Mr. BUTLER, of Massachusetts. Let me make a statement. I desire, Mr. Speaker, to state exactly what the matter is. There was a bill passed

Mr. ALLISON. I withdraw my objection. I did not understand it.

Mr. WILSON, of Iowa. I reserve the right to object.

Mr. BUTLER, of Massachusetts. Let me make a statement, and then any one can object who wants to. The bill passed the House and Senate for the relief of merchants who had on hand or contracted for rum for exportation, but in the course of the passage of the bill the "or" got changed to "and." By the change of the word "or" to "and" it requires the rum shall not only have been distilled but contracted for exportation before the 11th of January. That renders the bill nugatory. It is not worth the parchment on which it is written. The mistake was discovered by the chairman of the Committee on Enrolled Bills, [Mr. HOLMAN,] but it was then too late to correct it, except in the way now proposed. It does not open the door to any fraud whatever, but only makes the bill what it was intended to be when it was passed.

Mr. WILSON, of Iowa. It ought to be referred to the Committee of Ways and Means. Mr. BUTLER, of Massachusetts. I agree to that reference.

The joint resolution was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee of Ways and Means.

Mr. HOLMAN. I wish to say that the mistake was not in the enrollment of the bill, but occurred before that time.

DEFICIENCY APPROPRIATION BILL.

Mr. STEVENS, of Pennsylvania. I report from the Committee on Appropriations a bill (H. R. No. 1341) to supply deficiencies in the appropriations for the fiscal year ending the 30th of June, 1868, and for other purposes, and to move that the bill be made a special order for Thursday next.

Mr. BENJAMIN. If that bill contains any appropriation for extra compensation for clerks in the Departments I must object.

The SPEAKER. The rules in regard to the appropriation bills allow them to include contingencies for carrying on the various Departments of the Government.

Mr. STEVENS, of Pennsylvania. Having said that, sir, let me inform the gentleman it does not include any such appropriation. [Laughter.]

The SPEAKER. The Chair will state for the information of the House that the one hundred and twentieth rule, which authorizes contingencies for carrying on the several Departments of the Government to be inserted in appropriation bills, has been decided, as will be found on page 14 of the Digest, not only permits amendments increasing salaries, but was framed for that purpose. That in the Digest is the historical comment on the rule.

Mr. HOLMAN. I reserve any point of order that may properly be made in Committee of the Whole against any item in the bill, The bill was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, ordered to be printed, and made the special order for Thursday next after the morning hour, and from day to day until disposed of.

RIVER AND HARBOR BILL.

Mr. ORTH. I call for the regular order. The House accordingly resumed the regular order, being the bill (H. R. No. 1046) making appropriations for the repair, preservation, and completion of certain public works, and for other purposes. The pending question was on the amendment of Mr. BAKER, to insert the following:

For improvement of harbor of Alton, Illinois, $56.000.

The SPEAKER. Debate is exhausted on the amendment.

The amendment was disagreed to.

Mr. MAYNARD. In behalf of the delega

tion from my State I propose to insert the following:

For improvement of the Tennessee river according to the report of the survey made in compliance with the provision of the act of March 2 1867, and the recommendation of the chief of engineers, $615.000.

I ask the attention of the House while I say a word on this amendment. It is offered by the united delegation from the State of Tennessee, the other partions of the country interested in this amendment not being at present represented. The Tennessee river is the sixth on the North American continent; the fourth within the limits of the United States; and, the third in extent of its navigation. It is reckoned with its affluents and confluents,

obstructed at the Muscle shoals in northern Alabama. The portion of the river which lies above these shoals drains eastern Tennessee, a portion of eastern Kentucky, southwestern Virginia, western North Carolina, and the northern part of Georgia. The attention of Congress was early directed to this obstruction in the commerce of that vast and fertile region of country. More than forty years ago, under an act passed the 30th of April, 1824, a survey was made and a report was published by General Bernard, a copy of which I hold in my hand. The report concludes as follows:

"1. Were the Tennessee to be made navigable from Waterloo to Brown's ferry, steamboats throughout the year, or at least eight months out of twelve, would be able to navigate the river from its mouth to the Suck: that is to say, for a distance of more than four hundred miles. During the boating season and by means of improvements at some places, steamboats might ascend as far as Kingston, and even Knoxville, about eighteen miles above the Suck.

2. Exclusively of the valleys of the Holston and French Broad, the extent of country watered by the Tennessee and tributaries may be reckoned at twenty-four thousand square miles, and its population (census of 1820) at two hundred and eighty thousand inhabitants. The fertility of the soil, which is generally a rich limestone clay, and the healthiness of the climate, insure, in time, to these districts a rapid increase of hardy population.

"3. Cotton, hemp, tobacco, and grain of every kind may be deemed the main articles of cultivation; wine and silk have a fair prospect of succeeding; iron, lead, coal, gypsum, and salt are the minerals found in the valley of the Tennessee and its upper branches, the Holston and French Broad. To this great and rich variety of products which, in the present state of navigation, cannot conveniently find a market, must be added valuable timber of various descriptions, which would become an article of extensive trade.

4. The transportation of these valuable articles of trade is now made in unwieldy flat-boats, which can descend the stream but at the period of freshets. During the remainder of the year, and more especially for the districts above the Muscle shoals, the access to any market is entirely interdicted; and while the population cannot take advantage of the fluctuation of price in the market their products are exposed during transportation to all the extra expenses, losses, deteriorations, and delays inseparable from a tedious and difficult navigation. Consequently these products are virtually of much less value than they would be should the main obstructions of the river be removed.

5. A convenient navigation by facilitating the exportation would not only cause an increase of products, but also afford to the inhabitants the means of procuring in exchange the articles raised or manufactured in other sections of country; and these articles, by becoming cheaper on account of a less expensive transportation, would fall to a price accessible to a greater number of consumers. At this time the imports into these districts are chiefly made by wagons coming from Nashville, and even, when the Ohio is not navigable, from Baltimore and Phil

adelphia. Hence it is easy to auticipate how much

of the expense of such transportation must add to the original cost of the articles; but in order to be more precise on this point, we beg leave to submit here the statement made in 1826, in the very able report of the commissioners appointed by the States of Tennessee and Alabama to examine the Muscle shoals.

