The Illinois free trader. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1840-1841, 1841-01-22

Total amt Of work {; confines, Sale, 233 6l
But the work oflS40 was measuredup
to the first of November, and not to the
close oftho fiscal year, as usual. This was
done to conform the payments ofcstimatcs
to the instamcnls Of the negotiation for
money made on accounted the contractors.
Estimating the work performed in No
ycmhcr, at3l0l ,05l 81, which is near the
truth, and we have for the whole year
ls4O, 81 1898 50, making
The total amount Of work, to the
the lst Of the pres ntm5nh $4,000 600 GO
CONTINGENCIES FIR the came period &J3, lS5 80
Amount Of worl, and Contingencies -------------
from the beginning 425j,ieo %
A considerable part Of the contingencies
exhibited above, were expended for the
benefit Of the land and other property of
the canal, rather than the canal itself. Il
was explained in the last annual Report,
and may be usofuIly repeated, that TO tie
canal Office is attached lard Office by
law; and the expenses Of each, though
kept under appropriate and defmuye
heads, are aggregated under the genera.
name of "caulingcnc.cs." Tie eXamin-
ling, surveying, and protecting Of canal
lands, prosecuting ucspassers, laying out
towns, md selling lots, and other similar
items, belong properly to the land Office.
Besides these, there is 4 class OF conijn-
gancies that are profitable investments {;
such as houses for offices and storage,
and those built and sold to the commits
sioncr5, all of which, independent Of their
tendency to enhance the value of other
state property, will repay their cost when
no longer required for the use of the canal.
The sCcretary's report gives every Item,
and makes them amount to S17,795 l6,
which, deducted from the gross amount,
$3.50, 1856 80, leaves the true amount OF
canal contingencies at $l75,3 SO for
the whole five years, during which time
the actual amount of work performed was
SI,000,000. The proper contingencies,
therefore, have averaged, for five years,
less than four and half per cent. on the
work done. But during the last two
wears, when work was executed to the
amount of S2,1O3,G93 20-mor thar
twice as much as in tie other three-thC
proper contingencies were scarcely s75,
900, or about two and thrce-quarters pc
=. ccnt.-a fact which proves that the more
rapidly the work progresses the less vii
be the ultimate expenses of superlntend
ence and the same may be observed il
regard to interest paid on the cost of thu
canal, up to the time Of completion.
Nothing has yet transpired to rende
9 any of the plans of operation in the Icas
= degree questionable, neither will the cos
A he greater than was anticipated. The las
: approximate estimate of the chief engi
: neer, as may be seen by his valuable re
S port, is SO, 4sO,47s 6S, being Sl73,s5e
Y SO less than the original estimate of 1886
upon which all subsequent appropriation
J. have been based. The advanced state
II the work, particularly Of those part
' where the greatest difficulties were pre-
: sented--such as the passage Of the Sang'
:. naskoe swamp, the deep rock cutting, til
/. fertilization of the Kankakoe bluffs, an
II the steamboat channel and basin at tn
II tcrminaton-has enabled the engineer
:, make very close estimate of the ilni
e cost. which, if correct, is less than doub
IS the expense already incurred And tai
TT ing into consideration the large amount
d appropriate machinery and other OUTFIT
10 provided by contractors under great dIsa'
I. vantayes, and also that the two first yea