250,000

7. A railroad from the city of Cairo, at or near the
confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi river,
via Vandalia, Shelbyville and Decatur, and
Bloomington, to the southern termination of the
Illinois and Michigan canal, and from thence
by the way of Savannah to Galena,

8. A Southern cross railroad, from Alton to Mount
Carmel, via Edwardsville, Carlysle, Salem,
Fairfield and Albion; and also a railroad from
Alton to Shawneetown,

9. A Northern cross railroad, from Quincy to Spring-
field, and from thence to the Indiana State
line, in the direction of La Fayette,

3,500,000

1,600,000

1,85 0,000

10. A branch from the central railroad, from near Shelbyville to the Indiana line, in the direction

of Terre-Haut,

650,000

11. A railroad, from Peoria, on the Illinois river, to Warsaw, on the Mississippi,

700,000

12. A railroad, from Lower Alton to the central

600,000

13. A railroad, from Belleville via Lebanon, to in

tersect the railroad from Alton to Mount
Carmel,

150,000

14. A railroad, from Bloomington, M'Lean county, to Mackinaw, in Tazewell county; and a branch through Tremont to Pekin,

15. There was appropriated the further sum of two hundred thousand dollars, of the first money that should be obtained under the provisions of this act, for the improvement of roads and bridges, in counties through which no railroad or canal passed.*

Making altogether,

350,000

200,000

$10,250.000

This is a most singular and extraordinary appropriation. The idea of borrowing two hundred thousand dollars, and paying it over to certain counties through which no railroad or canal passed, for making roads and bridges, appears too much like a legisla

tive bribe.

For the purpose of constructing these several works a fund was to be constituted, to consist: 1. Of moneys to be borrowed. 2. All appropriations, which should be made from time to time out of the State revenue, arising from lands and taxes. 3. All moneys to be received from tolls, etc. 4. All rents, issues, and profits, arising from lands to be purchased, etc. by the State. 5. The proceeds of all lands, which might be do. nated by the General government in aid of the undertaking. 6. All grants and donations from individuals. 7. All profits and interest which may accrue from said works, together with the balance (after paying the debt due to the school, college, and seminary fund) to be received under the distribution law of Congress, "which amount of said deposit, so funded, was to be charged to the said fund for internal improvements, and repayed out of the same, when demanded by the General government." 8. All nett profits, to arise from bank, and other stocks, thereafter to be subscribed for, or owned by the State, after liquidating the interest on loans contracted for the purchase of such bank or other stock.

And to secure the traveller, provision was made by law in the fortysecond section of the bill, before any road was commenced, or any funds were obtained for its commencement, to require "the putting up conspicuously, and maintaining across each turnpike road and highway, boards, on which there was to be painted in capital letters, of at least nine inches in length:

RAILROAD CROSSING-LOOK OUT FOR THE ENGINE

WHILE THE BELL RINGS."

The whole length of contemplated railroads, was one thousand three hundred and forty-one miles, and the ten million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, were a part only of the sum requisite for their completion. It will thus be seen that the Legislature of Illinois disposed of millions, with the same facility that Napoleon did of thrones.

The bill, however, was the legitimate offspring of the times; and as Governor Ford observed in his message, to which we again refer: “We were not satisfied with the slow, but sure profits of industry and lawful commerce. Speculation, in every branch of business, was the order of the day, and every possible means was hastily and greedily adopted to give an artificial value to property. In accomplishing this object, we surrendered our judgment to the dictates of imagination. No scheme was so extravagant as not to appear plausible. The most wild calculations were made of the advantages of a system of internal improvementof the resources of the State to meet all expenditures, and of our ability to pay all indebtedness without taxation. Possibilities appeared to be highly probable, and probabilities wore the livery of certainty."

Notwithstanding the absurdity of the whole system, such was our credit at that time, that moneys were borrowed on bonds negotiated on account of the system of internal improvements, to the amount of five millions eighty-five thousand four hundred and forty-four dollars; and

scrip, issued to contractors on account of internal improvements, for nine hundred and twenty-nine thousand three hundred and five dollars and fifty-three cents-making a debt of six millions fourteen thousand seven hundred and forty-nine dollars and fifty-three cents.

One railroad only, from Springfield to Meredocia, has been completed; and its whole income has hitherto been insufficient to keep it in repair. Others were commenced and partly finished. The whole work has finally been suspended for want of funds, and left a debt for us to pay of six millions of dollars. We regret, exceedingly, the necessity imposed. upon us to admit, that the interest on those bonds, for some time past, has not been paid, and we fear it will remain so for some years to come.

The subject of the public debt, and of public credit, will be resumed when we come to speak of taxation and our future resources. At present we can do no more than frankly to admit our errors, and express a wish, that in future we may be more discreet. We hope, at all events, as the judge once said to a prisoner, brought up to receive sentence of death, to be inflicted by hanging, immediately: "That it will be a lesson to us as long as we live."

NOTE I.

