The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-04-26
THE LEvEE QUESTION.

Vu0e huo SVulC w Vul hIIuWlouE6 lutl5 Hlt
any number OF bills before Congress in all
stages Of legislative incubation, which treat of
ievees incidentally and as mere appurtenances
to wild and visionary projects Of constructing
a ship channel to st. Louis and placing Cairo
on o hill, but none that treat of levees excIu-
sively and on their own merits. This propo-
sition Of making our levee system mere
secondary consideration. subservient to these
chimerical speculations of deep sea naviga-
ton On the Mississippi, seems to have taken
entire possession even OF our own members Of
Congress, and the result is that there Is not
now single pure and simple levee bill before
one and Mr.. Robertson, the chairman of the
Levee Committee, Of another bill In the House,
both Of which are, by courtesy, called "levee"
bills. More than month ago we called at :
tention TO Mr. Gibsons BILL and showed that
1t was not levee bill at all. 1t gives us
levees when they help navigation, and only
because they do SO, and not on their own
merits levees to transport wheat and barley
but none to protect cotton and sugar
This bill. like all the others, provides for
commission we never to be done with
GotllulSbioub !-UU HuhG plHuS bLu eSUl tIJHUtS
with view to securing at all seasons of the
year depth OF water available for sea-go-
ing vessels between Cairo and the mouth of
said river" All 1t says about levees Is to al-
thorize this commission to provide plans
and specifications for the immediate closure
OF such outlets OF the river or Of such Gre
vases or gaps as may exist In helevees on its
banks; provided that in the opinion of the
commission such closure will secure an ear
Her deepening Of the river channel, and shall
constitute part OF the general system of
permanently locating and deepening the
channel Of the river"
We earnestly submit that this Is not levee
bill in any sense Of the word Tho deepening
and locating of the channel of the river, the
Improvement Of its navigation, is one thing,
and the protection of the rich alluvium Of the
lower Mississippi, Is another, and we insist
upon the distinction being made between
them In Congress; and we further insist that
the latter is q real, tangible, practicable and
present necessity. which demands the con-
sideration Of Congress on its own merits, and
without reference to any projects that may
be contemplated for the improvement of the
navigation Of the river.
We have not the slightest opposition to
make to any great scheme the government
may choose to inaugurate for this purpose.
II it is thought advisable to expend twenty,
thirty, fifty or hundred millions to carry
sea going vessels to st. Louis and to make
m ountain OF the Cairo fats, let 1t be done, but
not at the expense OF our levees. which are
present necessity, about which there is no
speculation as to their need and no doubt as
to their efficiency.
Some time ago we published an extract
from q report made by ex-Mayor Brown, OF
st. Louis, the chairman Of the st. Paul Con-
vention, to the merchants Of st. Louis
them OF the progress he had made
towards securing the passage Of the bill for
the Improvement Of the navigation OF the
Mississippi recommended by that conven-
ton. In that report Mr.. Brown, speaking of
Capt Eads' project, observed that when he
Capt Eads) talks of coming to st. Louis with
a twenty foot channel you may as well begin
to figure a sum like the following: If two
and one-third miles of river at the mouth
cost S., soc. 400, What will 1900 miles eost2"
Are our levees to be made dependent upon
such chimerical projects as this and the vast
properties they protect abandoned to destruc-
ton, while commissions inquire into the ex-
pediency of carrying 1t out? That seems to
be the view taken OF the matter in Congress
But Mr.. Brown went on to say that the
Committee on Levees looked at the Eads bill
very much as he did, and for that very reason
it was taken out of the hands Of that commit
tee and sent to the Committee on Commerce.
"The Levee Committee" said he, seemed to
think levees of more Importance than the
deepening of the channel"
This intelligence was very gratifying and
we had hoped to see long before this some
definite expression of this very sensible opin-
ion Of the Levee Committee in the shape of a
genuine levee bill, in which levees were pro-
vided for on their own merits, and not as
mere adjuncts to plan for the improvement
Of the navigation of the Mississippi. We
hear lately of a distinct appropriation SAID
to be favored by the Senate Committee on
Levees, of four millions OF dollars for the
purpose Of restoring our levee system as it
existed before the war. II does not yet seem
to have been embodied in bill, but we trust
gress will do their utmost to secure its.
passage. 1t is said that N orthern and Western
will vote any reasonable amount for
the improvement of the Mississippi river, but
nothing for levees Naturally, these men,
bers are more interested In the navigation of
The river than the protection Of the aluvium
lands along its banks, but we see no neces-
'ary conflict between the two propositions,
md we certainly insist that the latter shall
not be made subservient to the former In any
iegree whatever. Nor do we believe that Con-
yress will absolutely refuse to do the plain
and manifest act of justice we ask of it when
the matter is properly presented to it.
The last Legislature OF Minnesota invented
IN entirely new Office. Inventing offices is,
h0y~c vNn% he lrs~~ Lne~ AuA~