Washington sentinel., 1901-03-09
Preparing the way for Further
Jobbery.


cluded his Senatorial career oil six
years by causing the defeat OF the
River and Harbor bill, commonly
known as the Congressional
pork bill"
The failure Of the bill has a SER
ious aspect, for one of its results is
undoubtedly seen in the determi-
nation OF the majority OF the SEN
ate, as expressed by Mr.. Platt, OF
Connecticut, to apply the gag here
after to discussions in that body.
When debate has proceeded far
enough, in the opinion OF the man
ayers, it is proposed to force a vote
on any pending measure, and, II
opposition is persisted'in, we may
expect to see offending members
thrown out Of the hall, as was done
to the Irish members Of Parlia-
ment in the House Of Commons
the other day. These are the tao
tics inaugurated BY Speaker Reed
in the House OF Representatives
and improved on by Speaker Hen
derson IN the present Congress,
when he assumed the right to with
hold from the Congressional Record
the speech of Mr. Lentz, of Ohio,
until he had passed upon the con-
tents.
1t has a serious aspect for an
other reason. While objection to
the bill was made because OF the
many wasteful projects fathered by
it, il is pretty generally admitted
that failure to provide immense
sums for the reclamation OF arid
lands, sums that would have been
well spent IN some few cases and
worse than wasted IN others, was
a. the bottom Of its defeat. These
influences will stand in the way Of
its passage az the next session un
less their claims are satisfied, and
they are powerful enough in lone
session to secure what they want.
So that, besides being compelled
to make provision Tor innumerable
undeserving objects in the present
bill, the country must face the in
evitable aud be prepared to provide
for the equally undeserving ones
LETT out Of the bill just defeated.
The President in his inaugural
address pleads for economy in ex.
penditures. The Senate answers
that appeal by a threat to remove
the one stumbling block in the
way Of eXtravagant appropriations.
This done, the President alone will
sta nd between the peoples Treas
ury and the Jobs and steals that are
pounding at the doors. or the
500, 900 900 carried in the River
and Harbor bill this year, Senator
Carter estimated that SIS, 900, 900
covered meritorious and necessary
ate ms OF public improve ments-
S45 ooo, 900 represented Jobs pure
and simple.
A case in point is the appropria.
tion Of SIa,soo for the improve
ment Of Trinity River, in Texas.
This is merely an entering wedge.
The report Of the engineer-an en-
gineer of the United States army
sent there to inspect that work
presents a project for the improve
ment of the river until facilities
are provided for a 4 foot naviga-
tion-a river with a uniform depth
OF Z feet, just think OF itl--which
calls for ultimate expenditures
amou ntlng to 81. 900, 600 instead oil
the SI7,5oo first asked. In order
to make this stream navigable he
says that the first thing to be done
is to burn all the logs or destroy all
the logs on the slopes leading
down to the river, and cut the
timber off so that other logs will
not interfere in the future. Then
burn the brush, because the brush
might get into the river. After
this has been done for a distance Of
T35 miles, a rest may be taken until
the stream goes dry, when the logs
at the bottom OF the stream may
be burned and all snags removed,
and then We will have a clean bed
from Dallas to the mouth--and a
dry one. Now by ca=aiizing the
river bv means VI locks and dams,
with the addition OF an artificial
water supply in the upper reaches
OF the river, to be obtained by
storing surplus water during the
wet season, or by sinking addi-
tiona! artesian wells-it appears
there are wells there already-we
will finally get river navigable at |
all seasons, except possibly during |
years OF excessive drought, at an |
estimated cost
For 81 locks and movable
cams .'''''... ''.'..''' ....'... o.. S5,I7S 900
OF CIeanluE lne river ,.,........ 600 600