The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1890-01-23
DEEP WATER.
A VERY POINTED ADDRESS DELIVERED
RECENTLY AT DENVER,
COLORADO.
Galveston Gets Rather Black Eye, While
the Mouth of the BraZOs
Is Boomes.

| Is bOOmeS.
Mr.. L. j. Hurley, we'll known to our
citizens as President of our city street
car system, is also prominently con-
nected with the movement to secure
deep water at the mouth of the Brazos.
He is on the "inside" and knows
whereof he speaks. At the close of a
recent meeting in Denver of gentle
men of national repution the Cham
Der of Commerce of that city rendered
them a banquet at which time Mr..
Hurley made very able and pointed
address, the following portion OF which
will prove specially interesting to all
Texas people.
l am down on the programme to
Ispeak to the toast, Colorado and
Deep Water on the Coast of Texas"
of Colorado will simply say as did
Webster of Massachusetts, "She needs
no enconiums." But of deep water
on the coast of Texas L cannot say
too much. l have given the subject
considerable thought and attention
and had the honor of conducting all
the correspondence which brought
about the first deep water convention
ever held. Today it is the most i'm
portant question before the people of
the states tributary to the gulf of
Mexico, for the opening of a deep
water port on the Texas coast
interests an area as large
as Great Britain, France, Spain,
Italy and the German empire. In
other words, to make the meaning
more plain, the states under consid-
Grafton comprise 45 per cent of the
population of the Union, produce
more than one-half and in some cases
nearly the whole of every one of the
staple products of the United States.
Facing the Texas coast are, including
Brazil, sixteen Spanish-American re-
publics and four European colonies,
with total population of some 49,
OOO,O 600 people, who are all consumers.
They have an area of more than
double that of the United States. We
have, also, the West India islands in
addition, whose. population num-
bers about 100000.
IMPORTS AND EXPORTS.
The total imports from these coun-
tries into the United States were about
% per cent of our total imports, while
l am sorry to say that our exports do
not reach 10 per cent of our total ex
ports, that, of course, being due both
to the condition of our marine service
and the absence of proper reciprocal
duty treaties between our southern
neighbors and ourselves. For, do you
know, sir, that the fact has been dem
onstrated that many millions of dol
lars can be saved annually to the peo
pie of the western, middle and south
western states on goods from Cuba,
Central America, South America and
Mexico, that now come by way of New
York and the Atlantic seaboard, pass
ing out of the Gulf of Mexico and the
caribbean sea, through the dan
gerous reefs of Florida and by
Cape Hatteras, to reach New
York, entailing an insurance and
loss of vessls of over 10000, 600 year
ly, to say nothing of the 100000
lost per year on perishable goods by
long shipments? 1t has also been
shown that $265,000,000 worth of
commerce passes and repasses yearly
to the Eastern seaboard over this dan
gerous route, and out of this amount
$165 ,000,0 600 is consumed, handled and
manufactured west of and including
the great state of Ohio. Texas has
never had a deep water port. Calves
ton, with its shallow bar and lacking
the first requisites for genuine, open
and safe seaport of entry, with the
same depth of water today that she
had fourteen years ago, for which
Uncle Sam has invested several mill
ions of dollars, yet with all these draw
backs she claims to have shipped over
their bar in 1889 ope-quarter of the
products of Texas.
CLOSE CORPORATION.
The government engineers, "the |
closest and most autocratic corpora
tipn that ever existed" now say that
in three years they can get deep |
water, but that they will need $6,200,-
000-adding, however, that for less
than one-fourth OF the sum they
think they could procure twenty feet
of water at Arkansas Pass and the
Sabine Pass, but as the work at the
mouth of the Brazos river was being
prosecuted with energy and skill by
private capital, and that point was
no. within the scope of their official
inquiry, they would only consider
Galveston, Sabine Pass and Arkansas
Pass. That out of consideration of
the city of Galveston where
large investments had been |
made, they recommended that point.
SO all Texas and southwest, including |
ing Aransas Pass and Sabine Pass, are
asked to shout and throw up their
hats for Observation-Disclosures gener- |
ously saying to them, pull with us and
we will all get into the treasury-but
| fear these other points will come out
as did Henry Watterson's (of the Lou
Ia,,.,o- To,,rro1N Tho |