The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1847-09-19
The Canal-Delay I'm Its Proseeutaon-COm-
ulnlnta.
From the Illinois state Register ]

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[From the Illinois state Register
We hear fire. all quarters, much complaint In relation
TO the DELAY attending the prosecution of the work
on the Illinois aud Michigan canal These complaints
are not of We had cherished the nope That
ali foundgton them would soon be removed
our silence the subject We had hoped that those
to whom the management OF the canal had been GONNA
ed would soon begin do hesr duty but II half tnat Is
told of them may be believed there now but little rea
son to hope for better things at their hands
It is desirable the state to the people ana 10 the
bond oders to have the canal completed at as early
day and the great interests involved III
the enterprise should stimulate to the utmost exer-
tion those who the supervision of It The state
wants the which Is anticipated from IT, the peo
pie want outlet to market and the bondhoders want
the proceeds of their OF which they nave nad
the PROMISE and which they Trusted would not be WIN
held from them through official Encouragement, or
the loan Of sixteen hundred Thousand dollars agreed
to- and good faith and common honesty require that the
negotiation should be delay
The immediate parties to the arrangement have done
snsf DUTY he bond have paid their ;nsts
ment which falls due this month will be promptly met
WY, then h does the work progress SO slowly!
on the part State and part ofthe bond
holders The State trustee receives sa5OO per annur;
the other two receive $4,000 EACH The State
located on the line OF the canal and devotes to his
whole time and abilities The other two live thousand
miles away from the line-one in Washington other
in New York and seldom visit the line though
their there Is Indispensable to an efficient pro
secution of the work They have to be consulted bv
the state trustee in all doubt or dicutv and
this be done only by letters Hence mischievous
delays result from the epistolary consultations which
are Constantly going on between the president and To-
reign trustees There to be something wrong not
only in this mode of consultation carried great
detriment to the canal interest but in the disparity
salaries between the officer who performs nearly all The
labor, and those who do comparatively nothing The
workee gets 5cO whilst those in the enjoymentof the
sinecures receive $4,000 each The people Of Illinois may
possibly consent to pay this to public servants who
that small opposition to it will be raised before such
an outrage Will bs committed Our Governor will I'M
der the new constitution, get but 81 500 per annum
though his duties and labors arduous those of
any Governor In the Union Our representatives in
the General Assembly will get but two dollars per
day for limited period, after which they are to
get but one dollar per day The spirit of retrench-
ment and economy, that seems to have pervaded the
constitutional convention may have spread among the
people, though frank to confess that hope that
will not them far it has the convention
We are AZ willing as any one can be- that public officers
should be well paid, but 500 per annum for doing
thing seems to bs rather high salary for
Illinois Such salary never will be paid Not long
the trustees against the course of things the canal
and they pledged themselves that further of
complaint should occur but these pledges have not
been regarded They continue to claim the same saa-
ries, and to neglect the work.
large corps of engineers and agents kept in
poy upon the canal at high salaries; large number
in fact as was required when the whole Ee being
worked. AS the canal verges towards completion the
number of superntendents officers and
may be diminished. We have been informed that the
business associations OF the chief engineer of such
character as to make it to his interest to delay the work
long possible. He stated last winter that the de-
lay occasioned by want of hands, and when these
were procured in New York. by Sol Oakley, the chief
engineer refused them employment alleging that there
were hands enough. The work on part of the line in
Cook county was, for some time, suspended in conse
quence of strike among the hands for advance of
only twelve and half cents day which had better
have been paid until cheaper hands could have been
cured, than TO have let the work stop entirely.
The State trustee to be powerless The secre-
tary the board all the authority vested in the
board controls everything despite the
pretensons of the State trustee Thus that
the whole work is thrown into the hands OF subordi
nates whose interest 1t is to prolong and proract the
work, If possible forever.
Another important fact is worthy Of mention. 1t is
known that large portion of land the line of canal is
held by specuators. By some strange oversight In
framing the canal law, the State prohibited from
selling her lands along the lne until three months after
the completion Of the canal thus giving others-the
specuators-an entire monopoly of the market to the
exclusion Of the State A law was passed last winter
mitigating this obnoxious provision, by allowing the
State to sell her lands before the completion of the canal
and consequently the State Three gentlemen, well
in the State appointed by the judges of the
circuit courts, to appraise these lands Messrs Matte
son. of viii county, Reddick Of La Sale, and F. c. Sher
trustees of the bondholiers Why was this We're
they under the influence of the SPECTATORS the eng
neer the secretaries the hangerson generally of the
canal establishment?
time. We have forborne, for long time to touch it,
because We hoped for reformation in the premises We
shall take 1t up again.
In conclusion we will add that the canal might have
officers done their duty Now it will not be ready
for boats before next September. A whole season Of
profitable business will thus be lost The public
will be diminished, the bondholders will lie out Of
their dividends, and the people will be deprived Of
outlet to market.