New-York tribune., 1874-04-22
WASHINGTON.
,o,,cvuIE AND PORTLAND CANAL
BILL.
rx WHEELER AMENDMENT DEFEATED n
,,ry-rHE HISTORY or THE CANAL
-,o .pr. To ruR TRIBUES.l

.,,rxpnENr DEFEATED IN TIE
,ry-ruE HISTORY or THE CANAL
rny TELEGRAPH TO THE rRIBuSS'l
WASHINGTON April 21.-Messrs. Cohhi'us ""D
xso,nds were very badly beaten IN the ne""'0
aav IN their attempt to have the "heo'o, -a,ad "l
,.snt retained upon the LoulsVlhe anu aa
canal bill. The history Of this canal as !. We
related by Mr.. Scott in the speech WIN "Hion .,a
ooened the debate to-day, was very in'eioo'ie al,
~, Conclusive on the point that the canal roii,y
so,S tta limited States and that it is only
fS..s o.. Tho Government to assume control OF
"a. o,. n,onerty and relieve the immense traoe oi
.no Ohio River from the heavy tolls now le'leo
rnon il The Canal Company was chartered py 're
Iao;a,ure of Kentucky in 1926, and one OF tne pro-
-sions of its charter was that IT should not ioau
,oonov The capital stock as fixed by the orlg'hai
ohorter was 5000 OOO and this was increased rom
,in,o IN time until il was made large enough 10
enable the Company to complete the WORK 10 'nis
cantal stock the United States by authority Oh
Congress subscribed from time to time unth IL hau
acquired 29O2 shares out OF lO.OOO.
In 1881 and 1882 Congress was repeatedly urged 10
nnrehase the remaining stock and open the cana 10
free navigation but no act of the kind was at that
time passed In 1912 and 1874 the Legislature Oh
Kentucky passed acts authorizing the directors Oh
the COMPANY to institute policy by which all OF
the remaining stock shOuld be purchased IN trust
for the United States and ceding the jurisdiction OF
the canal TO the United States. The plan adopted
was To nav out of the tolls collected for each snare
of stock which was originally worth 500, SloO
extingushiug each share as it was purchased. lhls
plan was put into operation, and IN 1894 oDly wv
shares remained, which were extinguished during
the next year. In this way the United States be-
came the absolute owner of the canal and might
have assumed control had it deemed best; but the
Government preferred that the management of the
canal should remain in the hands of the trustees,
and as the charter required that the directors should
be shareholders five were allowed to retain one
share EACH The remaining 9,995 shares belonged to
the United States, and do now-29O2 of them being
held directly by the United States and those remain
ing held in trust for the Government.
That there was no question about the status of the
case is shown by the fact that III 1855 the Secretary
Of the Treasury directed improvements TO be made.
II was not until 1858 that anybody doubted that the
United States could take the property and manage
IT at any time. OF late years the directors have
been very tenacious and their anxiety is explained
by a single fact namely: The five directors are also
directors in savings bank in Louisville, in which
the moneys of the canal are deposited and these de-
pesits average nearly 100000. Besides this, the
directors vote themselves good salaries, both for
attending to the business of the canal and managing
the bank, besides large sums as extra compensa-
ton"
The object Of the Wheeler amendment was to post
pone the assumption of the control OF the cana
until further legislation in regard to jurisdiction
the canal is eeded by Kentucky, and this is the
amendment that was defeated in the Senate to-day
The vote stood 40 in the Affirmative TO in the mega
tive and the latter Messrs. ConlIiing Ed
munds Frelinghuysen, and Hamilton of Texas.