however, their northern boundaries were fixed farther to the northward than was contemplated by the Ordinance of 1787; and when Michigan was admitted, in order to appease her for her loss of territory to Ohio, congress gave her the vast tract of land known as the northern peninsula. Wisconsin being thus compelled to pay the costs of the boundary disputes of her sister states in the northwest, felt that great indemnity was due her from the national government for the losses of territory which she had sustained,' and her demands took the form of petitions for federal aid in internal improvements. But Wisconsin's claims, strong though they might have been, were presented too late to receive much consideration at the hands of congress. A party opposed to internal improvements at the expense of the federal government was in power when Wisconsin was organized into a Territory; and although the whigs, aided by loose-constructionist democrats, were enabled frequently to secure appropriations for internal improvements by including their measures in the general appropriation bills, the improvements were seldom given to the Territories, whose inhabitants were later reminded by Roscoe Conkling that "they had no votes; " hence the amount of aid granted to Wisconsin during her existence as a Territory was small. The letter of the secretary of the treasury transmitting to congress a statement of the disbursements for 1834-37 shows that but thousand dollars had up to that time been expended on internal improvements in Wisconsin Territory. G. W. Jones, the Territorial delegate to congress, in a circular letter dated April 21, 1838, and addressed to each member of congress, called attention in a forcible manner to the meagre appropriations thus far granted for Wisconsin Territory, and made the following comparison of the expenditures of the general government for the organized Territories during the preceding four When Wisconsin was admitted as a state, her territory was still further diminished by detaching a considerable slice of her dominions in the northwest for the benefit of Minnesota. Executive Docs., vol. viii., 25th Cong., 2d Sess., No. 254. years, with the land revenues derived by the nation from the same Territories:1 Sales in Michigan....$2,391.541 32-Expenditures... ... Sales in Arkansas.... 861,156 31-Expenditures Roads, Harbors, etc. .$215,028 10 262,370 69 579,824 43 1,000 00 At the session of congress for 1838-39, two bills providing for an elaborate system of internal improvements in Wisconsin Territory were presented. They comprised provisions for two canals connecting the Mississippi river with Lake Michigan, and the building of numerous other canals and roads. Congress was asked to grant for these purposes extensive tracts of the public land. In spite of these extravagant demands, very meagre appropriations were made in aid of the young Territory. Up to 1840 Wisconsin had received from the federal government only seventy-eight thousand dollars for internal improvements. This was for various harbors and roads throughout the Territory, and for placing buoys at the mouths of the rivers, and constructing piers. With the accession of the whigs to power in 1840, Wisconsin hoped that the neglect which she had suffered from the federal government would be atoned for. The Wisconsin whigs had even attempted in the hard-cider campaign" to aid in the defeat of Van Buren by ascribing to him the failure to provide for internal improvements in Wisconsin. But the change in the ruling party brough no change for the better in way of Wisconsin appropriations. In fact, from 1839 to 1843 nothing whatever was 'Documentary History of Milwaukee and Rock River Canal, pp. 43, 44. Jour. U. S. House of Representatives, 1838-39, pp. 268, 489, 505, 525. See also Strong's History of Wisconsin Territory, pp. 278–280. 3 Acts of Congress, 1837, pp. 72, 73. Executive Docs., vol. ii., 25th Cong., 2d Sess., No. 27 Acts of Congress, 1838, pp. 75, 168. 'See an amusing letter, "To the People of the U. S.," in the Milwaukee Sentinel of October 6, 1810, written by James D. Doty, then Territorial delegate in Congress. appropriated for Wisconsin beyond the expenses of the Territorial government and for running the boundary line between Wisconsin and Michigan. Thirty thousand dollars were appropriated in 1843 for the construction of a harbor at or near Milwaukee.' The twenty-eighth congress, which assembled in December, 1843, dealt in a somewhat more liberal manner with Wisconsin. President Tyler had recommended that appropriations for internal improvements be made for the Western states. He therefore vetoed the bill providing for internal improvements in the East, but signed the Western appropriation bill. Wisconsin received, in the general appropriation bill for rivers and harbors, $20,000" for continuing the work at the harbor of Milwaukee. "2 Special appropriations were also made at this and the next session of congress for improving Grant river, for constructing Territorial roads, and for harbors