The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1884-01-12
THE NATIONS CAPITAL.
MATTERS or GENERAL INTEREST.
The Presidents spcc;a' Message on the
Ii-nnepin Canal Project-A separate
state for NegroeS-in important
Decision Work In Congress.
OTHER NArioNAL MOTIFS.

!. WA.nI,CroN. Jan. Q President Arthu,
sent 10 Congress Ius lay Especial message
relating to the lIrnrcpm Canal. In il was
included the act of the Illinois Lcgi>iat,Tc
ccding HE Illinois 4 Michigan Canal to
the United States, the vote of the State ON
thc proposition, and the chief engineers "a
port Of the SURVEYS foI the proposed Hen
ncpin Canal IN i, message the President
says.
| submit tie communication ut the Cover
nor OF The state III lll!GOls, with n copy or the
net OF the General Assembly, or the state, ten
dgriug to ;hC Uil"t, states the cJ.siOu ot thu
ILLINOIS and Michigan Canal, upon condition
that il b" enlarged ana maintained as n nation
al waterway lOr commercial purposes. Inc
proposed ccSsiOn j. an clement of the subject
Congress had under consideration In direct
ing, by the act Ot August = ls-.. survey Tor
a canal from point on the Illinois HiHrr ~
or near the town OF iIcnnrpln, by the most
practicable route to the Mississippi River II
or above The city of Rock Island, the canal TO
be II a. less than 70 feet wide at The wntcr line,
and ~, less ihai feet dopth OF water, with u
capacity ior vessels OF ~ least $50 tons ana
also iOr Il survey OF the Illinois ana Michigan
Cana. ANA the estimated cost OF cniarging IL
"a the dimensions Of the proposed canal be-
tween llrnnCp.n ana tho Mississippi River.
The surveys ordered In The above act
port upon thrm included in the last
unnuui report Of The :, crctary OF War, and
copy - herewith submitted. II appears from
these papers that the estimated yield of corn,
wheat ,uii oats Tor 1852, in the states OF llli-
nos, Wisconsin. iowa, Minnesota. Kansas aud
Nebraska Was more than i,WU,UUD,W) bushels.
II Il claimed mat ii Il cheap water tranSporia-
lion route. which j. nnw continuous from the
Atlantic Ocean 10 Chicago is extended 10 the
Upper Mississippi toy such canal gIUib benc.
iii IN the r,duct on of freight charges would
result la the pcUpl" of the Upper Mississippi
Valley, whose productions nave only parity
noted, not only on their own shipments, but
upon I'll" articles Oi commerce used by th"Hl,
which II e np% taken from the Eastern states
by water only ~ Tar ~ Chicago. As the mat
ter Is at great interest. especially to the citi.
zcns ~ Tins Dart of the country, commend
the general subject To your consideration.
CHESTER A. aigri!Ck.
Executive NaE,ion. .lau. K 1881.
The Chief Engineer in hi report says
that the proposed lIenneyin Canal is perfect
iy feasible. Three routes were surveyed
The first, called the NIarais d'Osicr. will cost
%5. 81 ."61; the second, or Wa.ertown route,
81, 2O7, GiG; and the third. via Rock Island,
$6,6,a, 500. IN each of these the canal is
TO be made eighty feet wide at the surface
and seven feet deep. The cost OF cnlarging
the Illinois & Michigan Canal would b"
81, 1929.
III response to senator Van Wyck's resO.
lution of December II Secretary Fo!ger sent
to the Senate q communication, ;cc0mpa-
MED by vouchers and items Of expenses il.
cured By the Department Of Justice since
March d, 1881. The document shows that
for prosecuting the Stur-route eases the per-
sons named received compensation as fol-
lows: A. NJ. Gibson, $1,000; i. II. Brew
ster, $1,000; Allan PinkcitOn detective
servcc), 1854; w. w. ke:, $40, ST.; II.
II. Wells, $500; George Bliss, S34, 2S2; w.
A. Cook, Sl3,G90; II. r. Merrick, Sl7 800;
total, Sll3,032.
The negro agitatOrS from The South, who
have been here all the fall and winter to adj
vance q scheme for cOl0nizing the race in
territory separate from the whites, have now
decided upon Lower California as the most
advantageous country for their people to re-
side in. Niles, the principal agitatOr, and his
associates were working to secure the land
belonging to the General Government and
not Incorporated in any State which Is
bounded BY Texas, Indian Territory, Colo
RADIO, Kansas and New Mexico. A
petition was prepared during the
fall for the purpose of secur-
Ing this land, which it was intended should
be presented to Congress. This move is
now indefinitely postponed. The Niles agi- |
tatOrs contend that Mexico owes the United |
States money, aud would readily cede Low
er California for the amount The peculiar
advantages of the country have been dis
cussed and il has been decided that no
more suilihic territory cgn be found in
America. The ultimate object Of the agita |
tors is to have M exclusively black state, |
where white men can trade, but will not be
allowed 10 vote or hold property
WAsiuNGl"N, January 4--lhe Su.
preine Cour has rendered Il decision |
in ten test eases from The SUPREME Court |
OF Iowa brought by the Cedar Rapids u
Missouri River Railroad Company against
John r. Lake Lewis IdtiingS aud eight 9TH
cr owners of land in the western part OF
that State. The deAuduntS ar settlers III
actual possession under patents from the
United States. About four hunlrcd suits,
in which substantially the sam, questions
are involved. are pending in the Iowa
courts. In the supreme Court OF Iowa.
these ten eases were decided alaOis; the
RAILROAD company. This the United States
Supreme Court ailirnS in MI case, holding
that the defendants purchased their lands
from O,licers of the United States who had
power 10 sell them ana acquired valid title,
and it would be understandable 10 tlj!c that
these valuable lands should be kept ont OF
the market TO suit the railroad when the
country was rapidly iilIng up with people.
The IUSinaster-Gencral having received
Il communication from the Secretary OF the
Worlds Industrial, Cotton and Centennial
Exposition. dcncNucing a. tidiculolSly and
UNANIMOUSLY false the statement OF one West
Stecver tina, the Exposition was under the
control OF the Louisiana Lottery Company,
sent the following reply:
WASH NOTION. Jan. $, lsSi.-SAMutL MIL.
i.EN, Esq, Secretary, &c, New Orlcals-Dtdr
Sir: received your letter OF the 9Th inst.
II copy oi the resolution uOpted
by the board OF management relative to the
statement made to me by West Sleeve To the
effect that the exposition was under the con-
trul OF the Louisiana Lottery Company. From
what know OF the character at the enter.
prise ,uhd the gentlemen connected with it,
did not suppose IL was in any manner CON
nectcd with lottery. Permit me To express my
lively - mpathy with the exposition, which
hope aud Believe viii have al oNccilUn effect
on the huSinCss iutcrp o. OF New Orleans and
the South generally. Yours very truly
". y. GRESHAM,
pOstnu-tcr-Gcnerai.
Tie Assistant Secretary Ol the Treasury
has transmitted 10 the House the report OF
the Cattle Commission consisting of JAMES
Law, T.. +. Thayer and J. ii. Sanders.
This Commission recommends the NATIONAL
Government tn prevent the shipment lOrtli-