The population of Illinois, at that time, was about seventy-five thousand. In 1808, the Legislature of New-York appropriated six hundred dollars, to cause an accurate survey to be made of the route between the Hudson and Lake Erie. The expenses, however, having exceeded the sum appropriated, by seventy-three dollars, a special act of the Legislature was passed to cover the deficiency. This fact is mentioned, to show the extreme caution with which the Legislature of that State proceeded in the construction of a work which has terminated so much to her glory.

NOTE II.

Mr. William Good

See the commissioners' annual report of December 10th, 1840. win has been chief engineer on said canal since its commencement. To him the State is greatly indebted, for his zeal and fidelity in the discharge of his various and important duties. His good sense and sound judgment, his industry and economy, his amenity of manner, and integrity of purpose, are deserving of great praise. If errors have been committed, he is not, we believe, chargeable with such errors. In speaking thus of Mr. Goodwin, we should do injustice to General Fry, the acting commissioner, were we to omit the respectful mention of his name.

NOTE III.

A bushel of wheat raised within ten miles of Chicago, is worth just as much witnout as with the canal. Not so with a bushel of wheat raised near its route, two hundred miles distant from thence. Suppose, for instance, a bushel of wheat is worth, in Chicago, seventy-five cents, and in Springfield, forty or fifty cents. Suppose a thousand feet of pine lumber is worth ten dollars in Chicago, and twenty, or twenty-five in Springfield. Sup. pose a barrel of salt is worth two dollars in Chicago, and four in Springfield; it requires no aid from arithmetic to determine who is mos benefitted, the farmer near Springfield, or the farmer near Chicago.

The plan referred to is as follows:

NOTE IV.

It proposes to vest the canal lands in the holders of the canal bonds, to be sold by them soon after the completion of the canal, in order to reimburse themselves for the moneys to be advanced for its completion, and afterward the interest, and then the principal of the moneys already advanced. It proposes also, that the canal tolls, and all the canal property, be vested in them for the like purpose.

As some doubts existed in relation to the security offered, Governor Davis, of Massachusetts, was desired by the foreign bond-holders, to inquire into and report to them the nature and sufficiency of said security; and also, to ascertain whether the canal could be completed with the $1,600,000.

Governor Davis, aided by Captain Swift as engineer, with great industry has made the necessary inquiries, and drawn up an able report upon the matters thus referred to him. The report we have not seen. It is said, however, to be favorable, and will, in all probability, obviate the difficulties now existing in relation to a further loan.

Should the loan be effected, and the canal finished, there can be no doubt but the canal lands, the canal tolls, and other property connected therewith, will, in a few years, pay the contemplated loan, together with the moneys which have been already advanced, and the interest which has accrued, and will hereafter accrue thereon.

Inasmuch, however, as our agents are still abroad, and nothing definite has been heard from either, the author forbears to comment upon the subject.

It is not, strictly speaking, within his province; and although he is less sanguine than some of his contemporaries, he entertains no doubt as to the completion and final success of the canal.

CHAPTER XXIII.

Banks in Illinois-At Shawneetown-At Edwardsville-At Cairo-Relief laws-Old State Bank-Late State Bank-Its history-Progress and decline-Legislative acts relative thereto-Banks go into liquidation.

THE cause of heat and cold in different latitudes, and of rain, hail, and snow, in different seasons, says a distinguished writer, with more truth than poetry, are explained by professors of natural science, to our entire satisfaction. The change of climate, the approach of storms, and the origin and cause, the course and progress of the wind, are also explained, and the future predicted with some considerable certainty. In banking, however, it is otherwise. Like the weather, it is affected by causes which control the latter, and possesses, in an eminent degree, some uncertainties peculiarly its own. While the storm and the tempest rage, and pestilence and famine reign, the fondest hopes that man e'er cherished, are frequently blasted. His property is destroyed by the tempest, or swallowed up by the earthquake; he is exposed alike to the tornado and to the avalanche-the consuming fire-the wasting pestilence-the devouring famine; and an excess of heat or cold, fixes frequently his destiny. In banking, similar contingencies not unfrequently happen; and to these, man's caprice and human depravity, the infidelity of agents and the instability of popular opinion, (banks being the creatures of the latter,) are often to be added.

Of the truth of these several positions, historic recollections, especially in Illinois, are decisive.

Men in business, it is said, are like patients in the last stages of the consumption-hoping for a favorable change, but growing worse and worse every day until they expire. If we are to credit reports said to be authentic; if the defalcations of clerks, agents, cashiers, and presidents, with which the public ear has recently been filled, are real; banks, and their officers are worse than formerly, and, like the consumptive patient, in spite of legislation must shortly expire.

All the banks in Illinois have ceased to be. Their history is brieftheir story is instructive, and the lesson taught will long be remembered. Under the Territorial government, three banks were chartered; one at Shawneetown, one at Edwardsville, and one at Cairo. There was also a bank at Kaskaskia: of the latter it is needless now to speak-it issued no bills, and of course defrauded no man. We regret our inability to say