The Davenport gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Scott Co., Iowa) 1841-185?, 1850-12-05
ALrkeD SANDERS, E0rTos.
THE FERRY MONOPOLY,

Thcre exists no, greater drawback up
on the prosperity Of Daveapor,,a more d's
tracing influence upon the sociabil''y y
the towns Of Davenport and Rock is'ano.
than the exclusive privilege graated 9 SIN
alo indiy dual Of ferrying between The twal
places. II is not only = legs'ized monop's
Is. but il is ono OF those monopoies OF n
cro,ser kind that appeal directly to these
interested for it's abatement.
The power Of granting ferry charters
should never be reposed in the Legislative
body. The corporations, or those 'mmed''
stely. interested, should be vested WIN 'ne
power Of deciding who shah hass the r'ch'
10 ferry, and not ,hnsr who are presume.
10 know nothing of The matter and are IN
.fiuenced BY the mnnber of names contained
upon petition, ~i,hoa, regard to the char
acter or location Of the signers. But rs
this power Is ves,ed in cur Legislature and
in this particular Instance petitions have
been sent that body signed BY those WI"
are but little, it afail. interested IN the sub
iecs, We appeal to ne members :" o. CIV
erned by these whose Interests are deeply
concerned in this matter. -.
Our Legislature is wholly Democrats !;
il is principle u that party, embossed up
on their creed. ssopposision 20 al' maaopo'
Ies.n We m;ehl hsve hope then, that
such monopoly ms this Of which We c'',n-
n,ain. which is taxing the citizens 81 tins
count, thousands Of dollars annnails.
would nalenger be tolerated, bat We kno"
the mower of money and the Influence oi
talent. aud agains, both Of these they have
10 contend.
Oar ci,izens have done something. hui
not enough Absorbed in railroad projects.
thew have MT, we fear. used effective mes
urss TO ward 1T blow aimed Al their vital
interests The tight 10 ferry, as granted
a single individual al this impnrtan. point.
has become a source Of continual com
plant. an in,ulerable nuisance; We de'ili'
If enc dozen names could be obtained here
of those favorable 10 its con,nn alton a. u
exists al present. The rate Of lerriase
charged hy the presen, sole incumbent #
the chartered privilege of conveying people
and teams 10 and #, m this place. Is erfor
s;oaory. We have to submit to i, zee are
the ones directly concerned, it is our IN
tercsi. that arc affected, il is our prnsperi-
" thai is TO be regarded. The people Of
other counties are net interested ia this
matter to any extent, it is the people OF our
own county VIII, should have the voice.
II ihey saw, lei, one man alone have the
privilege Of ferrsiog at this place, la him
charge ten cents for every passenger and
seventy-fi cents Tor each tenn he con-
reys across The river, ,hen-!et i, be 80,
BIZ, so long as men retain their present
sense Of justice and sutficien, for,i,uae I"
sec il enforced, tia, time will never arsiye.
We speak plainly. because our silence i
not purchasable where good is to be effected
Exclusive ferry privileges in Ohio have
been decided unconstitutional. whether
they are SO in this State we are not able e
say, but forged as was our Constitution il: .
Democratic furnace, VIC would suppose that
anything 50 opposite to The principles pre-,
fessed By that party, would no, find favor
in such an instrument. Mems principles
however, sometimes assume queer phases
and are strangely perverted By self-inter.
est. Many OF the old landmarks Of ,he
Democratic party have disappeared before
the advance Of civilization aud they are
fast, though silently adopting measures,
which earlier they were taught 10 oppose
as The prime principles Of the Whis party.
The cry Of maaopoly, which once sounded
ont against every company or organization
fcr whatever purpose effected, has bad
changes rung upon il uI'il ;; has los, i.s so-
nervousness and will no longer give %, ac-
cep'able tones. "A ciiaiige IS Sought to be
produced, and in mems desire for change
they frequently step beyond The bound,
that prudence would dictate; We should ~,
30 Surprised then il soimpor,ant a mates
as granting exclusive ferry privileges bad
been overlooked.
We hope ,ha, the charter Of the present
ferryman may MT he renewed, but th,,
that pri, ilege may be conferred where il
properly beiuugs, upon The town corpora
ton. II, however, his charter should be
renewed. We irus, that the Legislature may
reserve the power Of granting ferry priv
leges to other applicants, as has been done
BY the Legislature Of Illinois, aud not, in
their Democratic wisdom, tester such a M.
noppiy as has grown up among ps.