Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1876-03-28
The MtssIsslppi river.

The New York Times is very
much disturbed by the rumor that
an application will be made to Con-
gress during the present session "to
clear the Mississippi of snags and
deepen the channel" The Times
lis even more worried by the fact
that "there is a strong lobby ready,
at notice, to push a plan for the
building of the Mississippi levees at
the expense of the federal govern
ment."
Now while it is the plain duty of
Congress, in view of the financial
condition of the country, to make
none but absolutely necessary ap-
preparations, and to cut these down
to the lowest possible figure, we fail
to see why the improvement of the
Mississippi and the protection of its
banks should be regarded as some
thing entirely outside of the Con-
gressional line of operation. One
would think, from the tone of the
Eastern press on this subject, that
the Mississippi was stream of the
same size as the Hudson, Connecti-
cut or Delaware, flowing through a
barren waste peopled only by tribes
Of wandering savages and a few
frontiersmen; and that any money
spent upon it might, with equal
propriety. be invested in soap
mine. 1t would not be difficult to
show that the United States could
better afford to lose the Hudson, the
Connecticut, the Delaware, and
twenty more like them, than to have
the waters of the Mississippi re-
duced to half their original volume.
There is neither common sense nor
common justice in the opposition
which newspapers and politicians
on the Atlantic slope continually
make to any and all demands for
the improvement of the Mississip-
pi by the general government.
Jefferson thought he had immor-
talized himself and his administra-
ton, and conferred an inestimable
benefit upon the republic, by pur-
chasing the Louisiana territory for
the sake of the mighty river which
ran through it; and Lincoln
thought the North ought to fight
forever rather than the Mississippi
should not "flow unvexed to the
sea-" If the States which lie along
the banks Of this great watery
highway attempted to use it as
their own private and exclusive
property the whole East would
burst into a flame but when these
States ask the real owner of the
property to properly improve and
protect it, the whole East unites in
ridiculing the request and securing
its denial, We should be gladol
know why the same arguments
which are brought forward to in
duce Congress to vote appropria-
tions for the harbors ofNew York,
Boston and San Francisco, will not
apply with equal force to the pro-
position for ecleaning the Missis-
sippi of snsgs and deepening the
channel" We should be glad to
know why, when millions upon
millions of dollars have been
expended in fortifying the At
lantic and Pacific coasts against
an enemy who never comes,
that the government has
not a cent to give toward the erec-
tion Of those barriers in the lower
Mississippi valley which will shut
out from the most fertile region
lin the world an enemy liable to
come every season. The Mississippi
could be walled in with granite
from Memphis to New Orleans for
what It has cost to build the forts
upon our marine frontier, and a
thorough system Of leveeS would
save enough money in twenty years
to build two forts for every one we
have now. 81 H laas sa 81
As was remarked at the outset,
Congress must practise the strictest
ecoHomy until the hard times are