Weekly commercial herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1884-18??, 1885-11-27
The Harbor.

Senators and congressman is in tnt
improvement or restoration OF tn har
Dor of Vicksburg. TIE NJ ssisslpPf
River Commission in its aunuAl r.
port, makes the best suggestion, N our
opinion, that has yet been ffered-And
that is. by works above V'ehsnurg to
bring the main channel back Ia al
least a portion of our city.-Vlck"huig
Post.
In our opinion this business, of ap-
prOpriating the peoples money to i'n-
prove harbors is being carried most
o far. If a harbOr is a public con
venience, that is, a convenience III
which a country is interested, improve
ment by the Government may be pro-
per. But there are too many ports
in the country that claim to be pub
lie conveniences of this character,
and it is asking too much of The Gov
ernment to take them ali in charge and
spend the peoples money on them
Our own town of Columbus has as
strong claims on the Government as
Vicksburg. Our harbor here Is as iui
portant as that of Vicksburg. Yet if
we were to ask a special appropriation
in our behalf, We would probably be
laughed at. We would like to SEE
Vicksburg prosper, as we teel IA pride
in the place; we would like to see a
channel restored to ii; but at the same
time we do not think it IS good policy
for the Government to appropriate the
peoples money for its benefit.-Colun-
bus Index.
We are a little surprised at this ex.
preston from the Index. Our neighbor
is certainly aware of the fact that
Vlcksturg is one of the prominent
ports on our inland sea. and the chief
harbor Of Mississippi on either fresh
or salt water coast. La its relations to
the commerce of the great converging
waterways that seek the ocean through
the Mississippi, it is in every a
National harbor, and is the entrepot
for three great railways, two on the
eastern and one on the western side of
the river. 1t is a port where every
steamer ascending or descending the
river, below Memphis, whether
coming out Of the Missouri, Ohio, YazOo
or other great tributaries, must halt to
receive or discharge freight and pas
senge $. and is also a harbor Of refuge
for liver craft in the event of storm or
accident. In addition to this it is a
port upon which a city of fourteen or
fifteen thousand people rely for main
%tainance that conducts the conven
fence and necessities Of tens Of thou
sands of people who look to Vicksburg
as their market. Ii this harbor is de-
stroyed it will be a calamity to the
merchant marine of the whole lower
Mississippi river, and Il terrible blow
not only to the great railroad that eX-
tends from Jul eastern to our western
boundary, but to every town on its
line. 70 lose the harbor of Vicksburg
involves the destruction Of that fair
city, the impoverishment of its property
owners and local industries, and COM
pels as a necessity to river commerce
The openining up of another port in
its vicinity and the diverting to the
new harbor of the railroads, that now
meet the waters at Vicksburg. 1t is a
duty the Government owes to our
people and to all the people in the
Mississippi Valley and to all who ply
the great river, to avert this calamity
by ample and timely appropriation and
we are glad to know that in reference
to the matter our Senators and Con-
gressmen are a unit in sentiment.
AS to the importance of improving
the Tombigbee. the Examiner was
largely instrumental in obtaining the
first appropriation ever made for it,
and has fought its battle here and else.
where each succeeding year; but the
Examiner recognizes the fact that
while the Tombigbee is all important
to the commercial constituency Of
Aberdeen and Columbus, it is of tri-
fling importance to the country at large
as compared with the Mississippi, and
that while the haTbors of our two
towns have local value and acCommo-
date vessels that, like u merchants,
have local Interests, the harbor of
Vicksburg has for many years been a
necessity to the commercial marine of
the whole lower valley. Then, again,
our harbors are not in danger while
that Of Vicksburg is threatened with
destruction and must be saved if scien-
tifc engineering and wise legislation
CAP accomplish the desired end.-Ab-
erdeen Examiner.