'According to said report the transportation from Nashville to Knoxville amounts to fifty dollars per ton; the same weight might be transported from proved) for fifteen dollars, to which adding five dolFlorence to Knoxville (were the Muscle shoals imlars for toll, would make the whole cost twenty dollars, and consequently produce an economy of thirty dollars per ton. Again, the average freight in steamboat from New Orleans to Florence is stated to betwentyfive dollars per ton, from which we infer that by adding to it the twenty dollars for transportation from Florence to Knoxville, forty-five dollars would be the cost of transportation of a ton from New Orleans to Knoxville; that is to say, five dollars less than the actual cost of transportation in wagon from Nashville to Knoxville. Therefore, were the Tennessee improved, the transportation from New Orleans to Knoxville would cost less than from Nashville to Knoxville.

"6. No section of country is better provided than this with numerous and copious never-failing streams,

as also with abundance of fuel. None possesses more extensive means to associate agricultural with manufacturing industry; and by ceasing to remain landlocked these districts would acquire a cheap and commodious communication not only with the Gulf of Mexico, but also with the States bordering on the Mississippi and Ohio. They would therefore participate in the benefits derived from external and internal commerce, and contribute their share to the national advantages arising from these two great sources of wealth and revenue.

Holston is favorable to the location either of an easy 7. The country between the Shenandoah and the road or of a railroad. The distance from Port Republic, head of navigation on the former stream, to Knoxville, would be about three hundred and sixty miles. In this direction runs one of the routes examined for a national road from Washington to New Orleans. Should this route be adopted, and the Tennessee improved, the Chesapeake would become connected by water with the Gulf of Mexico, with the exception of the above land communication. Such a connection would be highly beneficial to those rich and fertile districts lying between the Shenandoah and the Holston.

8. By improving the Tennessee, at the Muscle shoals, the northern parts of Alabama will be open to trade with the States situated on the Obio and tributaries. The articles of such trade will then be brought into fair competition with those of the same kind raised in East Tennessee.

9. While the improvement contemplated will cause an increase of exports and imports, encourage the production and afford cheapness to the consumer, this section of country will become provided with many articles of necessity and extensive use, whose expense of freight amounts now nearly to prohibition. Among these is salt, which is sold at the price of $1 36 the bushel; this price would fall one third were it possible to import this article from New Orleans.

10. Should a safe and commodious navigation be obtained at the Muscle and Colbert's shoals, the value of public and landed properties of North Alabama and East Tennessee would necessarily be raised on account both of increase of trade and facility of exportation.

11. Finally, the great military advantage which has been pointed out by the board in their reports on a national road from Washington city to New Orleans, in relation to a route through Tennessee, can be with equal force applied to a commodious navigation from Knoxville to the Mississippi. Indeed, through this water communication the States on the Gulf of Mexico might, in case of foreign aggression or internal disturbances, receive a prompt and powerful relief from the hardy and dense population of Tennessee. This consideration will acquire a great weight on reflecting that the black population of those States is daily increasing; and that having on the Gulf no harbor for men-of-war of the first rate, our Navy will be unable to afford to this section of our maritime frontier the same high degree of protection which she can lend to our coast on the Atlantic."

The then President of the United States, Mr. Adams, in his third annual message to Congress, made the following recommendation on that subject:

All the officers of both corps of engineers, with several other persons duly qualified, have been constantly employed upon these services from the passage of the act of the 30th April, 1824, to this time. Were no other advantage to accrue to the country from their labors than the fund of the topograph ical knowledge which they have collected and communicated, that alone would have been a profit to the Union more than adequate to all the expenditures which have been devoted to the object; but the appropriations for the repair and continuation of the Cumberland road, for the construction of various other roads, for the removal of obstructions from the rivers and harbors, for the erection of light-houses. beacons, piers, and buoys, and for the completion of canals undertaken by individual associations, but needing the assistance of means and resources more comprehensive than individual enterprise can command, may be considered rather as treasures laid up from the contributions of the present age for the benfit of posterity than as unrequited applications of the accruing revenues of the nation. To such objects of permanent improvement to the condition of the country, of real addition to the wealth as well as to the comfort of the people, by whose authority and resources they have been effected, from three to four million of the annual income of the nation have, by laws enacted at the three first sessions of Congress, been applied without intrenching upon the necessities of the Treasury, without adding a dollar to the taxes or debts of the community; without suspending even the steady and regular discharge of the debts contracted in former days, which, within the same three years, have been diminished by the amount of nearly sixteen million dollars.

Four hundred thousand acres of land were appropriated for this work. It was undertaken and prosecuted with success until a general change took place in the policy of the Government on the subject of internal improvements. Subsequently, during the administration of Mr. Fillmore, $50,000 were appropriated, to be expended between Knoxville and Chattanooga under the direction of the War Department, and the immediate supervision of a board of commissioners, of whom Governor Brownlow was one. Under this appropriation

much valuable assistance was afforded to the navigation of that portion of the river; and the works then erected remain to this day in attestation of the wise economy which devoted this sum to their prosecution. The last Congress made an appropriation to have this portion of the river resurveyed. That work was done, and a report was submitted to the House in the latter part of March, and was printed on the 30th April, too late to have it considered by the Committee on Commerce so as to be reported in this bill. I ask the attention of the House to a portion of that report, which I send to the Clerk's desk.

The Clerk read as follows:

"The total amount which I recommend to be appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1869, for the improvement of the Tennessee river, is therefore $605,000, and for the survey above mentioned, $10,000.

"In addition to the many good reasons given in the appended report for making the improvement at this time, and to those which have been given by the many able men who have reported on this subject during the last forty years, there occurs to me that not only would a work be done which should have been done years ago, but which would have repaid the Government a large interest, but that it would be the means of giving a poverty-stricken community an opportunity to recover from the disastrous effects of a war, and give employment to a large class of deserving people who are said to be out of employment.

"I am perfectly confident that if the distinguished soldiers who commanded our armies operating along the line of this river, during the late war, would be called upon to testify in this matter, that it would be found that enough money would have been saved to the quartermaster's department by an improved river, in one campaign, to have trebly paid the expense of doing the work."

