Page:Journal of the Sixth Legislative Council of the Territory of Michigan.djvu/32

22 Your committee have received, from the respective proprietors, specific statements of their prices for printing, and their ability to perform the same.

All of which is respectfully submitted.

On motion of Mr. Britain,

The report was laid on the table.

Mr. Stockton, from the committee on internal improvement and agriculture, submitted for consideration the following memorial to Congress:

The memorial of the Legislative Council of the Territory of Michigan respectfully represents, that at the mouth of the straits between lakes St. Clair and Huron, there is an extensive flat or bar, over which the channel is shallow' and circuitous. It is liable to continued changes, and every spring it is necessary it should be carefully examined and stakes or buoys placed; without these it would not be practicable for vessels to pass this obstruction, and with them it offers a serious impediment to the navigation of the upper lakes. The labor and expense of sounding and examining this channel every spring, are too great for individuals, and the stakes and buoys which are fixed are not sufficient to insure a safe passage, and are liable to be carried away by every violent storm.

Your memorialists request, that an appropriation may be made for the purpose of rendering the passage of these flats safer and speedier for vessels.

Your memorialists also request, that an appropriation may be made for removing the bar across the mouth of the Clinton River, which discharges itself into Lake St. Clair. This river penetrates a considerable distance into the interior, and waters a fertile country equal to any part of the Territory. Much of its course is navigable, but its mouth is impeded by a bar, as are the mouths of all the streams emptying into these lakes. This river is, besides, the only one which flows into the United States side of Lake St. Clair; and its usefulness to our citizens can never be fully realized, until vessels shall be enabled to enter it by the removal of the bar. By the ample appropriations which have been made for the removal of bars across the mouths of various streams in New-York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, your memorialists are happy to perceive, that the value of these improvements upon the great lakes is fully appreciated by Congress; and as but a small amount has been expended for this object in this Territory, they humbly trust that Congress will favorably receive this application.

The memorial having been read,

On motion of Mr. Stockton,