National Republican., 1883-01-15
on TuE ANENuE.

! liNNNt HdlAl Ole Ol INC blUIOlC8b uRAlNIS III
the senate yesterday, THAT this treaty
is one Of the schemes Of the Jay Gould
combination to obtain valuable grants and
concessions from the Mexican government
at tho expense of American sugar growers
and other American interests. Gould
stands ready to trade every American in
tcrcst for these franchises and that is precisely
what tho reciprocity treaty means Gould and
his sassociatcs will getall thcturkey, leaving the
United States nothing but buz2ard for It's pOr-
tion. Tho treaty, as proposed, will never re-
ccivc the approval Of congress. have heard
/ it stated, ON apparently very good authority,
that Senator Logan will oppose the treaty,
on the very broad principle that it commits
the United States to the folly Of giving great
deal for nothing"
o@a
Ben Holiday has been regular in his at
tendance upon congress for sixteen years
watching that claim Of his like a hawk, and
never missing day when there was the
slightest chance of action on il. The bill ap-
propriating $780, 900 was called up in the senate
Saturday, and for the first time during the
session Holiday was away from the capitol,
/ having been detained at home on account of
sickness. 4 determined effort will be made
in the upper house by one or two senators 70
knock the bill cold this time, Senator Plumb
being numbered among its strongest foes. His
motion to substitute the agricultural bill for
that portion of Bolladays bill following the
cnacting clause is regarded as merely an incl
dent in his fight against It's passage.
! 90
Mr. Jnbn A Martin pr T-oueos ngtiuntpg
the maximum strength of The opposition TO
the reelection of Senator Plumb in the
Kansas legislature Mt so. There arc IL sena-
tors and 125 representatives in the legislature
of that state and III Mr.. Martins figures are
correct Senator Plumb will have n clear ma
jority over everything and everybody of &C.
votes. That gentleman, however, will take u
run home this week, and while there he may
| lake u look over the senatorial battle ground.
90
"Whats the matter with the heavy ord
nance busincs3Y asked the avenue man of one
! Of the rccGlcihant inventors who was before
! the senate committee on military affairs
! Saturday. "That's what we have been trying
| to find out for the last ten or fifteen years.
was the reply. "Wc have been knocking at
| the door for that length of time, but cannot
produce the slightest impression. There is
nothing mean about us, either. There isn't u
man in the crowd who wouldn't give
up 75 per cent. of his profits for the
other % per cent, but somebody must
do better than that There are two or threo
better guns patented than any that have been
adopted but thus far'all efforts to have them
given n trial have proved unavailing We
are making u combined kick this time and
hope something may come of it," and the
wOuld-be maker of siXty-ton engines of
slaughter warbled Off marveling at the cor
ruption of ordnance departments and the in
| gratitude of republics.
| 90
"Thc proposed Improvement of the NIssis-
sippi river on the scale advocated by the COM
mission is tho greatest imposition that has
over been attempted to be practiccd on the
| American people," observed Yiclisburg gem
tleman to the avenue man several weeks ago,
"but the people down here want it, and MS
congress seems kindly disposed toward the
scheme l hope it may go through. River
men, who have made study of the stream all
their lives, know that it is a tickle and un-
controllablc river, aud that money spent
the channel, and confne the water within
regulation limits will be money thrown away.
The commission might build levces 900 feet
| high, on a granite foundation 200 feet deep,
on both sides of the river from the gulf to
Cairo, at a cost of $1,000 100000, and the river
would burst its bonds and defy every known
law of civil engineering and scientific en-
! U,,, 4
for ] 900 miles and more, a soft loom or sandy
| soil which extends down to n varying depth
| of from 200 to 500 feet before gravel is
reached The water cuts n channel through
| this land, as it takes Il notion, Ii starts for
the gulf, and il knows better than man how
| it wants to get there and what course IL must
| take to reach the salt sea. 1t swallows whole
! townships and throws them up in other states,
cutting a new pathway, forming now islands,
and dovouring old ones in fagrant diso-
/ bcdcncc of known laws. The river has an
average width of $500 or 5000 feet, and Mt
| low water depth of probably ten feet from
| the mouth of the Ohio down to the jettics
| The water Mt such times flows along the bot
| tom of n deep cash in the land, and the
banks stands forty feet above the
surface. In flood times the river is
bank full and overlooking, an enormous
volume of water running over the top or
| through croyasses into the back country,
which is lower than the river proper The
water in the main channel has almost the
force of solid wall fifty feet high, moving at
the rate of from six to eight milcs'an hour.
The salvation ofthc country is in the curves
and bends, which do much TO check the speed
of this tremendous volume OF water The alb
surdity of trying to regulate tho Mississippi
and conlining mile of watorpushed along by
an irresistible force into channel half
Il mile wide with banks of quicksand,
is potent to every Intelligent man who
has given tho matter careful consideration.
Tho commission ought to ride down the river
ON tho crest of a spring food and take obscr-
yatons. They would be impressed with tho
insignifcanco of human ondeavor and tho
htility Of improving ON Gods plan of man
aging the father of water However, as l
have before remarked, if the government
wants to donate $3OOOO,OOO or $iOOOOOOO for
our benefit wo will taks it, II might be
better employed though, in educating the ig-
norant masses and building manufactures"
pa@
Senator Kellogg has made careful canvass
of both houses of congress in the interest Of
his sugar-planting constituency, and tho con.
clusion he has reached is that congress will
not pass tariff measure this session, The