Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-12-17

and. If need be. left TO cut their own channel
during the next flooding of the swamp,
which takes place every winter or spring.
With fall of nearly twelve feet to the
mile so great volume Of water would not
be long in forming sufficient channel in
the sandy, porous soil of that section and
would present along its course opportun-
itv for the location of factories and mills
near unbroken forests of timber unriyaled
in the country. The vicinity of the At
lantic with the splendid land-locked har-
Dor of st. Mary's opened up to the great
timber region of OkefnOkee through a
nayigable river completes the facilities
for draining the swamps, settling up the
lands and marketing the vast quantities
Of lumber that must reward the erection
OF sawmills in that region.
The reason why capitalists have not
heretofore attempted to develop this great
scheme is. perhaps, to be found in the fact
that its privileges have long been bound
up IN charter granted by the State OF
Georgia. for the construction of the Steam
boat and Barge Canal alluded to, and to
which enterprise all the unsurveyed
lands of the State in OkefinOkee We're
granted that could be drained under the
charter. That instrument, however, will
expire by its own limitation in year or
two more, and it is upon this event the
purchasing syndicate bases its hope of
acquiring the property. As an attempt
has already been made to induce the Leg
islature to annul the charter, it is prOba-
bic that the syndicate will oppose the eff
fort to be made for its renewal, in
the hope of being able to control
the vast body of lands in the swamp
free from the obligation to construct the
barge canal Success in the undertaking
would place them in possession of the
600. 600 acres of land on the Georgia side
of the swamp, at the nominal cost OF
500, 600, while the entire area can proba-
ably be drained at cost not exceeding
S2j.O 900. This would be a splendid trade
for the syndicate, riyaling some of the
most brilliant speculatiOns of the rail-
road kings. Six hundred thousand acres
Of land, within ten miles of tide water,
on the st. Mary's river, well-drained, and
most of it six to eight feet deep in de-
cayed vegetable matter (GillmOre's Re
port. should be worth at least s. per
acre. and this would foot up $4,000, 900.
These facts, when properly set before the
people Of the State, will probable suggest
to the syndicate the Dropriety of re-
linquishing its design, or to raise its bid
to approximate at least 100000.
1t will doubtless be argued before the
Legislature that the canal charter should
! not be renewed because the first section
| of the work has not been completed, and
that there is no apparent prospect of its
completion within the time prescribed by
/ the charter: but it must be remembered
/ that only within the last two or three
years has capital been to any extent at
/ tracted to Southern investment, and that
| the opposition and encouragement such
/ a project would inevitably meet with from
/ the overwhelming power of the railroads
rendered every effort difficult, if not en-
tirely abortiSe, for the present time.
The advantages of cheap water trans
portatiOn have had few advocates
in this section. and capitalists everywhere
have been too deeply absorbed in the
great railroad ssbOom" of the present day
to look forward and consider the neces-
stiles of the future. But the masses OF
the people hold no speculative interest in
any of the great enterprises undertaken,
and their legislators should be in pO-
sition to Judge dispassiOnately between
conflicting interests, and while conceding
the widest sphere of usefulness to the
one, scrupulously to avoid opposing any
obstacle to the progress of the other.
1t has long been a fayOrite project of the
people of Southeastern Georgia to con-
struct a barge canal through OkefnOkee,
not so much for the retaining of the
lands as to provide a navigable water
way between the Atlantic and the Gulf
across the peninsula of Florida; and now
to dispose Of the lands without attaching
the obligation to construct the canal, will
be to cut of the enterprise and extinguish
their hope altogether.
The waters of the swampare absolute
u necessary to supply the summit-leyel
of the canal, and if drained off by parties
merely to utilize the lands and timbered !
forests, there will remain no hope of gath |
ering them again for the use of canal. |
The Legislature, therefore, should not, |
permit, much less become a party to, so
great sacrifice Of the future interest of |
the State. and we do not think that it will. |
OkefnOkee and the barge canal, des-
tined in the future to connect the Atlantic /
with the mouth of the Mississippi river, |
and deliver at Georgia ports mighty |
volume Of products from the great central /
valley Of the empire, are inseparable. |
Nature, no doubt, placed that great resell |
II. ~ q. oil
feet for this very purpose; and, as if to
instruct GeOrgians and FlOridians in its /
object and uses, caused a stream to issue 1
forth from either side, the one flowing into /
the Gulf and the other into the Atlantic. |
Thus a continuous waterway was formed /
between the Gulf and the Atlantic through |
the OkefnOkee swamp, and the canal is
designed TO open up this naturally pre- |
pared way TO the growing commerce |
already in waiting for the facilities it |
alone can supply.
The Legislature of Georgia, then, should /
not only renew the charter its enterprise |
and wisdom has already granted, but in |
every other legitimate way, encourage |
the prosecution and early completion of /
the work. The chief benefits would &C
crue to the two States Of Georgia and /
Florida, and both may well exchange
their otherwise useless and pestilential
areas Of swamp land in the vicinity for a
channel Of commerce that will traverse
the one from east to west with its varied
industries and trade, and in forming
depot on the South Atlantic for the
products Of the Mississippi Valley, build
up and magnify into worldwide
importance the several ports of
the other. This is the advantage the
Georgia Legislature should seek, and it is
the compensation the State expected when
she granted a charter for the canal and
donated all reclaimed lands to its construc-
ton. If the canal was needed then, it is
needed still, while the State is much more
able to confirm the lands to the charter
now than she was to donate them at that
time. The holders have done nothing to
forfeit the confidence Of the Legislature
or the people, and such favor
could not be conferred upon wor-