The journal. (Huntingdon, Pa.) 1839-1843, January 13, 1841, Image 2

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    thus affording at, opportunity or exchang
ing the products of the two states, and
tie lig theni ng the bonds of . our national
union. Tht y w ill alsu'ad.l largely to thr
revenue on the works now in use.
Whatever differences of opinion may
exist as to the policy of commencing the
Erie Extension and north Branch Canals,'
there ought to be none now as to their
speedy completion. They are nearly
finished, a comparatively small sum it
necessary to complete them, and the poll
cy of a csntinued and protracted delay in
completing works, which the state is
pledged to accomplish, until the first
work dose en them has become useless
from decay, has proved disasterous and
ruinous on many occasions.
The course heretofore usual, of neglect
ing to appropriate a sufficient sum for re
pairs, and that early in the session, has
been seriously detrie ental to the interests
of the commonwealth. At the last ses
sion the Bommissioners *Abet the lowest
estimate for repairs required 1;700.000,
and the Legislature auppropriated $5013,-
000, a great portion of which was absor
bed by debts then.due. The result has
shown that the Commissioners were right.
The fund has long since been exhausted.
The necessary repairs have not been com
pleted. Those who have been engaged
on them are unpaid, and the Supervisors
are without funds to lay in the necessary
materials for repairs. The repairs on the
line of canals in use should ordinarily be
made in Ivrinter, when they would not in
terrupt:the use of the canals; and it has
usually happened that before the arrival
of winter, the officers have no means at
their command, and no appropriation bill
is passed until late in the session. The,
whole system of repairs in consequence
of the uncertainity of the time of paying
the workmen and those who furnish ma
terial, cost the Commonwealth much.more
than it woald do: were the means of pay
ment, ample, certain,and .. promptly ap
plied. . . _ . _ .
The Beaver division of the Pennsyiva
nia Canal is already connected with the
public improvements of Ohio, by the
Pennsylvania and Ohio canal, a work
which has been completed by individual
enterprize, aided by public appropriations
from both States, and bids fair to be a
valuable tributary to our public improve.
meats, and a profitable investment for
'the stockholders. It has been accom
plished at a less cost than any other work
a the kind which I have visited, and is a
monument of the wisdom of its projectors,
and of the skill, prudence, and economy
of those charged midi its construction.
I respectfully recommend to the Le-
Fislatuee, the enactment of a law author
izing the Canal Commissioners to treat
with the authorities of the state of New
York, for such a connection of our inter
nal improvements with theirs, as will pro.
mote the interests of the two Common
wealths. The law should limit the terms
and conditions, and define the powers
and authorities of the Commissioners in
such manner as on due consideration
shall be deemed proper.
The interest of the Commonwealth
would also be advanced by entrusting the.
same board with the power of selling or
leasing water power created by our inter
nal improvements. There are many
points, and in very advantageous situa
tions, surplus quantities of water, which
could be profitably applied to various
branches of manufacture, without injury
to the due supply of our canals. The
tolls on our pubic i mprovements would
be increased thereby, and a considerable
sum realized from such sale or lease.
By an act of the 7th April, 1835. a
guararrty was made on the part of the
state for the payment of an interest of
five per cent. fur twenty.five years on
$200,000, of the capital stock of the Bald
Eagle and Spring Creek Navigation com
pat,y, and by a subsequent act the State
has since subscribed 525,000 to the stock
of the company. The whole of the work
is completed and in active operation, ex
cept the last six miles, on which about
one third of the excavation and etnbauk
ment is made, two locks completed and
another nearly completed. A compara
tively trifling sum would finish this work,
but the funds of tne company are exhaus
ted, and the Commonwealth is annvally
called upon for the amount of her guaran
ty, and her subscriptions is wholy unpro.
4luctive. It is a very valuable tributary
to the State Canal, terminating in one of
the richest mineral regions in this or per
haps any other country. Evvry article
coming out of it pays a toll on our state
canal for 150 miles to Columbia. I,
therefore submit to the better judgement
of the Legislatuie, whether sound econo
my does not dictate the further subscrip
tion of a sum sufficient to finish it; be
lieving that its productiveness will will
then L e e amply sufficient to relieve the
Commonwealth from ony further payment
of her guaranty.
