iM E M O II 1 A L
OF Tin:
HOLDEKS OF CERTIFICATES OF STOCK
OF TIIK
WABASH AND EHIE CANAL
OF THE ^
STATE OF INDIANA,
TO THE
(general l^sseinbln of tlie .State of |nîtiana,
Tlarcli, 1857.
|^~ The Eransville Jo^Aal iamrgitig the ex
tension of the Road from thai city/to Terre Haute,
through to Attica, so as to ebnnéct with the Wa-
Ijash Valley Road, and fopn a direct route to Lake
Erie. The distance from Terre Haute to Attica is
about 60 miles, and a portion of the distance is al¬
ready graded. Such a conne^pn would give great
additional facilities of traneponation. Freight can
be landed at Toledo for about the same price .es at
Cleveland, and would be more than 100 miles near¬
er to Evansville, which is in the south west corner
of Indiana. Even without this connection, freight
from Evansville finds its way hither during the sea¬
son of lake navigation.
MEMORIAL
OF THE
HOLDERS OF CERTIFICATES OF STOCK
OF THE
WABASH AND ERIE CANAL
OF THE
STATE OF INDIANA,
TO THE
(icîifral gtssmblj of Stato of |ttbiana,
Iflarch, 1857.
OC2.
Y\ûV
W« annex below ibe pieeee$iga of a meetlag oflWr'
boMtia of certiSoatea of etack in (he Wa})aBli andÄle
Canal of Indiana. The boainci» of that C|Hm1 Ike
fkat of the Obk) and oiher (^peb bai been aerionsly
affected by tbe competition'if Railroadn, and it ia
feared that aa a revenue work i'a oharactar ia essen
tially injured. A memorial on tbe anbject addressed
to tbe Governor of Indiana and tbrongb bim to the
Legislature, baa been signed by the London Gammittee
in behalf of foreign bolders; also by Mr. George Pear
body and the Committee of American holders.
This memorial has been forwarded to the Cbrvemor
by the hands' of Hr. J. F. D. Lanier and the Hon.
Wm. L. Dayton of Hew-Jersey in behalf of the sub-
acribera. A ccneiderable amonnt of stack ia held in
New-Jeiaey. Thia Canal, it will be remembered, waa
pledged some years ago as a seoniity for one half tbe
State debt of Indiana, and tbe State was released
therefrom, on the State's gnaranteeiog ils tolls and
revenues present and future against any interference
whatever, on which tbe creditors rebed; the object is
to bring the subject to tbe notice of tbe people in tbe
connsction that they wDl provide such remedy as the
equity of the case and their ability may suggest.
át a nceetzne of holders of tbe CertiScates of Stock
in the Wabash and Erie Canal in ladUna, held in the
city of Few-York, on the lâth day of February, 1857,
J. F. D. LastsK, esq., was appointed Chmrmin, and
AtBERT G Ar-LEi», esq., Secretary.
The object of the meeting was to consider the present
condition and the future prospects of the Wabash and
Erie Canal in Indiana, and the messnres which ebouid
he adopted by tbe parties holding Certificates of Stock
in said canal to protect their interests in the same, and
obtain such redress from the State of Indiana as the
nature of the case reqnires, in view of all the circum¬
stances.
The following resolutions were adopted :
JFAereas, By c«rtûii acta of the LegisUtore of tbe State of
Indiana, the Wahaah and Efie Canal of asid State waa pledged
by the State in trast aa lecurity for the payment of one-half of :
the public debt of^he State; and vA«rea», the holdere of iti '
bonds agreed to accept of auch aecority, and look to it and iti
tolla and revenues in payment for the one-half of the said
puHic debt, and also to reunbnrae them for new advancea of
money required for the completion of the said canal, on the
solemn pledge made to the aaid bondholders by tbe Legialatnre, '
that the tolls, rcvenuea and profits of tbe said canaL present
and future, ahould remain and he inviolate and in full force until .
tbe objects of tbe said act should be fully accomplished, and :
alio that the operation of the said acts should not be molested '
or impaired, or artested or attached by the State of Indiana;
and loAffrffat, it appears that the uusineis of the canal ha» been
aetiously affected, and its tolls and receipts so far impabed that
that they cannot now be relied upon aa a source of revenne,
and this aiipes In conaequeoce of tbe competition of railroads,
authoilzed bv the State since tbe passage of the Public Debs
Act, on tbe 19th January, 1816; therefore,
Beioltetl, That tbe State of Indhma having virtually destroyed
the security which it had pledged, and on wuich the bondholders
relied for tbe payment of their just dues, is boimd by every
obligation, legal, moral and equitable, to indenmify and compen¬
sate tbe holders of said debt for the iuU amount tbereoC
Rttohtd, That a Committee, Including tbe chainnan of this
meeting, be appointed to »ubscribe a memorial m behalf of hold¬
ers of said certificates of Canal atock. residing in this country,
and to act in tbe premises In connection with the Committee
in London acting in behalf of the forein holders, and to take
charge of said memorial and attend to its presentation to the
Governor, and through 1to the Legislature of the State of
Indiana, at its preaent session, aud to adopt and put in ezecn-
tion sucn measures as they may deem expedient and proper, in
order to eecnre the objects of said memoziaL
The following gentlemen were appointed snob Com¬
mittee, with power to add to their number and to sup- i
ply any vacancy, viz :
Tbe Chainnan, J. F. D. I^tnier, Daniel B. EyaU, i
Isaac Seymour, John Fergnson,
Luther 0. Clark, J. N. Fsrklns,
Wm. M. Bliss.
Tbe meeting tben aàioumed, subject to the call of .
said Committee.
(Sisned) J. F. D. LANIER, Chairman. ]
Albert O. Aller, Secretary,
The demand for Honey on call has been active to-
}v>' been fnlly met. Paper is eaaier.
MEMORIAL.
To the Honorable A. P. Willaed,
Governor of the State of Indiana.
The undersigned, committees of the holders, both foreign
and domestic, of the stock of the Wabash and Erie Canal,
issued under an act passed the 19th January, 1846, " to pro¬
vide for the funded debt of the State of Indiana, and for the
completion of the Wabash and Erie Canal to Evansville, and
an act supplementary thereto, passed 27th January, 1847,
are instructed to ask your attention, and through you, the at¬
tention of the Legislature of the State, to the present and
prospective condition of that work, and to the joint relation
thereto of the aforesaid holders of the said certificates and of
the State.
It is about ten years since an arrangement was effected be- object oáiiü
tween the State of Indiana and her creditors, under which the
Wabash and Erie Canal, with its lands and revenues, was
placed in the hands of trustees, as a security for the payment
of one-half of the State debt, and our object now is to review
the workings of that arrangement thus far ; to consider the
probable future of the trust, and the sufficiency of its means
to meet the object of its creation ; and, in the event of these not
proving adequate, to solicit from the State such an interposi¬
tion as will maintain its own high character, and secure the
very important interests of its public creditors.
In orderto a perfect comprehension of the subject, however,
it will be necessary for us to recall the circumstances under
which the arrangement was suggested, the great and vital oh-
4
jects which were to be accomplished by it, and the terms and
conditions of it, as it was finally executed.
