Richland beacon. [volume] (Rayville, La.) 1869-1890, 1885-04-04
River Improvement.

The interview held Wci,rr-iay h'fwcen
Gen. J Hale Sypher, Washington attorney
of the Southern Pacific Railroad. an the Lew
Secretary OF War i. interesting To all the PEI,
uIe of the valley, ~ showing >ucc ncty and
briefly the demands of the Fallv and Indica-
ting the views entertained jy Mr.. ELdico'i on
this subject.
Mr. Hutchinson. appeal, presented to t's
Secretary by Gen. SvPhe', was strong and TO
the point, The trade OF the immense, Popnlons
and productive region between California ana
the Miss .>Ippi demanded an outlet, he ~
sisted on the Gulf of Mexico, AMI the only
available outlet wa. at New Orleans. Without
lrvres lha, ci,v wa, virtually cut OIL from ihe
West. The State could no, he dependant
on to support the levee. The rallroad has en-
pended thousands OF dollars in tho naiu'
tenance and repair IN VAIN. Not only, h"">
ever had IN. railroads west of New Oreaus
been Gu, of by the fool but lards which were
among the most productive AMI valuable IN
the Union had been destroyed. White the
remod was al easy one AMI IN the hanu ot
the general government, millio1s ut acres hal
/ been reduced 10 the original Wild state anu
| more were being lost every day unless me
! Federal government interieTed and II was tie
only power that could successfully interfere
against these foois-thc abandonment Il
. the entire lower valley must come sooner "f
| later. MI Hutchinson attributed the inability
! OF the State 70 accomplish much IN the way oil
| protection aga nst inundaton. Z? the frequent
| aoods which had devastated so large an exieJt
Of country and had So wasted Its resorces.
Mr.. Hurchinson's strong argument and
urgent appeal was backed by the statistic fur'
ui.bed by Hon J. Hale Sypher, who presen.
he shpWr'
carried oil the rainfall from nineteen States.
and Loui>ans should have some outside aasls-
,ance 10 enable it to do tins successful. IL had
1000 vessels in its waters carrying o,OOO1OO
passengers aud 20OOU.0OD tons Of freight
annually. Properly projected, the Lower
Valley of the Mississippi contained sufficient
land adapted 10 the production OF sugar To
furnish he entire supply needed by in. coun'
try and save Sl00,000o00 We now spent
abroad besides aiding to the cotton crop an
all the other leading products.
In view OF tiese AMI other equally strong
faces Mes,rs, Hutchinson aud Sypher asked
he Secretary OF war 10 devote serne OF thu
uuexprnded balance Of s., 900, 100 to the cred
i, Of the rivers and harbors, rvhe improvement
of the Mississippi, The large sum IS at the
discretion of Mr. Endico,t, 10 Iom we have
10 look in this emergency to help US through
Ii is a matte Of the most vita importance I"
the people of the lower vally, whose every
interest is dependent upon the government
continuing its plan Of river Improvement.
We nope ,ba, the approaching river convene
ton will support Mr.. Hutchinson $ request
and call upon the Secretary Of War 10 use
some of t5c money available for u al pnPro,o
: 10 the ipprovemeni of the Mississippi
+ The on'y point which seemed TO trouble
the Secretary wa. that about the levees, due
to the belief, current among many peoPl-
in the East, that levees are TO be Duit solely
for the benefit OF the land owners. Even
| were this So the government would he well
. repaid it. by their erection, tins country could
: raise Its own supply of sugar, and The trade
between the Pacific and the Gulf 90 on unin>
l ,errup,ed. Blu, Gen. Sypher stated the case
r very clearly aad showed Otherwise. Tbs
: levees were, as the R,vsr Commissioner has
a yery clearly demonstrated, an important item
in riyes improvement They constituted the
river banks which confined the rver within
= proper and uni,o,m width, and prevented Il
, spreading over the surrounding country, and
> which thus enabled il 10 perform the WORK I"
cutting out its channel, Levees were an I'M
po.tant means Of river improvement bu
I merely temporary one, and after they hat
/, perfdrmed ,heit duty Of deepening 1t, thel
!. would no longer be necessary.
. 1t i. 10 be hoped that these facts have beef
very thoroughly impressed upon the m'n'
s of rir. Secretary of War who, in tho presen
a condi,ion of affairs, viii exert far NOR
influence and coU,rol over river improve
ment than hi. predecessors have done IN tn
pasL-Times DEN.