There are are at present many public
in the course of construction in ou State
by means of private companies, most of
which f cannot but think are calculated to
benefit Pennsylvania in a very high de
gree. Among the latter I may particu
larize the Williamsport arid Elmira rail
road, as tending with a certainty to pro
duce this result. This road will connect
the Grand Erie Canal of New York by
the Seneca Lake, with the West Branch
Canal at Williamsport; and also intersect
at Elmira, the great Southern rail road
now being constructed from the Hudson
river to Lake Erie at Dunkirk. The ad-
Nantages likely to result to ourselveF
from the construction of this road will be,
that the great amount of tonnage and,
travel which now annually finds its wa3
'rom the Kakes through the state of New
fork to the Atlantic, will thus be brought
lirectly through our own public improve•
rents to Philadelphia: the distance from
Elmira to the latter city, by this rout, be•
,ing 71 miles shorter titan to the city of
New York by any contemplated improve.
,neat in that State. Other improvements
a similar character, and perhaps of e
qual impertance, might be noticed.
Every man is pre;umed to be present
in the Legislature by his representative.
and to know what public laws are enac
ted, and is therefore held to be be bound
by them from the time of their enactment.
this notice however is a constructive one.
I o ould respectfully suggest whether
some provision fur the immediate pubili
cation of all lav s of a public nature is not
necessary, to give to the people actual
notice of provisions by which the may be
'seriously affected.
The Report of the Superintendent of
the Public Schools, which will shortly be
laid before you, will show the progress
which the cause of education is making
in public opinion, and the state and con
dition of the Colleges, Academies and
Schools throughout the Commonwealth.
'though the active operations of the'
Geological Survey are not yet coin pleted, l
a much greater extent of country has been
minutely explored during the past season
than in any former one. The State Ge
ologist, and his corps, were laboriouly
occupied in the field, their researches ex
tending into various districts both east and
west of the Allegheny mountains. The
insight :mg wired during the the survey,
into the more minute features of our
Geology, and the true position of our va
rious mineral deposites, has served greatly
to increase the accuracy and value of the
large body of facts now collected.—
Throughout several extensive sections of
the State, where, hitherto, no accurate
clue had been discovered by which par
ticular beds of those useful substances,
iron ore, coal, marble and limestone could
be traced, much of the obscurity has been
removed. Several districts, however, of
greater or less extent yet remain to be
explored. Tho' some of these have been
already faithfully examined, one year,
more will be necessary for unravelling the
the intricacies of their structure, and
enabling the Geologist to arrive at a satis•
factory knowledge of their resources.
For this purpose an appropriation will
become necessary. The amount, however,
will be less than the sum hitherto annu
ally expended. The Topographical maps 1 1
now in the course of construction, are es- 1
sential as a basis fur the Geological map
called for by the law. In the chetnicai
department of the survey, an extensive
series of ores, coals, cements, ifluxes,
&c., have been analyzed, resulting in a
species of knowledge now becoming every
day more important to the growing manu
facturing and mining interests of Pensyl,
vania.
It is an undoubted fact, that the last
few years have been a period of pecuniary
embarrassment in the business communi
ty. It has been consoling, however, to
reflect, that storing a portion of that time.
our husbandmen have been reaping a full
reward for their abundant crops, for whicq
until recently, they have found 'ready
markets, at fair prices. They have not
generally been effected with that mad
spirit of speculation, which at one time
seemed to have seized so large a pat t of
other portions of our citizens, and induc
ed them to engage in almost every vision
ary scheme i n their 'haste to get rich.'
The causes of the embarrassment have
been variously explained, as suited the
views of those Who undertook the task.
My own views upon this subject have
been fully and freely expressed in my
communications to the preceeding Legis
lature. No one, however, can doubt that
when our country is importing large a
mounts of theluxuries and superfluities
of life train foreign countries, and not ex
porting a sufficiency of our own products
to pay for them, there must be a constant
drain of precious metals, and hence a
scarcity of money to supply the wants of
our community at home. A retrench.
ment among our citizens, of whom plain
republican simplicity has ever been a dis
tinguishing characteristic, in the purchase
and use of articles of mere luxury, would
greatly tend to lessen this cause of pecu
niary embarrassment.
