Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-04-04
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.,

CH AMBEh OF COM III EdCE,
Capt. Starkey Reports on the Prospects
for Levee -Washburn |
Can Secure 1t II He wiIl-Resolutions
of Inquiry-Nsw Quarters. -
Upon the meeting of the chamber Of COM
merce yesterday morning, the resignation OF
James Smith, Jr., and j. H. Reaney. were re-
ceived and referred to the committee on nom
nations.
Mr.. d. R. Noyes, from the mercantile COM
mittee, reported that after much effort an
order had been secured, directing the military
supplies for the department of Dakota TO be
advertised in st. Paul papers, and the goods OBJ
tanned here, II they caa be secured reasonably.
Heretofore the supplies have been arbi.
trarily purchased in Chicago, without
giving st. Paul merchants an op-
portunity to compete. This new order
places them on an equality with Chicago for
trade which amounts to abOnt one million
a year. Especial thanks are due Gen. Meyer
and Senator Mcmillan for securing the con-
cession of the authorities at Washington.
W. R. Merriam. from the finance commit
| tee, reported that they had taken lease for
| three years of the second and third floors at
| the corner of Third and Robert streets, over
the Boston Clothing House for S1,20n. The
third floor had been sub-let for $500 and a
considerable portion of the second floor was
available for rental. The action was sp-
proved.
WEST ST. PAUL LEvEE.
| Capt. starkey submitted the following re-
port, which was read by the secretary, &C.
cepted and placed on file:
To the President and Board of Directors Of
| the Chamber of Commerce of st. Paul.
GENTLEMEN: AT meeting of the Sixth
Ward improvement society of this city, duly
convened on the 18th day of February last, l
was chosen as delegate to Washington to con-
fer with, and urge upon our senator's and rep
resentatives in congress the necessity and pro-
priety, as well as the justice, of procuring 40
appropriation from congress to aid in the i'm
provement of the navigation of the Missis-
sippi river at St. Paul.
l accepted The appointment and left this
city on the 18th day of February, and ar.
rived in Washington on the 21st of that
month, and at once proceeded to perform the
duties had undertaken, first, by personal
interview with each of our senators and rep
IT sentatives, by whom l was most cordially
received, with assurances on their part that
they would make every effort towards a
favorable response to the memorial to con-
gress from our legislature praying for an ap-
preparation of fifty thousand dollars for the
Improvement of the Mississippi river at st.
Paul. Messrs. Window and Dunnell stated
that Senator Mcmillan and Representatives
Washburn and Strait must do the active work
necessary as it belonged to their respective
districts and locality, while they (Windom
and Dunnel) would support and vote for any
measure their colleagues should determine on.
At the request of Representative Strait
drew up a statement or brief advocating the
prayer of the memorial, copies of which /
served on Senator Mcmillan and Represen-
tative Strait, and on several occasions, in
fact nearly every day interviewed one or
the other of our delegation in congress, each
time being met with most favorable prom
Uses and statement of the efforts they were
making towards favorable result. Said
Mr.. Strait, II have hardly any doubt Of sue
cess, If Mr.. Washburn, being on the com.
mittee on commerce of the house, will only
insist upon an appropriation even If it is not
so much as $4,000, lesser sum will do for
a commencement
In subsequent interviews Mr.. Washburn
expressed to me his determination to procure
an appropriation, even if it did not amount
to the sum asked for by the legislature, and
in addition he said he knew he could also
get a survey ordered for this locality, to
which espOnded that surveys were well
enough, but what the citizens OF ST. Paul
wanted was money wherewith to dredge out
the river at that point, deposit the material
so dredged out upon the westerly bank of
the river, and at the same time give to the
city material with which to construct the pro-
posed levee, and this help from congress we
neededat once. To this he (Washburn) re-
piled, swell, you can assure your people
that will do all possibly can for an appro
priatIon." And in this connection / would
state that Senator Mcmillan agreed with Re-
l law ,,.~ht hat NJ Wac1h r,ro in
sisted on an appropriation being reported on
favorably by the committee on commerce OF
the house he could get it.
| About this time received from your hon.
orable body by your secretary, +. A. Fogg,
copies of memorial to congress, and q
memorial to the senators and representatives
in congress from Minnesots, adopted by your
chamber February 20, 1882, requesting me 10
make certain disposition of them, which
did by mailing copies of the memorial to our
congressional delegation, to each member of
the delegation, and | also delivered packages of
! the memorial to congress to Messrs. Mcmillan
aud Strait, for them to get distributed as was
not permitted 10 distribute them among the
members of both branchts.
| In due course Mr. Strait succeeded in get
| ting the memorial of the Minnesota legisla-
ture placed on the record of the house COM
mittee on commerce, this being deemed
a long step toward favorable response
by the committee to the prayer of the memo.
| rial.
This was the status of things In this matter
up to the time of my leaving Washington
| (March 2D for home, and certainly if the
promises of our congressional delegation are
lived up to, and l see no reason why they
should not, there will be an appropriation
reported favorably On by the committee on
commerce, but this must largely depend on
| Congressman Washburn, he being member
of the commerce committee, and to him
mainly must his constituents look for the
relief prayed for. II, however, there should
be a failure from any cause In the house,
| Senator Mcmillan promised me he
| would certainly offer an amendment to the
| general appropriation bill for rivers and har-
bors when it came to the senate from the
| house, and he being chairman of the COM
| mittee on commerce of the senate must GER
| tainly have great weight with senators. It
| would therefore seem, from all the circum-
stances, that St. Paul hat good hopes for an
appropriation, and certainly has right to
expect it; the more so when it is remembered
that there is Representative Washburn,
| member of the house committee on COM
merce. and Senator Mcmillan, chairman of
the senate committee on commerce, together
with the efforts of the indefstigable Maj.