The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1847-07-23
FnR the FREE TRhptR.
The siiI" ois a. Michigan tRDni

FnR the FREE TRADER.
The sii,noi, a. Michigan snpni.
It is matter of extreme regret
that, after all the contumcly that H.
linois has encountered in her at
tempt to connect the great Fakes
with the waters of the Mississippi,
she should be subjected TO further
injury through the rapacity Of trus-
tees appointed to conduct the com
ple,ion of,he canal. 1t is peculiar
" Notifying that at this moment
when starving Europe is looking
with longing eyes towards the well
filled granerics of Illinois, that the
completion # the channel through
which that grain must reach market,
should be retarded by the miscon-
duet of those in charge of it; that
Illinois farmers who have cheerfully
paid their taxas in accordance with
the canal law, should, through the
nctiiciencies of trustees have their
grain decaying on their hands when
it should be selling at 50 per bushel
Of wheat and 81 for corn.
1t may be well to recount the
course Of events. In 1886 law
for the s,rucion Of the Illinois
and Michigan canal was passed,
constituting board of three com
missicners whose salaries were fix
ed as follows
SO. Tie actisg commissioner
shall be allowed salary of twelve
hundred dollars per annum, and the
rest Of the board shall each be allow
ed compensation Of three dollars
per day, while necessarily empiyrd
an The business Of the canal"
Under this board of commission
ers the work progressed until the
great revolution overlook the fnan-
ces Of the state in common with
those of the rest of the world. Up
to November lS44 $5,039,24S lad
been spent on the work and not one
mile was in operation yet, the state
debt was $l4,497, 472. This evil
IDENTITY could not he paid by taxation.
More than one third had been spent
upon work, useless, unless it could
be completed. In this state Of al
fairs it was proposed to place the
canal and its lands, worth some A.
100000, in the hands of three trus-
tees for the security of such persons
as would advance 81 100000 to
complete the work. On its COM
plet on the canal lands, which are
some of the finest in the state, to be
sold to reimburse the loan. In ac-
cordance with this plan a law was
passed in 1913, for the completion
under three trustees, one to be ap-
pointed by the state and two by the
subscribers to the loan. Sec. s OF
the law provides as follows:
"The said board of trustees Of the
Illinois and Michigan Canal, when
duly appointed and selected as alore-
said, shall apportion their respective
duties among themselves, and so far
as is not incompatible with this act,
shall possess and perform all the du-
ties conferred upon the board of
commissioners of the Illicois and
Michigan Canal by the act of 1886"
| The new law said nothing Of sala-
ries, but confirmed so much Of the old
law as was not Inconsistent with the
new law. Messrs. Ryan and Oak
ley labored for two years to carry
this law Into effect The bondhol-
ders clearly saw their interest'in its
success, and particularly David Lea
witt, Esq, President of the "Amcri-
can Exchange Bank" which was
holder of $4,000 of Illinois bonds,
that might rise to par under the law,
or remain utterly valueless without
! it. The institution over which Mr..
Levitt presided having so large a
stake in Illinois, took an active part
in the matter, and finally the bond
holders and the state agreed upon
terms which were laid down in the
law of 1915, amendatory of the act
of lS43. By this Illinois was to le-
Wy tax to pay small per cent
pro rata upon all the loans to re-
move the stain of reputation. The
state agreed to pay the preliminary
expenses of negotiation, shut no
further expense shall be incurred
by the state, by sending agents to
Europe or elsewhere in relation to
| the natter" The law of lS43 re-
| CURED the canal to be completed in
three years, but the amendment re-
moved that limit. This law belt t"
passed.to the satisfaction Of, y,
lbondholdars, The board Of tru ''''"
4 A.