The weekly Louisianian., 1874-08-01

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} when The 1efasbfs opinion is ltna
it will take ten years to Do it., And
how was i to be Jet ont: Was tht
dredgiin1g. ;t to be LETT 70. 6one man man
! Was the timberst to be- iurnished;.bJ
another? Was the granite TO- b
brought from one section Of tbs
coun5y? Mo- But some great Co
los,s SUI . Of ! contraction was 70 .stanl
up there under the peculiar fasorit'
ism Of this bill apd.aget q contract
from thu; government. 81 the: United
Stnttes; under which he !would neve1
have dug a foot of the canal. i
would have been O milestone around
fthe neck Of this project forever
What does the language Of the bill
say? That the Secretary of Wa'
fshalt, on. tho receipt Of tho surve,
and report aforesaid, i the same
shall show a practicable route fol
said canal, without UNNECESSARY de-
lny, advertise for bids to construct
said canal for such time and in such
newspapers as he may think aum-
cient. "
Now I don't suppose the Secretary
of War wanted any such extraordi-
nary temptation put into his hands.
But what was the object Of the man
that framed this bill, and the men
who were there engineering it and
lobbying it through What was the
object in putting~suoh a temptation
in his way, permitting him. after a
little advertisement in some newspa-
per III a remote parish of the State
for twenty-four hours, to receive
bids for a work of eight millions OF
dollars I see the president Of the
lovce board here, and I ask him is
that the way he gives out work?
Would he be satitied to give some
executive officer Of his company the
discretion to advertise IN 'tteny news
paper he might select, and for such
time as he might think 6t for d con-
troct OF eight millions Of dollars.
Then he is to let out the contract
ITO the lowest AMI best responsible
bidder" Every man familiar with
contracts knows what that means.
It means that on irresponsible man
can come forward with a bid OF
seven millions and q resonsible man
with one for eight million, and it is
entirely discretionary with the Off
Ger having the right to award the
contract, which Of them he will &C.
cept. Would any man of business
,put'sueh a power into the hands Of
any officer, no matter how high
might DO his station. And this is
the great bill which has been glori-
fed as the means of opening the
mouth OF the Mississippi River.
Now, me more fact in connection
with this bill. It provides "That
no bid shall be received except
the same is accompanied with a
deposit with the said Secretary
Of tho sum of fifteen thousand
dollars, which sum shall be for
feited to the United States and paid
into the Treasury thereof. in case
such bidder fails. Fifteen thousand
dollars forfeit on an eight million
dollar contract! why, sir, take one
OF these finacial giants-my friend,
P. J. Kennedy, for instance, and he
could put up fifteen straw bids and
if he pleased buy up every one Of
them. What would that forfeit
amont to in a contract of eight mil
lion dollars? Is TINT the kind of pro-
ject you want me, as your Senator,
to sanction? Did you want me to
make this great undertaking result
in an absolute failure? I did not
know anything of the character of
that House bill when it passed the
House, and I said then Eyes, I will
support it; give IS anything that
will give us water, I have no pref
udices; I lay them down upon the
alter of the necessities and interests
Of my people; I want water at any
Now, do you hold me ac-
for withholding my sane