The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1882-01-28
A RHxIHIscENCE OF 1851.

in which and by Whom anu ho" 'ho P"o'"so
of the charter of the Chicago and Rock Island
Railroad was effected IN the Illinois legisia-
ture of 1851, appeared recently in the Motifs
Iadependent, from the pen of p. A. Armstrong,
and wish has been expressed by some OF our
readers TO see it copied in the FREE TRADER
The relation, as far rs il goes, is In the man
no doubt correct, but the writer fails TO DO JUS
tice TO Mr.. John Hsc and the Hon. Jesse o.
Norton who then represented La Sale and
VIII counties in the House of Representatives,
and who displayed quite as much address ana
skill in engineering the bill through The mouse
as Raddlck and Matteson had shown IN gettihg
il tbrouph the Senate. He also vastly over
estimates the Importance of the opposition Oh
u. /. Hough, a sort of whppersnapper al the
time for Mr. Leavitt, one of the foreign canal
trustees. Vastly more formidable was the OPP
nos,,ion of exLieut. Gov. Wells, who at the
time was canal trustee on the part OF the STATE
and who was not only himself active ana ue
termlncd in his opposition, but was supposed
to WELD controlling influence over Governor
French The victory was rendered possible,
however, by the union of the friends OF the
Rock Island with those of the ONO ana MIS-
sissippl road against the state policy men,
who wanted all the railroads crossing the state
10 stop at Alton; and the winning card III the
house was the speech OF the Hon. Ninan W..
Edwards, whom Reddlck and lllse had
COACHED" with elaborate statistics in HutS
Verchants Nagaziae, showing that the New
York Central railroad, on the banks OF the
Erie canal so far from injuring the business
of that canal, had led to its large increase
The story about the part taken by Mrs, Gov
French was told at the time with good deal
OF glee, and may have been substantially true
HOW TIE PRESENT ROCK ISLAND ROAD
WAS CHARTERED.
About the time of the completion OF the IL
| linois ana Michigan canal a charter was grant
ed bv our State Legislature Tor the building OF
a railroad from La Sale to Rock Island, called
the ala Sale and Rock Island Il. X. Compa
nv" but as the country lying between those
two points WAS sparsely settled, the necessary
capiIal to build such railroad was very back
ward about coming forward, hence nothing
further than preliminary survey hau oeeh
done until 1851. Judge Douglas had, in the
meantime, with his remarkable foresight, seen
the importance of railroad connection be-
| tween Lake Michigan at Chicago ana ROCK
Island and Davenport on the Mississippi, and
had written from Washington City while in
the United States Senate to Norman b. Judd,
since deceased but then representing Cook
county IN oar State Senate, suggesting the pro.
priety of extending the charter OF the La Sale
and Rock Island railroad to Chicago. AT this
time the Illinois and Michigan canal was in
the hands of Messrs Leavitt, Swift, and a
State trustee, and held by them IN trust tor the
payment of the $l,600000 borrowed in Eng
| land to enable the State to complete said canal.
Hence the granting OF a railroad charter Tor
the building of a railroad from Chicago to
La Sale, running parallel with the canal
and near thereto, 1t was justly considered
antagonlstIc to the interest OF the canal and
was pronounced by Messrs. Leavitt and Swift
who represented the bUndholders of the Canal
| loan an act OF bad rllth on Ihe part of the
state represented in the general assembly. This
difficulty Senator Judd fully appreciated, and
moved very cautiously in the matter. AT that
time Hon. VIM. Reddick represented La Sale
| Bureau Livingston and Grundy counties In
the Senate, and the late Gov Matteson was in
the Senate from Will To these Senators Mr.
Judd communicated his design of introducing
an amendment to the La Sale and Rcck Is
land Railroad Company's charter, who looked
upon the subject iavorably Hence, upon a
Saturday evening, conference was held by
select few of those who were supposed to be
favorable to the scheme, at the room OF Sena
tor Judd at the old American House in Spring
field, to which the writer with Hon. Geo. w
Armstrong, were invited, The result of this
conference was the appointment of II commit
tee, consisting of Senators Judd, Reddick and
Matteson, to prepare a bill for the purpose OF
extending said charter ana railroad to Chica
90. OF this committee the writer was selected
clerk and on the following day Sunday
though 1t was Senator Judd Dictated | wrote
the charter of the Chicago and Rock ISLAND
Railroad Company, which was introduced
early on the following Monday, and rapidly
pressed on its passage through the Senate anc
I then through the House, notwithstanding tn,
T bitter opposition made thereto by Davic l.
, IIOugh, Esq, who was the local agent OF the
nonresident canal trustees. But after its pas
sage came the hardest tug of war" in obtain
ing the Governors approval Messrs, Leavit
and Swift, who represented the hondholders
made a personal appeal to Gov. French to vet,
; the bil-nay, demanded that it should be We
toed as a matter of right to the bondholders
whose security would be lessencd, If not dies
troyed, by the construction of a railroad run
ming parallel with the canal ITS whole distance
and we were assured by Mr.. llough that hi
; would veto it, baslng his statement upon tn'
= fact that he. had personally delivered lctte
r from Messrs. Leavitt and Swift to His Excel
lency and had secured from him the positive
assurance that he would veto the bill There
, upon another conference of the friends of thu
measure were held at the room occupied b,
G.. w. Armstrong and the writer, at the resi-
, dence of Mr.. John Daily, to devise some mean
of inducing the Governor to approve the bill
, This conference was gloomy one, anC man.
suggestions were made and speedily abandon
r ed as impractical. One, | remember, was t
threaten His Excellency with rejecting hi
official appointees; but these at that tim
+ amounted to nothing, tor we had no stat
boards nor Cook county justices of the pcac
. to be appointed by the Governor Senate
Radlick alUavs full of ready and practices