The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1883-09-22
THE ILLINOIS SHIP CANAL.

Whenever the country is favored witt
good crops, and there is an active foreigl
demand for our surplus grain, beef ano
pork, and the railroads begin to pile on
excessive rates, then the farmers and STOCK
men of the northwest wake up and begin
to talk Hennepin ana Illinois ship canal
For the last two years, however, the crops
of the northwest have been comparatively
| light and the railroads being glad to carry
grain, cattle and hogs at reasonable rates
the needs Of water competition were MOI
telt as they had been in previous seasons
and the camor for waterways has as
consequence nearly died out. The fact
however, in no degree lessons the import
ance OF the Illinois Ship Canal as emphat-
ically the one great waterway OF the coun-
try, the construction of which IA ever a
necessity to complete the grand system Of
internal navigation which nature on SO
vest and man on so limited scale has
provided for this country. The Northern
Lakes, the Canada and New York canals,
and the Ct. Lawrence and Hudson river:
afford four thousand miles o! water car
riagc of unlimited capacity to convey the
produce of the northwest TO the east, and
the Mississippi river system affords like
amount OF navigable waterways from the
Minnesota lakes TO the Cult of Mexico, and
the two vast systems are so closely blended
that dozens of railroads find their largest
profits in carrying freight from one to the
other. Now, looking at the statistics,
showing the enormous amount OF carrying
done by these two water systems, and how
this carrying between the two IS intermln-
gled and then looking at map of the
country and seeing how very closely the
two systems approach each other, and how
trifling weuld be the labor and cost OF
connecting them and making them one,
and the broad.vlsioned statesman-llke De
Witt Clinton, for MISUNDERSTANDING the
needs and the boundless wealth of this
country and capacity to supply Its needs,
is filled with amazement at the fact that
this one short, inexpensive, yet all import
ant connecting link should remain uncon-
The subject once more forces itself into
notice by the tact that a party of govern
ment surveyors is at this very time en-
gagged, under an order of congress made
nearly two years ago, in surveying the
route of the Illinois Ship Canal ard getting
ready to prepare an estimate Of its cost
There IS no gentlemen in the Northwest
who has given the whole subject more
thought and study, and who better under
stands it IN all Its Details and has fuller
realization of lis importance, than Capt.
". II. Stackpole, of Falrburv, H., and the
occasion seemed to him IA favorable one
once more to arouse public attention to
The subject. To that end he spent few
lays OF the present week in Ottawa, and
had talk with many of our leading cIti
lens, attempting to excite enough interest
smCng them to lead to the holding of pub
nc meetings or In some other way to get
lp some such agitation as that few years
lgo which had SO important but short
lived an influence in favor of the great
work IN hand. We are afraid, however,
hat amid the Jumbo excitement and mul,
lpliclty of other affairs with which our
business men were preoccupled, he was
out coldly listened 10, The captain how
,ver, has written pamphlet Of fifty or
more pages on the subject, and as most of
hose he called upon agreed to take and
cad copy of the publication when issued,
le is not without hope that that may act
IS spur to arouse them on the subject
Meantime the press Of the state-at least
hat portion which is not under railroad
to bear the subject in
mind and give 1t attention somewhat re-
notely at least proportloned to its impor.
ance.