Cauacs of the The State of Indiana, in common with many other States
rangement. of the American Union, had been involved, during the specu¬
lative excitements of the years 1835-6, in a system of inter¬
nal improvement, which had speedily exhausted her resources,
and plunged her into the most serious and hopeless financial
embarrassments.. In a report of the Committee of Ways and
Means of the House of Representatives for 1846, describing
the condition to which the State was reduced, it was said, that
"For several years past the executive and legislative de-
" partments of the government have attempted to portray, in
" suitable terms, the embarrassments of the people and of the
" government of the State ; but masterly as were the pens with
" which these descriptions were drawn, they all fell short of
" the reality. Every interest and every species of property has
" felt, and deeply felt, their ruinous effects. They have proved
" as severe as their prevalence was general, embracing every
" condition of the people and every branch of the government,
" and their blighting effects can only now be understood by
" those who witnessed and experienced the same." (See Docu¬
mentary Journal^ 1845-6, page 133.)
The Committee proceeded to say, " that the existing means
" and available resources of the State were so far consumed,
" that on more than one occasion the State was compelled to
" resort to temporary loans to raise the current salaries of its
" officers, small as they were in amount." By the Auditor's
report of 1847, it appears that the outstanding debt of the
State (exclusive of the domestic debt so called) was
$11,090,000, on which there were arrearages of interest,
which had not been paid for six years, to the amount of
$3,327,000 more, making the total indebtedness at that time,
the Ist of January, 1847, nearly fourteen millions and a half
of dollars. Governor Whitcomb, in his annual message for
the same year remarked, that " This debt, large in itself, was
increasing at a rapid and fearful rate," and that in view of it,
" many of the best citizens, involved in despair, and anxious
" to leave their property unencumbered to their children, were
5
" sacrificing their homes for less than their value, and leaving
" the State. The same causes were preventing men of capital
" and industry from coming into it to purchase property, ira-
" prove the conntry and add to our wealth." "All which," he
adds, " had a tendency to increase the gloom and despond-
" ency which pervaded business afifairs generally, and to di-
" minish the ability of the people, the great mass of whom
" were also involved in debt, to meet their individual engage-
" ments." (See Documentary Journal^ 1847-8 ; Governor''^
Message, Gm. Ass., page 190.)
In fact it was universally apprehended, and deprecated by
all citizens of the State having an interest in her welfare
and good name, that, against their wishes, and in the simple
inability to meet her obligations, she would be driven to the
dreadful alternative of repudiation.
The prospect of such an issue had been naturally as alarm- Action of
ing to the creditors of the State as it was to the State itself;
they had invested their money, as they remarked in an early
memorial on the subject, " in the most entire confidence in
the integrity of the people, and in thèir ability to meet their
obligations ; and they had been led to make such investments
of their property, not only in reliance on the pledged public
faith of the State, but from a desire to place their property
where, while it would be safe beyond a question, they might
calculate on receiving the interest punctually, the receipt of
it being to all of them a matter of great importance, and to
a large number of them of indispensable necessity." They
deplored the existence of the causes which had occasioned
ttiem such serious disappointment and loss ; but they would
not harbor a doubt as to the disposition of the citizens of In¬
diana to pay their debts to the uttermost farthing, as soon as
they should have the ability to do so ; but it became a question
of vital moment to them, therefore, as to when and how this
should be done, and what calculations they could safely make
in regard to the future. In their anxiety, both for their own in¬
terests and for the continued prosperity and honor of the State,
a large body of them united, in 1845, in sending their agent,
Mr. Charles Butler, of New-York, to Indianapolis, to confer
6
with the Governor and Legislature, as well as the principal
citizens, in regard to some judicious measure^ by which the
interests of all parties shovld be secured and promoted. " It
is entirely evident," said Governor Whitcomb, who gave a
cordial and honorable welcome to the designs of Mr. Butler,
" that the credit of the State cannot be resuscitated without
" a liberal arrangement between the State and her creditors.
" It is a great moral question, involving the dearest interests
" of the people of Indiana, in the adjustment of which all mere
" party and local considerations should be merged."
Universally it was perceived that something must be done,
not only to retrieve the lapsed honor of the commonwealth,
but to arrest the downward tendency of things, and to lay a
foundation for future success, which should be at once certain
and enduring.
The act The result of Mr. Butler's arduous negotiations, in which,
it deserves to be said, he received the ready co-operation of
many.of the ablest and most worthy citizens of the State,
both in their official and private capacities, was the act of
January 19th, 184d, to which we have before referred.
Without adverting here to the details of this act, or to the
extraordinary difficulties growing out of the positive prostra¬
tion of nearly all business affairs, by which the passage of it
was.encompassed, let it suffice to state, that the general prin¬
ciple of the arrangement, as finally settled, was a division of
the debt of the State, for which certificates of stock were to
be issued, oii th© surrender of the old bonds—one moiety
based on the immediate responsibility and revenues of the
State, and the other moiety on the property, tolls and revenues
of the Wabash and Erie Canal. The former implied a resort
to direct taxation, and the latter implied the completion of
the Canal to make it successful as a revenue work ; but as
the Canal was yet unfinished, (and the State had no ability
to finish it,) it was provided that the bondholders themselves
should advance further means necessary for its completion ;
and to insure such application of the money to be advanced
by them to its completion, and to insure the application of
its tolls and revenues, present and future, when completed,
7
to the payment of the debt charged upon them, the property
was vested in Trustees, for the joint benefit of the State and
her creditors, until every obligation should be entirely ful¬
filled.
No measure of legislation was ever matured by the State Theobject
° and «pint of
under circumstances of greater embarrassment, and conse-iheact
quently of greater circumspection and care. The executive
and legislative departments of the government both gave
their most earnest attention to it ; it was elaborately discussed
in the public prints as well as in the halls of legislation ; and
every honorable means was used with a simple view to ren¬
dering it, what all interested in the result had most at heart,
a fair, just and equitable settlement of a momentous and
distressing question. It was determined that the just rights
of creditors and the fair fame and permanent welfare of the
State should be alike consulted. The spirit, which inspired
the legislation of the time, was admirably incorporated in the
preamble to the original act, which we take leave to subjoin.
" Whereas honor and justice alike require that such equi-
" table provision should be speedily made for the discharge of
" the pecuniary obligations of the State as shall be just and ac-
" ceptable to its creditors, honorable to the people of Indiana,
" and, at the same time, within the ability of the State, without
" further involving the people in a general debt : And whereas
" an arrangement, based upon a moderate system of taxation,
" and the completion of the Wabash and Erie Canal to Evans-
" ville, it is believed will secure the objects aforesaid : And
" whereas, in order to insure so desirable a result, a large por-
"tion of our bondholders have manifested a willingness to aid
" in the completion of said Canal, within the ensuing four years,
" to the Ohio Elver : And whereas this proposition embraces,
"as a general arrangement, the payment by taxation of two
" and a half per cent, on the unprovided public debt of the
" State, and a reliance for the remaining two and a half per
" cent, on the lands, tolls and water rents of said W abash and
" Erie Canal, (after paying expenses of construction and repair,)
" thereby greatly relieving the people of Indiana from burdeh-
"some taxation, and virtually discharging them from any
8
" liability for the said remaining interest, and looking alone
" to said Canal, its tolls and other revenues, for half the inter-
" est on said entire public debt : And whereas there is reason
" to believe that the plan embraced in the following provisions
" is entirely within the means of the State successfully to ac-
" complish ; that it will be acceptable to our creditors, honor-
" able to the people represented by this General Assembly,
" and will add to the wealth, prosperity and advancement of
" Indiana."
