The Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1885-1886, 1886-09-30
THE CANAL COMMISSION.
The Important Board visits Koch
Island---The Meeting Mt Maj.
McKen.ie-s Office.

| uhiteu OtateS army VIM C"ip"oo 'h0
commission authorized by congress to in
spect and inquire into the merits OF the
Henneptn canal proposition. The act OF
the proceedings of the last house of rep
rcsentatives providing for the commission
and its duties is appended:
| The secretary of war is authorized and
directed to appoint n board of three en-
gineers from the U. = army, whose duty
1t shall be to examine, in all their rela-
tons to commerce, the Illinois and Mich
lgan canal and the proposed Hennepin
canal. to consider their value and all 9th.
er matters connected with their useful>
ness to navigation and shall report upon
the acquisition and improvement of the
Illinois and Michigan canal and the con-
struction of the Hennepin canal. The
said board shall report TO the secretary of
war; who shall lay its report before con
gress at its next session, together with
the views of himself and the chief Of en-
gineers of the U. s. army thereon; and
$4,000 or so much thereof az NAV be
necessary is hereby appropriated for this
|
paragraph shall be construed as commits
ting the government TO the sad improves
ment.
| The commission was visited by a nuns
Der of citizens last evening, and early
this morning, in company with Capt. T.
J. Robinson and Messrs w. b. Fergu.
7 ~ h., . /
y visit TO Rock river and the sites where
ii Is proposed the terminus of the popu-
lar route shall be.
At IL O'Clock this morning the cons
mission met at Mai. McKeazie's office.
Gen. ComstOck, the chairman of the
commission, presiding. There was pres
ent large gathering of citizens, promi>
nent among whom were Congressman W.
II. Neece, of Macomb, Congressman J.
IL. Murphy, OF Davenport, Ex-Governor
VIM Bross. of Chicago. Messrs. Edward
Russell. Geo. Ii. French. l.. +. Parker, of
Davenport; c. II. Deere and Eugene
Lewis, of Moline; NESTS A G. Dart, B.
d. Buford, Capt 7. j. Robinson,
of this city; W. r. Anthony. Of
Comanche Iowa; Judge Geo. E. Waite,
IL. V. Fisher, Geo W. Lawrence, S c.
Campbell, of Geueseo; J. ". Ohis; Al
bauy, III.
Gen. Comstock stated the purpose aud
object OF The commission, and stated that
the board was anxious to obtain all
the information possible, as to the adj
lvantages derived from the construction
of the canal, and WAS particularly desir>
Gus Of obtaining all the statistics in re-
lation thereto possible. Hon William
BrosS of Chicago, eX lieutenant governor
of the slate and for years president of the
Chicago Tribune company and one of the
most earnest advocates of the IIennepin
canal was called upon and made an in
terestiug address as to the merits of the
measure. and its advantages to CONNER
cial prosperity IN the west and northwest.
He sought to impress upon the commis>
sion that the work they had in hand, is
Ieminently national in its character. and
that it is prime necessity to the inter-
nal commerce of the country. After in
numerating some of the benefits to be
derived from the canals construction.
Gen. Bross quoted from the speech of
the Hon. Ralph Plumb, in the house of
representatives July, -, the sub
stance of his report on tue bull being
as follows:
/, Our aggregate cereal exports in
1880 amounted TO s2Ss 900, 00O.
2. Since 1880 we have lost more than
!. 40 per cent. of our cereal exports by
reason of competition in the great for
eign markets.
3. Foreign markets are indispensable
! for onr surplus products.
4. Nothing but the cheapest transport
possible can enable us to compete with
Russia, Australia, and India in those
markets.
D. The value of every acre of wheat
and corn producing land in the Missis-
sippi Valley depends upon the cheapest
possible transport TO the seaboard.
6. The cheapest transport possible is
admitted to be by water.
/, The Hcnncpiu Canal is the missing
link to furnish complete water navigation
from Saint Paul to New York, distance
of 2 900 miles, utilizing about 600 miles
of the Mississippi river in its course.
s. BY building this canal we can re
gain and retain the great foreign markets
, for our cerais, and increase the magui-
tude of our exports
., BY this extension of our water ways
to the west the products of that region
will reach the consumers of the East at
r reduced cost to the latter and increased
profits to the former
10. No public Improvement proposed
in this country has been so generally and
so strongly commented and urged by
legislatures. internal improvement cons
venlions, boards of trade, aud other cons
mercial bodies. aud eminent public men
Mr.. Edward Russell. of Davenport.
chairman of The tri-city committee on
statistics, appointed at the meeting
last Monday night, read his report
The construction of the canal had for
many years been earnestly desired by a
la-gc aggregate of the people of the
northwest. Been urged in mass and dele
gate conventions, commercial bodies. in 10
cal journals and in the columns of news
papers published miles away. 1t has
been earnestly voiced in legislative halls
The general assembly of Iowa had I'M
animously memoralized congress six
) times beginning in 1864 The Illinois
legislature and that of New York had also
, been earnest in similar appeals to CON
l gress. The report alluded to the great