The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-05-11
ROOT WILL DECIDE
WHETHER APPROPRIATION CAN
BE USED FOR DREDGING.
A PURE QUESTION OF LAW
WHICH THE SECRETARY WILL DE-
TERMINE.

Charge of the Savannah District,
states the Case PIainly-NO cues
ton of Sentiment Involved ana
Certainly No Disposition on the
Part of Anyone to Prevent the Ex-
penditure of the Money for DredS-
ing, IL the Law VIII Permit-Capt.
Gillette Believes There Is no Legal
Obstacle In the Way.
1.-The question whether the $4,000, al
ready appropriated for the improvement
of Savannah harbor, can be used for
dredging under the pending project" said
Capt. c. E. Gillette yesterday, sis one of
law simply"
Capt. Gillette was discussed the special
dispatch from Washington published yes
terday, in which it was stated that the
Secretary of War would probably be asked
to render or have rendered an opinion on
this subject
while 1 am no lawyer" Capt. Gill
lette continued, my construction of the
act which appropriated this sum of mon
ey would certainly permit its use for the
purpose to which l wish to apply it.
There is no disposition on the part of
anybody connected with the War Depart
ment to prevent the use of this money for
this purpose. The only question to be de-
termined is one of law, and this at the
request of the Mayor and aldermen and
the several commercial bodies of Savan-
nah, the Secretary of War will probably
be asked to decide by the chief of engtn-
GERS.
"These are the facts. In 1892 an appro-
prietion of $3500,000 was made by Con-
gress for the purpose of creating a chan
mel in the Savannah river, twenty-sx feet
deep at mean high tide and from 300 to
400 feet wide, from the old waterworks
to the sea. Under the project of 1892
training walls were built and some dredg
ing was done, and the result was a chan
mel 200 feet wide, in it's widest part, and
tWenty-six feet deep in the middle. While
it was announced that the project had
been carried to successful conclusion and
while there was a general impression that
this had been done, the fact is it never
had been The channel was nowhere so
wide as was contemplated in the project
and as deep only for greater or less
space in the middle. In part of the
channel did the project depth extend al
the way across.
THE balance of $4S6,OOO now remaining
ton of 100000 which was made by Con-
gress in 1896. The act making the appro
priation provides in plain terms that it
is to be used for four separate and dis
tinct purposes. These are, first, the
extension of the oyster bed training wall;
second, the construction of the inside
route to Beaufort; third, the removal of
the middle ground ridge, below duaran
tine, SO as to provide an inside anchor
age; and, fourth, the maintenance of the
channel created, or supposed then to have
been created, under the project and with
the appropriation of 1892.
80 far as I can see," said Capt Gill
lette," no distinction is made by Congress
between these separate purposes; all of
them stand on the same footing and the
appropriation may be applied to any one
or all of them.
THE appropriation never was enough
to carry into execution all Of these works
of Improvement. The estimated cost of
the extension of the oyster bed training
wall, was itself $4,000. The removal of
the middle ground ridge, to provide for
the inner anchorage, was estimated to
cost $350,0GO, and the inside route to
Beaufort, which has already been con-
structed, cost $106,7O0 The dredging for
maintenance was to cost an indeterminate
or unestimated sum of money
Two boards of engineer officers have
separately recommended the abandon
ment of the project to extend the oyster
bed training wall and have recommended
that no more money be expended on it.
| The shipping and commercial interests of
this port have united in a request to the
Secretary of War, which also asks that
this project be abandoned and the money
available spent on dredging
For myself l can't see why, under the
strict terms of the act of appropriation,
this should not be done. The estimate
| based on the recent survey, is that 1882 900
will be required to give the harbor of Sa-
vannah the channel provided for in the
project of 1S92-one 26 feet deep and from
300 to 400 fete wide, from the old water
works to the sea. One of the stated OBJ
jects of the appropriation was the MAIN
tenance of the channel secured or sup
posed to have been secured under the
project, and whether one calls il mainte-
nance or construction can make no mate
rial difference. The channel depth and
width have not been obtained and ac-
cording to my construction, the money
already appropriated can be expended le-
gally to obtain it,
1.-The obstacle" said Capt. Gillette, in
response 10 question, lis the
impression that the appropriation
was made only for the extension of
the oyster bed training wall and that
ii cannot be used for any other .pur-
pose. The chief of engineers holds this
opinion of the proper construction of the
act"
BY this time probably the question is
with the Secretary of War and has been
referred to one of the legal advisers of
the department for decision. That de-
cision and its result Savannah will await
with interest.