Good effect And as no measure was more carefully considered before-
hinon! hand, so no measure ever enacted by a legislative body gave
a more instant and general relief to the public mind. It may
be said of it, without exaggeration, what a distinguished
American statesman said of the earlier financial measures of
Washington's administration, that " Thet smote the rock of
financial eesoorce, and the living waters gushed forth ;
they touched the corpse of public credit, and it sprang
upon its feet." From the moment in which it was made known
that the plan had been consummated, that the public creditors
were willing to return their old and discredited bonds and ac¬
cept the new securities pledged in their place, the clouds of
doubt and dismay which had hung over the prosperity of Indi¬
ana rolled away. The almost universal feeling of despondency
and gloom was lightened and cheered, and the sunshine of
confidence came forth to animate the labor and develope the
resources of the people. From that moment, as the entire
history of the State witnesses, the spirit of enterprise was re¬
sumed ; and whatever greatness or grandeur of result her in¬
dustry has since attained, a great deal is owing to this happy
adjustment, which released her burdens and recovered her
energies.
We claim no particular merit for the creditors in their part
of this settlement, nor do we withhold any from the represen¬
tatives of the State ; it was a delicate and important transac¬
tion in which all were deeply concerned, which had long
baffled the sagacity and good will of the most experienced
statesmen and financiers, and to the solution of which all
parties contributed their best wisdom and most candid and
9
conciliatory efforts. The State was eager to be relieved of its
unpleasant position, every day becoming more critical, finan¬
cially and morally, anîl the creditors were no less eager to
regain a surer hold of property, which had, through the mis¬
fortunes of the times, slipped from their grasp. There was
no disposition on either side to achieve undue advantages, or
to evade just responsibility, although there was suspended
over both, to quicken their efforts, the prospect, that if a set¬
tlement were not then attained, the same circumstances which
had so long delayed would permanently defeat the under¬
taking. For this reason it was, that the conclusion of the
arrangement was so generally bailed, both in the State and
out of it, as an eminently propitious event, creditable to all
concerned, in it, and a veritable epoch in the financial history
of the times.
In acceding to that part of the adjustment which proposed induce-
to them to release the State from all immediate responsibility ^ptaLV"
for one-half the public debt, and to look to the tolls and reve- fhr®°bondí
nues, present and future, of the Wabash and Erie Canal, and
to them alone, for security, the creditors (naturally reluctant
to do so, inasmuch as it required a new advance of money
in addition to what they had already invested, without re¬
ceiving a return) acted upon tlie representations then made
to them, on the strength of reliable and suflicient data, by the
governor and other officers of the State, and by numerous
citizens thereof, who were supposed to be thoroughly informed
in the premises, as well as upon such other information as
could be collected by themselves and by their agents. The
Wabash and Erie Canal was regarded by all intelligent per¬
sons, both within and without the State, for its whole length,
and for future years, as the main channel of transportation,
not only for the tier of counties through which it runs, but for
a large district of country on each side, and subject only to
the competition of the Wabash Eiver.
Let us briefly refer to some of these representations and
opinions :
Governor Whitcomb, in a letter to J. Horsley Palmer, Esq., Governor
one of the creditors in London, and chairman of the com- iSterT"'"
10
mittee of foreign creditors, dated Indianapolis, Febrnary 5th,
184:6, and written to commend the plan of settlement, re¬
marked, " The Canal part of the arrangement may not at first
" appear desirable, but I am mnch deceived, and so are some
" of the most sagacious and intelligent engineers and business
" men in our country, if in the course of a few years, after its
" completion, its net income should not greatly exceed the
" amount of interest it has to pay." He then refers for his ma-
tnred views on the subject to his annual message, in which
he says, "This work (the Wabash and Erie Canal) passes
"through a country of almost unrivalled fertility, and rapidly
" increasing population. Reaching, in its full length, from
" Lake Erie to the Ohio River, it will be the largest work of
" the kind in the United States. ItwiU he second only in im-
porUmce to that which connects Lake Erie and the Hudson
" River, and will make one of the links in the great chain of
" internal navigation from the northeastern to the southwestern
" extremities of our growing confederacy."
F aunlleroj^ The State engineer, R. H. Fanntleroy, Esq., who had just
eetmutes. completed his survey and estimates of the southern division
of this Canal, addressed a letter to the agent of the bond¬
holders under date of January 13th, 1846, from which the
following paragraph is taken :
" The extent of country, looking to this Canal as its principal
channel of commerce, embraces about one-third of the State
of Indiana, together with a considerable poi-tion of the State
of Illinois, in all equal in area to about one-half of the State
of Indiana."
Confirmed The same competent authority prepared a table of the
p^ne^ prospective revenues of the Canal, which was also approved
by J. L. Williams and W. J. Ball, both distinguished en¬
gineers, the latter then being also in the employment of the
State, and which is herewith enclosed. (See page 28 for table.)
It should, perhaps, be noted of this estimate, that it con¬
templated a more speedy completion of the Canal than was
practicable, and by the supplementary act six years were
allowed, instead of four, for its completion. The work was
commenced in 1847 and finished in 1853.
11
It may further illustrate the view generally entertained at cstizen-ii
that period, of the large extent'of country for which the
Wabash and Erie Canal would form the sole channel of trade,
to quote from a carefully prepared letter from a citizen of the
State, previously connected with the public works, and ad¬
dressed to the agent of the State's creditors, dated February
2l8t, 1846. Speaking of the district which would be tribu¬
tary to the Canal, the following language is used :
"It embraces over forty counties in Indiana and seven
" large counties in Illinois, and contains, by computation, over
" 21,000 square miles. The boundaries of this district, as you
" will perceive, have been traced with due regard to the influ-
" ence of rival channels of transportation, such as the Illinois
" and Lake Michigan route on the north and west, the Ohio
" River on the south, and the rail-road from that river to
" Indianapolis."
The same general view had been entertained by business opiniou
men and by the public authorities ever since this Canal was men.
first projected. From its general direction, corresponding so
well with the course of trade, and from its remoteness from
other lines of water communication, this Canal had ever been
considered as a trunk line, into which the trade of the coun¬
try for a wide extent on both sides would be drawn by lateral
improvements and common roads.
It was this consideration, also, giving assurance of a large
and paying traffic, which had warranted the State of Indiana
in undertaking an improvement of such magnitude.
In confirmation of the facts here stated, another extract
from the documentary history of the time may be brought
forward. In January, 1840, the Legislature of Indiaua, by
joint resolution, appointed a commissioner to attend the Le¬
gislature of Ohio in reference to the early construction of the
Ohio division of this Canal.
The official representation of this commissioner touching opinion
the character of this thoroughfare, and the extent of country ^^í^íoÍ
of which it was expected to become the channel of trade,
may be regarded as the opinion of the State. The following
passage is selected from his letter to the Governor of Ohio.
(See Journal of Ohio Legislature, session of 1839-40.)