The consequences of the embarrass-,
ment in our mercantile and manufacturing'
operations, are now beginning to be felt,
also, by our farmers, in the inure recent
reductions of the prices of products, al
though the fact communicated by the
Secretary of the Treasury, in his late res
port is cheering, that during the last year
the exports from this country have excee
ded the imports by nearly twenty-seven
millions of dollars. This is certainly en
couraging,. especially when we reflect,
that in prior years the reverse was the
fact; and that without going back further
in the year 1856, the excess of imports
exceeded the exports upwards of sixty
one millions of dollars; in 1838, five mil
lions of dollars, and in 1839, forty-one
millions of doll'ars; and that in 1837, the
import of the single article of silk, a mere
luxury, which our own country is as ca
pable of producing as any other, amount.
ed to twenty•three millions of dollars,
while our export of flour, during the name
year, was but seven millions of dollars.
It is tube hoped, and the increased confi
dence growing of the resumption of specie
payments about to take place, warrants
the conclusion, that business will resume
its accustomed channels, and taking les
sons of prudence froin the past, our citi
zens wilh pot a g ain be tempted into those
wild excesses which have well nigh led
on to bankruptcy and ruin, and the pros
tration of public and private credit and
confidence.
Our Commonwealth possesses a fertile
soil, and unbounded agricultural and min•
aral wealth, , NVe have within ourselves
all the necessaries, and many of the luxu
ries of life. With the increase of inteli
gence, and means, e find our farmers
augmenting the products of their aoil;ini.
proving their stocks of domestic animals
and adding to the neatness of their house-
hold establishments. No .one can pass
through our commonwealth, without being
struck with the air of substantial comfort
and increasing prosperity, whit prevades
the agricultural districts uf the State.
The variety and extent of oar water
power, give great facilities to the manu
facture of our grain into bread stuffs, and
for every other branch of manufacture,
either needed for the supply of our citi
zens, or fur the employment of their cap•
Had Pennsylvania already reached the
full development of her resources, with
her present pecuniary responsibilities
weighing her down, we might well con
template our situation, with trembling
solicitude. But this is not the case.—
fhroughout the whole extent of her ample
territory, there is scarcely a square mile,
which does not abound in sonic or all of
the great staples oilier mineral wealth.—
A nthracite and bituminous coal, iron,
marble and limestone, have been scatters
ed by nature with a most profuse hand,
and have been hitherto worked barely
enough to prove, with what prodigality
they have been lavished upon us. The
coal field of our Commonwealth embraces
more than one fifth of its area, and more
than three times as much as belongs to
entire Europe. Connected with the coal,
which abounds in so large a portion of the
iCommunwealth, we have large supplies of
iron ore, almost in immediate contact wi , h
it. In addition thereto, we have, within
convenient distances, almost all the other
varieties of iron ore found in any part of
the world. 'rite adaptation of anthracite
coal, to the smelting ef iron ore, has been
followed by its successful and profitable
application in the further stages of the
manufacture of the metal; and that the
same results will speedily follow from the
application of bituminous coal, may be
looked for, with almost absolute certain
ty. While the iron manufactured with
charcoal, will always be wanted for the
finer purposes, and the demand fur it, in
creased by the natural increase of the
population of the country, that manufac
tured from mineral coal, will be employed
in the conslruction of rail•roads, and for
innumerable other• purposes. This disco-
very must stand as a distinguished era in
the annals of our Commonwealth. It
cannot fail to add millions if donnas to
her active and available capital ; and will
ere long transfer to our own citizens most
if not all of the large sums that are now
annually sent abroad for rail road iron,
and other iron manufactured articles. The
manufacture of these numerous and valu
able commodities will not only result in
enriching Pennsylvania, but will cut off
a large item in time imports of this coun
try, tend to emancipate us from Eurup.•an
dependence, enable our sister states to
complete their rail roads at a cheap,•r and
better rate, and strengthen the National
Union, by the strongest of all ties, that of
mutual interest.
Nor is there in Pennsylvania a single
class of citizens who will not abate di
rectly in the advantages. The owners of
coal and iron deposits, and those who en_
gage in the in:mutat:tun and sale of thes e
productions, will derive the first benfit
but the firmer, the mechanic, the mer
chant, and every o her citizen, will Lel
immediately, the salutary impulse which
will be communicated to his own peculi,n•
business. The value of our can. Is and
rail roads must be greatly enhanced, as
well as that of all other species of pi opers
With tha cheap and ready means
which they will afford for the transporta
tion of our various products and menu
actures, there can be no doubt, that the
trade and business of the statetmust
tend and increase with unexampled vs
pidity, and by prudence and good man
agement be perpetuated.
