The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1888-08-09
Brazos River Improvements.

DEdnOo IllNor LII improvements.
From the Galveston News.
The bill for the improvement of thu
mouth of the Brazos river was called NJ
in the senate on Wednesday by Mr.. Coke
and passed by that body. The bill, hav
ing already passed the house, now goes t.
the president, and there is scarcely
doubt that he will sign it and that it vii
become law. The bill Just passed il
the Grain substitute for an original bill
for the improvement of the mouth Of
the Brazos, and authorizes the Brazos Xiv.
or Channel Dock and company to construct
and operate such permanent and sufficient
jetties and such auxiliary works as are
necessary to create and permanently
maintain navigsble channel at the
mouth Of the Brazos river, between said
river and the Gulf of Mexico, and as
far into the mainland and between the
banks of the river as may be necessary to
reach place which will afford security
from storms, tidal waves, etc. The com.
pany is allowed to make such port charges
as the secretary of the treasury may pre-.
scribe, in conformity with the laws of the
United States. Provision is made for the
maintenance OF free and uuobstructed
navigation of the river, both after the
completion of the work of construction
and during its continuance, and the com
psny is to assume all responsibility for
damages that may accrue to persons or
property by overflow or otherwise, caust d
by the construction of said works. This
last provision was deemed necessary from
the fact that the company proposes to
change the present channel of the river
and defect the current across what is at
present scarcely more than dry land.
Work must be substantially commenced
within year of the final passage of the
bill, and must be prosecuted with due
diligence, and twelve feet of water on the
present bar must be obtained within three
years, and an additional depth of not
less than two feet during each succeeding
year must be obtained, until eighteen
feet shall be secured, or else all
the provisions contained in the bill shall
be null and void. The government
has nothing to do with the work, it
being entirely in the hands of private in
vividuals, who, if they succeed, will have a
very good thing of it, and if they fail will
foot all the bills themselves. If they sue
coed, however, there is every reason to be-
lieve that the government will assume
control of the port thus created, as pro-
vision is made in the bill that if at any time
during the construction of jetties and
auxiliary works, or after they shall have
been completed and channel of eighteen
feet obtained, the United States shall have
the right to pay the company the value of
the works constructed, and on such pay
ment being made all rights to the fran
chises and works on the part of said com
pany shall cease. The whole bill is a
novelty, nothing of tbs kind ever having
been before congress, and the results of
the experiment, for such it is, will be
watched with interest. One of the pleas
ing featGres is the safeguard against mo-
nopoIistic tendencies on the part of the
company The individuals interested
may reap a rich harvest through the in
creased value of Brazos lands, but they
will get little or nothing from the port
itself beyond fair interest on the capital
invested, while the state will receive the
chief benefit if they succeed in making a
deep water port.