Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-10-27
OUR RIVERS AND RAYS.
An Appeal to the Attorney General of
|, the United States,

4 the United States.
| Yesterday, Immediately after the ad-
iournment of the Board of Trustees, Mayor
Brown said there was one important mat
| ter that had escaped his attention, and that
was the submission to the Board of an ap-
peal that had been drawn up by parties in
terested in the preservation of the rivers
and bays from destruction by slickens. II
was addressed to the Attorney General Of
the United States, and it was proposed to
have it printed in circular form. and a COPY
sent to the various county Boards of Super
| visors, City Boards of Trustees, Boards OF
Trade and Chambers of Commerce in the
large section of California affected by the
| flowing of debris. The document was in
dorsed by Trustees Jones and Nielsen. and
| the clerk authorized to have the desired
number of circulars printed. 1t is as fol-
| lows:
To the Attorney General Of the United States.
| Washington D. C-SIR Your attention is re-
| spectfully requested to the following facts
That the Sacramento and the San JOAQUIN are
great naylgable rivers of California, whose flow
| emptles through the SUisun and San Pablo BAYS
| into the bay and harbor of San Francisco.
That for the Improvement of these nayigable
rivers and their navigable tributaries, and also
| through the bay of San Francisco, the Federal
| Government has, at various times expended
and is still expanding large sums of money
That the navigation of these rivers and har-
bors Is OF priceless value to the commerce of the
nation.
That the Federal Government maintains at
Mare Island, IN the bay of San Pablo, naval
station OF great Importance, supplied with works
OF costly character, and also has constructed
and maintains numerous forts and other public
property in the bay and harbor of San Fran
I fhItf ha Ina and YEafy,l n
this property depends upon the maintenance of
navigation IN the bays of San Francisco and San
Pablo.
That the navigation of the San JOAQUIN river
has been seriously impaired and of the Sacra-
mentO river well nigh destroyed, by the dis
charge OF debris from hydraulic mines into the
tributaries of said rivers that the discharge has
| been going on for a score of years and more,
and that when the hydraulic mines are in full
| operation it amounts to some 100000 cubic
| yards per annum; that in consequence of such
discharge the channels of the Sacramento river
| and its tributaries have been filled to such an
| extent as to cause apprehension of the aban-
| donment Of their present bed; that Federal sur
VeyS show enormous deposits OF such debris in
| the mouths of the Sacramento and San Joaquin,
| and in the bays of Suisun and San Pablo, and
| that the bay of san Francisco has materially
| shoaled, and the bar at its entrance greatly
widened, by reason of the onward flow OF like
material from the hydraulic mines.
That, unless further discharge of hydraulic
mining debris into these waters be speedily
!
stroyed; that the injury is of a cumulative
character, and, by reason of the vast deposits of
movable detritus in the river channels, must
continue to augment in the lower bays and har-
| bors for many years after the discharge from
| the hydraulic mines shall have ceased.
That several tributaries of the Sacramento
| river are so filed by hydraulic mining debris
| that their beds in the valley have risen to q
| hight greater than that of the original banks,
and their waters are, at great cost restrained by
| means of levees from Rowing over the land;
thgfQf of
| have escaped from these streams in times of
| high water, and have buried and rendered
| worthless at least $4,000 acres of fertile land;
that in consequence of these and many other
| injuries, including obstruction to navigation,
| the people of the Sacramento valley have eX-
| pended large sums in litigation to prevent the
further discharge of debris from hydraulic mines
| into the said tributaries; that the State and
| Federal Courts have declared such discharge a
public nuisance, but that a considerable num-
| Der of the hydraulic mining corporations. and
also individual owners of mines, continue to
run great quantities OF debris into the rivers in
defiance of law and regardless Of the injury in
| ticted; and that the evil is so great and the
obduracy of the evilGoeTS so determined, that
| there is need of aid from the Federal Depart
ment of Justice.
| 1t is further respectfully submitted that while
| the extent of the injury to individuals caused
| by hydraulic mining has been herein but
| family indicated, it is well understood that
such injuries cannot form basis for official ac-
| ton by the Acknowledgement of the United
| States. But it is believed that an examination
of the facts presented (all of which may be fully
verified by reference to documents on file in the
| War Department and the decisions of Judges
| Sawyer and Deadly OF the United States Circuit
| Court in the suit of Edward Woodruff VS.. the
North Bloomfield and other hydraulic mining
| companies) will convince the Attorney General
| OF the ACCESSIBILITY and need of Federal inter
vention for the preservation of navigation. The
| people most directly and most seriously injured
have done their best to defend their rights and
| property and feel that it is the province and
| duty of the Federal authorities to Intervene for