The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1879-01-25
/, thereby saving 1t from utter


suggested that the legislature could not he too
guarded against such sugarcoated pills rs the
resolution of Mr.. Fay as printed last week. He
said that resolution was Il fraud and Il snare,
and reminded him of the sick man who took
medicine and after he died discovered Il inedl-
cine that would have saved his life, He fur
thcr suggested that it was folly to consider the
canal PROVISION in the constitution ineffective
its trainers were no fools.
c. w. Armstrong said he had no antpathy
to the canal commissioners but when he found
by their report that they drew pay for 800 days
in the year and ran stores at the same tlme and
had their sons as clerks and rented rooms to
the board, something he thought was wrong.
AS for Mr.. j. o. Glover, he was always his
friend and he believed Mr. G.. trcd to do what
was right, but he was in the minority. The
act is all the work ON the canal Is done by MIR.
VIM Thomas, and its management all depends
upon him; still the commissioners are behind
the throne and hamper him, What is needed
is to put the canal in the hands Ola business
man who will run it on business principles. 1t
is all nonsense that it needs II men to manage
a business of 100000 year.
On motion the resolution was adopted
On motion of Barr the preamble reportedb by
the committee was adopted,
Mr.. William Thomas, superintendent of the
canal, then made few remarks in substance
as follows 1t seems to me there is thread
ofargument running through these discussions
that the remedy necessary is Il reduction of eX-
penses | have been working toward that end
for the last ; years and have succeeded in re-
ducing them some $4,000 per annum. But
this is not the question. The question is, what
can be done to save the canal? Some say If
YOU put it under Il different managemcntitw will
pay When the railroads are carrying grain
for , cents less per bushcl than the canal can
carry it, liar can the candL be Htt,tdgcd to com-
pete mitA the riiroads' A. long as the rebate
is not paid the boats can rum but rs long MS 1t
is paid the boats must stop-ior the rebate Is
Just low enough to shut out the boats from
competition TO show how it works: In the
spring of 1877 our collector at Mlnooka Land
ing cleared 10000 bushels of corn last
wear not Il bushc was cleared at that point
The warehouse was closed; the doors and win
dows nailed up, and the buyer purchasing at
the railroad and shipping by rail The trouble
is not in the management of the canal, but in
the want Of freight The board have but lately
been intOrmcd Of the trouble, ana have since
then been working hard to collect evidence
There is no doubt the rebates are paid but The
evidence thus far collected is not sufficient to
prove up Il case. 1t any ofyou can furnish
such evidence, the board would he very thank
full to get it. The people have been slow to
perceive the danger. Last summer in pollti
cal convention | called farmers attention TO
this trouble and he laughed at me, saying the
canal could never be dried up; and when the
constitution was adopted talked against this
canal provision, but no one paid any attention
TO me.
G. w. Armstrong-What effect has the state
system Of inspection Of grain on the canal?
Thomas-lt has robbed the canal of $4,000
every year since its adoption.
Vaughey-Are the commissioners to blame
for that?
1homds-l can't say, us the law applies only
to Chicago The grain is bought in the Win
ter as No. ,; in the spring it sottens a little
and the inspection calls it "rejected.' All the
time the same class Of gram goes in by rail as
NO.2 The consequence Is shippers send their
gram to Joliet where it is shipped at Chicago
No. 2 prices to n. Y. via the VI. G. r. r., all
of which comes ont of the canal The present
board came into office with an empty treasury
and the money the canal had was by the legls
lature spent in other places. Now they have
money in the treasury,
Bruce, Marscillcs-Could you not have ac
complishcd as much without the commission
crS?
IhomdS-Wc have saved some 100000 and
if we can get the freight we can save the canal
But if next year the railroad gets the trade
from Seneca to Peoria as last year it got it
from Seneca east, we shall not have Il dollar TO
open the canal in 1880. The whole thing is
here: the people must take an interest in and
help the canal and not fight it as they have in
the past Talk about enforcing the laws. |
have done that, and yethavc made in that way
my btterest enemies. The people must recOl
lcct that the canal belongs to them not to me.
Mr. McCulum, BrOokfeld put in Il strong
plea to the farmers to help the canal as a
wise financial move and because upon them,
and them alone, the canal depends for its sup
port.
The chair appointed hecommittce called tor
in the.2d resolution, to wit: VIM. Rcddck,
W. II. ii. Iloldridge, Elmer Baldwin, Joseph
Hart, G. w. Armstrong;. r. Shaver was ap-
pointed as La Sale county member ofcommit
tee appointed by the ID resolution.
H. l.. IIossacl, sr., said that years ago they
had fast packets on the canal these might be
revised and merchandise shipped in that way