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


them TO invite him TO repair to
London in the steamer which was to
sail the first of May. But | could
not" he says, "comply on so short a
notice" How short was this no.
tice? Gov. Davis admits in another
part of his letter that he was spoken
TO upon the subject of going to Lon
don on the last of February, but on
the first of May could not 90 on so
short notice. Two months were
not time enough for preparations,
says this modest political aspirant.
must again ask Gov. Davis, wheth-
or it was the want of time or the APP
preaching whig convention which
was to be held at Baltimore on the
first of May, at which he expected
to be nominated for the vice presi-
dency, that prevented bis going at
that time? Can he, dare he deny that
he made the negotiation wait on his
own selfish schemes of ambition ? If
he had been nominated for the vice
presidency, as he expected to he, he
would not have gone but after his
vaulting ambition had o'erlcapcd
itself, he was ready to take the next
best thing that Offended.
In answer to my charge that the
officious intcrmcddling of Mr.. Ward
and his friends prevented the bond
holders from advancing the money,
Gov. Davis asks, " in what way did
Mr.. Ward and his friends intermed-
die so as to produce such grievouS
result ?" lie feigns great ignorance
upon this point, and pretends not to
understand how delay could affect
the agreement. No one knew bet
ter than Gov. Davis, that the sue
cess of the plan depended entirely
upon its being carried into effect
early in the spring of 1914. The
very nature of the agreement rem
dered it necessary and when the
contract was entered into, it was
well understood by all parties, that
to be eif'ectual it must go into opera
ton with as little delay as possible.
We had made compromise with
the bondholders I; they agreeing to
advance 100000 to be expended
upon the canal prior to the meeting
of the Legislature ; we agreeing, on
behalf of the state, that, upon such
expenditure being made, the legis-
laturc should levy tax for the pay
ment of portion Of the interest. As
| stated in my former letter; we
knew if we could eXpend that
amount of money upon the canal
during the past year, it would give
such an impetus to all kinds of bu-
siness, it would so increase the
price of produce, SO enhance the
value Of property, and so awaken
the energies, and revive the hopes
of our citizens, that at the coming
session ofthc Legislature, they would
checrfully submit to moderate
tax. The bondholders would then
advance the remainder Of the money
to complete the canal; the canal
f, property would be made available,
and our ability to meet our obliga-
tons would be no longer doubted.
But, to be availing, the plan must
be put in execution in time to have
the $l0Oo,0o0 expended before the
meeting of the Legislature. This
was prevented by the Boston Com
mittee advising the bondholderS to
delay the negotiation to send for
Gov. Davis. The season was so
for gone before he reached London,
that it was found impossible to ex-
pend any considerable portion of
the 100000 before the meeting of
the Legislature, and the plan was
therefore abandoned; and an at
tempt made to recover the advan-
tagc we had lost by the delay con u.
sequcnt on sending for Gov. Davis,
by obtaining full subscription for
the 81, 100000, TO lay before the
Legislature, and abandoning all idea
of expanding any money upon the
canal until after the meeting of the
legislature. 1t was useless to cx-
poet the legislature would sanction
the agreement unless the 100000
were expended before they met.
But when"thc lapse of timc"rendcr-
ed it impossible to make this eXpcnd-
iturc before their meeting, the only
chance left was, to try and obtain a
full subscription and guarantee
from the bondholders that they
would advance the whole $1,000
600 if the legislature would levy a
tax. Had Gov. Davis and his
friends not mtcrfcrcd, the bondhold-
crs would have advanced the money
upon the receipt of the report early
in March, which would have given
time enough to expcnd the 100000
before the meeting ofthc legislature,
and enabled us to complete the first
nrronuement which woul1 have en-