Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1885-01-28
THEQUESTION
OF
CANAL ABANDONMENT
IN
THE JUNIATA VALLEY.

Notice is published in several news
papers in the Juniata valley that the
Legislature will be asked to pass san
act, TO authorize the Pennsylvania Ca
'aol Company TO abandon for public use
certain portion of ITS canal, situat.
upon the Junrata divH,on and iy,ng be.
tUecn, and including the dam west q
Huntingdon and the dam at .Neuton
! Hamilton.
Should the Legislature pass the
act, the canal will be closed as far
down the valley as to the Lewistown
dam. The canal has been abandoned
in the upper region OF the Juniata,
and the movement for an abandon
ment OF another piece of 1t, has caus-
ed people to conclude that the ccm-
pany expect to cease the operation
of the entire division sooner or later
Ii the canals do not pay the present
owners better than they paid the
State. it is no wonder that their a
abandonment is desired Before
the sale of the ditch, the Canal Com
missioners Department was the place
in which hundreds OF Democratic
politicians of high and low preten
sion fattened on financially, and the
men who brought about the sale of
the public works were instrumental
in stopping the yearly increase of
the $40, 100000 debt that had been
incurred in their construction under
Democratic administration. How
much less than hundred million of
debt would the State have, had the
canals not been sold, and had the
Democratic party been permitted TO
fatten on its spoils! Would the Com
monwealth be in less bankrupt con-
dition than is Virginia? A number
of people are now opposed to their
abandonment by the present owners
They claim to believe that railroad
fr,ight rates will be increased after
the caEal has been closed. Perhaps
they are correct in their opinion, but
if Ii is correct, as they insist that it
is, that the canal company and the
railroad company are one, the freight
rates are subject to only one and the
same power, and competition as to
rates cannot take place, and lower |
rates cannot be obtained excepting
from men who own their own boats |
on the canal. Parties who have IA
bushes that warrant them i'll keeping
up a boat or boats aud fixtures, can |
perhaps, transport freight by canal
1t cheaper rates than can be secured |
On the railroad. However, be that
As it may, n large per centage OF |
business men located along the canal
are against the abandonment of the !
Itch. There is another large class
If citizens who are positive in their
belief that it is rare case in which |
| party that ships by canal gets the |
benefit of cheaper rates, even ii it |
pc granted that they Can DO so. 1t
s said that the consumer is charg-
ID with rates that equal railroad rates
There is another large class Of citizens
hat are positively in favor of the aban-
lonment OF the canals down to tide
water. They declare that if the dams
n the river be all taken out, that
lie streams will again become
tocked with the best of fish as they
we're before the expensive and never
,aying pubic works were construct
ID, and that the fish food supply
would be of much greater benefit in
very way, to the people generally,
han the freight rates that business
nen control and charge upon the
consumers who deal with them, and
nus the question is now being dis
ussed IN the valley of the Juniata,
nd will soon be brought to confront
lie Legislature at Harrisburg.