In this gradual and certain develope
ment of our resources may be found
abundant means to liquidate our public
debt, and to discharge every other liabil
ity, that can justly be cast upon our state.
I confess it affords me peculiar gratifica
tion to advert to this topic, for it shows
most satisfactorily, that though this Com
monwealth has been somewhat in advance
of the time in extending her improve.
ment system so widely as she has done,
the people, notwithstanding, are destined
at no remote period to realize, most am
'piy, all the benefits it was ever expected
to produce. The increase of our manu
factures will necessarily tend to afford
additional sources of employment for the
laborer, and furnish increased security
against all improper combinations for the
reduction of wages.
It any just cause of apprehension has
existed, from the attempts in large manu
facturing establishments to keep their op.
orativea in subserviency , in matters of
opinion and the exercise of political rights,
let the evil be corrected under adequate
penalties. Let the rearing up of chil
dren in factories without education be
prohibited, and the light of learning and
science being diffused, as well among the
operatives as their richer employers, the
danger of this influence will be counter
acted by shaking off the shackles of igno
rance and undue dependence either upon
the information or the will of others.—
Then instead of having a class of human'
beings in a state of vassalage, tie would'
rear up freemen capable of thought and,
reflection, and of putting a proper estimate )
on that spirit of independence which in-1
tluenced our forefathers in achieving our
I reedom, and which ought ever to pervade
the bosoms of their descendants to the
• latest generation.
Performing, as Pennsylvania has al.
ways dime in an exemplary manner, her
duties as a member of the great federal
union, of which she has not unaptly been
denominated he "Keystone," we must
never forget, the duties which we, as her
immediate functionaries, owe to her own
interests, and the necessity of advancing
and sustaining them as far as can be dune,
without interfering with her duties to the'
General Government.
On the part of the Legislature, nothing' The friends of GEN. HARRISON within
is wanted but a careful supervision of her theseveral townships and boroughs of Hun
various interests, to place this Common.: tingdon county are requested to meet at their
wealth on a firm basis of pecuniary hide- usual places of holding elections, on or be
prudence. Whatever course other states fore Saturday the 9th day of January next,
may think proper to pursue, let it be the and appoint two persons tram each town
patriotic duty of Pennsylvania to sustain ship and borough in said county, to meet in
and cherish every effort to develope her
convention at Huntingdon on Wednesday
resources, and to advance her glory and evening the 13th January, for the purpose of
her renown. Vindicate her character for• choosing two delegates to represent this
integrity —fulfil all her engagements faith-
county in the Ste Convention which will
fully—husband her resources with econo- ta
meet in Harrisburg on the 4th of March
my, but not with a false and mistaken
n
spirit of parsimonious illiberality—and theext, to nominate a candidate for Governor.
fair fame of Pennsylvania will stand be- BY THE COUNTY COMMITTEE.
,
fore the world without spot or blemish to -
tarnish it. To maintain this fame unsul. County Treasurer.
lied, should be the first and most unyield.
The County Commissioners, on last
ing duty of every citizen honored with
any station, in which he becomes its offi- week, elected Andrew H. Hirst Treasu
al guardian. I should deem myself un. rer of this County, they could not have
worthy of the office, with which the peo- selected a man more capable of perfor
ple havo clothed me, if I proved recreant m i ng
to this high trust. its duties correctly than Mr. Hirst.
IWe are not in the habit of saying much
By a judicious system of laws, comes-
pending with the habits and wants of our in favor of public officers, but we feel con
fident that we express the feeling of the
people, fostering and encouraging enter
prize and industry, and enabling our citi_ people generally, when we say his appoint
tens to reap the full reward of their labor ment meets their approbation.
and perseverance, we shall fulfil the ex- 1 His office is in the Main street, at the
pectations of our constituents, and be the corner opposite and above the residence
means under Divine Providence, of per- l of the late Robert Allison Esq.
petuating the blessings which have been 1
so signally showered upon us by the Au. I
thor of all Good.
The experience of many years fortifies
me in the belief, that our greatest error in
legislation, is that of legislating too much.
Our Legislatures have been holding one
extra sossion after another, and that too'
in times of profound peace, and when the
calls of patriotism are imperiously made
on every public functionary to diminish,
as far as in him lies, the pecuniary bur
then under which the state has been la
boring. The consequence has been, an
unparralleled increase in the legislative
expenses over all other departments of
the government. I can recommend no
more certain and ettectual retrenchment
in this matter, than short sessions; still
let the conduct of every department of
the government be thoroughly scrutinized
and let no important interest of the people
be neglected.