Mr. MAYNARD. Mr. Speaker, when it was known that this examination had been made the people in that part of the country revived their former interest in the work. They assembled in conventions and prepared numerously signed petitions to Congress; they have sent delegations here, and are more deeply interested in this improvement than in any other industrial question that has engaged their attention for years. I ask the attention of the House to an extract from one of these petitions:

"Recently a survey and estimate of the cost of removing obstructions and completing the unfinished canal at the Muscle shoals has been made in compliance with an act of Congress, by which it was ascertained that the work on the canal at the Muscle shoals, performed thirty-four years ago, is now in a state of almost perfect preservation, and by reference to the report it may be seen that certain obstructions may be removed, and that said canal may be carried on to completion, and thereby establish for eight months in the year a navigation from the mouth of the river to Knoxville for less than $800,000, and that the river can be rendered permanently navigable for the entire year has been fully demonstrated by the survey.

"The Tennessee river is among the forty-six prineipal navigable streams of North America, the sixth in importance. It is, with its tributaries, more than three thousand miles in length, of which eight hundred miles are navigable, and with the improvements we ask for thirteen hundred miles in addition can be rendered navigable. It drains one hundred Counties (situated in the eight States of North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Kentucky) with an arca of fifty-five thousand nine hundred and sixty square miles, which now supports a population of one milliou seven thousand two hundred and ninety-six, as by census of 1860. It traverses a section unsurpassed in the fertility of its soil, salubrity of its climate, and variety of its agricultural and mineral productions, by those of any other part of the United States. It presents to you in addition to these other reasons why it appeals to you for assistance. It is surrounded in a great measure by a cordon of mountain ranges, the wealth and resources of which are but partially doveloped. These mountain ranges contain coal fields and beds of iron ore more extensive and as valuable as those of Pennsylvania. The beds of iron ore lie contiguous to the coal, affording ready facilities for producing yearly as much iron as that now produced in the whole United States. Mines of copper upon its tributaries rank third in the production of the United States. Limestone, sandstone, grit stone, and marble exist in quantities and qualities exceeded by no other section. Zinc, lead, sait, and petroleum are found. This river drains a section, almost every acre of which is capable of the highest state of cultivation. Three fourths of the surface is in a state of nature, and covered with large-sized trees of those kinds most used for manufacturing purposes. Its water-powers are not equaled by those of any other portion of the United States, combining advantages for manufacturing equal to any other section of the United States. Its central position; its temperate climate the proximity of the cotton States: the proximity of markets; the superabundance of material; the number, excellence, and mag

nitude of its water-powers; the fertility of its soil, render it capable of being made the central manufacturing district of the United States. It has advantages for the manufacture of iron not enjoyed by any other portion of the United States. Lying contiguous to many thousand square miles of coal fields, inexhaustible beds of iron ore are found. This coal is remarkably free from sulphur, and every other material entering into the manufacture of iron is abundant, all situated in a region of unbroken forests. While nature has been so lavish in its gifts, it has not granted the boon of cheap water transportation. The Tennessee river, this natural highway to market, is closed by natural obstructions at Muscle shoals. It is impossible to develop the natural resources of this section except by the aid of water transportation. Its wealth lies now almost entirely undeveloped. The Government of the United States is alone authorized to open this river, and the interests of the commerce of the whole country demand your speedy assistance."

The following letter has been addressed to me by the Governor of Alabama:

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,

STATE OF ALABAMA, MONTGOMERY, June 5, 1868. SIR: I take the liberty of addressing you upon the subject of removing obstructions from the Tennessee river so as to render that stream navigable from its mouth to Knoxville, Tennessee. This is a question of much importance to extensive sections of country, and is of material interest to your immediate constituents. It is taken for granted, of course, that you fully appreciate the importance of this enterprise. But inasmuch as the interest involved is widespread -not being limited, by any means, to the length of the river itself-I hope to be excused for soliciting your active cooperation in its behalf.

The Muscle shoals between Decatur and Florence, Alabama, form the greatest obstacle to the navigation of this stream. Around these shoals a canal was constructed some twenty-five or thirty years ago. But it was never operated practically, except to a limited extent, for the reason, mainly, that the locks of the canal were of such contracted dimensions that only very small boats could pass through them. The canal, however, is in a well preserved condition, and with a proper enlargement of the locks it might easily be made available for navigable purposes.

I presume that formal petitions have been presented to Congress praying an appropriation for the purpose of opening the river to navigation. This could be done with an amount of money which, to the General Government, would be inconsiderable. To that Government alone can we look for the opening of the river, The success of this enterprise would develop, incalculably, the commercial, mineral, agricultural, and other resources of the regions washed by the river, and greatly contribute to the general prosperity of the country. It is therefore earnestly hoped that the necessary appropriation for the purpose will be made by Congress.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, R. M. PATTON, Governor of Alabama. Hon. HORACE MAYNARD, Washington, D. C. I add a passage from a letter addressed to me by some gentlemen of intelligence living at Kingston, near the confluence of the Tennessee river and the Clinch, one of its largest

tributaries:

"This subject is one of the greatest importance to the whole of East Tennessee, and the people are looking anxiously for you to use your utmost endeavors to have the river opened from Knoxville to the Ohio. On this depend the wealth and future prosperity of the entire section, for, as you well know, it will be the only really available means of transportation for the vast amount of coal and iron with which East Tennessee abounds, and if we can succeed in getting the proper appropriations we can then offer such inducements to capitalists and laborers to immigrate that the now nearly uninhabited mountains and valleys of East Tennessee will be filled with thriving manufacturing towns and villages."

I am kindly permitted to use a letter addressed to my excellent friend from Ohio, [Mr. SPALDING:]

CLEVELAND, June 23, 1868. MY DEAR SIR: Thinking that possibly, amid the many matters requiring your attention on your return to Washington, you might forget to examine the matter which formed the subject of a conversation I had with you at Newark, I have concluded to call your attention to the same by letter. I observe in this morning's paper that the citizens of St. Louis and Cincinnati, through their respective Boards of Trade, have instructed their Representatives to use their influence in obtaining an appropriation to improve the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. I infer from this moment that Congress is about to consider the matter of making internal improvements. Although personally interested in the improvement of the Tennessee river, I would not urge an appropriation for that purpose did I not entertain the opinion, founded on information obtained from my own observations, made during frequent visits to that section since the war, that whatever expense may be necessary to make that river navigable from its mouth to the fork of the Clinch would very soon be returned to the Government.

