The Congressional Globe, Volume 13, Part 1: Twenty-Eighth Congress, First Session Page: 310
xxiv, 696 p. ; 25 cm.View a full description of this book.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
310
CONGRESSIONAL GLOBE.
(Mr. Campbell in the chair,) and resumed the cen-
sideration of the bill making provision for the revo-
. lutionary and other pensioners of the United States.
And the question being put on the pending amend-
ment, it was rejected.
Mr. DICKEY moved to strike out the last proviso
in the bill, as follows:
"Provided, That no pension shall hereafter com-
mence before the day on which the application of
the person claiming it shall have been filed with the
commissioner."
After some remarks from Mr. DICKEY in favor
of this amendment, and Mr. McKAY, in opposi-
tion to it, the question was taken on it, and it was
"^Mt^COLLAMER moved to amend the above
proviso, by inserting the words "hereafter applied
for," after the word "pension ," so as to make it read
"no pension hereafter applied for shall hereafter
commence," &c. &c.
Mr. DANA made some observations m opposition
to the amendment.
Mr. COLLAMER replied. He said the object of
the amendment was to diminish the inducements to
commit perjury to sustain long-standing claims; as
it would provide, if adopted, that no pension should
take effect but from the time the application should
be made.
The amendment was rejected.
Mr. DANA then moved to amend further; but af-
ter a few words from Mr. DROMGOOLE,
The CHAIR decided that the amendment was
not in order.
The committee then rose and reported the bill to
the House.
The SPEAKER stated the question to be on con-
curring in the amendment of the committee.
Mr. HAMLIN said, believing that the subject
had been sufficently discussed in committee, to save
the time of the House he called for the previous
question; but before that question was determined
whether that motion was seconded—
On the motion of Mr. LEWIS,
The House adjourned.
The following petitions presented to-day were
handed to the reporters by the members presenting
them:
By Mr. BRODHEAD: Three petitions, numer-
ously signed by citizens of Carbon county, Penn-
sylvania, praying for the passage of a law exempt-
ing canal boats engaged in the coal trade from pay-
ing coasting licenses.
By Mr. TIBBATTS: The petition of Captain
William Stubblcfield, of Mason county, Kentucky,
praying that a pension may be granted to him on
account of services in the Indian wars, from 1791 to
1794; which was referred to the Committee on Rev-
olutionary Pensions.
By Mr. McCLERNAND: The petition of Geo.
Leviston and seventy-seven others, citizens of the
county of Gallatin, Illinois, praying for a donation
of lands in the Shawneetown alia Palestine land dis-
tricts, in said State; and in the Vincennes district, in
the State of Indiana, for the improvement of the
navigation of the great Wabash river, which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Public Lands.
By Mr. PRESTON KING: A petition of in-
habitants of St. Lawrence and Franklin counties,
New York, for the establishment of a post-route be-
tween Stockholm and Hogansburgh, by the way of
Brasher Falls and Helena: referred to the Committee
on the Post Office and Post Roads.
By Mr. FARLEE: The petition of A. Shiner and
ninety-eight others, of the county ot Sussex; of
Amos Littell and thirty-five others, of Lafayette; of
John Cummings and thirty-two others, ot Montague;
of Aaron A. Kelsey and thirty-six others, of New-
ton and Green; of Isaac Bonnell and forty-two
others, of Montague; and of William Torrey and
thirty-eight others, of Sparta, all citizens ot the coun-
ty of Sussex, in the State of New Jersey, praying
for reduction in the rates of postage, and abolition ot
the franking privileges: referred to the Committee
on the Post Office and Post Roads.
By Mr. THOMPSON: The resolutions of the
legislature of the State of Misssissippi, in relation to
the location of the western armory and naval depot:
ordered to be printed, and referred to the Committee
on Naval Affairs.