at Southport (later Kenosha) and Racine. At this latter place work had already been begun by the citizens of the place, who had received permission from the legislature to raise $5,000 for this purpose by levying a special tax. The entire amount of these special appropriations granted by congress did not exceed $50,000 and a section of land.3 The Capitol. One of the most illustrative examples of financial mismanagement on the part of Wisconsin Territory is connected with the building of the first capitol at Madison. Twenty thousand dollars were granted by congress for this purpose in 1836, and the supervision of construction entrusted to three commissioners. These commissioners later secured an additional $20,000 from congress. They could not, or would not, account to the legislative committee for more than $19,000. New commissioners were appointed, and attempts were made to investigate the accounts of the 'Strong, History of Wisconsin Territory, p. 386. Acts of Twenty-eighth Congress, 1st Sess., p. 26. Ibid., p. 28; Id., 2d Sess., p. 47. old commission. The committee of investigation reported to the legislature that "we are unhesitatingly of the opinion that a copartnership has existed and does still exist between the late board of commissioners and the contractor, and that the late board have been during their continuance in office acting in the double capacity of commissioners and contractor, showing a fraudulent design to speculate and trade upon the funds of the Territory without regard to its best interests." ure. After a long delay the legislature authorized the issue of $7,000 worth of bonds to complete the unfinished structA new contractor was secured, but his expenditures exceeded his contract, and for years the legislature was met at each session with a request for an appropriation sufficient to cover the deficiency. Eight hundred dollars was accepted by the contractor as "full payment" for his bill, but he refused to be satisfied with this amount and for a long time continued his importunities. Suit was entered in the Wisconsin courts against the old commissioners, but by continually postponing trials, etc., the matter was dragged over a number of years, and finally, after a compromise, "the suits were settled by authority of a subsequent legislature. "2 Milwaukee and Rock River Canal. The most important project undertaken by Wisconsin during her existence as a Territory was the attempted construction of the Milwaukee and Rock River canal. The scheme of connecting the great lakes with the Mississippi by a ship canal has, ever since the early history of the West, been a favorite plan of politicians and engineers. The proximity of the Rock river to the head-waters of several Wisconsin streams flowing into Lake Michigan gave promise of a successful undertaking being made in Wisconsin to connect the two great water systems of the continent. The first legislative assembly of Wisconsin Terri 1 Council Jour., Wis. Terr. Legis., 1839-40, Appendix, Doc. No. 3. tory, which met at Belmont in 1836, was urged by a number of petitioners to incorporate a company for the purpose of building such a canal, and the governor in his message recommended the improvement of the navigation of the Rock river as a subject of vital importance to the future prosperity of the Territory." 2 The attention of the public was further called to the project by a series of articles in the Milwaukee Advertiser,1 said by Smith to have been written by Byron Kilbourn, a civil engineer, who had previously explored the country through which it was proposed to extend the canal. The articles called attention to the feasibility of the project, and the great influence which it would have upon the development of the resources of the Territory. The legislature at its next session was again petitioned to incorporate a construction company, and a bill for this purpose was introduced in the house, which became a law by the approval of the governor, January 5, 1838. The company was called the "Milwaukee and Rock River Canal Co.," and was authorized to construct a canal from Milwaukee to a point on the Rock river, and also a branch canal to connect with the Fox river near Prairie Village (later Waukesha), in Milwaukee county. 3 The capital stock was to be $100,000, with the privilege of increasing the amount to a sum not exceeding a million dollars, if the same shall be judged necessary to the completion of the work." The company was authorized to borrow money necessary to prosecute the work, and to collect such tolls as should be prescribed by the legislature. The act provided that, at any time after the admission of Wisconsin to the union, the state should have the right to purchase, if it so desired, "the canal together with all or any of its branches and other improvements, by paying to the said corporation the amount actually expended in the construc "Milwaukee and Rock River Canal," in the Milwaukee Advertiser, May 20, 27, June 3, 10, and 17, 1837. 2 Smith, History of Wisconsin, iii., p. 355. |