, 1863-06-02
QEllcu9o Iribu,te.
Report Of the Committee on
Statistics for the City Of
Chicago.
To be Submitted to the National
Canal Convention,

~<<~N-Se@N
Canal Convention,
At a meeting Of our citizens some time
since, Col. ]. " Foster, Geo. F. Rumscy,
Charles Walker, William McKindley, R. Nc
Chcsncy, William Bross, and John B. Preston,
we're appointed . Committee to collect statis-
tics as to the importance Of uniting the wa
ters Of the Mississippi with the Atlantic
Ocean By ship canal. That Committee hare
discharged the duties imposed upon them in
the shape Of i report which does great credit
to their discrimination and industry. The
report mikes pamphlet of forty-iye pages.
VT cannot hope to print the report complete
in our columns, bu. VIC give i full synopsis,
which einbodlcs the most stirring features Of
the very able document
The 1rpost opens with the statement that
two schemes for the accomplishment Of the
Object have bcen brought prominently before
the county, aid failed, only hy few votes,
to r. cciyc the sanction Of tue 37th Congress:
!. To u:akc q Elack-"ater navigation Of the Ill1-
noi= AID Dcs Primes rivers, aud to enlarge the
ptsscll Illinois and Michigan Cana! to euch dl;ncu-
eiolle sElil admit Of the pa--uge OF guaboats
and O. tie arGczt class Of Mississippi steamers, to
the Lakes
. 70 enlarge the locks Of the Eric and Osvcro
caEa1- Of New York. to such dimensions as shall
pas y, iEon.,laA gun1oat twenty-five feet wide
aid 10 stt: !0l.., ,lu drawing Lot lrEs than sig
feei aIiG six inches Of water.
Tie cost Of the first project would be
abcu, SIS, TIT ,00U; and The second abou. 3d.
eco.
The report then proceeds to give the physi-
-1{n
II embraces, between the Rocky Mountains
and the Allegghcnics, Il drainage Of about
1,240, ,0c0 square miles, Which is more than
one half Of the area Of the United States,
The narigable rivers in the same territory az
gregate Il length Of about S,9G7 miles. The
lakes which drain about one-third Of this i'm
mensc area are five in nuul1,er, and aggregate
q length Of 1,:;;55 miles, dropping into the St.
Lawrence liver. lne cnililucrGc Ut these Likes
teaches ali annual value Of SI50, ,0JO, ,000-
more than twice the ocean commerce Of the
whole country. It WIS carried on in 1862 BY
l,Cl3 ycssels, with ali aggregate Of 4l3,02j
tonnage, and Il value Of III, ,:3:5s, ,0J0.
The report then discus. e. the progress and
development Of this great territory, from the
esta5lis ish1nent Of the lir=t Colony, ut Marietta,
Ohio, II, 115S-just scyenty-tivn years ago
until 1SG0, giving many tables, figures, &c,
showing the increase Of population from 1900,
then Numbering 50,2I0 souls, and in 1850
numbering 9,UtS;, ,l43; the number Of acres Of Of
improved land; the increase in many OF the
agricultural products of the eight grain-grow-
ing States; the receipt Of certain products at
port Of Chicago in the. different years from
1863 to 1867, Nc.-al} of lhcln having an i'm.
l,ostant bearing nron the subjects Which the
Convention will b. called upon to discuss,
Then follow some important facts in regard
to the blockade Of the Mississippi; product
OF bleadstuiia for Importation; provision
trade; the corn crop, the product of which
is now not less than E',0o0, 600 bushels per
arnum; mineral resources; Lake Superior
perior, agg reeating, in ISL! l15, 73l tons; tic
salt BASIN Of :dchiya1,, tho product Of waich
III 1859 was l,2s0, 90 bushels, and the probable
product of which in 1868 will be 4,U09, 900
bushels, and then in folio wing years to an in
detiuitc amonnt; thu gold deposits of the
portation; The necessity Of additional out.
let's; the New York Canals: cost Of moving
the crops; capacity Of existing outlets, and
their entire insn1fciency; the multiplication
Of railroads III entirely inadequate relief;
Eastern dependence OH Western brcaistufIs;
foreign exploration Of breadstutfs, now
amounting to SIZE, 15o, 900, Including what
goes through Canada; tile material prosperity
Of New York; foreign demand for the sur
plus Of the Northwest; Continental sources
Of supply md their inadequacy; ability to
compete with foreign markets, &c, &c.-al1
going to show the vital necessity Of these
great works. These arc the commercial as.
pects Of the case.