The baneful practice of converting the
halls of legislation into an arena for the
display of political gladiators, which has
too long characterized the halls of our
national legislature, is a lamentable de
parture from the course pursued by the
band of patriots who composed "the first
congress;" and whose example, I hope, for
the honor of our common country, has not
yet been wholly forgotten by their suc
cessors. The pernicious tendency of this
practice of the national legislature, will
nut, I trust, be extended to the legisla
tures of their respective states ; and I am
sure, I need scarcely add, I have no ap
prehensions of its reaching the legislature
of this commonwealth. No public func-
Ilona( y who would yield to its influence
!Well expect to retain the confidence and
respect of the people of Pennsylvania.
In conclusion, l shall beg leave to refer
you to the views on several subjects con
tained in my last annual message. That
message being the first which I had _the
honor to communicate at the commence
ment of a session of the Legislature, I
went inore into the detail on the various
topics discussed in it, then I supposed
would be again necessary, with a view to
an expression of opinion on them, as well
for that occasion, as for future reference.
I therefore refer you to it for my recom•
mendations on the subjects of reform ofl
the Banking system &c —the importance"
of connecting and completing at the ear-'
liest day practicable, the disconnected
part of our disjointed and unfinished sys
tem of internal improvements,--the ma
king of prompt and ample provision for
keeping the public improvements in re
pair,—the necessity of preserving unim
paired the credit of the Commonwealth,
and promptly meeting all her pecuniary
engagements,—the necessary care and
caution to be exercised in creating, renew
ing, and (supervising corporations,--the
subject of education, and as connected
with it, that of procuring competent teach
era and school books,—the subject of the
increase of writs of error and and appeals
in the Supreme Court, and reporting
the decisions of that Court,— the, militia
system, the encouragement of volunteers
and the reduction of militia trainings to
one day in the year,—the evasion of the
laws relative to collateral inheritance tax,
—and the revision of the laws relative to
the selecting and drawing of jurors.
It will afford me great pleasure to co
operate with the Legislature, on these
and all other measures calculated to pro.
mote the common good of our beloved
Commonwealth.
DAVID R. PORTER,
EXECUTIVE CnAmami, Jan. 6th, 1841,
ITH E JOURNAL.
- •
One country,one constitution one desti
Illunlingdon,Jan. 13, 1841.
Democratic
,COUNTY CONVENTION.
Strange ! Werry.
Our readers, by referring to our Legis•l
lative prcceedings, will see that a very
extraordinary circumstance has occurred
to A. H. Read, Mr. Porter's able State
Treasurer. He has sent a very long re-'
port to enlighten the members on the
subject of Pennsylvania Finances; and
upon examination, it is almost word for
word with an old report sent into the :►en
ate in 1832, at which time this same able
A. H. Read was chairman of the Com
mittee of ways and means. (We should
like to know from what previous report
he copied that.) This then is the great
A. H. Read. Unable to make a report
himself he has copied a few pages ofan
old Journal, and sent it ►n as a report of
the finances for 1840-1. "Is it not
"strange! wen.)!" to suppose that so
great a man should have to do so small a
business. Perhaps the Treasurer will say
first (impressions are always lasting; and
his first notions of finance were had in '32
and neither time nor circumstance could
remove them.
Complimentary to the Poor.
"The Poor Man's vote was gained
By means disgusting to the freeman's ear;
Aristocratic Europe bought them up,
Like cattle in the market, with her gold."
The above very expressive compliment
to the poor we take from the New Year,s
Address of the tVenango Democrat,' and
(or which every poor but honest man who
voted for Harrison should return him
thanks! Aye thanks, for it tells in what
estimation some, ut least, of that party
hold the poor men. Yes, poor men.—
Some of these mighty lovers of the peo
ple, say the Poor Man is bought and sold.
like cattle in the market, Shame! Shame!
We will tell the conductor of that print
if 1 e is willing to test the truth of his
assertion, to try the virtue of gold in buy
ing poor mens votes, oh the first suffering
pour man he meets: begot hint to accept
your gold, and our word for it, he "will
spit on thee, and spurn thee for thy bold
ness."
Uncalled For.
We regret exceedingly to sea an article
signed "Wyoming," find its way into
that excellent and usually circumspect
sheet, the 'United Slates gazette.'
