Canal Meeting

Pursuant to a public notice previously issued, a respectable portion of the citizens of the Town of Chicago and county of Cook, State of Illinois, met in the Presbyterian Church in said Town, on the evening of the 31^st October 1835, for the purpose of expressing their views and sentiments in relation to the propriety and necessity of our Legislature adopting some more effective and energetic measures for the immediate construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, than what has heretofore been done: and also, their views in regard to the utility of the work when completed.

The Meeting was organized by calling to the Chiar E. Peck, Esq^r[Esquire] and appointing D^r Peter Temple and Buckner S. Morris, Esq^r, as Secretaries.

On motion, James Grant Esq^r offered the follo[win]g resolution, which was adopted.

Resolved [That] a committee of five persons tobe be appointed [?] up and report some resolutions to meet th[?] and for the adoption of this meeting on [?]ing next at this place.
Whe[?] H. D. Clark, J. H. Collins, R. J. Hamilton[,] W. Jones, and [James Grant], were appointed.

On motion of M^r Jones the following gentlemen were also added to the committee to wit: Messrs. H. Hugunin, E. Peck, B. S. Morris and D^r Goodhue. The meeting accordingly adjourned to meet again as aforesaid.

Monday evening [Nov?]: 2^d 1835. The meeting meet pursuant to adjournment, and on being called to order by the Chairman, J. H. Collins Esq^r of the committee, reported the following resolutions, which being severally read, were adopted to wit.

Resolved That in the opinion of this meeting, the subject of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, from its importance to the State generally, is worthy of the earliest and most attentive consideration of the Legislature; and that the failure of

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the loan contemplated by the last session, requires the immediate adoption of more prompt and efficient measures, based on the faith and credit of the State, and of such character as will inspire public confidence and insure the construction of the canal.

Resolved, That successful prosecution of internal improvements in various States of the Union, and the immense advantages derived from them by the in[cou]ragement of aggi agriculture and the arts, the extention of commercial facilities, the augmentation of individual opulence and public wealth, and by the wide and general diffusion of prosperity, should stimulate the people of this State to active efforts to open a navigable com[mun]ication between Lake Michigan and Illin[ois.] [?]

Resolved [The c]onstruction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal is a [?]ise eminently calculated to raise the character of [?] high standing abroad, to open to her citizens a [valuable?] inland communication from the Gulf of Mexico to [the?] Bay of New York and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, embracing in its influence a large portion of the Union, bringing to their doors an extensive and ready market; opening an easy and direct communication between the Lakes and the fertile and extensive valley of the Mississippi the most productive region of America, and calculated to contain a dense population, whose products and consumptions must at all times keep up a lucrative and active trade, “exciting the powers of productive industry, furnishing aliment and giving energy to external commerce; the riches it will create, the energies it will call into action and the blessings it will produce, are so plain and obvious as to be beyond all question.”

Resolved That while other States are zealously engaged in opening communication [&c?] with the great Lakes, honerably competing with each other to secure the trade of the western States, it becomes alike the duty and interest of the

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people of this state, immediately to commence and complete the Illinois Michigan Canal, and to prosecute such other improvements as will unite the interior of the state with the Illinois river, and thereby place ourselves in an attitude to reap the advantages thus offered to us by the enterprise of our brethren in other states.

Resolved, That we [deem?] the present time peculiarally auspicous for the commencement a liberal system of internal improvements in this state, system that shall confer upon every part of the State, as far as practicable, an equal participation in the blessings and enjoyments arisi[ng] from an extension of commercial facilities, and that with the example of older States before us them, the people of this State should no longer hesitate to incur such responsibilities as may be requisite to secure to themselves and their posterity those high advantages that have invariably resulted from internal improvements.

Resolved, That independent of the immense benefits that will result to the people of this State, considerations of high Sta[te] pride and public faith should induce them immediately to commence and complete the Illinois & Michigan Canal, and redeem the pledge to the General Government implied in accepting the liberal donation of Congress, of lands expressly appropriated to this object, and fulfil the just expectation of the people of the United States.

Resolved, That we deem said donation of lands abundantly sufficient to cover all the charges of construction of said Canal, and an ample guaranty that no taxation of our citizens, direct or indirect, can in any contingency be necessary to complete the said work.

Resolved That it would ^be^ an unjust imputation upon the good sense, integrity, and patriotism of the inhabitants of this State to suppose that any portion of them

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would Shrink from the vigerous prosecution of of an enterprise so noble in its character and so useful in its results, not only to the moral and commercial interest of the present generation, but which is to extend its benefits to posterity, especially when the State is already provided with the means of completing the work without in any wise increasing the burden of taxation.

Resolved, That we will sustain our Senator and Representative in support of all such ^just and reasonable^ measures as will promote the immediate commencement and spedy completion of the proposed Canal, and that in the opinion of this meeting, our State Legislation on this subject, heretofore, has [been?] of a charact[er], as “to keep the word of promise to th[e] [earth?] but break it to hope,” and that it is time to speak less and act more about a work involving the future welfare and prosperity of the State, and which when completed will not be inferior to any, in its benefits to our common country, which can be accomplished by the State of Illinois.

Resolved, That our Senator and Representative be requested to bring the question of the Illinois and Michigan Canal to the early consideration of the Legislature, and that they be instructed to vote for the appropriation of a sum sufficient to complete the said Canal to be raised upon the faith and credit of the State, and that we look with confidence to their exertions for successful issue to our just exp[ec]tations in this respect.

Resolved That copies of the foregoing resolutions be communicated by the chairman and Secretaries of this meeting, to our Senator and Representative and to the President of the Senate, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, and that the Editors of the several papers in this state, be requested to

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publish the proceedings of this meeting in their respective papers.

Resolved That a