The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-11-04
Frederic Haskin's L.ette7|
Another Washington Monument.

AAuO ~ LOT We nHQ MIN a6r.,
tising for tenants. He statas -
explicitly and at great Tenth !,
what terms he will rent the ~.
The rent on some Of them Ss.s
cost him perhaps a penny & -
or nothing at all, is fra
shilling an acre to start. Il ~
provided that the rent shsns
crease at a certain fixed ri. -
year, and that the tehanl -!
>clear five acres for every hts1s.
acres rented and must buia -
tain buildings. Thus did e..
Washington put men to Nofs ~ Y |
him, and make them pay eoR -
his Golfers. by merelyshayirr 4.
foresight to file certain ui,s.s
Truly, he was the father. n y
country in more ways than :.
and not all of his shrewdnesa 3.
expended in fooling the Brs,s
army.
Where acts of providence NM.
fere to disable tenant" be MN.
one Of his agents, 81 would 4 -
lent in the exaction Of rant i.
when the cases are otherwise ! 81,
not be put off :"
George was a good landlRd n
well as . good general.
The idea Of building 4 ~.
route to the west was in Wa,An.
toms mind before the war. "a (
became his major concern .s,h
Immediately after the war NJ.
was much discussion at that ti..
of the improvement OF the Poton.
river in order to make it nayieah.
1t must be remembered that 4 IN
time not only were there no MI
roads, but the construction ana ~
of canals had not been perfeta I
Rivers were the chief meana Il
transportation. The tobscco esuai,
Of Virginia moved to the IN M
rivers and streams, many Of thenI
so small that they would pot +
considered worth improving toa,y /
The streams of this section tpds,
still show here and there the roHipl
| remains and scattered toupdafm|
! stones of old wharves and v,,kl
houses which served their purpen
/ long ago. n
A Route to the West
| George Washington set hb huI
sternly against any plan for ht
improvement Of the Potomac vhiA
did not include a complete royta 3
the west. He made many and mi
liant arguments in favor Of NJ
plan. He pointed out that the w
neer settlements must be LINKED ta|
! Virginia; otherwise they xbndl
naturally turn to the Spaniardt NJ
the south. Doubtless he was ristt
| And doubtless he did not f0m
that he owned 10000 acres Of hMI
in that west which would be greatly
increased in value.if transportata
| SNOulQ reach II.
| The Potomac company was Or
ganized with Washington % is
president in 1854 with the purposs
of carrying out his plan in full.
The river was to be made naviuble
as far as Cumberland. There, q 70
mile portage-road was to be con.
structed to the head of the Chea.
| river, and this was to be improved
SO that boats could go down to the
| Ohio. In this way>water transpf
tation was to be brought directlt TO
! Washington's great landh0lding
He further planned to imptoTe
some northern tributary Of The
| Ohio, make another portage-road to
the head of one of the stream
flowing into Lake Erie, and 50 con.
meet the coast with the Great
Lakes.
Of this great dream, little wi
realized. The Potomac was If
western lands connected with u.
would be maintained in its upper
part, and it carried q considerable
traffic in fat boats for some yeais
But Washingtons company nersf
paid but one dividend TO inyestort
and that was probably forced dlrl'
dend and very small one. The
rest of the plan was not carried ou'
at all. In 1923 the Potomac con-
: pany was absorbed by the Chess
: peake and Ohio Canal company 10
George Washington never saw DIS
: western lands connected with Tie
coast by water t-aHsportauoa.
About five years before his death %
advertised them for sale In Pla'
, delphia. But he made bold pla
and a bold effort. He was Tue
: pioneer of American industrial e.
. 4