Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1861-01-08

The estimated total cost Of our Public
Works at the tine Of their completion vas
SI4627, ,54979 The average annual eE-
pense, beyond the income for the last five
years, has been . fraction less than one
half Of one per cent on this cost We
have then this unfaTOFable exhibit We
have property that cost US about fifteen
millions ofdollars, and We find BY i've con-
sec6tiye years experience that, instead Of
its paying the infersstoh its cost, il Is act
ually running rs in debt ~
This is one view Of the case, Let Us look
at the other Many intelligent citizens urge
| that Public Works by a proper system Of
management, and graduatiohof tolls, can be
made not only self.sustaihing. but source Of
revenue to the State. There are many, and
| weightF reasons why thisshould be thorough
! u tested, before we abandon these costly aud
important works. Large investments have
been made on the line Of these works, as i5
claimed under an implied pledge on the part
of that State, that they should be keptiu per
/ manent condition for use. An abandonment
OF the canals, OF their sale without a sufficient
/ guaranty for their maintenance would be
ruinous TO the parties interested It would
depreeiate the value of property to an amount
exceeding the cost Of the canals .--
In 1928, Congress granted nearly half a
million Of acres Of land, between Dayton and
the mouth ofths Auglaizs river fer canal con
struction. This was upon the condition ex-
pressed in the dee of conveyance, that said
canals, when completed, shall forever remain
public highways for the use Of the Govern
ment Of the o. s., free from tolls or ether
charge whatever, for any properly Of the o.
s. or persons in their service passing through
the same" These lands were accepted BY
the State Of Ohio with this condition. They
have been sold, and the proceeds have been
applied to the purposes Ofthe grant II these
canals are sold, or pass cut Of the hands Of
the State, how IS this promise to be fulfilled
to the General Government
On most Of the canals, and especially on
the Muskingum Improvement there are out
standing leases Of water power by the State,
for ninety-nine years, renewable forever, and
in some Instances there are contracts in lien
of former grants, in perpeluity. These con-
tracts impose obligations on the State that
must be met. How shall these vested rights
be protected if the State dispose other interest
in these works4
It's urged that if the Canals are sold they
will intimately be controlled BY the Railroad
Corporations Of the State, the effect Of which
viii be to 30 diminish transportation Of the
canals az to result in their virtual abandon
ment; the effect Of which, in turn, would be
to create such monopoly in the railroads As
to materially increase the tariff Of transpOr-
tation, and conflict with the well established
policy of every commercial State to multiply
rather than to lessen the avenues Of trade
Even if the support Of canals shall impose q
small tax. It is worthy Of consideration Wheth-
/ er the incidental benefits Of the counties not
upon or adjacent thereto, by reason Of lesser
/ rates of transportation, might not more than
compensate for the tax
There are thirty-sIx counties in Ohio, on
or contiguous 70 Onr Public Works, leaving
6ty-two counties dependent mainly upon
rivers, lake OF railroads for their avenues 10
market. The canal counties are mainly those
that were without natural outlets to market
Il is instructive to note their present position
in regard to population and Weai-h. By the
census of 1860, the thirty-siX caIal counties
have q population Of l,l53.2sf; while the
ffty-two other counties have q population Of
/ I90, ls7. The thirty-six canal counties
have an aggregate Of s469, ,253, ,492 On the
tax list The ffly two other counties have
an aggregate ofs42O, ,26s,T ,T67.
As large portion Of this value in the
canal counties has arisen from the existence
of the canals, 50 their destruction would Sc
riously depreciate the same, and the baais Of
taxation being eorespondingly lessened, the
burdens Of the public debt and the ordinary
expenses Of the government would thus be
propOrtionally increased upon the reIns;7 s.
property of the State. Wheths-srrE ~. 2
be made on such terms as wiz; secure 10 e e