The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1872-04-13
THE DULUTH CANAL AND DYKE ~
CONGRESS-.

Secretary Of War to communicate to the Senate such
information he may possess respecting the canal
and dyke at Duluth, Mimi, and their effect on the
harbor of Superior City adopted.
IF under this resolution, the Secretary, as
he properly may, shall furnish a complete
history of the canal and dyke at Duluth, as
related to the government works opposite
Superior and to other interests private and
public. around the Bay of Superior, he will
place before Congress and the country a
very interesting document 1t will show
that Duluth, and her railroad, and all the
railroads she ever can have, would be, so
far as proper harhor facilities are concerned,
better accommodated under the plans
adopted by the government for a harbor at
Duluth. than thew could be under the substi-
tuted plan Of the town lot spectators of
that place.
The canal and dyke are fe atures of the
latter plan only; and the occasion for them
exists not in the needs of the place as
related to its marine commerce, but in the
exieencies of town lot speculations, which
demand that shipping on its way to Duluth,
shall not pass along in front of Superior,
whele there is a much more attractive site
for business.
An unreserved communication on the
Secretarys part, will show not only that
the government made full and beneficial
provisions for harbor at Duluth, without
the obnoxious canal and dyke, but also that
the officers of the government having au-
thority in the premises, officially declared
that the canal would most iniuriousy affect
the natural entry to the harbor, opposite
Superior and seriously impair the efficiency
OF the government works at that poiut.
TSee letter of the Secretary of War, com
muucating, in compliance with resolution
Of the Senate, of January %, 1870 the
report Of the Chief Of Engineers upon the
survey Of the harbor Of Duluth, at the head
Of Lake superor.l And this prediction has
been most remarkably verified by actual
results.
Such communication viii also show
that the Duluth authorities were expressly
notified by the government, when eXcaTa-
tions for the canal were first commenced,
to dcsist absolutely from the prosecution of
the attempt, and that when nevertheless
the lawless project was persisted in, Gen
Humphrey, the Chief of the Engineer Corps,
recommended to the Secretary Of " ar, that
suit be at once commenced in the name of
the United States, to restrain the digging
of the canal, and thus protect important in
tcrests Of the United States, thereby grave
y ioopardized.
1t will show further that thereupon such
a suit was commenced in the United States
Court and prosecuted until provisional
injunction was granted commanding Du-
luth and its coadjutors, absolutely to desst
ana refrain from digging the said canal, and
that then for the first time Mr. Jay Cooke
made his appearance in the Department,
and made the officers thereof understand
that he was interested in the canal scheme,
and persuaded them to have the Injunction
suspended, proposing the dyke as measure
for preventing the mischief that would re
suit from the canal.
1t will show that other interests in Wis
consin were yitallv involved in the dyke
proposition, but that without hearing any
representatives of those interests, the mod
est request of Jay Cooke was granted, and
that Duluth upon engaging to construct the
dyke, was permitted to 90 on with the canal.
1t will show that the dyke is an absolute
and unlawful obstruction to navigation,
extending across waters, over which there
is a considerable commerce between Supe-
rior and Duluth, and over which Wisconsin
has by act of Congress, concurrent juris-
diction with Minnesota, and that it cuts the
former State off from practical access to 4
part Of its iurisdictional area, lying between
the dyke and the head of the bay, and is IN
any view, nuisance, an unwaTantable
infringement on the rights of Wisconsin
and her people, not less fragrant than the
canal itself.
1t will show that an additional and un
necessary burden is being prepared for the
back of Uncle Sam, inaSmGch as 1t Is obvi-
Gus that if this Duluth harboG system Is
permitted to stand, it will very soon de
mand the recognition Of the government,
and appropriations for its maintenance, and
will thus necessitate large expenditures for
keeping in condition two {" "entrles" to the
Bay of superior, whereas one entry would
completely meet all the requirements OF