By Mr. LYON: The petition of 280 citizens of
? hohigan, praying Congress to provide for improv-
ing the harbor at the mouth of South Black river,
fil the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, j
By Mr. HENLEY: The joint resolution of the
legislature of the State of Indiana, instructing the
senators and requesting the representatives from
said State in the Congress of .the United States to
use their exertions to procure a grant of land to aid
in the construction of a canal around the falls of the
Ohio upon the Indiana side.
IN SENATE.
Friday, February 23, 1844.
Mr. BREESE said he had been requested by a
highly respectable citizen of Illinois to present his
memorial upon a subject of vast public importance—
that of the improvement of the navigation of the
western waters, in which not only the West, but the
whole Union, have a great interest. As the memo-
rialist speaks upon such a subject, it was but
right he should inform the Senate who he
was, and what claims he might have upon the
notice of the Senate. His name (he said) is John
M. Peck—a pastor in the Baptist church—a man of
liberal education, of enlarged and generally accurate
views, who had resided in the West more than a
quarter of a century, and, in his capacity of mis-
sionary, had travelled upon the western rivers as of-
ten as any other one man whose pursuits are not
wholly confined to them. It was his fortune to be
one of the passengers upon the ill-fated Shepherdess
on the night of the third of January last, when more
than seventy persons found a grave in the dark and
turbid waters of the Mississippi at midnight, and
within sight of their destined port. The passen-
gers, at nine o'clock, confident of their safe arrival,
the greatest dangers of the river having been passed,
had signed a complimentary letter to the captain, re-
turning their acknowledgments for his care and at-
tention to their safety, and each sought repose, glad-
dened by the cheering prospect of meeting once
more dear relatives and friends, and enjoying the
delights of home. At 12 o'clock the boat struck a
snag, and in a few minutes the bow was under
water. Many of the deck passengers were drowned
in their beds. Some saved themselves by swim-
ming, aided by pieces of plank, and other buoyant
articles that floated from the wreck. Children per-
ished with cold in their rescued mothers' arms;
others mourned parents lost; and the widow's wail
was heard amid the accumulated horrors of that
scene.
If this was a solitary case, it would not be enti-
tled—melancholy, afflicting, and heart-rending as it
was—to claim more than the liveliest sympa-
thies of Congress; but when it was considered that
they were of weekly occurrence, and subject the
immense trade and commerce of the West to heavy
losses, (thereby diminishing its value, now greatly
exceeding the entire foreign commerce of the na-
tion,) it became entitled to the application of the
legitimate powers of Congress also, to afiord a rem-
edy.
Ml-. B. said he was a strict constructionist. He
would not, for the sake of any local advantage,
stretch any of our powers beyond the grant; and, in
all cases of doubt, lie would refuse to act. He must
be convinced a power had been granted, before he
would consent to exercise it.
We of the West (said Mr. B.) believe weare enti-
tled to the full benefit of the grant to Congress "to
regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among
the several States, and with the Indian tribes." We
do not believe its benefits should be exclusive, nor
any other of the numerous blessings of this govern-
mc'nt. Like the dew of heaven, they should de-
scend upon all portions of our vast confederacy, in
a measure suited to each respective position, and with
an equal dispensation.
They have nevei been niggard in voting such ap-
propiiations to benefit, increase, and protect the
foreign commercc of the nation, as its friends have
required; they had contributed to erect the light-
house, the stupendous breakwater, and to improve
the harbors of our seacoast. They now ask, m re-
turn, only that they shall have such appropriations
as were applicable to their peculiar situation; and, as
the western States had been admitted into the Union
011 an equal footing with the original States, "in all
respects whatever," they claim the application of all
the unquestioned delegated powers of Congress for
their benefit. Benefits and burdens should be, in some
degree reciprocal; and, as the great West is now the
greatest consumer of your foreign imports, she pays
into the common treasury the greatest share of the
national revenues.
It was (he said) a matter of gratifying considera-
tion to witness the rapid strides with which
that most delightful portion of the world had
advanced to wealth and power, and how suc-
cessfully her giant energies had begn developed.
