I & M Canal Document Package-Document 39

Document 39 –

Letter from John H. Kinzie to the Canal Trustees
Concerning Additional Office Help

May 19, 1852

Document 39
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Transcription

                      Canal Collector’s Office,
                                    Chicago, May 19^th 1852

Mess^rs
W^m H. Swift
David L. Leavitt       Trustees Ill. & Mich: Canal
        &
Gov. Wells
                    Gent^m:
                           The great increase of
business on our Canal during the last
two years, and the still greater prospective
amount the coming season, induce me
to apply for an additional allowance
for Clerk hire &c:        The business of
the office at this point is such as to
compel me to employ at least two clerks,
whose salaries, together with the additional
expense of office rent, fuel, lights &c far
exceed my present allowance ($600.) for
these purposes.
        I have not thus far required of the
Trustees to furnish this office with a safe,
having one of my own which I use, nor
am I disposed to increase the expenditures
of the office, but I think it will be obvious
to the Trustees, that under the circumstances,
above referred to, my application is a just
and fair one, and I cannot but hope
that they will take it under their favourable
consideration.
                       I am, Gentlemen,
                             Very Respectfully,
                                         Yo. obt. Sevt.
                                             Jn^o. H. Kinzie.

Explanation

The following table shows the canal’s annual toll collections and operating seasons.

Year	Tolls Collected	Opened to Navigation	Closed To Navigation	Number of Days Open
1848	$ 87,890	April 19	Nov. 29	224
1849	118,375	April 20	Dec. 6	231
1850	125,504	March 22	Dec. 6	259
1851	173,300	March 15	Dec. 6	269
1852	168,577	March 29	Dec. 8	255

Of the $168,577 collected in 1852, $104,592 was taken in at Chicago. Of the remainder, Lockport received $9,060, Ottawa $8,765, and La Salle $46,160. Goods and passengers headed south from Chicago were producing the greatest revenue. When the canal opened in 1848 Chicago contained 20,023 inhabitants. By 1852 the figure had reached 38,733. The trustees were willing to pay for temporary help to get the job done but were most reluctant to increase the head count of permanent employees.

For a map of the completed canal route, see Exhibit A.

Points To Consider

What was John H. Kinzie asking the canal trustees to do?

Why was his request necessary?

Who was John H. Kinzie? Describe the man.

Why had it been particularly desirable to have found a man of integrity to be the collector at Chicago?

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