The article alluded to is unwise, un
called, and withal, ungentlemanly. Why
"Wyoming," should deem it necessary to
make such a virulent attack upon THAD
DEUS STEVENS, Esq, we cannot ima.
gine. Had he disliked the course pursu •
cd by Mr. Stevens, he should have cen
sured that, and not have seized upon it to
make an assault filled with uncourteous
epithets against the man. We have our•
selves expressed our censure of the
course, but we are the personal as well as
the political friend of Mr, Stevens, and
if he is to stand as a mark, for those wlto
profess to have acted with him in the late
;neat contest, to hurl the old missies of
Loco Fucoism atkn, we at once say he
shall find a warmrearted, if not an able
defender in us, We have not, by word or
deed, expressed a preference for any man
as a cabinet officer, (nor is it much matter
whether we do;) but above all things we
abhor this assailing personally, a man in
our own ranks, because either lie or his
own friends seek promotion; and we ask
in the name of our country, is now the
t ime that we should begin to stir up dis
senttons and striles ? Are we as a party
to prove the truth of the charge made by
the opposition, that pre are so greedy for
the .spoils' that we will worry and tear
each other.
• Wyoming' is mistaken when he declares
that "whatever popularity Mr. Steveni
ever had, has long since disappeared."
His name will long live in the remem
brance of thousands of his fellow citizens,
for his mighty efforts in favor of general
education; and such sneers at such a umn
only tend to bring his friends closer a
round him, and make them watch with an
over jealous eye, perhaps, the source from
whence they come,
We wish
it to be distinctly understood,
that we speak entirely free from any pre
judice on the subject, for we claim not to
he in any way either friendly or unfriend.
ly to Mr. Stevens. We freely say that we
regret that he or his friends considered it
necessary to obtain the names of the elec
tors; and we say that we regret still more
the violent article of "If yorning;" and if
possible, still more regret that it received
countenance from our estimable cotetn
porary, Chandler.
Governor's Message
Our readers will find in to-day's paper.
,the annual Message of the Governor:
Common usage has generally called the
message of any of our executive officers,
an "important document"—an honest re
gard lot truth will not allow us to digni
fy this one, at least, with that distiuction4
There is nothing of importance about it.
It has more sound than sense, and signi.
firs no:hing; and were it not unmannerly
to speak in such terms of a Governor, we
would say it contained more than one*
—misrepresentation.
For all, er nearly all his views on the
subject of the Banks, he refers to his Ines
sage of last year; and relative to the
Banks he winds up his homily with'a deep
regret that hie recommendations dad not
meet with the approbation of the Legisla
ture." Have the reflecting portion of the
peopla forgotten his second message,
wherein he in fact prorogued the follow
ing of his recommendation.
In the next paragraph he tells the peo
pie "that the day fixed by the Legislature
for resumption by the Banks was more re
mote than he wished." Have the honest
men of las own party forgotten that his
second message was the cause of the long
delay; and that the Governor said "hews
regardless of any denunciation that
'night le poured forth from any quarter"
on his course; or do not they know that
ie had the right to veto the Bill if he did
not like it? In the same paragraph he
says, "the most active endearors were
made to suppress the use of small notes."
[here is not an honest man in this State
but what must unhesitatingly say that no
such active endeavors were made, True,
a proclamation was thundered forth di
recting prosecuting attorneys to prosecute
with an unrelenting hand, any man who
dare to circulate them. But it was all
talk. The State was flooded with small
notes; and they were handled as freely by
his mighty engines of the law as by oth.,
ers. roes any body believe that the Gov
ernor did not know this? We are much
disposed to think that this asseftion wilt
nct satisfy the people.
Ile next refers to the "untiring assitlu:
ity" of his officers on the public improve
ments, The people of this county can
well understand the "pole raisings"—tho
transportation of "Great Meetings of the
people" in a Union Canal boat. The mes
sage then says "the iinproyeinents are
they a much bettcr state of repair, than they
have ever been, and but little delay cie
interruption in business occurred." There
is not a boatman who run on this canal
in the early part of the season who does
not know that there was more detention
from breaks and bad management at that
time than there ever was before. But
this is not the best part of the f,tOrr
•They are now in better repair than ever,
yet in the next paragraph he says "great
I and immediate repairs are indespensible."
This, now, is realy laughable—the works.
are in better repair than when they were