You will, I think, find on examining the surveys and estimates of those who have made them through the appropriations made last year, that the expense of making the kind of improvements required will be small considering the extent of country and the

number of people to be benefited by it. Because of Muscle shoals and a few other obstructions above, from twelve to fourteen hundred miles of the river, although navigable at almost all seasons of the year, prove of little benefit to the country. The finest iron ore mines and coal fields in the country skirting the shores of this river and its tributaries demand no higher price than the land will bring for agricultural purposes. And although the valley of the Tennessee is as remarkable for agricultural purposes as for its mineral wealth, notwithstanding, for the want of cheap transportation of its product to market, its value and selling price are wonderfully low.

I know of no internal improvement se much needed, nor one that would make as satisfactory returns. The people to be especially benefited are the loyal East Tennesseeans and the northern Alabamians. The people of no other portion of the county suffered as much on account of their loyalty to the Government as these, and there seems to be no better way of recognizing that loyalty or a more substantial way of rewarding them, than by making this improve

ment.

But I will not occupy your time with a more extended statement. From other sources at your command you will be able to obtain such information as you may desire to enable you to form an opinion. I remain, truly, yours.

WILLIAM J. BOARDMAN. Hon. R. P. SPALDING, Washington, D. C. I hope this amendment will prevail.

Mr. ELIOT. I rise to oppose the amendment. The gentleman from Tennessee [Mr. MAYNARD] is correct in saying that in the act of March 2, 1867, there was an order for a survey of the Tennessee river, or else it was in a separate resolution, I am not quite sure which. That survey has been made, and I hold the report in my hand with a letter from the Secretary of War. The report did not come to the Committee on Commerce until after the bill had been prepared. But if it had, it would have been entirely impossible for an appropriation to have been recommended such as is now offered. From the mouth of the Tennessee river at Paducah to Florence, in Alabama, there is a distance of four hundred and thirty-six miles; from Decatur, in Alabama, to Chattanooga, the other bend of the river, is a distance of one hundred and eighty-six miles. That covers the whole length of the river, excepting ninety from Florence to Decatur.

Now, sir, of this appropriation of $600,000, as I understand it, about four hundred thousand dollars would be wanted on the ninety miles distance between Florence and Decatur for the purpose of constructing a canal, which very possibly it may be right to do one of these days, but which, it seems to the committee, it would not be right to recommend at this time. Now, I have no doubt, from the report which I have and after a conference with the engineers at the War Department, that there ought to be an appropriation made for the purpose of the Tennessee river, and I propose to amend the amendment of the gentleman from Tennessee by substituting for it the following:

To improve the Tennessee river from its mouth to Florence, Alabama, $15,000.

To improve the river from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Decatur, Alabama, $90,000.

That will give to this river the benefit of all the improvement that is reasonably called for excepting that between Florence and Decatur, which I think ought to be the subject of further examination. I will say that upon conference with the Committee on Commerce my amendment meets with their approval, excepting that of my friend from Illinois, [Mr. WASHBURNE;] and I suggest to the gentleman from Tennessee that it will be better for him to accept the amendment which I offer, and withdraw the larger one which he has offered.

Mr. STOKES. I wish to make an appeal to my colleague, [Mr. MAYNARD.] I ask him to accept the amendment offered by the gentleman who has charge of this bill in behalf of the Committee on Commerce. After having canvassed the whole matter I am satisfied that it is for the best interest of the country and for the people upon the line of the river, and I ask my colleague to accept the proposition.

Mr. MAYNARD. There is an old adage down in my country that my friend understands the meaning of, that "half a loaf is better than no bread." I yield to his appeal that I shall accept the modification suggested by the gentleman from Massachusetts, [Mr. ELIOT,]

and I hope in that shape it will be conceded

to us.

Mr. MULLINS. I move to amend the amendment by increasing the appropriation $10,000, and I do it for the purpose of making a few remarks. The people most interested in the improvement of this river are those living above Chattanooga. To be sure it is a densely populated stream from there to its mouth, but that portion of the country that lies adjacent to my district is immediately interested in that obstruction which is known as

the Muscle shoals. This river is one of those streams that gives water at all seasons of the year. There is, perhaps, but the fewest number of streams in any portion of the country south that give a greater volume of water than the Tennessee river gives. But until the obstruction known as the Muscle shoals is overcome navigation both above and below cannot be considered as anything like complete. The greatest detriment to the navigation of that stream from its head to its mouth is known to be the Muscle shoals. That is a point in the stream where it breaks through the spurs of the Cumberland mountains, or an offshoot of the Cumberland mountains. The river is obstructed by many bowlders lying there, incalculable in size, so as to make it almost unnavigable at some seasons of the year, while even at the highest tide it is very difficult for a steamboat to go up and down. The main point is a canal around the Muscle shoals. An appropriation was made for that purpose some time ago, and some work was done. But a spirit got into the party, and it became almost ignored by the General Government. However, before that species of political legislation got up, they went on to cut that canal, and they walled it up in part, and I am informed by the gentleman who superintended its survey that the stone work which was done there is as good a character of work as ever was done on the continent. Many of the trees which have grown up on the bank of that canal have lifted up the mason work; but it stands there now, the stones cemented fast together, although lifted up from the base, and a very small amount more will complete the work so that navigation will be open from the mouth of the river to its head. Its heads and its tributaries have already been indicated by my colleague [Mr. MAYNARD] who moved an amendment to this bill. There is no country and no people who have been more necessitated to have an appropriation made for relief, both above and below, than of this section. It lies immediately upon my southern border. I cannot for one moment's time hesitate to return thanks to the gentleman in charge of this bill for even this little amount. It is better than no appropriation at all, of course. At the same time it may go far to keep all hands employed for a time, and relieve them to some extent. But the great burden is the Muscle shoals. You only want to sink the canal a little deeper; it never was sunk deep enough; a little further depth will give ingress and egress.

