Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1891-08-12
GESTS CHARGES FILED.
The EX-COngressman Files a Long
Argument in Washington.
COndemning the Adopted Hennrpin
GCauai Route. UphOIdiug thu Robin
son Route and lstducitng En-
gineer Wheeler


important paper in the matter OF the
Hennepin canal The object of the
paper is to show that the secretary of
war should Sc ect the northern route for
the canal. He makes special objection
to the location finally selected by Captain
Marshall for the location of the last four
miles of the canal at the western end,
and says: Il submit; that the line which
should be pursued is the one designated
by Captain Marshall in his report of date,
March 10, 1891, as the northern route,
and for the following reasons:
81. 1t is the line established by law.
This line is the same, su bstan TALLY, as has
been pursued in all former SURVEYS of the
Rock Island route. The entire provision
of the law is, first. for the requirement
OF the right of way upon a certain line
that has been surveyed again and again,
and had been located in Ge,ail; and.
second, for the construction of the work
In accordance with the foregoing provis
ion the secretary of war is given a GER
tain discretion AS to the dimensions of
the locks. There is no provision for
changing the line. There is no appro-
pria,iOa for farther SURVEYS, except as
may be included in the direction 10 obtain
right of way as may be neoess ary to that
end. Congress evidently considered that
the time for surveys of this project had
gone by; that the time to buy land there
for and TO construct work and to build
locks and dams had come. Isubmit then,
that by the act of Aug II, 1888. and the
power thereby vested in the secretary of
war TO locate the canal, by sll the sur.
veys and repoTls made prev. Gus TO Sept.
9, Is go by the reports of the war depart
ment to congress, and by the act of Sept.
10, 1890, making appropriations, the con
| clusion is inevitable that the line of the
| canal was and is located and upon the
northern route and that work thereon
| should commence without further delay
| .. 1t Is By far the best line for the
| commercial interests of the country.
This work has great object in view. and
| after years of agitation in an out of con
| gress, the magnitude and Gesif6bleress
| of the object have been recognized and
fully Endorsed; not alone the present, but
! the future must be regarded. The object
is 10 furnish cheap transportation to ard
| from the upper Mississippi valley. 1t can
not be denied that to accomplish this the
terminus should be made as accessible
and con7eniert OF approach for the
receipt and delivery and handling Of
| goods as possible. The western terminus
| of the canal will be necessarily
| distributing point. Goods wi ar
rive there from up and down the Mis-
sissippi river, aud from the west by rail,
| for transit eastward; and. on the other
| hand, they will come from the east for
transit up and down the river. and TO the
west by rail. The terminus should be
not only easy of access by boats. but
| should if possible be so located as to be
approachsble by rail. and with lands al
joining convenient for the erection of
elevators and storehouses for receipt and
transfer of goods coming and going.
These conditions exist at the western
terminus of the northern route, and no
where else. In this immediate vicinity
are the cities of Rock Island. Davenport
and Moline. with population of 60. 900
people. The northern route is manifestly
most accessible and convenient TO this
population, but it is matter of exceed
ing small significance whether it is OF not
The question is, or ought to be, which is
the best line for the vast and constantly
growing population of this upper Missis-
sippi valley.
-. / ask your attention now to the
report of Captain Marshall, of date March
10, 1891, and incidentally to the report
of L. L. Wheeler. his subordinate. 1t
appears from Wheeler's report that he
came to Milan Oct. 90. 1890. commenced
his work Nov. II following, and sub
mitted his report to Captain Marshall
about four months thereafter, on March
z, 1891. The report of Captain Mars
shall appears to have been made up from
the report of Wheeler to him. Wheeler
begins his report as follows: 1 have the
honor to submit the following report upon
surveys and estimates for proposed routes
of the Illinois and Mississippi canal
around the rapids in the Rock river at
Milan. H., with map and protiles of the
various proposed lines What various
proposed lines had heretofore existede As
l have shown, there never had been but
one line proposed for these western four
miles. One of the lines he proposes is
the original and located line. and the
other is an independent line of his own .
He undertakes to show that he knows
more about where this canal should be
constructed than all the surveyors and
boards of examiners that had before him
examined and reported. and more than
congress. who had ordered the work to
proceed in construction. After referring
to the pleasant weather in the locality be
gives general description of Rock val.
ley, and proceeds: AS early as 1888 the
fame of the place reached the national
capital, and eminent statesmen invested
fabulous sums in real estate 10 city sit =
uated in what was then a wilderness. Ca.
malls for navigation purposes have long
since passed into decay; the mills
are in ruins except two. and the dams
mainly destroyed. The locality is aptly
described as being the graveyard of ruin
ed enterprises 1 have lived here 4s
years. and have pretty fair knowledge
of our local history. The locality may
be. perhaps. 'aptly described as the grave
yard of ruined enterprises but graveyard
as 1t is. it seems to be such lively one.
that Wheeler makes investments in il, es