The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-07-06
THE REASON WHY.
CONGRESSMAN ELLIS INTERVIEWED
ON LOUISIANA MATTERS.
The Cause of the Defeat of the bevee, the
Pacific Railroad and the Bra
lillian Mall Line Bills.

ItSneQ three Gays ago. out OWING W tHo lllneSS
of Mr. Ellis we we're unable to do 80 at the time.
Since then we had the pleasure Of meeting the
Representative from the Second Congressional
District, when the following conversation oe-
cured
attribute the failure Of Congress- to pass bills
for the levees, the Pacific Railroad and the Bra
"a MI Nj" Elis"There are two causes; First, the
hesitation Of Intelligent members to vote , fnr
measures involving great outlay t 81 pu0llc
understanding. and O demagogical tear on the
part Of small members Of the word subsidy;"
and the second cause was Mr.. speaker Ran
Rep.-Did the opposition to these, great meas.
ures come from any particular section or tartyf
charge upon Northern Democrats alone the
failure Of these measures. We have as many
small narrow minded men IN Congress from
the South rs from any other section Of the
Union-men who are Democrats and Southern
men ready to vote millions to improve court
house or mill creek In their Gym a9Istrlets ont
national importance and national necessity Tor
fear OF the cry of subsidy" | have found much
tatives Of both parties towards those great
measures to which you refer and regret to
say / have found much OF the spirit
on the part of some southern members.
Such men. when corn9red, shelter them
Of "strict construction of the constitution" and
the lack of constitutional authority TO grant
aid" to these great measures. Ihey forget two
facts: First that even under the old regime,
when the constitution was strictly construed.
no one ever doubted the power OF Congress TO
grant aid to works of national Importance and
character or to measures pr0m0tiv0 OF COM
mefcp The levees, the Pacific Railroad and the
| Brazilian line of mail ships are measures
NATIONAL in importance ana Gnaaacdsesr, ana
commerce; and secondly, they forget that the
war and its results changed the character of the
| Feder al constitution in this regard.
The ''strict construction" view of the consti-
| tuti0n upon which Calhoun and his disciples
based their opposition to Internal improve;
ments by the general government, was based
| and rested upon the theory of the limited and
specified agencies of the Federal government
the mt Of the Sos sS9
! that theory. The results OF the war destroyed
it. The paramount sovereignty Of the general
falk Of the old doctrine Of States rights" and
Sstrict construction of the constitution, Be-
fore the war the Southern Democrats religious
| tfves of all parties joined together and voted
| the public moneys for improvements IN the
North. The result is that the North has had Of
ern and border States have had but little over
| $t8 900 600,
alize these facts. and to reach out for goyer n;
ment aid to wise and just measures OF national
- hep.@W6at do you think of the chances for
Congressional aid to the levees, the Pacific Rail-
road and the Brazilian mail ?
Mr. Ell believe II the leyee measure re- can @a
can pass it. It has been burdened and weighed
down by conflicting theories; 1t is little under
stood and not at all appreciated, except by
those representatives and people who are
most directly interested in 1t. Some OF the
most intelligent members OF Congress are ut
terly ignorant of the vast character and I'M
| portance of this measure. It must be discussed.
talked about written, of. debated, thoroughly
| thnt Rnhnrtgon chairman the
| committee labored earnestly and faithfully Tor
the levees. Gen. Gibson. too. was very active IN
harmonious committee, and nothing was
agreed to until too late In the session: NY
session are not SanRutne.
As for the Pacific Railroad l think the chances
are better. That measure has been more dis
cussed, better handled and have high hopes
that it will pass. The Brazilian mail line was
/ tackled on to the House post route bill as an
amendment. 1t was ably discussed In the the
! Senate. Senators Eustis and Blaine especially
| made very able speeches. and 1t was carried
But coming in the shape Of an amendment to
House bill there was no change ior diS i;aS ion
measure exactly us he killed it in the Forty;
fourth Congress. Our people owe debt Of
great and effective services rendered this meas;
ure. They we're untiring. perfectly posted and
labored day aud night for Its success. Bu ".
kind on to House bill as an amendment. L
must be discussed. 1t must be understood
Public opinion in Its behat must Do creaLeu
And while I speak of the importance OF the ser
vices rendered by Messrs. Bussey and upper
let me say that our merchants and planters anC
those of the alluvtal region interested IN d 1ne
levee question, ought to raise q fund ana SenC
to Washington such men as the Two nave
; mentioned, with others like Prof. Forshey, ,tc
labor for the levees. The sugar interests OF the
? State sent an able committee to represent them
The Pacific Railroad, the Brazi liam line anC
every other great measure, has ns aqVocales
while the levees, the greatest, the most lmpor,
| tant Of all measures to u.s. had no one to voice
1t except the Senators and RepreSebttaaLlves
and they. Of course, with 2 hundred diner rem
duties to look aft or, could not give 70 ina
subject the undivided and concentrated effort ii
needed and will need to make it success;
bRRRG y9a fn s1bsdT WI"
Mr.. E@Yes, if we can only get it up in {
shape when 1t can be discussed L nave mgr
hopes of Its passage next session.
, Rep-There was some complaint that oul
Repi esentatives did not exert themselves 1ol
our rivers and harbors.
Mr.. Eyes: / noticed some severe com
. ments upon our course, which were as ungen
a erous as untrue Before the enacting clause o
the river and harbor bill had ever been WRITER
, 1 went before that committee in behalf OF Cow
den's Barataria Ship Canal. My argument il
i behalf of that measure lasted ten minutes, an
then I used the BALANCE of my time CtWent'
minutes) in behalf of Red river. Last year
went to Washington during the recess in behal
of Tones bayou and succeeded IN gettlne IN
Secretary of War to close it.. Early In the ses
i sion we had bill passed to clear away the ran
: Gibson, Elan, Robertson and Acklen went be
a fore the committee more than once in behalf o
our rivers In behalf of the harbor at New Or
leans we had no survey upon which TO Dase an
D application for relief until two or three day
before The House voted on the bill Gen. Gibson
5 succeeded in getting Gen. Humphreys t. n 2
: dorse that unofficial report and to concur In it
: recommendations. which was q great poln
gained AT or the reception Of that survey "
all went before the committee. By agreemen
we ditided the argument. Gen. Gibson spok
!. for the harbor and for Red river,
q After all, we did very we'll. The river an
. harbor bill appropriations amount to abou
s., OUO ,OOO Louisiana gets for her own. river
and harbor about 100000 while for the Mtssls
stppi river, which Is indirec ~ in the interest
New Orleans about 81. 200 900 has been apprC
priated Louisiana therefore, directly and IN
than one eighth of the entire appropriation
n aud she is but one of thirty eight States Ae4
!. session we hope to get Congress to approprlat
moneys to continue the work on Red river an
=. upon the harbor of this city. just before ieaN
= ing Washington / obtained the consent OF th
q Secretary of War and Gen. Humphreys to trans
fer the snagboat Wagner from the Yazoo rive
IS to Red river. / did this at the suggestion
10 that interchangeable friend OF Red river. Gap
: Aiken. 1t is both idle and false to charge an
member of the delegation with neglect OF gu