Maumee express. [volume] (Maumee City, Ohio) 1837-1838, 1837-06-10

State. 1t is designed to run from this
point up the valley Of the Maumee to
point six miles above Defiance, in Will
fiams county, where it forms junction
with the Miami Canal, extending through
the rich valley Of the Miami to Cincin-
natl. From this point the Wabash and
Erie Canal is continued by the State Of
Ohio to the Indiana State line, from
whence, by the latter state, it is carried
on through the richest portions Of her
territory, to the Wabash river. So
much Of the work, as lies within the State
of Ohio, is to be completed sixty feet
wide and six feet deep; the largest size
of canal ever yet etconstructed in the Uni
ted States. A single glance at the map
will show the importance Of the work.
BY its junction with the Miami canal, it
will form the second line of navigable
canal running through the State, and
connecting the waters Of Lake Erie with
those of the Ohio river; while the main
line will serve to connect also the wa
ters of the lake with the Wabash river;
drawing within our borders the trade of
some OF the richest and most fertile val
leys in the world. The e-construction Of
this work was originally undertaken by
the State Of Indiana ;-and to aid it, the
General Government made donation Of
a large amount of the public clands. These
lands lying within the State Of Ohio, be-
ing five miles in width on each side of
the Maumee river, were ceded by the
State of Indiana to the State of Ohio, if
the latter would undertake the compile
ton of so much of the work as lay with
in her limits. This the State very read
ily accepted; and the work is now pro-
+ crossing with great rapidity under the
superintendent of the Board of Public
Works. One sale of these lands has ta-
ken place and though much censure has
been cast upon our late worthy Cover
nor, Gen. Lucas, for his haste in bringing
these lands into market last fall, subse-
! quent experience has proven it one OF the
wisest acts of his administration. The
prices at which the lands sold were far
beyond that which they would bring,
now that the speculative bubble IS burst,
while the work itself, dependant npon
these sales, has been advanced at least
E one year in its progress.
But to return from this digression.-
Manhattan, like all other points in this
country. which has grown up merely te
feed speculation, is now entirely pros
trate. Indeed, / do not see how any
!, great amount of business can be done
! save such as comes from the river
! These cities have been cut out of the
! wilderness, and their growth has beer
: forced, while no settlement Of the coun.
try has accompanied them. They must
. now, and for many years depend upon
! their own resources and though these
may sustain them, yet am rather skep-
tical. There can be no doubt that this
! country has all to undergo powerful
revolution, the seeds of which have been
sown in the wild spirit Of adventure, and
the harvest will come in the general
crush upon the credit system upon which
they have been built, and the explosion
of the bubble upon which fortunes have
been reared with f" a rapidity that would
eclipse the widest dreams of oriental
story" h'is strange to see the infatua-
\ tion-madness which men talk OF
the value Of property at these points.
Town lots, with the native forest still
upon them, are held as high as property
on Main st. in Lancaster, and lands at
one hundred to two hundred dollars per
acre, from which not stick has been cut.
And yet, strange to say, men have been
found, and are yet found, to engage in
these-so neutrality-suspicious.. | pas
sed day at Manhattan, where | found
a very good house, and had written this
sketch in the midst of the ennui in which
l dragged out that period. | doubt if |
had not spoken somewhat more harshly
of the city. AS it is, l feel constrained
to say, that it has many and fine advan-
. tages; andn when its proprietors shall
cease to stand in theirgewn light=1when
property shall come downtoVits correct
value, and the great public work Of
which l have spoken be completed, it
will become flourishing business place
but not till then. Reckless men may
adventure-blind men may step into pits
which others have dug to amass them
selves fortunes-but such are not the
sure foundation OF greatness,ynor the
certain indices Of her prosperity.
! From the philadelpbia Snortsman.