The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-12-18

eIo yory ouastion IL was finally determined
after twenty-five years OF contest that the
martins and admiralty jurisdiction over
thoaa streams was exclusively vested In the
EnderaI government: and only a short time
ago. as high up as Shreveport, on Red river,
N was decided that the admiralty and mari
time Jurisdiction over that stream was ryclI-
eiveIv vested in the United States govern.
manf That jurisdiction is an exhaustive
Jurisdiction II denies to the States any atI-
fhority or any power, or any responsibility.
or any obligation whatsoever touching the
Miesisappi river The United States govern
Tnent can bridge IL the United States govern
Inent can determine what commCrce shall be-
carried ON that river, what shall be the means
of transportation on that river, who shall
have the privilege of navigating that river
md IL II even said in one Of the decisions Of
Tho Supreme Court that II has the authority
10 change the channel Of that river.
Now ask Mr.. President, why iS If every
Individual in this land, every corporation is
obliged to discharge the obligations and the
RESPONSIBILITIES and the duties arising from
the mere tutOrship or control If property ]
ask upon what ground can the United States
absolye itself from that obligation and from
that responsibility, particularly when we CON
slider the immense loss and devastation and
ruin which result from emitting to discharge
that obligation And ] do not understand
that there Is any such thing as degree in
national duties and national obligations. If /
can convince the Senate that 1t is tho duty Of
the United States government, that it is an
obligation Of the United States government,
II then follows that il is as much question
of national faith to discharge that duty. to
discharge that obligation, rs for the govern
ment Of the United States to pay tho interest
ON its public debt.
/ will first. Mr.. President, endeavor to show
why there should be n direct appropriation for
the purpose of building the levees on the Mis-
sissippi river; and need not confess that
am not scientist; that know very little or
nothing at nll about photographic engineer
ing. ! have examined some very able reports
which have been made on this subject; and
the reasons which have been given by the
United States engineers I'm favor of the levee
system have convinced me that their conclu-
sions are well founded and Justified. ! shall
then proceed to call the attention Of tho Sen
ate TO the legal proposition that it Is the duty
of the United States government to build
these levees arising from the relation existing
between the government and that river. ]
shall endeavOr to do SO aS briefly aS possible.
Mr.. President, in presenting this bill wish
also to present some Of the reasons which in
duce me to urge them on the favorable con
sideration OF the Senate. The subject to which
they refer embraces the relations of the peo-
pie of the alluvial region lying between the
Missouri and tho sea with this government,
as affected by the river near which they re-
side and the dangers with which they are Ger
tainly threatened by its Hoods.
Although, Mr.. President, the volume of
waters which the Mississippi rolls down
to the sea Is perhaps exceeded by
that Of the Amazon Or OF tho st.
Lawrence, yet In the length of its
course, in the variety OF climates which 1t
traverses, In the wealth and grandeur Of the
communities through which it flows, and in
the resources of the territory which it drains,
IL has no rival on the face of the globe Where
the Missouri, its greatest continent, issues
from It's birthplace IN the Rocky Mountains
1t Is already n great river. In the words Of
the British historian, Allison:
Between stupendous walls of rock 1900 feet
high and three leagues In leng b. whose over
hanging cliffs darken the awful passage, it is
sues forth IN n deep and foaming current 800
yards broad. and soon sweled by other trihu-
tary streams winds is long and solitary way
through the prairies to the falls, sixty miles
and grandeur. The Mississippi, the Ohio, the
Tennessee. the Illinois. the Arkansas. the Kan
sas. the White river the Rod river. the st. Peter,
the Wisconsin. any one Of which exceeds tho
Rhine or the Danube In magnitude and which
have given their names to tho mighty States
which already are settled on their shores are
but the tributaries of this prodigious artery.
These various rivers, all of which are navgabe
with their own affiliated set of tributary
streams, several thousand IN number. form .
vast chain Of inland navigation. oil connected
together and issuing into the sea by one chan
mel. which like the arteries and veins of the hui
man body Is destined to maintain an immense
Interior circulation aud convey life and health
to the farthest extremities Of the million lpf
square miles which constitute tho magnificent
. Ii the majestic portal by which the Missouri
issues from ts ley cradle In tho Rocky Noun
tains is one Of the subimist, the alluva swamp
through which II finds is way to the ocean in
the Gulf of Mexico Is one OF tho most interest
Ing objects In nature. There one of tho great
formations Of the earth Is actually going for
ward; we arc carried bnck 10 what occurred In
our own continent before tho creation If man.
1ik, all great rlvers. the Missouri. or the Mis-
sissippi ~ II Is there called does not empty it.
self into the sea IN ono continuous channel but
I'm great variety OF arms or mouths. which in.
tersect In sluggish streams ne great a,luvial
Halt. which "A formed by the pefpelnhl mep III
Of the immense volume Of waters wHf'p /" io''S
into the sea.
Between those mouths of the river vast sur
face half land. half water, from fifty TO a hun |
dred miles in width and three hundred in |
length. fringes tho whole coast. and thero the /
enormous mass Of vegetable matter constantly |
brought down Ivy the Mississippi IS periodical y |
deposited A few feet are sufficient 10 bring II |
above the level Of the water except in great |
floods and as soon IA that IL done vegetation |
springs up with tho utmost rapidity in TINT
prolific slime. Nothing can be, conceived so
dreary and yet 40 interesting rs tho prospect Of |
these immense alluvtal swamps In tho course |
of formation A. far ~ the eYe can reach |
over hundreds Of square Leagues nothing i
to be seen but marshes, hristling with roots,
trunks. and branches of trees. In wtnt r aud |
spring when the floods come down. they bring |
with them an ncaleulabo quantity Of these
which cover not only the whole Of this i'm
mense semi marine territory; but lla'ing over
extent that ships have often no small difficulty
in making their way through Thorn.
At length rs the = I'll aocumulates and hardens,
a dwarish shrub begins to Appear above the
surface: larger and larger trees succeed with
the decay OF their more stunted predecessors,
and nj length on the scene of former drsola-
ton the magnificent riches Of the virgin forest
are reared.
Since these eloquent sentences were writ
ten more than generation has passed away,
and while the forces referred TO hy the histO
ran REMAIN uuimpaircd in vigor, tho terri
tory upon which they are cXcrted has been,
I'm a measure subjected 10y the hand OF indus
try. and the opening to the pillow of wide
areas of cultivable and fertile land has Illus
trated the immense richness of the Misss
sippi alluvion and the vast resources which
are latent in Its soil
In the basin which we are accustomed to
call the Valley of the NJ q sstppi the waters
which fall upon an area OF more than million
square miles descend from the Allegheny
Range on tho cast and the immense barrier Of
the Rocky Mountains on the west. and are
gathered into Il single channel which drains
this wide-eXtended tract and conducts its sur
plus waters to the SEA at n point more than
four thousand miles distant, by the course of