The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1871-12-04

where the fall in the river is great; thu
Ohio may become what I before stated
should be the aim Of those interested ir
the Ohio to make it q magnificent ship
canal. Into which, / repeat, it is my
conviction the river must be made, if il
Is to perform the part it is necessary ii
should, not only under the present de,
mands of trade, hat to meet the wants
Which the rapid development of the ma.
ton is bringing around, and the nations
requirements twenty years hence
What broad -thoughted statesman fully
; understanding the resources of this
nationi comprehending it's growth in the
past thirty years, and gazing from those
two stand points with almost prophetic
eve into the future, but will grasp the
idea that where nature has placed the
water communications of nation on SO
admirable scale as is this, the rulers of
the nation fall far short in their duty if
they do not in their legislation rise to
the magnitude Of it's future and improve
what nature has SO grandly began to a
capacity commensurate with its future
population and commerce.
AS to the cost of constructing this i'm
provement, here briefly sketched, some
few estimates are proper. Mr.. Roberts
made an estimate of the cost of eighty
open dams, with sluces and chptes, on
Mr.. Eaupfs plan, to be sS3,080, ,000.-
The expenses Of slackwatering the Allie
gheny has been estimated at 81, 100000
Mr. Morris estimates that dams, with
double locks, on the Ohio, will cost
S500,000 each. Six dams of this de-
scription are all that would, perhaps, be
required--costing S3,000,000 This
makes total of S7,000,000. But as the
cost in carrying the theory into practical
work, would, as is almost always the
the case, exceed the estimates. it may be
doubled, and the cost stated at S14, 900,
600. This is large sum; but is it any
more than the six States, whose shores
the Ohio washes, could well afford them
selves to pay, to create great ship Ca
nal or one thousand miles in length p
In that view is it not small sum for
such transportation facilities as the Ohio
would then furnish for the heavy freights
OF our inland commerce?
1t is hardly necessary to dwell upon
the magnitude of the inland water com
munications of this country to whichthe
Ohio is the key. The most superficial
examination of the map forces the
thought, what nation ever had so mag.
nilicent avenues Of internal water COM
munication, and what nation ever had
Legislators who so failed to understand
their value to the country,or understand
ing, failed 80 greatly in performing their
DUTY?
And are not the people themselves
much to blame in resting content that a
river whose navigation is so Immediately
vital to the daily business wants and
commercial intercourse of seven great
States, and hardly less so to the whole
Mississippi Valley, should virtually be
leeislated into insigni6cance by the tri-
fling appropriations Congress has so re
luctantly granted as all that its import
ance demanded? 1t is questionable if
the legislator is competent for his posi-
ton, who fails to perceive how import
ant the Ohio is to the whole Mississippi
Valley, and does not see in the develop
ment Of the country necessity that it
shall be made the capacious water high.
way, indicated Gy the term "ship canal"
What legislator can fail to perceive thst
not only his duty to his own generation,
but his greater duty to those who may
succeed him, eell for appropriations
commensurate with the interests inyov-
ed and what legislator will hesitate, if
in unity Of action OF all the States in
terested in the navigation of the Ohio
shall ask, in the name of their people,
that ten or fifteen million shall I've appro-
priated to make the Ohio what it should
be as a transportation facility for the
commerce of the country? 1t is net
only probable, bur certain, that the coti,i-
try would be benefited instead Of iniur-
ed, if fifteen million dollars less of the
national debt were paid for one year,and
the Ohio River made into the grand ship
canal it needs to become, and can and
should be.
To have the Ohio pass under the con-
troll Of corporation, in the form of
slackwater company, is Objectionable;
vet that would be better than that the
present condition of navigation should
continue. To have it improved by joint
participation of the States along its
shores is open to many objections, al
though as expressed in relation to a
slackwater company, that is better than
a continuation of the present condition
of the river To have it improved by
the General Government is, in all re-
spects,t best method The turning Of
the Ohio into water highway, equal to
a grand ship canal is a national work,
and worthy Of the power and resources
of the country; an achievement that
would reflect credit on any administra-
ton.
If the States interested will ask in one
united voice that fifteen millions Of the
revenues now collected be appropriated
to the Improvement OF the Ohio, and
that much less of the national debt paid
for one year. their demand would be lis
ened to- 1t is hardly susceptible of
doubt, that when Pennsylvania Ohio,
West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Hi
nois and Missouri-and why not New
York and Tennessee Join in an united
demand that such an appropriation be
made, that it will be refused--seconded,
as their request would be, in the minds
Of all intelligent Representatives in other
states, as to the justice of the demand,
its necessity to those States, ,and the ben
eft it will be to the whole country.
For Pennsylvania to ask such an ap-
preparation sin9lv would be useless -
For Pennsvlvania and Ohio combined to
10 so, would be equally futile; but if the
light or nine States Interested, uniting
heir sovereign power in one VOICE, shall
10 so,success would follow. The money
% asked, should not be appropriated in
sums, from year to year. but squarely,
decidedly, set aside from the revenues Of
the Country, at once, so that no future