Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-12-23
Has Jxstse. reen Done to the Upper uts-

Has Justice Been Done to the Upper Nts-
sssstppt R,vef, and 10 amy Agitstion on
tho Subject Necessary.
To the Editor of the Globe:
The little discussion of Mis- 7issippi riY-
or matters at the last meeting of the
chamber of commerce as reported in your
paper of Tuesday is calculated to convey
an impression to she public wholly unwar-
rsntsd By the facts, and injurious to she
city and state. asserted that the upper
Mississippi had been ignored, that the
people were not alive to the importance
Of the river, that the Mississippi River
commission had got of at Rock Island,
and had not inspected the river at all
above that point, and that recent bill in
PRODUCED by an Arkansas congressman ap-
Propriating six million dollars was to i'm
prove the river only from Now Orleans to
tho Dss Moines rapids.
Capt. RUSSELL Blakeley contrsdiotsd the
statement that We had not
had our share of the appropriations
and stated that We had had 100000 and
that there was no need of agitation to stir
up the matter, oharaoterizing such agita-
ton as "mere talk" I denied Capt. BIS
statements that nine millions had been
appropriated to the upper Mississippi, or
one million, snd challenged him to pro-
duce his figures, meaning by the upper
Mississippi that portion above the rapids,
which We were talking about, the limit the
ArkanCas $6,000,O00 appropriation reach
ed. and the limit the Mississippi River
commission confined itself to.
The figures furnished your reporter by
Capt. Blakeley were then produced, which
showed that Capt. Blskeley had to include
all the mill1ons expended on Che Des
Moines rapids and below that to ST. Louis,
all the appropriations for the
Falls of St. Anthony-ovsr $4,000, 0co,
the 1926, 900 expended for the reservoirs,
and 1856, 900 expended for snag boats and
their services below the rapids as well as
above.
By adding the three last items, together
with over 100000 expended at Bu,ling-
tor, Fort Madison and other local points.
he was barely able to make out about
$1,500,O00 for the river above the rapids,
and this is not correct. Now if this was
only matter between Capt. Blakeley and
NY self, aid other members Of the cham
bsr of commerce, it would not be worth
my time nor your space to talk about it..
But is concerns st. Paul.. Minnesota and
all that great expanding empire which we
call the New Northwest, which wants the
channel of the river deepened to depth
OF six feet from st. Paul to the rapids, rs
we'll as from the rapids to st. Louis.
THIS is our Upper Mississippi. And
this is what We mssn when we
say the Upper Mississippi has NOS
received fair share of the attention Of
congress nor of thu Mississippi river
commission, nor even of our own mem-
bers of congress. And when an in6uen-
tial member of the st. Paul ehanber of
commerce puts forth a statement that We
have received nine millions OF dollars and
have no right to complain, he creates E
false sec drity among cur own people which
is not for our good, and he pu'7 au grsu-
ment in the hands of our enemies which
they will not be slow to uss against us
when we ask for more money from con-
gress. l therefore procured from Major
A. Mackenzie, tho government engineer,
in Charge Of the Mississippi river improve
nents from St. Paul to the rapids, the fol-
loving figures, which he kindly furnished
assuring me that they we're approximately
correot. he states that up to Oct. II, 1877,
when the St. Paul chamber of commerce
imaugurated the first river convention for
the upper Mississippi, not 8 dollar had
been appropriated for inproving the chan
ne! Of the river between ST. Pau. and the
rapids, but less thSn $500, 900 was the entire
sum which had been appropriated fer
snag boat expenses above the rapids, from
the beginning of the government, charging
US ne-hslf OF the S350,00O to 100000,
expended for such purposes on the entire
river above St. Louis, which is really
moro than we had. AS the first fruit OF
that convention, in June 1878, we received
$780, 900, which was the shin end of the
wedge, which We have since been driving
with the following result:
THE FIGURES
For improving the channel of the Missis-
sippi river from st. Paul to the Des Moines
rspids: