National Republican., 1883-02-07
EADs,s EARNINGs.
Payment OF the Twelfth Quarterly In
stailment FOR the Mississippi Jetties sus-
pended,

Payment OF the Twelfth Quarterly In
stalIment for the Mississippi Jetties sus-
pended.
Copies Of tho correspondence and doou-
ments, on fle in the War department, con.
cerning the twelfth quarterly instalment to
Capt. Eads, on account Of tho South Pass
ietty. were transmitted to the senate yestcr-
day by tho secretary of war One of these
documents is an argument submitted to the
attorney general by Capt. Eads, in reply to
the suggestions made by the secretary of war
as to what constitutes fulfilment of his con-
tract with the government by Capt. Eads
under the ictty act. The secretary finds some
uncertainty as to the meaning of the law,
and he asks of the attorney general whether,
under the law, Capt. Eads is required TO main.
tain the specified channel through the PASS,
or merely through the jettics. The engineer
in charge, Capt Heur reported that during
the quarter ended Dec. o, 1882. there were n
number of points in tho channel in the pass
above the jetties, in which the soundings wcro
less than twenty-six feet, the required depth,
which is attributed to shoaling, caused by the
action of tho jotties at the mouth
of the pass in 30 increasing the
| flow of tho water as TO reduce the water level
in the lower part of the pass and thus tend
TO transfer the bar or shOal higher up. The
channel to the gulf from the head of tho pass
is about ten miles. The main bar is mt tho
outlet of the pass, and through this is tho
channel formed by the ietties. Capt. Eads
claims that so long as he shall maintain n
channel Of the required depth between his
ietties through the bar he has complied with
the law, and is entitled to the 100000 per
annum appropriated by it. Tho attorney
general, however, thinks differently. In his
written opinion, in answer TO the suggestions
of the secretary of war, he says; "The pro-
posal of the government, which james b. Eads
accepted, was, that by certain means men,
toned in the act, he should create and per-
manently maintain wide and deep channel
between the South Pass of the Mississippi
river and the Gulf of Mexico! BY this Ian.
guage l understand q continuous channel
through tho entire length of the pass from its
head to its outlet into the gulf. To obtain such
q channel and to have it permanently main
| tanned, was the purpose of the act of March 8,
| 1870 See section 4 of said act. The succeed
ing section provides that the conditions pre-
| scribed in the act being fully complied with,
payments should be made as set forth. One
| Of these conditions is, that within given
time n depth of twcnty.six feet should be Sc
cured through the pass. The intent is plain.
| 1t is that the channel shall he twenty-sN feet
deep Mt the head and through the whole
length of tho pass, and this, not merely for a
day or week, but this depth shall be secured
and permanently maintained. This require
ment respecting the channel through the pass
has not been changed by subsequent lcgisla-
tion. This is clearly shown in the opinion of
Attorney General Devens April Is, 1870.
| There are, no doubt, parts of the act of March
3, 1876, and of the act of March B. 1879, which,
if read separately, seem TO favor the idea that
the channel was TO be maintained only
through the jetties into the gulf; but when
considered in connection with the fourth
section of the act of 1875, in which
the whole purpose Of the law is
expressed and with the conditions therein
set forth, it will be seen that these subsequent
provisions do not alter the main object OF the
law which Is to secure and permanently
maintain deep and wide channel through
the pass to the Gulf OF Mexico; and this Capt.
Eads undertook to accomplish. AS TO the
second branch of your inquiry, / think that
six or seven inches of shoaling which the re-
| port of the engineer shows existed in part
of the pass for several weeks during the
quarter, is too great departure from the re-
quirement of the contract TO be permitted,
and that, under the law, payment for the
quarter should be suspended for such time as
this shoaling has prevailed or shall continue.
In this matter the maxim resist the begin
nings would seem to be pertinent" Pay
ment of the quarterly instalment, due Dec 8,
was suspended upon these representations.