The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1845-09-12

dered an alteration of the form of
subscription obviously necessary"
What was the change of circum-
stances here alluded to? No other
than "by the lapse of time" the Sc
son was so far gone before Gov. Da-
Wis arrived in London, that it was
found necessary to abandon the first
plan and try new one. What
caused this ''lapsc of time ?" The
Boston Committee, by inducing the
bondholders to delay the negotiation
and send for Gov. Davis. "Thc
lapse Of time" between the receipt of
the report, and the arrival Of Gov.
Davis in London, rendered our first
agreement nugatory, as | have here
toforc explained. This single sem
tencc of Messrs. Baring's letter is a
complete reply to Gov. Davis
windy cpistle, and an entire conGr-
nation of the charge | made against
Gov. Davis and his friends. | al
lodged that the delay consequent
upon sending for Gov. Davis caused
the defeat of the plan, and here is
the proof from the very letter which
he considers such high authority.
'The lapse oftime rendered a change
in the form of subscription obvious
ly necessary" | hope Gov. Davis
can now comprehend the truth Of
my charge against him. If he does
not, the public will.
His disingenuous, silly attempt to
pervcrt the meaning of my letter
and make it appear that had called
the bondholders 'tricksters" and
"cheaters," is unworthy of serious
notice. | said that he and his Bos-
ton friends had tricked and cheated
the state out of the means to finish
the canal. He cannot torture the
meaning of my letter, so as to apply
the remark, in any way, to the bond
holders. have on all occasions
spoken in favor of the bondhold-
ers and in my reports and speech
es in the Senate, have with the ut
most of my ability contcnded for
their rights. This subterfuge of
Gov. Davis, to awaken the preju-
dices of the bondholders against me
to draw off attention from himself.
is unworthy, unjust, and dishonest.
Gov. Davis next quotes from
Messrs. Baring's letter to show that
the 100000 were not subscribed.
and argues from this that the bond
holders were not bound to advance
the money, and that | would not
have procured it, even if he had not
been sent for. This is a very impor-
tant point !; in fact, it is the main
point in the controversy on this the
whole question tursn. If | show
that, to all intents and purposes, the
! B400, 900 were subscribed, then eve
ry candid man must admit that my
charges against the Boston Commit
tee and Gov. Davis are fully sustain
ed and that, but for their "intcr-
meddling," the canal would have
been commenced year and hall
ago.
Owing to the manner the subscri-
bers put down their names, it pro-
badly can never be accurately as
certained what sum was actually
subs cribed but | shall show from
all the circumstances, that we had
every reason to suppose, at the
time, that the 100000 were sub
scribcd.
Many objected to letting the pub
lie know the amount of unmarketa-
bic bonds held by them, and refused
to subscribe upon any particular
amount of bonds. To accommodate
these parties, it was agreed that Tic
subscription should run as follows
eve, the firm of A. & b., subscribe
l2E per cent. upon all the Illinois anc
Michigan canal stock controlled BY
us without stating the amount sub.
scribed. In private list the sun
actually subscribed was to be pu,
down. This list was never filed ur
by the subscribers; and the only re-
cord of the sums actually subscribed
is the first one, where no amounts
were actually put down by the sub.
scrlbcrs, but an estimate, or guess
rather, was made of the amount OF
bonds held by each subscriber, and
this amount put down by us in pencil
merely to enable us to form some
idea of the amount subscribed. We
had no means of learning the number
OF bonds held by any one subscriber
unless he chose to tell, and VIC de.
pended on what a man was reported
to hold. From this list Col. Oakle,
and myself supposed we had obtain
ed signatures to cover the required
sum Of S400, 900, with what we hat
procured in the United States, anc
returned home. Is it probable tina
we would both have returned, if W,
had not supposed that the required
subscription had been obtained
| ~