12
" That the capability of the Wabash Valley for furnishing
" transportation, by means of its production and consumption,
"is equal to that of any other agricultural district of the West,
" with the same population, will probably not be questioned,
" For this trade the Wabash and Erie Canal will form the na-
" tural, and, in fact, the only channel, so far as the northern
" market may be sought. From the first settlement of this
" valley, its citizens have anticipated the opening of this Canal
" at no remote period, for which expectation they perhaps have
"sufficient grounds in the donation of land for this object, and
" the acceptance of this donation, with all its requirements, by
" the States. They have neither sought nor desired any other
" connection with Lake Erie, but, on the contrary, have located
" and constructed their common roads, to say nothing of their
" lateral canals and rail-roads, some of which have been com-
"menced, so as to concentrate their trade on this Canal as the
" main trunk. From this circumstance, as well as from the
"directness of the route, the Wabash and Erie Canal will not
"besnbjected toa competition with other established channels
" of trade, as is often the case on the opening of a new work,
"but from the first will command the undivided commerce and
"intercourse between the Wabash country and the northern
" markets. The district for which this Canal will form the main
" channel of trade, may be described as extending from the
"State line as far down the Wabash as the Grand Eapids, a
" distance of three hundred miles. The boundaries of the dis-
" trict on the south and southeast may be defined by a line
" pursuing generally the valley of the west fork of White Kiver
" to the east line of the State, embracing nearly one-third of
" the snrface between the Wabash and the Ohio Kiver, and on
" the north and west by a line diverging from the Grand
" Rapids, and extending about one-third the distance to the
" Illinois River on the west, and Lake Michigan on the north.
" The limits of this district, it will be perceived, are marked
" out with due reference to the influence of the Ohio naviga-
" tion on the south, and of the Rlinois River and Lake Michigan
" on the west and north, as rival channels of commerce."
The district thus described contains a surface equal to
13
"thirty-eight counties in Indiana, and nearly nine counties in
" lUinois,.including an area of 22,000 square miles."
In this aspect of the case, and with these promises of fu¬
ture business and revenue from the Canal, the creditors of
Indiana, in 184:6, accepted the principle of the proposed plan
of arranging the debt.
At a meeting of the committee of the European bondhold¬
ers, held in London, May 30th, 1846, it was resolved :
"That under the circumstances stated in the report of Mr. Form of ac-
" Charles Butler, confirmed by a letter of his excellency, ae'^Tond^
" James Whitcorab, dated 5th February last, addressed to Mr.
" Palmer, it is the opinion of the committee that it will be for
" the interest of the bondholders of the State of Indiana to
" concur in the principle laid down in the act of the Legislature,
" passed at Indianapolis on the 19th January, for the adjust-
"ment of the debt of that State, by the paynient of one moiety
" of the principal and interest by taxation, and the other
" moiety by the property and tolls of the Canal, from the State
" line adjoining Ohio, to Evansville, on the Ohio River ; such
" property to be assigned to three trustees, and the State to be
" freed from responsibility on that portion of the debt and in-
" terest so to be secured."
But while assenting to the prineipU of the settlement, the
Bondholders, looked to the peculiar nature of the proposed se¬
curity. As this was virtually a mere mortgage of the tolls
and revenues (in other words, the income) of thé Canal, pre¬
sent and future—(the fee or property of the Canal always being
and remaining in the State, and subject to its redemption)—
they were apprehensive that the provisions of the act of 1846
were not sufl5ciently explicit in guarding this security from
every possible interference on the part of the State, and there¬
fore suggested several modifications.
These did not disturb the general principle of the act, but
were yet essential to render it perfectly satisfactory, and to
enable it to be carried into efíect according to its fair and
obvious intent.
The action of the Legislature on the proposed modifica- Thosuppie-
tions resulted in the passage of the Supplementary act of
14
January, 184T, which Supplementary act, after reciting the
doubts which might be raised in the respects alluded to, pro¬
ceeded to affirm, in the strongest manner, the inviolability and
permanence of the securities offered to the State's creditors,
iisgua- In section 14, it says : to demonstrate the goodJ^aith
pled^ew^-
" of Indiana^ and for the removal of all such douhts, and with
" ■ " a view to create general confidence in the anra/ngefment made
• " hy the State for the liquidation of its dehts, he it enacted^ that
" the tolls, revenues and profits of the said Canal and its appur-
" tenances, present and future, &c., &c., shaix remain and be
" INVIOLATE AND IN FÜLL FORCE*, and the payment of the princi-
" pal moneys and interest on the certificates and stock intended
" to be created pui'suant to the said act and this act, and all the
" certificates and evidences of the title thereof, respectively,
" shall he and continue effectual and inviolate hy themecms
''^aforesaid, until the objects and purposes of the said act, and
" of this present act, shall be fully accomplished." Again, in
the same section, it is further enacted, "That all stock to be
" created, and all-certificates and other instruments of title to
" be issued in pursuance of said act, and all principal moneys,
" and interest thereby accrued, shcdl not be molested or im-
'■^pai/red, arrested or attached by the State of Indiana."
In another section, again, the 22d, are these broad and im¬
portant provisions, which declare the designs and obligations
of the State with remarkable distinctness :
" Sec. 22. The debt which it is the object of the trust created
" by the said recited act, (as amended by this act,) to liquidate,
" as in the said act is mentioned,^having been contracted under
" the authority of the State of Indiana, and for the service of
" the people of that State, and it being desirable, as well for the
" credit of the State as also in order to establish confidence in
" the public in general, and the subscribers in particular, to
" secure the utmost punctuality in the fulfilment of the objects
" of the said trust, it is hereby declared, that the tolls and re-
" venues of the said Canal, present and future, and the lands
" and lots so conveyed, or intended to be conveyed, as herein-
" before mentioned, and the proceeds thereof, when sold, shall
" be, and the same are hereby specially pledged, to form a dis-
15
" tinct and partienlar fond for the redemption of the stock and
" certificates to be issued in pursuance of the said recited act
" and of this act ; and the said State shaXL not direct or permit
*' any appropriation to be made of such tolls and revenues,
" lands and proceeds, or any of them, for the general purposes
" of the State, or otherwise howsoever, other than and except for
'• the purposes of the said trust, as directed by the said act, (as
" amended by this act,) until the said stock and certificates,
" and all interest thereon, shall hare been fully paid and satis-
" fied out of the tolls and revenues of the said Canal, or the
" State shall have redeemed said stock and certificates by the
"payment of the principal thereof; the right of doing which,
" after twenty years from the nineteenth day of January, 1846,
" is hereby reserved by the State, as provided in the act to
" which this is an amendment."
Now these were positive and comprehensive covenants, not Nature of
only restraining the State from every kind and degree of in- a¡<ma
terference with the present and prospective revenues of the
Canal, which were the sole security and reliance of the credit¬
ors, but imposing upon it also the most sacred obligation to
maintain that security and reliance, unchanged in character
and unimpaired in value.
They were assurances and pledges of good faith by the
State of Indiana to her creditors, which constituted the very
essence of the contract, which were required by the nature of
that security, and were expressly designed to establish the
confidence of the bondholders in particular, and the public in
general, in the arrangement, and to induce'the former to be¬
lieve that they would be justified in foregoing their more
immediate lien on the treasury of the State, and in advancing
large sums of money for the prompt and effective completion
of the Canal. Every reasonable hope and probability was
held out to them, by means of these provisions and pledges
of the acts, as hnaUy settled, that they would be able, out of
the present and future income of the Canal, not merely to re¬
imburse themselves for their new advances and their long
delayed dues, but to assist in resuscitating the credit of the
State, in furthering one of the most inagnificent industrial
16
enterprises of the day and country, and in afterwards handing
it over to the State, free from incumbrances, in a prosperous
condition and an abundant source of future revenues. Had
they entertained any doubts as to the financial success of the
scheme, these doubts would have been removed by the very
clear and positive statements of the agent of the State, Mr. J.