The rcrort discusses Mt considerable length
the National aspects Of the case, and fret the
constitutional power Of Congress to do all
necessary acts to provide for the COMMON DE-
FENCES, and to PROMOTE TIE GENERAL VEL
FARE.
NATIONAL ASPECTS.
Mr. Jefferson announced, in 1901, as among
the leading objects Of the Constitution-'sthe
encouragement Of agriculture, and of COM
ncrcc, its land-maid" Mr. Madison uttered
q similar declaration In 1so9-.sto. pro-
mote, by authorized mems, improvements
friendly to agriculture, to n,anufac-
lures, and to e1tcrnol aud Internal com
mcrcc-" Albert Gallatin, one Of the most
clcar-headed statesman Of his time, when Sec
retary Of the Treasury, submitted an elaborate
report to the Sena'c on the Importance Of
constructing roads and canals By the Govern
nicnt, to facilitate personal and commercial
intercourse, and to unite tile people By a still
more int Innate community Of interests. "No
other single power Of Government can more cf-
1ectualls tend to strengthen and perpetuatethat
Union, which secures external independence,
domestic peace, and internal liberty" This
power las been frequently extended By Con
grcss in many instances, which are quoted By
tie report Says the report: "The commerce
which floats upon I river like the Mississippi,
draining half a continent; or upon the great
lakes, whose shore lines are longer than those
Of the sea-hoard States; Or is poured through
an artificial channel like the New York Canal,
is as mich national rs that which is waited
over tho Atlantic. When it is shown that
eight -nintls of the cereals are derived, not
from single State, but from group Of States
| and are moving, not to local market, but to
| the markets Of the world; furnishing to the
navigating interests the outward hound
freight, Us well as the return cargo, and con.
| ftrring q direct benefit on the national f1nan'
! ces; and when the proceeds Of these products
| arc Traced through all the r:lmifications O1
trade, it is evident that not simply the citizen
Of one State. but the Western producer, the
consumer at home and abroad, the navigator
! the importer, the consumer Of foreign fabrics
and the Government itsrlt, all have a direci
! interest in the result.
| 1t is q measure whose benefits arc not to bt
| circumscribcd by State lines, but one which
connects three distinct systems Of navigation
and renders them available for external aut
internal commerce, for national unity anl mil
itary dtfeuce.H
MILITARY ASPECTS.
The committee then proceeds to discuss th,
military aspects of these great Improvements
Great Britain occupies the north portion o
the continent, with d territory contcmpora
ncous with our own, stretching from tn
Atlantic to the Pacific. She has constructed
series Of short canals around the rapids Of th'
St. Lawrence, with locks Is feet wide and a0
feet long, and feet deep; and has connecte,
lakes Erie and Ontario By the Welland canal
with locks &c feet wide, l5o long, and II fee
deep, and capable Of ready enlargement. sh
las, also, constructed the Rideau canal, pro
fesscdly as 4 military work, by IN intcrio
route, between Montreal aud Kingston, will
locks IS tect wide and 1+2 21ong: and although
the channel is only - feet deep, Jet it il
capable cf passing dangerous vessel, whet
| bpoyed mp by lighters.
Sic has 4 formidable fortress and depot o
military and naval stores at Kingston, ol
Lake Ontario; another at Maiden, at th
mouth Of the Detroit River; and a third a
Pcnetanguishene on Georgian Bay: beside
torts more or less inprcgnable at Toronto Q
Niagara, Port Stanley, Windsor, aud Por
Surnia. Most Of these points are iutcrsecte'
by railways, by which large force can be n
ridly concentrated.
To oppose these formidable. preparations
$1rv 1n,3 %~&1 .tr1, 1.r1