The weekly clarion., 1879-02-26
- p Il e G H
OF Hon. fernando ID. Money. OF Mississip-
pi, in the House of Representatives,
Wednesday, February ), 1879.


organization OF the Mississippi River com
mission. and for the correction. permanent
location. and deepening of the ch aud
the Improvement of the navigation of said
Mississippi River, and the protection OF IL
{ alluvial lands
Mr.. Money said:
Mr. SPEAKER--IJ would perhans be well,
10 enable the House TO un1ars and the bill
+ under consideration, that il should be iH-
/ formed as To the inte tio1s of the commit
tee reporting the bill. The committee found
upon examining the records thai for many
years the committees both of the House
/ and the Senate have reported to their
I respective bodies bills recommending ap-
{ preparations for the purpose of protecting q
7 the alluvi4l lands of the Mississippi from
/ inundation; that in these reports the com
/ mittecs have been unanimous. We have uo
I know ledge of auV minority reports. or of
I anv single mem Der dissenting. None of
/ these bills, however. have ever received
/ favorable consideration from either House.
Some members of this committee have
/ served on it for -four years, are deeply inter-
/ estrd in jhis question, and have given il a
/ thorough and careful examination. They
/ fully recOgniz- its importance To the whole
I country a well as to their own section /;
and they were anXiuus 10 submit some
| proposition that would receive the unGivi-
/ ded and cordial support OF every member OF
/ their committee. They fully appreciated
/ the value of a unite committee; they
/ know that it is indispensable in pressing
/ such bill TO a successful issue that there
! should be no division.
The House will please recollect that the
/ jurisdiction Gf this committee has been en-
| larged by resolution o. the House, and the
matter Of Improvement OF the navigation
of the Mississippi River was put in their
charge. There has never been ary effort
! made to regulate a river of the size OF the
/ Mississippi in order 70 4m prove its nayigt-
( ton. and the committee soon had presented
many different theories and plans for i'm
pr wing the navigation and protecting the
I alIuvial lands. Each OF tliese theories had
/ it advocates in this House, and the com
/ mittee truu it impossible to frame bill
/ which would adopt any plan without e.
/ cOuntering such opposition a would hazard
/ it, passage. The committee themselves
/ could not agree aS to "A particular plan of
/ Improvement; therefore it was thought best
! 10 present this bill as the best possible to
1 secure a favorable consideration. It or
ganiZeS a commission who shall consider
! all plans th 1t may be suggested by them
selves or any person TO secure the object in
/ view, and designed leaving the com mission
| entirely Tree aud Hntrammeled il the per
/ tOrm1nce of their duty. | beg leave to say
| 10 gentlemen who have been prompr with
| amendments incongruouS or antagOuistic
/ TO the bill, that this bill is not hasty pre-
| sentatiOn of the Judgment of this commit
! tee ; and it is bee tuse the committee have
/ examined { gineerS, consulted books and
| reports deemed authorities in hydraulic
! engineering. and have labOred long aud
! aSsiduOusly upon Il t task assigned them,
/ and they have hesitated TO present any
/ theory for the approval of this House
| Mr. Speaker, we have not had before Us
| any new theories, these that have been
/ urged upon us have long been familiar, aud
! have had illustrations in the treatment ot
/ European rivers; but the Mississippi is SUI
0eRertS. and we cannot rely with certainty
/ upon any method heretofore applied to
! produce the results that have been obtained.
| The report of the present distinguished
/ Chief of Engineers embOdieS the most care
| ful. extended aud exhaustive series of OBJ
! servations ever made upon any great river,
| and is the highest authority on the subject;
| but the conclusions reached in his report
| are not accepted by some engineers entitled
| to respect and would meet with opp Osition
| on fhis floor. | mention these facts to show
| the necessity resting upon tue committee
! to report Just such bill as YOU have before
you. A. far l am individually con
| cerned, l consider the two questions of the
| provements of the navigation of the
| Mississippi and the protection OF its lands
! as nterdepe ndent, and they cannot be dis
! sociated. To solve these questions L con-
slider tie levee. jetty, and outlet systems
| cOmb bined to be necessary. But in framing
| a bill To secure an object two things are to
| be considered: what we want and what
we can get; so l defer my wishes and
! judgment to the judgment Of the commit
1 tee.