F. D. Lanier, who was appointed by the proper authorities,
in the summer of 1847, to proceed to London, to confer with
such bondholders as had not already acceded to the arrange¬
ment, to explain the terms and conditions of the several acts
of the Legislature, and obtain their assent to the same.
Mr. Lanier, in a pamphlet, dated London, August 5th, 1847,
after recapitulating and commending the main features of
the arrangement, repeated the tables prepared by the engi¬
neers, Messrs. Fauntleroy and Ball, (before cited,) as to the
prospective revenues of the Canal, and appended thereto the
most promising estimates of the growth of population, and
of the increasing productiveness of the counties through
which it passed.
Your memorialists having agreed to the terms of the act,
met every demand made by the trustees to enable them to
carry it into effect ; and thus, as the trustees themselves re¬
mark in their report of 1849, " performed and fulfilled all
" that the law required of them," adding " that this prompt-
" ness on the part of the bondholders furnishes the best evi-
" deuce of their confidence in the integrity of the people of In-
" diana, and in the security provided by the acts of the Legis-
"lature creating the trust."
Early eue- For somc time after the transfer of the Canal to the trus-
tees, their highest hopes of success bid fair to be realized,
plan. work was prosecuted with economy and vigor, and there
was a steady and growing increase of income. It. appears,
by the annual reports of the trustees, that the receipts of the
Canal, v/hich had been $10.2,424 in 1846, were $125,982 in
1847, and which again increased in 1848 to $146,148, but
that in 1849 there was a slight falling off to $134,659, (owing
to the failure of the wheat crop and the prevalence of the
cholera,) when the upward tendency again commenced, and
17
the receipts, wMch were $157,158 in 1850, became $179,282
in 1851, and $193,400 in 1852. But dnring that year the
maximnm was reached. In 1853 the receipts fell to
$181,206 ; in 1854 there was a still further decrease to
$180,535, and in 1855 an enormous fall, amounting to
$40,135 on the receipts of the previous year. For the cur¬
rent year our trustees inform us of a still further decline of
$67,111, as compared with the receipts of 1854, so that it
may now be regarded as an established and permanent fact,
that the revenues of the Canal are most disastrously reduced
and impaired.
And it is to this fact that we seek to direct your serious at- of
tention. What have been the causes of this decline ? Why
are our hopes as to the sufficiency of the Canal for the pur¬
poses to which it was pledged, thus defeated ? Why, in the
face of a large increase of the navigable portion of the Canal
and a consequent augmentation of its tirade, is there a diminu¬
tion in its proceeds, and to what may we rightfully attribute
the foreshadowed insufficiency of the net revenues of the
trust to meet the end of its creation ?
Your memorialists are strongly assured, and respectfully Not extra-
suggest, that this failure is not attributable to any unexpected
or extravagant expenditure in the completion of the Canal to
Evansville ; for in this work the original plans of the State
were mainly carried out, and a judicious economy obsefved,
bringing the entire cost within or very little above the original
estimate, notwithstanding the great advance in labor and pro¬
visions subsequent to 1846, when these estimates were made.
Again, it cannot be ascribed to any want of economy Nor extra
in the current repairs and maintenance of navigation
in the finished Canal, for in this service there has been
expended for nine years an annual average per mile of only
$268, which is less, by near thirty per cent., than was allowed
in the estimate of the State engineers, made in 1846, and
some thirty per cent, below the average repairs on the two
leading canals of the State of Ohio, of cbiTesponding dimen¬
sions, for a series of years, as we find it stated in official
reports.
2
18
^^Nor^faiiing Nor has there been any material failure or disappointment
lands. in the land funds which were pledged by the act of 1846,
to the assistance of the Canal. The lands in the Vincennes
District, as well as those in the northern part of the State,
belonging to the original grant, have sold as freely, and ex¬
cept as reduced by the re-appraisement, at as high prices as
was anticipated, and as fixed by law.
increMo Nor has the increase in the population, wealth and busi-
Snc?Í8é6°" ness of the State been less rapid than was expected. The
population of the Statje, which, in 1846, was 680,000,
has increased to nearly 1,300,000 at this time. The res¬
toration of public credit following the adjustment of the
State debt, which had so long sat as an incubus upon public
and private enterprise, gave an impulse to improvement sur¬
passing even what had been predicted by the advocates of
we^rop'Sy" t^e State debt act, at the time of its passage, augmenting
the value of taxable property in the State from $126,000,000
in 1846, to near $400,000,000 at this time, as stated in the
Auditor's Keport for 1856.
Decrease Nor can it be alleged that the commerce of that portion
of the State has been withdrawn from the Canal by the com-
na^gaSn" peting navigation of the Wabash Hiver, even to the extent
which was apprehended. The statistical exhibits contained
in the several annual reports of the trustees show a gradual
diminution of the river trade under the infiuence of the Canal.
In 1847, no less than 331 river flat-boats were loaded between
Delphi and Terre Haute. This description of craft is no lon¬
ger used to any extent worth enumerating, on that section of
the river, while, at the same time, the steamboat trade is
diminishing.
If in these leading particulars, comprising, as they do,
the chief grounds upon which the financial success of the
trust was predicated, no essential failure can be detected, to
what shall we attribute the inadequacy of its revenues, and
the distrust in financial circles of the provision made by the
State for the payment of the moiety of her debt resting on
the Canal, which has so much and so unexpectedly depressed
these securities ?
There can be, it seems to us, but one answer to the ques-
19
tion : the extensive system of rail-road communication author- But the real
ised hy the State, in cohering nearly the entire region through
which the Canal passes, and draining all the district of coun¬
try upon which it relies for support, is the single and suffi¬
cient cause of the lamentable decline we have noticed. Up to Theraii-rond
-, T n 1 1 system.
the time when that system began to be developed, as we find by
the annual reports of the trustees, there was the most grati¬
fying evidence of the growing prosperity of the enterprise ;
but as soon as that system took efiect, and in the degree in
which it did take efiect, that prosperity was arrested and un¬
dermined. The Canal revenues fell off with the increase of
rail-road facilities, and it is curious to mark, in this connec¬
tion, how gradually, and yet how steadily, the reports of the
trustees indicate the growth of the interference. In 1851,
when the system was beginning, they expressed a simple ap¬
prehension that the effect would be to force a reduction of tolls.
