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Document 48 –

Letter from R.E. Orr to the Canal Commissioners Concerning Leasing Land for Railroad Purposes

March 7, 1901

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Transcription   Board of Illinois & Michigan Canal Commissioners,                           Lockport, Ill. Dear Sirs:-       and Gentlemen:-                  Believing that the state should derive as much revenue as possible from the property of the people if it can be done at no serious inconvenience, therefore I take the liberty of address- ing your Honorable Commission to respectfully inquire if surplus land outside of what is needed for tow-path or power can be sold or leased for railroad purposes, and if so, for about how much?                  This information requested is to be used only for esti- mating on railroad line from Chicago to Peru, and further if thought necessary and wanted.                  Thanking you in advance for your esteemed favor and court- esy, I have the honor to remain,                                            Sincerely yours,                                                        R. E. Orr                                                            Engineer.

The I and M owned the canal itself and that land which extended ninety feet out on each side of it. Through a legal technicality the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad Company had obtained a right-of-way along the canal line in 1851. Although the railroad originally was to have compensated the canal for the resulting loss of tolls, a court battle determined otherwise. And by the summer of 1854 the railroad was fully operational between Chicago on Lake Michigan and Rock Island on the Mississippi River. Almost immediately passengers and goods of small bulk gravitated to the railroad which was fast, cost effective, and open to traffic year round (see document 39 and document 42 explanations).

Over the succeeding years the railroad and the canal competed mainly for bulk goods. When railroad rates were lowered canal tolls went down as well. But increasingly over the years the I and M’s usefulness was in decline. In 1900 only 60 boats remained on the line. Together they transported 121,759 tons of freight over a total of 99,409 miles. But tolls generated only $13,868. Total revenues (including tolls, canal land sales, and water power, ice, and land leases) amounted to $69,279 while expenditures came to $88,317. For an early argument opposing railroads, see document 9.

What was R.E. Orr requesting?

Why had the I and M commissioners rejected this offer?

Describe the I and M in March of 1901.

Even by 1901 standards, R.E. Orr’s tone was exceedingly deferential in this letter. Why was that?

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