Who can contemplate what will be its con-
dition in the lapse of another half century? And
counting its commerce now by millions, hundreds
of millions then will only be the limit. On another
occasion, he would speak more at large on this very
important subject; his object now being simply to
allude to it, as connected with the matter made most
prominent in the memorial.
It is estimated (said Mr. B.) that the loss of boats
on the western waters, amounts to near sixty per
annum, the most of which are destroyed in the
same manner as the Shepherdess—by striking snags
and sinking. Those boats, costing on an average
$16,000 each, would constitute an annual loss of
near one million of dollars; and if to this we add
their cargoes, not more than 15 per cent, of which
is saved, we shall have a most formidable sum,
amounting to more than one million and a half of
dollars. Independent of this, our commerce is sub-
jected to grievous and onerous burdens, in the shape
of 36 per cent, on the original cost of the boats
for wages, 30 per cent, for wood, 18 per cent, for
provisions, 16 per cent, for contingencies, and for
insurance per annum 15 per cent., besides the tolls for
passing the canal at Louisville. To this is to be added
the wear and tear of boats, estimated at 20 per cent.,
requiring a renewal of the capital invested, every
five years. Upon ships navigating the ocean, being
so much more safe than our rivers, their expenses are
greatly diminished—insurance on hulls not exceeding
1 per cent., and the other items very inconsiderable
in comparison.
Of the whole steamboat tonnage of the United
States, near two-thirds of it belongs to the West; and
it exceeds by 43,000 tons the whole steamboat ton-
nage of Great Britain nine years ago, it being then
but 82,716 tons.
Besides all this, the trade carried on in flat and
keel boats is immense—employing more than six-
teen thousand persons, and a capital of eight hun-
dred thousand dollars; all exposed to the dangers
of the rivers: for which relief is sought.
In contemplating an efficient plan of improvement,
it will be perceived that distinct and different systems
are required upon the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.
Upon the former, and upon a section of the latter,
called the Upper Mississippi, permanent works must
be constructed; but upon the others, such is the
peculiar character of the stream, the principles of
hydrostatics not being practically applicable to them,
annual appropriations must be made, and for the
Missouri and Mississippi, as long as they flow with
their wonted impetuosity.
The memorialist believes, and I agree with him,
(said Mr. B.,) that these rivers should be arranged
in four different sections—the Red and the Arkansas
composing one; the lower Mississippi, another;
the Mississippi to the mouth of the Missouri, the
third; and the Missouri river the fourth;—upon each
of which, competent snag boats should be employed,
with an efficient force during the season of working
in each year. The expense of those boats will be
trifling, compared with the importance of the object
in view; and no doubt is entertained that a yearly
appropriation of one hundred and fifty thousand dol-
lars will accomplish all that is desired in this respect.
I have, upon leave of the Senate, (said Mr. B.)
introduced a bill, (now before the Committee of
Commerce, to which this memorial will go,) propos-
ing to appropriate §250,000 for the improvement
of the navigation of the Upper Mississippi, and to
which I will send some valuable statistical informa-
tion. I will merely remark now, that the lead trade
of that region amounted to a million of dollars in
value, and consisted of forty millions of pounds in
the past year; that the lumber trade from the Saint
Croix and the Chippewa rivers is constantly in-
creasing and very valuable; added to which, the im-
mense surplus of the agricultural productions of
that region, and the foreign imports consumed
there, all subjected to the delays and dangers of
the obstructions, I am induced to believe these facts,
when properly presented, will induce the national
legislature to advance in aid of the desired improve-
ment. These rivers arc our ocean streams—they
bear our productions to market, and are the high-
ways of a commerce grown to its present magnitude,
aided by but a small portion of the fostering
care of the government. Upon that branch of the
river, sir, from the town of Alton alone, con-
taining a population of not more than 3000, the
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This book can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Book.
United States. Congress. The Congressional Globe, Volume 13, Part 1: Twenty-Eighth Congress, First Session, book, 1844; Washington D.C.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth2367/m1/334/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.