OP

CANALE, AND CANAL FUND.

CHAPTER XVIL

Funds, Revenue, and other Property of the State, and
eneral management of them-Canal Fund, and Ca

E grand object of a good governmer is to promue
ness and welfare of its citizens. To do t

them the free enjoyment of their ruins as ime
ady observed. But the whole dury set the s
is not done when it protects me in the enjoy.
ife, and the fruits of the bar & sought so
; and make provision for impening the sunli
people, especially the leverest possesse
all may be rendered in the ingthese polls degree
and happy. And as al must online to the
the government from what they boude by the
government ought to do acis sider the
equally profname.

e people in different per of a large maniere
dvantages. The people wise re
sand good roads are better tied for the
frose wind reside at a grear these form the
m is not very value wie I me how he
transport his gran and ter prisene by medbet

income of which pays a part of the cost of such improve

ments.

4. A fund, in general, is a sum of money used for carrying on business of any kind. The money, or capital stock, which a merchant employs in trade, is a fund. So the money that is raised to pay the officers of the government, and to carry on the business of the state, and such other property as is set apart for this purpose, are called the funds of the state; and the interest of these funds, and all other income to the state, are called the revenue. The state has provided funds for several purposes; one of which is the canal fund.

5. In February, 1825, an act was passed by the legislature "to provide for the internal improvement of the state of Ohio, by navigable canals ;" and the board of canal commissioners were authorized to commence the construction of a canal from the mouth of the Scioto to the lake, and so much of the Miami and Maumee line as lay between Cincinnati and Dayton.

6. For this purpose a fund was created, called the canal fund, to consist of such grants and appropriations of lands, property, and moneys as might from time to time be made for this object by the legislature and by individuals, and of taxes specifically pledged for the payment of interest on money borrowed. The net proceeds of all tolls collected on the canals also constitute a part of this fund. And congress has since made a grant of 840,000 acres of the public lands of the United States lying in this state.

7. Perhaps every young reader does not know how a law authorizing the construction of a canal is carried into effect. It cannot be done without money; but the income of the fund is not sufficient to pay the cost of the work as fast as it needs to be done-perhaps would never wholly pay it. And to levy a tax at once upon the citizens for the whole of its cost, would be too burdensome. The state therefore borrows the money of rich individuals for a long term of years. The business is done on the part of the state by

they made? 4. What is a fund? A state fund? Revenue? 5. In what year was the construction of our canals authorized? 6. Of what was the canal fund at first to consist? What grant has congress made? 7. How is the money procured by the state to make canals? 8. What

persons duly authorized, who give for the money borrowed .he bonds of the state, promising to pay the money at the time specified, with interest at the rate agreed on; the interest usually to be paid semi-annually.

8. These bonds are usually given in sums of $1000. The debts of a state are incurred by the issuing of these bonds, and are also called state stocks, because the capital or stock required to construct the state works is obtained by the sale of these bonds. These bonds or stocks may be sold and transferred as promissory notes, by one person to another. When they are sold for the amount for which they are given, they are said to be at par: when they are sold at a price either above or below the amount expressed in them, they are said to be above or below par.

9. These stocks are taken by men who have large sums of money to lend, and who consider state stocks good security; because, if the state has no other means of redeeming its bonds, the legislature has power to pass a law authorizing the money to be raised by a tax upon the people. Almost every state is thus indebted, not only to American capitalists, but to those of European countries, whence many millions have been sent to the United States to purchase state stocks.

10. The canals are now managed by a board of public works, consisting of three members appointed by the legis lature. It is the duty of this board to see that the canals are kept in repair and supplied with water; to appoint collectors of tolls, and other officers, and fix their compensation; and to make rules and regulations concerning matters in general relating to the navigation of the canals. And if a new canais to be made, this board employs the agents, engineers, surveyors, and such other persons as are wanted to do the work.

11. There is also a board of canal fund commissioners, consisting of the state auditor, the state treasurer, and another person elected by the legislature for three years,

are the bonds of the state called? What is said of the nature of these bonds? 9. How and of whom is the money obtained for these bonds? Why are the state stocks deemed safe? 10. By whom are the canals managed? What are their duties? 11. Who are the canal fund com

who is the acting commissioner. This board borrows me ney on the credit of the state, when authorized by the legis lature to do so, for making canals or paying the canal debts; manages all the property belonging to the canal fund; and, at stated times, makes reports of all moneys borrowed or debts contracted, and for what purposes.

12. The collectors of tolls are appointed by the board of public works. The tolls are charges paid by the master or owner of a boat, for the privilege of transporting goods and other property on the canals. Specific prices are charged by the mile on every hundred or ton weight of merchandise, every barrel of flour, every 1000 feet of lumber, collectors are stationed at the several ports to receive tolls.

and

13. The state of New York was the first to undertake the construction of canals on a large scale. Ohio is one of the states which soon followed in this enterprise; and, although possessed of less wealth than the older states, she has constructed a greater number of miles of canals than any other state in the Union. In the construction of these works, a large debt has been incurred, which is to be paid off by the tolls collected on the canals, the income of the canal fund, and by taxes annually levied upon the property of the citizens.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Funds, &c., of the State, continued.-School Fund, and Schools.

1. No people can be prosperous and happy without learning. In some countries, such as Turkey and some others, the people are degraded and miserable. This is owing to

13

missioners? How appointed? Their duties? 12. By whom are the collectors appointed? What are tolls? How are they charged? By what state was the first great canal constructed? What is said of Ohio and her canals? How is the canal debt to be paid?

1. What is here said of the advantages of education? 2. Why ought

their ignorance. They are governed by a despot, who rules over them with great rigor; and they scarcely know that they could be in a better condition. Indeed, for the want of education, they could not, if they were to try, govern themselves as the people of this country do. It is only where the great body of the citizens are well educated, that a free government can be maintained.

2. Hence, in order to continue free and prosperous, the American people must be educated. But all have not the means of obtaining a good education. There are among us some persons who are too poor to pay for the instruction of their children; and the rich are unwilling to assist them, without some law to compel them. It must therefore be the duty of the government to provide the ways and means for the support of public schools, in which the children of our country may all be educated.

3. For this object provision was made, to some extent, by congress, at an early period, when the lands were yet the property of the United States. By an ordinance of congress, the territory was laid out into townships containing thirty-six square miles each, being six miles square. Each township was laid out into sections of one mile square each, or one thirty-sixth part of the whole. There were, however, three portions of the territory now comprising the state, which were not embraced in the provisions of that act of congress: the "United States Military Tract," the "Connecticut Reserve," and the "Virginia Military Reservation."

4. Provision was afterwards (1803) made for schools within these tracts also. Congress enacted, that one thirtysixth part of the land in the Virginia Military Reservation should be appropriated for the use of schools within the same; and eighteen quarter townships in the United States Military Tract, being estimated one thirty-sixth part of the tract, for the use of schools within the same; and fourteen quarter townships in the same tract, for the use of schools in the tract called Connecticut Reserve. Thus about one

the government to provide for educating the people? 3. How were the lands originally laid out? By what authority? What tracts were èxcepted by this ordinance? 4. What provision was afterwards made