The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1879-01-29
Mississippi River improvement.
Speech of Hon y. r. ChaImerS In
Ghe House Of Representative,
January I6, 1870.

y
argument on This question. The Who'll,
subject. excluding lie vast extenr Of wealth
I producing territory Ia be reclaimed, tht
/ b.-t me- bOU OF reclaim az ION, and the con
/ .titutipuai pos er OF the Government to re-
/ claim IT, has been 50 fully aud 80 ably
} d. eu~sed by gentlemen OF practical eXpr-
( Renee, scientific knowledge, and legal
/ ability, that ] shall not atiempt to do any
I jHing more than group together the argu-
I utIIt- that have been advanced bV others
4 Daring The administration of President
/ TayIDr himself Louisiana planter and
! deeply Intrre- ted in the question, the first
I resolutions "a ere passed Ia the Senate OF the
United states directing survey of the
/ VI Mississippi River expressly ro-a-certain the
/ bet method of retaining the al5uYial
lands nf the Mississippi Valley. Ghi-, after
/ many years resulted ia the able and *
I hau-JiVe report OF Hum phIeyS and \ bbort.
/ Chief kugiueers Of the United States ARMY,
| who emphaticalIy declare that the ievre
! system i, the best method of accomplishing
/ this purpose.
/ Ii turtuer4uce OF this object the United
/ Srafts donated the swamp LANDS lying in
I Arkan-as, Mississippi, and Louisiana, which
were Of no value without protection from
overflow, 20 these res p GIVE States to assist
( IN buildiug up theIr ieve's. The ntnas
arising from these lands were small and
soon exhausted aud millions Of their own
moaes were expended by these States in the
creation OF lcVsrs uua or state legislation.
The wees thus constructed were just being
tested and were more or less successful in
different places when the war came on and
large portions OF them were destroyed;
come by the attrItiou OF wagons and horses,
when they were used "a q road BED ; some
by The erosion o. the water, aided by the
p1ddIe-whecl- Of steamers in high tide ; and
some directly By the Army and Navy o {
the United States. Mississippi and Louis
lana nave expended large suns of money
since he war 20 repair their lcvees. but eX-
perieuce has shown thar they have nos TIE
pecuniary streagth toaccomplIsh this great
work a. individual states, uuu jEaI theN are
prohibited by the Constitution OF the Uni
ted states from forming combinations with
each other or Ufh,r states u create a uni
form system OF levees, " hich J. essential 10
thrir protection. They have. therefore,
appealed 10 the Quilted States Government
IT, take charge OF tue work aud give to them
that prOtcct ion " hIch every citIZeH l. en-
titled to claim AT the hands OF the govern
mrut 90 which lac yields Obedience aud
" itch hr pays IaXes 10 support.
Thee are many gentleman IN this House
who have * pressed a desire 10 vote aid 10
tue Mississippi ieye,s il they could do 80
consistently with their ideas OF con~titu-
ti"ual duty. propose, therefore. briefly u
show THAI there are more clauses OF the
Constitution under which, as construed by
the iuG gmcut- of courts and pTccedeuts o,
practice. the Government eau construct the
Mississippi lvvee- than there are 10 support
any other work OF Internal imp. uvemtnt IL
has ever undertaken. | look first to the
power 10 E, gulute commerce. Under thIs
power the Government has built light
houses, buOys, and piers for the warn
iug, gui lance, aud projection OF vessels
against danger, and has established a life
saving servicH, prom pied by humanity
aud sanctioned by success. Ii has Goa
ssrucIei break erS, which are, uud,
another uam-, expensive leveeS for the
tine protection OF property behind them. IL
has cleaned out natural HaTburs and made
Artificial haruors where there were none.
ha. cleaned out rivers and dug canals
10 create commerce where there was none
The Mississippi River Is the greatest artery
OF internal commerce in the world, an
yet tits filled with ,nagS and sand bars that
are the deposit OF Its annual ovelhOws
which ct only destroy vessels, but tax the
whole commerce ofthe West with an in
crease OF insurance that Is destructive to
pc, perty.
