The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1879-01-04
THE CANAL MEETING.

the proceedings of the canal meeting. The
turn out demonstrated that such il the interest
felt in the subject that with favorable weather
no building in Ottawa would have held tnc
assembly which tins call for Thursdays meet
ing would have attracted
As it was the proceedings were sufficiently
interesting. The question at issue was thor
oughly understood 10y the meeting and Its i'm
portance appreciated Shall the railroads he
permitted TO dry up the canal: That they are
full bent on dong so was evident, Conscious
that our local roads are unable ta affect tn,
canal by an honorable competitor, they have
entered for the purpose into grand comhlha
ton with the great trunk lines TO the cas'.
Thus the canal can carry corn from Peru To
Chicago for 5 cts. bushe No railroad can
do SO and live, and certainly the Illinois Cen
trail and the G., r. /. Il =. roads would not
undertake 10 do 50, could they even do II legally
But the thing is managed in this way. The
III. Central or Rock Island road say to .hil
per, will take your corn to Chicago for d or
cents. The shipper says the canal carries
for cents. VERY well" says the railroad Of.
icial, you ship by us, and when your corn
gets to Chicago, the eastern roads there will
pay you back cents a bushel on your corn 50
that YOU see 1t will cost you but or cts H.
ship by us In fact we will allow you the re-.
bate at once and collect it from the eastern
roads ourselves"
Illinois has a law against unjust discrimina
tons, but as Mr. Kingman suggested, it would
be hard to make case against II railroad fol
charging too little. Besides our local railroads
will say, 1--WE have nothing to do with these
rebates. They are paid by the eastern roads.
We charge according to the Illinois schedule.
You can't prosecute us" This we know is II
mere dodge; but suppose our courts even sa,
80, how can we prove that the shippers get
these rebates, when the shippers refuse TO give
evidence on the subject. AS Mr.. kingman
again remarked on Thursday, How are We To
get witnesses to prove this unjust discrimna'
ton against the canal."
A law recently passed the lower house Of
congress which forbids the payment by the
eastern roads of exactly the rebates complain.
cd of, and we are surprised no mention Of that
bill was made at the meeting. The bill is
now pending IN tn senate and strong ex-
preston in Its favor here might aid its passage
through that body. Yet that Till, though made
II law, would probably fail to overcome the
main difficulty referred to hy Mr. klngman-
to wit, the finding Of witnesses to prove that
rebates have been paid
There il some force in the denial, in the
resolution prepared by Mr.. Bull that the con,
stitutional provision that 1.-THE legislature shall
never loan the credit Of the state or make aI1-
preparations in aid of railroads or canals, can
have such application as would prevent the
many millions in value. Yet absurd rs such
Il construction appears on its face, there is no
doubt, from what Mr.. Hart said, that TINT is
exactly what the constitutional amendment
never look to the Legislature tor pecuniary aid,
The safety oi the canal must be sought in
other directions The suggestion of Mr.. GLOW
er is practical one, that the canal board
should at least be placed in such position Ms
to enable 1t to make all the property belonging
to the canal available for its protection. Il
owns much valuable water power; it owns n
strip Of land on the lake shore in Chicago
worth several millions, 1t owns the Henry ant
Copperas Creek dams, &c. Yet really it can
dispose OF none Of this property to save the Gu
nal, should It become necessary. Again. there
IS no doubt, IN Mr. G. suggested, that though
the legislature may hc unwilling to vote the
canal any money, it can pass lawsto put stop
to this rebate business and unjust discrlmlna-
ton against the canal We can demand /, at
of our representatives, and if We back our dc.
mand with united, determined front the,
Will heed us.
We shall only add, that the fight of whlcl
the meeting on Thursday was such an auspi.
cious beginning need only e vigorously KEEP
up TO ultimately win. A vast region outside
of Illinois is more deeply interested in our ca.
nal than Illinois Itself. The drying up of ON
canal means "A loss Of from five to ten cts ON
every bushe OF corn raised in the states OF
Iowa, Nebraska, Dacolah, Minnesota, &c
The whole Northwest has n deep interest IN
this ditch, and though they may he Ignorant
of the fact or indifferent 10 it now, they will
wake up when the railroads begin to squeeze
them, and when the great northwest does wax,
up, il will be as n giant refreshed ANA hrior,
which even the mighty railroad combinations
with its 100000 will cover. The railroad,
which have been secretly engineering thi.
| fight for the last eight or Ten years, and imag
ming their final triumph WAS close at hand
will find that in point of fact the fight is hardly
yet begun!
The eminent Catholic prclatr, Archbishop
Purcell, of Cincinnati is in trouble and n K,
the Pope 10 let him resign aud rellre from Ia,
office. II seems To have been the custom in