The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1886-08-14
The Fifth Congressional District.
New Orleans Item.

New Orleans Item.
We perceive Il gratifying tendency
ON the part OF the people Of the Fifth
Congressional district to exact from
their candidates for representative
something more aud beyond vague
and ambiguous professions of faith in
4 political code that is susceptible of
widely different interpretations, They
require rot only II feal,y to Democra-
cy, but categorical explanation of
the peculiar kind of Democracy to
wh'ch the man who aspires to Con-
givssiUnai hOnors is attached. We
lind gratifying response to this rea-
~orable demand in Il circular recently
.-su"' ny Judge Andrew a. Gunby,
one Of the judges of the Court of Ap-
pea!s of the Second Circuit. This able
jurist announces himself as. u candidate
for Congress from his district, subject,
of course, to the decision Of tho nomi-
mating convention which will meet on
the 10Th Of September at Isuston.
In thus announcing himself, Judge
Gunby not only declares himself a
Democrat, one standing on tho Chica.
60 platform Of 1884, but defines his
views upon certain leading issues much
more clearly and succintly than We
have ever found that political chart to
be. He is emphaticaIIy in favor of i'm.
proving the Mississippi river, to the
extent of building levees high enough
and strong enough to protect contigu-
Gus property from overflow. There
are other candidates for Congress in
the Fifth district, including the pres
ent representative, who profess a gen.
eral attachment to the same idea, but
the Item has never seen from any OF
them such a forcible presentation OF
solid and valid reasons for the prosecu-
tion of the great work by the national
government as Judge Gunby gives in
his circular, aud which he could be
depended upon to repeat with force
and effect before Congress and its COM
mittees. The improvement Of the
Mississippi river, including ample
protection:Ievees, is bound to become na.
tional within very short time. The
threatened exhaustion OF the national
domain by a lavish system of grants
will impose upon Congress the duty
of reclaiming lands which are now un-
salable for the reason that they are
swampy and subject to annual over
flow, or liable to crumble and fall into
the river afier the subsidence Of the
annual freshet. The extent of such
lands, taking both sides of the river,
between New Orleans and the mouth
Of the Missouri, distance of twelve
hundred and fifty miles, is simply
enormous. The whole route is marked !,
especially at this season Of low water
by crumbling banks on one side Or the
other, while opposite these intermina-
bic and uninhabitable swamps stretch
away beyond the horizon. The lands
thus abandoned to the ruinous effects
of the river are of the fairest and
richest in the world, exceeding in
length and width the famous valley
of the Nile. An experienced aud ot..
serving steamboat officer remarked to
an Item representative Wittil week
that the lower Mississippi valley is the
garden spot Of the United States, iu
comparison with which all the other
valleys were mere miniatures. "lf,"
said he, "the government would tax e
effective measures to keep the water
out OF the adjacent low lands, and Sc.
cure the high lands from caving into
the river, we should soon see the
wealth and population of this stretch
OF more than one thousand miles or
each side of the Mississippi increased
tcnfoid."
| The successful prosecution of such {
work Is by no means dependent upor
engineering experiments; it is demon
strablc by mathematical proofs. ST
many acres of public lands have beer
donated to the encouragement ant
assistance Of railroads, while SO littl.
has been done for the river, that tn,
people OF the States Interested are be
ginning to inquire into the causes o
such par.ialiiy. The Item has prett.
correct idea as to where the difficult,
lies, and is gratified when represent
alive man like Judge Gunby furnisho
an elaborate and Ineligible exposition
of the matter. lie is not only in favo
of this particular internal improve
mcnt but has proved himself compe
tent to- show convincing reasons for ii
Other candidates may be az frendi
to the great work as he is; they ma
even be, or at least suppose themselvs