The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1884-12-01
CALLS FOR THE CANAL.
The Hennepin Canal Committee Issue
an Address TO the People.

pared by MI. EDWARD huSSell, SeCTcIdIy
of the Michigan and Mississippi canal
commission. 1t states the previous work
for and the present condition of the enter
prise exactly;
DAVENPORT, Iowa, Nov. 90, 1884
A FEW FACTS FOR THE INFORMATION OF
THE FRIENDS OF THE SO CALLED 'HEN>
NEPIN' CANAL PROJECT.
The end sought in the proposed con~
struction of a canal from the Illinois river,
at point near Hennepin, to the upper
Mississippi river near Rock Island, is to
facilitate freight transportation and
reduce freight charges between the west
and the east. The construction of that
canal and its maintenance under the con
troll of the United States would extend to
the Mississippi river the all water and
free transportation route of the Hudson
the Erie canal and the lakes, now pract
cally having its west terminus at Chicago.
1t would connect, by water way free of
toll charges, the great internal water
route system of this continent-the Mis-
sissipp system and the lake system
Practically, those grand systems of cheap
transportation are now separated only by
a tongue of land sixty four miles in
width The proposed canal will cross
that narrow strip of country, and pros
vide the only link now missing in the
great chain of American internal
waterways. Already canal one huns
dred nales in length (he old Illinois and
Michigan, only requiring slight enlarge
mcnt,) extends from Chicago southwark
to LaSalle From LaSa1lc to below Hen.
Gepin, on the Illinois river depth of
not less than six feet navigable water, at
the lowest stages, is maintained by
slack water resulting from dams erected
mainly at the expense of the United
States. From lIennepin to the Mississippi
| the route of the proposed canal has been
carefully surveyed and located by the
United States engineer corps, acting un>
der authority of the fortyseventh con
grcss. 1t is the confident belief of Major
W. II. II. Benyaurd, U. S. A, officer in
charge of that survey, that the entire
work can be completed at a cost much
less than the amount aggregated in the
very accurately compiled estimate; that is
for less than S7,000000.
| That the great work of internal i'm O.
proyement thus briefly described, is re
! garded by sagacious business men. in all
parts of the country, as really national
in character, has been sufficiently attest.
ed. Boards of trade and other commer-
cial bodies in Chicago St. Paul, Minnea-
polls, St Louis, La Crosse, Duluth, Dav
export, Rock Island Buffalo, Syracuse
and New York have memoralized con
| @ress in behalf of its construction by the
| United States. The produce exchange of
New York specifically addressed The for>
| ty seventh congress in that behalf; thus,
| for the first time in the history of that
| eminentiy strong organization of COM
mercial men, committing itself, by vote
of its membership, in favor of work of
internal improvement at the national ex>
pensc. The national board of trade, at
its meeting held in Washington, also ems
dorsed the project emphatically. The
Industrial Congress" held in Chicago
| last May, also, after due discussion, I'M
animously adopted a resolution endorsing
this desired connection of the Jake and
Mississippi systems of transportation.
One of the largest delegate cOnven-
tions ever held in the Mississippi valley
i'll the interest of cheap transportion-
that at Davenport, in May, 1881, de-
voted its sessions of two DAYS to memoir
alizing congress and to maturing plans to
press upon congress the importance of the
construction of this canal by the United
States.
Five times have both branches of the
Iowa legislature adopted earnest memo>
rials to congress in the same direction
Indeed, it was the general assembly of
Iowa which first in 1864, urged the at
tention of the country to the necessity of
extending TO the Mississippi the Erie ca :
nal and lake systems OF transportation by
means of the canal now proposed The
Illinois legislature has also repeatedly
adopted similar memorials to congress.
The New York senate also unanimously
adopted, in 1882, a memorial TO congress,
urging The construction of the canal.
Similar action by the house was prevent
ed only by adjournment of the assembly.
A bill providing for the construction of
the canal, under direction and control of
the war department is now pending in
congress. 1t has been reported to the
house from the committee on railroads
and canals, with the recommendation
that it pass. A similar bill was, at the
close of the last session, inserted in the
river and harbor bill by the committee in
charge Of that measure. But objections
were made to that procedure as unusual,
and as likely to establish q dangerous
precedent. A motion 10 strike from the
bill the clauses relating to the canal failed
in the committee Of the whole, but was
carried in the house by vote of 147 yeas
to 1902 nays, at time when many friends
of the measure, as ii stood were absent.
Many who sustained the motion to strike
out did so without reference to the merits
of the canal measure in itself considered
The pending bill, which is advanced on
the house calendar, and will, it is fully
expected, be reached this season, and act
ed apon, provides for only the moderate
appropriations of 100000; but this, it is
believed. will be sufficient to successfully
inaugurate the work of construction
during next summer The bill directs
that the canal. together with the feeder
| lIblt blAuu W tue Suultltib near q,
shall be eighty feet wide at the water-li line
and seven feet in depth with locks one
hundred and seventy feet in length and
thirty feet in width. This will secure
easy navigation for barges of two hundred
} and eighty tons burden; such as are
: already used TO the best advantage in
transporting grain in bulk and other
heavy freights on the upper Mississippi.
These harges would, were the canal com
pleted, float the grain, etc. of Minnesota,
, Iowa, western Wisconsin and western
Illinois, direct to Chicago without break
ing bulk; while the cereal and other pro-
ducts of large part of Illinois would also
have choice of markets at St. Louis, via
t the canal, to the Mississippi river. The
return freightage of anthracite (Pennsyl>
vania) coal from Chicago, of bituminous
coal from the Illinois coal fields adjacent
to Peru and Hennepin, salt iron, agricul.
tural machinery, staple dry goods wei
groceries. and other heavy goods, would
| he very IarOp az has hnpn shown in Tho