The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1875-02-26

Congress, made the following able speech
in favor of the bill:
Mr. Speaker, thanking the gentleman
from MichiganL Mr.. CoNGER, flor the courte-
sy which enables me to occupy the floor
at this time, ! have, in the brief space al
! lotted me, hurriedly to give the reasons
which induce me to give my support to
| the Eads proposition for the opening OF
the outlets of the Mississippi River.
AT the last session of this Congress
voted for the ship-canal project, which
| bill now lies in the Senate Enacted on.
| And | also voted for the organization of
| the commission under which a "survey Of |
mouth of the Mississippi River" was di- |
| rected to be made with view to determ- |
inc the best method of obtaining and |
maintaining a depth of water sufficient |
for the purposes of commerce, either by a |
canal from said river to the waters of the |
Cult or by deepening one or more of the |
natural outlets of said river"
The report of that board of engineers |
has been made and now lies upon our TIA |
bic, and taken in connection with the re-
port OF the Committee on Transportation |
IN the Senate, together with the non
action OF the Senate upon the bill passed |
by this House, makes il morally certain |
that unless the Jettee system improvement
IS adopted nothing will be done to open
this Mediterranean sea" of America to
the commerce of the world.
A question has been raised whether the
J"ttee system should be put through under
the control of officers of the Government
or in other words, by the Government, or
shall 1t be put through under and by con-
tract with Dir. Eads aud his associate
If the improvement, Mr.. Speaker, of
the mouth of the Mississippi is now to be
made or inaugurated then | am clear in
the opinion IL should be done under the
| contract with Captain Eads as proposed
| by the pending bill. What is the Eads
| proposition? 1t is in brief,
''To build parallel jettees at the mouth
| of the Southwest Pass, reducing the width
| Of the river from two miles to one-quarer
| of a mile, thus increasing the velocity of
the current and enabling the great flood
of western waters to do its own dredging,
taking up and carrying f-rward the vast
accumulation at the bar and casting it in
to the Cult beyond. He proposes to
achieve this mighty and most benefcent
work at his own risk and cost, asking not
one dollar in compensation or reimburse
! ment until the enterprise is so far com
pleted as to afford good, safe, and per
manent channel to the open sea. lie pro
poses to finally deepen the channel to
thirty feet, and after twenty years of ap-
2 prevail by a Government commission, to
receive $8,000,0 900 for the whole under
taking. This sum is not more than one
fourth of what would be saved to the West
D and Southwest in single years transPor.
Z tatiOn Of our almost illimitable products.
: 1t is better one for the Treasury "A its
present crippled condition. II is il3t so
i | full of risk. 1t has in substance tia sup
t port of the board of engineers, to whom
# this whole matter was referred. 1t has
received the encouragement of tb.Se com
mercial communities more Immediately
:, interested in this great work. In add
5 ton, allow me to say that | prefer the
, contract system" than for the Govern
- ment to engage directly in works of any
kind. 1t is better for the people in that
e 1t is more economic and less provocative
@ of fraud and corruption.
Now, sir, the main question is, shall
- this work be done? And, first, is it with
} | in the power of Congress to direct it: and
e IS it demanded by the public interests?
: The constitutional question has been
heretofore ably and in my opinin salts
factorily answered. Long years ago the
| strictest cOnstructiOnists of the powers
| possessed by the Federal Congress con
| coded that the Mississippi was such a
channel OF commerce, confined TO no sec
= | ton, traverslng In its course States and
+ dividing IN its sweeping march, common
! | wealths, gathering its power amid clunes
of snow and ice, and losing its strength
| under the inhuo e of the trJl les, that it
j was national in ali Of its relations, Upon
| It's bosom is borne an annual commerce IN
p excess of the entire foreign commerce Of
r the United States, estimated to be in eX-
C IS of s., 600, 100000. Duty to the
= | States that are bordered by it and its
r navigable tributaries and whose products
] | are dependent upon it for their value IN
easy and cheap transportation to market
these considerations, which might be
. elaborated and amplified, clearly demon
= strate that the improvement of the Missis-
81 sippi River is not only within the power
but the line of positive duty upon the part
of Congress.
e Recently, sir, the Legislature of my
r | State, the State of Tennessee, instructed
! her Senators and requested the Represen-
tatives in Congaess to support the pro
lcct now before one of our committees
D known as the Southern Pacific Railroad.
! | While not now yielding assent to the
particular measure to which they request
my support, yet lam sufficiently acquaiut-
ed with that honorable cody to know that
the motives that underlay their instuc-
2 tons and request were the development
of the material and political prosperity Of
our common State, and with that the en-
tire country. ] may be permitted differ
, cn,ially to say here that in the improve
ment of the Mississippi River and its trib-
ularics, more than the Pacific or any
other railroad, there is wealth, prosperity,
and commercial freedom to the people Of
| Tennessee, the West the South and the
| entire country.
In the very nature of things it cannot
| be a monopoly; 1t must be an open high
way, free to all who choose to avail them
selves of its freedom, power, and priv
icges. 1t is one that cannot be controlled
by favored few in our own country or
subjected to the deathgrip of a foreign
bondhold-r. Neither the superciious-
ness Of office the fraud OF agents, nor rcck-
.ess issue OF stocks can embarrass the
free course of trade thereon.
| In these and other aspects of the prop
ositiou it becomes more important than
| any pending measure before Congress.
| And why The Importance Of the Missis-
| sippi Valley lit its present resources and
its capacity of production and support OF
| population in the future can hardly be es-
| timatCd. Says a recent writer
This valley contains 76S 600, 200 acres
of the finest lands on the face of the
! globe, enough to make more than one
hundred and fifty States as large as Mas
| sachusetts, more territory than the area
| of Great Britain, France, Spain, Austria,
Prussia, European Turkey, and the ltal-
| ian peninsula combined If peoped as
| Massachusetts is. it would contain five
times the present population of the United
| States and as France is, it would hold
as many people as the whole area of
Europe contains; and as Belgium and the
| Netherlands are, with not the same dan
ger OF famine, it would contain four hun
dred million souls, largely more than one
third of the entire population Of the
world.
Travcrsed by the important rivers OF
the Ohio, the Missouri, the Illinois, the
Tennessee. the Cumberland, the Arkan
sas, the Red, and others, it presents a |
river navigation which years ago drew
from that eminent statesman of the West, |
Hon Thomas II. Benton, the following |
graphic words
The river navigation Of the great West
is the most wonderful on the globe; and |