[Here the hammer fell.]

Mr. MULLINS. I withdraw the amendment to the amendment.

The amendment of Mr. MAYNARD, as modified, was then agreed to.

The Clerk then read as follows:

For improvement of the Upper Mississippi river and removing snags and dredging, $60,000.

For construction of dam and lock at Little Falls, Minnesota river, $30,000.

For improvement of the Des Moines rapids, $900,000. For improvement of the Rock Island rapids, $200.000.

For improvement of the mouth of the Mississippi river, $100,000.

For improvement of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Arkansas rivers, $185,000.

For improvement of the upper Missouri river, $60,000. For improvement of the Illinois river, from its mouth toward La Salle, $100,000,

For improvement of the Ohio river, $250,000. Mr. MOORHEAD. I move to add to the last clause read the following:

Of which a sum not exceeding $20,000 may be applied, under the discretion of the Secretary of War,

in experimenting upon and testing the value of shifting sluices and other applicability to the said improvement.

This amendment is offered on account of the change in the character of navigation on the Ohio river. Formerly, during low water, by means of wing-dams, the water was thrown into a narrow channel, where a single steamboat could pass through. These wing-dams now prove to be obstructions to a large fleet of coal boats that are required by the manner in which business is now conducted. By the

ingenuity of some of our engineers out there a plan has been devised by which these wingdams can be shifted or sunk when occasion

requires, so that boats can run over them. Colonel Roberts, civil engineer in charge of the improvements on the Ohio river, thinks the plan very important and of great value. I do not ask for any increase of the appropriation, but only that a certain portion of it, under the discretion of the Secretary of War, may be used in making these experiments. I hope my amendment will be adopted.

Mr. ELIOT. The gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. MOORHEAD] showed an amendment to me, stating that he proposed to offer it, and desiring that I would make no objection to it. It was altered at my instance so as to leave the expenditure of the money for the purpose of making these experiments discretionary with the Secretary of War. I cannot assent to the amendment, for the reason that I do not know enough about the character of the appropriation asked for to be able to say whether the Secretary of War ought to be directed in any way to appropriate a portion of this money in the manner proposed. The estimate from the Department for the improvement of the Ohio river was $500.000; and the engineers called for the expenditure of $500,000 during this coming fiscal year. The committee have cut down the expenditure asked for one half, recommending an appropriation of $250,000. Now, the object of this amendment is to apply a portion of that appro priation to the point named by the gentleman from Pennsylvania, [Mr. MOORHEAD.] It may be all right; I do not know that it is not; but I do not know that it is; and it seems to me that it would be incorporating into the bill a provision different from any now contained in it, if in the case of a general appropriation of this kind the Secretary of War should be directed to apply a specific part of the money to a designated point. But if the matter is left discretionary with him the objection may be obviated.

Mr. MOORHEAD. I modify my amendment so as to make the amount $18,000. I must say that after the conversation which I had with the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. ELIOT] I am very much astonished at the remarks he has just made. If the House has listened to my remarks I think there can engineer in charge of this improvement may, be no objection to the proposition that the under the direction of the Secretary of War, if he deems it advisable, use this money, or any portion of it, in devising a system which we think will be worth millions in the improvement of our western rivers. I, in company with some other gentlemen, examined this matter in the office of Colonel Roberts, the engineer, who told me that he did not know that he could expend the money to make this experiment unless there should be a direction of this kind from the engineer department, or a provision inserted in this bill. I hope that the amendment, as I have modified it, will be adopted.

The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. HINDS. I ask unanimous consent to go back and move an amendment, inserting after line ninety-six the words "provided, that an equal amount be expended in improving each of said rivers;" so that the clause will

read

For improvement of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Arkansas rivers, $185,000: Provided, That an equal amount be expended in improving cach of said rivers.

Mr. ELIOT. I cannot consent to go back to allow that amendment to be offered. The matter is now properly left discretionary with the Secretary of War.

The SPEAKER. Line ninety-six having been passed, an amendment to that part of the bill is not in order without unanimous consent; and the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. ELIOT] objects.

Mr. HINDS. I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Globe a memorial from the Legislature of the State of Arkansas on this subject. The SPEAKER. If there be no objection leave will be granted.

There was no objection.

The memorial is as follows:

To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives in Congress assembled:

Your memorialists, the constitutional convention of the State of Arkansas, respectfully represent that the Arkansas river, during the season of low water, is so obstructed by snags and sand-bars as to render the navigation difficult and hazardous; but that by the appropriation and proper outlay of a small sum of money the said river, between the points designated, could be rendered navigable during the entire season, and would open a thoroughfare of inland communication to a rich agricultural district, facilitate the transportation of the mails, and afford to the settlements embraced in the country tributary to the Arkansas the speedy development of the various resources of that section of the country, abounding in lumber, agricultural, and mineral wealth, besides affording facil ties for reaching the trade and exchange of the Indian country west, and affording to the Government a more speedy access to that region. Your memorialists, therefore, ask that an appropriation of $100,000 be made for the improvement of said river. And your memorialists will ever pray.

Mr. NIBLACK. I move to amend by inserting after line one hundred and two the following:

For the improvement of the Wabash river and its navigable tributaries, $50,000.

Mr. Speaker, after the disposition already manifested by the House, I cannot entertain much hope that it will appropriate a very large amount of money for the improvement of internal rivers; but if any appropriation is to be made for any river I submit that the Wabash is as much entitled to an appropriation as any other river that has been named in the bill. It furnishes the means of transof Indiana and Illinois. White river is an portation for portions of two States, the States important tributary to it, and is also navigable for boats of all classes during a portion of the year. There are some slight obstructions in the Wabash river and its tributaries, which the amount of money I have indicated would partially remove. This is to open up these rivers for the purposes of commerce; and if we are to extend our commerce by opening up our rivers to the ordinary class of vessels, at least, I do submit the Wabash river is as much entitled to the consideration of Congress as any other stream mentioned in this bill, aside from the Ohio and Mississippi. I offer the amendment in good faith, and if we vote for any this one should be adopted.

