, 1874-03-28
Lee County Victorious Over
Whiteside.
The Latter Lays til Discontinue to CHI
caro-, antl Threatcns to "Pny
0ff'' Vhat City,
Probability thai tho Canal Question VIII Entor
Into tho Politics Of tho Filth and
Sixth Congressional Districts.

nofB. even ii tho t0eolutlonH auopLeQ hso l'efut
heurl Of alaewhoro nRai,. In fact. It is not too
much to sny tint. unloas otlor moro important
local matters ocoe1r to divert attention, tho foc-
iue ongenderel III and by this Convention will
txarciRe
4 CONSIDERABLE INFLUENCE
upon the politics OF this mud the adjoining Con-
greasioual District next fall. ia party-linos are
30 nearly obliteratod,. It will bo matter
Of moro vital Importance to tho Fifth
and Sixth Congressional Districts to 800
That tho Representatives choson are entirely
Bouud upon tho Canal question than upon tho
worn-out aogmas Of either politicnl party. And
tho teat OF eoununess is not necessarily TINT tito
candidates shall advocate tho construction Of
any canal at a1I,--mucl loss the particular canal
recommended IN Tho resolutions adopted by tho
Convention.
Tho reports Of tho Convention in the Chicago
lailios. just received, though III the main sulll-
ciently accurate, woro onlg ACCOUNTS Of tue
offlcfai action If tho Convention, and gavo no
i1ea OF tho
CURRENTS OF FEELING
which produced the results. It IL possible, too
thnt thoro ware two yiows Of tho unaumisy OF
tho Convention; honco sumo Of tho gossip OF
tho day will perhaps do something 10 show the
real complexion Of the different delegations.
In tho first place, the call for tito Convention
was purposcly rnado broad enough to securo
largo representation from many dif3erar,t POINTS;
and, while tho wording Of tho call thus brought
many there who had no special interest In tho
Rock ralaud t. Honnepin Canal. 1t was bright
thought to got them there, stun them with sta
tstics, and force them to voto as it was intended
they should. The Convention. in fact, proved
net strong enough to hold whale anu line
enough to catch minno".
Tho presence Of two PARTIES, as stated IN LIE
TRIBUNE diYpntches wns shawn at Oil carly hour,
tho localities whero the feeling pro and con was
highest being. Lee and Whitesido Counties re-
speedway. The oxact reason why
LEE COUNTY
should DO 80 enthusiastically in favor OF canal
which, by tho most favorable calculation, would
reduce by Quo. third tho water-powcr at Dixon,
tho principal city in tho county, was, that the
wore impressed will, the iaca tint they could
lotter afford to hare tho cheap transportation
ratca Which the csnnl would bring about tllan
they could afford to rctain their water-powor
without tho canal. Having this idea very strongly
placed in their minds. thoy woro quito prepared
TO sacrince one-thitd Of their powor-bo-
ca,,se thoy would bo benefited eyen then ? No,
inlced-hecause they looked to the welfare
Of tile great Northwest, and the good of the
9hole country" etc, ad lfb
On the othor hand, Why did
THE WHlTEs1DHRs
particularly the 1esid0nts Of ling, 30 bitterly
oppose tue canal? Well, the trouble VII b them
vas TINT they were aflaid tile canal would not
pay them as we'll as tho water-powor would
hence they proforred to keep the power. That
The affair on both sidoa was purely local, could
not bo Disguised from tho most casual observer,
though zach patty viewed the other in quiet Mt
arst, in hope TINT the other would mako tho first
attack.
sitlo delegation gathered in tho ladios parlor of
tho Earuer House, eud discussed the propr,otv
Of making bold strike to obtain possession Of
The temporary organization. AS Thomas Galt
Eaq., Mayor Of Rock lslnud, was to call the Con.
gention to order, howerer, it waa found that tt
wot,1d bo impossible to grab the temporary
Uhairma,snhip, aud the project WAS abandoned.
The first struggle, therefore, cano up over the
Committee on Credentials; AMI had not tho
Whitesido delegation wasted tlmo in fighting
tlio and other unimp0rtnnt prints, they might
havc had moro influence with tho Convention
later in tho tay.
Again, they made
HITTER wnAE01.H
over the motion to refer all resolutions 10 tho
Committee OIL Resolutions without foslnte. Tilo
lutoution OF tho mover was simply TO savo time
but le was misunderstood not only by tho men
Of Startling, hut by q number Of otltors, as ap~
peared later in tue day, When Waldo II. Potter
wished to offer resolution, and bud to fight foI
b
hare 1t may ho said that Tho Leo County deega-
lion frequently laid themselves open to the
charge Of trying to gag tho minority,
They "panHea Mr. Utloy's resolution to rofei
the resolutions to tic Committee without
slehato.--not because they wished to aavo time,
but because they were afraid that the other side
would introduce some resolution which would
knock all their cut-aud dried plans iuto cooked
hats. Hence they hurried the motion through
and gained the prestige Of hard.fongat suc: 4,
possession OF tho Chairman, which waB no trf!e-
Mhich gained
THE VICTORY FOR THE LEE COUNTY MEN.
After that, tho Ereut majority Of tho Conven.
they should. Tho defeated purity, desirout
Of finding some oxtranoous cause for thei1
1igcomNtnro, discovered dozen Chicago MGR
preaeut and act up tho cry Of "chicago did It I
In spilo Of tho good words and votcd Of Tho CHI
:ngo delegation in behalf OF tho Mississippi in,
sAeir petty cry, and went off with scowliug Wis
lgos, threatening to rcy Chicago off.
And how did they propose to do it? VOL!
..hero were two plans discussed among the White
opposed tho adoption Of tho resolution apkintt
aid for this cauRl. they did not, In nnY case
suggest anything better. Among themselves thu
subject was freely talked over, however, aud til,
two plans, tho adoption OF Which WAS to
LEAVE POOH CHICAGO OUT IN TIE COLD,
were M follows: First, the Rock R.vor was t.
be ,uado available for slack-water navigation, b,
series Of tlama aud locks, NJ fur NJ Wutortowt,
Wis. Here Wisconsin should take hold OF th
work, md mako the connection with Luke Win
nebago and Green 1iay. Steamers from til
A1isslsslppi could then reach Lake Michigan
without breaking bulk. Or, the Governmoll
ippi niycr nbove Roch Island, n
far MI Port BYRON. Tho groa
crops Of thB Northwest would thon ha son
to London, Livernool, and Now York, vin 81
Louis md Now Oiloaus, and tho pride Of Ch1
cAgo should DO humbled in the dust. Extondc
speeches wore made to chow that already grail
could be sont cheaper tint way than any othor
hut QUO OF tho atvocatoH of that routo Has con,
plete]y nonp!ussed, after mailing tho above state
inent, on being asked why tho grain didn't G
that way. Ho finally stammored out TINT Ii
supposed those cxtortiouato miIroa.lH wero t
hla1ne. lIa then Hat down suddenly, leaving hi
hearers III dnlht whether l!e meant that poopl
patronized tho railroads bocauso the latter wer
oxtortiounto, or because thoy preferred thu
modo OF transportation.
The Ionte already surveyed by the Gouerg
Government for tho canal wa Utmost c atra!gl
lpo from Honnop1n to Watortown; but another
oOnE nEsINAII Il pI.Ak
WIS that HugEeBted In tho Fulton JoHrM0
4Lo4 E,,tt nI,o In