Thank you for visiting SNEWPapers!
Sign up free
Domestic News
August 26, 1854
The Texas Republican
Marshall, Harrison County, Texas
What is this article about?
President Franklin Pierce signed a bill on July 22, 1854, appropriating $140,000 for improving the Cape Fear River in North Carolina, caused by government actions, clarifying it does not set a precedent for general river and harbor appropriations.
Clipping
OCR Quality
96%
Excellent
Full Text
The Cape Fear River Bill Approved
The bill recently passed by Congress, appropriating one hundred and forty thousand dollars for the further improvement of Cape Fear river in North Carolina, was signed on yesterday by the President, and returned to the Senate. It is well known that this measure differs from the ordinary proposition to make appropriations for the improvement of rivers and harbors, in the fact that the obstruction in Cape Fear river is the result of an act of our government. This feature in the case was well understood in both houses of Congress, and contributed largely to the passage of the bill. If the fact alluded to had been stated in the bill, its approval by the President would have required no explanatory message; but, in consequence of this omission, it was incumbent on him, to prevent misconstructions or erroneous inferences, to accompany his approval with the statement of the reason on which it was given. The reason assigned by the President addresses itself so forcibly to the common sense of every man, that it cannot fail to be entirely satisfactory. This act cannot be regarded as a precedent, except in cases where the government, as in this case, has caused the obstruction. In all such cases the propriety of the appropriation will be readily conceded. We need scarcely add that the approval of the Cape Fear bill, under the circumstances, cannot be construed into a recognition by the President of the power to make appropriations by Congress for rivers and harbors generally. The following is the message of the President, accompanied by the bill:
To the Senate of the United States:
I have this day given my signature to the act "making further appropriation for the improvement of the Cape Fear river, North Carolina."
The occasion seems to render it proper for me to deviate from the ordinary course of announcing the approval of bills by an oral statement only, and, for the purpose of preventing any misapprehensions which might otherwise arise from the phraseology of this act, to communicate, in writing, that my approval is given it on the ground that the obstructions, which the proposed appropriation is intended to remove, are the result of acts of the general government.
FRANKLIN PIERCE.
WASHINGTON, July 22, 1854.
The bill recently passed by Congress, appropriating one hundred and forty thousand dollars for the further improvement of Cape Fear river in North Carolina, was signed on yesterday by the President, and returned to the Senate. It is well known that this measure differs from the ordinary proposition to make appropriations for the improvement of rivers and harbors, in the fact that the obstruction in Cape Fear river is the result of an act of our government. This feature in the case was well understood in both houses of Congress, and contributed largely to the passage of the bill. If the fact alluded to had been stated in the bill, its approval by the President would have required no explanatory message; but, in consequence of this omission, it was incumbent on him, to prevent misconstructions or erroneous inferences, to accompany his approval with the statement of the reason on which it was given. The reason assigned by the President addresses itself so forcibly to the common sense of every man, that it cannot fail to be entirely satisfactory. This act cannot be regarded as a precedent, except in cases where the government, as in this case, has caused the obstruction. In all such cases the propriety of the appropriation will be readily conceded. We need scarcely add that the approval of the Cape Fear bill, under the circumstances, cannot be construed into a recognition by the President of the power to make appropriations by Congress for rivers and harbors generally. The following is the message of the President, accompanied by the bill:
To the Senate of the United States:
I have this day given my signature to the act "making further appropriation for the improvement of the Cape Fear river, North Carolina."
The occasion seems to render it proper for me to deviate from the ordinary course of announcing the approval of bills by an oral statement only, and, for the purpose of preventing any misapprehensions which might otherwise arise from the phraseology of this act, to communicate, in writing, that my approval is given it on the ground that the obstructions, which the proposed appropriation is intended to remove, are the result of acts of the general government.
FRANKLIN PIERCE.
WASHINGTON, July 22, 1854.
What sub-type of article is it?
Infrastructure
Politics
What keywords are associated?
Cape Fear River
Bill Approval
Franklin Pierce
North Carolina
River Improvement
Congress Appropriation
What entities or persons were involved?
Franklin Pierce
Where did it happen?
Cape Fear River, North Carolina
Domestic News Details
Primary Location
Cape Fear River, North Carolina
Event Date
1854 07 22
Key Persons
Franklin Pierce
Outcome
bill signed, appropriating $140,000 for river improvement; no precedent for general appropriations
Event Details
Congress passed a bill for $140,000 to improve Cape Fear River due to government-caused obstructions; President Pierce signed it with a message clarifying the unique circumstances to avoid misapprehensions.