The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1883-01-20
THE BURROWS COMMITTEE, THE
RIVER COMMISSION AND THE
MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
WHAT CAPTAIN W. p. HALLIDAY THINKS
OF THEM.

There is perhaps no matter in which the
people OF this part of the country generally
and the people Of Cairo particularly are
more deeply interested than in the i'm
provement of the Father OF Waters and
therefore, snything said or done concerning
this great work is ofimportance to the gen
eral public here and will be read ard
watched with jealousy. For this reason
the following statement, concerning the dis
position and work Of the two bodies OF
men at Washington who have been charged
with the importan, work in question, viz;
the Burrows Committee and the River
Commission, made yesterday to BULLETIN
representative by Capt. w. P. Halliday,
will be read with interest. AS is known,
Captain Halliday went to Washington in-
response 10 call from the Burrows Com
mittee, to testify before said mmittee
concerning the Mississippi River, the plans
Of the R yer Commission for its improve
ment, and the work so far done under
these plans.
After stating that his trip had been
very pleasant hroughout, particularly his
stay at Washington, the conversation
turned upon the Burrows Committee, ETC.,
and the substance of the Captains remarks
was about AS follows:
The Committee is an earnest hard work
ing one; its sessions, two each day, are
held from o'clock to IL q. IN, and from
to / | p. IN. 1t is understood at Wash
10 ton that three OF the Committee favor
the plans Of the Commission and will favor
a recommendation to Congress that the
amount asked for by the Commission be
allowed. These three are Mr.. Ellis, of Lou
sisna; Mr.. Carlisle, of kentucky, and Mr..
Thomas, of Illinois, who are known 10 be
in full harmony with the Commission. 1t
is further understood that Mr.. Holman, of
Indiana, also favors the plans OF the Com
IN sslon; but, o! course he wants the work
done in The most economical manner. II
is believed that Mr. r ,binsnn, of Massa-
chusetts, will favor the completion of the
| work at Plum Point and L Ike Providence,
| ana also the closing OF the gaps in the
levees OF Yazoo and Tensas Fronts. Il is
understood that he believes that this work
would iu " test the plans Of the Commits
sion Tie work Of closing the gaps at
these two points is nov alb Jul completed
and it will take huta very small sum 10 tn
ish it. Mr.. R)binsons interrogatories
would lead one to think that the improve
ment Of the Mississippi RIVER is a very
diff ult problem, and that the level Of the
river Was subject to very wide fluctuations
at very brief intervals. Mr.. Hiscock, Of
New York, is extremely non-commita. /
did not hear any expression from any one
as to what his views were. The other two
members Of the Committee were not press
eOt At any Of the meetings during my stay
in Washington. The most outspoken mem.
bar. OF the Committee, in favor Of the plans
| Of the Commission, are Mr.. Ellis, Of Lousi-
ana, AMI Mr.. Thomas, Of Illinois
The investigation seems to be conducted
in most thorough and, | should say, i'm
| partial manner. The Chairman Of the
Committee, Mr Burrows, is certainly a
very earnest and industrious member Of
the Committee. The evidence Of the mem.
bers of the Mississippi River Commission
was very interesting indeed to me, and l
remained whole week purposely to hear
1t all. II proved to my mind very concu'
sively, that they fully understood the needs
Of the great river, aud that the circum'
stances or conditions Of the River are more
favorable to its improvement than those OF
any other river in the world, with the sin.
gle exception, perhaps OF the Amazon
That 1t 10 perfectly practicable to maintain
low water channel in low water OF about
twenty feet above Rad River, and that the
total cost of permanently creating such a
channel will not exceed thir,y.three mil
lois of dollars. The observations Of some
Of the Commission extend over many Of the
rivers of Europe and all the principal
rivers in this country. The opinions OF
the members as to the results to be obtained
by the contemplated improvement, seen
to be entirely in harmony with one anoth
err.
In conversation with members OF Con
gress | found that the Mississippi had I
great IN my friends and that It's improve
ment is regarded as great national work
h I'VE no doubt that a liberal appropria
ton for the river will be MADE by tn
presen; Congress. Tho outlet system seem
to have no following AMI it IS understood
that the Burrows Committee does not favo