! L shall not attem pt 10 argue Jne COnStlJu-
| tional power of Congress TO undertake this
| work, These questions cannot remain al
! ways debatabie; they must some time be
! settled; and this has been settled by numer-
| oGs acts of Congress and of the executive
! department. The nation is committed to
| this work she has given millions of acres
| of land and appropriated money for sur
veyS tor the purposes of this bill. The
| work must be done, and no power but that
| of the Government can do it, 1t is danger
! hrra noS tll
! limitations OF power but if there is a power
| TO buy Louisiana, the great territory Of the
| GadSden purchase, and Alaska, then there
| would seem to be power TO redeem thir-
| tv-two thousand square miles in the center
| of the Republic, with a homogeneous pOpu-
| lation and the richest soil beneath the sun.
| Considering the policy of such action, it is
| unnecessary for me To enlarge upon the ad-
| vantageS to the whole country that must
! arise from the protection of this m2gniti
! cent domain The character of that do
! main. its area, Its capacity, have been 81
| fully set forth bv my eloquent friend from
| Louisiana Mr.. Ellisl that anything by me
| must be merely supplemental; but beg to
| call your attention to this fact, that the vast
! supply of sugar we receive :from the An
/ TILES must soon sensiby decrease, and We
| must prepare to produce AT home. Porto
! Rico and Cuba have furnished US almost
! entirely with this necessary commodity,
! and they have produced it by slave labor
| Porto Rico in 1873 emaucipated her slaves,
/ and by the decree of 1865 all children born
! of slaves in Cuba are free. This changed
relation of labor to capital, judging by the
! experience of the past in the West Indies,
| will occasion a sensible dimiuurlon OF pro-
/ due ion. aad the rich planins of Louisiana
| must be able To supply the dehclt. Cotton
| is the largest of American exports. 1t has
| been the most powerful factor in restoring
! to us the balance OF trade. Thirty six
/ States were represented in the convention
! held in London in 1862 under the auspices
! of the Manchester. Cotton Supply Assocta-
tion. The object of that convention was To
dispute our supremacy in the cotton mar
| ket of the world,
The redemption of the cotton lands of the
Mississippi Valley will place that suprema-
CIV beyond all question, and will increase
| the national income from the cotton crop
millions annually. These facts may bt
deemed as the argument OF sectional IN
| tereSt but they are so national IN their el-
| fects that they will reach the remotest COM
| munity in the Republic, and deserve the
| thOuUhtful attention of the political econo-
mist. the statesman, the business man, anc
the patriot wherever ne may live In thli
Union. But, Mr.. Speaker, upon this branch
of the subject | am too full fer the shor
limits of this debate. and 1t has already beer
well discussed. Let Us turn to the Other
work of the commission, the improvement
of the navigation of the Mississippi River
| believe there is no doubt In any quartz
Of our power and our duty in this regard
The magnificent system of rivers OF which
the Mississippi is the grand trunk comprise
thirty five rivers and fifteen thousand mile
OF waterway, floating the largest inlant
commerce on the face of the globe. UpoT
these avenues of trade float more than tire
| thousand vessels, with a carrying capacity
of about five hundred thousand tons. Thi
vast fleet is largely increasing year By yea
and pushing lis pioneers into rivers of the
: far West and Northwest that were unknown
, to the school maps of half century ago
Over thirty steamers more than year ag
were plying upon the Upper Misso1ri ant
the Yellowstone. The Mississippi Is tn
outlet of this vast commerce for the eaOr
-.,,,.,- n.rrinnItnrsi I,rnducfinns of the frnit