The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1883-08-18
THE ILLINOIS RIVER BRIDGE.

OTIupc over TUG lllluOlo IlNcI ~ Inlo pOiu'
and their repor. was made to Tie Council
on last Tuesday evening. In brief, TIL
bridge is considered unsafe and dangerous
In parts and comparatively safe in Others
although needing considerable repairs.
There are now two questions practical
ly before the people. The first is, whos'
duty is it to repair or c5uild the structure
and the second, the first having been an-
swered, which will be the most economic
al, repair the old or bald newg
Ia regard to the first question there ar,
many opinions among the attorneys, tn,
majority of those we have talked with be
lieving that the responsibility rests upor
the city, while a few others believe tn,
property belongs to the original purchaser.
the towns of Ottawa and South Ottawa
BE that as it may, the Commissioners o.
Highways of Ottawa repudlate the owner
ship and respons ibillty, and to that enc
have served the following notice upon the
city through its executive officer, as fol-
lows:
To Hon. i. c. 1llen, Mayor Of the city O
OHdlrd:
DEAR SIR-We, the undersigned, Commits.
sioners OF Highways of the town Of Ottawa,
having been advised that there Is neither
any right nor liability deyolved upon US to
repair, maintain or renew the Illinois river
bridge, located within the limits OF said City
OF Ottawa, do hereby notify you as the rep
resentative OF said city, that we will not
take or assume the control, repair or renewal
sponsible for the condition thereof.
Dated Ottawa, H., August s, 1888.
THos. MCDERMoTT,
ID. A. MAHER.
Com'rs OF Highways Town OF Ottawa.
OTTAWA, H., August S.
This action was based upon an opinion
given by Hon. J. w. Duncan, who states
that under the city charter "the power to
erect, establish and maintain and keep IN
repair the bridges within its limits, was
expressly delegated to the city authorities,
and such power is in like manner delega-
ted to the city authorities by the general
law" In support of this proposition Mr..
Duncan cites several decisions of the
courts. n majority OF the commissioners
of South Ottawa do not agree with the
others, and are willing to make good their
part of the contract, whenever the full re-
quiremens Of the law are complied with.
The statement that commissioners have no
right or power to expend money within
the corporate limits of city seems to be
an error, unless the law of 1879 was re-
pealed at the last session of the Legisla
ture.
Since the above was written the road
and bridge law OF 1888 has come to hand.
and the act of 1879 seems to be repealed
the new law taking effect July 1st last
Whether this affects the present contro-
versy or not is not plainly discernible.
The bridge ras the property of the towns,
AM was town charge until very recent
dat'. The last law cannot relieve the
commissioners from duties that were theirs
oeior.its enactment, nor does 1t pass title
from Tin towns to the city.
AS ehe;ting the future the situation Is
changed, nd that to the great injury of
the taxpayen of cities and incorporate
villages, The,ew law provides that one
hdJ OF the take collected for road and
bridge purpose upl, such property as lies
within an incorporate town or city may
be paid to the treasurer of such corpora
ton, to be expended as Tia municipal au-
thorities may elect; the oler half goes
to the treasurer of the commissioners of
highways, and nowhere in the NV do we
fnu the permit, allowed IN the actof 1870
of the commissioners to expend honey
upon roads and bridges within the limits
OF city. The city must not only maxi
its own roads and bridges, but must cor.
tribute one halt Of its taxes to the support
of those outside of its boundaries. 1t Is
a good law--for the county roads.
In the meantime it will be necessary tor
the people to consider the best plan to
pursue to make the BRYCE safe and sub
stautal. The repairs now being made by
the city are only temporary, the first high
water that comes is likely to sweep away
the supports being erected, and affairs are
left worse than before. In the opinion of
every builder the repairs from this time
forward will be onsiderable-much great
er than the interest on new structure
and eventually, within year or two at the
limit, new bridge must be built The
$500 being expended now will make the
north half good only until winter or
spring, and by that time the two spans in
dlcated in the report of Messrs. Logan
and Wilson must be replaced. If these
things be true, then new bridge at the
earliest day will be the cheaper in the end
and by far safer and more satisfactory.
In the interest of economy and safety
and for the good name of this community
let new and thoroughly substantial bridge
be built on the most approved plans of the
present day.