They say, " The increasing facilities of transportation pro-
" vided by the numerous rail-rpads which are in the process of
" construction within the borders of the State, and some of the
" most important of which traverse districts of country hereto-
" fore tributary to the Canal, and which are being finished, will
" probably call for such a modification of the tolls upon the
" Canal as will protect its business and revenue against com-
" peting routes." The next year (1852) the trustees were com¬
pelled to express a still more decided apprehension, and to
call the attention of the legislature to the threatened invasion
of the railways. They say, " How far the construction of
" the various lines of railway which have been projected
" under the general act passed by the General Assembly at
" its last session, running parallel and near to the Canal,
" may operate to damage or impair the security provided
" for the bondholders in the public debt act, it is impossible for waming»
" the trustees to decide. They do not find, in the general tees in their
" railway act, any limitation upon the right to construct a rail- ports,
"road along the line of the Canal, nor any reservation of tolls
" upon the property to be transported by such railways, if con-
" structed." What was apprehension in 1852, becomes posi¬
tive fact in 1853. The trustees, in their report for that year,
assert " that the produce and merchandise hitherto taking the
20
" Canal as ifs natural channel, has this year been drawn off by
" newly-opened rail-roads." They report, in 1854, that the
" class of freight paying the highest tolls (merchandise) has
" been, to some extent, diverted into rail-road channels." But
the experience of 1855, when an enormous deficiency oc¬
curred, left them no doubt, if they had entertained any, of
the injurious and fatal effects of rail-road competition. Speak¬
ing of the deficiency in the tolls, they remarked that " it is to
" be mainly attributed to the competition of the rail-roads trav-
" ersing districts of country contiguous to the Canal, and di-
" verting the trade and business which would otherwise have
" come to it. The effect of this competition upon the Canal
" has been more strikingly exhibited during the past year than
" ever before." They then proceed to detail the statistics of
the receipts at two of the most important offices, going to
show that the shipment of merchandise by the Canal had
fallen off more tban fifty per cent, in two years.
Again, in the report for the current year, they say :
" By reference to the tables of tolls for the current year, it
" will be seen that they exhibit a further falling off of twenty-
" six thousand nine hundred and seventy-six dollars and six
" cents, as compared with the business of last year, and of sixty-
" seven thousand one hundred and eleven dollars and eighty-
" six cents from the receipts of the year 1854. The opening of
" the Wabash Valley Eoad to Attica, since the last report, has
" given the railways greater power of competing for the busi-
" ness of the Wabash Valley, and to this cause, chiefly, may
" be referred the falling off of the tolls and revenues of the
" Canal.
" In the early part of the season the board were forced to
" make a large reduction of tolls on merchandise from the
" State line to Lafayette, and all points south, to retain, if
" possible, that business to the Canal. But the result of the
" year's business shows too plainly that the Canal cannot suc-
" cessfully compete with the railways for that class of traffic,
" which, from its greater value in small bulk and weight, can
" afford to pay the greater charge for transportation. The
" business of the Canal for the last three years, as exhibited in
21
" the annual reports, would seem to be conclusive on this point,
" and the trustees can only invoke the serious consideration of
"the General Assembly to the subject."
In this connection, also, let us refer to the tables appended
to this report, exhibiting the very large reduction in the rates
of toll to which they have been forced, and to the diminution
of tonnage of merchandise, notwithstanding the diminished
charges, especially during thé last three years. The mer¬
chandise which, in 1853, Amounted to 11,423,567 j>ounds, in
1856 had dwindled to 2,328,338 pounds, notwithstanding the
reduction in the rates of toll, amounting, in this period, to 77
per cent.
Had no evidence, however, upon this head been presented
to us by the trustees, whose testimony is particularly valuable,
inasmuch as they properly describe themselves, in their ear¬
liest report, " as equally the agents of the State and her bond-
" holders, and equally bound to discharge their duties to each,
" as defined in the acts creating the trust," we should have
still inferred the result from its antecedent probability. It
cannot but be, in the nature of things, that a rail-road, which
is liable to few obstructions at any season of the year,
and which conveys goods with so much rapidity, should se¬
riously injure a canal of no larger dimensions than this, de¬
pendent upon the same districts and the same trade. For the
heavier descriptions of freight a canal may still be preferred,
but these are precisely the kinds which pay the least tolls;
while the lighter freights, those in which a vast amount of
value is concentrated in small bulk and weight, are those
which are most easily drawn away to rail-roads. Under the
existing system of rail-road connections, moreover, by which
goods shipped in almost any part of the country can be car¬
ried to their destination without transhipment, an important
advantage is given to that method of conveyance.
The rail-road system covering Indiana, Ohio and Illinois is
a unit^ designed and adapted to accommodate and control
the transportation business of the country. It is operated
with that end in view, and it is not strange that a combined
system, working with so much uniformity, celerity and
22
power, with so many active agencies and parties in interest
ai every point where business centres, should supersede canals,
or take from them at least the best and most remunerating
kinds of trade, and force the latter to such reduction of tolls on
all other kinds as to render them comparatively unproductive.
"We find whenever canals and rail-roads come into compe¬
tition, as in the great States of New-York and Ohio, the
canals suffer extensively in the trial. In New-York, for
many years, the legislature imposed % tariff of charges upon
goods carried by certain rail-roads, to prevent the most dis¬
astrous effect upon the canals ; and the board of public works
of Ohio, in their last annual report, complain that the rail¬
roads " have succeeded in taking from the canal that class of
" business which has heretofore been the principal source of
"revenue." In order to show the extent to which the appro¬
priation, by the rail-roads, of the business of the Canal has
been carried, we have caused to be prepared a skeleton map
of the State, herein enclosed, in two parts, one exhibiting the
works constructed or proposed when the State debt arrange¬
ment was made, and the other showing the rail-road system,
as it now exists. You are invited to consider these maps
with the most deliberate care—for better than any argument
which might be addressed to you, and better than any other
fact that might be adduced—while appealing directly to the
senses, they force conviction upon the mind.
Important The shaded line marks the boundary of the district con-
state sidered tributary to the Canal, before the opening of the rail-
WM, and as ^^ys, and upon which the estimates were predicated in 1846.
Of the towns and villages of the State only the county seats
are marked on these maps, of which thére are forty-nine
within the shaded boundaries.
Of these it will be seen that over thirty county seats, form¬
ing, of course, the centres of trade for their respective coun¬
ties, are intersected by the parallel roads, or by lateral roads
branching from them, having the same gauge and requiring
no transhipment between these interior counties and the lake.
In 1846 no one of these counties entertained even a well-
grounded prospect of railway communication, but all through
23
their common roads and their pi'ojected plank roads, and
other improvements, were seeking a connection with the
Wabash and Erie Canal, as the permanent outlet for the trade
',0 Lake Erie and the Ohio River.
As these roads have come in competition with the Canal
at certain points—such as Lafayette and Terre Haute—a large
reduction in the rates of toll has necessarily been made in
previous years to and from these important points. And now,
with the opening of the parallel road along the Canal line, a
further and general abatement, averaging nearly forty per cent,
on the leading imports, from the tolls of 1855, is foi'ced upon
he trustees.
Can any contrast be more positive or striking ? At the The ran-
time our constituents accepted the Canal as a security, thereby dSätroye/*"
discharging the State, it was the great enterprise of the State, a security,
without a competitor and without a rival ; but it is now per¬
fectly encompassed from one end to the other, in a network of
rail-roads. The whole region of country on which it depended
is checkered by them ; every principal source of its trade is
tapped by them ; its local business and its through business
are alike disturbed ; and yet, disastrous as its more recent fate
has been, the future threatens to become still more disastrous.
In short, the very basis of security preferred to us, in lieu of
the revenues of the State, has been essentially changed, and
that by the authorization of the State. The Canal is, virtually,
no longer the same work. Its banks and locks are the same ;
the same waters continue to flow through it ; the same men
and women, perhaps, live upon its banks, but that compre¬
hensive and lucrative trade, which was the life of it—that
trade which originally induced the legislature to undertake
its construction, and the expectation of which alone made it
a security to your creditors—^has been spirited away. It no
longer exists as it was, or as it promised to be, and it cannot
be restored.