Mr. ELIOT. I rise to oppose the amend ment. It is obvious, Mr. Speaker, we could not pass a bill of this description acceptable to ciple. Now, there has been no examination a majority of the House unless on some prinmade, there has been no survey, there have been no estimates, and we should move in the dark as to the character and mode of this proposed improvement; and, sir, there is no mortal man on this floor who has the authority to say how much is wanted and how it could be best carried on. I hope the gentleman from Indiana, who, by the way, has not been friendly to this bill, if he desires there should be a recommendation in favor of it, will have it included in the fourth section of the bill, and have it examined. It would be utterly impossible to adopt the amendment offered by him without destroying the character of the bill. I say without hesitation, if improvements of this description, without recommendation from the War Department, should be put upon the bill by those who are unfriendly to it, I should feel myself constrained to ask the House to postpone it to a future time.

Mr. BROMWELL. I move to strike out "Wabash" and insert "Embarras."

Mr. GARFIELD. That will embarrass the bill. [Laughter.]

Mr. BROMWELL. It is the bill itself which will embarrass the country. [Renewed laughter.] If the public Treasury is now to be poured out upon the little streams in all the byways and places of the country, then the Embarras river should not be neglected. It connects two districts. It flows out of my district into that of my colleague's, [Mr. MARSHALL,] both Radical districts; mine radically Republican and his radically Democratic, and it will make a bond of union between them. [Laughter.] If rivers hardly navigable require improvement how much more the Embarras, which never has been navigable and never will be unless something is done for it. [Renewed laughter.] As it is now a steamboat could barely turn round in the Embarras river, and all the more necessity for improving it. Why not just as well spend our time in digging new rivers as in patching up old bars and making new harbors where there is just barely a pretense of commercial advantage? [Laughter.]

I know it is said that these appropriations are for the benefit of works already begun. The idea of continuing works already begun which are of no public value upon the ground that it is to save money is as bad as a man taking the medicine he has left over after recovering in order not to lose it. [Renewed laughter. We are spending millions of dollars every year to very little purpose; and now when the country is embarrassed, 'when we feel the pressure in the West as we have not felt it since 1857, I do think we ought to confine our appropriations to works of the greatest public utility.

Mr. FARNSWORTH. Is the Embarras river a good place for harbors?

Mr. BROMWELL. It is one hundred miles long, and in every crook of it you can dig out a good harbor.

Mr. FARNSWORTH. Are you for the Wabash river improvement?

Mr. BROMWELL. I am for the Wabash, but I do not want the Embarras neglected and overlooked. The amendment is offered upon the principle which moves gentlemen here. It is the best river I have in my district, and I must speak for some. [Laughter.] If the House does not adopt my amendment I hope

it will at least strike out all of the others, or at least provide for the improvement of the Embarras river at some future time. It was once declared navigable by the Illinois Legislature, [laughter,] and in order to make that good feel bound, as a Representative from that State, to call upon the United States to dig it out and put it in a condition for boating. [Laughter.]

Mr. ELIOT. I rise to oppose the amendment, and ask for a vote.

The amendment of Mr. BROMWELL to the amendment of Mr. NIBLACK was disagreed to. Mr. BENJAMIN. I offer the following amendment to the amendment:

For the improvement of the navigation of Salt river, that the dreary passage up the rapid and turbulent waters of this great national highway may be rendered less grievous to the motley crowd of involuntary exiles, who, about November next, will be seeking some sequestered spot" where a "white man's Government" may be maintained in its purity, and for whose benefit in carrying out so laudable an enterprise a four years' leave of absence has been unconditionally granted, $10,000.

Mr. ELIOT. I raise a point of order on that amendment.

The Clerk read as follows:

For improvement of the Susquehanna river, $10,000. For improvement of the Hudson river, New York, $100,000.

For removing obstructions in East river, including Hell Gate, $300,000.

For improvement of Westport harbor, Connecticut, $10,000.

For improvement of Connecticut river, Connecticut, $20,000.

Mr. HOTCHKISS. I move to increase the last appropriation to $40,000.

The amendment was disagreed to.

The Clerk read as follows:

For removal of Middle Rock, New Haven, Connecticut, $15,000.

For improvement of Pawtucket harbor, $8.000. For improvement of Plymouth harbor, Massachusetts, $15,000.

improvement of harbors at Cuttyhunk and Tarpaulin Cove, in Massachusetts, $100,000." There will be no objection to that I presume.

Mr. SPALDING. I move to insert "For

Mr. ELIOT. Certainly there is objection. They are in my district.

The amendment was disagreed to.

The Clerk read as follows:

For construction and preservation of sea-walls at Great Brewster Island, $10,000.

For building walls and improvements at Deer and Lovell's Islands, in Boston harbor, $10,000.

For preservation and improvement of Boston harbor, $100,000.

For improvement of Taunton river, Massachusetts, $13,000.

Mr. EGGLESTON. I offer the following amendment, and I will state that it has been agreed upon by the Committee on Commerce:

At the end of line one hundred and twenty-eight insert the following:

For completion of the breakwater connecting Richmond Island and Cape Elizabeth, Maine, $20,000.. The amendment was agreed to.

The Clerk read as follows:

For improvement of Saco river, Maine, $20,000. Mr. LYNCH. I move to strike out "$20,000" and insert" $40,000."

The amendment was disagreed to.
The Clerk then read as follows:

For improvement of Kennebec river, Maine, $3,000. Mr. BLAINE. That is the only modest appropriation in the bill.

Mr. ELIOT. If the gentleman is not satisfied, we will strike it out if he wishes it. The SPEAKER. Does the gentleman make that motion ?

Mr. ELIOT. No, sir.

The Clerk read as follows:

For improvement of Penobscot river, Maine, $30,000. Mr. ROOTS. I offer the following amend. ment, to come in after that clause:

For improvement of White river, in Arkansas, $78,000.

The amendment was disagreed to.

Mr. BLAINE. Would it be in order to go back to the preceding paragraph and move to strike out "$3,000" and insert "twelve and a half cents?"

