, 1874-04-13
The Old System in the State
Of Illinois.
Projects Following lilo Construction
Of "Clint0r's Ditch"
The illinois & Michigan Canal and
Similar Works.
Inauguration Of Railway En-
terprises.
Plans Laid by the Illinois Legislature
of 1886.
Fifteen Millions Dollars Spent,
md Nothing to Show for 1t.


Fifteen Millions Dollars Spent,
md Nnthintr IN Show for IT.
Almost any OF us, active men Of the present.
like to compare our IDEAS, and tho accomplished
factB Of tho day, which aro milo-stoncs Of our
progross as State and people, with tho idoas
md expectations OF those who wont boforo lib On
tho road Of tho past. Do We suppose that mon
*Tho imnlgrnted to the State In Hoosier wagons,
who mndo "locations" wloro thoy listed, by
the sido Of groves or on tile open prairie, when
all the land waa FREQ to tho aottler, aud when but
q few southern counties ma1c up tho geograpli-
ical divisions Of tho Stnte,-had no conception
Of tho timo when the land would DO improved
aud spriullea with populous towns7 Nay.
vori,v. thov anna harc IN hu,1d towns md
sot.4s Ivy o"n'v o., ne.o !" nnlu to"ns AlAa
MAKO state' Wo Lear thoy had "great
expectations" and some engaged In creator
spoculatlons. Do no suppose TINT they run wild
OF nil roason, md laid out plans tint never
a,,,a H., s.a ~ n.a m.s ous p'4a -
laynG OF oitics on paper, digging canals with
t,oose-quill (for stool pcns had hardly come into
use in 1880, running raiway-liuea with q poncil,
t,,sa,,a, 40 1,ast sn.re to,.a t,,,+nna o,arn,
'ntough 1he Ease' "olo 1"c's 'uat Aao y enal"
md where then anu since much laughed At. But
wcro all these but tho baselcas fabric8 Of Dreams
nho tF1cks anu snatns OF H"lnulora anu Hpeoula-
eot't ~ 11oao uon " ,no ,'.'so tA'5 ~
drcst Hope, WHO N 1856 thought that illinois
needed Canals anu railroads to work up hor re-
sources "a few yoars BEFORE they thought that
sa1,as 4.a. shs,,nw ~ ann'a ~ Xxx v,ors -.
the futrre2 They invited much ridiculo unon
l1,or .oho,,os, o,,1 r. f,ot tlor .ot 80, ta.
t,,on,aa,roa " ia,a & 10y ,s -. ~ ios
tnenasol9es ssupenoouB 1oRe III what they called
SYSTEM OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
What sort Of joke have re, their descend
ants, in tho 5000 miles Of railroads wo have
bnilt oycr THAR visionary traclta II las haen =
gooa many years since haVo read Dickens
sketch Of tho iluaions and delusionH Of those
tlmes, and the greRt Illinois city in tue swamp.
4 am too busy now with writing to LOOK it up}
be rather relxoshing reading in Illinois for this
spring Of 1874.
Tho construction Of that carly and magnificent
enterprise Of internal improvement, the New
York Il Eric Cannl, called "Clintoni's Ditch, ii
which was tho great achievement Of tic
nation betwoon 1890 and 80, gave great
impetus to the projection OF similar un-
dertalsings in tho Middle and Western
statee. We had, Immediately following tho
Pennsylvania Canal, to link the City of Philadol-
pllia with tho upper waters OF the Ohio at Pitts
burgh also, the canal through the midst Of the
state Of Ohio, to connect tho water OF Lake Erie
with hor river at Portsmouth !; the projected
caual in Indiana to open short cut from the
takc to tho Wabash aud also another similar
plan to connect Lake Michigan at Chicago with
tho Illinois River. What
a GRAND CONCEPTION
were these singly,-and how much moro 80 in
group.-to connect tho great Lakes Of tho North,
with thoso noble branches of the " Father Of
Waters" Look at tho situation Oh
tho mapt Thore 49,, first, the State
Of Now York, cut in its whole length
BY, a water-line, a river, that deties
Nature in ita COURSES. through which the tralo
of Ill these LakeH Heoks TUG seaboard aud tho
great national trading port; ther4 another arti-
lcial river that tragerses mountains IN PonnByl~
Fania, to take tile trade OF tho graat river to an-
other inlalid san.port; then behold tho Otlcr
i!TEAt branches Of tim MiH9iEaiDnl which arrnnf