The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1911-04-07
partment and Mr.. Sparkman have

Z! COA0Id11L l1Nt CdcC% anu aus l1iNASesSA0-A'
To say otherwise would be saying that
| Mr.. Sparkman was not member OF
the committee on rivers and harbors,
and that for near sixteen years he has
given the matter of the obstruction of
navigable waters no attention what
ever, and has been derelict in his
duty as a member of this committee.
1t would be saying, further, that he
had no knowledge of the law regulat-
ing navigable rivers and prohibiting
the Instructions therein, which reads
as follows: THAT it shall not be law
full to throw, discharge or deposit, or
cause, suffer, or procure to be thrown,
discharged or deposited, either from
or out of any ship, bark, or other float
ing craft of any kind, or from the
shore, wharf, manufacturing estab-
lishment or mill of any kind, any re-
fuse matter of any kind or descrip-
tion whatever, or to deposit, or cause,
suffer or procure to be deposited, ma
terial of any kind in any place on the
bank of any navigable water, or on
the bank of any tributary of any navi-
gable water, where the same shall be
liable to be washed into such nayiga-
| BILE water by storms or floods, high
tides or otherwise, whereby naviga-
ton shall or may be impeded or OBJ
structed;" with proviso that nothing
which this act contains shall apply to
or prohibit operations in connection
with improvements of navigable wa
tiers by the government. For viola
ton of this law and others cognate a
punishment is prescribed by fine not
exceeding $4,000 and not less than
$500, or by Imprisonment not less than
thirty days nor more than one year,
or by both such fine and imprison-
ment. See Compiled Statutes of the
United States, Vol. 8, Pages 3542 and
3544.
Now, it is common knowledge that
several rivers and tributaries of the
first congressional district of Florida
have had dams erected across them,
contrary to law, logs dumped into
said rivers and lying on the bottom of
the same, tons upon tons of phosphate
refuse matter dumped and cast into
said rivers, all being contrary to law,
and of which the war department, the
department of justice and the engi-
neering department of the United
States has from time to time had full
and actual notice, yet nothing has
been done. "And it does seem hard
for the smaller enterprises in compe-
tition with railroads to get on their
feet" as the Tampa Times says.
And the friends of Mr.. Sparkman
will be further charging him with not
only dereliction of his duties as
member of the committee aforesaid
for want of diligence and vigilance,
and ignorant of the acts and doings
of congress, as well as an act of con-
gress of March LIST, 1898, creating a
California debris commission, and the
amendatory act of February 9th,
1907, Chapter 2077, "a Sta. L., page
1901. Said act provided for en-
pounding works, whereby said debris
from any mining operations might be
empounded and other safeguards that
MO i,,%o
prevent injuries to said navigable
rivers and lands adjacent thereto.
And said act provided that all expense
incurred in safeguarding, etc., should
be paid by the owners or owner of
said mines.
Now, can it be true that member
of the rivers and harbors committee
could be ignorant of what the repre-
sentative sof the state of California
were doing to protect the navigable
waters of the state they represented?
We do not think so. 1t is true that
Mr.. Sparkman could remain silent in
obedience to one of the wise sayings
of the great Chinese philosopher, Con-
fucius, that silence is a friend that
never betrays."
The only claim set up by the friends
of Mr.. Sparkman is that of seniority,
the oldest member in point of time, in
which he has accumulated loads of ex-
perience, this experience being his
capital stock, reminds me of a par
liamentary colloquy between Pitt and
Lord Walpole. Walpole insinuated by
taunts and otherwise that Pitt was a
fool by reason of his youth and mex
perience. Pitt replied that there
kwere several classes of fools, and that
the worst class were those who were
/ fools in spite of experience. No one
will say Mr.. Sparlman is fool what
ever else he may be.
| One of the excuses alleged for the
omission of Mr.. .Sparkman to take