The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1886-11-06
The DANGER In DELAY.
LEYEE BUILDING TIED UP With
RED TAPE.
An Interview With Capt. Dabney,
Who Gives Good Reasons
for Alarm.

TO an APPEAL man, shat the people
in the valley should display such
apathy in the matter Of protecting
their overhowed lands. They have
permitted the River Commission TO
be insulted and snubbed by Cor gre s.
with but feeble protest. The work Of
river improvement has been 1T dead
stand for nearly two years, aud now
stands on a very uncertain foundation.
Unless the commission is heartily sus-
tanned by the people Of the valley,
the whole machinery Of river improve.
ment will sink and not Re resusci-
tated for perhaps a generation TO
come. The Attorney General, TO
whom the matter has been referred,
probably does not appreciate the fact
that unless the question is
SPEEDILY DETERNuNRD
The appropriation might ag we'll not
have been made, st lesst for this sea-
son, as the period for successful work,
which is unusually favorable, is rap
Idly passing away. The River Com
mission allotted 500 600 to the per-
fecting of the levees in the Yaz)o.
Mississippi leves district. The arrange
ments for app'yng the money already
in the hands OF the Leves Board (some
$370,000) were made with view to
the expenditure of this additional
government money on our line. II it
is not 20 extended we will be in a
worse shape than if it had not been
promised ul, for wa would then have
made a different distribution OF our
own funds, and covered some points
which we have relied upon them 10
cover. Itseems to me that the recla-
nation Ct the Mi sissippi delta lands
from oveIf5w is a
MATTER OF VAST IMPORTANCE
10 The commercial prosperity of the
whole Mississippi Valley, and its
beneficial influence would extend 10
The commercial centeIs Of the nation
Not the planters acne are interes ed,
but the city population, alec, Take
away all the levees above and below
Memphis, aud htr commerce would
be badly crippled. Build secure lines
OF leyees on both sides OF the river
throughout the delta, and its products
will be Increased fouifold. Fortu-
nately, the improvement in the navi.
cation in the Mississippi river, which
the government has undertaken, is
inseparable from the reclamation of
the overlooked lands, for retaining
the flood waters in the channel is a
necessary feature in the work Of i'm
provement. Irepyat," Capt Dabney
continued, "that the present delay
in the application Of the last appro-
plialion for river improvement is
EXTREMELY UNFORTUNATE,
and is the direct outcome of the war
made upon the River Commissi IN by
Southern Congressman in the Forty
eighth Congress. This attack IVES
made upon the commission upon a
purely one sided view of the matter
and in ignorance of the true state of
affairs. This kind OF ignorance has
characterized the act on OF Congress
throughout in dealing with the sub
ect Of Mississippi river improvement
This is inexcusable iguoraAcs, because
the commission makes annual reports
o Congress, in which all its op rations
are described in detail. All observe
ions and experiments are reported,
and their results. The commission it.
self is always acc siible to Congress
for information, and yet Congress
seems to prefer to
LEGlsLATR BLlNDLY
upon so important subject, ignoring
a body OF skilIful aud purely dlsinte'-
ested engineers, OF its own cleation,
and instiGated by prejudice ard pee
verted statements, proceeds to dictate
arbitrarily TO the commiss on and
make havoc of river improvement.
After making the last meager arpro.
pration, with restrictive auses which
have 50 far rendered the act inopera.
tive, in what appears 10 be spirit o.
maliguity, Congress refused to make
The usual and necessary provision IL
sustain the commission; no provision
was made for the salaries or expenses
of the members. This gave rise tC
considerable delay before they could
be got together for the purpose o.
making allotments of the approprlR-
tion. They hsd then to pay the ex'
penses out OF their own pocEets, which
they could i'll afford to DO, as they are
paid very
MODERATE SALARIES
and with no present prospect Of get
ting that. The commission met in
New York about the middle of Sep
TENDER. This meeting place was rem
dered necessary by the Ill health Of
Gen. Gilmore, who was unable to at
tend elsewhere. They were confront.
ed by provisions in the act OF appro
priaion which seemed 10 estop any
application of the money at all. They
were required to make experiments
and await results, when the expert
ments had already been made three
years ago and the results known and
already reported to Congress. To re.
pestthe experiments would have beer
a childish waste OF money on large
scale. The commission was unwilling
to lend itself to such folly. The Hon
r. L. Gibson, Of Louisiana, appeared
before the commission the cs!enf J.
BILE purpose of interpreting the
MEANING OF THE ACT
for their guidance. 1t soon appeared
however, that he was there merely 81
a special pleader for the building O
levees in lower Lcut iana. B ht
stated empbatically that It was thc
inteEtion of Congress TO put q stop tC
bank revetment; that Congress con
eidered bank revetment as uselest
and wasteful expenditure Of money
and thai Congress required the com
mission to first build contraction dlkst
and then wait to zee if they would
not stop the banks from caviug, before
applying bank Tevetment. Upon this
the commission showed that coutrsc
lion dikes had been built in Plum
Point reach three years ago, and that
the opposite bank had receded from
the dlkes 1900 feet since then, and the
GAZING WOULD CONTINUE
until arrested by revetment; that sucI
application Of the money as was de
manded was equivalent to throwing il
into the river. Gen. Gibson naively
replied that he had never heard O
that before, and then conceded tina
they might make bank revetments
but above all other matters it wal