The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1851-03-15
Ways in which Farmers will be bene tie 4
by The River Improvement


complaint against Ottawa, that Peru pays better
prices for produce than orr dealers pay Many
who make tue complaint. however, never take the
trouble 10 examine why it Is 50, The matter j.
vory simple In tire first place, no more toll is
paid on produce from Fcru to Chicago than from
Ottawa 10 Chicago, 50 that although = liitle nea-
rer We possess Ieaily no advantage over Peru so
Ear "a the eastern market is concerned While as
to the Southern market, Peru possesses this inn
por,anl advantage over Ottawa that Fsru can
ship at once by steamboat, vhlc Ottawa, before
she can reach steamboat; navigation must frt pay
! for freight, tol!s, aud shipping to Peru. Now
when it Is rcculoctcd that always for sovIe arti
tles ard frequently for all common articles Of pro
( duce, the Southern is better then the eastern
market, it Is easy to see what an oncrous tax the
people IN this region annra.lypay because there is
not steamboat navigation to Ottawa During the
( last year most OF the wheat corn, oats &c, ship
ped from Ottawa went south WcilaYs not the
figures before us to show haw many bushels of
grain Of all kinds were shirrcd from Ottawa dur.
my ne year, bu: from The quantity now IN store
! here, We kaON tUls 10000 bushels IS low est
mate. The additional cost Of shipping to Peru
anlFs-hIpping there i, about CT. . lu,Lel; 50
Ilmt during the last year our farmers have actual
( q pail $1,000 because the river was not mprov
ed to Ottawa This is about three tones the am
! cunt I'VE leave ont what Ottawa pays of the tax
our farmers are asked TO pay towards the i'm.
proyemcnt Of them
This Is not mere assertion. Every farmer
knows it to he true We more than once last
summer saw farmers come in with samples Of
wheat in their pockets for whiyhour dealers would
offer them . and cts less than they would say
had been offered them in Peru They would 20
away grumbling at the niggardliness our dealers,
but sensible men knew very well that the same
mems money WIS buying the produce in both pla.
crs and that the real cause OF the difference "a price
was the cent for storage, lccnt for freight, cent
for toll, and cen; ior shipping to Peru.
Mr. Ranioul, in bis speech before the members
Of the legislature produced facts and figures to
show that for Illinois the Southern must, with
occasional interruptions permanently continue the
better market 1t then becomes question which
farmers are called upon at once to decide, wheth-
or they will permanently pay hcary tax in the
shape Of canal charges or whether they will pay
a much lighter tax to have the river improved
> Farmers in this region will be benefited by
the increased value the river Improvement will
give to their farms
1t isa mistaken notion that the merchants, me
chanics, lawyers, hotel keepers, &c, IN town are
to be much benefited By this improvement. To
all these increase Of business bruss but increase
of competition, higher rents, and dcarer proyi-
sions. But TO the broad acres Of the farmer an
Increase in value is q matter tina; has bottom to
tit Is something substantial The farmer that
raises one thousand bushels Of grain year is en-
riched u., $50 more year by beng brought by
Ct. per buAhcl neare. 10 market sud rs farm
ing property Is worth 10 per cent. pei annum,
there Is at once m addition Of $500 to the value
othis farm. This is new capital, with which the
farmer can make improvements, enlarge his bust
ness, aud make his increased capital yield him iu-
terest and compound interest.
Then, the growth Of Ottawa will add to the va
luc Of the farms that make it their market. The
rapid growth Of town opens in the same ratio
new mouths to be fed but it does not increase in
the same ratio the capacity of the farms around
town to feed them. We can rcccllcct very well
when butter was sold in Ottawa for cts. eggs
for cts, and vegetables were given away, now
We ara glad to get butter for n shilling eggs for
3 and cts, and vegetables at any price Yet the
farmer paid more for salt and calico then than he
pays now the change has been wrought by the
growth Of Oitawa-Jy the demand the new thou
sands olmouths 10 be fed has created for such ar
tclcs. And tits increase goes on pdyi passu with
the growth Of the town. When Ottawa shall
have 10000 inhabitants we will be glad to pay
| 5 and 20 cts. for butter and when Ottawa shall
have 10000 land it will be in less than 20 years.
many Of our farmers who now pinch their dimes
SO closely as to make the eagle squeal, will wake
up and find that solely by the growth Of Ottawa
and no thanks to them, their liberalty, or their
own cxcrtion- OF ingenuity, they have been trans
formed into the owners Of huge estates and Of
such punccly mansions as may be seen on the out
skirts OF Rochester, ST. Louis Lancaster, dc.
But our farmers may depend upon it there will
be no two such cities built up in La Sale county
Ottawa or Peru must be eventually the point, and
Nhenon gets once fairly the start, then farewell
"A long flrewell--to all the greatness of the
other We regard the river Improvement as the
very turning point Of Otawa-we must not, dare
not think Of giving itup Delay even is danger.
ous, but anything like lasting defeat would be
RUN.
1t is vcry evident, that, rs n general thing
but little at!sntion is paid to the character Of
school houses Gre2gs School Report
Chwdcter} That's bad surely, for some of
them are the most morally depravcd Of any in.
,t:utions have met with Aud without joking
they ARE enough 10 corrupt the morals of the