The SPEAKER. It is not in order to go back.

Mr. PAINE. I hope unanimous consent will be given to the gentleman to go back for that purpose.

Mr. ELIOT. I object to going back.

Mr. BLAINE. It is very magnanimous on the part of the gentleman from Wisconsin, [Mr. PAINE,] who has got millions in this bill for his State. The gentleman misunder

Mr. PAINE. stands me.

The SPEAKER. No debate is in order. Mr. McKEE. I offer the following amendment, to come in at the end of the paragraph last read:

For the improvement of the navigation of the Big Sandy river between Kentucky and West Virginia, $20,000; and for said river above Louisa, $15,000 additional.

I wish to say that this river runs between two States.

The SPEAKER. No debate is in order.
The amendment was disagreed to.

The Clerk then read as follows:

For improvement of navigation at the "Gut," opposite Bath, Maine, $16,500.

For improvement of Union river, Maine, $2,000. For construction of breakwater at Block island, Rhode Island, $74,000.

For improvement of Willamette river, Oregon, $25.000.

For removal of Blossom Rock, in the harbor of San Francisco, $60,000.

For survey of northwestern lakes, $75,000.

Mr. WASHBURNE, of Illinois. I move to strike out that last paragraph, $75,000 for survey of northwestern lakes. It is in another bill, the deficiency bill.

Mr. ELIOT. In answer to that I will say that this sum is needed as well as that.

Mr. WASHBURNE, of Illinois. Seventyfive thousand dollars is enough.

The SPEAKER. Debate is not in order. The question was taken on Mr. Washburne's motion, and it was disagreed to.

The Clerk read as follows:

For examination and surveys on western and northwestern rivers, $125,000.

For examination and surveys on the Atlantic coast, $30,000.

For examination and surveys on the Pacific coast, $25,000.

For purchase and repair of instruments, $5,000.

No further amendments were offered to the first section; and the second section was read, as follows:

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of War shall apply the sums herein appropriated for other purposes than for examination and survey, by contract, in all cases when, in his judgment, the same can be judiciously and economically so applied: Provided, That on the recommendation of the general commanding the corps of engineers, such sums may be otherwise applied so as best to subserve the interests of the Government, having regard to the most economical use of the moneys appropriated, in all cases where the sums required for any specific work shall not exceed $15,000. And the Secretary of War shall prescribe suitable rules for the issuing of proposals for materials or labor, having regard to the most effective use of moneys appropriated: Provided, That separate proposals and contracts shall be required in all cases when the same can be, in the judgment of the Secretary, judiciously and properly made.

No amendment was offered; and the Clerk read as follows:

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the sum of $450,000 is hereby appropriated toward completing the Louisville and Portland canal, in accordance with the plans and estimates made in the report of General Godfrey Weitzel, and that the Government of the United States do hereby assume the payment of the bonds issued for the completion of the said canal and branch, amounting to the sum of $1.567,000: Provided, That all title to and right in said canal and its appurtenances be ceded to and vested in the United States, and that the State of Kentucky shall relinquish all claim to the government of the same; said canal

on and after its completion to be and remain free from all tolls and tribute, except so much as shall be necessary to operate the same and keep it in repair, and that all moneys in the hands of the treasurer of the canal company, when transferred, shall be paid into the Treasury of the United States.

Mr. SPALDING. I move to strike out that section. It ought to be stricken out.

Mr. GROVER. Mr. Speaker, the section of the bill under consideration appropriates $450,000 toward the completion of the Louisville and Portland canal; and provides for the assumption of the payment by the Government of the bonds issued for the completion of said canal, amounting to the sum of $1,567,000, and a cession on the part of the corporation and the State of Kentucky of said canal and its appurtenances to the United States.

The question is, Should Congress make the appropriation on the terms proposed? Should Congress make the appropriation and a further appropriation hereafter of $450,000, the estimated cost of completing the enlargement of the canal, the Government will become the owner in its own right of the entire work.

The Louisville and Portland canal was completed in December, 1830, by a company chartered by the State of Kentucky. The Government was a stockholder to the amount of two thousand three hundred and thirty-five shares, costing $233,500.

In 1831 the Government received five hundred and sixty-seven shares more in lieu of dividends. Between 1831 and 1842 it received $257,778 in cash from the dividends declared by the company; so that at the end of twelve years the Government received $24,278 in cash, and five hundred and sixty-seven shares in stock more than it invested in the canal, and was still owner of two thousand nine hundred and two shares in the canal, valued at $290,200; thus receiving $547,978 for its original investment in the canal.

From 1842 up to date no dividends have been declared, the net income of the canal up to 1859 being devoted to the purchase of stock owned by private individuals, (said stock being held in trust by the board of directors ;) and since 1859 to the enlargement and extension of the canal and to create a sinking fund for paying the bonds which were issued by the company to defray the expenses of said work.

In 1860 this enlargement and extension were began on plans submitted by Mr. T. R. Scow. den, a civil engineer of experience and repu tation, and stopped in 1866 for want of funds, after $1,825,403 23 had been expended for lands and work on the improvement, thus making the cost of the canal, as it stands, $2,825,403 23.

But in case the Government assumes the payment of the bonded indebtedness of the company it will be upon the following assumptions of payment. The bonded indebtedness of the company is as follows:

370 bonds due in 1871..

399 bonds due in 1876..

398 bonds due in 1881 400 bonds due in 1886....

$1,567,000

nine months and nine days in the year, leaving but two months and twenty-one days during the entire year when the falls of the Ohio can be passed by unobstructed navigation.

Let it be remembered that the Ohio river and its tributaries drain the whole of parts of ten States of the Union, the great granary of the country, the Egypt of the nation, and is one of the most important in a system, giving eighteen thousand miles of navigable water.

The tabular statement annexed, derived from sources believed to be entirely authentic, and mainly from the census of 1860, presents in a condensed form the extent of navigable waters, number of population, and amount of transportation of the fourteen States lying on the banks of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers:

"The States lying on the banks of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, fourteen in number, had, by the census of 1860, a population of 16,909,494, or more than half the whole population of the United States; and these two rivers have a coast line of 36,098 miles, while the coast of the Atlantic is 2,163 miles, and the Gulf of Mexico 1,764 miles, and of the Pacific 1,343 miles, on a line of 21,354 miles, including bays and indentations.

