The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-12-23
WILL THERE BE 4 RIVER AND
..s. HARBOR BfILs. ...--,.-. -.

1 HAABOH Bfl1Ls $500.
There is some doubt as to whether
or not there will be a river and harbor
bill passed at this session of Congress.
| Exactly what the trouble is no one
seems to know. All that can be found
out about the matter is that the Re
publican leaders have sent word around
that unless the bill is kept within GER
tain limits it will not be passed.
Thus far but little progress has been
made in framing the bill. 1t is not posi-
BILE to complete it in time to be report
ed before the middle of next month.
and perhaps not as early as that. The
understanding seems to be that the to-
tai of the appropriations are to be
kept within certain limits, and the riv-
er and harbor bill is one of those that
are being held back with the view of
cutting them down if the total of the
appropriations aggregate more than a
certain amount. 1t is even said that
if the river and harbor bill carries as
much as $20,OO0,OOO the President will
veto it.
harbor bill. From the time a begin
ming is made in the preparation of it
until it is signed by the President
there is bitter opposition to it. Just
why this is so it is difficult to under
stand. There seems to be an i'm
preston that it is a great steal AS
matter of fact it is one of the most
important bills that come before Con-
gress. From some standpoints it is
a much more important bill than the
one that carries appropriations for the
Office holders. 1t may be true that
money is spent in the Improvement of
some comparatively unmportant
streams, but as a general rule the
streams which are called unimportant
contribute a great deal to the COM
merce of the country.
The main thing for Congress to look
deepening of the harbors of the prin-
cipal ports. The ships which carry
the commerce of the world are being
steadily increased in size. They are
being made longer and are given
deeper draft 1t is necessary that the
principal harbors of this country shall
now accommodate ships drawing 35
feet of water New York has 40 feet
and is still deepening the channel by
which her wharves are reached. Sa-
vannah is supposed to have 28 feet in
her harbor, though she accommodates
J,.o would
be of the greatest Importance to her
to have channel to the sea of 35 feet.
Her commerce is increasing steadily
and If she had the water much larger
ships would visit her for cargoes. She
has sent to sea one ship carrying $4,000
bales of cotton besides a considerable
amount of other merchandise.
1t is said that Chairman Burton is
determined to cut out of the bill all APP
preparations for rivers and harbors that
are not in immediate need of improve
ment. He is doing this for the pur-
pose of keeping the aggregate of the
bill down to $12,0O0,OOO. If he sue
ceeds in getting a bill passed carrying
that amount it is pretty certain the
Senate will add several millions more
to it, In that case the House would
have to cut the Senate additions out
in order to keep 1t within the proposed
limit, and yet every dollar stricken
out of it is certain to increase the num-
Der of it's enemies. Hence it looks as
if it would take the best kind of skill
to get even a small river and harhor
bill passed.