In this posture of afiairs your creditors conceive that they
are entitled to some remedy or redress on the part of In¬
diana. Had the security, in which they trusted, dwindled
away under the influence of inevitable natural causes, or had
24:
the depreciation of it arisen from their own act, or from the
act of an independent third party, the question, perhaps,
would have been different ; but, in the actual case, the in¬
jury to our interests has been wrought imder the direct
The state authority of the State, not only by special charters, but by a
titled to some general law, granting to individuals and companies the right
redress. construct rail-roads, wherever they please, without regard
to the previous vested rights of the Canal stockholders. It
has involved our securities in ruin. Of course, neither we, nor
the stockholders whom we represent, question the right of the
legislature to enact any laws that may be deemed salutary or
expedient ; that is a matter wholly within its own discre¬
tion ; nor do we desire to condemn the policy which has led
the State into its vast and useful system of rail-road commu¬
nication. On the contrary, we rejoice in the liberality of
disposition and the energy of enterprise which is manifested
in these undertakings ; we rejoice in the advantages which
they have brought, and are still bringing to its inhabitants by
the impulses they give to production ; by the access they open
to new and better markets ; by the value conferred upon land,
and by the facilities presented to commercial and friendly in¬
tercourse. But we hold, at the same time, that the State, in
choosing to adopt or authorize this snperior system of trans¬
portation and travel, must do so at its own cost, and not at
the cost of others ; that it cannot ignore interests which it
had itself already created ; that it cannot impair securities
which it had guaranteed from molestation and wrong ; and
that, in every case of manifest and undoubted injury, it is
bound, in some way, to make reparation.
The moral ^ Universal principle of law, acknowledged in all
meitate!' transactions between individuals ; and much more is it a
principle of honor, which is the only bond of States. In the
earlier days of the debt arrangement, while the terms and the
importance of it were fresher in the public mind, the legisla¬
tion of the State was conducted with a full sense of this pro¬
found moral obligation. "When it was proposed, in 1848, to
charter the Terre Haute, Vincennes and Evansville Kail-Boad
Company, the bill was rejected on the ground of its conflicting
S5
with previous contracts. In the debate on this subject, the
duty of the State not to interfere, in any way, with the
completion or efficiency of the Canal, was recognised in
principle on both sides—the difference of opinion arising
solely on the question whether the specific measure pro¬
posed would have that effect. {See Debate of January
ZUt, 1848.)
Again, in the year 1851, when it was proposed to incorpo¬
rate the Fort "Wayne and Lafayette Eail-Koad Company, the
bill was rejected, on the understanding that the passage and
execution of it would disturb the Public Debt arrangement.
But in 1852 a general law was passed, which enabled com¬
panies and individuals to do what the State had refused to do
directly, though it is impossible to see upon what gi'ounds of
justice or propriety, unless the State meant to make good, in
some suitable way, the damage which might accrue to her
creditors.
No one, we presume, will contend that, if those creditors
had foreseen, or been in any manner advertised of the proba¬
ble construction of superior lines of travel and transport all
along the banks of the Canal, and within the district of coun¬
try contiguous and otherwise tributary to it, they would have
entered into the agreement. For in such an event, the se¬
curity for which they consented to relieve the State would
have been no sécurity at all ; and to hazard their property
upon it would have been an act of imbecility and folly;
neither will any one have the hardihood to assert, what would
be a grave reflection upon the character of the State, that it
sought to shift the burden of its debt upon a resource, which
it designed to render, subsequently, inadequate and falla¬
cious. No ; let us repeat, as we have said before, that the
entire negotiation between the State and its bondholders
was one of the most perfect good faith, in which neither
sought to take advantage of the other, and in which both
were eager that substantial justice should be rendered to all
parties.
The advantages of the arrangement, indeed, were decidedly
on the side of the State, under the most successful prosecu-
26
hJ'î-tcewid plan. Ali that the bondholders could receive was
«nil^ simply the debt actually due to them and the accruing inter-
©stj whlle to the State was reserved the right to every increase
of value and profit beyond that point. Even now our experi¬
ence demonstrates, that while the arrangement has been a
failure in respect to the creditors, the State itself has been
largely benefited by it, to an extent, we have no doubt, at
least equal to the debt it was originally made to secure, in
the relief given to her depressed credit, and in the increased
value of her lands and taxable property. The map shows
that the Canal, as now completed, is the natural drain of, say,
about 14,000,000 of acres; and if we suppose that it has
added a half dollar per acre to the value of this land, the
gain in wealth to the State would be more than equivalent
to the entire principal of the debt which the creditors wished
to realize.
Appeal to At this late day, after the experience which we had, in a
the time of almost overwhelming trial and difficulty, of the
honorable eagerness of Indiana to redeem her plighted faith,
we will not believe that she can sacrifice or trifle with it, in
a time of florid and increasing prosperity. When she was
comparatively poor; when she was paralyzed by debt, public
and private; when her future was dark, almost to the point
of despair, she made, and she succeeded in the noblest ex¬
ertions, to maintain her honesty and fame. And she will not
prize these, we are persuaded, any the less, now that, mainly
iu consequence of those acts, her population has grown with
prodigious rapidity, and thrift has returned, and the golden
horn of plenty is poured out through all her borders.
The sum at stake is indeed a large one—too large for any
individuals to be called upon to lose—and yet trifling when
compared with the abounding resources and prospective opu¬
lence of a great and growing commonwealth.
But were it ten times larger than it is, justice and policy
alike proclaim that it should not be measured against her
character and dignity, as one among the States of the Ameri¬
can Union, and of the nations of the earth.
The mode and nature of redress to which our constituents
27
are entitled, we leave the State itself to determine, satisfied
with the simple presentation of their case, and in the confi¬
dence that it will attract an early, enlightened and satisfactory
consideration.
We have the honor to be,
Four Excellency's ob't servants,
London^ Feb., 1857.
(Signed,) PALMER, MACKOXOP, DENT A CO.,
N. M. ROTHSCHILDS A SONS,
BARING BROTHERS A CO,
FRED. HUTH A CO.,.
MORRISON, SONS A CO.,
The London Committee for the eonvertion of the Debt of Indiana.
Washington City, F^., 1857.
GEORGE PEABODT,
F<yt tdf and othere.
New-York, Feb. 2Zth, 1857.
(Signed,) J. F. D. LANIER,
ISAAC SEYMOUR,
JOHN FERGUSON,
LUTHER C. CLARR,
D. B. RYALL,
J. N^ PERKINS,
WIL' M. BLISS,
Conmittee in behalf of American Solder».
APPENDIX
TABLE A.
Showing the probable revenue to be derived from the Wabash and Erie Canal^from 1846 to 1855, inclusi/oe,
as esti/matedby R. H. Fauntleroy and William J. Rail, Esqrs., Engineers, made ^thDecember, 1845.
Yeara.
Length of canal com¬
pleted and naviga¬
ted during the
year.
1846
188 miles
1847
188 miles
1848
224 miles
1849
337 miles
1850
374 miles
1851
374 miles
1852
374 miles
1853
374 miles
1854
374 miles
1855
374 miles
Total mat of con-
etrucUàn.
