The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1879-05-29
FISH IN SAVANNAH RIVER.

For the past two or three years there
has been very great scarcity Of fish in
the Savannah River and its tributaries,
and almost no shad ut all, which has
been attributed to the canal dam near
Augusta, Ga, and has been the occesion
Of very general complaints on the part
Of citizens Uf the Savannah valley In both
Georgia and South Carolina, The mat
ter Is now attracting very warm and
earnest attention from our Georgia
friends, who are calling on the i.cgisla-
turc of that State for an examination
and action. The last issue of the Elbcr.
ton Gd>riic SAYS:
Without a practical knowledge Of the
facts complained of, we know this muc, ::
That if the Instructions nt Augusta are
what they arc claimed To be, the General
Assembly il vested with ample authority
to remove the cause Of complaint. Not
| only is this true, but it is duty which
every Representative in our Legislature
fIom this entire section Of Georgia owes
To his constituents to firmly aud nnyicld-
ingly advocate anh scciirc such invcsti-
CATION into the matter as would leave no
donbt remaining as To the truth or filsity
Of the complaint, and govern their future
action accordingly. In the meantime wc
| cxhort the people interested throughout
this section Of the State To keep this
question III constant agitation until il
shall become of such importance rs shall
prevent it's being ignored by our law
makers in the future
The Mronitic nnd f0nsfifufionoiia adj
mits that there is every reason to believe
that few shad can pnss the dam ut Au-
gusta, but vndicatcs the action Of the
Canal Company in thus closing up the
River on the ground that they had the
| right to do so under the law, and gives TO
the Canal Company the following whole
some advice. which they will probably
find it to their advantage to adopt and
carry out: "In our opinion the proper
course for the City Council to pursue is
to investigate the charge made by the
citizens of the river counties, and, il
found true, to remedy the mischief as FIR
rs it is in their power to do So"
The Mayor Of Augusta claims that
there are five openings in the dam, each
twenty feet wide, and that the scarcity of
shad is not caused by the dam, but by u
failure of the supply. Thi. might have
some weight if there was the failure else
where, but, despite the Mayors assertion,
there have been great many shad in
other no more favored waters than the
Savannah, while it has had comparative.
ly none. There is rnom e.. :!:c cviii-
plant, and something should be done
about it. II the State of Georgia docs
not remedy this matter, then we think
the Legislature Of South Carolina should
investigate the charter granted by our
Legislature, in the days Of RadIcaism,
under which the abutmcnt of the dam
was constructed on this side of the River.
We want more fish in this part Of the
State, and will join our Georgia cuntem-
poraries in calling for renlodelling of
the dam Mt Augusta, SD ns to give the
shad and other fish II frccr course up the
River. 1t is the duty of the Legislature
of each State to enact such additional
legislation as may be necessary to open
up this and all other large strcnms to the
migration of the finny tribe.