The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-03-29

The Savannah Harbor Appropriation.
There is not a citizen of Savannah inter
ested in her welfare who does not feel that
she has been unjustly, and even shamefully,
treated by the River and Harbor Commit
tee For her harbor she asked $7S0000.
She expected at least $4,000 and the bill
gives her only 100000. And what can be
done with this small sum- Virtually
nothing in the way of permanent improve
ment. The engineer in charge of the work,
in communication published in another
column, says that the appropriation will be
sufficient only to maintain the river at its
present depth, and that to complete the inn
provement for 22-foot channel
will require as much, after the expenditure
of the 800 900, as it would to complete it
before that sum is expended. What plea
yune craftsmanship is here displayed!
What extravaganza in the name of economy
is here witnessed The engineer further
states that, owing to the small appropria-
ton and his consequent inability to get a
new plant, he will have to Bay l9c. per
square yard for dredging, when, if the APP
preparation were ample, the cost would
if the committee were trying to see how
much money it can spend without accom-
plishing any permanent results.
But not only will nothing permanent be
accomplished in behalf of the %
foot improvement, but the greater one
the 28-foot improvements virtually
ignored. By failing to recognize it no
estimates for work upon it can be submitted
for the next river and harbor bill. Unless
that improvement is recognized in the pres
ent bill it will be years before it is begun.
The case of Mobile harbor is exactly like
that of Savannah, and yet Mobile gets an
appropriation for her projected improve
ment-in fact gets 100000 more Chan she
asked Why this discrimination against
Savannah! Is it because Mobile has rep
resentative on the River and Harbor Com
mitteel
The committee must have failed to grasp
the situation hero in Savannah, or else it is
guilty of outrageous Partially. Why
should Mobile, whose commerce is not a
third as great as that Of Savannah, be so
favored and Savannah so neglected. Does
not the committee know that Savannahs
commerce is now seriously INSTRUCTED for
want of deeper marlboro The steamers of the
Ocean Steamship Company cannot load to
their full capacity, and every day they are
compelled to leave freight upon their
wharves. There are foreign-bound steam
ers which have to take on part
of their cargoes miles below the
city. Twenty-Five feet of water is
not enough for a port like this, whose com
MERGE amounts to 500, 700, 900 year, and
is steadily growing. Deeper draft ships
would like to come here, but cannot The
iron of the Southern States is seeking the
seaboard here, and will continue to do so, as
the Southern iron interests are developed, if
the harbor is deepened so that it can be
shipped profitably Water deep enough to
accommodate grain ships is all that is neces-
sary to draw the grain of large portion of
the West through this port.
What do the engineers in their reports
say of Savannah. Why, that there is no
other place in the United States where the
amount of money invested in harbor i'm
provements has yielded greater returns
Think of this, and then wonder what the
size of the committee is that gives to such a
port-a port whose commerce equals that
of all other ports on the South Atlantic
coast, and which is the first naval stores
port IN the world and the second cotton port
Of the country-an appropriation less than
it gives TO some of the little streams which
excite the derision of the humorists of the
House.
The River and Harbor Committee ought
to post itself with regard to the commercial
needs and Importance of Savannah If it
will look over Lieut.. Carriers reports, par
ticularly that of 1887, it will feel ashamed
of the way it has treated Savannah, unless
it is more hardened than it has the reputa-
ton of icing. If it will only glance over
the appropriations for some of the other
Southern ports it will, if it has any sense of
justice at all, consent to have the Savannah
appropriation increased in the House. Here
are the figures:
no