1t Is claimed by scientific men, and | be-
lieve truly, that when the water of the is
srppi is permitted to spread over large
surface the velocity of Its current i check
ed; il makes depOsl is OF sediment and
sujg-, creates SauL-barS, and obs rucJs nav
Igauou; a "a thaJ. on The other hand, the
Concentration OF the water into a narrow
stream viii increase the velocity so that il
will remove the >aud-barS, clean out the
suag~, deepen TIE channel, and Improve
navigation. Il this BE- true, the reports
OF scientific engineers declare and As th-ac-
ton of the ictuirs seem TO dem un -trate, thea
the construction OF the levees, which would
contine ntO a stream one mile wide water
that would spread over forty miles with
them, must cOnIuce to the benefit of uavi-
CATION and commerce; aud We might rest
our claim Tor power TO construct leeves uu-
der tina. clause of the Constitution.
We look next 60 III power eco establish
post offices aud post-roadS." UAder this
power we iud that the Government has
opened dirt roads, built bridges and cause
ways, and constructed turnpikes, in the
early days OF the Republic, and in later
days has built railroads and lelegr aph lines,
established pos tai cars, fast mail-routes, aud
lrtJcr-carri"rs, who deliver their mail t.
the merchant princes Ot the cities AZ their
door-steps. The Mississippi River i the
greatest natural posJ-route in the UHion,
aud when there Is no overtl Nv the mails are
delivered at every pO-t-UIl1ce on Its banks. !
Ii railroads and telegraph lines can pc
built under this power, and the Supreme
Court OF the United States has SAID they can.
to distribute mails where no post-routes
reyiouSly existed, certainly leveeS, which /
are but embAukmentS OF earth, scarcely
more expensive than the EN- 5ankm ant alone
OF railroads. can be built IN this gre At nat
ural poSu-rout to enable its Inhabitants to
receive their mail on dry land and not in the
midst OF water foIty miles wide We might,
therefore. rest our claim for power To con-
struct lcvees on this clause OF the Constitu-
ton. We turn mex to the clause which !
gives 70 the General Government power ITO
provide tor the common defense and gen
craI welfare" Under this clause we find
that it has been the practice OF the q 'vern-
an ut To levy high duties on arucleS OF /
foreign commerce, oStensibly to raise reve- !
nue., bat IN fleet 10 protect what are called !
" American industries One political party /
has commended it was the duty OF the Gov
eminent SO to regulate It's tariff as To protect
A M ricau industry. The other party, to
which | belong, has denied the power or the |
duty OF the G.yernment TO pass purely
protective tariff, bur admitted that strict |
ly revenue tariff would afford incidental
protection TO American industry. Among
the most important industries OF the United |
State, is the cotton and sugar cultivation in
the Mississippi Naliey-a vast mine OF uu-
developed agricultural wealth, capable OF
the Union with sugar and the
world with cotton, If protected from over
flow, but which Is Often submerged tor |
~ eeks and months by the wide-s preading
Il BOD, OF the Mississippi River.
Mr.. Dunnell rise to a question of or
der.
The Chairman. The gentleman will state
Mr.. Dunnell. The gentleman from Mis- |
si-sippi Mr.. Chaimersl should address the |
Chair. lie has been addressing that side of /
the House only, and We on this side are un-
able To hear " hat he is saying.
Mr.. Townsend, of New York. He wants |
to convince the members OF his own side.
Mr. Chalmers. Yes. | know that the /
gentlemen on the other side are BILE and 1
rea souable men aud do not need 10 be con /
vineed of the necessity and Importance of |
Ibis measure. | am anxious to convince /
those on my side of the House. LLaughter.l /
However, | will speak so as to he heard by /
gentlemen on either side OF the Hall.
If it is the duty of the Government to |
10 protect American industry this should |
be protected. Long sta
Die cotton is eminently American, and |
brings more gold to the couaJry than all the
,ther protected articles together; and L APP
peal to our protective frieSds and especial
y TO nv handsome friend from PennsyI-
gania. Mr.. WrightI the most available
yrrenback candidate tor the Presidency in
$780, to come 10 our assistance and the sup
- - hts InatrinaS