A canal from head-waters of the Saint Croix River to Lake Superior. JANUARY 25, 1875.-Referred to the Committee on Commerce and ordered to be printed. Whereas the Saint Croix and the Saint Louis Rivers form a portion of the boundaries between the States of Minnesota and Wisconsin; and whereas these rivers, not being wholly in either of said States, have been overlooked by our Senators and Representatives in Congress, no appropriations having been made by Congress, consequently there has been no legal survey or examination to prove the feasibility of the connecting of these waters by canal; and whereas the proximity of the navigable waters of the Saint Croix to the bay of Superior is such as to render it feasible and only a question of time when said waters will be connected by a caual; and whereas the great wheat-growing regions of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Dakota demand outlets or water-communications to the great lakes, this is deemed an important undertaking; and whereas the benefits which the Government would derive from the improvement thus contemplated, in shortening the distance for the transportation of Government troops and supplies from the Northwestern States, via Lake Superior, Saint Mary's River, and Lake Michigan, more than one thousand miles, thus saving an enormous annual expenditure to the Government, which would soon far exceed the amount required to connect the said waters by canal: Therefore be it Resolved by the senate, (the house concurring,) That our Senators and Representatives in Congress are hereby requested to use their best endeavors to obtain a preliminary survey of said projected route. Resolved, That the secretary of the State forward certified copies of these resolutions to each of our Senators and Representatives in Congress. STATE OF MINNESOTA, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE, Saint Paul, January 1875. I hereby certify that the foregoing is a copy of the original resolutions of the legislature of this State. [SEAL.] L. P. JENNISON, Secretary of State. THE PROPOSED NOMENCLATURE OF STREETS, PLACES, JANUARY 25, 1875.-Referred to the Committee on the District of Columbia and ordered to be printed. The present plan of designating the streets, places, and avenues of Washington, although having some merit over the system established when the city was laid out, is, nevertheless, as every citizen is aware, very imperfect and objectionable. Each street has its name four times repeated in the different sections of the city, so that we have, for instance, Eleventh street northeast, Eleventh street northwest, Eleventh street southeast, and Eleventh street southwest. A slight error or confusion of the cardinal points makes an error of from one square to perhaps three miles. These complicated and compound names are difficult to remember, as they have no very distinctive character. Their length, too, is very objectionable, being from a minimum of four syllables to a maximum of ten syllables, as in the case of "Penn-syl-va-ni-a av-e-nue north-west." "Twen-ty-sec-ond street north-west" contains seven syllables. The shortest, "A street north-west" contains four syllables. In the plan proposed, the average, including the word "street," is but 3 syllables, the names alone averaging but 2 syllables which completely designate the location and direction. The avenues are now, in some cases, too long. An object or occurring event on "Pennsylvania avenue," for example, may be near Georgetown, or it may be four miles away at the Eastern Branch, so that the names Pennsylvania avenue, Massachusetts avenue, Delaware avenue, &c., are very indefinite terms. The names presented are for the object of showing the system proposed rather than for the purpose of submitting a complete list for adoption. Changes for the better could doubtless be suggested in many cases, although much care and trouble has been taken to examine and select from a large number of lists. The plan proposed is briefly as follows: Streets wholly south of the Capitol have one syllable; west of the Capitol two syllables; north of the Capitol three syllables; east of the Capitol four syllables. The names are arranged alphabetically, commencing at the Capitol. Each street as laid out is divided into two streets by lines radiating from the Cap itol to the four cardinal points, in the same manner as done by the existing plan. The two portions of each street have the same initial letter and the same number of syllables. The second letter shows which end of the street is named, in this manner: If the second letter of the name pertains to the first half of the alphabet then this name belongs to the north or east end of the street. Or, in other words, the names are arranged alphabetically according to the natural order of the points of the compass, first the north or east end, second, the south or west end. By the proposed plan no name extends over more than half the length or breadth of the city, and, therefore, designates the locality with considerable precision. One name shows the exact location and direction without any affixes or prefixes. The name of each avenue stops at the cardinal lines; so that no "east," "west," "northeast," northwest," &c., need to be applied to the avenues. The three avenues cut in two by the grounds at the Executive Mansion have separate names west of Seventeenth street, as those portions are so much isolated as to be in fact separate and distinct avenues. The avenues are all named after States of the Union excepting the four avenues leading from the Capitol to the cardinal points. These have names of one, two, three, and four syllables, respectively, the same number as the names of the streets intersected by them. They also all commence with the lettter C. No streets or places are named after States. Three objections may be offered to the foregoing plan: 1st. That the names are not well chosen, or are not pleasant, euphonious, or significant. The answer is, that they are open for improvement. Some that seem new or odd, will, when familiarized by use, be all the more characteristic and useful. A very large number are the names of our most distinguished men, including nearly all the presidents. 2d. That names of four syllables are too long. The answer to that is that we are in the daily habit of using names of streets containing six or seven syllables, without great difficulty, and that all other systems proposed involve names of more than four syllables. We now have "Twen-tysec-ond north-west," six syllables. One plan proposes to reduce that to, say, "for-ty-sev-enth, north," five syllables. This plan to " Van Ness," two syllables. 3d. That this plan is not simple enough to be fully practical. The answer is, that the plan is, in its practical use, simply an alphabetical arran gement of names of every-day use. The arrangement may be considered as alphabetical according to the initial letters only. The distinction according to the second letter of the name may be disregarded in practical use, although very convenient. Nearly every person would distinguish the two ends of a street by the name alone, and the least familiarity with the names of streets would enable any one to recollect that Adams street was "north" and Ashland street was 66 south," "although the letters d and 8 would show it with certainty. The number of syllables may be easily remembered as follows: Commence on the south or sunny side of the Capitol with one syllable and go around, with the sun, one, two, three, four, meaning south, west, north, east. The same thing would be easily learned by experience as soon as the name of one street in each section should be known. For instance, a person knowing the location of Warren street to be west of the Capitol would likewise know that all streets having, like Warren, two syllables, were also west of the Capitol. |