Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1884-02-21
Relief of Sufferers of the Ohio Over
fOw--Speech of Congressman
Taylor in the House.

The Committee on Appropriations re-
ported a joint resolution to authorize
the Secretary of War to issue rations
for the relief of the destitute in the dis
trict overflowed by the Ohio river, aud
making an appropriation to relieve the
sufferers by said overflow, being under
consideration in the House, Congressman
Taylo of this District, spoke as follows:
'Mr. Speaker, had supposed that this
resolution would be passed at once.
unanimously, without any discussion on
the part of anybody; but as it is to be
discussed on the one side and the other,
| will, i'll order to save time, appropriate
tfe remarks of my friend from West
Virginia Mr.. Goff,) whose district is i'm
mediately opposite mine on the Ohio
river, as part of my speech, for the
sake of brevity and also for the reason
that he bas made a most excellent ad-
dress.
81 do not think there is any necessity
for discussing the constitutionality of
this measure. l do not believe there is
a single gentleman on this hoor-I know
there is none on this side, and l do not
believe there is any one on the other
slde-who will hesitate single moment
because of any constitutional difficulty
to cast his vote for this resolution. l
understand the remarks of the gentleman
from New York; we all under stand
them. They are jocose, and jocOse only ;
hence | will not waste single moment
of time in that discussion. l wish merely
to say, in addition to what my friend
from West Virginia has said, that at this
time there is in my district, for fifty OF
sixty miles alORg the Ohio river, great
distress. Thousands and thousands of
people I have heard the number vari-
ously estimated; some gentlemen who
profess to be very we'll advised say that
there are to-day 100000 people-men,
women and children, who have been
comp etely driven from their homes and
are gathered in groups on the hillsides
and in remote parts of the country where
the water has not yet reached.
"Gentlemen have asked whether the
great empire State of Ohio has made
request for relief of this kind. l wish to
Say, Mr. Speaker, that this calamity falls
very heavily upon the upper and eastern
part of our State, where we have no
great charities organized such as there
are in the city of Cincinnati and other
localities. This district to which have
referred is for fifty miles occupied very
largely with blasting furnaces, glass
works, coal bakes, iron mills and nail
mills. Thousands Of these people delve
beneath the earth, and rarely see the
sunlight except when leaving their
homes in the morning or returning at
the close of their days labor At the
city of Bellaire and in that neighborhood
thousands of buildings are now collected
in great wrecks, and are being drifted
down the Ohio river. School houses and
church buildings occupying ground high
enough to be safe from the waters have
been thrown open to shelter these peo-
pie, who would otherwise be houseless.
The distress is great, and if we have any
generosity we should not waste time
here upon this resolution, but pass it,
and pass it at once, that it may 60 to the
other end of the Capitol and be acted on
there, so that the Secretary of War may
promptly send relief to those people who
at thia very hour are cold and naked
and hungry. 1t is matter Of imperative
duty; and trust that we shall not waste
time in this discussion, but act at once.
| wish only to add that 100000 will be
bat beginning. A million of dollars
will not more than meet the immediate
wants of those people along the Ohio
river.