which, ia sub
stance, II not in direct terms, repudiAte the
Mississippi River as being no longer, in
any way, desirable, convenient, or ser
eiceable channel for the trade Of those
sta:sa. Upon the Mississippi River, which
is really uasigable Stream, and its tribu-
taries, the nation has a1pended many mill
ions Of dollars, and there are, at this time.
bills before Congress for the expenditure OF
many millions more, in the vain endeayoz
to Keep commerce in channel
where it aill no longer go.
Cities, villages. and towns Oh rivers
call loudly, through their representatives,
10. money to deepen 1ivets, to blast rocks,
build dams, straighten channels, and gen.
orally improve the streams; and these ap-
peals are made uader the deluaon that by
such improvements commerce may be
coa1ed back to the routes upon which it
once WAS carried, Thirty years ago num-
ber OF Western merchants ware standing
on the leyee at St. Louis, looking down
upon the busy scene spread out upon the
rive, before them. They we're discussing
what possible 1neans could be devised II
reliere the river, when, twenty-five years
later, it would be 80 crowded with staamers
that they would not have room to pess one
another Oh their route, and would have nj
places to discharge their cargoes At tt'
l.ndiugs. One Of that came group OF gen
uemeu 1ast September took passage fruu
St. Louis to Evansville, Gu the Ohio River
and during the tnp hs sAw bat ons oths
boat, and On The xetuEn did not meet
see any othe- steamer Oh either rlve'
except few ferry-boats Yet, 80 far
distractions, natural OF artificial, are cor
cerned, the Ohio and Mississippi Rivel
are in far better condition than they wer
in 1870; the government has bee
ever since constantly dredging the bnz'
pullsp7 ont the Eus3s. and huildin
dama. 1t is true that the water has SO ru
. .,nl- E~:- 4A.k - 20 M 1anrs
oo1 :" nv .. oa'o .'.,s w sa.ts - .ha eocon
~. -.-.s.,~ ~.
Ano tm1u nrf:a.:as;nz;. eass, : s ~ na-srts.1s
~ @ps opr. Pr ~ e.s.z.s t-a~.h+ -, IN n
10 -1k ~ -.sn s' T. s.a -;Sens ON. czoz,
aI.,. 80, 80" s,;na - ~. d.,n.;on IN
H- Iss,,;r,s - 1,o1~v vui11 rnc
s4n1as a.In;.h uo.e ~ H.. d.ns-tsd foreyf
c- ....,,as .v.r ~.,1 I'm IL Az
~ - ha.-n,t, - ~, coxt To ma
~ ~ thst r;x.r nav;oable for a commes
Hh;,h I - IN nsre- aoae an those st,ea,
sr.;n
Thia r,,,noeition to s5nk $4,000, 900
make the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers g
can.l irnnroyeueut is in reality no bet
than proposition to resume the old syst
of national macadamized highways, viii
in the daya Of Jackson, we're known un
tte General name Of the Cumberland B.
.,d ,ts h,snches through all The West
States. The government raay build all