The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1882-03-30
THE CANAL.

Captain T. J. Robinson, treasurer of the
Hennepin canal executive committee, is in
receipt of advice from Washington. which
gives glowing account of the prospects
/ for the immediate passage Of the appropri
alton for that project.
The Dixon San thus relieves itself upon
the canal subject:
Shield, in his s'Sketches of the Irish Bar,
relates how Clare jury, in case of felon-
ious gallantry, acquitted the prisoner of the
capital charge, but found him guilty of "a
| greet ataadacency" We do not blame Ster-
| ling for objecting to the Hennepin Canal
project, if she believes to wed the lakes to
the Mississippi river would injure her With
such belief opposition is natural. But
! in the method CT her opposition she 10
guilty, at least, of "a great undacency.'
Sterling says that the reason she opposes
the canal project is because it viii damage
her water power, and when her congress
man, Major Hawk. tried to secure her
compensation, if damage is done, for this
attempt she abuses him like a pickpocket
She says adj the canal is intended for is
as a stink vent for Chicago that the
sewage of "that wicked city" may be
emptied into the Mississippi Now the fact
is that the Mississippisriver is one hundred
and fifteen feet higher at Rock Island than
the canal is at the Illinois river; the Miss
issippi at Rock Island is higher than the
lake at Chicago But facts make no diff
ference, and Sterling goes and gives
vent to it's great undacency." Sterling
says that Dixon organized and is the source
from which this canal project is urged for
ward, and then in the next breath implies
that Dixon is an impoverished town and
inhabited only by imbeciles.-She says that
the canal feeder at Dixon win consume 81
per cent. of the water in Rock River
while government engineers who have
made. the survey, and who alone
know the facts, agree that
it will not consume to exceed 10 per cent
and that after the canal is puddled and full
of water, an instrument would be necessary
to recognize the shrinkage of water at our
dam. And, bad as any, as an aggravating
assertion, indicating desperation, she says
that Jim Camp. returned from Washing
ton with white stove-pipe hat, when the
entire world knows that his new hat is like
republican politics-black. Sterling says
that the bill will never pass any way,
and then abuses every one who believes it
will, and raises money and sends
some of her leading citizens to
Washington to lobby against it. She
says, again, that Ben. Shaw favors
the canal bill, when it is welLknown
that he only pretends to but don't, for
when the Illinois canal is ceded to the gen
eral government, those overworked frauds,
the canal commissioners, go out of office
and may be forced to do something useful
Sterling uniformly calls the canal project
''the canal STEAL and this when the pro-
ject is urged by the Board of Trade of New
York, the Produce Exchange of New York, |
the Board of Trade of Buffalo, the Board
of Trade of Chicago, by seven Western
States, by their representatives in Congress,
by the Governor of Illinois, and by large |
meeting of Senators and Representatives |
Washington last Thursday evening, who |
passed resolutions declaring it to be the |
most beneficial scheme for the people and |
completed would make the greatest inter
nal water route in the world" When built |
it will save the people of the west on trans
portation millions of dollars every year |
The farmers favor it. Manufacturing and |
men favor it. The leading
journalists of the land favor it. Humble |
citizens favor it and our greatest statesmen
favor it. ButsStearling says the project is
q 'tstealp and thereby accuse of theft the
most honorable and the most honest men
in the land. In doing this, if Sterling is
not guilty of a criminal offense, she GER
trinity cannot dodge the courteous and just
verdict of great uadrceacy.