Morning journal and courier., 1883-12-27
Thursday, December a7. 1883.
HOgy TO USE THE REVENUE FRORs
 WAIEkY.


 article have at oar request been given us for publication by one who is more intsrested in the prosperity of the whole country than in the success of any party. They are worthy of careful consideration.
 There has been much discussion of late aa to the dispoaition to be made of the whisky revenue. Some men. of national reputation, favor the entire abolition of ths tax upon whisky. The majority, however, believe tbat it's removal would bs impoIitic. A few would doubtless favor it's increase. Nr. Blaine's plan in regard to it is we'll known. But weighty objections are and properly may be urged against that. If the retention of the tax could tend to increase the traffic in the article, it's abolition might be desirable, as there are many evils which arise from that traffic. But it is not easy to see how the retention of the tax and the rigid enforce ment of it's collection can fail to have just the opposite effect.
 It has long been part of our public poll cy to improve our rivers and harbors. Few question the expediency of so doing to some extent. In the proxinaAts past the differences in regard to such appropriations have been principally differences of opinion as to the expediency of making any appropriation in individual cases, or as to the amount to be appropriated in cases where, confssssdly, there was good rsason for some appropria- tion. In view of the magnitude which the commerce of this eountry-hoth internal and foreign-has already assumed, 1t is rec ognizsa by conservative, thinking men, that such streams as the Mississippi and it's tribu- taries, as well as our principal harbors, may properly receive such attention as to require the expenditure of many millions of dollars We suggest that the entire tax upon whisky for the next three or possibly five years may, if it continues to produce 8 yearly revsnus as large as at present, be wisely used in i'm proving and extending the neviga- It may be claimed that the expenditure of 20 many millions woald be conducive to sxtrav- agance, if it did not lead to corruption. But we believe that in the past no class of men in the employment of shs government has proved more uniformly faithful in the discharge of duty, and careful and accurate in regard to than government engineers, in charge of the great works entrusted to them, such as the improvements at Hell Gate, the building of breakwaters and the deepening of harbors.
 Tho Mississippi and Tributaries" as shown by Anderson in his carefully written work with thattitl are now nsvigabls through Gnn four times the length of the ocean line from New York to Liverpool and more than four timss the distance by rail across the continent, from New York to San Francisco. It Is fur ther said that, by improving several trfbuta- ries, the total navigation may be extended at least LOGO miles.
 Senator Beyard, in expressing his appro- bation of Mississippi river improvements, said: q recognize as fully as any man the growth of this country, tho growth of the demand for commercial facilities. Works have been accomplished at public expense which today are bearing incaleuiable bene- fits to the entire oountry." General Gar field said: 'The wisdom of Congress should be invoked to devise some plan by which that great river shall csass to be terror to those who dwell upon it's banks and by which it's shipping may safely carry tho industrial products of twenty-five millions of people, Other representative men of both parties have expressed similar views. But it is con- eedsd by many who have given earnest Rttsn- ton to the subject that 1t is not alone these great natural waterways that need improve lnent, that both producers and consumers may derive the greatest advantage from our foreign commerce, which in the single fiscal year ending June 30, 1880, was over $1, ,50O,- poo, GOO in value, and from our internal oom- merce, which so good an authority as Mr. Nimmo has estimated 2t about twenty five times as much, or over $37, 500, 900, ,O0O for the same period. These amounts are 30 large as to be hardly com. prehensibIe but they show that the outlay of many millions is justifable, if it will largely increase our commercial facilities. in the infancy of the republic the building of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, 8 part of which has been completed. It should be extended. The James River and Kanawhs Canal, 200 miles of which has been constructed, should be completed. Its completion was recom- mended not long since by Senate com enittee on transportation routes. It Is pro- posed to connect the waters of the upper the construction of which is said to be feasi- bic. and thus make, in connection with exist ing waterways-natural and artiacial-an un broken navigabIe internal waterway from our Northern Pacific coast to the Atlantic at New York, and an uninterrupted way to the Calf. The importance of ship canal across FIeride, to accommodate the already vast and steadily increasing commerce of the Gulf ,f Mexico, has been for some time recognized. The passage around Key West is frequently Esry dangerous, ss numerous wrecks attest. md more than eleven hundred miles saved io voyagers in the round trip between New Fork and New Orleans would be of great i'm ,ortance. The Secretary of the Navy haa called attention to the importance of his work and of line of interior water gsys along the Atlantic coast, from Florida o Hampton Roads, between the Chesapeake Bay and the Delaware and through Cape Jod The recommendation is embodied in he Presidents recent message. An appro- ,riation for the Heunepin ship canal has many earnest advocates. It would tend to neatly increase the commerce of the skes. The Connecticut river needs further Our own New Haven harbor g now receiving some of that attention O which it has so long been justly untitled. With our breakwater com ,leted, and our harbor channel prop rly deepened. ths commerce of this ,ert may be greatly increased. All the Jack country which receives merchandise herefrom, or ships it hither, will of course ecsive its share of the benefit. Our own larbor is mentioned as one among many hat need attention. A few prominent cases rave been alluded to. There are other rivers md harbors to be improved and canals to be ,uils or extended which are worthy of gov .rnmental consideration. Would it not be much better to appropriate the considerable .ums derived from the whisky tax for the execution of these great works, which have become public necessities, leaving our rev snue from customs for other government exs