These rivers drain an area of 1,785,267 square miles, more than half of the whole 3,001,002 square miles in the United States; and these fourteen States, in 1860, contained 94,402,869 of the 163,110,720 improved acres, and 126,703,393 of the 244,101,818 unimproved acres of the whole United States; and the valuation of property in these fourteen States shows $8,467,511,274 of the whole valuation of the United States-$16,077,358,715; showing very conclusively that these fourteen States pay more than half the taxes, work more than half of the improved land, have the majority of the population, and also the majority of the land to develop, of the whole United States.

"By the census of 1860, the whole product of the United States was valued at $1,900,000,000, while the foreign exports of the domestic produce were only $373,189,274, or less than one fifth of the whole product, leaving four fifths for exchange in domestic commerce between the States.

The proportion of the whole product afforded by

these fourteen States we speak for may be judged by the returns of their produce, gathered from the census of 1860, and compared with the whole United States, as follows;

The whole United States.

634,454,375 838,792,740 126,930,730 173,104,924 103,995,461 172,643,185 345,400,759 434,208,461 222,636,000 230,982,000 1,079,799,600 2,154,820,800 31,277,839 60,264,913 9,297,743 19,083,896 239,601,405 459,681,372 69,470 74,493 22,225,766 33,512,867

Bituminous coal, bushels... 3,247,264,425 3,621,923,165
Horses and asses..
Cattle.....

Sheep..

4,804,634 7,400,322 12,517,392 25,616,019 11,973,315 22,471,275

The five shares of stock are $100 dollars each. There is on hand, to the credit of the sinking fund, a balance of $217,453 70; so that no part of the debt of the company so assumed will fall due before 1871, at which time the bonds, amounting to the sum of $370,000, fall due; $399,000 fall due in 1876; $398,000 in 1881; and $400,000 in 1886. But, by the terms of the third section of the bill under consideration, when the proposed transfer shall be made all moneys in the hands of the treasurer of the canal company shall be paid into the Treasury of the United States, which amount on the 16th December, 1867, equaled the sum of $217,453 70; and there is no reason to believe that amount has been diminished, or will be, but rather increased during the current years. Accurate tests for a period of more than twenty years establish the fact that navigation over the falls of the Ohio is interrupted by that natural obstruction ||

supply of the whole nation, and for export including the supply of the gold and silver States now so largely and rapidly developing upon the tributaries of these waters.

By reference to the report on the Louisville and Portland canal, Fortieth Congress, second session, the following summary appears:

"It [the Louisville and Portland canal] is a work designed to obviate the principal obstruction in the navigation of the Ohio river, upon the construction and management of which has been expended, in the various forms of outlay, an aggregate of $6,500,000, two thirds of which sum have been derived from a tax on the commerce of the West, collected in the form of tolls; and yet for the completion of which Congress is now called upon for $1,000,000; a work that has been before one or both branches of the national

Legislature, in some form or other, nearly every ses

sion for more than forty years, and yet with reference to which so little appears to be known to-day by intelligent members that legislation, without the special communication of information, would move almost wholly in the dark."

The same report shows that the present rate of hauling freight from the Portland wharf to the Louisville wharf, and vice versa, is one dollar per ton. Present rate of passing freight by the Louisville and Portland canal fifty cents per ton; and the supposed rate of passing freight by the canal after its completion and free use except as to the collection of tolls enough to operate it and keep it in good repair, ten cents per ton.

It is the matured judgment of those who are believed to know that the amount of freight transported on the Ohio river in the year 1867, including rafts of timber and lumber, equaled 3,738,420 tons; that the average distance to which said freight was carried was five hundred and sixty-seven miles; to transport which would require thirty-five railroads three hundred miles long, running four heavily-laden trains each day.

It is suggested that the enlargement of the canal upon the basis proposed would reduce the price of freight at least ten cents per hundred pounds upon the Ohio and her tributaries, thereby saving to the people of the United States in one year from freights alone a sum much greater than the cost of completing the entire work of the enlargement of the canal and liquidating the existing debt. Louisville, that great commercial center which I have the honor to represent upon this floor, located, as it is, at the head of this great natural barrier to the navigation of the Ohio, will gain nothing of advantage, but perhaps be loser financially by the proposed enlargement of the canal and transfer of its franchises to the Government of the United States. But, rising above selfish considerations, Louisville does not object; while the great State whose commercial center she is, the whole of the great West and Northwest, as well as the best interests of the entire Union, imperatively demand the adoption of the third section of the bill now before the House for consideration.

During his remarks Mr. GROVER moved pro forma to increase the appropriation $50,000, for the purpose of concluding his speech.

MESSAGE FROM THE SENATE.

A message from the Senate, by Mr. GORHAM, its Secretary, announced that the Senate had agreed to the amendments of the House to the bill (S. No. 522) to authorize the Commissioner

of the Revenue to settle the accounts of Andrew S. Core.

The message further announced that the Senate had passed the joint resolution (H. R. No. 316) extending the time for the completion of the Northern Pacific railroad.

The message further announced that the Senate had passed a joint resolution (S. R. No. 94) directing the Secretary of the Treasury, whenever any State shall have been or may be in default for the payment of interest or principal on investments in its stocks or bonds held by the United States in trust, to retain moneys due to such State from the United States.

LEAVE OF ABSENCE.

Indefinite leave of absence, after Wednesday next, was granted to Mr. HOTCHKISS. Leave of absence for ten days, after Wednesday next, was granted to Mr. MUNGEN. Leave of absence for ten days, after to-day, was granted to Mr. BROOKS. .

WAR DEBT OF NEW MEXICO.

Mr. GARFIELD, by unanimous consent, reported back from the Committee on Military Affairs House bill No. 649, to provide for the settlement of the war debt of New Mexico, and moved that the same be referred to the Committee on Appropriations.

The motion was agreed to.

INDIAN DEPREDATIONS IN CALIFORNIA. Mr. GARFIELD also moved that the Committee on Military Affairs be discharged from