Burlington hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1845-185?, 1850-12-26
From the Iowa City Republican
DIfRllE NOR x

We are indebted tn JESSE WILLIAMS, ESQ.,, Sec
rotary OF the Board of Public orks. tn; the Be"-
Mil report of that Beard hiCh we have read with
some care ami ttea:ion. The ID, smoines flr,r i'm
being the only wnrk at internal imp ose-
m-nt the State has hands the report is nccessa-
riiy confined TO a statement "f the condition aid
progress of that warR. Its Management by the pre-
sent Board has been the subject OF newspaper dis
cuSsinn for the past year; the Cthcers have " en-
-chaIged with incompt tency and eNtravag nee; and
there be DOUBT that the people living within
the immediate ricini'y of the work, have not only
lost confidence in the Board OF Public Works, but
in the final completion of the improveme itself.
We looked 10 the report To satisfy the people
both points. That 1t will do So, we can scarcely
believe.
The report shows that the amount Of the grant
south Of Raccoon Forks, was 3ai ,S6S and 33ioo a.
ores. If which there have been sra io9l53 and ~
100 acres. bringing into the land Office enue OF
eli 1868 dollars and So cents: and leaving yet I'm
sold i52.7l5 and 6-l0o acres valued at Si90.s"3 3d.
The grant north of the Fork is estIm lted TO cot
tain SOC, 900 acres, which added 10 the Ini unseid
living south of the Forks, ikcs ,o52, an 81 90
acres. estimated at Sl.2i5.S93 So. These estimates
of value are made at the prices now fixed for The
lands Ivy iaw; when the probability is that all the
land yn. south of the Forks refuse lands, and
will not sell for any thing like 81 20 per acre. We
think the State can hardly rely upon the unsold
lands bringing mlioa Of dollars, and that In view
of the bounty land iaw proposed Ut the last session
OF Congress-, 1t is very uncertain how soon those
tn IN half Of the Ian so 9TH Of the Forks. ex-
pended, amounting I" Yearly fco hundred md fweire
thousand dollars. and yet nothing has been comrlet-
ed. And, in addition, the work is so deeply IN
debt, that many Of the contractors have thrown w
their contracts, and the President rf the Board has
been compelled to issue certificates at indebted
ness. But the amount "f these certificates "f IN.
dchtednesS iSsned and which have been thrown in
to circulation, is not stated in the report, unless
we are left to infer that it is $4,000. Why is
There is an attempt at concealment here which
| looks suspicious.
| The report seems iaborea TO make the most POS.
sihle capita out Of the decision Of secretary Ew
ing that the grant did not extend north Of the Rae
coon Forks. This was so efftctualiy used against
the wing party at the late August election that we
supposed il had ans wered its purpose-that the sons
| had become Old. This report states, that Attorte,
General Johnson'S opinion. reversing the defi i"r
| of Mr. Ewing. ma lie on the 18th day or last u
", and was communicated to the Board by Senator
D ,DGE on the 9Th Of November last. Now. we
| wish here to understand the B,ari d. they NEAR
to have il uniersto by the people. that Senators
| DoDGE and Jones never NOT I'D them at MIR John
| sons favorable opinion until the 9Th Of November
If So all the laudaton: in this report of the zeal
vigilance. and anxiety Of those gentlemen, are Ell
tirey out of place, and they merit oaly censure.-
We do not believe any such thing, nor viii the pro
pie believe it.. The truth is, doubt not, that th
bo ,rd promptly inf,t med nf the sal II Nj
| EwrSo's decisions; hut a state election was thei
pendn :; that decision was bel x used /" make vote
ag,inst the viii, Candidates by the political friend
Ivy whis administration would have knocked I'M
! wind out Of the sails Of Gov. Hempsf'nd. I'd omn
genus. The ambiguity in the report On this matter
can be accounted for only in this way and prove
that these gentlemen think less OF diseharsing the
public ,thsn the success ofneir par