Receipts in ioUSi
water rente,
ßTieSf cfeo.
Cost per mile of re¬
pairs, including sîî-
perintendent and
engineering.
Total cost of repairs Amount to he
and incidental paid for col-
charges. lecUon.
Net revenue.
$2,929,000
2,929,000
3,404,000
4,944,000
5,585,000
5,585,000
5,585,000
5,585,000
5,585,000
5,585,000
$150,000
175,000
225,000
380,000
390,000
425,000
450,000
475,000
500,000
500,000
$400 00
400 00
400 00
400 00
350 00
340 00
330 00
450 00
330 00
$120,000
75,000
90,0Q0
135,000
150,000
131,000
127,000
123,000
168,000
123,000
$3,600
3,600
4,500
6,600
7,800
7,800
8,000
8,000
8,400
8,400
$26,400
96,400
130,500
188,400
232,200
286,200
315,000
344,000
323,000
388,600
TABLE B.
Aggregate of Tolls and Water Rents reoei/oed on the Wahash and Erie Ganal^for each year from 1846 to
1856, inoluswe.
Yean.
Length qfflrUehed
canal in mile».
Total ToU».
1846
138
175
189
189
226
281
281
308
308
380
380
$102,424 00
125,983 00
146,149 00
134,659 00
157,158 00
179,283 00
193,400 00
181,206 00
180,535 00
140,399 00
113,423 00
1847
1848,
1849,
1850,
1851
1852
1853
1854
1855
1856
TABLE C.
Amount of tolls Charged on the Leading Exports and Imports on Wahash and Erie Canal, from Lafayette
to the State Line, and from the State Line to Lafayette, from the year 1846 to 1856, both inclusive.
ARTICLES.
Pork, per 1,000 lbs.,
Lard, per 1,000 lbs.,
Bacon, per 1,000 lbs
Beef, per 1,000 lbs., ."..!!!!
Hides, per 1,000 lbs.,
Hogs, live, per 1,000 lbs., !!"!!!!
Wool, per 1,000 lbs,
Grease, per 1,000 lbs, "
Oil Cake, per 1,000 lbs., " "
Com, per bushel, \\\\
Oats, per bushel, !!!!!!!!
Wheat, per bushel,
Flour, per barrel,
Salt, per barrel, "
Merchandise, per 1,000 lbs.,
Coffee, per 1,000 lbs.,
Crockery, per 1,000 lbs.,
Sugar, per 1,000 lbs.
Molasses per 1,000lbs.,
Glass and glass ware, per l,00()ïbs.! ]
Miscellaneous, per 1,000 lbs.,.
Iron, per 1,000 lbs.,
Iron, cast, per 1,000 lbs.,..
Iron, pig, per 1,000 lbs.,
Marble, rough, per 1,000, lbs.,.
Machinery, per 1,000 lbs
1840.
94
94
94
94
12.8
12.8
12;8
12.8
00
2.1
2.1
5.6
20.3
22.5
08.4
08.4
08.4
08.4
38
88 -
88
75.2
75.2
88-
1847.
92.8
92.8
92.8
92.8
02.8
02.8
02.8
75.2
75.2
2.3
2.4
5.6
20
21.9
17
38
38
48
48
59.2
59.2
48
. 1848..
92.8
92.8
92.8
92.8
02.8
02.8
02.8
75.2
75.2
2.3
2.4
5.6
22.2
2 76
88
88
88
88
48
48
59.2
59.2
1 48
1849.
92.8
92.8
92.8
92.8
02.8
02.8
02.8
75.2
75.2
2.3
2.4
5.6
20
22.2
76
88
88
88
88
88
88
88
88
59.2
59.2
1850.
62
.62
62
62 -
89.
00
00
00 ,
80
2.3
1.3
5.3
19.2
24.9
76
70
70
80
00
70
1851.
62
.62.
62
62 •
89
I 00
L 00
I 00
80
2.3
• 1.3
5.3
19.2
24.9
76
87
87
87
87
87
87
70
70
80
00
70
1852.
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
35
1.9
1.1
3
0.8
2.6
50
50
78
1853.
50
50
50
60
60
50
50
60
35
1.9
1.1
8
0.8
50
50
78
1854.
40
40
40
40
40
40
40
40
35
1.9
1.1
2.4
8.6
10
04
54.6
54.6
54.6
54.6
54.6
54.6
54.6
54.6
40
40
54.6
1855.
40
40
40
40
40
40
40
40
35
1.9
1.1
2.4
8.6
10
04
54.6
54.6
54.6
54.6
54.6
54.6
54.6
54.6
40
40
54.6
TABLE D.
COMPAEATIVE STATEMENT
Of the Principal Imports cleared at the Collector's Office at Fort Wayne ffiroin 1846 to 1856, inclusive,
in Pounds.
ARTICLES.
Merchandise
+ Machinery,
* Molasses .,
* Sugar
+ Coffee
t Crockery..
* Iron—^bar and R. R.
* Iron-
* Iron-
t Furniture
•f Glass and glass ware..
4 Marble—rough
t Tobacco—manufact'rd
* Barrels salt—course I
* Barrels salt—flue .. )
Amount tolls and water
rents rec'd each year
at Ft. Wayne office..
a—^bar and R. R. j
n—pig f
n—east )
1846.
7,557,693
193,180
1,433,683
29,356
8,110 00
1847.
811,982
2,183,778
42,285
$34,011 35
1848.
7,541,818
1,206,306 I
1,481,006
3,177,857
937,961
54V,Ó75
553,470
61,743
$45,099 99
1849.
7,135,835
1,705,244
1,103,188
1,020,138
1,145,000
1,104,923
838,831
361,522
413,117
53,0801
$44,088 71
1850.
6,502,225
433,190
764,618
910,857
1,308,754
434,627
905,560
767,754
1,876,013
929,849
370,831
35,925
370,187
9,959
63,355
$57,5^ 45
1851.
8,550,274
1,073,937
1,153,905
1,433,313
1,917,065
544,006
9,460,448
688,054
1,887,013
1,089,727
585,645
601,031
505,994
6,377
46,167
1852.
9,700,638
631,511
1,990,059
1,979,445
362,052
781,226
19,609,539
517,108
2,407,210
1,050,944
432,106
635,636
578,765
8,643
79,548
$66,360 14 $61,226 22
1853.
11,423,567
976,798
2,345,104
2,398,793
1,865,460
900,142
32,940,038
1,012,475
2,759,163
1,173,017
526,613
1,123,101
473,055
6,943
52,666
$65,923 38
1854.
9,432,671
802,760
1,972,248
2,569,064
1,947,228
838,599
38,119,941
912,061
8,068,078
1,047,668
493,234
1,259,452
453,407
6,090
71,622
$56,935 20
1855.
5,182,817
262,119
1,306,525
1,814,454
1,502,806
554,361
21,372,571
653,741
2,465,262
390,557
215,004
1,661,913
266,859
4,566
96,636
$40,733 56
1856.
2,328,338
252,276
851,519
1,272,865
998,480
272,448
12,987,140
44,390
1,419,950
219,408
130,492
1,430,915
193,774
4,238
49,351
$27,746 55
* Indicates that articles thus linked were classed together,
t Indicates that no separate account of these articles was kept that year.
\
*
I