Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1885-04-23
THE OHIO CANALS.
Shall They be Abandoned?

The canal question, which is more ol
less agitated at every session of the State
Legislature, has come forward at the
present session with redouhled energy
and the enemies of the canals are
working with will worthy of a better
cause to have them, orat least certain
parts, abandoned. The following ar
ticle froul the Toledo Blade contains Sc
much good common sense and is so full
of statistical information that we give it
entire:
There are 7S2 miles of canal in Ohio,
and they cost the state $4,000, 900 to
construct. There are also two large res
ervoirs, the one in Mercer and Auglaize
counties being the largest artificial lake
in the world. 1t is eight miles long by
about three and one-half miles wide,
and covers are area Ofabout II 900 acres.
The Licking reservoir is not very much
smaller, being about seven miles long,
but extremely irregular in outline.
There are numerous smaller sheets of
water, acting as subsidiary reservoirs,
along the lines of the canal, aggregating
several thousand more acres in area,
which are embraced in the gigantic
steal which is braZenly attempted to be
carried out, and which, if not success
| full this winter, will probably be tried
again on the next General Assembly.
| Large as is the investment on the part
of the state which this system of public
works represents, there is at least twice
that amount of capital invested along
these 1872 miles, in the form of mills and
factories of various kinds. which depend
on the water power of the canals for
all or for part of their motive power,
| and Oh the transportation the canals
afford for their business. If the public
works be abandoned, these industrial
| establishments must close, or steam
engines replace the water-wheels as
| motors, or the establishment be re-
moved bodily to other and more advan-
tageous locations, on account of trans
portatlon. 1t is altogether safe to say
that the direct loss thus inflicted upon
the owners will be more than the State
will realize from the canals if the
schemes that are On foot to commit
their wholesale larceny are allowed to
be successful.
The whole argument for the abandon
ment of the canals may be summed up
in one sentence, that ''they do not pay.h
This is not true, except in one sense.
They do pay, in the sense that public
road pays. They are not the source of
profit they once were, simply because
the railroads have supplanted them.
They are no longer the great arteries of
traffic of the State. But they have,
nevertheless, paid into the treasury of
the State the snug sum of $8,000,000,
since their completion. The company
which leased them, in spite of all draw
backs, and of extensive repairs, in less
than ten years-we have not data at
hand, but our impression is they had
the canals about eight years-divided a
cool $4,000 of profits among its men,
bers at the closing of its affairs.
The sources of revenue on the canals
are twofold-frst, tolls on traffic; sec
ond, rent paid by the mills and factor
les along their banks for the use of the
water power. Both of these can be in
creased if it is understood, once for all,
that the canals are to be kept up. No
man wants to risk money in the con-
struction of boats, while the question
of the entire abandonment of the ca
nails is in question. Nor will the mil
Ter or manufacturer 60 to the expense
of rebuilding his pen-stocks, renewing
his water wheels, or rebuilding or ex-
tending his factory or mill, so long as
this move is agitated. But let the |
policy of their continuance and MAIN
tenance once declared positively by the
State, and new boats will be built, and |
the canal traffic will revive. Mills and
factories will be rebuilt and extended,
and the revenue for water-rents will |
increase; or be 1t understood that when
a break occurs and these industries are
deprived of waters their water-rent
ceases. Let the canals be kept in re-
pair, and the total of the water-rents
will be much larger than now.
There is no demand on the part of the
people at large for the abandonment of |
the canals. The steal that is now being
is for the ground which the
canals occupy. In Cincinnati, the por-
ton of the Miami canal that runs
through the city would be worth for
tune to the thieves in itself. On this
the Cincinnati Post says:
The great prize to be played for is
what will be left of the canals after the
water is drained off. Halfa million is
in sight here in Cincinnati, and more is
to be hid where it can be laid
hands on as soon as the ringsters get
possession. The great reservoirs alone,
when drained, will become principali-
ties of the best lands the sun shines on
for thousand miles either way. No
railroad has had any better plum from
the general government in the way of
. land grant than the rich bottoms of
these lakes would become. In the Ian
yuage of the unctuous Squeers, Here's
richness" Nobody knowsit better than
the men who are scheming at Column
BUS now. And nobody holds on to q
good thing tighter than they do.
The gang which seeks to rob the peo-
pie by getting possession of the canals
has plunder for it's primary object. 1t
depends for aid upon corporations and
people who have a purely selfish inter-
est in the matter, to wit:
The railroad interest, which is mimic
u to the canals on general principles.
men say, with lofty indiffer-
snce, that the canal competition
to nothing, but it is not SO.
For instance, during the season of navi-